Birth of an Acronym "Nunn's Chess Openings" by John Nunn, Graham Burgess, John Emms and Joe Gallagher, 1999 Everyman Publishers, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Large Softcover, 544pp., $29.95 Reviewed by Glenn Budzinski In general, opening books usually can be placed into one of three categories: a single volume reference work that covers all or most openings, such as "Modern Chess Openings" (MCO); a multi- volume series for all openings, such as "Encyclopedia of Chess Openings" (ECO), or a monograph that focuses on one specific opening or variation. Most fall into the latter category. (This past decade has seen this group further expanded to include multiple volume sets of a single opening such as the English Opening, King's Indian, etc.) Arguably, the type that presents the greatest challenges to authors is the single volume that covers all openings. Not only must hundreds of openings be addressed, no easy feat in itself but, due to stringent space limitations, mountains of theory must be pared down to include only the most important variations. Of course, the twin issues of accuracy and currency can not be ignored. The few lines of theory that are ultimately identified for a given opening must not only be current, but they must be accurate, as well. A recent game that contains mistakes by one or both players or does not accurately reflect the theoretical consensus of a particular line, may have no more value than a game from 1850 that is technically precise, but covers a variation that has long since been busted. Given the inherent difficulties in producing even a satisfactory one-volume opening reference means that the attempts at such have been few. The successes have been even fewer. In fact, there have probably been only two in recent times that are noteworthy and both are household names: Horowitz' "Chess Openings, Theory and Practice", from 1964 and MCO by Korn and others, last published in 1990. "Nunn's Chess Openings" falls into the single volume opening reference work category. Similar to its predecessors, Horowitz and Korn, Nunn's entry is a large book, both in physical size (approximately 7" x 10") and number of pages (544). Material is presented in the same order in which it appears in the five volume ECO series. That is, Nunn devotes early chapters to the English, Dutch Defense, Benoni, etc. which represent ECO Volume A; next comes coverage of the Sicilian variations, corresponding to ECO Volume B, followed by the French and e-pawn openings (ECO Volume C), etc. Thus, virtually all openings found in ECO are also afforded coverage by Nunn, albeit in abridged fashion. Perhaps the best approach to confronting such a mammoth task is to make it a collaborative effort, which is exactly what Nunn has done. First, he wisely enlisted the services of three well-known and generally highly-regarded opening book authors: Graham Burgess, John Emms and Joe Gallagher, and then let each do what he does best. So, Gallagher, who wrote a definitive work on the King's Gambit, also authored the section on that opening for Nunn. Burgess, author of "The Complete Alekhine", naturally wrote the Alekhine's Defense part, etc. It's also not an easy job to review a book of this magnitude. Given the constraints of time, obviously every line could not be examined without devoting the better part of a decade to the project. The method that we settled on was to select main lines in popular openings, such as the Queen's Gambit, Ruy Lopez, a few variations of the Sicilian, etc., plus several obscure variations, add one or two known opening novelties, and see how Nunn's analysis holds up. Okay, let's get down to brass tacks. The Taimanov Variation is one of the most popular lines of the Sicilian. It occurs after the moves 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nc6. The main line, covered by ECO B49 and James Plaskett in his monograph "The Sicilian Taimanov" (1997; The Chess Press), runs 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 