"Another One for the Bookshelf"

"The Complete Najdorf: Modern Lines" by John Nunn and Joe
Gallagher, 1998 Batsford Ltd., Softcover, Figurine Algebraic,
336pp., $24.95

The Najdorf Sicilian, 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 Nc3
a6, is one of the most heavily analyzed openings in the modern
chess era. This particular book is actually the second of a two-
volume work on the Najdorf, the first of which was John Nunn's
"The Complete Najdorf: 6 Bg5". 

This volume purports to offer coverage of all lines except for 6
Bg5 which is, arguably, the most popular Najdorf variation. There
are a total of 17 chapters. The initial three deal with 6 Bc4;
Chapters 4 through 6 look at 6 f4; 7 through 11 examine 6 Be3 and
Black's responses of 6 e5,  e6 and  Ng4; Chapters 12 through 15
cover 6 Be2; 6 g3 can be found in Chapter 16 and "Unusual Lines"
such as 6 a4, 6 h3 and 6 Bd3 are covered in the final chapter, 17.

Before we begin to review some of the book's specifics, a brief
word is necessary regarding the authors or, perhaps more correctly,
the author. There are two authors identified: Nunn and Gallagher.
However, in Gallagher's Introduction, he goes on to state that after
completion of the Bg5 volume, Nunn "felt obliged to ask me (JG)
to complete the update of his 1988 book 'The Najdorf for the
Tournament Player'... The update, if one can call turning 95 pages
into 336 pages an update, has been carried out in close cooperation
with JN, who also carefully checked the book at the proof stage."
Nonetheless, we consider the volume to be Gallagher's work, and
will refer to it as such throughout the forthcoming review. Those of
you who have read our previous reviews know that currency of
material, accuracy and completeness are foremost in our thoughts.
This review is no exception. 

Looking first at 6 Be3 considered by Gallagher to be the "main line
of the Najdorf", using 
'Encyclopedia of Chess Openings' (ECO) B 90 (1997 edition) as
the source, one finds that Black's two most popular responses
appear to be 6...Ng4 and 6...e5. Gallagher examines 6...e5 in
Chapters 7 and 8, 6...Ng4 in Chapter 11 and 6...e6 in Chapters 9
and 10. However, in addition to ECO's treatment, 6...Ng4 is also
addressed in articles found in'New In Chess Yearbook' (NIC)
numbers 44 and 45 from 1997.

According to Langeweg in NIC 44, the "fundamental position" of
the 6 Be3 Ng4 variation occurs after 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Bg3
Bg7, with two main lines: 10 Be2 and 10 Qd2. Given the plethora
of praxis, selecting one or two key games is problematic, at best.
But, certainly, Shirov   Kasparov from 1997 Linares must be
amongst them. After 10 Be2 h5 11 Bg4 Bg4 12 f3 Bd7 13 0-0 Nc6
14 Bf2 e6 15 Nce2, one gets the impression from Kasparov's notes
that Black may already be making some progress.

Similarly, Gallagher also identifies 10 Qd2/Be2 as the two
principal variations of the 6...Ng4 line. A major crossroads is
arrived at on White's 11th move, when he can play either 11 h4 or
11 Bg4. The latter follows Shirov   Kasparov and, of course,
reaches the position after 15 Nce2. While Kasparov views this as a
dubious move, giving the alternative 15 Nc6 Bc6 16 Bd4 Be5 with
equality, Gallagher is not so pessimistic. His potential
improvement appears to come a move later, after 15...Ne5 16 b3,
when he suggests 16 Qd2 as "more promising". He offers the
continuation from the game J. Polgar   Sutovsky, 1997 Wijk aan
Zee, which saw 16...b5 17 b3 Ng6 18 Rad1 Rc8 19 c3 Be5 20 Nc2
with a small advantage, although he concedes "I'm sure the big
guns will be able to improve on Black's play here" (page 254).

For the record, ECO omits mention of Shirov   Kasparov and,
instead, follows Tseitlin   Raskovskij, 1992 Netanya, which
continued 13 Bf2 Nc6 14 Qd2 Ne5 15 0-0 Rc8, with equality. This
game is also cited by Gallagher, who continues it a move further
with 16 b3 Qa5 when, in his opinion, Black was better, although he
acknowledges that Raskovsky's suggestion of 16 Nd5 e6 17 Ne3
leads to a balanced game (page 252).

The other stem line for White in the 6...Ng4 variation is 10 Qd2.
Tiviakov, in NIC Yearbook 45, writes that "After 10 Qd2 Nc6 11
Nb3, the strongest continuation for Black is 11...b5!", based on the
drawn game between Tiviakov and the late Estonian GM, Lembit
Oll, from Beijing 1997. 

Gallagher's (as well as ECO's) suggested 11th move for Black in
the foregoing line is 11...Be6. He follows the game Peng Xiaomin
  Lazarev, 1997 Geneva, and offers a Black improvement on move
19 which, according to Gallagher's analysis, will lead to a position
where White must take a perpetual check six moves later. Tiviakov
  Oll is cited in a footnote as resulting in an approximately "level"
position after move 20 (page 242).

