CHESS OPENING IDEAS – NOVELTIES – BOOK REVIEWS – THEORY – DISCUSSIONS – GAMBITS
The New In Chess Yearbook contains the latest news in chess openings.

Forum
Readers from all over the world join in discussions on previous surveys. Titled players, correspondence players and club players shed their light on opening developments and search for the truth together. With contributions by Richard Palliser, Miso Cebalo, Valery Bronznik, Bogdan Lalic, José Vilela and many others.

Sosonko’s Corner
A look at an old Slav analysis reminded Genna Sosonko of falling leaves in Autumn. In a melancholy mood, the author of the Corner is at its best. Even better is that you are treated to an original piece of analysis from Sosonko’s days as an elite grandmaster!

Book Reviews
A question that has been haunting mankind for ages is: does size matter? Glenn Flear doesn’t deny it in his Reviews Section. Opening books keep getting bigger and bigger. Which is not bad as long as quality grows with quantity. The relatively unknown authors David Vigorito ('Challenging the Nimzo-Indian') and James Vigus ('The Pirc in Black and White') get the English grandmaster’s nod of approval, but established authors Mihail Marin and John Watson carry the day. Marin’s 'Beating the Open Games' is ‘sensational’ in Flear’s book, and Watson’s 'Dangerous Weapon: The French': ‘an absolute must for French lovers’. Take your pick!

33 Surveys
Sicilian Defence - Najdorf Variation 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 - SI 14.8 - Anka
Sicilian Defence - Najdorf Variation 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 - SI 14.8 - Kolev
Sicilian Defence - Rauzer Variation 6...Bd7 - SI 27.5 - Galkin
Sicilian Defence - Rossolimo Variation 4...Qc7 - SI 31.9 - Kolev
Sicilian Defence - Taimanov Variation 6.Nc6 - SI 39.12 - Langeweg
Sicilian Defence - Alapin Variation 2...d5 - SI 46.6 - Mikhalchishin
Sicilian Defence - Alapin Variation 2...Nf6 - SI 47.6 - Sveshnikov
Sicilian Defence - Alapin Variation 2...Nf6 - SI 47.10 - Grivas
Pirc Defence - Classical Variation 5.Be2 - PU 16.7 - Marin/Stoica
French Defence - Steinitz Variation 5.f4 - FR 4.4 - Matamoros
French Defence - Winawer Variation 7...0-0 - FR 11.4 - I.Almasi
French Defence - Tarrasch Variation 3...Be7 - FR 14.4 - Pert
Caro-Kann Defence - Panov Variation 6.Nf3 - CK 3.1 - Olthof
Scandinavian Defence - Main Line 5.Bc4 - SD 11.7 - Prié
Alekhine Defence - Larsen Variation 4...de5 - AL 10.2 - Finkel
Petroff Defence - Steinitz Variation 3.d4 - RG 2.2 - Fogarasi
Ruy Lopez - Berlin Defence 3...Nf6 - RL 7.1 - Grivas
Ruy Lopez - Siesta Variation 5...f5 - RL 11.2 - Van der Tak
Ruy Lopez - Marshall Attack 8...d5 - RL 17.4 - Morgado/Alvarez
King’s Pawn Opening - Two Knights Defence 4.Ng5 - KP 12.8 - Van der Tak
Slav Defence - Marshall Gambit 4.e4 - SL 6.1 - A.Kuzmin
Tarrasch Defence - Marshall Gambit 5.e4 - TD 1.3 - Williams
Catalan Opening - Accepted 4...dc4 - CA 3.1 - Stohl
Queen’s Gambit Accepted - Central Variation 3.e4 b5 - QG 3.2 - Karolyi
Nimzo-Indian Defence - Classical Variation 4.Qc2 d5 - NI 23.4 - Lukacs/Hazai
Queen’s Indian Defence - Petrosian System 4.a3 - QI 4.18 - A.Kuzmin
Queen’s Indian Defence - Nimzowitsch Variation 4...Ba6 - QI 15.6 - Antic
Grünfeld Indian Defence - Exchange Variation 7.Bc4 - GI 5.8 - Mikhalevski
King’s Indian Defence - Fianchetto Variation 3.g3 - KI 67.3 - Lukacs/Hazai
King’s Indian Defence - Anti-Grünfeld 3.Bg5 - KI 81.1 - Fogarasi
Benoni Defence - Blumenfeld Gambit 4...b5 - BI 3.8 - Landa
English Opening - Hedgehog Variation 3...e6 - EO 40.6 - Greenfeld
Réti Opening - Lasker Variation ...Bf5 - RE 6.2 - Vilela