Be3 a6 7 Be2 Nf6 8 0-0 Bb4 and now either 9 Na4 without the Nxc6 capture or 9 Nxc6 with Na4 to follow. A key theoretical game in the 9 Na4 line is Shirov-Miladinovic, 1995 Belgrade, which continued 9 Be7 10 c4 Nxe4 11 c5 0-0 12 Rc1 f5 13 f4 and rather than 13 Rb8, Shirov recommended 13 d5 in both sources, ECO and Plaskett, leading to equality. In the game continuation, White obtained an advantage and won in 37 moves. Looking at Nunn's coverage of this line, he gives 13 d5! as the principal move and continues by citing Shirov's analysis, identical to the other sources (page 196). Staying with the Sicilian but switching variations, we come to the infamous Dragon, known as one of opening theory's most double- edged and heavily-analyzed lines. After the moves 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 0-0 8 Qd2 Nc6 9 Bc4 Bd7 10 0-0-0, both sides have castled on opposing wings and play revolves around counter-punching king hunts. The three sources we checked, ECO variation B78, Gufeld and Stetsko in their comprehensive "The Complete Dragon" and Nunn (page 224) all identify the same continuation as a main line: 10 Rc8 11 Bb3 Ne5 12 h4 Nc4 13 Bxc4 Rxc4 14 h5 Nxh5 15 g4 Nf6 16 Nb3 Re8 17 Bh6 Bh8 18 Bg5 Qc8 19 Rh4 Nxg4 20 fxg4 Bxg4 21 Re1 h5, with an unclear position. Believe it or not, despite going 21 moves deep, this is a relatively well-known position and it would be surprising if the sources, in fact, did not concur. A hotly-debated response to the Sicilian is the Smith-Morra Gambit, 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3, where White sacrifices a pawn to increase his development. We were curious what Nunn had in mind when he wrote in his one-page introductory narrative (page 155) to the "Sicilian: Early deviations" chapter that "Line 8 on page 157 is Black's safest option, and should serve to quell any fears Black may have about accepting [the Smith-Morra Gambit]." Line 8 is given as 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 Nxc3 Nc6 5 Nf3 d6 6 Bc4 e6 7 0-0 a6 8 Qe2 Bd7 9 Rd1 Be7 10 Bf4 e5 11 Be3 Nf6 12 Rac1 0-0 13 a3 Rc8 14 b4 b5 15 Bd5 Nxd5 16 Nxd5 Be6 with an equal game. ECO, in variation B21, diverges with 8 Be7 9 Rd1 b5 10 Bb3 Ra7, resulting in an unclear position, whether White chooses 11 e5 or 11 Be3. This ECO analysis does not enlighten us, however, about Nunn's recommendation. Nonetheless, corroboration was found without too much difficulty in Graham Burgess' 1994 monograph "Winning With the Smith- Morra Gambit", in a footnote to the game Moore-Hjertenes, where Black opted for the apparently inferior 13...h6 and later lost. Burgess suggested 13...Rc8, following the game Burgess-Stage, 1993 Gudbjerg, which, lo and behold, saw Nunn's exact move order. According to Burgess, "Black seems to hold the balance" after 16...Be6. One can certainly assume that this is the source game for the Nunn analysis, especially since Burgess was also the author of the Smith-Morra section on page 157. Further evidence of the viability of this line for Black can be found in Joseph Shipman's scholarly series on the Smith-Morra, which appeared over five issues of "Chess Horizons" magazine in late 1990 and early 1991. The March-April 1991 issue included the line through 12 Rac1 and advocated that Black go in for 12...Ng4, assessing the position as slightly favorable for the second player. Although Nunn makes no mention of Shipman, he does cite 12...Ng4!? as an alternative to 12...0-0. One way or the other, it is clear that the author has done his homework. Any opening that purports to offer anything vaguely resembling complete coverage of all openings must address the Ruy Lopez (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5). Nunn devotes a 38-page chunk to the Ruy, out of approximately 540 pages of theory contained in the book. Only the Sicilian, 103 pages, the Queen's Gambit, 81 pages and the King's Indian, 46 pages, are accorded more space. In the Ruy, Nunn and crew call the "Flohr-Zaitsev" variation, 