The Scotch Game (Everyman Chess) [Paperback]

The first thing you notice about this new volume on the Scotch Game is its size. At 382 pages it is more than double the size of Gary Lane's 1993 Winning With the Scotch (Openings) which shows how far theory has expanded in 18 years.

Yelena Dembo tends to produce the opening books we would want to compile for ourselves: sound main line repertoires, succinctly summarizing current theory, in tree format. Richard Palliser's style tends to be more exploratory, looking deeper into the position, and sometimes choosing interesting lines rather than main lines. Put the two authors together and we have a book that has become a "complete" Scotch Game.

For Scotch practioners, this book represents a good update on the current state of theory. Those wishing to play the Scotch from scratch may find the book a bit overwhelming and should try a simpler introdution first (e.g. Starting Out: The Scotch Game (Starting Out - Everyman Chess)

Those familiar with the Scotch will want to know the authors' assessment of the mainlines. A brief summary follows, and then I will look in more detail at one variation.

Mieses Var:
8...Ba6 without 9 b3: "only 9 Nd2 and 9 g3 deserve attention"
8...Ba6 with 9 b3: " 9...Qh4 shouldn't work; 9...g5 remains topical; 9...g6 should be considered the mainline." All the various "Scotch" endgame configurations are discussed.
8...Nb6 without 9 Nc3: 9 Nd2 has declined in practice for good reason; 9 b3 is not a panacea either."
8...Nb6 with 9 Nc3: after 9...Qe6 10 Qe4 g6 11 f4 white can aspire to an endgame advantage; expect an upsurge in popularity of 9...a5 and 9...g6.
Early deviations: basically, stick to the mainline.

Classical
5 Nxc6 Qf6 6 Qd2: 6...dxc6 7 Nc3 Bd4! "just seems to give Black easy equality".
5 Nxc6 Qf6 6 Qf3: "Black likely does best in 6...Bxc6 fighting not to allow White a small but stable edge".
5 Be3 without 5...Qf6 6 c3 Nge7 7 Bc4: white has a number of viable options, 6 Nb5!?, 7 Qd2 and 7 g3. Black is probably best to stick to the main line.
5 Be3 with 5...Qf6 6 c3 Nge7 7 Bc4: "remains a critical test"..
Early deviations: 6 Qe2 and 6 Nc3 d6 7 Qe2 give "decent prospects of an edge to white".

Miles' check on b4: after 5 c3 Bc5 6 Nxc6 "gives white a clear cut plan for the middlegame and he should emerge with a (slight) advantage".

Other: againts Steinitz's 4...Qh4 and a fianchetto approach "White can obtain dangerous attacking chances with quite straightforward play".

I will new drill into just one line, and compare against Gary Lane's two Scotch volumes: the 1993 Winning With the Scotch (Openings) and the 2005 The Scotch Game Explained. Although the authors list a comprehensive bibliography, including Barsky's 2009 THE SCOTCH GAME FOR WHITE, the two Lane volumes are ommitted.

Two weeks ago at the Auckland Chess Centre I had 1. e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Bc5 5 Nxc6 Qf6 6 Qd2 dxc6 7 Nc3 Be6 8 Na4 Rd8 9 Bd3 Bd6. Lane's 1993 volume doesn't mention 7 Nc3 at all, simply because Garry Kasparov didn't unleash 7 Nc3 Be6 8 Na4!? until the 11th game of his match with Nigel Short in 1993! By the time of Lane's 2005 volume there is now a full chapter devoted to the "Kasparov Variation", but at move 9 only 9..Bd4 is considered. Dembo and Palliser have 9...Bd4 as the mainline, but also give 9...Bd6 10 Qa5! which after 10...b6 11 Qc3 Qxc3+ 12 Nxc3 Ne7 13 f4 f6 14 Bd2 White "enjoys a steady edge". The authors also suggest 10 f4!? as leading to an edge. Complete? Not quite. I played 10 Qe3 (which is the recommendation against 8...Bd6) and after 10 ...Ne7 11 0-0 0-0? 12 f4 Qa6? 13 e5, I won a piece. (The fact the game was drawn after a tragic tactical oversite is another story).

The 4 stars reflects the value of this book as a reference on the theory of the Scotch Game circa 2011. I think we should retain 5 stars for opening books that a truely revelations, such as Peter Well's The Scotch Game (Batsford Chess Opening Guides)