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Glory Days Mark Donlan and Norman Kingoff Champions of the New Millennium, by Lubomir Ftacnik, Danny Kopec, and Walter Browne, Quality Chess 2009, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 453pp. $29.95 (ChessCafe Price: $23.95) Quality Chess seems to be filling a void in the chess book market by returning to the golden era of publishing and printing tournament books such as San Luis 2005 and Reggio Emilia 2007/2008. The current title under consideration, Champions of the New Millennium, is written in the tradition of titles such as Masters of the Chessboard, Meet the Masters, or The Development of Chess Style. You may wonder how these three seemingly disparate authors came to collaborate on this project. After all, Ftacnik is from Bratislava, Slovakia; Browne from Berkely, California; and Kopec from Long Island, New York. The answer can be found in the preface, where the reader learns that the unifying force is Kopec's Summer Chess Camps. It turns out all three were at the same camp for one weekend in 2005 and they decided over dinner to work on a chess project together. The original intention was to write a book about the top thirty younger players in the world, featuring three to five games from each player. However, the scope of the project turned out to be too ambitious and the number of players was reduced and the amount of games was set to four. Further complicating matters was the banner year that certain "older" players, such as Anand and Ivanchuk, were enjoying in the period of 2007. Late in the process it was decided to also include Kamsky and Wang Yue, bringing the total to eighteen. The profiled players are listed below along with their January 2009 ratings and world ranking:
The annotation duties were distributed as follows:
Yet, besides merely annotating the games, an effort was made to explore each player's style and choose representative games based on their creativity and correctness. The authors meet this objective so well that the reader is left wanting to imitate these approaches in their own games, which brings added value to the reader's learning process. Here is an excerpt from the first chapter: Veselin Topalov Veselin Topalov is the biggest "new" star of the first decade of the 21st century, despite his age and numerous earlier accomplishments. No other mature player has been able to achieve such a significant jump in strength. Topalov lives in Salamanca in Spain, partly because his business manager, IM Silvio Danailov, resides there as well. He was one of the first chess players to prepare with coaches from other sports, including sports psychologists. One example is his special training to deal with the fear of losing: Topalov has been able to demonstrate that he is unconstrained by this fear, and indeed his games reveal that he is prepared to accept a higher level of risk than his contemporaries. Topalov gets indirect support and sponsorship from Bulgaria – state officials attend the Sofia tournaments. Various grandmasters have acted as Topalov's official second, most recently Ivan Cheparinov. Topalov is unquestionably one of the world's strongest players with a fearless attacking style, and his chess is generally exciting and unpredictable. He seems to specialize in material imbalances with the help of sacrifices in his quest to gain the initiative. His original approach can be seen in his predilection for attacking with knights and his courage in playing very deep exchange sacrifices. ...
The Creative Attacking Player Topalov is one of the finest universal players of modern times, but in his heart he is above all a tactician and an attacking player. His early successes had indicated that he was capable of beating any opponent, but the lack of deeper strategic insight was stopping him from reaching the very top. Then Veselin worked on his chess and moved to an even higher level – his excellent opening preparation is on a par with Kasparov in his best days; he plays dynamic positions and his active approach offers chances to win with both colours; he has a profound understanding of the relationship between material and initiative, just like Petrosian. Topalov is physically fit and very often improves his tournament position in the final rounds when his competitors are struggling with reduced energy levels. His special psychological preparation helps him to cope with stress, time trouble and the fear of losing. The Bulgarian star is showing the way for the younger generation in his willingness to extend his preparation beyond the limits of 64 black and white squares. Game 1 Veselin finds an explosive exchange sacrifice in a normally quiet opening, and continues the initiative to the very end! It's no wonder this game won the highest awards for the most important theoretical novelty and best game in Chess Informant 96. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 Another Aronian game continued: 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Rc1 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bg2 Bb7 11.0–0 Na6 12.Bf4 giving White good play in Aronian – Ivanchuk, Linares 2006. 7...c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0–0 12.0–0
12...Nf6 Another way to play this position is 12...Rc8. After 13.e4 Black has played both 13...b5 and 13...c5, where the main line goes: 14.exd5 exd5 15.dxc5 dxc4 16.c6. It seems that Black is holding his own, but the winning chances are slim (see game 44 as an example). 13.e4 b5 14.exd5 exd5 If Black instead plays 14...cxd5, then White has 15.c5!? b4 16.Bxb4 Bxf1 17.Qxf1 with good compensation for the exchange. 15.Re1 Rb8 15...Re8 16.Qc2 Rb8 was also possible but the text keeps options on the b-line. 16.c5!