9...Bb7, "perhaps the most important line of the whole Spanish" (page 320). This line occurs after 3...a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Bb7. ECO, which examines it under variation C92, pushes out the main line through 10 d4 Re8 11 Nbd2 Bf8 12 a4 h6 13 Bc2 ed4 14 cd4 Nb4 15 Bb1 c5 16 d5 Nd7 17 Ra3 with 17...f5 or ...c4 offered as Black's principal options. Nunn remains faithful to ECO theory through 17 Ra3, and treats 17...f5 as the main choice, providing less coverage of 17...c4. After 17...f5, he examines three 18th move alternatives for White: Rae3, exf5 and Nh2, along with 18 g4 in a note. ECO follows suit, in addition to addressing 18 e5 by reference. Nunn's first choice is 18 Rae3, with 18...f4 19 R3e2 Ne5 20 Nf1 Nxf3+ 21 gxf3 Qh4 22 Nh2 Re5 23 Qd2 g5 24 Ng4 Bg7, resulting in an unclear position. ECO is in agreement, adding 25 b3 Rae8 26 Bb2 Bc8, also assesses the position as unclear and attributes the analysis to Karpov. Another 18th move option for White is ECO's top choice, 18 ef5. Either 18...Bd5 or 18...Nf6 are suggested for Black. Nunn's analysis runs 18...Nf6 19 Ne4 Bd5 20 Nf6+ Qf6 21 ab5 ab5 22 Bd2 Ra3 23 ba3 Bf3 24 Qf3 Re1+ 25 Be1 Qb2 and the position was unclear in Rantanen-Ojanen, 1990 Finland. ECO, on the other hand, deviates slightly by following Kasparov- Karpov, 1990 World Championship Match Game #4, which continued 21 Bd2 Qb2 22 Bb4 Bf7 23 Re6 Qb4 24 Rb3 Qa4 25 Bc2 when Black had compensation for his material deficit. Nunn cites Kasparov-Karpov in a footnote to move 21, while ECO does the same for Rantanen-Ojanen. So, Nunn has been relatively impressive thus far. He has shown that he can cover main line theory, but what about the lesser known or more obscure openings? Since it's spring and almost time for baseball season, how about a baseball analogy: If we throw Nunn a curve ball, will he hit it or strike out? We decided to put Nunn to the test and examine his coverage of the Evans Gambit, utilizing Michael Rohde's 1997 monograph "The Great Evans Gambit Debate" (see the review in the Archives section of The Chess Caf‚) as the reference source. Captain Evans' brainchild begins 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4, gambiting the b-pawn. The Evans' popularity peaked well over a century ago, during the time of such fabled attackers as Morphy, Anderssen and a bit later, Chigorin. It was once again thrust into the limelight when Kasparov won a dashing victory with it against Anand in 1995. Given that Nunn devotes a total of only two pages to this opening, and most of that as reference notes, what sort of coverage could one really expect to find? A key defense for Black occurs after 4...Bxb4 5 c3 Be7. According to Rohde, this move is "favored by professional players as a reasonably safe way to handle the gambit." It was also Anand's choice against Kasparov in 1995. White now has two principal choices: 6 d4 and 6 Qb3. Nunn lists 6 d4 as the main line and covers 6 Qb3 in a note. There are at least two theoretically important continuations after 6 d4 that are deserving of coverage by any respectable publication that addresses the Evans. The first occurs after 6 d4 Na5 7 Nxe5 Nxc4 8 Nxc4 d5 9 exd5 Qxd5 10 Ne3. Although Rohde reports that "White's results from this position have been very good", the move 10...Qd7! may give White some trouble. After 11 0-0 Nf6 12 c4, there is the "meek" (so states Rohde) 12...0-0, which led to a White advantage in Nunn-Larsen, 1980 London, or Nunn's suggested improvement of 12...b5. It was no great surprise to find that Nunn, who authored the Evans Gambit section, included coverage of the 10...Qd7 line through 12...0-0 of Nunn-Larsen. As expected, he cited 12...b5 in a footnote, offering 13 cxb5 Qxb5 14 Ba3 with a small "plus" for White. The second point of theoretical significance is the move 7 Be2 of Kasparov-Anand, rather than 7 Nxe5. Nunn includes the Kasparov game in a footnote: 7 Be2 exd4 8 Qxd4 Nf6 9 e5 Nc6 10 Qh4 Nd5 11 Qg3 g6 12 