Can't Judge a Book by its Cover Improve Your Middlegame Play by Andrew Kinsman, 2000 Everyman Publishers, English Algebraic Notation, 144pp., $14.95 Reviewed by Glenn Budzinski Arguably, the most complex phase of the game and, therefore, the hardest to learn, is the middlegame. While most experienced players know the middlegame basics, when confronted with a question as to how they learned them, a common reply is often a blank stare. The player who can pinpoint a specific source for the majority of his middlegame knowledge is the exception, rather than the rule. So, what is the source for most of our middlegame knowledge? Do we learn mostly from books? Or, perhaps it's through playing games, where we see the first-hand consequences of our plans and ideas? Nowadays, a chess teacher is undoubtedly a popular way for junior players to acquire the knowledge they need about the middlegame. Maybe, however, osmosis takes over when we sleep at night and, somehow, we're automatically empowered with the answers when we wake up the next morning. Realistically, middlegame knowledge is probably acquired through a variety of modes, with a major source being book learning. Books about the middlegame are not uncommon creatures. It seems like everyone has his own spin on what is or isn't important about this very important phase of the game. In fact, there are those who will argue that the middlegame is really what chess is all about. One of the latest works on the middlegame is English IM Andrew Kinsman's Improve Your Middlegame Play, published this year. The book contains eight chapters and 144 pages. Chapter One is entitled "What is the Middlegame?"; "Fundamentals of Positional Play" is Chapter Two; Chapter Three is "Keeping Control"; Four is "Avoiding Blunders"; "Attacking Play" is Five; Chapter Six is "Turning Things Around", and the last two chapters are "The Time Control" and solutions to the four exercises given in each of Chapters Two through Seven. Additionally, there is a brief Table of Contents, which is essentially reiterated in narrative format in a sub-chapter, "The Structure of This Book", found on Pages 13 and 14. Given the blurb on the back cover that the book "Explains the basic ideas of tactical and positional play; Provides numerous exercises for readers to test themselves; Revolutionary layout to help readers absorb the key ideas", I had high hopes that this publication might serve as a worthwhile middlegame primer. Unfortunately, those hopes were soon dashed. Essentially, Improve Your Middlegame Play is a collection of tips and advice on the opening and middlegame. While an experienced tournament player won't find much (if anything) new, the novice or less experienced player may mine some useful nuggets of advice not appearing in most other sources. For instance, in the chapter "Attacking Play", Kinsman writes "You should gear your opening repertoire towards the types of positions in which you feel most comfortable It is far better to find a line which gives you the kind of positions you play well even if is not the most currently fashionable variation." I also liked "If you sense that you are losing the thread of the position, stop and have a long think so that you can regroup!" (page 82); "Although in the endgame, the presence of opposite-coloured bishops makes the position more drawish, in the middlegame the reverse is true" (page 64); "The best way to handle time pressure is to avoid it" (page 120). But if you're expecting to learn "the basic ideas of tactical and positional play", supposedly a strong suit of the book, you may be disappointed. Things start out on a promising note with Chapter Two, "Fundamentals of Positional Play" commencing with a brief discussion of the importance of pawn structure in the middlegame, a critical element of positional play. Six interesting examples of the isolated queen pawn (d-pawn) follow. Unfortunately, there is no further discussion of pawn structures or types of pawns; no mention of open or closed positions, doubled, backward or hanging pawns, or pawn centers. All are elements that one would expect to find in a work that claims to be a primer on positional play and, in fact, are usually addressed in some way by historically well-regarded instructional literature. But not here. As petty as it may seem, even the associated tip is less than one might have hoped. Is the hardly profound conclusion "In IQP positions the square in front of the isolated pawn is of great importance" (page 24) the best advice that the author can come up with after six examples and seven pages (5%) of the book? The next topic covered in the same chapter is entitled "Black's Bad French Bishop". There are four game fragments given as examples of positions illustrating the plight of Black's Queen Bishop in the French Defense (i.e., 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 c5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 Ne7 7 Nf3 b6 8 a4 Ba6; See Diagram [DIAGRAM] ) While such examples are certainly of value if one plays the French Defense, their relevancy to a book that purports to offer general middlegame advice is questionable. At a minimum, a generic tip about good or bad bishops would've been more useful. Instead, the reader is presented with the specific "In the French Defence Black should always be thinking about what to do with his light-squared Bishop" (page 30). So, what does one do if he doesn't happen to be a practitioner of the French Defense? Should these pages be ignored? Still hoping to find the alleged "basic ideas", I turned to Chapter Five, "Attacking Play". In this chapter, there is a Mikhail Tal game illustrative of the heading "The Greatest Attacking Player?", another game featuring an attack (between Topalov and Svidler from 1998 Linares), a topic entitled "Boxing Clever", which opines about the significance of playing an opening variation that suits your style and the need to look for "mini-plans", followed by "The Unexpected Tactic", where a weakness is exploited by a sudden tactic. Missing is a discussion of the basic tactical elements. Exercises presented at the end of the chapters are, for the most part, challenging. It should not come as a surprise for the reader to learn that he has been inadequately prepared to answer many of them. For example, Exercise 3 in the "Attacking Play" is as follows: (See Diagram) [DIAGRAM: White: P=a2,b2,c4,d5,f2,h2,h5; Q=c2; R=g1; B=e3; N=f3; K=h1; Black: P=a7, b6, c7, d6,d3,f4,h6; Q=e5; R=a8,f8; B=d7; K=h8] The question put to the reader is "Can you calculate the consequences of 32 Nxe5 and 32 Qxd3 here?" Those of you that may happen to recognize this position will know that it's from Game 12 of the 1966 World Championship, with Petrosian playing White against Spassky. In the game, Petrosian chose 32 Nxe5 dxc2 33 Bd4 dxe5 34 Bxe5+ Kh7 35 Rg7+ Kh8 36 Rf7+ Kg8 37 Rg7+ Kh8 38 Rg6+ Kh7 39 Rg7+ the players agreed to a draw. Kinsman points out that White could have won with 32 Qxd3 Bf5 33 Nxe5 Bxd3 34 Bd4 dxe5 35 Bxe5+ Kh7 36 Rg7+ Kh8 37 Rxc7+ Kg8 38 Rg7+ Kh8 39 Rxa7+ Kg8 40 Rg7+ Kh8 41 Rg3+ Kh7 42 Rxd3 "when White's pawns will ultimately decide the game" (page 139). Presumably, the success rate of the audience for this particular question is not anticipated to be high, given that there is no discussion or advice offered on how to calculate variations and the right line was even missed by a World Champion. This is a book that fails to do what it claims. It doesn't cover basics of tactical and positional play and there is nothing "revolutionary" about the format of advice with a few examples and a total of 24 exercises. Despite the existence of test positions, many will probably prove too difficult for most readers. Improve Your Middlegame Play may contain some useful tips for players gaining their initial experience into tournament play, but if you're truly seeking to improve your understanding of the middlegame, the best advice I can give is to look elsewhere.