Checkpoint

Reviewed this month:

Nimzo-Larsen Attack
by Byron Jacobs & Jonathan Tait
Ultimate Colle
by Gary Lane
4...Qh4 in the Scotch Game
by Lev Gutman
ECO A 4th Edition
by Aleksander Matanovic et al
Checkpoint
Carsten Hansen
In or Out of the Books?
This month we are featuring books on openings that are not covered very frequently.
This of course should allow the authors of these monographs to present a lot of fresh
and original material, something I value immensely. Below I will try to answer
whether the authors of these books have succeeded in doing so. Finally, I will take a
brief look at the most recent volume of ECO from Sahovski Informator. In the last
couple of years, ECOs have not exactly been known for fresh and original material; I
will check to see if this trend has changed.
Nimzo-Larsen Attack by Byron Jacobs and Jonathan Tait, 2001
Everyman Chess, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 143 pp.,
$19.95
The Nimzo(witsch)-Larsen Attack, 1 b3, is not exactly an opening
that makes you tremble with fear, even if some of my worst defeats
as a junior came as Black against this simple little move. Its name
reveals much about its origins, my compatriots; the distinguished
gentlemen Nimzowitsch and Larsen have done a lot to popularize
the opening while they respectively were at the summit of the
chess world. Nimzowitsch played 1 b3, but usually preferred 1 Nf3 and only then b3,
giving his opponent the opportunity to enter a reversed Nimzo-Indian. Larsen played 1
b3 in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, often with good results, although most people
only remember his terrible defeat in the hands of Spassky in the USSR vs Rest of the
World match in 1970. It's probably not that game that inspired Fischer to take 1 b3 up
on a couple of occasions, but the soon-to-be World Champion won a couple of good
games with it.
Not much of the above is mentioned in the introduction; in fact both Nimzowitsch and
Larsen are only mentioned once in the introduction, not much for the people who gave
the opening its name. Instead, the introduction discusses move orders, what has been
included in the book and why you should play the Nimzo-Larsen Attack. Regarding
the last, I must commend the authors for their hands-down honest approach. They
write: "Many opening monographs have enthusiastic titles of the form Winning with

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the... and invite the reader to ingest some marvellous system or other and rack up
points - either by encyclopaedic knowledge of main lines or the methodical
application of simple strategies. So let us make it clear, first of all, that White has no
advantage in the Nimzo-Larsen. The lines in ECO, for example, conclude mostly in '='
(equal) or 'unclear', with just a few '+=' (White stands slightly better) and even these
'+=' seem optimistic. Nor is the Nimzo-Larsen a 'system' opening in which the first
moves are played parrot-fashion regardless of the replies. There are system-like
elements in some variations - the plan Bb5, Ne5, f2-f4 in the reversed Nimzo-Indian
(Chapter 4) for instance - but more often White (and Black) can do just about
anything. Anyone who likes to win their games in the opening should therefore look
elsewhere."
How about that? No advantage in the opening, and if you have this simple ambition in
life, try something else. Well, at least they are honest. The authors? Jacobs is a name
we have seen several times over the last year as an opening author, but I suspect he is
busier editing books at Everyman Chess than writing books himself, given the
terrifying pace at which Everyman releases books. Jonathan Tait was a name that I
was not familiar with before this work, but the back cover of the book tells us that he
is a former British Correspondence Champion and editor of the quarterly magazine
Correspondence Chess. He should also be 'well-known for his analytical articles on
many tactical opening systems'.
First is the contents page, then the Bibliography, which is one of the most extensive I
have ever seen. Many of the titles do not make much sense in the larger scope of
things, but I assume that the books they list have been used for the study of a line or
two. My two books on the English Opening are listed, but inside the book I see no
references to either of the books or me and the same goes for many of the other titles.
But other titles are downright odd such as Nunn's Secrets of Rook Endings or
Bronstein's 200 Open Games. At least I didn't come across a title like Guidebook to
Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which can be found in the bibliography
to Rowson's The Seven Deadly Chess Sins. Despite Keene and Reinfeld's books about
Nimzowitsch, I found it rather strange that none of Nimzowitsch's own works, My
System and Chess Praxis, found their way into the bibliography.
Returning to the contents of the book, it is divided as follows:
● Part One: 1 b3 e5
● 1 1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 Nc6 3 e3 d5 4 Bb5 Bd6 (23 pages)
● 2 1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 Nc6 3 e3 (19 pages)
● 3 1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 other lines (23 pages)
● Part Two: 1 b3 d5 and 1 Nf3 d5 2 b3
● 4 Reversed Nimzo-Indian: 1 Nf3 d5 2 b3 c5 with ...Nc6 and Bb5 (17 pages)
● 5 Reversed Queen's Indian: 1 Nf3 d5 2 b3 c5 (18 pages)
● 6 Black plays 1...d5, 2...Nf6 but not ...c7-c5 (21 pages)
● 7 Black plays 1...d5, 2...Bg4 (16 pages)
● Part Three: Other lines
● 8 Black plays an early ...g7-g6 (25 pages)
● 9 Black plays 1...c5 and other moves (20 pages)
To me the above is a bit sketchy and, without a comprehensive index, I found the