0-0, when White is assessed as holding a minimal advantage. This evaluation seems to be in accord with Rohde's comment after move 12 that "White is only a pawn down, and Black's position is very uncomfortable, but there are not many targets." Turning our attention to 1 d4 and the ever-popular Queen's Gambit Accepted, a line presently in vogue at the GM and IM levels is 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dc4 3 e4. Neishtadt in "The Queen's Gambit Accepted" (1997) notes that "Nowadays 3 e4 is played frequently and with success, and it comprises one of the main branches of the Queen's Gambit Accepted." A line currently undergoing much scrutiny runs 3...e5 4 Nf3 ed4 5 Bc4 Nc6 6 0-0 Be6 7 Be6 fe6 8 Qb3 Qd7 9 Qb7 Rb8 10 Qa6 Nf6 11 Nbd2 Bb4 (11...Bd6 is also seen) 12 Qd3 Bd2 13 Bd2 Rb2 14 Rac1 0-0 15 Rc5 Ng4 and now, according to Bosch and Dreev in "New In Chess Yearbook #49" from the end of 1998, the correct move is 16 h3 as played by Karpov against Xie Jun, 1998 Beijing rapid tournament. ECO D20 assigns the inferior (in the view of "NIC Yearbook 49") 16 Bc1 an "!", assessing White a slight advantage. If "NIC Yearbook" is to be accepted at face value, then 16 h3 is best "putting the skids under 11...Bb4 for the time being", write Bosch and Dreev. Nunn incorporates 16 h3 "!" in a footnote to the line beginning with 5...Nc6, although he prefers 5...Bb4 as his main line (page 380). One of Black's most active responses to 1 d4 is the Benko, or Volga Gambit 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5, popularized in the late 1960s and 1970s by Hungarian-American GM Pal Benko. The line 4 cxb5 a6 5 f3 is called "a sharp and underrated system" by John Fedorowicz in his highly-regarded "The Complete Benko Gambit"; the reply 5...e6 is considered by Pleister in "NIC Yearbook #44" to lead "to a dynamic and interesting game", producing positions that are atypical to those usually seen in this opening. The principal continuation after 5...e6 is 6 e4 ed5 7 e5 Qe7 8 Qe2 Ng8 9 Nc3 Bb7 10 Nh3 c4 11 Be3 ab5 12 0-0-0 Qb4 13 Nf4 Ne7 14 Bb6 h5 15 Rd5 Qc3 16 bc3 Nd5 17 Nd5 Bd5 18 Qd2 Be6 19 Be2 Nc6 20 f4 b4, when Black had compensation for his material disadvantage in B. Lalic-Khalifman, 1997 Linares, according to "NIC Yearbook #44". Later in 1997, however, Lalic came up with the novelty 14 Qf2 against Israeli GM Boris Alterman. Although two pawns to the good at one point, White had to return material and eventually only drew the game. Nonetheless, Pleister in "NIC Yearbook #44" considers 14 Qf2 to be a "strong novelty". Nunn does, indeed, give the game Lalic-Khalifman as the main line in the 5...e6 variation and even suggests a potential improvement for Black in 14...Qa5 15 Bb6 Qa6 16 Rxd5 Bc6, with an unclear position according to Maksimenko (page 87). A line that has helped to propel the popularity in the 1990s of the Center-Counter, or Scandinavian Defense (1 e4 d5 2 exd5) is the Portugese Variation, 2...Nf6 3 d4 Bg4. Rather than immediately recapturing the d-pawn and losing time to an attack on his queen, Black delays the capture by first playing Nf6. White, however, makes no effort to hang onto the pawn with 3 d4, allowing Black to spring the awkward-looking 3...Bg4, appearing to launch the bishop into no man's land. This particular sub-variation was played frequently by several young masters from Portugal during the 1990s (hence the name). The "fundamental answer" to the Portugese, at least according to Hazai and Lukacs in "NIC Yearbook #44" and identified as a main line in ECO B01, is 4 f3. Following the game Campora-Ribeiro, 1994 Cordoba (cited by "NIC Yearbook #44"), brings us to 4 f3 Bf5 5 c4 e6 6 de6 Nc6 7 Be3 Bb4. Louisiana master Selby Anderson, in what is probably the best book to date on this line, "Center Counter Defense The Portugese Variation" (see the review in the Book Review section of the Archives here at The Chess Caf‚), offers two choices for White at this juncture: 8 Nc3 and 8 Nd2. After 8 Nc3, Anderson advocates