**Censored**

'Freedom of speech' shouldn't be used as an excuse to lambast and publicly humiliate people one doesn't particularly like. Saying and writing things with authority doesn't always mean that they are true.

This was highlighted yesterday when ChessBase posted a typical effort by Edward Winter (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5578). Winter is, of course, a fine chess historian but in my opinion his habit of attacking well respected chess personalities lets him down. It's usually the same old stuff recycled time and again.

Naturally, this sort of thing is rife on the Internet (where having to speak face to face isn't a deterrent) but some people are slow to realise that the laws of slander and libel must still be taken into consideration.

Carrying the can for verbal assaults is a dangerous and tricky business. It was interesting to see that yesterday's Winter post was censored a short time after being put on the ChessBase site, with a particularly biting set of comments against a World Champion being hastily deleted.

I still find the post childish and unworthy. ChessBase is one of the finest sites on the Internet and should be above hosting and disseminating second hand hatred and prejudice.

Chess Reviews: 98

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Revised and Extended Edition
By GM David Bronstein and Tom Furstenburg
384 pages
New in Chess

‘In this modern chess classic David Bronstein, one of the greatest chess artists of all time, shares his insights in his wonderful games - 237 of them played between 1938 and 1996 - a career spanning 58 years.’

The first edition of ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ appeared back in 1996 and proved to be a very popular book. This new edition follows the same format but has numerous extra bits and pieces.

Those familiar with the earlier edition will recognise the titles of the main chapters:

40 Combinations With Explanations

The combinations in question are summed up in paragraphs which are very light on variations. This works well, keeping things chatty rather than intimidating.

Here’s an easy one for you to try:

Bronstein - Geller
Interzonal, 1955

White to play and win

50 Games With Comments

These are fully annotated and include (often lengthy) introductions giving Bronstein’s memories and opinions about his opponents. This section is the real meat of the book and is instructional on several different levels.

60 Games With Diagrams

This chapter gives 60 great games without annotations but with strategically placed way-marking diagrams. It is thus possible to follow the games without using a board and pieces.

One of my favourite Bronstein games is in this section.

Bronstein - Rojahn
Olympiad, 1956

White played 8 dxe4 allowing Black to win a piece with 8...Nxc4.

By move 25 it is very clear that the majestic armada of White pawns is worth far more than the sacrificed Knight.


Very enterprising play - but one can sense how his team mates must have mixed views about having him on their side, especially at a time when success was of paramount importance and chess results carried more significance than over a mere 64 squares.

70 Picturesque Games

These games are unannotated and feature one diagram per game. Each concludes with a brief remark highlighting the star piece(s).

The new material for this edition includes:

Two memoriam pieces (one from Tom Furstenburg and the other by Bronstein’s widow, Tatiana Boleslavskaya)

‘My Experience with Computers’, the transcript of a lecture from 1996. This is followed by an amazing selection of games played by Bronstein against computers, back in the days when some humans were still able to demonstrate special ways of playing to exploit various slight weaknesses in their way of ‘thinking’.

Bronstein v Deep Blue Jr., 1996

Bronstein liked this position, which arises after the moves:

1 e4 c5 2 b4 cxb4 3 a3 d5 4 exd5 Qxd5 5 Nf3 e5 6 axb4 Bxb4

Against computers, he now liked to play: 7 Ra3!

‘This move only makes sense if Black takes the Rook, but of course I know that computers cannot resist such a bait. Therefore ! and not ?? For this move.’

‘40 Combinations With Explanations’ has an extra set of comments at the end of each game, answering the question: ‘What have we learned from this game?'

The photo section has been greatly expanded. I don’t recall seeing any of the ‘new’ photos before. The young Fischer, Tal, Spassky and a whole host of other chess giants are featured in rare snaps. One wonders what other unpublished treasures are hidden away in archives.

Bronstein’s bitter rivalry with Botvinnik runs all the way through the book like a seaside town’s name through a stick of rock. He never misses an opportunity to have a go at the sixth World Champion. However, despite dropping a cryptic hint about the pressure on him as Botvinnik’s challenger in 1951, there is no elaboration on whether or not the end of their match was played entirely fairly.

The book concludes with an index of openings, index of opponents a list of Bronstein’s scores in tournament s and matches.

The production qualities are high, as one would expect from New in Chess. Despite the high page count, the spine of the book is strong and carries the strain admirably.

