Friday, August 18, 2006

Grand Prix Attack Bibliography (Updated)

My Grand Prix Attack Bibliography (posted in October 2, 2005) has attracted more traffic to my blog than any other post. So I imagine my readers would appreciate an update, especially since there are now several things to add and to correct.

The most important recent addition is Chess Openings for White Explained (see first item below), which offers some interesting ideas, especially on the important line beginning 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5 Nd4 6. O-O Nxb5 7. Nxb5 d5 (which I hope to post on in the coming weeks, as part of a review of this book). Pete Tamburro, who is no friend to the Grand Prix (to judge by his posts at the excellent "Openings for Amateurs" message board), promises a review in a future Chess Life. Likely it will focus on their analysis of this line as well.

Other additions and corrections came from readers and from some recent online searches. I have also added several of my own pieces to the list to make them more available to readers. My series on the "Two Knights Sicilian" (Part One, Two, Three) may be of interest to those who only want to use the Grand Prix against 2...d6 and 2...g6 lines (as GM Joel Benjamin appears to do), and Paul Motwani's analysis of 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5!? as a tricky way to enter the Grand Prix may also be of interest (see below).

As always, I welcome additions, corrections, and suggestions.

Alburt, Lev, Roman Dzindzichashvili, and Eugene Perelshteyn. Chess Openings for White Explained: Winning with 1.e4. Chess Information and Research Center 2006.
I doubt that Alburt contributed more than his name to the book, but listing him first does place this recent addition at the top of the list. The chapter on the Grand Prix Attack is one of the most lengthy. While some of the lines run quite deep, however, the authors do not consider many sidelines, though they do cover everything critical. Most of the recommendations will be familiar to anyone who has seen Dzindzi's DVD or Video on this line.

Bangiev, Alexander. White Repertoire 1.e4. Chessbase CD 2003.
Offers a completely coherent (if sometimes off-beat and risky) White repertoire with 1.e4 built around the Grand Prix Attack (generally with 1.e4 c5 2.f4). Lines include the Vienna with f4, 2.Nc3 versus the Alekhine, the Grand Pix against the Pirc (1.e4 d6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4), and even a line involving an early f4 against the Scandinavian! Highly recommended for anyone who wants to build an off-beat repertoire around the Grand Prix or add some interesting weapons to the arsenal. The CD contains a large number of annotated games and text files plus databases.

Bauer, Randy. "Combining Attack and Defense." Jeremy Silman website.
Analyzes the game Kerkove-Bauer, South Dakota Governor's Cup 1996, a nice game for Black that began 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 e6.

Boersma, Paul and Viswanathan Anand. “Sicilian Defense, Grand Prix Attack.” NIC Yearbook 39 (1996): 42-47.
Focuses on White’s successful use of Bc4 against an early …d6 by Black. Anand annotates his game with Gelfand from Wijk aan Zee 1996 and some other games from the White perspective.

ChessPublishing Forum. "When to Play the Grand Prix?" "French Set-up Against GPA." "GPA+Wing Gambit." "GPA Rehabilitated."

Davies, Nigel. “Beating the Grand Prix Attack.” The Chess Player’s Battle Manual. Batsford 2000. 94-114.
A bit more up-to-date and written for a more general audience than Gallagher’s Beating the Anti-Sicilians (see below) but covering much the same territory as that earlier book. Davies’s presentation is one of the most helpful for Black that I have seen and I highly recommend it, especially if you play the Dragon or Accelerated Dragon, since his …g6-focused recommendations fit well with those systems. Davies gives move-by-move commentary with analysis, which is ideal for class players.

Dzindzichashvili, Roman. Grand Prix and Reti Opening. Roman's Labs: Mastering Openings Series, Volume 23. Also in "Crushing Lines for White," Volume 33.

Edwards, Jon with Ron Henley. The Sicilian! An Overview. R&D 1993.
Covers only 1.e4 c5 2.f4 without 2.Nc3.

Emms, John. Starting Out: The Sicilian. Everyman 2002.
A brief overview of 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 lines.

Fogarasi, Norbert. "Story of My FIDE Rating."
Discusses the game Fogarasi-Farago 1999 that began 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 e6 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. d3 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Kh1.

Gallagher, Joe. “The Grand Prix Attack.” Beating the Anti-Sicilians. Batsford 1994. 27-42.
Gallagher's books are generally quite solid and this is no exception. He recommends the Tal Gambit (1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5! 3.exd5 Nf6) and then main lines with …g6 against 2.Nc3, including 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 e6 6.f5 Nge7 or 5.Bb5 Nd4, offering games where Black wins. The analysis and games are good but a bit dated, not considering White’s best ideas. One reader notes "his coverage of 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 is rather light on alternatives to 6.Nxd4 -- which is clearly not White's best move in the position."

