Playing the Petroff

Russisk forsvar, på engelsk oftest "Petroff Defence", starter med motangrepet 1 e4 e5 2 Sf3 Sf6(!) som aller mest er et bunnsolid forsvar. Dette er en oppdatert, seriøs bok om å spille dette med svart, og et komplett repertoar.

Den unge indiske stormesteren er allerede en anerkjent trener og ekspert på flere åpninger. I denne boka dekker han også spill mot hvits tidlige alternativer Kongegambit, Wienerparti, Løperspill og Sentrumsgambit.

Som andre ikke minst åpningsbøker fra forlaget Quality Chess virker også denne både oversiktlig, pen og seriøs. Bra for spillere fra ratingnivå ca 14-1500 og helt opp, skulle vi tro.

Forlagets egen omtale:

The Petroff Defence is universally recognised as one of Black’s soundest responses to 1.e4, having been tried and tested by a host of World Champions and other elite players. This book shows how you too can harness the power of this top-class opening.

Playing the Petroff offers an ideal solution for practical players. GM Swapnil Dhopade presents a compact yet bulletproof repertoire for Black, drawing on the games of leading Petroff specialists such as Gelfand, Caruana and Kramnik. This book also provides guidance on how to deal with 1.e4 e5 games where White avoids 2.Nf3, with particular focus on ‘Anti-Petroff ’ lines such as 2.Bc4.

If you want a world-class repertoire but lack a world-class memory, this is the book for you.

Swapnil Dhopade is a young Indian Grandmaster and a renowned coach, including of the Indian Women’s Team. His other students include Raunak Sadhwani who achieved the GM title at age 13.

Et lite utdrag fra forfatterens forord:

I have analysed the recommended repertoire using the strongest cloud engines possible, but they were as much of a hurdle as a boon for me, as “0.00” seldom tells the full story. There were several lines which I analysed through to a 0.00 evaluation, but which I rejected as unsuitable due to my own feeling that the positions would be slightly uncomfortable for Black in a practical game. Retaining one’s sense of how pleasant a position would be in a practical game, in spite of what the engine may say, is a major challenge for all authors and players nowadays. At all times, I have endeavoured only to recommend lines that are relatively easy to understand and play in a practical game.