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book quite difficult to navigate. I know there is a little index at the end of each
chapter, but having to look for the individual indexes every time you have to locate a
particular variation is extremely annoying. It may work with some openings where the
lines are less transpositional, but with this opening it was definitely not a success. I
hope Everyman and Byron Jacobs soon give up this concept.
The book is structured like previous Everyman releases: each chapter has a number of
main games in which the main body of theory is given and as well as explanations of
key strategic, positional and tactical elements. All of these points are covered very
well in each chapter. In fact I got the feeling that the authors put in a lot of work
putting together an extraordinary book about the Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack.
Everywhere I looked I came across plenty of new ideas and independent analysis. This
blended with intelligent prose constitutes the recipe for an excellent opening book.
As an example I will take the following game by one of the most prominent regulars
behind the White pieces in Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack:
Minasian-van der Werf Groningen 1991 (game 23 in the book - Annotations from
move 5 as in the book; my remarks are marked CH)
1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 d6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Ne2
Minasian has a liking for this move against ...d7-d6 systems. White can break with
either d2-d4 or develop quietly by 5 g3, 6 Bg2 leading to an English (after c2-c4) or
perhaps a Hippopotamus (after d2-d3 and Nd2).
4.d4! is the most forcing move since Black cannot ignore the attack on e5. After
4...exd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Bb5 White is again more active. Instead 4...e4?! is
inappropriate without a Nf3 to hit, then 5.d5!? isolates the e4-pawn and opens the
diagonal for the bishop. Magomedov-Neverov, Minsk 1990, continued 5...c6 6.c4
cxd5 7.cxd5 Be7 8.Nc3 0–0 9.Nge2 Bf5 10.Ng3 Bg6 11.Qd4 (threatening Nxe4)
11...Qa5 12.Be2 Re8 13.0–0 Bf8 14.Bd1 Nbd7 15.Bc2 Qb6 16.Rad1 Nc5 17.b4 Rac8
18.Na4 Nxa4 19.Bxa4 Qxd4 20.Bxd4 and White was better.
4...Nbd7 5.Nf3! e4 6.Nfd2 d5 7.c4 c6 creates a reversed Tarrasch French. Usually the
reversed Frenchs are fine for Black, but here the knights are misplaced occupies the
traditional home of the d7-knight (c.f. 3...Nd7 above). White should therefore attack
the centre before Black has reorganised, to which end Dunnington's 8.Nc3 Bd6 9.f3!?
exf3 (9...Qe7 10.fxe4) 10 Qxf3 looks effective.
4...g6 5.f4!?
Minasian's pet continuation; e.g. 4...Bf5 5.f4!?
Nc6 6.Ng3 Bg4 7.Be2 h5 8.0–0 Qd7 9.h3 Bxe2
(9...Bxh3 10.gxh3 Qxh3 11.Rf3 defends) 10.Nxe2
0–0–0 11.c4 Be7 12.Nbc3 Qe6 13.e4 Rdg8 14.d4
exd4 15.Nxd4 Qd7 16.Nxc6 Qxc6 17.Nd5 Bd8
18.Qd3 and White was better in Minasian-Piskov,
Minsk 1990.
5...Bg7
A later game did not turn out so well: 5...Nc6
6.fxe5 Nxe5 7.Nf4 Ne4!? (threatening ...Qh4+)
8.g3 Bg4 9.Be2 h5 10.d3 Ng5 (preventing the
desired development Qd2, 0-0-0) 11.Nc3 (better
11.Nd2 to cover f3 and then 12 d4) 11...c6 12.h4 Nh7 13.Qd2 Bg7 14.Bxg4 (not 14
0-0-0? Nf3) 14...Nxg4, and with the outpost secured at g4 Black was better.
Minasian-Bagaturov, Protvino 1993, concluded 15.0–0–0 0–0 16.d4 Re8 17.e4 b5

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18.Rhe1 a5 19.Re2 Ra7 20.Qe1 Qb6 21.Kb1 Rae7 22.Rdd2 Qb8! 23.Qh1 Nhf6 24.e5
dxe5 25.dxe5 Nxe5 26.Rd1 a4 27.Rde1 axb3 28.axb3 Nfg4 29.Ne4 Qa7 30.Nc3 Qa5
31.Nd3 Ra8 32.Nxe5 Nxe5 (intending ...Kh7, ...Nc4 and wins) 0-1.
6.fxe5 Ng4
The usual pin along the long diagonal enables Black to recapture.
7.h3 Nxe5
Threatening 8...Nf3+ (or 8...Nd3+) discovering on the bishop, as well as 8...Qh4+ 9
g3 Qe4. Now if 8.Nbc3 (blocking the long diagonal and covering e4) Black can cause
some disruption by anyway playing 8...Nf3+!? 9.gxf3 Qh4+ 10.Ng3 Qxg3+ or 9.Kf2
Ng5. So White makes room for his king to go leftwards.
8.d4!? Qh4+ 9.Kd2 Ng4!
Showing up the weaknesses at f2 and e3. If now 10.Nec3 Nxe3! 11.Kxe3 Bh6+
12.Kd3 Bf5+ 13.Kc4 Nc6 and Black has a dangerous attack; e.g. 14.Ne2 b5+! 15.Kc3
b4+ 16.Kc4 Rb8! intending ...Na5+ and mates, or 15.Kxb5 Rb8+ 16.Ka4 Nb4
(threatening ...Bd7+ and ...Nxc2).
The best defence is 10.Nf4! (threatening 11 hxg4 Qxh1 12 Bb5+) 10...Nf2 (or 10...0–0
11.g3 Qh6 12.Qf3) 11.Qe1 Qg3 (otherwise 12 Ke2 [CH: However, it seems like they
haven't considered 11...Bf6! which seems to take advantage of the weak dark squares
on White's kingside better, e.g., 12.Rg1 (obviously the suggested 12. Ke2 is met with
12...Nxh1) 12...Ne4+ 13.Kd1 Qxe1+ 14.Kxe1 Bh4+ 15.Ke2 Bf2 (this is not strictly
forced, but it seems to work) 16.Rh1 Ng3+ 17.Kxf2 Nxh1+ 18.Kf3, and with the
knight apparently stuck in the corner, Black has to use brute force to get it out, before
White clears the way for his rook on a1: 18...h5 19.Na3 g5 20.Nd5 Kd8 21.Nb5 Na6
22.Bc4 g4+ 23.Kf4 Nf2 24.Rf1 g3 25.Kxg3 Ne4+, and the knight has escaped] 12.Rg1
Ne4+ 13.Kd1 and White has avoided the worst. Instead he tries a speculative
exchange sacrifice.
10 Nbc3?! Bh6!
Accepting the challenge. 10...Nf2 11.Qe1 Ne4+ 12.Nxe4 Qxe4 13.Nc3 (planning
Qf2/Qg3, Re1, Kc1) or 10...Nf6 11.Nf4 are roughly equal.
11.hxg4
White has little choice now: if 11.Nf4 Nxe3 or 11.Nd5 Nxe3 12.Nxe3 Qf2 both win a
pawn for nothing.
11...Qxh1 12.Nd5 Kd8
Not 12...Na6? 13.Ng3 Qh4 14.Qf3 threatening 15 Bxa6, or if 14...c6 15.Nf6+ Ke7
16.Bxa6 bxa6 17.d5 intending 18 Rh1 Qg5 19 Nge4.
13.Qe1