Goeller, Michael. Goeller-Wojcio, Kenilworth Chess Club Championship 2005.

_______. The Grand Prix with a3 (April 4, 2006)
Examines 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.a3!? with the idea of either 6.b4!? or 6.Bc4.

_______. Billy Colias Plays the Grand Prix Attack (July 10, 2006)
An introduction to the Grand Prix considered through the games of the late Midwest master who played both sides. Games feature interesting ideas in the Tal Gambit and the a3 lines.

_______. Baker -King, BCF 1997 (January 19, 2006)
Analysis of an interesting game that begins 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. O-O Bg7 7. d3 a6 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. Kh1 Qd7 10. Qe1 Nh6 11. Bd2 f5 12. Nd5!

_______. Goeller-Kernighan, KCC Summer Tourney 2005 (June 24, 2005)
Annotated PGN text of a game beginning 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5 Nd4 6. O-O Nxb5 7. Nxb5 d6 8.c4!?

_______. Goeller-Chieu, Kenilworth 2005
The game begins 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 a6 4. Nf3 Qc7 5. g3 transposing to a Closed Sicilian. Soon after this game, I began playing 3.Nf3! in answer to 2...e6.

Hodgson,Julian and Lawrence Day. Edited by Eric Schiller. The Grand Prix Attack: f4 against the Sicilian. Collier / Macmillan 1985.
A short book (under 100 pages) that had a big influence on the use of the line by top players during the late 80s and early 90s.

Ilic, Zoran. “Sicilian Defense Grand Prix Attack with f4 and Bb5.” Part One and Part Two. Inside Chess Online (available in the Web Archives)
This has got to be the best analysis anywhere in print of this important positional line in the Grand Prix, where White plays Bb5 with the intention of doubling Black's c-pawns rather than the more provocative Bc4 (which is questionable against most e6 lines for Black). Be sure to see both parts. It's a pleasure to find articles like this one free on the web or buried like treasure, as this one is, in the archives. I notice that many people find my bibliography through Google searches with the terms "zoran ilic grand prix," so I am not the only one who knows it is quality stuff.

Johansson, Thomas. Bryntse - Smith, corr. Sweden 1967.
Considers a game that reaches 1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3!? dxe4 4.Ng5 (a Budapest Reversed with f4, now called the Bryntse Gambit) by transposition from 1.f4.

Kopec, Danny. Mastering the Sicilian. Batsford 2001.Discusses a few games with the Grand Prix from the Black perspective, focusing on lines with ...g6 in the games Pinter-Banas, Nove Zamsky 1999 and Braun-Blumenfeld, New York 1989.

Lane, Gary. The Grand Prix Attack: Attacking Lines with f4 Against the Sicilian. Batsford 1997. A useful reference book that lays out all of the lines in clear fashion. But it is really a data-dump of a book with lots of unanalyzed games and variations.

_______. Opening Lanes #60
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane60.pdf
Offers a number of games with the Grand Prix Attack, focused mainly on the question of when White can play Bc4 and when not.

_______. Opening Lanes #65
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane65.pdf
Discusses the famous Saidy-Fischer encounter that many take as the inspiration for the Grand Prix Attack.

_______. Opening Lanes #06: Grand Prix Crash
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/lane06.txt
Discusses the sharp 1.e4 c5 2.f4 e5!?

Langeweg, Kick with GM notes. “Grand Prix Attack.” NIC Yearbook 25 (1992)

_______. “Grand Prix Attack.” NIC Yearbook 31 (1994)
Focuses on …e6 lines.

_______, notes by Morozevich. “Grand Prix Attack.” NIC Yearbook 60 (2001)
Focuses on ...g6 lines.

McGrew, Tim. Wysocki-Davidovich, Michigan Action Championship 2003.
Offers nice evidence for amateurs of why the Tal Gambit declined with 1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.e5?! is a bad idea.

Michel, David. Turner-Dowling, Ohio Open 2003
http://www.daytonchessclub.com/games/2003/game13.htm
The game transposes from a Grand Prix to a Closed Sicilian in response to Black's ...a6, ...b5, ...Bb7 defense.

Monokroussos, Dennis. The Karpov-Fischer Hoax. Dennis M's Chess Site.
Analyzes the famous Saidy-Fischer game which may have inspired the Grand Prix.

Motwani, Paul. Chess Under the Microscope. Batsford 1998. 99-111.
Covers some Grand Prix lines and offers fascinating analysis of a game beginning 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5!? as a method of stearing toward the Grand Prix or Rossolimo, depending upon Black's response. I am always inspired by Motwani's books and this is no exception.

Muhammad, Stephen. Is the Grand Prix Attack Busted? The Chess Drum.
Analyzes Tiviakov - Kasparov, Wijk aan Zee 2001 which began 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. O-O e6 7. d3 Nge7 8. Qe1.

