| French Classical by Bryan Jacobs (2001, paperback, figurine algebraic, 176 pages) Mastering the Middlegame by Angus Dunnington (2001, paperback, figurine algebraic, 144 pages) Nimzo-Larsen Attack by Byron Jacobs and Jonathan Tait (2001, paperback, figurine algebraic, 192 pages) Mastering the Endgame by Glenn Flear (2001, paperback, figurine algebraic, 176 pages) The French Classical by IM Bryan Jacobs covers much more than you might imagine. Usually, the term Classical in the French applies to 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7. Jacobs� book treats all the variations after 3...Nf6 including the McCutcheon (4.Bg5 Bb4), Burn (4...dxe4) and Steinitz (4.e5). This book follows the usual Everyman Chess format, using annotated games to present the material instead of the more typical opening book setup. Here the reader gets 78 annotated games with the material divided almost evenly between the currently very popular Steinitz and 4.Bg5. The Steinitz, championed by Vishy Anand, has been putting Black�s resources to the text. In particular, the line 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nce2 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Nf3 or 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 Qb6 8.Ne2 if you prefer, has been causing a lot of grief. I served as one of the US coaches at the recent World Youth Championships in Spain. While working with one of our players, IM Vinay Bhat, I was struck at the difficulties Black is facing In the first half of the tournament Vinay played the Romanian representative Constanin Lupulescu in this variation and followed John Watson�s suggestion in his excellent Play the French repertoire book: 8�f6 9.g3 cxd4 10.cxd4 fxe5 11.fxe5 Bb4+ 12.Nc3 O-O 13.Bf4 g5 but after 14.Nxg5 Qxd4 15.Qxd4 Nxd4 16.0-0-0 h6 17.Rxd4 Bxc3 18.Nxe6 Bxd4 19.Nxd4 Re8 20.e6 Nc5 21.Bb5 Nxe6 22.Bxe8 Nxd4 23.Bh5 Bf5 24.Kd2 Rc8 25.Rc1 Rxc1 26.Kxc1 found himself in a very difficult ending. Afterwards Lupulescu mentioned that he analyzed the position to the two Bishop ending with his trainer GM Nisipeanu! Jacobs suggests that the right way to play for Black is 13�Be7. He gives the game Dolmatov-Bareev, Elista 1997, as his model game where the second player dealt with 14.Qd2 very effectively. He also has good answers to 14.Na4 and 14.Bh3, but fails to mention the very strong 14.a3! which has been known since the early 1980s, but only recently attracted attention. This is one line where Black needs to do some serious patching up. The French Classical is not suitable as a stand alone guide to the French but used in conjunction with other works on the opening it can be a very useful update or resource for new ideas. Mastering the Middlegame by IM Angus Dunnington is divided into five major chapters: Attacking the King, Defending-Keep Calm!, Opening Lines, Using the Pieces, and Using the Pawns. Each chapter features annotated model games and fragments to illustrate the points that Dunnington wishes to make. There are 62 of these annotated games and fragments in all, and the examples are quite fresh. Unlike many middle game treatises, the examples are not the old classical ones that have been trotted out many times before. In fact, they all appear to be from the 1990s. This book features a very nice layout that is easy to read. To reinforce the readers comprehension of the material, key ideas are highlighted. Students are also given exercises at the end of each chapter Nimzo-Larsen attack by IM Byron Jacobs and former British Correspondence Champion Jonathan Tait is the first truly comprehensive look at 1.b3 since Raymond Keene�s seminal work for Batsford in 1977. The Everyman format of using model games to organize the material works very well for this opening where White�s aim is not a theoretical knockout but to outplay the opponent by understanding the fundamental ideas better. The authors honestly point out that you can�t expect to get an advantage from the opening with sensible play by Black after 1.b3. However, you can learn a lot about the many typical rich middle games that do arise from this seemingly unpretentious opening. Though the names of Nimzovitch and Larsen are closely identified with this opening, today it�s great adherent is Czech GM Pavel Blatny who is featured in no less than five of the 69 model games. Blatny routinely beats GM and IM oppositions through a superior middle game knowledge in this highly transpositional opening which can easily head into a King�s Indian, Queen�s Indian, English or Reverse Sicilian. The Nimzo-Larsen attach is very well researched and in fact includes a two page bibliography. One thing I learned was that the currently very trendy 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bd6 was actually played back in 1859 (!) by Anderssen against Suhle. The Nimzo-Larsen attach can be heartily recommended to all those who have an interest in 1.b3. Mastering the End Game by British GM Glenn Flear, is yet another in a series of outstanding books on the endgame that have appeared in the past four years. To mention but a few, I can point out Endgame Secrets by Christopher Lutz, Essential Chess Endings by James Howell and The Survival Guide to Rook Endings by John Emms. All of these books, including Flear�s, are written with the intention of instructing the student and not just serving as a reference work. Mastering the End Game, which is the follow-up to Improve Your Endgame Play, by the same author, is probably the most user friendly of the bunch with a very spacious layout, lots of explanatory prose, and a realistic amount of material to make one�s way through. This is not a book for beginners, nor is it one for endgame specialists. There is a lot of material on Rook and Pawn endings, but Flear�s book is not so specialized as Emms�. There are lots of exercises for the student and plenty of helpful tips sprinkled throughout. I would estimate this book to be aimed at players from 1800-2400. Mastering the Endgame is highly recommended for all those who want to improve their endgame play (Don�t we all!) One small caveat, which also applies to Dunnington�s middlegame book. It�s not a big deal, but one slightly annoying thing about the layout in both books is the placement of the diagrams which always appear in pairs. This sometimes means that the reader has to hunt around the page to put text and diagram together. The US distributor for Everyman Chess is Globe Pequot (www.globe-pequot.com) (800) 962-0973, PO Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437 |