CHESS OPENINGS FOR BLACK, EXPLAINED
Authors: Lev Alburt and Roman Dzindihashvili and IM Eugene Perelshteyn
Alburt’s Chess Openings (2005)
549 pages
$29.95

Reviewed by John Donaldson

CHESS OPENINGS FOR BLACK, EXPLAINED is a repertoire book featuring the Accelerated Dragon, Nimzo- and Bogo-Indians, Symmetrical English as well as lines to play against less common White openings. Specifically the book advocates the Uogele variation (8...a5) against 7.Bc4 in the Accerated and Gurgenize’s ...Nxd4 versus the Maroczy Bind. Roman Dzindzichashvili and his long-time student and soon-to-be GM Eugene Perelshteyn are both known for their expertise with the Accelerated (I think GM Alburt was more involved with general editorial work as he didn’t have these openings in his repertoire when he was an active player).

Though this book is intended for amateur players, it does offer some very interesting suggestions that even experts will appreciate. For example: after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nc2 Bg7 8.Be2 0-0 9.0-0 Nd7 10.Bd2 a5 in the Maroczy the move 11.Na3 brought White success in the heavyweight encounters Bologan-Motylev, Togliatti 2003 and Dominguez-Malakhov, Tripoli 2004. CHESS OPENINGS FOR BLACK, EXPLAINED suggests the following exchange sacrifice that has Roman’s fingerprints all over it – 11...Nc5 12.Nab5 Nd4 (12...Be6 13.Be3 a4 14.Rb1 Qa5 15.f4 f5 Dominguez-Malakhov, Tripoli 2004, and now 16.e5! is very strong) 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.Bh6 and now not 14...Bg7 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Bg4 Bxg4 17.Qxg4 a4 18.Qe2 Qa5 19.Rac1 Nd7 20.Nd5 Nf6 21.Rfd1 Nxd5 22.Rxd5 with a clear advantage for White in the Bologan-Motylev game, but 14...Bxc3! 15.bxc3 (15.Bxf8 Bxb2 16.Rb1 Bf6 17.Bh6 Nxe4) 15…Re8 intending ...e5 and ...f6 with a small edge.

Another interesting suggestion put forth by the authors is the opinion that the traditional two Bishop versus Bishop and Knight ending in the Maroczy is fine for Black as in Vallejo-Pons versus Malakhov, Selfloss 2004, and Rowson-Malakhov from the same event. This type of ending has been known to favor White for some time, Gelfand’s play in his game with Malishauskas (Moscow 1989) making a big impression on me. D and P challenge the classical canon but it may be more likely Malakhov is a monster in the ending along the lines of Valery Salov – nothing special for their level in the opening to put it mildly, but 2800 when a lot of pieces get traded off.

For Nimzo players the suggested line to meet 4.e3 is 4...b6 with ...Ba6 versus Ne2 and ...c5 versus Nf3. The later coverage is particularly good. Against the Bogo it’s 4.Bd2 Qe7 with Black aiming for ...e5. Against 1.c4 and 1.Nf3 Black utilizes the anti-Maroczy Bind in his back pocket and defends with 1...c5 and 2...g6. This is also the move order advocated against 1.e4 to sidestep the Rossolimo. This sequence also does extra duty against the Alapin Sicilian (2.c3).

CHESS OPENINGS FOR BLACK, EXPLAINED features the spacious layout of books associated with Lev Alburt and Al Lawrence. It’s well organized and features lots and lots of diagrams that partially accounts for its massive bulk (550 pages). I found the various highlighted tips that are featured throughout the book and the memory markers to be of uneven value but it possible that less experienced players might find them helpful.

This book is strongly recommended for players from 1800 to 2300 who are looking for one-stop shopping for their Black opening needs.

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