| Chess Informant 79 recently appeared, preserving its consecutive issue streak dating back to 1966. Another formidable streak is also still going. It may �only� go back to 1984, but the New In Chess Yearbooks (For US and Canada - Chess Combination Inc., Box 2423, Noble Station, Bridgeport, CT 06608-0423; 1-800-354-4083) have been a most welcome addition to chess literature and are now up to number 56 (2000, paperback, figurine algebraic, 236 pages). The basic format, mini-theoreticals based on important games annotated by world class players, is still in use, but there have been many little tweaks along the way. Two especially well-received ones are Sosonko�s Corner, where the wise Russo-Dutch fox shares his wisdom, and Forum where players from around the world share a dialog on opening problems. Yearbooks have always been available in hardback or paperback. More recently, a third option has appeared . CD-Rom versions of the Yearbook offer some extra benefits. You not only receive the current surveys, but also those that have been published in previous issues that cover the same line. Additionally, you get extra supplemental games (in YB 56 there are 38,000), plus a variety of ways to view the material (NicBase 3, PGN and ChessBase) and a print option for all games, including those that are annotated. Yearbooks have different prices depending on whether they are bought individually, as part of a yearly subscription (four annually) or as a NIC magazine subscriber. Everyman (formerly Cadogan) and Batsford may be the best known names in British chess book publishing , but Gambit Publications (69 Masbro Road, Kensington, London, W14 OLS, England; [email protected]) has caught up with them in a short period of time. This small firm, formed by GMs John Nunn and Murray Chandler with FM Graham Burgess, has 32 books in print and they are all of a uniformly high standard. Gambit�s two most recent offerings are The Taimanov Sicilian (2000, paperback, 208 pages, figurine algebraic, $21.95) by Graham Burgess and The Queen�s Gambit and Catalan for Black (2000, paperback, 192 pages, figurine algebraic, $21.95) by Lasha Janjgava. The Taimanov, the line in the Sicilian where Black plays �e6 and �Nc6, is noted both for its transpositional nature and popularity. Facing these two challenges head on, Burgess has done a first rate job of sifting through a huge mass of material and making sense of it. How he accomplished the job is likely to be a model for other authors in the future. Even ten years ago books were written in a fashion that would have been recognizable to medieval monks. Authors copied by hand, organized mounds of papers and consulted piles of books. That�s not what Burgess did. He wrote much of the book while working in ChessBase, and used other computer programs to double check not only his work but also previously published analysis. This eliminated a lot of unnecessary errors. A real theory book like this runs a definite risk of being unreadable, but The Taimanov Sicilian avoids this pitfall with a good dose of explanatory prose at the right moments. That said, this is not a book for the casual player. Look at a main line like 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Qc7 7. Be2 Nf6 8.O-O Bb4 9.Na4 O-O 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Nb6 Rb8 12.Nxc8 Rfxc8 13.Bxa6 Rd8 which goes another 10 moves before reaching the critical position! If you like the Taimanov and are rated over 2200 this is a must buy. When you play Black the basic question is whether to equalize first and then try to outplay your opponent or seek imbalances from the beginning. The Queen�s Gambit Declined and Ruy Lopez belong in the former group, the King�s Indian and Sicilian in the latter. The first book by the Georgian GM Lasha Janjgava espouses the classical approach. His book, The Queen�s Gambit and Catalan for Black, advocates playing the Lasker, Tartakover and Orthodox variations against the Queen�s Gambit. Janjgava prefers the move order 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 as he believes that 3�Nf6 allows White a favorable version of the Exchange Variation (4.cxd5) as the option of putting the King Knight on e2 has been retained. Two defenses are offered against the Catalan: the aggressive 4�dxc4 5.Nf3 Nc6 and the classical 4�Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4. Janjgava writes in the introduction , �I hope that this book will prove useful not only to accomplished players, but also to a broad spectrum of chess enthusiasts.� Titled players will definitely find this book quite useful, but I fear that players below 2400 USCF are going to have a hard time using it. There is very little explanation of the strategy for both sides. Space is always a concern for a publisher, but I wonder if some of the theoretical material might have been left out and some model games with good notes inserted. The way the book is organized, the prospective convert to Janjgava�s repertoire must still choose between three main line defenses for Black in the Main Line QGD. It�s not as if the Tartakover, Lasker or Orthodox is going to get refuted tomorrow. There is also a lot of material on the Exchange Variation that isn�t really relevant to Janjgava�s suggested move order of 3�Be7. |