LeeRoth wrote on 09/23/06 at 16:30:25:


Far from drab indeed, and it used to be perhaps the main line, but I had the impression that it is doubtful for Black now (for instance Small ECO thinks it's clearly better for White).  It's the line I would probably most "want" to play, though.  Interesting. 

(editing)  Faulty memory; Small ECO actually considers that line slightly better for White with best play.  That was also the view of "Nunn's Chess Openings," by the way.

Sounds interesting; I may have to take a look at the book.
I have a soft spot for the Scheveningen due to its solidly unbalancing nature, if you will (I think Nunn's Chess Openings calls it "the classic Sicilian").

I'm not surprised that Pritchett advocates ...d5 against the English attack; that seems to be the simplest, as well as an attempt to make use of the Scheveningen move order (as in, early ...a6 doesn't seem to go with ...d5).  I'll take a wild guess that he mentions the game Kaufman-Kacheishvili from a few years ago, in which Black won in about 20 moves.  Ideally I would have liked to see the line involving ...Nxd4 followed by...b5 (as in Emms' book) offered as an alternative (I tend to like that better than the ...Nbd7 stuff).

If I were going to play the Scheveningen right now, I would probably be more concerned about the 6. f4 line than anything else.  Drazen Marovic, who has a couple of books containing stuff on the Scheveningen, seems to favour 6...Nc6 7. Be3 e5 (maybe the safest), but I have the impression that it may tend to land Black in a rather drab, slightly worse position.  I'd like to see something sharper work for Black; for instance he could offer to follow the famous Tal-Larsen game (which apparently should have been fine for Black), but I suppose that 10. Rg1 (after 6...Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qf3 0-0 9. 0-0-0 Qc7) may be quite dangerous ...    

I have the book.  Pritchett offers a repertoire focused on the Modern Scheveningen.  

The first chapter covers 1.e4 c5  2.Nf3 e6  3.d4 cxd4  4.Nxd4 Nf6  5.Nc3 d6  6.Be2 Be7  7.0-0 0-0  8.Be3 Nc6  9.f4 Bd7.  He doesn't cover the Classical move order, although some of the lines later transpose.  

The second chapter surveys Black's ninth move alternatives:  9..a6, 9..Qc7, 9..e5, 9..Nxd4 and lines where Black delays castling.

Against the English, 6.Be3 Be7  7.f3 0-0  8.Qd2 Nc6  and after either 9.g4 or 9.0-0-0, Pritchett recommends 9..d5

Against the Keres, 6.g4 h6 7.h4, his principal recommendation is 7..Be7 8.Rg1 d5, although he also offers analysis of 7..Nc6 8.Rg1 h5.

I'm still working my way through the book.  I usually play the Classical Scheveningen, so I was initially disappointed that Pritchett decided to focus on the Modern move order, but he makes a convincing case for the ..Bd7 lines and they fit the Starting Out concept well.  There is a lot of good analysis and explanation for this type of book.

Hope this helps.
Lee Roth


   

I wonder if anyone would like to offer an opinion on this book, which recently became available.  As I mentioned a while back, the author (Scottish IM Craig Pritchett) wrote a well-received comprehensive-type Batsford book on the Schevy back in the '70s.  I'd be curious as to what Pritchett covers/recommends against the following systems; perhaps someone could give a brief indication of this?   

Keres attack
English attack 
f4 with the idea Be3, Qf3 and 0-0-0
Classical