The famous English publishing firm Batsford (www.chrysalisbooks.com), which first produced chess books in the late 1960s, is still going strong. Their three new releases: AN ATTACKING REPERTOIRE FOR WHITE, THE ENGLISH ATTACK, and BLACK IS STILL OK! all deal with the opening stage of the game, but in much different ways.

AN ATTACKING REPERTOIRE FOR WHITE is an excellent book by the former Irish champion Sam Collins. The repertoire book idea first came to the public's attention after the appearance of Keene and Levy's OPENING REPERTOIRE FOR THE ATTACKIG PLAYER, back in the 1970s, but the present volume is much better than O.R.A.P. or any of the subsequent successors devoted to 1.e4.

One reason for this is that Collins gives the reader a repertoire that isn't dumbed down. Like the above-mentioned O.R.A.P., AN ATTACKING REPERTOIRE FOR WHITE recommends the Panov-Botvinnik Attack against the Caro Kann, but Collins goes with solid main lines and not Gunderam's cheesy early c5 advocated by Keene and Levy. Another is that the suggested lines mesh nicely together. Collins proposes 2.c3 against the Sicilian and the Advance variation against the French. This is a good thing because after 1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.d4 d5 White has only one real try to fight for an advantage – 4.e5 transposing into the Advance French.

Unlike the first repertoire book, Weaver Adams' WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN, Collins makes no such wild claims, but his suggested lines do pack some punch. In addition to the Alapin versus the Sicilian and the Advance against the French he proposes the Scotch, 4.Bg5 versus the Pirc and meeting the Alekhine with 4.Nf3. Lesser lines like the Scandinavian, Petroff and Philidor are also covered, often in a very thematic, easy to remember fashion. For example against the Philidor, Collins likes a Ruy Lopez-style treatment with Bc4, a4, b3, Bb2, and then Nc3-e2-g3 with c2-c4 (after Bd3) in the air. The key section of the book is the Sicilian where he advocates meeting the main line with 2…Nf6 with Pavasovic's 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb3!? Theoretically this line may not be that dangerous but it not so well-known and has scored well in practical play.

AN ATTACKING REPERTOIRE FOR WHITE is a bit more demanding than many of the other one volume repertoire books, but the author is there to help out with plenty of helpful explanation. The student that takes up these systems will need to be able to play open, semi-open and closed middlegames. In other words this is not the book for 1500 player or someone who doesn't like to study, but for those 1800 on up, with some ambitions, this book can help a lot.

Recommended!

THE ENGLISH ATTACK by American Grandmasters Nick deFirmian and John Fedorowicz is a testament to the vitality of chess. Capablanca thought chess was played out in the 1920s and here the two authors have produced a substantial book of over 250 pages on an opening line that has only been around 20 years!

The idea of playing f3, Be3 and Qd2 has always been the fundamental way to meet the Dragon variation of the Sicilian, but answering the Najdorf, where the Black Bishop goes to e7, this way took a while to catch on. Now it is the way to meet 5...a6 and THE ENGLISH ATTACK is filled with game references from 2003 and 2004 which attest to its popularity at all levels.

The book is divided into two main parts, those where Black meets 6.Be3 with 6...e5 (covered by lifetime Najdorf aficionado deFirmian) and Scheveningen setups with 6…e6 (handled by Federowicz). There is a huge amount of material to cover here, with many transpositional possibilities, but the authors do an excellent job of organizing the material and offer the reader plenty of prose to explain key ideas and strategies. Though this is a complex system, the authors make the material accessible to a wide range of players from Expert (2000) strength on up. Those who play the Najdorf or meet it with the English Attack must have this book.

Recommended!

BLACK IS STILL OK! by Hungarian Grandmaster Andras Adorjan is not your run of the mill book. A former Candidate for the World Championship, the psychologically fragile Adorjan is definitely a man who marches to his own drummer. A former trainer of Kasparov and Leko (who he taught both the Grunfeld and Sveshnikov!) his credentials are well respected in the chess world. Back in the 1980s Adorjan started writing that the advantage of the first move was overrated and explained his reasons for this (psychological factors, emphasis on preparation for White, lack of a dynamic approach for Black etc.). He published a book BLACK IS OK! in 1988. The present, original work, with contributions from some of his collaborators and feedback from readers, continues in this vein.

BLACK IS STILL OK! has lots of philosophical discussion regarding the value of the first move, it also offers some hard chess content. The Nimzo-line 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b5!? is covered and serves as a good example of the sort of dynamic chess that Adorjan is advocating. There is also an examination of the Grunfeld Hungarian variation – 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 a6. Adorjan's experiences seconding Candidate Kevin Spraggett, whom he affectionently(!?) dubs the Canadian Bastard, make for interesting if one-sided reading. There are plenty of interesting stories of Adorjan's experiences with the young Garry Kasparov. The final chapter, My Thesis in Practice, shows just how fine and and creative a player Adorjan was.

This is not a book for everyone. Unlike the two books reviewed earlier it is not a stand-alone work if you want to play one of the opening lines advocated. It is more a potpourri. Still, you will find lots of original analysis and ideas that will be found nowhere else.