Book Reviews from Gary Lane
another launch. It is always interesting to read what the
author has changed and in chapter one he modestly
reflects on the creation of the work. Apparently in
1989 the Belgian player Luc
Winants read the manuscript
and Suba reveals “He was the
first to say that such a thing
had not been published since
My System.” He then goes on
to mention that GM Kevin
Spraggett copied his recommended openings and even
has time to mention a review
from amazon.com. The reality
is that the discussion on strategy is entertaining but after twenty years the openings
should be treated with caution.
Suba spreads his personal thoughts throughout the
book which is a welcome insight and has lots of
intriguing things to reveal. The thirty-six illustrative
games are interesting especially the anecdotes from his
time in Romania but with no obvious additional new
games in the notes it is not clear if the assessments
stand the test of time.
The perfect book to dip into when you need inspiration.
Attacking Chess: The King's Indian, Volume 1
by David Vigorito
Published by Everyman £17.99
The King’s Indian has been a favourite of World
Champions but also offers the average player a chance
to attack with the back pieces.
The only snag is that over the
years a lot of games have
been played which has helped
to build up an enormous
amount of theory. So which
line is the best for the tournament player? The American
David Vigorito does a good
job of recommending main
lines for Black and then presenting what you need to
know. Still, with a book lasting 368 pages, named as volume one and with a couple
of free updates available on the web within a year of
publication this is for the serious student. The lines
covered in this work are the Classical Variation (1 d4
Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nf3 0-0 6 Be2 e5 7
0-0 Nc6), the Classical Variation with 7 Be3 and 7 d5
and the Sämisch Variation (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3
Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 0-0 6 Be3 and now 6…Nc6 is the recommended move. I am particularly impressed that he
has not fallen into the trap of recommending the
trendy 6…c5 against the Sämisch. This is because a lot
of opening repertoire books suggest lines exclusively
played by the world’s elite and conveniently forget to
mention that Black is usually happy to draw. There is
nothing worse than seeing juniors battling it out in the
dull Petroff (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6) just because they have
seen the stars play it.Vigorito rightly rejects 6…c5
pointing out that White can grab the pawn and
exchange queens which is not the fighting line required
by those who want to win every position. Indeed he
notes “…I believe that heading into a pawn-down
endgame straight out of the opening is probably not to
everyone’s taste.”
A well researched and thoughtful book for King’s
Indian players.
Prepare to Attack
by Gary Lane
Published by Everyman £15.99
Dynamic Chess Strategy
by Mihal Suba
Published by New In Chess £14.99
It is time to check your library to see if you have old
copy of this book which was originally published in
1990 and now has the might of New in Chess behind
20
The idea is to encourage the reader to know when it is
the right time to attack during a game. I endeavour to
demonstrate how it is possible to improve your level
of play by introducing
various easy to learn techniques. It might seem simple but the line ’count the
pieces’ can work wonders
when deciding when to go
on the attack, which makes
more sense when you see
the numerous diagrams
and complete games. The
theme is instructive but
light-hearted so I share my
miseries of losing on time at weekend tournaments but
also how to rectify the problem of rapid time-limits.
There are plenty of practical tips spread throughout
the work, such as to how to choose the right opening,
planning and strategy, when to ‘cash in your chips’ and
why resignation is not always the best move.
A fun way to learn and improve.