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The material in Alekhine Alert! is laid out with a bibliography, introduction, 10 chapters, final note and indices. In the introduction Taylor explains that he wants to present a “different” style of book from what previously came out on this defense. This is because he doesn’t feel that the material in previous books works very well for Black. He explains further that the Modern variation (1.e4Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3) is the most dangerous by far, yet the reader should be aware that players below world champion level are far more likely to play “junk” variations. The lines in the book are ones that Taylor himself plays and recommends for Black, in direct contrast to the five books he lists as previous works on this defense. Each chapter deals with a specific variation, is listed with a “hero” of the Alekhine, starts with material on lines that Taylor does not recommend, and then delves into the relevant approved variation with a summary at the end. The first chapter is a perspective of world champions playing Alekhine’s, then three chapters on the Modern variation and one each on Exchange line, 4-pawns attack, Chase variation, 4th/5th move sidelines, 3rd move sidelines and finally, Alekhine declined. The approved material is presented in game style with notes. All of the games and notes do a fine job of getting the reader a base from which to work. I found a lot of the material of great value and applaud the author for his work here. That said, I had some problems with the book. The author’s goal is to offer a repertoire book for Black and not another compendium such as the five books listed by the author. However, Taylor failed to note the work of Alburt and Schiller from 1985, Alekhine for the Tournament Player. I will agree that Alburt and Schiller also followed a lot of “accepted” theory of the opening, but to omit mention of a work by a grandmaster and such a noted Alekhine devotee as Alburt is troubling. I would also agree with Taylor that the Modern is the most menacing line versus the Alekhine, but to list other lines as “junk” is poor judgment. At various times the 4-pawns attack, chase variation, and exchange have been viewed as serious threats to the Alekhine defense. My impression is that Taylor’s writing style was working to get enthusiasm for the defense to the reader, but dismissing these lines as “junk” is far too simplistic. In order to show how often the Black player will face “junk” variations, Taylor describes in the intro how he has played the Alekhine 11 times in “recent years” and has seen the dangerous Modern variation only twice. He scored 4 wins, 3 losses and 4 draws saying, “… for a healthy plus score of almost 55% (one recalls that normally White scores this kind of percentage) and it’s worth noting that I was playing substantially higher rated opponents in three of these games.” I think this is another poorly judged comment, because there is no mention whether the 3 losses corresponded to the 3 higher rated opponents, or which variations caused the 3 defeats. Is it possible that a lower-rated player played the truly “junk” 2.d3 and drew or won? We don’t know. Also, how did Taylor do playing the Alekhine prior to “recent years” using the books he listed? I am not judging Taylor’s performance or sincerity; only stating that the comment is open to misleading innuendo. The foci of the final chapter “Alekhine Declined” are lines where White doesn’t push 2.e5, most importantly the 2.Nc3 line. This line has been used to great effect by the Swedish GM Jonny Hector, and Taylor duly notes this. In fact, his suggestion is to switch back to an open game with 1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5. To be fair there was a similar suggestion by John Cox in his Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence. I don’t want to debate the merits of 2…e5, personally I think it is a matter of self-choice, but in the summary to this chapter Taylor recommends that the Black player bone up on the Vienna, Four Knights and Latvian. That is more material that involves some crucial aspect to playing the Alekhine, especially if opponents are more likely to play 2.Nc3 than the “critical” Modern variation. This has the feeling of a copout. This is a difficult book to evaluate. I got a lot out of the material in 7 of the 10 chapters, found the notes very readable and helpful, and enjoyed the positive feeling for the defense that Taylor instills. I had problems with some of the presentation and lack of objectivity. Perhaps it is Taylor’s writing style that I don’t grasp; this is the second book by Taylor I have read. My recommendation to anyone who likes to play Alekhine’s or wants to take it up is to get this book and go through it. Be careful though: some of the material is greatly biased in favor of Black. You will need to do some homework to go with this. I found that in the line 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 g6 Taylor doesn’t look at the line I thought was critical, 6.Bc4 c6 7.Qf3 Be6 8.Nc3.
Maybe,
go through this book and then get a slightly older work to even out the
view? From the Publisher's website: International Master Timothy Taylor is an experienced tournament player who has enjoyed several notable successes, including winning the US Open. He is also a skilled chess writer, one of his previous books, How to Defeat the Smith-Morra Gambit, becoming a US Chess Federation bestseller.
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