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Activating the white queen and preventing the

black queen returning into play via h4. Black
should seek to extricate her majesty as soon as
possible; e.g. 13...Bg5 makes room at h6 and if
14.Qf2 Rf8 [CH: 14...Nd7!? also makes sense]
15.Nf6 Nd7 16.d5 (Riemersma) then 16...Qh6
17.g3 Ne5 [CH: 17...Ke7 looks even better] or
17.Ng3 Bh4 defends. Also there seems to be
nothing wrong with 13...Bxg4 since if 14.Qg3 (or
14.Qf2 f5 15.Nef4 Bxf4 16.exf4 Qh6) 14...Be6
15.Nef4 (intending Be2) 15...g5! gives the queen
the h4-square, while 16.Nh3 Bxh3 17.gxh3? Qxd5
wins, so it seems the sacrifice was unsound. [CH:
That may be the case, but in this last line, White can play 16.Nxe6+ instead of the
poor 16 Nh3?, e.g. 16...fxe6 17.Ba6 Qxa1 18.Bxa1 Nxa6 19.Nf6 and White is
probably even holding an edge. However, 15...Bxd5 seems to improve, e.g. 16.Nxd5
Qh5 or 16.Be2 Bxf4 17.Qxf4 Qxg2 18.Qf6+ Kd7 19.Qxh8 h5 and despite White
having won back the exchange, Black is clearly better.]
13...Re8 14.Qf2 f5
If 14...Be6 15.Nf6 Rf8 [CH: 15...Re7 is possibly better 16.Ng8 Re8 17.Nf6 Re7 can
be a draw or White can try 18.Nf4 Bxf4 19.Qxf4 or 19.exf4 c6 20.d5 cxd5 21.Ng8
Re8 neither of which is particularly clear] 16 Nf4(threatening Nxh7 or Ba6)16...Bxf4
17.exf4 Qh6 18.d5 Bd7 19.Re1 leaves White in control. Now 14...Bxg4 is only good
enough for a draw: 15.Qf6+ Kc8 16.Ne7+ Kd7 17.Nd5! Kc8 (not 17...Be6? 18.Nef4)
18.Ne7+ etc.
15.Nef4 Bxf4
If 15...c6 16.Nh3! cxd5 17.Qh4+ Kc7 18.Qxh6 with counterplay, e.g. 18...fxg4
19.Qg7+ Bd7 20.Nf4 Qh4 21.Nxd5+ Kd8 22.Ba3.
16.exf4 Nd7??
The losing move. Black covers f6 but obstructs the bishop on c8 and leaves a
weakness at e7. Better to retreat the queen by 16...Qh6 and after 17.Nf6 (if 17.Re1
Rxe1 18.Qxe1 Nc6 defends e7) 17...Rf8 18.g5 Qg7 19.d5 Nd7 20.Re1 Nxf6!
21.Bxf6+ (or 21 gxf6 Qf7 22 Re7 Qxd5+) 21...Rxf6 22.gxf6 Qxf6 intending to
unravel by ...Bd7, ...c7-c6, ...Kc7. [CH: Two other ideas are 16...c6 17.Nf6 Re7 and
16...Qh2 17.Nf6 Rf8]
17.Re1!
Now if 17...Rxe1 18 Qxe1 and Black cannot defend e7.
17...Re4 18.gxf5 gxf5 19.Qg3 Qh6 20.Bd3 c6
If 20...Rxe1 21.Qxe1 Qf8 22.Qh4+ wins. White could take the exchange back (21
Bxe4 cxd5 22 Bxf5 but he finds something better:
21.Rh1!

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White sacrifices a second rook at h1!

21...Qxh1
If Black declines by 21...Qf8 22.Qg5+ Re7
23.Nxe7 Qxe7 24.Qxe7+ Kxe7 25.Rxh7+ and
White will get the f5-pawn as well to emerge two
pawns up.
22.Qg8+ Nf8 23.Qxf8+ Kd7 24.Qf7+ Kd8
25.Qf8+ Kd7 26.Bxe4!
After an unnecessary repeat White plays the
winning move.
26...cxd5 27.Ba3! 1–0
Black cannot defend d6.
Not a perfect game, but definitely one with some excitement. As you can see for
yourself, there are a lot of annotations and plenty of analysis, although not all of it
perfect, but that happens when you spread yourself out and allow yourself to analyse.
This game is pretty typical for the game annotations you find in this book.
Bottom line, this book should be a must for everybody playing this opening as White;
it lets you know everything there is to know about it and a bit more. Black players
obviously can do without it, but if you fancy a collection of interesting combative
games, then this book could be right for you as well.

