I have both paper and kindle versions - I got inpatient waiting for the postman and bought an electronic version for a long train ride
I have a lot of thoughts on the book, so this post might be lengthy
I guess I'm not a typical reader as I love the Portugeese gambit like no other opening - it makes me nostalgic for my teenage years when I played over 100 games a year and answered 1.e4 this way almost exclusively.
Firstly, it's clear that GM Smerdon loves the opening just as much as me! This comes across in the book very well and the enthusiasm makes me want to play it again even more. The book is packed full of fresh and interesting ideas in almost every variation, especially in the more funky lines were White accepts any offered material. Perhaps it's unfair, but I was basically expecting that. The lack of attention to the opening from theory meant that there were (and still are I'm sure) lots of hidden treasures to be found. What I was initially most interested in was how the most annoying 'kill-joy' lines were handled. In particular, after 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6:
A) 3.d4 Bg4 4.Bb5+ Nbd7 5.Be2
B) 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Bb5+ Nbd7 5.h3 Bh5 6.Nc3
C) 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Be2
For me, the decision whether to pick this line back up entirely depends on being happy against such lines.
Against lines A and B I think it's clear that White is for choice and has a pull. In both cases GM Smerdon emphasises that
1) += is still a draw with best play and;
2) += doesn't mean that Black can't outplay White and later win.
These points are true (and examples of play are given to help Black players get a feel for how to defend and spot typical errors) but what's also true is that if I got into those lines then I'd wish I'd played something else
In line A I really liked the coverage of the alternative 4...c6!? and also the nickname 'The Elbow'. In fact there are quite a few fun names being handed out to different lines
I did investigate this line years ago but I must admit that I did it with my mind already made up against it
Having looked in more detail with GM Smerdon's analysis it's looks a lot more interesting than I remember!
Line B (3.Nf3) is less of a concern to me. I'd rather transpose to another Scandinavian line than go 3...Bg4 as I have some experience in other lines:
In Line C with 3.Bb5+ GM Smerdon likes 3...Nbd7!? I agree that Black is OK there, although 3...Bd7 will probably remain my preference and he analyses a nice gambit idea there. I guess a player's preference depends on whether he prefers to face 3...Bd7 4.Be2 or 3...Nbd7 4.Nf3 Nxd5 5.d4 as in both cases Black is playing for equality:
In most lines there are lots of alternative approaches and ideas for Black. It's clear GM Smerdon has made a big effort to be as thorough as possible. Just one example:
The only exception to this thorough approach that I've seen so far is with 2.Nc3. Here the most ambitious approach 2...d4!? 3.Nce2 e5 is recommended but I think that a lot of White's most interesting ideas aren't mentioned:
Overall I really, really like this book
My comments above perhaps don't do it full justice, as I look at the boring options and not cool stuff like 3.d4 Bg4 4.f3 Bf5 5.c4 e6 6.dxe6 Nc6! and 5.Bb5+ Nbd7 6.c4 (both are more common than 4.Bb5+ in practice) or more normal lines like 3.d4 Bg4 4.Be2 and 4.Nf3. Those are all covered really well IMO and give nice ideas that you have very good chances to use directly in your games.
Thanks smurfo