Eight Pawns A-Creeping 101 Winning Chess Strategies by Angus Dunnington 1999 Gambit Publications, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 128 pp., $17.95. Reviewed by Larry Tapper A couple of years ago John Nunn, Murray Chandler, and Graham Burgess founded Gambit Publications with the idea of publishing chess books "aimed at players of all levels." Since then they have put together a lively assortment of titles, ranging from modern classics such as Watson's Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy to breezy ephemera such as Motwani's S*T*A*R Chess. Somewhere in the middle is the 101 series: Nunn's 101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures, Burgess' 101 Chess Opening Surprises, Giddins' 101 Chess Opening Traps, and now IM Angus Dunnington's 101 Winning Chess Strategies. Dunnington's new book is a collection of brief lessons on what to do with a winning advantage. It is hard to say whether each of the 101 examples qualifies as a "strategy"; but this does not matter very much, because in each case we see a potentially instructive bit of good technique. Though the book does not pretend to be comprehensive, it covers all phases of the game and both quiet and violent sorts of positions. The author is especially to be commended for selecting fresh and interesting examples. There is a pleasing mix of games new and old, familiar and obscure. Strategy 1, direct attack against an uncastled king, is illustrated not by a Tal or Spielmann game but by a recent correspondence game Boto-Peric. To illustrate initiative with bishops of opposite color, Dunnington chooses Reti- Fahrni, Mannheim 1914; to show the power of a rook on an open file, Kovacevic's famous upset victory against Fischer at Rovinj/Zagreb 1970. Under Strategy 8, which the author calls "Classic Pins Game," we find the old standard Morphy vs. the Duke of Brunswick and the Count Isouard. So for relative newcomers to serious chess, this book may serve not only as a sampler of useful strategies, but also as a guided tour through the history of chess technique. The layout of 101 Winning Chess Strategies is tidy to a fault: each example takes up precisely one or two pages, with three diagrams on each page. Looking at this book, it is easy to believe that the author has several years' experience writing regular chess columns for the Yorkshire Post. Dunnington is plainly a man who knows he can deliver his designated quota of column inches, not a pica more or less. The secret of these smooth landings is a judicious combination of light analysis and pleasant chatter. Here is a typical example: Strategy 47 Creeping Pawns White: Ke1, Qd1, Ra1, Rh1, Bc1, Bg2, Nc3, Ne2; pawns - a3, b4, c4, d3, e3, f2, g3, h3; Black Kg8, Qd7, Ra8, Rf8, Be6, Bb6, Nf6, Nd8; pawns - a7, b7, c7, d6, e5, f7, g7, h7 Taimanov-Hort, Tallinn 1975. So far 70% of White's moves have featured pawns. Taimanov gives an excellent demonstration of the sweeping power of the creeping pawn-mass. 11 Na4! Eliminating the bishop. 11...c6 12 Nxb6 axb6 13 Bb2 Ne8 14 f4! f6 Black is not in a position to open lines. 15 g4! With the bishop-pair, White can afford to be bold with his fluid pawn-mass. 15...Kh8? Better is 15...Nc7 and ...b5. 16. O-O Qe7 16...Bg8 runs into 17 fxe5 dxe5 18 Bxe5. 17 Qe1 Bf7 18 Ng3 Bg6 19 Rd1 Nc7 19...exf4 20 exf4 Qxe1 21 Rfxe1 clearly favours White. 20 Qf2 b5 21 c5! Something is sure to happen with White's creeping pawn-mass stretching across the board. White's forces better support an open position. 21...exf4 22 exf4 h6 On 22...dxc5 23 Rfe1 Qd7 24 f5 Bf7 the white pawns continue the march with 25 g5!. 23 Be4 Bxe4 24 cxd6! Qxd6 25 dxe4 Qe6 26 e5! White seems to have an endless supply of pawns. 26...fxe5 27 Bex5 Nd5 28 Qb2! Qf7 29 Nh5 Rg8 30 f5 Here comes another one. 30...b6 30...Ne3 31 Qc1! aims at the h6-pawn. 31 Rfe1 Nb7 32 Qc1 Kh7 33 Qxc6 1-0 Strategy 47 nicely illustrates both the good and bad points of Dunnington's approach. As usual, the author has succeeded in selecting a good example of a useful strategy, in this case strangulation by pawns aided by a bishop-pair. One can well imagine players of all levels profiting from this brief lesson. However, the brevity and tendentiousness of the analysis may give some readers the mistaken impression that it's all very easy when you know how. As GM Mihai Suba describes such one-sided expositions, "one plays, the other applauds." Our excerpt, with its sweeping, creeping pawns, also serves as a good example of the author's exuberant but rather odd prose style. Whatever one may think of the breezy, journalistic tone, there are quite a few sentences in this book that could have used a little more editorial attention. For example: "If you are happy to see your efforts in a long game lead to the win of a pawn and eventually the game, then you should be ready to return material when way ahead to achieve the same result." Occasionally the compulsion to draw a brief moral may actually get in the way of the reader's understanding. Strategy 34, for example, is entitled "IQP: Punish Stereotyped Blockading." According to the author, we learn the following lesson from the illustrative game (Botvinnik-Vidmar, Nottingham 1936): "How IQP positions are dealt with is all down to taste. This position is typical, and illustrates the dangers of two common mistakes made by Black in these positions: 1) Eagerness to get rid of the potentially useful light-square bishop; and 2) Settling for nothing more than the traditional blockade on d5." Is isolated queen pawn strategy really a matter of taste? And how is the reader to tell when the position calls for something beyond "the traditional blockade on d5"? Of course Dunnington is not to be blamed for explaining IQP theory less thoroughly than Nimzowitsch or Baburin does: but the little commentary we get may well be more confusing than instructive. In general, 101 Winning Chess Strategies seems to be aimed at the middling club player; but the examples vary quite widely in difficulty and sophistication. This is especially apparent in the endgame section. Strategy 61 explains how to win with K+P vs. K. Strategy 68 illustrates an elaborate encircling maneuver with R+P vs. B+P. Strategy 71 covers the notorious R+B vs. R endgame (to which Nunn devotes 60 full pages of analysis in Secrets of Pawnless Endings). After making my obligatory reviewer's complaints, though, I have to say that I found this book to be enjoyable and interesting in spite of its uneven quality. Most of the shortcomings of 101 Winning Chess Strategies may be attributed to its made-to-order format: some things just can't be explained properly in one or two pages. Still, Dunnington's passion for the game always shines through; and even in this restricted medium, the author is usually able to get his point across well enough.