My assessment of this book:

The Ultimate Colle by Gary Lane, 2001 Batsford, Figurine

Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 176 pp., $22.95
The author of this book hardly needs any introduction. Gary
Lane is one of our most popular columnists at ChessCafe.com.
His column is easy to understand and entertaining.
So what's ultimate about the Colle? The recent Ultimate Dragon
was in my opinion anything but ultimate, but Lane may well
show us that The Ultimate Colle is in fact ultimate.
In my youth I thought that Queen's Pawn openings like the
Colle, London and Torre Attacks bordered on unsportsmanlike
conduct. I found these openings extremely boring to face and quite difficult to win
against as Black, even if you were rated a couple of hundred points higher than your
opponent. Obviously I didn't play these openings myself, but I will not deny that a lot
of my opponents when playing Black may have considered my 1 c4 as deeply boring
too.
What is the Colle? White can play the Colle against several black set-ups. One
common set-up is the following: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 e6 4 Bd3 followed by b3 or
c3, depending on what kind of game White prefers.
The book opens with the table of contents, which also doubles as the index of
variations. It is quite detailed so the idea works well in this case. The general scheme
of things is as follows:
● Introduction (10 pages)

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● 1 The Colle - 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 e6 4 Bd3 c5 5 c3 Nc6 6 Nbd2 (45 pages)

● 2 The Colle with ...Nbd7 - 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 e6 4 Bd3 c5 5 c3 Nbd7 6 0-0
Be7 and 6Nbd2 Bd6 (13 pages)
● 3 The Colle-Zukertort - 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 e6 4 Bd3 c5 5 b3 Be7 6 Bb2 0-0
(12 pages)
● 4 The Colle-Zukertort - 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 e3 e6 4 Bd3 c5 5 b3 Nc6 (27 pages
● 5 The Colle against a Queen's Indian defensive system (19 pages)
● 6 Beating the Benoni (11 pages)
● 7 Beating the King's Indian Defense (4 pages)
● 8 Various (7 pages)
Lane opens the book with the following statement: “The Colle is a simple opening to
learn and leads to middlegames where White has a clear-cut plan: after mobilising his
pieces behind a solid pawn centre he will then cut loose with a fierce kingside attack.
This makes the opening popular with players who want something reliable yet with an
aggressive option. As the distinguished chess teacher and first world correspondence
chess champion Cecil Purdy wrote: 'A player who specialises in the Colle System
needs to spend only about a tenth of the time studying the openings (for White) that he
would otherwise have to. The Colle is the safest of all openings systems for White,
and yet it is designed for kingside attack and therefore seldom leads to dull games'. An
excellent recommendation.”
That sums it up very nicely why so many people are attracted to this opening. Next
Lane takes us through the history of the Colle. He starts with Johann Zukertort who
used the set-up with b3, then moves on to Rudolf Charousek, then Edgard Colle and
finally George Koltanowski, and rounds the history part off by mentioning that
amongst others, both Anand and Khalifman have used the Colle on occasion. As with
the rest of the introduction, this first part is nicely illustrated with beautiful and
interesting games such as the following:
Colle-Grünfeld Berlin 1926 (the notes are those by Lane in the book)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.Nbd2 c5 6.0–0 Be7 7.b3
(This queenside fianchetto defines the Colle-Zukertort System.)
7...cxd4 8.exd4 d6 9.Bb2 Nbd7 10.c4 0–0 11.Rc1 Re8 12.Re1 Qc7 13.Qe2 Rac8
14.Nf1 Qb8 15.Ng3 Qa8 16.Ng5 g6?
17.Nxf7!
(Colle wrecks Black's defences with an impressive
piece sacrifice.)
17...Kxf7 18.Qxe6+ Kg7 19.d5!
(A key move that introduces the dark-squared
bishop to the attack and cuts off Black's queenside
pieces.)
19...Nc5 20.Nf5+! Kf8
(If 20...gxf5 then 21.Qxf5 Nxd3 22.Rxe7+ Rxe7
23.Qxf6+ Kg8 24.Qxe7 Nxb2 25.Rc3 wins)
21.Qe3 gxf5 22.Qh6+ Kf7 23.Bxf5 Bxd5 24.Rxe7+ Rxe7 25.Qxf6+ Ke8 26.Qh8+