Staking out more territory while freeing the knight on d2 to go to e5 to put pressure on c6. 16...Bc8 On the sharper 16...b4, then 17.Bb2 Bb5 18.a3 bxa3 19.Rxa3 a6 20.Nb1 Nd7 21.Nc3 gives White a slight edge. 17.Nf3 Ne4
18.Rxe4!! In one fell swoop Veselin extinguishes Black's central control whilst preparing pressure on c6 and the h1-a8 diagonal. Until this game 18.Ne5 was played without great success: 18...Nxc3 19.Qd3 Qc7 20.Qxc3 Re8 As in Kramnik – Leko, Dortmund 2004, with approximately equal chances. 18...dxe4 19.Ne5 Qd5 20.Qe1
20...Bf5 The alternative is: 20...f5 This would be met by: 21.f3 Bxc5 The best practical chance. On 21...Bb7 22.fxe4 fxe4 White would have faced a difficult crossroads. The tempting 23.Qxe4 Qxe4 24.Bxe4 Rbc8 25.a4! bxa4 (25...b4!?) 26.Rxa4 a6 27.Rb4 Rc7 28.Rxb7 Rxb7 29.Bxc6 Rc7 30.Ba5 Rxc6! (much better than 30...Rcc8? 31.Bd5+ with a won game for the first player) 31.Nxc6 Kf7 is only slightly better for White. It seems that 23.Bxe4 Qd8 24.Nxc6 Bxc6 25.Bxc6 wins, though the battle would be more complex. 22.dxc5 Qxc5+ 23.Kh1 Rbe8 Should Black try 23...b4, then 24.Bb2 exf3 25.Bxf3 gives a big edge. 24.b4 Qd6 25.Qd1! with a clear advantage. 21.g4! Pushing the bishop to g6 where it will be less able to stop White's central pawns. 21...Bg6 21...b4!? On this there follows: 22.gxf5 bxc3 23.Qxe4 Qxe4 24.Bxe4 Bf6 If 24...Rb4!? 25.Nxc6 Bxc5 26.Nxb4 Bxb4 27.a3? Bd6 28.Bc6 Bf4 29.Ra2 Rd8 30.d5 Kf8 31.Rc2 Bd2 32.Kf1 Ke7 33.Ke2 Rd6 gives an edge to Black with ...Rh6 coming. Naturally the precise move 27.Rc1! would keep White happily in control. 25.Nxc6 Bxd4 25...Rb7 26.Kg2! Rc8 27.Kf3 with a slight edge. 26.Nxd4 Rb4 27.Rd1 White has a won game. 22.f3! This diagonal must be opened!