going in for 8...Qe7 9 Bd3 Be6 10 Kf2 0-0-0 11 Nge2 Rhe8 12 Qd2 g5, when Black has good prospects. Nunn includes the same analysis through 11...Rhe8 but stops short of Anderson's 12 Qd2 and now g5, and assesses White as having compensation for the material deficit, as in the game Boulard-Eliet, 1993 French Team Championship (pages 126-127). It would have been interesting to have seen the analysis of the position after 12...g5 by a member of Nunn's team. Other than the Anderson book, the only other source available to us that examined 8 Nd2 is Nunn, who also cites Anderson's interesting piece sacrifice 8 Nd2 0-0 9 d5 Re8. A similar conclusion is reached by both Anderson and Nunn, that Black has adequate compensation. Kudos to Nunn for his use of the Anderson monograph. Finally, in an effort to put Nunn's research to the supreme test (perhaps unfairly, given that his is only a single volume covering all openings), we decided to see what he had to say about a specific line in the Vienna or King's Gambit Declined that is arrived at after 1 e4 e5 2 f4 Bc5 3 Nf3 d6 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 Bc4 Nc6 6 d3 Bg4 7 h3 Bf3 8 Qf3 ef4 9 Bf4 Nd4 10 Qd1 c6 11 Qd2 d5 12 ed5 0-0. This is ECO variation C30 from the 1981 version, volume 2. The question that intrigued us is whether Nunn would include Gufeld's potential improvement for White found only in his book "An Opening Repertoire for the Attacking Player." Well, Nunn didn't address Gufeld's 11 Na4 Qa5+ 12 c3 b5 13 Nc5 dc5 14 b4, which gives White a small advantage, but he did come up with 9 Bb5, rather than the more common, immediate capture 9 Bf4. Nunn follows analysis of Rubinstein (also covered under ECO C30, volume 2) which goes 9...0-0 10 Bxc6 bxc6 11 Bxf4 with equality which, arguably, may be better than what White might expect in the main 9 Bf4 line with 11 Qd2 (rather than Gufeld's 11 Na4). A critic's job is to be critical. As good a book as "Nunn's Chess Openings" is, there are a couple of points that keep it from scoring an "A+". First, this is not a book meant for everyone. One should remember that it consists primarily of columns of opening theory with assessments and footnotes; narrative is limited to the Introduction and about one page at the beginning of each chapter. There are few complete games and virtually no discussion of basic opening principles or middle game strategy. What it does provide, however, is a one volume reference of current theory for virtually every opening that one is likely to encounter across the board. Secondly, there are no chapter numbers and openings appear to be almost randomly presented, until one realizes that it follows the order of the five volumes of ECO. The those of us who have spent significant portions of our lives studying ECO know approximately where to look in "Nunn's Chess Openings" for a given opening or variation, since both works follow the same pattern. Fortunately, Nunn provides an Index of Variations in the back of the book, but a more user-friendly organizational structure would have made it less painful to find an opening. Nunn and crew have produced an exemplary one volume opening reference work. In the sample lines provided in this review, we could find almost nothing wrong with the material. Each variation examined appeared to represent the current consensus for best play, even when esoteric sources were taken into consideration. "Nunn's Chess Openings" is a tribute to thorough openings research and knowledgeable authors who care about their work. In fact, even the mightiest openings reference work of them all, ECO, four volumes larger than Nunn, was occasionally upstaged. Out of reverence, certain books in the chess world have become known simply by their acronyms, such as ECO, MCO and BCE. It shouldn't take very long before a new acronym is seen: NCO, for "Nunn's Chess Openings". If you've been waiting and wondering if you would ever see another good single volume openings book, wait no longer. NCO is here.