The Bottom Line
(January 2006) 'The Scandinavian Defence' by GM James Plaskett; Batsford/Sterling; September 2004; 192 pages. • 'The Scandinavian Defence, previously thought to be a rather primitive and sub-standard response to 1.e4, has now emerged from the doldrums and been employed with success by some of the world's strongest Grandmasters' [from the back cover] • Contains approximately 63 games, unevenly annotated using figurine algebraic notation.
Pros
- GM Plaskett is an experienced author with several works under his belt.
- Where the author is interested in a variation, the analysis is detailed and enlightening.
- The best coverage is on the most topical variations : 3...Qd6 and the Portuguese.
- Every page has 1-2 diagrams; the notes can be skimmed without a chess board.
Cons
- Where the author is not interested in a variation, the analysis is not helpful.
- No index of players, and the index of variations is hard to follow.
- Typographical conventions not used consistently; often difficult to skip over a note.
- At least one variation has misnumbered moves [p.146 d) 4.Bb5+ -> p.176 d) 5.Bb5+ is really 4.f3].
Description
- Introduction 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 (2..Nf6) and 3.d4 e5, one game.
- The Main Line 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5, ten games ('traditional and most popular' line).
- 3...Qd8, three games; 3...Qd6, eighteen games; 3...Qe5+, four games.
- The Modern Scandinavian 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6, one game (Capablanca as Black, 1915)
- 3.Bb5+, three games; Main Line 3.d4 Nxd5, seven games.
- Scandinavian Gambit 3.c4 c6, one game; Icelandic Gambit 3.c4 e6?!, three games.
- Portuguese Variation 3.d4 Bg4!?, eleven games ('This line can get VERY sharp').
- In Conclusion ('if White declines to capture on d5 at move two' e.g. 2.d4), 2.Nc3, one game.
- Index of Variations (doesn't track the illustrative games 100%)
Guide Review - The Scandinavian Defence
GM Plaskett, a former British champion, starts his book by saying, 'The Scandinavian Defence is in reality two distinct openings under the same heading. First we see Black responding 2...Qxd5. Secondly there is 2...Nf6'. The book gives equal coverage to both lines. • In the databases we found games (1.e4 d5) played by Plaskett only on the White side, but the book has a balanced view (+29-20=14) of chances for both sides. The three games played by the author include a 13-move (!) loss to GM Speelman. • The most recent games are from 2003 (we counted 10). There are a total of 18 games from the 2000s and 30 from the 1990s. The earliest game is from 1485 and the earliest modern game is Lasker - Alekhine, St. Petersburg 1914. • There are many games by strong players active in recent times : Adams (2 games as Black), Anand (1 game each W & B), Karpov (3xW & 1xB), Kasparov (2xW). In addition to Adams and Plaskett, there are many games by other top British (and Commonwealth) players : Chandler, Conquest, Gallagher, Speelman, more. • The game notes oscillate between detailed and useless. One of the first games (Karpov - Larsen, Montreal 1979) gives no alternate variations, and has unhelpful notes like 'Trundling', 'A nice lodge', and 'Solid as Alcatraz'. In other games there are notes to single moves which take more than a page and include one or more partial games. • What to say further? Book makes us wonder. Maybe author lazy. Seen it before. Irritating. Recommend or not?
