I had a chance to look at this yesterday and overall have a very positive view of the book. But I have a few comments which I set out below.

The Max Lange where black plays bxd4, the white lines are nothing overly threatening. In fact the whole line  by white used to be played by George Koltikwanaski ( I know I've got his surname slightly wrong but it's the same guy who made a significant contribution to the colle) but in his book which I assume wasn't referred to he said it was unsound ! He played this line is simuls !

Glenn has done a good job on beating the romantics- but one word of caution in his anti Evans Gambit lines, a certain Nigel Short seems quite happy to play them even against GMs ! 

I'd be surprised if 4.. g6 worked against the Scotch or 3..g6 v three knights- I seem to recall a few years ago Glenn Flear losing rather horribly to Sue Arkell as she then was. In terms of the overall book, I am slightly surprised that there wasn't more on the Scotch, with 4.. Bb4+ being the line maybe to examine.

I don't think much of the Bird suggestion- be on your guard if you try that one. Glenn has done an interesting assessment of his 5..bc5 anti ruy lopez- I thought it had been busted but if he can turn it round it may be worth a go since if white avoids the critical lines Black is fine.

The delayed kings gambit and the 4...nd4 in the vienna seem convincing lines and not lines where you are 'rolling the dice'.

But in my view the pick of all the suggestions is Andrew Greet's analysis of 1e4 e5 2 d4 ed 3 qd4 nc6 4 qe3 etc. I think this line might do very well at club level. I am surprised he got so much space for this but that is an editorial decision.

Like all suggestions in the  dangerous weapons series, it is very much a case of 'buyer beware'. I wouldn't rely on everything you see as I can recall being burned a couple of times in John Watson's French series.

@Markovich  Is this another road to the Hanstein?

What he actually gives is 
4.Nf3 g5 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Nd5!? d6 7.d4 h6 8.c3 Nf6 9.h4.

Actually it is not, though its very much alike. The difference is that
white has not played an early 0-0, but has played h4 instead.
These are the marks of the Philidor-variation, although the most
common move order starts of with 3.Nf3,g5 4.d4 rather than 3.Bc4

The special part of the transposition is white's early 6.Nd5
which makes it possible to play c3 without blocking the
development of his queens knight.
(the knight seems quite happy on d5, because black's early Nc6 makes
it difficult to drive away).


Still the postion after white's 9th move might be reached by 'normal means':

3.Nf3,g5 4.Bc4,Bg7 5.d4,h6 6.Nc3,d6 7.Nd5,Nc6 8.c3,Nf6 9.h4
In fact this position is quite old:
we have transposed to Pillsbury-Schlechter, Vienna 1903.


From this postion black has played to variations:
(a) 9....g4 10.Nd2!, Nh5?! 11.Nf1!,Bf6 12.Bxf4,Nxf4 13.Nxf4 +=
Pillsbury-Slechter, Vienna, 1903
Playing through the entire game I have the impression that black
should either play 10....Nxd5 or 11...Be6.
(b) 9....Bg4 is a more modern variation 
     [b1] 10.Nxf6+, Qxf6 11.Kf2?!,0-0-0 left black on top in
     Sochachki-Fougerit, France 2004.
     [b2] 10.hxg,hxg 11.Rxh8,Bxh8 is a better try
     but it certainly does not promise white an advantage
      Furhoff-M.Andersson, Sweden 1994.


But that is not all that can be said. Black has an interesting side
variation at his disposal:

8.c3, Nge7    (iso Nf6; other playable moves: 8...Na5, 8...Be6)
9.0-0, Nxd5   (note that this position can also
                    arise by transposition from 8...Nf6 9.0-0 (iso h4),Nxd5
10.Bxd5,Ne7
11.Bb3,Ng6
12.g3
We have been following Aljechin-Mikulka, 1923
Now Mikulka played 12...fxg3? and saw his advantage dissapear 
after 13.Nxg5!
But when the same position was reached by transposition in
in Laszlo-Gymesi, Hungary 1994 black played
12......Bh3!
13.Rf2, Qd7 and black holds the advantage.

Dangerous weapons can cut both ways  

Quote:


Just trying to be usefull for the dangerous weapons project! I noticed that white can avoid all these if he plays Nf3 instead of Bd2.Does black have some way to take advantage of this?

I am certainly no expert, but I seam to remember that Karpov "voluntarily" played exd4 (through a standard Petrof move order) against Kasparov in a WC match. By that I would think that "much worse" is a huge overstatement.

Fernando Semprun wrote on 03/10/08 at 11:54:12:


3...Nf6 is still Petrov though...

rossia wrote on 03/07/08 at 18:47:27:


The title would be "The Greatest Ever Opening Ideas" - It is nearly finished even though I missed my deadline by a margin  

After 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 O-O 7.O-O-O Re8 8.Qg3 Rxe4 9.a3, what does IM Andrew Greet recommend against the move 9...Bd6? This move is recommended by Larry Kaufman in his book The Chess Advantage in Black and White.

Also, after 1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 Qxd4 Nc6 4 Qe3 Nf6 5 Nc3 Be7 6 Bc4 0-0 7 Bd2 d6, what does IM Andrew Greet recommend?

TopNotch wrote on 03/05/08 at 04:16:04:


It proved quite reliable indeed, as I was fortunate enough to get the relevant chapter for my new book