| The English firm Batsford was the world�s leading publisher of quality chess books in the 1970s and 1980s, but suffered in the 1990s. With few books appearing in the last years of the twentieth century. Fortunately, the downward trend seems to have been stopped and Batsford is once again publishing some outstanding books. Two of its most recent offerings are 4�Qh4 in the Scotch Game (Batsford 2001, 272 pages, figurine algebraic, paperback, 17.99 English Pounds) by Lev Gutman and The Ultimate Colle (Batsford 2001, 160 pages, figurine algebraic, paperback, 14.99 English Pounds) by Gary Lane. The work by Gutman, who was born in Latvia and later immigrated to Israel and finally Germany, is something unique in the chess world. As a player, GM Gutman is noted for his love of playing 1.Nf3 and 2.g3, but he has had a fascination with the Scotch Game for several decades. This is not his first book on the Scotch. In 1992 his book Gewinnen mit Schottisch was published to critical acclaim. His present work is in some ways much more modest in scope. Instead of trying to cover the whole Scotch Game, he only looks at the position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Qh4. Of course, �only� is a misnomer for this book is incredibly comprehensive. Imagine over 250 pages of analysis on White�s replies (5.Qd3, 5.Nf5, 5.Nxc6, 5.Be2, 5.Be3, 5.Nb5 and 5.Nc3)! Who is this book for? If you play the Scotch as White, you must have this book. If you defend 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6, you may find it of interest. If you are a fan of involved analysis with crazy, unbalanced positions popping up all the time, then it�s definitely for you. Highly Recommended. IM Gary Lane�s latest effort is on a much different topic. He proposes 1.d4 2.Nf3 and 3.e3 as the cornerstone of a White opening repertoire. Lane is not the first author to espouse this scheme of development. The late George Koltanowski, who is a kinsman of Edgar Colle, wrote many booklets advocating this system. This book is divided into eight chapters with coverage on the Colle, what Lane refers to as the Colle-Zukertort (White plays b3 and Bb2), as well as lines against the Queen�s Indian, King�s Indian and Benoni. Roughly one third of the book is devoted to the position that occurs after 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 and now either 6�Be7 or 6�Bd6). One curiosity is the position that occurs after 6�Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.e4 cxd4 9.cxd4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Be7 11.Nc3. Lane gives the game Plaskett-Short, British Team Ch (NCL) 2000 which actually came about via the move order 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.0-0 dxe4 8.Nxe4 cxd4 9.cxd4 0-0 10.Nc3 Note: we have the same position as White hasn�t gone e2-e3-e4 and Black Bf8-d6-e7. Lane writes after 11.Nc3, �The knight is well placed on c3 to assist with any pawn advance, d4-d5. Its redeployment also gives his light-squared bishop unhindered access to h7. It will come as a surprise for those who use the standard reference book Nunn�s Chess Openings to learn that it fails to mention this line.� There is a reason you can�t find this position in Nunn�s Chess Openings. White is a tempo down on a main line in a position that ECO classifies under D42 but which more commonly arises from the Panov-Botvinnik Attack in the Caro-Kann or the 2.c3 Sicilian. Just compare the position Lane gives after 11.Nc3 with 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 Nf6. In Lane�s position, it�s Black�s move and White�s rook is on f1. In the main line, White�s rook is on e1 and he is to move. This makes sense because White has lost time bringing his knight to e4 and back to c3 and Black has not had to play Nf6-d5-f6. Admittedly, in the line reached in the Caro, not everyone would play their knight back to f6 (10�Bf6 is quite popular) but, with extra moves, it becomes quite attractive! Lane does give examples where Black plays 11�b6 (Short played 11�.Nb4) and was doing quite nicely. The Colle is a reasonable choice against the Queen�s Indian (it can often transpose into positions reached from the 4.e3 QID) but it is a bit of a stretch against the Benoni and even less impressive against the King�s Indian. The Ultimate Colle is not the definitive work on this opening but it is the best available at present. If you play this opening, you�ll want to get this book. Information on Batsford books can be found at: www.Batsford.com |