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Another thing is that both Taylor and Hayward are stalwarts of correspondence chess in the U.S. (Correspondence chess is an arena that doesn’t receive the mainstream following it deserves.) So, I had a number of motives for reading Play the Ponziani. What I quickly found about the Ponziani is that transpositions to other double king pawn openings are more than mere byproducts of the move sequences - they are useful tools. This makes sense if you think about it. Playing the Ruy Lopez or the Italian game, White commonly follows the move Bb5 with c3 and d4 to build a center, so by playing the Ponziani, White reverses the sequence and sometimes is able to see Black’s intentions. A much more surprising transposition occurs in the 3…f5 defense where White often plays a reversed Vienna game or Kings Gambit! I have to admit I did not read the book from front to back. Instead, I checked out the couple of lines that I had prepared in my past life for the Ponziani to find out where they stood. These lines are on the “sharp” side of things, so I was quite intrigued that the authors offered direct advice on playing the lines within the analysis provided.
Playing 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 Bd7 5.exd5 Nd4 6.Qd1 Nxf3+ 7.Qxf3 Nf6 [diagram] had always appealed to me because of the easy development. The authors offer excellent coverage, suggesting for example that after 8.Bc4 e4 9.Qe2 Bd6 10.d4! trying to keep the position closed until White can increase the development. A place where I wasn’t completely out of my element was in the lines transposing from the Goring Gambit declined, specifically 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 Ne4. This is a sideline to be sure, but a complicated one. Taylor and Hayward did a thorough job of covering it. Players of the White pieces won’t be surprised by this sharp line, at least as long as they read the chapter. As a final step, I checked a database for GM’s that I know play double king pawn as Black, and found the games they played against the Ponziani. Many of the games I found were represented in the book and chronologically up to 2010. This tells me the book has been well researched beyond previous material. I was aware of this, as Taylor had published a previous work on the opening (Ponziani Power, 2000) and a web site has maintained updates on the lines. Obviously the authors prepared thoroughly for the book, but also seem to have a keen interest in expanding the reputation of the opening. So, for anyone interested in going a bit out of the way in their opening studies this is a great book to have. For anyone looking to step away from the “Spanish Torture,” it will work also!
From the Publisher's website:
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