Plaskett, James. Sicilian Grand Prix Attack. Everyman 2000.
Plaskett’s complete game format has both strengths and weaknesses. The chief weakness is that it allows the analyst to skip many lines or give them scanty coverage. The advantage in the case of Plaskett is that he looks at some interesting and innovative games that might not typically make it into theory. Overall, this book is less complete than Gary Lane’s but sometimes more helpful in offering explanations.

Raetzky, Alexander. Meeting 1.e4. Everyman 2002.
Raetzky's builds a Sicilian repertoire around the Four Knights, often with an early ...e6 and ...d5, so his 2...e6 French set-up against the Grand Prix makes a lot of sense. This is a great "first Sicilian" book and a solid repertoire that will likely encourage your opponents to transpose to other lines.

Regis, David. Playing f4 against the Sicilian: Grand Prix Attack
http://chessb.demonweb.co.uk/chessweb/Openings/sic8.html
From the Exeter Chess Club site, this article makes for a good introduction to this system for beginners and club players.

Ree, Hans. "Menashe." Chess Café Archive. January 2005.
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hans103.pdf
Discusses a game by the late Menash Godberg featuring a successful use of Bc4 and a3 in the Grand Prix.

Rogozenko, Dorian. Anti-Sicilians: A Guide for Black. Gambit 2003.
The latest anti-anti-Sicilian entry, which discusses ...g6 lines and ways Black can make ...d6 work.

Rohde, Michael. The Grand Prix Attack. Kid Chess.com
Analyzes the game Weeramantry-Rohde, Boston 1995 where Black employed the challenging system 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 a6 3.f4 b5 4.Nf3 Bb7, which basically forces White into a standard Closed or Open Sicilian.

Scherbakov, Ruslan. “Nakamura’s Obscure Sicilian.” NIC Yearbook 74 (2005)

Schiller, Eric. White to Play 1.e4 and Win. Chess Digest 1992.
Recommends the Grand Prix against both the Sicilian and the Pirc (1.e4 d6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4!?). Schiller’s analysis cannot be trusted, but he constructs a useful repertoire.

Silman, Jeremy. Tal Gambit Declined.
Message: 1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5! 3.e5?!? is not a good idea.

_______. Winning with the Sicilian Defense: A Complete RepertoireAgainst 1 e4 (Revised 2nd Edition). ChessDigest 1998.
Recommends the Tal Gambit against 2.f4 and ...g6 lines against 2.Nc3.

Smith, Ken. Grand Prix Attack: Attacking the Sicilian Defense with 2 f4. 2nd edition. Chess Digest 1995.
Out of print, rare, and completely worthless. Simply contains lots of games with relatively few notes and none worth reading.

Thomson, Eric. The Grand Prix Attack: Assets and Liabilities. Confessions of a Chess Novice blog (July 23, 2006)
A class-player's reflections on the pluses and minuses of his new favorite opening.

Vandivier, Don. Gadson-Jarosz 10th U.S.Amateur North 2003.
Amateur game begins 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.Bd3 e6 7.e5!?

Weeramantry, Sunil and Ed Eusebi. Best Lessons of a Chess Coach. David McKay / Random House 1994. 196-215. Offers very in-depth analysis of the game Weeramantry-Goldberg, New York 1991, which features an early …e6 by Black. Probably the most helpful piece for a beginner or class-player who wants to adopt the Grand Prix as White.

Yermolinsky, Alex. “The Once-Feared Grand Prix Attack Rings Hollow.” The Road to Chess Improvement. Gambit 2000. 113-126.
Yermolinsky’s supposed “refutation” amounts to recommending 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 e6 4.Nf3 Nge7 5.Bb5?! a6! (better 5.d4!) or 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 to avoid the annoying doubled pawns at c6. Overall, I like this book a lot and recommend it. If you play Scheveningen-like Sicilian systems with ...e6, this is a must-have book because other chapters cover that system.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

EXTREMELY helpful article for those wanting to improve on this particular opening. I was going to purchase a book on this, but after reading and printing off most of these articles... I am overjoyed to see them provide the needed annotation/theory behind virtually every move white plays. Once again, thanks.

Thu Nov 23, 06:20:00 AM EST  
Blogger Blue Devil Knight said...

I've finally started playing the 'improved' version of the GPA, but looking at my original post about it, I was actually quite surprised. I still agree with everything I said (and as I predicted there, I have now gone from 2. f4 to 2. Nc3 3. f4).

I have one question about one of your bibliography entries. You said:
Dzindzichashvili, Roman. Grand Prix and Reti Opening. Roman's Labs: Mastering Openings Series, Volume 23. Also in "Crushing Lines for White," Volume 33.


Does that mean the same video is in both DVDs? Or does he cover minor lines in Volume 33?

Sun Aug 19, 12:47:00 AM EDT  

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