Another popular White response is 6 f4, covered by Gallagher in
Chapters 4 through 6 and ECO under B93. According to Alexander
Delchev in NIC Yearbook 45, after 6...e5 7 Nf3 Nbd7 8 a4 Be7 9
Bd3 0-0 10 0-0 ef4, White probably does best to avoid the pawn
sacrifice 11 Bf4 Qb6 12 Kh1 Qb2 and, instead, play 11 Kh1.
Delchev, however, found that he was running into trouble when
Black played 11...Nh5, until he discovered 12 Ne1, which led to
12...Ndf6 13 Be2 g6 14 Nd3 Be6 15 Nf4 Nf4 16 Bf4 with the
advantage in his game against Ubilava at 1997 Andorra.

Although Gallagher includes coverage of the Delchev   Ubilava
game, he considers the main line to be 11 Bf4 and not 11 Kh1.
ECO, on the other hand, provides equal treatment of both moves,
but omits Delchev   Ubilava, which probably occurred too late for
inclusion.

Reviewing the 11 Bf4 line, it appears that Gallagher and ECO are
in sync on their assessments. As one might expect, Gallagher
offers more detail when compared to an encyclopedic series such
as ECO. Both sources follow the game Jepson   Am. Rodriguez,
which proceeded 11 Bf4 Qb6 12 Kh1 Qb2 13 Qe1 Qb6 14 Nd5
Nd5 15 ed5 Qd8 16 c4 Nc5 17 Bc2 Bg4 18 Qg3 Bf3 19 Rf3 Bh4
20 Qh3 g6 21 Bh6 Bf6 22 Raf1 Bg4 23 g4. ECO stops here,
evaluating the position as unclear, while Gallagher continues to
follow Jepson   Am. Rodriguez, when White had the advantage
after 23...f6 24 Bxg6 hxg6 25 Bxg7 Kxg7 26 g5 Rh8 27 gxf6 Kf7
28 Qg3. He also includes Rodriguez' recommended improvement
of 23...Qe7 "when Black has adequate compensation for the
exchange" after 24 Re3 Be5 25 Bf8 Rf8 26 Qh6 f6 (page 89). 

When Black plays an early ...e6, transpositions to the
Scheveningen variation are common. In fact, ECO covers the
position after 6 Bc4 e6, Gallagher's Chapters 1 through 3, as
though it were a Scheveningen, under variations B 86 and B 87. 

 The Chapter 3 sequence of 6 Bc4 e6 7 Bb3 Nbd7 8 f4 Nc5 is a
stem position in ECO B 86. All four of Gallagher's 9th move
choices, e5, f5 Qf3 and 0-0, can be found in ECO. Interesting is 9
Qf3, with the line 9...Be7 10 Be3 Qc7 11 0-0 b5 12 f5 e5 13 Nde2
Bb7 14 Ng3 Nb3 15 cb3 given as equal by ECO and attributed to
Shipov. Gallagher includes the same line in a note, calling the
position after 15 cb3 "level", but crediting only the alternative of
13 Nd5 Nd5 14 Bd5 ed4 15 Bd4 to Shipov (page 63).

The variation that begins with 6 Be2 is described by Gallagher as
"one of the most popular lines in the entire Najdorf, leading to
strategically complex positions with chances for both sides" (page
256). Gallagher refers to this line as the "Karpov plan". He and
ECO B 92 are in agreement through 6 Be2 e5 7 Nb3 Be7 8 0-0 0-0
9 Be3 Be6 10 Qd2 Nbd7 11 a4 Rc8 12 a5 Qc7 13 Rfd1 Rfe8 14
Qe1 h6, when Gallagher offers 15 Rd2 Qc6 16 h3 Qc6 17 Bf3 Qc7
18 Qd1 b5 19 ab6 Nb6 with equality in Loskutov   Neverov, 1996
St. Petersburg. ECO continues with the similar 15 h3 Qc6 16 Bf3
Qc7 17 Rd2 b5 18 ab6 Nb6 also with equality, but from the older
Kaiumov   Zagrebelny, 1990 SSSR.

"The Complete Najdorf: Modern Lines" is clearly a well-
researched work that is about as current and complete as one could
realistically hope to find on the Najdorf. There are, however, two
aspects that the potential buyer should bear in mind: (1) the
Najdorf Variation is an opening that is not for everyone; and (2)
not only does this system place a heavy theoretical burden on the
practitioner but, given the opening's popularity at the game's
highest levels, the theory is also continuously in flux. Thus, the
line that is drawn in the sand today, may suddenly reverse course
tomorrow.

What one gets with "The Complete Najdorf: Modern Lines" is
what one expects from a grandmaster author: a thorough
examination of a complex opening, laden with GM and IM praxis.
There are few, if any, concessions to the inexperienced player. But,
if one is serious about knowing the "ins " and "outs" of this
immensely popular opening, this is a book not to be missed.