There are a couple of minor errors.

A comment on page 38 claims that Marshall played his Attack against the Ruy Lopez in one of the games of their 1918 match. 1918 is correct, but the game was a tournament in New York. Marshall and Capablanca contested their match in 1909.

C.H.O'D. Alexander was not a GM, as one picture caption claims (but he was an IM).

David Bronstein was one of the most innovative, creative and outlandish players in the history of chess. Yet he retained a deep desire to connect with chess players of all abilities. He visited my region several times in the 1990s for a series of simultaneous displays and lectures and was always very friendly and approachable. Such visits are now a thing of the past, but the spirit of Bronstein lives on this remarkable book, which should keep readers entertained for many hours.

Those who already own the earlier edition should be pleased by the new edition too. I think there is enough new material to justify an upgrade for one’s library.

Yearbook 91
247 pages
New in Chess

New in Chess Yearbooks are published four times a year. Each volume contains numerous surveys on particular opening variations. Volume 91 has 33 such articles.

The Sicilian Defence is the most popular choice this time, with eight full surveys. The variations range from the Najdorf to the Grand Prix Attack.

The authors are of a high calibre, as one would expect for such a serious work. Tiviakov, Gutman, Kuzmin, Van der Wiel and Palliser are very familiar names.

For me, the most eye-catching surveys featured:


8 g4 in the Queen’s Gambit Declined by Rene Olthof

Alexey Kuzmin on a modern way for Black to play the Hanham variation of the Philidor, namely an early …a6 and …b6


Larry Kaufman on 9 Rc1 in the Saemisch King’s Indian, trying to give White some fun against the Panno Variation:


Kaufman gives excellent explanations of White’s ideas after the Rook move. One of them was recently demonstrated by the great KID killer himself...

9...Bd7 10 Nd1 b5 11 c5

Korchnoi - Westerinen

…and now 11...dxc5?! 12 Rxc5 led to an easy edge for White.

Also included are The Forum (readers’ letters, some of which delve quite deeply into theory), Sosonko’s Corner (including high praise for Roman Dzindzichashvili) and Glenn Flear’s book reviews.

These Yearbooks are serious tomes for serious players. Casual players could find themselves out of their depth but those who like to put in some serious preparation will appreciate the extensive analysis in each survey.

For further details of these and other New in Chess products, please visit: http://www.newinchess.com/

Missed a review? Please visit my archive:
http://marshtowers.blogspot.com/2007/12/chess-review-archive.html

Staunton Memorial: Live Games

The forthcoming Staunton Memorial tournament, which I wrote about here...

http://marshtowers.blogspot.com/2009/05/staunton-memorial-2009.html

...will have its games broadcast live from a new site, here:

http://www.2seeitlive.com/

The main home page for the tournament is here:

http://howardstaunton.com/hsmt2009/Home.html

Long Interview

My latest chess interview is with International Master Mike Basman. At 11 pages, it's the longest yet and it can be found in the July issue of CHESS Magazine.

It's time you subscribed, so here's the link:

http://www.ukgamesshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=chmache

The Eternal Quest For Entertainment

London was once again my destination in my eternal quest for entertainment.

First up was a concert by the Dave Matthews Band at the Brixton 02 Academy.


The DMB are not as well known in the UK as they are in America but I can recommend their music. It's highly energetic stuff, with a mixture of rock, Americana, funk and jazz.


'Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King' is their current CD and they naturally played a good number of the new tracks here, alongisde numerous better known crowdpleasers.

The GrooGrux King refers to saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who sadly died before the CD was completed.

There was a little tribute to Michael Jackson in the middle of the concert, with a simple rendition of 'I'll Be There'.

The lighting emphasised the change of pace throughout the songs. We were up in the balcony so these pictures were taken at a distance.

They played for about two and a half hours, at full pelt, with some very impressive musicianship.

The highly entertaining evening concluded with the drummer hurling several sets of sticks into the audience.

The next morning brought a trip to the Covent Garden Odeon for a special screening of two episodes of 'Fireball XL5' (one of Gerry Anderson's early TV series).

Along the way there was another Michael Jackson tribute.




One of the two episodes they showed on the big screen had been coloured and looked superb. Gerry Anderson then emerged for a 'Question and Answer' session before signing copies of the new DVD boxset of Fireball XL5.



