BOOK
AND SOFTWARE REVIEWS (from 2023).
Marek Soszynski joins forces once
again with Jerzy Konikowski to produce a very well researched book on the
Polish Defence, the St.George Defence and related
systems where Black plays a
very early
b5. The presented games and analysis make a convincing case that these, often
underestimated lines, are in fact fully playable. This concept is nicely
supported by the comments made by the noted opening author,
and very
strong player, GM Kotronias in the book’s forward. It
is perhaps a surprising fact that some very strong players have occasionally
used systems with an early b5 and these include Shabalov, Korchnoi,
Short and Spassky (even in a
World
Championship Match versus Petrosian !). The lay-out of the book is helpfully
clear which aids study of the eight chapters, which are classified depending on
White’s first move, and the book has clearly utilised an impressive range of chess
literature in its compilation. Due to this book I would fully expect there to be a significant increase
in the number of games played with these systems in the near future.
The traditional Scandinavian
Defence or Centre-Counter Defence 1.e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 has a long
history of being viewed as slightly elementary and thus somewhat dubious. After
all, hasn’t the queen been developed too early and pushed to the side of the
board where it may be further harassed by Bd2 and a subsequent Nb5, or Nd5 as
shown in the Classic game Spassky-Larsen Montreal 1979?
However, in
his latest book Correspondence Chess Master Marek Soszynski
revitalises the whole opening. In a work which combines and supersedes his earlier
ones on the Scandinavian Defence he examines two lines which look significantly
more appropriate than that arising from playing the queen to a5. These are (a) retreating
to Qd6 combined with a g6 fianchetto hence exerting a greater influence on the
centre and (b) refraining from an immediate recapture of the d5 pawn with 2…Nf6
thus not exposing the Black queen so early to danger. Each line has a very
clear and neatly laid out theory section, followed by pertinent illustrative
games. The two recommended repertoire Black lines are analysed in sufficient
detail to help understand the key concepts but without, like some electronic
publications, overwhelming the reader with too much detail. An earlier section
of the book covers lines where White does not play 2. exd5 but transposes to , for example, the Dunst Opening or the Blackmar-Diemer
Gambit.