Thank you for mentioning 9.Bd2. First impression is indeed quite favourable for White.

From reading the chapter about 4.c3 d5 I´m not sure why you think Dreev doesn´t trust this line but again he ignores Sokolov´s findings  in "The Ruy Lopez Revisited".

Certainly there is a lot to explore here in various lines but this makes the Cozio an interesting subject of study.

Dreev´s latest effort makes a very good impression on me. While looking like a small book the author manages to cover 2-3 playable possibilities in all major tries White has for trying to get an advantage (4 Nc3, 4 c3 and 4 0-0 g6 5 c3).

Unfortunately the book has no bibliography and so it´s unclear if the author has used the earlier texts by Sokolov ("The Ruy Lopez revisited") and Kosten (one chapter in "Dangerous Weapons: The Ruy Lopez"). Since I have found some game references in Dreev´s book for which I was unable to find the complete scores in Megabase my impression is that the author has mainly relied on his own notes.

Ever since I have read John Emms´ excellent "Easy Guide to the Ruy Lopez" I was under the impression that 4 Nc3 is a critical test of the Cozio and I used it successfully in the one game where I had to face this line with White. Sokolov too considers it as the "most unpleasant move for Black". One of his lines continues 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nge7 4 Nc3 (! Sokolov) g6 5 d4 exd4 6 Nd5 Bg7 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bf6 Bxf6 9 Nxf6+ Kf8 10 0-0. Here Dreev gives 10...a6! as the only good move but after the continuation 11 Bc4 Kg7 ignores 12 Qd2! as given by Sokolov who evaluates the position after 10 0-0 as "simply better for White". This may or may not be true but if Dreev had used Sokolov´s book he could have adressed this.

Another small issue is the bad editing of the book. More than once the author seems to have confused "Black" with "White" and "later" with "now". The latter may have to do with the translation but a good editor would easily have spotted this.

It´s true that Dreev doesn´t really use the "Quick Repertoire" as usually intended. But this doesn´t bother me since following the bold moves in the "Step by Step" chapters fulfills the same aim. Also the book contains 28 annotated "Complete Games" which is very useful to get a feel for the opening.

Still, the book offers a wealth of interesting suggestions and is also useful for those having the earlier works on the Cozio. The last chapter covers the indifferently named "Modern Variation" (I prefer "Aronian Variation" as introduced by Tony Kosten) and while it looks less thorough than Kosten´s work Dreev identifies the critical lines well and has some useful additions to offer.

So the book is highly recommended to anyone interested in a line against the Ruy which requires relatively little theoretical knowledge.

Thanks for that link, gwnn, and for your other helpful observations: you're clearly very knowledgeable about this line. In spite of my determination not to buy any more chess books until I've finished with the ones I've already got, my appetite has been whetted and I've gone ahead and ordered this. I'm already feeling the first stirrings of buyer's remorse ...

That's interesting. There's a chapter by Tony Kosten in Dangerous Weapons: Ruy Lopez on the 3...a6, 4...Nge7 line, and he mentions 5.Bb3 there. Tony's conclusion seems to be that Black is fine as long as he is careful, so Dreev presumably has seen something he doesn't like for Black. I suppose the theory of these early ...Nge7 lines is still relatively undeveloped, so evaluations can shift much more quickly and radically than in better established variations. My curiosity to see what Dreev has to say about these lines is such that I might be not be able to resist the temptation to buy this book!

I'd be interested in hearing your overall view on the book once you've had a chance to look at it, gwnn. 3...Nge7 is an attractive option for those of us who'd prefer to avoid having to face the Exchange Variation, but my understanding was that it's not supposed to be very good without ...a6 thrown in first. Certainly Sokolov, in The Ruy Lopez Revisited, is not very impressed by it: he thinks White can get a small but lasting edge and reckons that Black is doomed to passive defence by and large. Presumably Dreev tries to overturn this verdict: is he successful, would you say?