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Though it has been played by a number of leading players including Keres, Capablanca, Alekhine, Rubinstein and Bogoljubov, the line never became a real staple for them. It also never became a darling of theory. This is difficult to understand. As the author points out, a great advantage of the MS is that it can only be sidestepped by White playing the Exchange variation on move 4. Compared to many of the more popular lines which have reams of sidelines to know this is a great advantage for Black. It is a wonder to me that it has taken this long for a book to be written on the subject. Typically, White takes one of five choices at the 5th turn: 5.c3, 5.0-0, 5.c4, 5.Bxc6+ or 5.d4. The Introduction (Chapter 1) uses 18 games to demonstrate that the Modern Steinitz is a worthwhile endeavor, after which we move on to the meat.
Taylor devotes 3 chapters to the first of White’s choices 5.c3. Chapter 2 looks at 5.c3 Bd7 6.d4 Nge7 or 6.0-0 Nge7. There is a curious point here; in the second game examined in this chapter (game 20) Topalov – Yusupov Novgorod 1995 the author suggests the idea of 5.c3 Bd7 6.d4 Nge7 7.Be3 Ng6 8.h4! is nearly a refutation of the whole line! After this it is made clear that Taylor can subscribe to the Nge7 line only after White has castled, ruling out a quick push of the h-pawn. Four more games are examined, but only with White castling. Chapter 3 takes up the line with a Black kingside fianchetto which was a favorite of one of my local heroes GM Peter Biyiasas. In this chapter Taylor does us a small favor by explaining why it is better to preface g6 with Nf6. The famous, or infamous, Siesta variation is the subject in chapter 4. White’s choice of 5.0-0 is met with an unusually sharp repost in chapter 5, 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5!?. Presumably these 4 chapters consider the most common approach for White, castling and setting up a pawn center in some order.
The next three chapters take care of White’s other “regular” possibilities 5.Bxc6+, 5.c4 and 5.d4. Of these, the “Delayed Exchange” 5.Bxc6+ is the most valuable, and likely best produced chapter. This line has been highly regarded as a panacea for White by a number of sources. Players of the Black pieces are sometimes perplexed by the structures involved. Taylor makes this chapter easy to work with. Anyone looking to play the kingside fianchetto is advised to pay some special attention to chapter 8 “White Plays an Early d4” because the move order 5.0-0 Bd7 6.d4 Nf6 is given airtime here. The ninth chapter “Four Fishes” deals with some odd lines where White tries to work his own idea; 5.Nc3, 5.Qe2, 5.d3 and 5.h3. This is a bonus because anyone starting out with this defense might run into one of these lines without being clear on a good approach for Black.
The
author now goes a couple of steps beyond what might be expected and uses 2
chapters to examine the Exchange variation. Chapter 10 is devoted to 4.Bxc6
dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 which has been a regular in the Exchange Ruy, but
still oscillates in evaluation. Finally, Taylor suggests that 4.Bxc6 bxc6!?
has enough merit to be considered more than a “surprise” weapon. I have criticized Taylor as an author in the past, but this book is well worth the effort. He provides the reader with a complete basis for a repertoire after 3.Bb5 in the Spanish. My feeling is that the largest obstacle readers will have is sorting things out. Here is an example: If the example of the Topalov – Yusupov game is to be believed, then Black either has to play 5.c3 Bd7 6.d4 Nf6 or venture into the Siesta, conversely should a player decide to practice the kingside fianchetto line then it will be good to know 5.0-0 Bd7 6.d4 Nf6 which only arrives in chapter 8. It seems that Black’s real “choice” in the main line is not at Black’s move 6, but after 5.c3 Bd7 if White plays 6.d4 Black should jump up with 6…Nf6 or if White plays 6.0-0 the line with 6…Nge7 can be played. This is a bit confusing and I feel Taylor could have done a better job with it. Instead, he seems to have taken the tact that his primary focus is to “promote” the defense as a whole. This is likely just a matter of different points of view.
In
the end I found this book very beneficial. It works well to make important
aspects of the defense understandable. More importantly, the positive
points for Black are accentuated without dismissing places that could be
trouble. I liked this book and look forward to playing the Modern Steinitz
many more times! From the Publisher's website: Other titles by IM Timothy Taylor reviewed here at Chessville:
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