22...b4 Black has a couple of options we should consider: On 22...Bxc5 23.dxc5 Qxc5+ 24.Kh1 exf3 25.Bxf3 Rfe8 26.b4 Qb6 27.Qg1 White is in control due to his strong pieces. 22...Qe6 23.fxe4 f6 24.Nxg6 hxg6 25.Qg3 White could also play 25.g5 Rbe8 26.gxf6 Bxf6 27.e5 with a pleasant edge eyeing the c-pawn, but 25...fxg5!? puts the whole idea under a question mark. 25...Rbe8 26.b4 Instead 26.Rf1 Rd8 27.b4 Qxa2 28.d5 is met by 28...cxd5 29.exd5 Rxd5! and Aronian is fine. But not 28.Qc7 Qc4! 29.Rf3 Rxd4! (29...Rf7 also makes a good impression) 30.Qxe7 Rd1+ 31.Kf2 (not pleasant, but 31.Bf1 Rxf1+ 32.Rxf1 Qxc3 is bad as well) 31...Qa2+ 32.Kg3 Rg1 33.Rf2 Qb3 34.Rf3 Qc2 when Black wins. 26...Qc4 27.a4 a6 28.axb5 axb5 29.Ra7 29.d5 cxd5 30.Bf1 Bxc5+ is unclear. 29...Rf7 30.Ra6 Rc8 31.h4 g5 32.h5 The impending d5 will be lethal. However, the defender would do much better with 30...f5! with an unclear position. 23.fxe4 Qe6 24.Bb2 Bf6
If instead 24...Rfe8 then 25.Qf2 f6 26.d5 cxd5 27.exd5 Qc8 28.Nc6 and White's pawns are unstoppable. After 24...h6 25.Kh1 Rfe8 White's overwhelming centre decides, even though the immediate 26.d5 cxd5 27.exd5 Qa6 28.d6 Bf6 would be only slightly better. 25.Nxc6! Clarifying the centre by exchanging the knight for bishop and creating two passed pawns. 25...Qxc6 26.e5 Qa6 27.exf6 Rfe8 On 27...Qxf6 28.Qf2 Qg5 29.d5! Qxg4 30.Qd4 Bf5 31.Qxg4 Bxg4 32.c6 and the pawns triumph! 28.Qf1
28...Qe2 Hoping to gain a tempo on the bishop with an exchange on e2, but Veselin refuses to oblige! On 28...Qxf1+ 29.Bxf1 gxf6 30.d5 wins. 29.Qf2! Wonderful! White realizes that the pawn on g4 is not relevant: once Black loses control of e2 counterplay is squashed and the pawns will roll with an easy win. 29...Qxg4 30.h3 Qg5 Another move to analyse is: 30...Qh5 31.Re1 Too impatient would be 31.d5?! Re2 32.Qg3 Rd8 33.Bd4 Rd2 34.Be3 Rxg2+ 35.Qxg2 Rxd5 36.Re1 gxf6 37.c6 Rd1 38.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 39.Qf1 Qd6 40.Qf3 Qe5 41.Bf4 Qa1+ 42.Kf2 Qxa2+ 43.Kg3 Qc2 44.c7 Bf5 and Black survives! 31...Qg5 32.d5 Be4 33.Rxe4! Rxe4 34.Kh2 Ree8 Not 34...Rf4?! 35.Qg3. 35.fxg7 With the towering bishop duo and two advanced connected pawns, the victory is assured. 31.Bc1 Qh5 32.Bf4
32...Rbd8?! A much tougher defence was 32...Rbc8! when White's best seems to be 33.Be5 gxf6 34.Bxf6 Re2 or 33.fxg7 Be4 with unclear fighting positions. 33.c6 Be4 34.c7 Rc8 35.Re1 Qg6 On 35...Bxg2 36.Rxe8+ Rxe8 37.Qxg2 Qd1+ 38.Kh2 g6 39.Qe4! Rf8 40.d5 wins.
36.Rxe4! A second exchange sac on the very same square as the first! 36...Rxe4 37.d5 White now has a won game. 37...Rce8 38.d6 A triumphant march! 38...Re1+ 39.Kh2 Qf5 40.Qg3 g6 Unfortunately 40...Qxf6 41.d7 was out of the question for the defender. 41.Qg5
Besides having to worry about passed pawns, Black must not forget to protect his king. An enterprising win was 41.Qg4!? Qc5 42.d7 Qg1+ 43.Kg3 R1e3+ 44. Kh4 Qf2+ 45.Qg3 and Aronian would have no defence. 41...Qxg5 42.Bxg5 Rd1 43.Bc6 An instructive case of bishops over rooks! 43...Re2+ 44.Kg3 1–0 As you can see, the annotations are intelligent and the explanations superb. No matter where you stand in the chess hierarchy there is something for you in this book. Advanced players will appreciate the deep analysis, while club players will gain understanding as to why certain decisions are taken in particular positions, plus the many diagrams aid visualization. With lush color photographs, deep analysis, plenty of verbal commentary, and an abundance of diagrams, Champions of the New Millennium is a book that you can treasure for a lifetime. There is so much to learn from this book that you will glean something new with every reading.
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