TopNotch wrote on 10/03/07 at 21:47:41:


Lol, I am sure it was more because of the Armenian Variation in the Winawer.

I was so looking forward to this book. It sucks that they kept putting the release date off, then now if this is canceled, arrrruuuggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

The book seems to have been cancelled: http://sverreschesscorner.blogspot.com/

Alias wrote on 04/19/06 at 12:35:00:



The write-up on the American amazon site appears to be inaccurate.  On the UK site it says this:

Synopsis
"Following the success of "An Attacking Repertoire for White" (ISBN 0713489103), Irish chess champion Sam Collins has provided club chess players with a comprehensive opening repertoire for Black. A practical and user-friendly guide to attacking lines, the material has been selected from modern master practice and many of the games have not been annotated before in chess literature. The lines covered include: Vs. 1.e4 - French Defence; Advance Variation - Matlak System; Tarrasch - 3...Nf6 with 11...Qc7; Main Line - Armenian Variation; Vs. 1.d4 - Stonewall Dutch with...Bd6; and Vs. 1.c4 and 1.Nf3 - Stonewall Dutch formation. The current, well-annotated games appear alongside clear, easy-to-follow diagrams and a comprehensive bibliography."

So it is the Tarrasch French which is covered ...

I will post some more on the French forum (not least to find out what the Matlak System is in the Advance!) but as far as the Stonewall is concerned it seems he is recommending it against virtually all non-1.e4 openings.

It's a bit surprising that the book description mentions both the Tarrasch and the Stonewall. I thought both openings were possible against all move orders of d4 type openings.

I played the Stonewall for some years. In the late 80's when the Bd6 variation became popular there were some argues about its virtues. I probably don't remember the exact words, but I recall GM Lars Karlsson saying that the Stonewall is not an attacking opening (for black). It's more a slowly positional one.

I used Collins' book on a white repertoire in my latest ICCF tournament. 4.5/5 was the result with the white pieces. The result had little to do with the openings I think. I'm not very impressed by that book. Many of the lines are interesting but wouldn't be my choices now.

Many attacking players will wonder: how to involve the queen's bishop in the attack? All books on attacking chess state, that the attacker must make sure, that all his pieces get ready.
My 2SRD thought is, that the Stonewall is better suited for players, who like patient manoeuvring.