More French Cooking "French Defense 2: New and Forgotten Ideas" by Nikolay Minev 1998 Thinker's Press, Paperback, English Algebraic Notation, 329pp., $25.00 Reviewed by Glenn Budzinski International Master Nikolay Minev has been recognized as an expert in the French Defense at least since his contributions to the 1981 edition of Encyclopedia of Chess Openings Volume C (ECO). Subsequent to that, in 1988, he authored his own book on the French, consisting of 450 complete games, all miniatures (most ended in less than 20 moves), covering all lines of the opening. His current work, "French Defense 2: New and Forgotten Ideas", is an update to the 1988 edition, with more and longer games. The present book consists of a whopping 21 chapters, 20 of which share the name and material of the applicable ECO chapter. (The last chapter is an addendum which adds game numbers 501 through 520.) Thus, the chapter titled "C00: Unusual French Lines:1.e4 e6" includes games with lines found under ECO variation C00. There are 520 complete games, from the late nineteenth century through 1997, with the majority played during the past forty years. Minev's intent is not to merely show quick wins that stem from the French, whether the White or the Black side, but to illustrate new or forgotten ideas. Taking a closer look at the material, beginning with the first chapter, "C00: Unusual French Lines" where White deviates on move 2, Minev includes several games with 2 g3 not addressed in the previous edition. (Apparently 2 g3 is so rare that it's been deemed by the ECO folks as worthy only of a footnote.) Additionally, Minev adds a new example of 2 f4, Ledesma- Rossetto, 1941 Montevideo, but borrows his own commentary about 2 e5 from Chiobanu-Belanel, game #1 in the 1988 version and game #2 here. The move 2 Qe2 is also accorded coverage for the first time by Minev. In the 1997 ECO, the line 2 g3 d5 3 Bg2 de4 4 Nc3 Bd7 5 d3 Bc6 6 de4 Qd1 7 Nd1 Nf6 8 f3 Bb4 9 Kf2 Nbd7 10 Ne2 Bc5 11 Be3 is given as equal in O. Castro-Szabo from1976, with the evaluation attributed to Keres and Minev. Minev includes the game Tartakower-H. Muller, 1927 Kecskemet, which continued instead with 4...Nf6. He does, however, cite Castro- Szabo in a footnote, with the comment that 4...Bd7 is "considered as Black's best" and leads to equality (page 3). So, credit to Minev for maintaining consistency between his various works on this opening. Unfortunately, Minev's record of consistency is short-lived. In the 2 Qe2 line, dubbed the Chigorin Variation, both ECO and Minev (game #3) cite Hoffmann-Edelman, 1984 Manhattan. After 1 e4 e6 2 Qe2 c5 3 f4 Nc6 4 Nf3 Nge7, Minev comments that this move is "quite dubious" (page 10) and continues to follow Hoffmann-Edelman, a quick White win after 5 c3 d5 6 d3 b6 7 g3 dxe4 8 dxe4 a5 9 Na3 Bb7 10 Be3 Nc8 11 Rd1 Qc7 12 Nb5 Qe7 13 e5 Ba6 14 Bg2 Qb7 15 a4 N8a7 16 Ng5 Bc7 17 Qf3 Rc8 18 Nd6+ Bxd6 19 Rxd6 Qc7 20 Qh5 g6 21 Qh6. (Threats: 22 Qg7 & 22 Nxh7.) Curiously, rather than 5 c3, ECO suggests 5 g3 d5 6 d3 g6 7 Bg2 Bg7 8 0-0 b6 9 Nc3 0-0 10 Bd2 Nd4 with equality, according to Keres - and Minev. Variation C06 is the Tarrasch line, one of the more popular lines of the French. A main line, as identified by McDonald and Harley in their excellent work "Mastering the French" (see the review in The Chess Cafe's Book Review Archives section), ECO and John Watson in his new edition of "Play the French" (also reviewed by us here at The Chess Cafe) runs 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 Bd3 c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 Ne2 cd4 8 cd4 f6 9 ef6 Nf6 10 Nf3 Bd6 11 0-0 0-0 leading, eventually, to approximately even positions. Watson suggests that Black deviate with an early ...Qb6. Minev's game #169, Werle-Horberg, 1955 Swedish CH, follows