Thank you, Mr Anderson, for a lifetime of top quality entertainment!

Following a tasty dish in Chinatown, next up was a trip to St Martin's Theatre to see the legendary play, The Mousetrap.

It's been going a very long time but I didn't know who the villain was beforehand.


It was a great play but unfortunately we were all asked not to reveal any plot details so you'll just have to go and see it for yourself.

The London trip was swiftly followed by another event, much closer to home. Former 'Bionic Woman' Lindsay Wagner was at the Berwick Hills library as part of Middlesbrough's month-long literature festival.


These days, acting takes a back seat in favour of Healing Workshops. Indeed, literature took a back seat to talk of healing practices such as EFT.

It didn't stop my brother and I accosting her at the end for the obligatory signing and photo session.

Chess Reviews: 97

Dangerous Weapons: Anti-Sicilians
By GM John Emms, IM Richard Palliser & GM Peter Wells
285 pages
Everyman

‘…bold possibilities for Black against some of White’s popular Anti-Sicilians, and also weapons for White to try, aiming to shock and confuse opponents.’

The popular Dangerous Weapons series continues with an examination of 12 trouble-making ideas in the Sicilian Defence. There’s a 50-50 split between suggestions for each colour.

One of the most interesting is the early pawn lunge by Black in a popular variation of the Closed Sicilian.

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Be3 h5


Black intends to throw White off his rather automatic scheme of development. Indeed, should White continue to proceed as normal, he runs the risk of the h-pawn’s advance causing serious problems just a couple of moves later.


…when 9 Bf1 and 9 Bf3 Nd4 (or 9...Ne5) look promising for Black.

White’s most promising gambit in the book would appear to be after the sequence:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0–0 Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.d4


Black can grab the pawn but GM Wells provides some potent lines for White.

It has to be said that some of the ideas seem quite tame in comparison to the extraordinary and downright crazy weapons found in other volumes. It’s not easy to believe that the move g2-g3 can be classed as a dangerous weapon in any opening. In this case, readers hoping to unleash 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 g3!? will probably have to wait a very long time.

Dangerous Weapons:

The Pirc and Modern
IM Richard Palliser, GM Colin McNab & IM James Vigus
224 pages
Everyman

‘Your authors have aimed to produce a mini-repertoire for Black against most of White’s tries, while also covering a few dangerous and quite complex ideas for White.’

It seems to me that this volume contains more serious dangerous ideas and one shouldn’t have to wait too long before seeing them over the board.

The basic contents should whet the appetite.

1 Castling into the Argentinean Attack
2 Castling into the 150 Attack
3 A Neglected Approach in the Classical
4 Benjamin’s Flexible 6...e6
5 A Cunning Sidestep
6 The Delayed Spike
7 Not the 150 Attack!
8 Spicing up the Fianchetto Variation
9 Meeting 4 Bg5 in Dragon Style
10 Blunting White’s Bishop on c4
11 An Early Lunge
12 Trumping a Tricky Transposition

Chapters 3,6,7 and 11 all supply ammunition for the first player but there is a bias in favour of Black; it’s quite understandable, with noted Pirc/Modern experts Vigus and McNab on board.

Chapters 3 and 5 in particular caught my attention.

GM McNab provides some fine detail for those wishing to adopt A Neglected Approach in the Classical.

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 0–0 6.0–0 c6 7.Bf4


‘With this direct move White hinders …e5 by Black, at the same time preparing to advance his own e-pawn.’

Indeed, the illustrative games show the trouble Black can easily fall into after playing very natural moves, so Pirc players really need to take a look at the analysis if intending to play 6...c6. GM McNab has played Pirc/Modern systems for a very long time indeed so if he highlights a problem line for Black it simply must be taken very seriously.
A Cunning Sidestep shows Black varying from a very well known theoretical variation.

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.e6 Bxb5 9.exf7+


Black is encouraged to step away from the main line (9...Kd7) with the tricky 9...Kf8

Black will soon Hoover up the f7 pawn (9...Kxf7 10 Ng5+ isn’t the best way to do it).

There’s lots of food for thought in this book. Anyone who already plays such things as Black cold easily slip a few of these weapons into an existing repertoire in time for the new chess season.

7 Ways To Smash The Sicilian
IM Yury Lapshun & US Master Nick Conticello
190 pages
Everyman

‘It’s impossible to play Open Sicilian positions with either colour without an intimate knowledge of these sacrifices.’

