Chess Evolution 2

Chess Evolution 2: Beyond the Basics by Artur Yusupov is the 8th in a 9 volume series designed to take club players to a master’s level of chess understanding. The present volume covers the following topics.

1 Combined attack on the seventh and eighth ranks 8
2 Exchanging 20
3 Attacking the king 30
4 Opening repertoire against 1.c4 40
5 Don’t allow counterplay! 52
6 A lead in development 62
7 Exploiting weaknesses 74
8 Calculating short variations 84
9 Better pawn structures 92
10 The pawn phalanx 106
11 Opening repertoire (Black vs. the Reti/
White vs. the King’s Indian) 116
12 Don’t be too hasty! 130
13 The double bishop sacrifice 142
14 Pawn play 152
15 Active moves 164
16 Intermediate checks 174
17 Improving the position of your pieces 184
18 Pawn sacrifices in the opening 196
19 Intermediate moves 212
20 The principle of two weaknesses 222
21 An advantage in space 234
22 Counter-blows 248
23 The center in the opening 258
24 The correct exchanges 270
Final test 285
Index of games & studies 296

As mentioned in previous reviews of this series, these books have three principle audiences. They will be useful for players wishing to increase their strength to improve their rating, for coaches looking for a structured curriculum and/or useful training material and for those who wish to increase their understanding of the game that, because of various circumstances, may no longer be able to play regularly. While Yusupov modestly cautions in his introduction that this series is not a substitute for a trainer, there can be no question that the motivated student working alone can glean much knowledge. This series is aimed at players below 2100 but there will undoubtedly much that is new or previously poorly understood in these volumes by many players even in the 2200-2400 range.

This volume like early ones in this series draws from both older and newer games with a generous sampling of those featuring Yusupov. Like other players of a certain age I well recall his crushing victory against Grandmaster Jan Plachetka at the Lucerne Olympiad in 1982 where he delayed moving his c-pawn in a King’s Indian Attack versus London System and utilized this critical saved tempo to play …c7-c5-c4 with great effect. Imagine my surprise to discover that Yusupov had played the first 18 moves seven years earlier at the age of 15! Here is the game which appears in the book with detailed notes.

King’s Indian Attack A07 Mark Berkovich – Artur Yusupov Moscow Championship, 1975 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.d3 e6 5.0–0 h6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.b3 0–0 8.Bb2 c5 9.Qe1 Nc6 10.e4 Bh7 11.Qe2 c4! 12.bxc4 dxe4 13.dxe4 Rc8 14.Rfd1 Qc7 15.e5 Nd7 16.Nb3 Nb6 17.a4 Nb4 18.c5 Bxc5 19.a5

19.Nxc5 Qxc5 20.Bd4 Qxc2 21.Qb5 N6d5 22.Qxb7 Rc7 23.Qb5 Bd3 24.Qa5 Qc4 25.h4 Rfc8 26.Kh2 Be2 27.Rac1 Qxc1 28.Rxc1 Rxc1 29.Ng1 Bd3 30.Bxa7 R1c2 31.Bxd5 Nxd5 32.Bd4 Ne7 33.Qa7 Nc6 34.Qb6 Rc4 35.Ba1 Rxa4 36.Qb7 Raa8 37.Qd7 Be4 38.Bc3 Rd8 39.Qb7 Ra2 40.Qb6 Rd3 41.Be1 Ra1 0-1, Plachetka-Yusupov, Lucerne (ol) 1982.

19…Nc4 20.Bc3 Nxc2 21.Rac1 N4e3! 22.Bd4 Bxd4 23.Rxd4 Nxd4 24.Qxe3 Nc2 25.Qxa7 Qc3 26.Nfd4 Qb2 27.Bxb7 Nxd4 28.Rxc8 Qb1+ 29.Kg2 Be4+ 30.f3 Rxc8 31.Bxe4 Qa2+ 32.Kh3 Nxb3 33.a6 Nd2 34.Qb7 Rf8 35.Bc6 Nf1 36.a7 Qxh2+, 0–1.

One might ask why it is necessary to have such a distinguished Grandmaster – Yusupov was at one time the number three player in the world – write a book for less-advanced players? The answer is that he offers the rare combination of tremendous chess knowledge and the ability and desire to share it. Chess Evolution 2: Beyond the Basics is not a random collection of positions tossed together but carefully chosen ones that methodically build the student’s knowledge from exercise to exercise.