Watson's recommendation (although Minev does not specifically highlight ...Qb6 as a new idea) after 7...Qb6 8 Nf3 cd4 9 cd4 f6 10 ef6 Nf6 11 0-0 Bd6 12 g3 0-0 13 b4 e5 14 de5 Ne5 15 Ne5 Be5 16 Rb1 (Here, Watson likes 16 Ra2 as in Govedarica- Uhlmann, 1977 Vrbas, a game also cited by Minev in a note to Werle-Horberg) 16...Ng4 17 Qb3 Rf2 18 Rf2 Qf2+ 19 Kh1 Qf1+ 0-1. C07 covers fourth move deviations of the Tarrasch. Thus, after the moves 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 c5, Minev's game #175 is Kveinys-Se. Ivanov, 1995 Lubniewice, which continued 4 Ngf3 cxd4 5 Nxd4 Nf6 6 exd5 Qxd5 7 N2f3 a6 8 Bd3 e5 9 Qe2 Bb4+ 10 c3 0-0 11 Bc4 Qd6 12 Nxe5 b5 13 Bb3 Qxd4 14 0-0 Bxc3 15 bxc3 Qc5 16 a4 Qxc3 17 Ra3 Qc5 18 axb5 Bb7 19 Rd1 axb5 20 Nxf7 Rxa3 21 Qe6 Rxb3 0-1. Minev's point to this particular game would appear to be as an illustration of the move 5...Nf6, identified by ECO as an idea worthy of further investigation. However, if the reader were to play 5...Nf6 hoping for a result similar to Kveinys-Se. Ivanov, he might be surprised to see White respond with 12 Nb3, omitted by Minev but recommended in ECO as giving White a small advantage. Also in the C07 chapter, games 188-192 cover the variation 4 exd5 Qxd5 5 Ngf3 cxd4 6 Bc4 Qd6 7 0-0. As he did in the 1988 edition, Minev once again includes the early 1970s correspondence game Fride-Kazmer (game #189), this time with a revised annotation after 7...Nc6 8 Nb3 Nf6 9 Re1. Jabbing at ECO, he writes "Another interesting, not mentioned- in-ECO plan is 9 Qe2!?..."(page 125). Well, not so fast. Maybe it wasn't mentioned in the 1981 edition of ECO, but if Minev bothered to check the 1997 version, he would have come upon 9 Qe2 as leading to an unclear position in the 1988 game Velimirovic-Popovic. Additionally, Watson devotes about one- half page of analysis to the move, including offering several games from the 1990s. Minev gives two examples of 9 Qe2, one from 1953, the other from 1986. In the same line after 6 Bc4 Qd6 7 0-0 Nc6, of less significance is Minev's comment in game #188, Ofstad-Uhlmann, 1963 Halle, that "It seems that this move is mandatory. The attempts for play without it are rarely seen in practice and show bad results" (page 125). While he may be correct that an early ...Nc6 seems necessary for Black in this variation, 7...Nc6 is hardly "mandatory", at this point. In fact, the main line as given by ECO and Watson is 7...Nf6 8 Nb3 Nc6. Perhaps more accurate language should've been employed to describe the necessity of ...Nc6. One of the main lines of the Winawer, ECO C18, runs 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 c5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 Ne7 7 Qg4. Watson now advocates 7...Qc7, leading to 8 Qxg7 Rg8 9 Qxh7 cxd4 and White can choose between either 10 Kd1 or Ne2. All of this can be found in ECO, as well as Minev's games 482- 488. Game #485, Canoba-Eliskases, 1957 San Nicolas, saw 10 Ne2, but instead of the usual ...Nbc6 Black, replied with 10...dxc3 11 f4 b6. Minev labels 11...b6 as a forgotten idea "worthy of more attention", apparently based on Black's 26 move victory in this game (page 302). However, had he seen Oll-Romero, 1990 Terrassa, found in the latest edition of ECO, he might have changed his opinion of this move, since after 12 Ng3 Qc5 13 Rb1 Nd7 14 Nh5 Rf8 15 Rb5 Qd4 16 Rb4 Qc5 17 Qd3 Nc6 18 Ra4 Na5 19 Be3 Qc6 20 Rb4 White is considered to have the advantage. On the other hand, also in the 10 Ne2 line, Minev may have mined a little gold in game #487, Arkhipov-Simin, 1988 correspondence, after 10...Nbc6 11 f4 Bd7 12 Qd3 dxc3 13 Nxc3 Nf5 14 Nb5. Now, the normal 14...Qd8 was eschewed for 14...Qb8. The game ended shortly thereafter: 15 g4 Nxe5 16 fxe5 Qxe5+ 17 Kd1 Rxg4 18 Bh3 Rc4 19 Rb1 Nd4 20 Nc3 Rxc3 1-0. No mention of 