Let’s start with the author – Vladimir Barsky is an International Master, second to Alexander Morozevich, and (unsurprisingly given the previous note) the coauthor of the wildly popular The Chigorin Defense According to Morozevich. I think it’s safe to say that he’s added another successful title to his accolades.
The Scotch Game for White is a repertoire book for White (duh!) that follows in the same vein as the ever-popular and well written Sicilian repertoire books that Chess Stars put out starting in early 2007 with The Sharpest Sicilian. It follows the same format that I raved about in my review for The Easiest Sicilian, and I can only pray that Chess Stars will keep it up for future books. Here is the excerpt from said review, since I’m getting sick of repeating myself:
“The best thing about this book in my opinion is the format (not that the content isn’t top notch). It follows the same format as its two older brothers in that it divides each variation’s chapter into three separate smaller chapters. The first chapter is called “Quick Repertoire”. This chapter shows you the main lines, and a couple deviations, as well as giving you solid advice on important positional and tactical points pertinent to the line in question. The second chapter is called “Step by Step”, and is similar to what you’d see in any other opening book. It’s just an expanded and deeper chapter in tree format on all the lines in the variation. The third chapter is a few complete games with some annotations to provide you with a feel as to how the game might proceed. This is an amazing format in my opinion. It allows the reader to see the important lines 3 times, while giving them a solid theoretical background, and a strong understanding of the typical plans, ideas, and endings.”
With that taken care of, now on to the content. The two most critical lines in the Scotch, following 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 are 4…Nf6 and 4…Bc5. Against the latter, Barsky pleasantly surprised me by advocating the trendy and relatively new idea of 5. Nxc6 Qf6 6. Qf3!?, the new favorite of top Scotch experts Teimour Radjabov and his coach Igor Nataf. This idea has pretty much eradicated 6. Qd2 from the top levels, although it probably has to do as much with surprise value and novelty than it does theoretical merit. Anyway, against the former Barsky heads into the Mieses variation with 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5, an idea invigorated with new ideas by the Patron Saint of the Scotch, Mr. Kasparov. Barksy’s coverage here is again top notch and well thought out.
This is a great book for club players looking for something against 1…e5 that doesn’t require as much work as the dreaded Ruy Lopez. It was voted one of the best books of 2009 by subscribers of ChessPublishing.com, a top notch theoretical website known for having hardcore bibliophiles for customers. Highly recommended!
