"Rookie of the Year" The Gambit Guide to the English Opening : 1...e5 by Carsten Hansen, 1999 Gambit Publications, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 256pp., $23.95 Reviewed by Glenn Budzinski We all know of the popularity of the English Opening, 1 c4, and the aggressive response, 1...e5. Unfortunately, as often as this line is seen in tournament play, no one has bothered to compile a complete monograph about it since John Watson published his benchmark series on the English and, at that time, the 1...P-K4 response, some twenty years ago. In fact, the back cover of The Gambit Guide to the English Opening: 1...e5 by the young Danish master Carsten is quick to mention the two-decade void present in our libraries. The question that we will attempt to address in this review, however, is whether the Hansen book is capable of filling that void. An early indication of the thoroughness of the coverage is the size of the book: 256 pages - ten chapters worth of material, devoted to essentially one variation: 1 c4 e5. Included is an Index of Variations, a brief Bibliography and a one-page Introduction. Each chapter addresses five separate elements of each sub-variation: Typical Pawn Structure, Planning for White, Planning for Black, Quick Summary (brief overview of the main lines) and Theory. The chapters are as follows: The Reversed Sicilian: Introduction (1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 g3); The Reversed Dragon (Main Lines); The Closed Variation (1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3); The Fianchetto Variation (King's Indian Approach where Black delays the advance of ...e5); The Three Knights (1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3); The Four Knights without 4 g3; The Four Knights with 4 g3; Defences with ...f5; Systems with 2...d6 2...Bb4; and Early Deviations, such as 2 Nf3, 2 g3 and 2 b3. The two longest chapters, each about 40 pages, are The Four Knights without 4 g3 and Systems with ...f5. It is our opinion that the best way to judge an opening book is by its theory and whether such is current, accurate and complete. Let's examine a few samples of Hansen's material and see if it compares favorably to established lines found elsewhere. A popular variation often arrived at through various transpositions, identified by Nunn's Chess Openings (NCO) as the "King's Indian Set-up", is 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 d3 d6 6 Nf3 f5. Hansen includes this sequence under Chapter 8, "Defences with ...f5". This line is usually evaluated as leading to approximate equality; Hansen appears to agree. For instance, NCO gives 7 0-0 Nf6 8 Rb1 0-0 9 b4 h6 10 b5 Ne7 11 a4 Be6 12 Ba3 Rc8 13 Nd2 b6 14 e3 g5 with an unclear position in Psakhis - Kasparov, 1990 La Managa, while Olomuc, in its monograph discussing this variation (A25 English Opening), offers the game Libeau - Blatny, 1996 Munster, which saw the move order 5 d3 f5 6 Nf3 Nf6, with 7 0-0 0-0 8 Rb1 a5 9 a3 d6 10 b4 ab4 11 ab4 h6 12 b5 Ne7 13 Bb2 g5 14 Qb3 Ng6 15 Ra1 Ra1 16 Ra1 Be6 to follow. Although Black went on to win after 17 Ra7 Nd7, Hansen cites Blatny's suggested improvement of 17 Nd2 b6 when an equal position is reached (page 190). However, an alternative and perhaps more accurate move order in this line is that played in Sunye - Zapata, 1994 Linares, Mexico, Hansen's main line, which continued 13...Be6 (instead of 13...g5) 14 Ra1 Qd7 15 Ra8 Ra8 16 Qb3 Ra5, also with equality. In the variation 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7, Black chooses to omit ...f5. Thus, after the try 5 e4, M. Gurevich in English Opening (3) A20 - 24 and Hansen both recommend following Sher - Tkachev, 1993/4 Hastings: 5...d6 6 Nge2 0-0 7 0-0 c5 8 a3 Nc6 9 Rb1 a6 10 b4 cb4 11 ab4 b5 12 d3 Rb8 13 cb5 ab5 14 h3 Kh8 15 Be3 Ne7 16 d4 Be6 17 Qd2 d5. Gurevich assesses the position as unclear while Hansen calls it "OK for Black", but only Hansen suggests that the logical 17 d5 may lead to something better for White after 17...Bd7 18 Qd2 (page 62). An alternative to 5 e4 as offered by Hansen is 5 Nf3, which can transpose to the game Morovic - Karpov, 1994 Dos Hermanas through numerous move orders. Hansen's sequence is 5...d6 6 0-0 0-0 7 d3 Nc6 8 a3, picking up with the Karpov game after 8...Nd4 (NCO evaluates this position as equal, although it does not cite Morovic - Karpov) 9 Nd2 c6 10 b4 Be6 11 Bb2 Qd7 12 e3 Nf5 13 Nde4 Ne4 (page 66). Hansen includes Karpov's suggestion that 14 Ne4 leads to equality, which is in accord with Bogdan Lalic's comment in Trends in the English ...e5, Vol. 2 that 7...d6 and 8...Nd4 is "the most accurate system for Black". Turning our attention to another popular system, the Four Knights, which occurs after 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 Nf6, White has a choice of entering the fianchetto line with 4 g3, or selecting a non-fianchetto move. After 4 g3 , the move 4...Bc5 appeared several times in high-level play during 1999, specifically Ivanchuk - Anand, 1999 Wijk aan Zee and Gulko - Serper, 1999 World Open (Philadelphia). Given that the Hansen book was published in 1999, we were curious if either game made the "cut" before the printing presses rolled. After 5 Ne5 Bf2+ 6 Kf2 Ne5 7 e4 c5, Ivanchuk's new idea of 8 d4 is, in fact, presented. (For the record, the usual 8 d3 is generally considered to give Black few problems after 8...d6 9 h3 0-0 10 Be2 Ne8 11 Kg2 Nc7 as in, for example, the 1972 game O. Garcia - Boey , cited in Cafferty's 1974(!) book English Opening.) Hansen goes on to provide 8...cd4 9 Qd4 0-0 10 Bf4 d6 11 h3 Be6 12 Be2 Qc8, with the comment that Black can instead select 12...Rc8 13 b3 Nc6 14 Qd2 Qb6+ "with a double-edged position" (page 143). Although Gulko - Serper apparently occurred too late for inclusion, kudos to Hansen for his coverage of the ground-breaking Ivanchuk - Anand. The Four Knights non-fianchetto line is fascinating: 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 Bb4 5 Qc2 0-0 6 Nd5 Re8 7 Qf5!?. Identified as the "Stean/Keene Variation" by Langeweg and Agrest in New In Chess Yearbook 50 from 1999 (NIC YB), it is included by Hansen in his Chapter 6. After 7...d6 8 Nf6, Black is confronted with two possibilities: 8...gf6 and 8...Qf6. Hansen opts for 8...gf6 as his main line but notes that 8...Qf6 "used to be considered insufficient for equality, but practice has shown that White has a difficult time proving any advantage", an assessment that is upheld by the NIC YB article. A key game with 8...Qf6 is Agrest - Akopian from the 1998 NY Open, won by Black and included in Hansen's notes (Page 127). Continuing with 8...gf6, White invariably tries 9 Qh5, leaving Black to ponder two options: 9...d5 and 9...e4. Although the former is Hansen's main line, NIC YB and Hansen both consider 9...e4 as leading to muddy waters after 10 a3 ef3 11 ab4 Nb4 12 Ra4 Re5; Hansen now follows Lerner - Romanishin, 1978 Kiev, while NIC YB bases its assessment on the more recent B. Kovacevic - Janssen, 1998 Cannes. There is also concurrence between Hansen and NIC YB on the evaluation of 9...d5. Thus, after 10 a3 Bf8 11 Bd3 e4 12 cd5 ed3 13 dc6 bc6 14 b4 a5 15 Bb2 Re4 (Hansen acknowledges that 15..ab4 "may be better" as in G. Horvath - Sadler, 1993 Clichy Team Tournament, won by Black, although White missed an opportunity to equalize on move 21 - cited by Hansen but omitted by NIC YB) 16 Nd4 Rg4 and now another Hansen suggestion is 17 0-0, when White "has a good game" (page 129). NIC YB agrees that 9...d5 10 a3 offers White the possibility of gaining an advantage. About the only less than positive comment that wecan make about the Hansen book concerns the organization of the material in the 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 line. Sub- variations are split between at least three chapters, acknowledged by Hansen to be a potential problem for readers but defended as enabling the grouping of similar ideas. For instance, White options on move 5 usually consist of e4, Nf3, d3, e3 and Rb1. Hansen covers the first two in Chapter 4 and the latter three in Chapter 3, except if Black responds with ...f5. In that case, the reader must turn to yet another chapter ("Defences with ...f5"). While we understand that Hansen is presenting more than mere "bare bones" theory between the covers, finding responses to certain variations can still be a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating experience. On the other hand, one potential problem cannot dampen our enthusiasm for The Gambit Guide to the English Opening: 1...e5. This is a book that provides comprehensive coverage of 1 c4 e5, a truly worthy successor to John Watson's work two decades earlier. Carsten Hansen has put together a well- researched publication, containing recent material and numerous original suggestions. If you play the English as White or meet 1 c4 with ...e5, this is the only book on the market at present that offers thorough coverage of this popular line. But don't worry, that's OK. Everything you need to know about the current opening theory of the 1...e5 English is right here, comprehensively covered by Carsten.