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Kf7 27.Bxc8 1-0

Not a lot of annotations, but that is hardly necessary in the history section. The game
annotations are generally more in depth than what we saw above, but there could have
been more examples and explanations throughout this introduction. Since a lot weaker
players and club players will probably buy this book, I'm sure they will look for some
guidance regarding typical strategic themes, positional explanations, typical tactical
ideas etc. However, it has to be said that much of this can be obtained by studying the
games in the theory chapters.
While we are on the subject of games, it bothers me that there is no index of games or
players in this book; nor did I find a bibliography, although the latter is not
particularly important in this opening. The books that have been written on this
opening are few and not necessarily worth getting.
Moving over to the theoretical chapters, I found the structure very similar to the books
that Everyman Chess is publishing nowadays; each chapter consists of a number of
main games, where the underlying theory is knitted into the game annotations. The
main concern about this set-up is that it is easy for the author to omit some lines
without the reader noticing. In repertoire books this is of extra concern, since critical
lines can then be omitted by the author if they prove too problematic, something that
is all too common in this type of book. However, all lines do seem to be covered,
although my limited knowledge of this opening does not allow me to give any definite
guarantees.
While the book give guidance for both sides, this book is mainly written from White's
point of view, as reflected in the much larger number of wins for White than Black.
The last four chapters are also clear evidence for the coverage from White's point of
view; the Black options are discussed, weighed and destroyed. One such example is
the following game by my compatriot and namesake, Carsten Høi, who aside from the
Colle Attack also is a specialist in the Richter-Veresov Attack. The game is almost
thirteen-years old, but I still remember when I first played through the game, which
could be found in pretty much any chess magazine and newspaper back then. In my
opinion, it is absolutely extraordinary the energy and imagination with which Høi
conducts the attack against the black king. The annotations given below are abridged
from those by Lane in the book.
Høi-Gulko Thessaloniki OL 1988
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bd3 b6 5.0–0 Bb7 6.Nbd2 cxd4
The American grandmaster chooses to avoid a number of lines by exchanging in the
centre. The slight drawback is that it opens up the e-file for White's king's rook.
7.exd4 Be7 8.Re1 0–0 9.c3
This advance supports the d-pawn and returns to the traditional pawn structure of the
Colle.
9...d6 10.Qe2
White is playing a waiting game to see how Black reacts before committing his
pieces. The queen on e2 is well places to support Nde4 and it also allows the rooks to
centralise.
10...Re8 11.Nf1
11 a4, intending a5 to open the a-file, deserves to be tested.
11...Nbd7 12.Ng3 Bf8 13.Bg5 h6

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If Black needs to find a different set-up then 13...g6, followed by ...Bg7, suggests
itself.
14.Bd2 Qc7 15.Bc2 Bd5 16.b3 Qb7 17.Nh4!
At the moment it would not be wise for White to
allow the knight to be taken because it would
reduce any prospect of attack. On h4 it offers
options of Nh5, exchanging the defensive knight
on f6, and also the attractive Qd3 , when ...g6 to
block the b1-h7 diagonal, runs into the sacrifice
Nxg6. [CH: analysing the game with one of my
silicone friends, it came up with a very radical
approach for Black that most people would not
even bother thinking about: 17...g5 18 Nf3 e5 19
dxe5 Bxf3 20 Qxf3 Qxf3 21 gxf3 Nxe5, but White
should be better in the endgame due to his two
bishops, Black's messy pawn structure, weak light
squares and bad bishop on f8.]
17...b5 18.Qd3
[CH: This set-up with White's light-squared bishop on c2 (or b1) and queen on d3,
was named 'Dicke Berta' (after a German WW1 canon) by the Danish players during
this Olympiad.]
18...g5 19.Nf3 Bxf3?
An instinctive move, played on the principle that it is advantageous to damage the
enemy castled position. However, sometimes it is good to break the rules and this is a
case in point. Since Black has already weakened his own kingside pawn structure with
a lunge of the g-pawn, the semi-open g-file will now be exploited by White's king's
rook. Therefore 19...Bg7 should have been preferred.
20.gxf3 Bg7 21.h4!
Høi is quite happy to offer a pawn in return for an opening of the g-file. It instantly
makes clear the folly of exchanging on f3.
21...gxh4 22.Ne4 Qc6 23.Kh1 Nh5 24.Rg1 Kf8
What else? 24...f5 runs into 25 Bxh6! fxe4 26 Rxg7+ Nxg7 27 Qg5 winning. [CH:
Other than 27 Qg5 not being a legal move, this is a nice line, but quite possibly
problematic for White.]
25.Rxg7!
White's command of the kingside and the disarray of the opposing pieces have made
this sacrifice possible.
25...Kxg7 26.Bxh6+! Kxh6 27.Rg1
Cutting off the king in anticipation of a decisive check.
27...f5 28.Qe3+ f4
28...Kh7 leads to a rout after 29 Qg5.
29.Nxd6 Qxd6
The queen can be taken but only by allowing a quick mate. For example, 29...fxe3 30
Nf7 or 29...Ng3+ 30 Rxg3 fxe3 31 Nf7+ Kh5 32 Rg5 mate.

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30.Qd3
30...Nf8
Gulko allows a finish that the puzzle-solving
connoisseur will relish. 30...Ng3+ keeps the game
going for a few more moves although after 31
Rxg3 Nf8 32 Rg6+ Kh5 33 Rf6 Qe7 34 Rxf8 Qg7
35 Rxf4 White wins.
31.Qh7+ 1–0
Of course 31...Nxh7 32 Rg6 is mate.
It is quite clear that a lot of new moves have been
suggested by the author thoughout the book. This
is obviously something you should be able to find in any good opening book, which
this is. Perhaps Lane could have analyzed more deeply once in while, simply for the
sake of exploring a complicated position, much like John Watson does in his books or
like Gutman does in the book that you will find reviewed below. But this is obviously
a balance that each author has to decide upon for himself. The key ingredients in an
opening book are the following (in no particular order): theory, new ideas,
independent analysis, and explanations. The problem is that some of the key
ingredients demand more effort than others, and what may be the right balance in one
book may be completely wrong in another. This of course also depends on the
audience you are targeting. For a book like this one, which I think is primarily aimed
players rated below 2200, the balance in this book is excellent, perhaps to the extent
that even stronger players can use this book to their advantage.
Should you play the Colle as White or need a White opening that doesn't demand too
many hours of theoretical studies, this book is the choice for you. You will find a
well-written book about a subject that is far more interesting than its reputation. I have
been pleasantly surprised how versatile this opening is.
The Ultimate Colle is perhaps not ultimate in every sense, but it a heck of a lot closer
than previous 'Ultimate' attempts by other authors, and without a doubt the best book
that is available on the opening.

