Mark Dvoretsky’s books are serious efforts deserving of close study, and while this volume contains much useful information it is hampered by somewhat dated material and lack of focus. Without a doubt, Dvoretsky’s training methods, which are detailed here, are timeless and important, but this volume covers the part of the game that changes the most over time. In places, detailed analysis on opening variations might lead the reader to an incomplete conclusion.

This is the fourth, and final, volume of a series that previously appeared in Russian and German and is now translated into English in its entirety. The first three volumes covered the endgame, tactical play, and strategic play. This is a separate and distinct book from Dvoretsky’s other opening book, OPENING PREPARATION, which was co-authored by Artur Yusupov and released in 1994.

The author is arguably the most highly regarded chess trainer in the world today. He has worked with a host of strong junior players, several of whom won the world junior championship, including grandmasters Artur Jusupov, Sergey Dolmatov, and Alexey Dreev. Much of the series’ content is based on the games of the author or his students, and in many cases the chapters are based on lectures and lessons Dvoretsky provided to students at his chess school.

The book is divided into two parts: the first covers a variety of topics that arise in the opening, while the second includes complete games that act as the vehicle for the author to discuss certain aspects of opening study and play. As with other volumes in the series, throughout the author poses various questions that the student is asked to answer. There are also exercises with solutions given at the end of the book. The Appendix includes an index of exercises by “thinking skills” and types of positions to be solved as well as an index of players.

In the first part, Dvoretsky uses the experiences of his students to provide much helpful insight. For example, in the chapter on “How a Player Develops” Dvoretsky, in discussing his work with Alexey Dreev, details how they dealt with problems related to his narrow opening repertoire. It may be surprising to hear that part of Dvoretsky’s method for dealing with this was to make Dreev wade into a strong tournament with a new repertoire that was far from complete. Through analysis of some of Dreev’s play from that tournament, however, we learn a lot about how a player should approach opening preparation.

Lest the reader think that just “winging it” is the way to go in the openings, Dvoretsky also details his experience with woman world championship contender Nana Alexendria, where she almost won the world championship from Maya Chiburdanidze through extensive opening preparation. In a very interesting chapter, the author explains how Nana missed her chance at the world championship (she ended up drawing the match) for reasons that were not connected to the opening. This is an excellent chapter with lots of good practical points, but it should be noted that few of these points really relate to the opening phase of the game.

There are chapters that provide some interesting opening discussion and advice. The author picks up, for example, on Botvinnik’s theory that a player should create his or her own opening theory. Of course, this is a very advanced concept, but the author illustrates it with some interesting examples.

One of the book’s better theoretical discussions concerns a main variation in the Panov-Botvinnik Attack against the Caro Kann. After 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qb3 Bxf3 9.gxf3 e6 10.Qxb7 Nxd4 11.Bb5+ Nxb5 12.Qc6+ Ke7 13.Qxb5 Qd7 14.Nxd5+ Qxd5, it was Dvoretsky’s student Dolmatov who first played the refinement 15.Bg5+ (as opposed to the immediate 15.Qxd5) with the point that 15…f6 weakens the square e6. In the case of 15.Qxd5 exd5 16.Be3, black can equalize with 16…Ke6, such as in the line 17.0-0-0 Rc8+ 18.Kb1 Bc5 19.Rhe1 Kd6. However, with the check interpolation, after 17...Ke6 18.0-0-0 Rc8+? 19.Kb1 Bc5 20.Rhe1 Kd6 21.Bf4+ Kc6 white exploits the weak square with 22.Re6+! Kd7 23.Re2! Kc6 24.Rc2! a5 25.Be3 Kd6 26.Rcd2 and the d5-pawn falls.

Theory marches on, and the chapter details how better defensive ideas were found, as well as new ways for white to seek to show an advantage. It was the American grandmaster Larry Christiansen who first improved the defense by playing 18…Bb4! (rather than 18…Rc8+), and after 19.a3 Rhc8+ 20.Kb1 both 19…Ba5 and 19…Bc5 have allowed black to maintain the balance. However, the discussion closes with mention of a new white try, 19.Kb1!?, and, indeed, this move has continued to score well for white.

This is a fascinating discussion, and it’s a rare treat to learn the genesis of an opening idea. Here, the weakening of a square to be exploited many moves later leads to a mysterious bishop move. By grasping these sorts of subtleties, a player can better understand concepts like advanced planning and weak squares.

Other chapters cover important topics like the initiative, risk, playing for mate, and the general causes of opening disasters. There are many useful insights to be found, but there is a lot of mining that has to be done to unearth them – the book is long on discussion and sometimes a little short on focus on specific topics.

The second half of the book involves deep analysis of thirteen games, with the reader asked to respond to questions about how one or the other side should proceed at key points in the games. The games are interesting and, other than perhaps Lasker-Napier (Cambridge Springs 1904), not games that have been extensively annotated in similar game collections. I found it interesting to compare Dvoretsky’s notes to those done by Colin Crouch in his excellent book HOW TO DEFEND IN CHESS. Interestingly, Crouch refers to Dvoretsky’s analysis in his notes to this game, although they differ in their opinions at several points in the game. While these are all excellent games worthy of study, the opening aspect of the game is generally not the primary focus of each chapter.

In many respects, it appears to me that Dvoretsky uses this last book in the series as a sort of “miscellaneous” volume to include material that did not make it into the first three. While readers will benefit from these discussions, the “opening developments” title often seems misplaced.

In some ways, this book reminds me of Shereshevsky’s Endgame Strategy – both cover a variety of topics through discussion of one phase of the game. Shereshevsky discusses, for example, concepts like schematic thinking, suppressing counterplay, the initiative, and the principle of two weaknesses as well as more typical endgame topics. I think Endgame Strategy works a little bit at maintaining focus, probably because while every game has an opening phase, not every game makes it to an endgame. As a consequence, perhaps the endgame examples are not as diffuse as opening discussions can be.

As noted in the beginning, readers should understand the dated nature of some of the theoretical discussions. Of the complete games in the book, one is from 1996, one from 1994, and one from 1991; the vast majority of the games are from the 1980s, with a few from years prior to that. While the theoretical discussions are top rate, time doesn’t stand still, and the book’s pronouncements should be checked against later works.

One chapter that caught my attention detailed Dolmatov’s experience on the white side of the Pirc in two games from the early 1980s. These games provide an interesting look at the Austrian Attack after 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 e5 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.d5. There are a couple of places where I would question Dvoretsky’s theoretical pronouncement, but there is also some original Dolmatov analysis that you won’t find in standard Pirc reference books.

In conclusion, Mark Dvoretsky writes books that appeal to the serious chess player. While there is plenty of content here that will prove of value, it is arguably not an opening book, and the average player may be disappointed if they are looking for a discussion based solely on that part of the game.