Markovich wrote on 11/07/07 at 13:40:19:
My review of it is on amazon.com. I posted it mostly to counterract a bad review that some idiot put there. It's not a beginner's book, but it's not a bad book either. The best Gruenfeld book of which I know is Sakaev's on 7.Bc4. Leaving aside its excellence as a theoretical work, there is a most amusing picture of its author on the back cover.
A point of irony ( or is it coincidence?).
Both your review and "the idiot's" come to the same conclusion about the book.
You words:
"Dembo is probably right when she claims that anyone who knows and understands the lines she presents here will be as well prepared to play the Gruenfeld as any IM. But for many less expert players, this work alone will be insuffient for them to achieve quite that much understanding. But even so, it will be useful." The "Idiot's":
Denbo gives a very good overview of the various schools, Hungarian, Russian , Israeli etc... that have nurtured and sustained the opening through the years. However the opening is high risk high reward, perhaps expalaining why she has herself has sparingly used the opening herself being primarily a King Indian Defense player.
If you are an IM looking for a new opening to supplement your main response to D4 this would probably suit your needs. However if you are a beginner/intermediate player for the 192 pages you get a limited repertoire that looks hard to use in practical play and difficult to learn.
Highly recommended for all current Grunfeld players, for new Grunfeld players there are better alternatives, until you have an advanced knowledge of the opening " And no, I am not "The Idiot".
However, I think that the idiot review is spot on and that there are four books (in English) that will all serve as better entries into the Grunfeld.
Rowson's
Karpov's
Aagard's
Suetin's
Yes, they are
dated as far as the latest theory on Move 20 whatever. No matter. The strategic ideas of the Grunfeld are properly, and fully, represented in these tomes which should be digested prior to moving on to the latest way to sharpen the knife.
Just my dollar three-eighty on the sub. Worth exactly what was paid for it, no doubt.
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Play the Grunfeld - Yelena Dembo (Read 26802 times)