My assessment of this book:

Order The Ultimate Colle
by Gary Lane

4...Qh4 in the Scotch Game by Lev Gutman, 2001 Batsford,

Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 272 pp., $23.95
Right from the preface, you know that this book is something out
of the ordinary. In fact, at first I was a bit worried. The preface
consisted of five quotes which all referred to and praised his 1992
work in German, Gewinnen mit Schottisch. Next follows the
introduction and more quotes – 9½ pages of them. A bit too
much? Yes. Interesting? Yes. Worth reading? Definitely. I
enjoyed reading the many statements from various authors, world
champions, grandmasters and other fine people. Everybody was
saying something about either the Scotch Opening or the Steinitz
Variation.

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This is merely the beginning of the most extensive compilation of quotes from other
authors on the same or related topic in an opening book. Most quotes pertains to a
specific position, but on a couple of occasions, you can find quotes by Danny King
from his book on the English Defence, which is truly bizarre, since the positions to
which the quotes refer are very different. Although the quotes fit the positions, I have
to object to this practice. Why can't the author come up with something original? All
these quotes together probably account for at least 50 pages. This is of course way too
much, and it can only help to make the book more expensive, which I doubt is in the
interest of the publisher.
The quotes notwithstanding, I was surprised that this much material on this variation
could be found. After all, how often is 4...Qh4 played? When I played 1 e4 regularly,
the Scotch Game was part of my repertoire, and it wasn't until an American CC-IM,
Bart Gibbons, played 4...Qh4 against me in CC-match between USA and Denmark
that I looked at this line seriously. Without doubt it is one of my most complicated
games ever, both in correspondence and regular over-the-board chess. I lost the game,
but what a game it was.
Let's see how the material is divided up. The 'Contents' page really doesn't give us
much of an idea (the opening moves are: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Qh4):
● Part 1: 5 Qd3
● Part 2: Less Popular Variations
● Part 3: Horwitz Variation
● Part 4: Modern Variation
● Part 5: Fraser Variation
Huh? So we have to turn to the Index of Variations at the end of the book, an index
which, by the way, is very detailed. Then things begin to make more sense:
● Part One: 5 Qd3
● Chapter 1: 5...Ne5 (5...Bb4+, 5...Nxd4, 5...Nb4) (2 pages)
● Chapter 2: 5...Bc5 (4 pages)
● Chapter 3: 5...Nf6!? (12 pages)
● Part 2: Less Popular Variations
● Chapter 1: 5 Nf5, Paulsen Variation (2 pages)
● Chapter 2: 5 Nxc6 (4 pages)
● Chapter 3: 5 Be2 (1 page)
● Chapter 4: 5 Be3!?, Braune Variation (28 pages)
● Part 3: 5 Nb5, Horwitz Variation
● Chapter 1: 5...Qxe4 (5...Kd8, 5...Nf6) (5 pages)
● Chapter 2: 5...Bb4+ (42 pages)
● Chapter 3: 5...Bc5!? (31 pages)
● Part 4: 5 Nc3 Bb4, Modern Variation
● Chapter 1: 6 Nf5 (1 page)

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● Chapter 2: 6 Nxc6 (1 page)

● Chapter 3: 6 Qd3 (6 Qd2) (10 pages)
● Chapter 4: 6 Nb5 (62 pages)
● Chapter 5: 6 Be2 (11 pages)
● Part 5: 5 Nf3!?, Fraser Variation
● Chapter 1: 5...Qxe4+ (5...Qh5) 6 Be3 (4 pages)
● Chapter 2: 5...Qxe4 6 Be2 (22 pages)
Let's take a look at some of the analysis by Gutman. There is so much of it that it
really has left me wondering if I have ever seen a book with so much original analysis.
Gutman did that in his book on the Spanish; I can really only think of John Watson's
works that are similarly packed with this burning desire to find another truth in
something we have taken for granted.
To find a suitable recent game, I made a quick search on my database, where I found
742 games with the position after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Qh4,
the starting position for this book. A remarkably
small number I have to admit. When I wrote my
book on the Symmetrical English, I had chapters
for which my base showed over 2000 games, and
which I had to compress into a mere 10-20 pages.
Going through the list of games, there are
remarkably few names that I know, at least for the
recent games, but that's hardly a surprise. The
Scotch Game, despite its use by Kasparov, is not
really a terribly popular opening, and 4...Qh4 is
considered too risky by many to play in an
over-the-board game. After all, Black races around
with the queen to pick up a pawn and often has to give up the right to castle playing
...Kd8 to protect the c7-pawn from a white knight on b5.
My first example:
Najer (2572) - Solovjov (2449) St Petersburg 2000 (Analysis by Gutman, unless
indicated otherwise)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Qh4 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Ndb5 Nf6 7.Bd2 Nxe4
Gutman's main line is 7...Bxc3!, after which he
offers the following options:
A) 8.bxc3 Kd8 (8...Qxe4+ 9.Be2 Kd8 10.0–0 Re8
"is also fine for Black") 9.Be2 Nxe4 10.0–0 d6,
"when White has yet to prove that he has enough
for the pawn".
B) 8.Bxc3 Nxe4 9.g3 Qe7 10.Qe2 Kd8 11.Bxg7
Re8 12.f3 f5 ("another option is 12...Nxg3 13.hxg3
Qb4+ 14.Bc3 Rxe2+ 15.Bxe2 Qe7 16.Rxh7 d6
17.g4 a6 18.Nd4 Nxd4 19.Bxd4 c5") 13.fxe4 Qxg7
14.0–0–0 fxe4 "with an edge for Black".
C) 8.Nxc3 Nxe4 (8...d6 9.g3 Qg4 10.f3 Qe6 11.Be3 Ne5 12.Qe2 Bd7 13.0–0–0 "looks

