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Back to September 2001 Reviews
Last update: Friday June 3, 2005 9:44
by Chris Ward
Batsford
224 pages, £15.99
Review by Richard Palliser
After a seven year absence
Chris Ward returns to update his Black repertoire work on the Dragon, but this
is a completely new work rather than just an update. Ward does stick to several
of his original systems, although he has included a few new ones, whilst the
majority of the illustrative games are post-1994. Despite his losing a couple
of fairly high-profile Dragons to John Nunn, Ward remains faithful to his 10...Qa5
against the mainline Yugoslav Attack with 9 Bc4. Over the past few years he
has refined several move orders, whilst he provides detailed improvements over
his losses. He acknowledges that in one of his mainlines White may be able to
force a draw, but does earlier suggest some plausible alternatives for Black.
Meanwhile, with the Yugoslav with 9 g4 currently being rather unfashionable,
it makes sense for Ward to cover the one system against it (with 9...Be6 10
0-0-0 Nxd4). He does, however, go for two lines against the popular 9 0-0-0.
He has ditched the very theoretical 9...d5 in response, but updated his previous
repertoire with 9....Nxd4 as well as providing detailed coverage of the fun
and fashionable 9...Bd7. Against White's alternatives to the critical Yugoslav
Attack Ward has generally stayed with the same repertoire as in his earlier
work, but has again updated thoroughly, especially his recommendations against
6 Bc4, which became quite popular in the late '90s.
Readers who purchased Winning with the Sicilian Dragon may wonder how important it is to upgrade to this new edition. But they should bear in mind that Dragon theory has progressed significantly since 1994. It remains one of the most topical openings around. For example, back in 1994 9 0-0-0 Bd7!? in the Yugoslav was wrongly considered very suspect. It is, however, fully possible to learn the Dragon solely from this new work, as Ward never forces his readers to refer to his original work on a line.
Ward's chapters on 'important Dragon concepts' and his introduction to the Yugoslav Attack both do a very good job at explaining to the club player the main aims and typical sacrifices for both sides. Indeed this book can most certainly be used by the club player, for Ward annotates the whole of his illustrative games in detail and makes good use of explanatory textual commentary. Obviously though the Dragon is an opening with a fair amount of theory attached, and so strong players will find much of interest in Ward's home analysis on several critical positions. His analysis is not always fully complete, but is generally of a pretty high standard and depth, and does help to guide readers in the correct direction. Throughout he is very enthusiastic and perhaps is even a little too so at times, but this should not distract from this enjoyable and important work. It is, however, worth pointing out that Batsford's claim on the front cover that this is 'a complete repertoire against 1 e4 for the attacking player' is overstated. Ward does end his work with an eight-page chapter entitled 'tips in the anti-Sicilians', but this features no concrete recommendations against any of White's many early alternatives. Indeed this chapter of waffle is rather a waste of space which could so easily have been used for some more independent analysis on the Yugoslav Attack.
Overall this work is worth purchasing just for the sheer beauty of many of the games inside it, whilst it does provide Black players with a complete Dragon repertoire. Ward has undoubtedly worked hard to significantly update his earlier work and the result is a well-written and entertaining book which features much new and detailed analysis.