The Sicilian Defence lends itself to smashing sacrifices. White’s early lead in development often results in an attempt to cash in the chips before Black’s long term advantages begin to make themselves felt. Sicilian games published in newspaper columns are often speedy White victories with a cascade of brilliant tactical strokes. Black has lots of fun after 1 e4 c5 too but the successful games are usually a bit too long to catch the eye.

1 e4 players seeking to extend their armoury against the 1...c5 should welcome this new book. The basic contents are:

1 The Knight Sacrifice on d5
2 The Knight Sacrifice on e6
3 The Bishop Sacrifice on e6
4 The Knight Sacrifice on f5
5 The Knight Sacrifice on b5
6 The Bishop Sacrifice on b5
7 Miscellaneous Sacrifices

Some of the sacrifices are very well known and readers will find some familiar material, such as the famous debut and debacle of the Gothenburg Variation.

Spassky, Geller and Keres faced Pilnik, Panno and Najdorf respectively in round 14 of the Gothenburg Interzonal. The latter players saw their prepared variation blasted away by classic sacrifices:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.fxg5 Nfd7 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.Qh5+ Kf8


13.Bb5

The Argentineans were ready only for 13 Bc4 which they had analysed together before the round. The idea of White’s 13th, first played by Geller, is to control the d7- and c6-squares so as to remove the important defender from b8.

The Soviets clocked up an impressive 3-0 in these games. (Fischer later found - and played - an improvement for Black with 13...Rh7!)

Other sacrifices will be new to most readers and the authors have exhumed some excellent rare games for our entertainment, such as this one:

Gusev - Averbakh
Moscow 1951

The great Averbakh must have been shocked by 22 Rxf6! exf6 23 Qxd6 Rc6


…and now the amazing: 24 Qxe5!!


After 24...fxe5 25 Rf1 the bind proved to be curiously impossible to break and White went on to win in style.

There are 109 main annotated games.

The bibliography rounds up the usual suspects but includes more diverse titles such as tournament books for the 1974 Nice Olympiad and San Antonio 1972.

It’s a well-researched and energetic work, with a good index of variations to make navigation between themes and opening variations smooth and comfortable.

Yes, it will make very good study material for players on both sides of the Sicilian Defence but it also makes for excellent browsing and entertainment.

Fighting The Ruy Lopez
By GM Milos Pavlovic
174 pages
Everyman

‘Drawing upon his years of experience facing the Lopez, Grandmaster Milos Pavlovic devises a sound yet ambitious repertoire for Black based on the legendary Marshall Attack.’

The Introduction runs through the basic attacking ideas at Black’s disposal and discusses the compensation Black has for the pawn. The stem game of the attack, unleashed by Marshall against the great Capablanca, is then given with notes.

The Marshall Gambit appears on move eight…

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 c3 d5

…White can win a pawn with the simple sequence…

9 exd5 Nxd5 10 Nxe5 Nxe5 11Rxe5

Marshall had prepared 11...Nf6 but went on to lose. The main line these days is 11...c6 and that is the one analysed extensively in this book.


In the words of the author:

‘In return for the pawn, Black gets fast development, aggressively placed pieces, control of the e-file and light-squared play on the kingside. Attacks on the kingside are usually introduced by …Bd6, and normally followed by …Qh4 provoking a kingside weakness. However, it is important to note that this is not always the case!’

He goes to highlight some standard pros and cons.

The Marshall Attack is holding up very well indeed at the highest level but to play it successfully requires detailed knowledge of the various branches.

This book covers:

Part One: Gambit Lines (pages 15-74)

1 The Main Line
2 The Modern Rook Shuffle: 15 Re4
3 The Mysterious Retreat: 13 Re2
4 The Kevitz Variation: 12 Bxd5 cxd5 13 d4
5 The Dangerous 12 d3
6 The Tricky 12 g3
7 Declining The Marshall

Part Two: Anti-Marshall Lines (pages 75-129)

8 The 8 h3 Anti-Marshall
9 The 8 a4 Anti-Marshall
10 The 8 d4 Anti-Marshall
11 The Steinitz Variation: 8 d3

Part Three: Other Lines (pages 130-167)

12 The Worrall Attack
13 The Delayed Exchange Variation
14 Early d4 and Nc3 Variations
15 The Exchange Variation

The main lines are attractive and produce some fascinating positions, such as this one (from chapter 2).

