In this book, Mednis shows how the strategic themes of certain of the closed games are carried through into the middlegame and even the ending. The format of the book is quite straightforward; it consists of thirty deeply annotated games, arranged by opening. It should be said also that only the English Opening and many of the openings arising after 1.d4 (the Queen’s Gambit, various Indian defenses, the Catalan, the Dutch, etc.) are covered; the Reti and the minor flank openings are absent.
The author focuses on “unbalanced strategically clear openings” and variations, by which he means openings which give rise to complicated positions where each side has a definite plan, something relatively straightforward to go for, but where this “something” might be is different in each case: The Hubner Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence (game 17) is a paradigmatic example. In positions arising from such openings, the player who eventually prevails will be the one who realizes his own plan (and delays the opponent’s, as and when necessary) in the most incisive manner.
When this book first came out, in 1993, it most likely met a clear need, because opening books of the day generally gave variations only (game excerpts and analysis, together with an evaluation), not complete games or detailed strategic explanations. Still, it has not dated for two main reasons. First, because the variations are still viable, though some are unfashionable at the moment. Second, because of Mednis’s formidable strengths as a teacher and writer, which are very much in evidence. A brilliant communicator, he has the happy knack of being able to explain sometimes quite complicated ideas, while at the same time not presenting matters as being simpler than they in fact are. It is easy to miss just how profound Mednis’s annotations sometimes are, because they are presented in such perspicacious and accessible language – but this is a measure of his understanding of chess. As that great bluesman Slim Harpo put it, “If it doesn’t look easy, you must not be good.”
Each of the thirty games is a tutorial which allows you to study chess strategy, not in some general or wide-ranging sense, but in the context of a particular opening variation, a variation which you may well want to play: to try out the ideas for yourself, to test your understanding. Though the games have been chosen to illustrate thematic play, there are few one-sided encounters. On the whole, they are instructive and full of incident, rather than entertaining or error-free; and not all of them are White wins. Mednis includes nine of his own games, incidentally, including the victory over Ivanov which won the best game prize at Brighton, 1983. Cumulatively, these games make for quite an unusual course in chess strategy.
To conclude, I’d add that Mednis’s book splendidly complements John Donaldson and Carsten Hansen’s recent (2008) A STRATEGIC OPENING REPERTOIRE.