14...Qb8 could be found in either Watson or ECO. Curiously, however, Minev cites the game Arakhamia-Schatz, 1994 Liechtenstein, and after White tried 15 c3 in lieu of 15 g4, he comments that "according to Watson Black has sufficient play for a pawn" (page 304). Gambit play is not unheard of against the French. In fact, it is currently proving to be quite popular in correspondence. One of the oldest gambits available to White is the Milner-Barry, which occurs in the Advance Variation, after the moves 3 e5 c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Qb6 6 Bd3 cxd4 7 cxd4 Bd7 8 0-0. Minev addresses it through games 89-95. After 8...Nxd4 9 Nxd4 Qxd4 10 Nc3, the reply 10...a6 is currently in vogue. Minev cites this move as the "the best defense" - Herter-Nievergelt, 1957 Stuttgart, game #77 in the previous edition and #90 here. This time around, however, he wisely includes a complete game illustrating 10...a6, rather than reference merely through a note. In the game, Djuric-Jovicevic, 1994 Yugoslavia, a 19- move White victory, after 11 Qe2 Rc8 12 Kh1 Bc5 13 Bg5 h6 14 Bd2 Ne7, he labels 15 f4!? as a "novelty" (page 63). While this game may represent the first time that the move was seen in high-level tournament play, 15 f4 was actually a suggestion of Salome and Bickford in their 1992 book "The Advance Variation of the French Defense, Volume 1". Game #94, Schuchardt-Hawkes, 1991-2 correspondence, looks at the alternative to 10...a6, 10...Qxe5, a move that Watson claims "holds up well". After 11 Re1 Qb8 12 Nd5 Bd6 13 Qg4 Kf8 14 Bd2 h5, Minev comments "The best continuation, which is considered a refutation of the whole gambit" (page 62). Just who considers 14...h5 to be a refutation of the Milner- Barry Gambit is unclear, however. ECO, for instance, gives the continuation15 Qh3 Bc6 16 Ne3 Nf6 17 Nc4 Bc7 18 Bc3 Nd5 19 Ne5 Nc3 20 Nf7 Kf7 21 Qe6 Kf8 22 Qf5 Kg8 23 Bc4 Bd5 24 Bd5 Nd5 25 Qd5 Kh7 26 Qf5, with equality. Granted, White isn't winning, but he is far from busted. Even Watson, who believes that the entire 10...Qxe5 variation favors Black, does not pinpoint a single move as the culprit. In fact, Minev's own subsequent analysis of game #94 hardly appears to be damning evidence against 14...h5. With comments such as "White's two bishops are some compensation for the two pawns" after 15 Qh3 Bc6, and inclusion of the game Messere- Endzelins, when White equalized after 16 Nb4 Nf6 17 Nxc6 bxc6 18 b3 (Watson also mentions this game), one is certainly tempted to view Minev's alleged refutation as more of a rush to judgement. Overall, there is good news and bad news about "French Defense 2". The good news is that this work covers all lines of the opening (a rarity, for a book on the French), and does include ideas that often can be considered new or forgotten. The bad news is that Minev's statement in the Introduction "Unfortunately many [books on the French] strive to impress the public with bold definitive conclusions, but present little that is new, or even worse, they mislead the reader with recent, but badly played games" is, in this case, closer to the truth more often than one would have hoped. What this writer finds most disappointing about the book is that with only a minimal amount of additional effort, Minev could have had a rousing success on his hands. Many of the problems stem from the use of outdated material (i.e., the old versions of ECO and Watson, rather than the 1997 editions) which, in this writer's view, is unforgivable in today's chess information age. Nonetheless, this is a serious piece of opening literature intended primarily for the French Defense aficionado or the player seeking a collection of miniature games. "French Defense 2" is not recommended, however, for a player wishing to learn the opening from scratch.