| With
opening books being cranked out at warp speed,
it's becoming more and more difficult to find
a product that is produced with love, passion
and a sincere desire to be as thorough and accurate
as possible. Mr. Monson has achieved this in a
book that offers an emotionally appealing introduction,
a fine historical preface and, of course, an amazing
amount of analysis mixed with lots of enlightening
commentary (thank God! I hate wordless opening
books).
Going far beyond any other book
I have ever seen on this kind of sideline, Monson
offers dozens of new games and a seemingly endless
supply of new moves and ideas in his efforts to
make this opening appear worthwhile and interesting.
Having said all that, I must quote a well-known
IM and consider his message: "Non-titled
players can often come up with new moves, but
they aren't able to correctly evaluate the positional
results." I have found this to be true in
the vast majority of cases and, sadly enough,
Mr. Monson often falls victim to this problem.
A strength and a weakness
is the author's love for this line, which makes
us want to cheer at times and also makes us shake
our head in despair when he praises lines and
analysis that should be tossed in the gutter or,
at the very least, be viewed with a skeptical
eye. An example of these failings can be seen
in the following main line: 1.e4
e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5 Nxe4 6.Qe2
f5 7.Ng5 d3 8.cxd3 Nd4 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qh4 c6 11.Nc3 (a
move that Monson feels is playable. Of course,
he also gives everything anyone could ever dream
of on the main line with 11.dxe4)
11...Nxc3 12.bxc3
Ne6 13.f4! (his exclamation).
At this point I must admit that I don't know anything
about this opening (I will never come close to
Mr. Monson's knowledge of this system), but who
in the world would want to play White's position
after the simple 13...Bg7
14.d4 h6 15.Nf3 Qxh4+ 16.Nxh4 Kf7 17.Bd3 (Monson
gives this move in an analogous position.
The threat is 18.g4)
17...Bf6 18.Nf3 d6?
Isn't Black a solid pawn
up with a safe position? One must be careful not
to allow the desire for compensation to interfere
with the reality of the position (many other examples
could easily be given, but I hope that this will
suffice).
The problem with overzealous evaluations
is that they lead the weaker reader on a path
that promises wealth and riches, only to bestow
a fever dream that bursts when the proper medication
is applied. This doesn't bother professionals,
who want to make their own decisions about a line's
worth (and who appreciate new and original ideas),
but other players should use caution.
If it appears that I'm giving "thumbs down" to
this book, I'm NOT! To be quite honest, I don't
judge his evaluation
errors too harshly; every book has them in one
form or another. Besides, many of Monson's ideas
are excellent and the depth of information makes
this book extremely worthwhile if you play 1.e4
e5 for Black, and a
must buy if you play the Belgrade for White (he
does need to tone down his language a bit. His
constant use of lines like "Essentially forced!"
"Critical!" "Best!" "Loses
on the spot!" "A remarkable position!"
"Black is simply busted!" etc. etc.
ad nauseam, drove me to distraction). Though
it's
not cheap at $26.95, I am always impressed when
someone puts this much effort into their work.
I see it in very few books nowadays, and for
that
alone Mr. Monson deserves a great deal of credit.
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