White to play

‘Here there are many perpetual check possibilities, for instance 28.Rxe2 Rxe2 29.Rf2 Bxh2 30.Qf1 Rxe1 31.Qxe1 Bf4+ …’

It is easy to see the appeal of such swashbuckling play.

The final chapter is just as important as the rest, at least in terms of fulfilling the aim of providing a complete repertoire against the Spanish Game. Black players neglect the Exchange Variation at their peril. Here, the recommendation is 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 0-0 Bd6 ‘…a line recommended to me by Gligoric himself as Black’s best approach’.

A discussion of the various plans for both sides is followed by a selection of illustrative games (with numerous examples of GM Hebden doing very well as Black).

The lack of a bibliography is unfortunate; one would have thought it essential in a specialist opening book.

All in all, this book would suit serious players who have the time and energy to work hard with the given material. Club players may well find themselves out of their depth.

For further details of these and other Everyman products, please visit:
http://www.everymanchess.com/

Missed a review? Pop along to my archive:
http://marshtowers.blogspot.com/2007/12/chess-review-archive.html

Advice From A Distance (Take 2)

A long time ago, when I was still officially a student, an English teacher set our class a piece of work based on advising one’s past self using the wisdom of the future.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take the task seriously enough for the teacher’s liking. Not only did I suggest that I would advise myself on how win more chess matches by offering better moves at certain junctures, I also ended up in trouble for rather flippantly suggesting that the person who tried to assassinate the Pope could be tipped off to aim a little bit more to the right. This got me into rather serious trouble.

A friend scolded me. ‘Why did you write that?! You know fine well that Mrs. B. is a Catholic!’

‘Of course I do!' I replied. 'But how was I to know the Pope was too?’

So in order to make amends I thought I’d better have another go at the lesson. It’s just taken me a little while to get around to it, but I suppose I’ve been quite busy for the last 27 years. Anyway, if Mrs. B. is reading this, perhaps I will get a better mark this time instead of being shouted out. After all, I haven’t mentioned religion at all this time. Except just then. And the bit at the start.

So, past self, here’s a few snippets hinting at what you should expect from 2009...

In order to make money, it is enough to lower one’s dignity. The lower the dignity, the more the income. It really is as simple as that.

The people you think are overweight look ‘normal’ compared to the people of 2009. Pencil-thin anorexics are on the increase but so are obese people. Millions of pounds are spent on food and other products to create people with extremely odd shapes. Further millions are spent on trying to change them back again. Gone is the uncool solution of the wired jaw; a gastric band is not only trendy but has the distinct advantage of allowing a victim to eat without missing out the taste buds.

Tattoos have become unbelievably popular. Upper-arm Celtic crosses and/or curious barbed wire markings vie for the most popular options along with strange black versions of paisley patterns. Tattoos used be an attempt to stand out from the crowd. Now, they represent an attempt to do exactly the opposite. They don’t look any nicer though.

Want to spend somewhere between one and four years doing anything you want with no sense of responsibility? Just go to university, like everyone else does. Don’t worry about the academic side of things. Nobody checks for the first year and then a couple of simple internet searches will let you download all the notes you need. Or join the trendsetters and simply pay a freelancer to write essays for you. Just alter tiny bits to make it look like your own work and nobody will find out.

Do you prefer your actors to do the acting, celebrities to do whatever it is they do and Mr. & Mrs. Nobody to remain anonymous? Then you won’t like it here. Nobodies do all the singing and dancing while the actors and celebrities do all the cooking, buying/selling houses and gardening. The ‘lucky’ ones get to spend a couple of weeks arguing on an island and eating worms. This could lead to appearances in Christmas pantos. See what I mean about lowering one’s dignity in return for a pay-day?

Some people foresaw this happening. I chanced upon a diary entry very recently:

‘The most amusing of all spectator sports in England now is television. Not the second-rate plays and films nor the actors and actresses, but the news, and the real people, heroes and heroines who voluntarily exhibit themselves under a merciless magnifying glass for the public to gaze at.’

Diana Mosley
Diary entry from the 1950s(!)

Ok, 1982 self, that’s all I’d better tell you for now. More will follow in part 2, which will follow some time within the next 27 years. Oh! Before I forget…it’s not all bad news. 2009 is the year you get to see Ultravox ‘live’ again!