Sunday Book Review: No Passion for Chess Fashion

No Passion for Chess Fashion
Fierce Openings for Your New Repertoire
Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik
Mongoose Press (2011)
softcover, 234 pages
figurine algebraic notation

GM Raetsky and IM Chetverik present a dozen lines of play outside of the mainstream of chess "fashion":


1. THE KING’S GAMBIT  2...ef 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng1 f5


2. PETROV’S DEFENSE  3.d4 Nxe4 4.de Bc5


3. THE RUY LOPEZ  The Alapin Defense 3...Bb4


4. THE SCANDINAVIAN DEFENSE  2…Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb4


5. ALEKHINE’S DEFENSE  The Cambridge Gambit 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 g5


6. THE FRENCH DEFENSE  The variation 3.e5 c5 4.Qg4


7. THE St. GEORGE DEFENSE  1.e4 a6


8. THE SICILIAN DEFENSE The Cobra system 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Ndb5 Bc5


9. THE ALBIN COUNTERGAMBIT 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5


10. THE CHIGORIN DEFENSE The variation 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Bg4 4.Bg2 Qd7


11. THE ENGLISH OPENING  The variation 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Ba5

No Passion for Chess Fashion is inevitably going to be compared to the Secrets of Opening Surprises series. My guess is that if you enjoy the latter, you will also take great pleasure in the former.

One particular strength of No Passion is that one or the other of the authors actually plays the lines being suggested and analyzed. Readers get to look at relevant games played by the GM or IM, as well as see their assessments, based on pre-game preparation and post-game reflection.

The authors, too, have written a number of well-received books together, including ones on the Petroff Defense, the Sicilian Defense, the Catalan, and the ...e5 English, where they no doubt examined some of the above lines. They have also written books on World Champions Alekhine and Tal, showing a great interest in tactical play (again, reflected in the above lines).

Of note, the chapters on the St. George Defense and the Albin Counter Gambit are particularly long. Everyone (since Morozovich) seems to be "discovering" the Chigorin Defense to the Queen's Gambit, and Raetsky and Chetverik's line versus the Catalan is quite topical; as is their anti-English line; as is their Alekhine Defense line (isn't everybody playing g2-g4 or ...g7-g5 everywhere these days?).

If you like "off-beat" approaches, Alapin's droll response to the Ruy Lopez can still raise eyebrows. The Petroff line given will drop a few draws, as will the Scandinavian line.

There is significant risk involved in some of the recommendations, and anyone actually planning to add any of them to their own repertoire is going to want to build on what the authors  provide – but for flat-out, smash-bang, exciting chess, it is hard to beat No Passion for Chess Fashion.

I can't wait to see if they come out with a book of suggestions for White!