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I’ve been toying with the idea of taking up the Taimanov variation of the Sicilian defense ever since I reviewed Graham Burgess’ (appropriately titled) The Taimanov Sicilian for Chessville back in 2002. What prevented me from doing so was the lack of decent pedagogical material on the opening. Burgess’ book, while a fantastic theoretical work, included very little instruction of typical tactics, strategies, and plans. James Plaskett’s Sicilian Taimanov (Chess Press, 1997) received almost universally mediocre reviews, making me hesitant to spend the money on it. Mark Taimanov himself wrote a couple of books on the variation, but they are out of print, and I suspect out of date as well. As a result, I shelved my plans to take up the opening until just recently when a new book found its way to my reviewer’s desk: Alexander Delchev’s The Safest Sicilian, published by Chess Stars. The publisher and author may not be immediately familiar to many chess players. Books by Chess Stars aren’t as ubiquitous as those by Everyman and Gambit, but include Khalifman’s Opening for White According to Kramnik, Opening for White According to Anand, and Opening for Black According to Karpov, all of which have been received well enough. GM Alexander Delchev and IM Semko Semkov are listed as co-authors, though the introduction indicates that Delchev is the primary author, with Semko acting as a kind of theoretical second-opinion. This is Delchev’s first book, and his obvious and contagious enthusiasm are supported by Semko’s greater writing experience. The first thing I noticed about this book was, not surprisingly, the title: The Safest Sicilian. Frankly, this struck me as odd – what Sicilian is “safe”?! Delchev explains:
In other words, “safe” is a relative concept – the Taimanov isn’t the Caro-Kann, but it’s not the Dragon either, so Black can expect a dynamic but relatively solid game. The second part of the title (A Black Repertoire with 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6) indicates the scope of the book. It is not a complete repertoire book for Black after 1.e4. It does not cover second move options for White such as the Closed Sicilian, the Grand Prix Attack, the 2.c3 Sicilian, or the Morra Gambit. A few of White’s third move alternatives are discussed, including a chapter each on 3.c3 and 3.d3, and a single chapter on various other third moves such as 3.b4, 3.b3, etc. The rest of the book focuses on the open Sicilian – more specifically, the Taimanov Sicilian. “Taimanov” is a bit confusing, and not just for those who are (understandably) lost in the maze of Sicilian variations and names – different authors sometimes use the name to refer to different variations. However, most modern English-language chess books, including this one, use “Taimanov” to refer to 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 often followed by …Qc7. It’s a system that bears some resemblance to other lines and occasionally transposes, but the author builds this repertoire around a “pure” Taimanov approach whenever possible. The format of the book is unlike most chess books I’ve seen. Each chapter, devoted to a major line, is divided into three distinct sections. The first section is the “Quick Repertoire,” in which the reader is armed with the bare minimum necessary lines – that is to say, enough theory for about 90% of the average club player’s games. The second section is the “Step by Step” section, in which Delchev delves more deeply into the lines of the first section and covers alternative moves of theoretical and practical importance. The third section is the “Complete Games” section, which features (you guessed it) several complete illustrative games with commentary. I like this format very much. It allows for an incredibly efficient method of study. The reader can begin by studying the “Quick Repertoire” in order to learn the most important lines, then work through the “Complete Games” to get a better overall sense of the sort of games they can expect to encounter. The “Step-by-Step” section can be reserved for reference and post-game analysis, or for more serious study somewhere down the road. The content of the book matches the quality and utility of the format. The moves are supported by a generous heaping of verbal explanation. However, the potential buyer should know that the explanations are not of the simple kind found in some other opening books. For example, if readers don’t already know what a backward pawn is or why it can sometimes be a disadvantage, then this book is too advanced for them. On the other hand, Delchev does not end variations with vague comments like “unclear” or “with a slight advantage to White” as many other opening books do. Plenty of specifics are discussed, along with the reasoning behind various moves. Thus, the content of the book is not geared toward novice players, but more like the sophisticated club player (about class B or higher) on up. Those players will find the content highly instructive. Unfortunately, this book does contain one fairly serious flaw: there are frequent typos and errors in the text. I haven’t looked at each and every line in the whole text, but I have worked through all of the “Quick Repertoire” sections, and I found errors in many of them. The kinds of errors included mis-numbered moves, ambiguous moves, missing moves, and even extraneous moves! Most of the time, these errors were not serious, and were fairly easy to figure out, especially with the help of the frequent diagrams. However, there were at least a few occasions when I had to consult other books or databases in order to figure out what was going on. I’m not entirely sure why such errors escaped the authors’ and publisher’s notice. Perhaps Chess Stars can’t afford the same quality of proof-reader as Gambit and Everyman?! Despite this flaw, I like this book very, very much. In fact, other than this flaw, I’d say this is probably my favorite opening book ever. The content is top-notch, and the format is revolutionary. If you play the Taimanov, or want to learn how, you must buy this book. Even if you are only thinking about taking up some variation of the Sicilian and aren’t sure which one, you should think about getting this book – it may very well win you over to the Taimanov. Congratulations to GM Delchev on an incredible first book, and a personal message from me to him – please write more!!!
Copyright 2006 S. Evan Kreider. Used with
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