Leningrad System: A Complete Weapon against 1.d4

Leningrad System: A Complete Weapon against 1.d4

By Stefan Kindermann

Edition Olms, 2005

ISBN: 9783283004781

An unusual opening, named after a city that no longer exists.

In this well-structured book Stefan Kindermann sets out a complete defence to 1.d4, the centrepiece of his repertoire being the Leningrad Dutch with Malaniuk’s move 7…Qe8! – although, as he explains on page 11, the move may actually have been Chernin’s brainchild. (The move is played in the position arising after 1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.0-0 0-0 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3.)

After a brief historical overview, we are taken on a comprehensive strategic tour, looking at typical themes and plans for White and Black. The detailed theoretical information is then set out through a series of illustrative games. Naturally, Kindermann looks at all the important and wayward and downright awkward set-ups for White: the Karlsbad Variation, characterised by 4.Nh3 intending Nf4; the system with 4.c3 and 5.Qb3, momentarily preventing castling; lines where White plays b3 or even b4, to fianchetto the queen’s bishop or begin a concerted pawn advance on the queenside; and so on. He also looks at general anti-Dutch systems at moves two (2.Nc3, 2.Bg5 and the Staunton Gambit, 2.e4) and three (for example, 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5).

In general, you have to conclude that Black comes out OK. The Leningrad Dutch itself can be characterised as a complex and indeed curious opening, which leads to positions that are difficult to handle for both sides. You could view it as a hybrid of the King’s Indian and the Dutch proper, or a King’s Indian where Black has already played …f5, saving a tempo or two (the king’s knight no longer has to move) and exerting control on e4, but weakening the king’s position and the e6 square. On …g7, the bishop points towards the centre and the queenside, a different kind of posting to, say, the …Bd6 in the Stonewall Dutch, but hardly less aggressive in the long run. If you like to play interesting and unusual chess, the Leningrad Dutch is definitely an opening to explore.

Lenin’s reputation may have taken a bit of a battering with the publication of a recent book by Robert Gellately, but the Leningrad Dutch is alive and well.

You can buy Leningrad System: A Complete Weapon against 1.d4 at Amazon here.

The Spanish Exchange Variation

The Spanish Exchange Variation: A Fischer Favourite

By Stefan Kindermann

Translated by Phil Adams

Edition Olms, 2005

ISBN: 9783283004798

This is a fine book on an opening line that was a favourite of two world champions, Lasker and Fischer.

Following 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 (Timothy Taylor in Slay the Spanish! makes the case that the move 4…bxc6 deserves serious consideration), Lasker would usually play 5.d4 or 5.Nc3, whereas it was Fischer who gave his stamp of approval to the now universally played 5.0-0 (a move that should probably be attributed to Johan Barendregt), playing it successfully at the 17th Olympiad held in Havana in 1966. It netted him three wins there and Fischer continued to play the Exchange Variation throughout his fractured career. It featured, for example, in his matches with Spassky in 1972 (the 16th game, a draw in 60 moves) and in 1992 (one of them, game 9, being a win in 21 moves).

As Stefan Kindermann points out, the Exchange Variation is not for everyone. If you’re an aggressive tactician or a gung-ho attacking player, it is probably best to look elsewhere. However, if you enjoy endgames (for the queens usually come off early) and are content with nursing a small yet durable positional advantage, confident in the knowledge that there are few risks of actually losing, then this is an opening that’s right up your street. You can also learn a lot about endgame strategy by playing this particular opening line, paradoxical though that might sound. And Kindermann’s second chapter, ‘Typical Positions’, is especially helpful in this respect.

The detailed theoretical information is set out in several illustrative games and it may need to be updated slightly. But it is robust enough to form the basis of a more detailed study of the line. Most attention is devoted to Black’s main choices of 5…f6, 5…Qd6, 5…Bd6 and 5…Bg4 but offbeat and unusual fifth moves (such as Smyslov’s 5…Qe7) are adequately covered too.

If you want a speedy, effective and relatively painless way of familiarising yourself with the various intricacies of the Exchange Variation, this book provides the ideal solution. There’s some superb study material here and Kindermann is a fine writer who clearly knows his stuff. The English prose is perspicacious and even elegant in places, for which we must also thank the translator, Phil Adams.

The publisher’s description of the book is here.