Carsten Hansen, ChessCafe:
"If you haven't read a Yearbook yet, this is certainly a good issue to begin with. The variety of openings almost ensures that you will find something specific to your repertoire, or soon will once you take up the recommended line. I simply love these Yearbooks and I am confident that you will, too. All serious players should read these outstanding books."

Rochade Europa Magazine:
"Chess players who regularly read the Yearbook can save money because there will be many chess opening books they don't need to buy."

ChessToday:
"A terrific value for anyone interested in refurbishing and fine-tuning his opening repertoire."

Schacknytt Magazine (Sweden):
"Recommended to all who want to sharpen their repertoire."

British Chess Magazine:
"There is no better way to keep track of opening fashions."

Victor Bologan: Selected Games 1985-2004 - $44.95

Power Chess at its Best
by Viktor Bologan

Moldovan Grandmaster Victor Bologan is among the world's strongest and most dynamic grandmasters. You are invited to join him on a highly personal, autobiographical journey, as he presents 52 of his games, deeply annotated.

These games are highlighted against a background of his life experiences and development, resulting in one of the most splendid game collections available today. The text and games are nicely complemented by over thirty photographs, and indexes of players, openings, tournament results and even strategic, tactical and psychological techniques.

From the Foreword by Garry Kasparov:
"This is a book that ought to be read by every chessplayer who is serious about continuing to mature as a player ... This book contains games with many different types of plans, beginning with the most varied kinds of openings. Today, it is the fashion to expand one's opening repertoire, incorporating different, sometimes structurally contradictory openings. This book will give you advice, usually from the author's perspective, on how to choose an opening...

...The author talks about the method he used to make his choices, and about the concrete philosophy standing behind each decision. These could be elements of chess psychology relating to a specific opponent, or perhaps changes in creative attitudes stemming from work with different trainers. Or it could be just following the current fashion in chess - for every chessplayer, even the most creative, is obliged to study the development of chess thinking, and try to keep up, to stay always on the cutting edge of contemporary chess developments...

...And here too, in practically every game, one may find general recommendations, 'fine-tuned' to the concrete particulars of each position. I find this sort of advice to be the most valuable, because general advice that is not illustrated by a concrete example loses the greater part of its practical value."

Jeremy Silman, author of How to Reassess Your Chess:
"One of the best autobiographical game collections ever. His tales are fascinating, the games are sharp and full of beautiful ideas, his notes are top notch, and his desire to share his understanding of chess with the reader is moving and heartfelt."

British Champion GM Jacob Aagaard, ChessCafe:
"I thoroughly enjoyed the games and the comments (...) The annotations will be possible to follow and enjoy by most chess fans and are, as such, probably more suitable for the avarage chess book reader than the computer printouts of John Nunn's 'Move by Move' books (...) I think this book will do well."

Mark Donlan, Chess Horizons:
"Certainly one of the best game collections published in recent years."

John Watson, The Week In Chess:
"At the end of the majority of games he appends a section called 'Lessons'. Each lesson consists of three tips, often relating to a specific type of position (...) A well-written book with a wealth of ideas and observations that go well beyond the usual game collection."

Ray Edwards, British Chess Magazine:
"He wants to show the evolution of his chessplaying strength through the influence of his various trainers and how lessons may be learnt from each game and tournament (...) The reader can follow how Bologan became a world-class chess player."

Leeuwarder Courant (Netherlands):
"Very instructive is that at the end of each game the author finishes his story with a list of conclusions and lessons, to the benefit of all players -- young and old, amateur and professional."