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good for White"), with a further branching:

C1) 9.Qe2?! "fails due to 9...Nd4 10.Qxe4+ Qxe4+ 11.Nxe4 Nxc2+".
C2) 9.g3 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 Qe7+ 11.Be2 0–0 12.0–0 d5 "White stands worse".
have to mention that 7...Bxc3! is not mentioned by anyone other than Gutman.
8.Qe2
At this point Gutman actually gives preference to 8.g3! Qe7 9.Nxc7+ Kd8 10.N7d5,
with the following options:
A) 10...Nxc3+ 11.Nxe7 Nxd1 12.Nxc6+ dxc6 13.Bxb4 Nxb2 14.Bc3 Re8+ 15.Kd2
Na4 16.Bxg7 Nc5 17.Bd4 Ne4+ 18.Kc1 "with a promising ending for White". [CH:
This line is very long, but fairly accurate. The endgame is in my opinion clearly better
for White due to Black's weak kingside pawns and White’s bishop pair.]
B) 10...Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qe6 12.Be3 is not given any evaluation or comment by Gutman,
but one suspects that he prefers White.
C) [CH: 10...Qc5 threatens mate and is not mentioned by Gutman. One possibly
continuation is 11.Be3 Qa5 (11...Nxc3 is likely to transpose into line A above after 12
Bxc5 Nxd1 13 Nxb4 Nxb2 14 Nxc6+ dxc6 15 Bd4 Re8+ 16 Kd2) 12.Nxb4 Qxb4
13.a3 Qa5 14.Qd5 Nxc3 15.Qxa5+ Nxa5 16.bxc3 b6, which is better for White,
although Black can generate some counterplay as a result of White's disrupted pawn
structure on the queenside.]
The last option is 8.Nxe4?!, which is good for Black after 8...Qxe4+ 9.Qe2 Bxd2+
10.Kxd2 Qxe2+ 11.Bxe2 Kd8 "is in Black's favour."
8...Kd8
8...Bxc3!? "is the correct reply" 9.Nxc3 (or 9.Bxc3 Kd8), and now:
A) "After 9...Nd4 10.Qxe4+ Qxe4+ 11.Nxe4 Nxc2+ 12.Kd1 Nxa1 13.Bd3 0–0 14.Ke2
Re8 15.Kf3 d5 16.Nc3 Nb3 17.axb3 c6 18.b4 I prefer White".
B) 9...f5 10.0–0–0 0–0 (10...Qxf2 11.Nxe4 Qxe2 "can be met by the annoying
12.Nd6+ cxd6 13.Bxe2 d5 14.Bf3") 11.Nxe4 Qxe4 12.Qxe4 fxe4 13.Bc4+ Kh8
14.Bd5 d6 15.Bxe4 Bd7 16.f3 Rae8 "is satisfactory for Black."
[CH: Here I must object; White's bishop pair in an open position, combined with a
pawn majority on the kingside, where Black sorely misses his f-pawn for the defense
of his king, White must be better. Black of course is not without chances of defending
himself, but I prefer White.]
9.Nxe4
"Another method is 9.Qxe4 Qxe4+ 10.Nxe4 Re8 11.f3 f5 12.c3 Bf8 13.Bg5+ Be7
14.Ned6 cxd6 15.Bxe7+ Rxe7+ 16.Kf2 d5 17.Rd1 keeping the pressure."
9...Re8 10.c3 Rxe4 11.Bg5+ Be7 12.Bxh4 Rxe2+ 13.Bxe2 Bxh4 14.0–0
"And Black had inadequate compensation for the exchange." The rest of the game
went as follows.
14...d6 15.Rfd1 Bf6 16.Na3 Be6 17.Bc4 Kd7 18.Re1 Ne5 19.Bxe6+ fxe6 20.Re2 c5
21.Rd1 d5 22.f4 Ng6 23.f5 Nf4 24.fxe6+ Kc6 25.Re3 Re8 26.Nc2 Rxe6 27.g3 Rxe3
28.Nxe3 d4 29.gxf4 dxe3 30.Kf1 b5 31.Ke2 b4 32.cxb4 Bxb2 33.bxc5 Kxc5 34.Rd7
a5 35.Rb7 Bf6 36.a4 Kd6 37.Kxe3 Ke6 38.Ra7 Bc3 39.Kd3 Be1 40.Rxg7 Kf5
41.Rf7+ Kg6 42.Re7 1–0

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However, instead of 7 Bd2, Gutman actually advocates the obvious looking 7 Nxc7+!
Kd8, and then 8 N7d5!, as 8 Nxa8 allows a nasty attack after 8...Nxe4 9 Be3 Nxc3 10
bxc3 Bxc3+ 11 Ke2 b6!. Therefore Black does best to play 6...Ba5, which seems to
lead to a decent game for Black, although the dangers are far from over. As you can
see, Gutman provides a lot of analysis; this is typical for the book. You may debate
his evaluations, but overall he is fairly objective in his positional assessments
throughout.
Gutman knows this and actually addresses this, appropriately enough, with a quote by
Emanuel Lasker, from his Manual of Chess: "Enough, there are still problems to be
solved; the whole truth in Chess is not by any means all known yet - fortunately". So,
this book is by no means the definitive work on this line, but it certainly takes the
theory of this line a giant leap forward.
This book is a great work on a little known line that is definitely not played enough.
The complications in this line are tremendous and that will scare a lot of people away,
but hopefully even more will be attracted because of it.
I have no problems recommending this book, which provides the reader with a
valuable and – in opening books – an often rare commodity: original analysis. This
book is good value for your money.

My assessment of this book:

Order 4...Qh4 in the Scotch Game
by Lev Gutman

ECO A 4th Edition by Aleksander Matanovic et al., 2001

Sahovski Informator, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback,
pp., $36.00
My first question when I received this book was: What happened
to the 3rd edition? But then I realized, much to my dismay, that
the 3rd edition had come out as an electronic edition only. But
then again, the 2nd and 3d editions were nearly identical
anyway, so it wasn't all that important after all, except I guess,
for those people who went out and bought it. But with the
relatively short time span between the electronic 3rd edition and
this printed 4th edition, I imagine that our friends in Belgrade realised from their
slacking sales of this modern version of Bilguer, that people want their printed edition
ECO like they want their MTV.
I will definitely not complain about the return to a printed edition. The feel the book
has, dust jacket and hardcover, makes this book something special amongst chess
books. Durable quality that will be with you for years to come. Furthermore, ECO has
the nice quality that when opened, it will lay flat and stay on that page.
ECO is divided into five volumes:
● A - covering moves other than 1 d4 and 1 e4; 1 d4 openings where Black
doesn't answer 1...Nf6 or 1...d5; 1 d4 Nf6, where White does not play 2 c4; and
finally 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4, where Black does not answer 2...e6 or 2...g6.
● B - covering 1 e4 openings, where Black doesn't answer 1...e6 or 1...e5.
● C - covering 1 e4 e6 and 1...e5

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● D - covering 1 d4 d5 and 1...Nf6 2 c4 g6 with 3...d5

● E - covering 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 and 2...g6 where Black does not play 3...d5.
As you can see the greatest variety of openings can be found in volume A. A lot of
these openings don't see a lot of action at IM- or GM-level, e.g. 1 b3, 1 b4, 1 f4 and
other more eccentric first moves. However, the English Opening is constantly being
played by the strongest players in the world. Other popular openings featured in this
volume are the Benko Gambit, the Modern Benoni and the Dutch Defense.
As I have mentioned in my reviews of other ECO volumes, the people in Belgrade
have strayed from their original approach where they had a strong GM edit the
subchapters in which they were considered specialists. Some examples were Keres
editing many subchapters of the open games, Botvinnik much of the Grunfeld,
Kasparov the Tarrasch Queen's Gambit and the list goes on. Then they went over to
having anonymous editors, who only followed what was being published in
Informator. This is of course an extremely limited approach and but for those
openings that are not popular at GM-level at present, the theory of these openings in
ECO would be at a complete standstill, something actual theory never is. This also
meant that correspondence games were grossly misrepresented, merely by not being
present despite the importance theoretically for the development of many openings.
Finally, there was no original analysis by these editors, so the not always accurate
analysis by some IMs and GMs made its way to ECO where it was often presented as
the ultimate truth. Sad indeed.
Since the 2nd and 3rd editions were nearly identical, I will compare the printed 2nd
and 4th editions. One new thing I noticed immediately is that the footnotes have been
emphasized a bit by writing the foot number in a larger bold font, making it easier to
locate what you are looking for. This is particularly important in a book like the ECO
where each code covers a lot of ground. Therefore a code like A30, which covers
Hedgehog and Double Fianchetto of the Symmetrical English, has 24 pages of foot
notes - 522 foot notes, whereas in a work like Nunn's Chess Openings the foot notes
cover normally 1-2 pages.
Returning to the A30 I mentioned above, there are major changes taking place. The
number of foot notes is upped from 405 to 522. The material itself has also been
tossed around so that the Double Fianchetto material now is before the Hedgehog
lines. I am also pleased to see that the footnotes include several examples from games
that have not been published in Informator. But there are only very few, if any,
examples of independent suggestions by the editors. Only analysis and new moves
that have already been published in Informator have found their way into this ECO.
This is another example the relative theoretical standstill that exists in ECO. For
example, analysis given in easily accessed theory presented in books or on the internet
does not find its way to the ECO, giving a misleading picture of the current theoretical
status of a particular opening. Having just worked extensively on the English Opening
in the last two books of my own, I have found that many of the older and less analysed
lines, such as the Anti-Benoni lines without ...Nc6 (e.g. 1 c4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 d4 cxd4 4
Nxd4 e6), are full of potholes in the ECO version, merely because nobody has
bothered to look at them for several years. Furthermore, as Tim Harding pointed out
in a thread on the ChessCafe.com Bulletin Board, the correspondence games are
more or less completely ignored, and those that do find their way to Belgrade are
often not those by the strongest players.
Going through this volume, I find that the material in general is much better and more
current than in other recent volumes of ECO, but I also have to say that it was about
time that it happened. While the theoretical coverage in the ECO generally is good
and covers a lot of ground for a reasonable price, the coverage is not sufficiently

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in-depth to satisfy specialists of a given opening.

My assessment of this book:

The Ratings

— A poor book, not recommended.

— Not a particularly good book, but perhaps useful for some readers.

— A useful book.

— Good book, recommended.

— Excellent book, highly recommended.

Copyright 2001 Carsten Hansen. All rights reserved.

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