REVIEW5

***** Review5 *****

January 1, 1996 book review by Hanon Russell!  "news 257" for more info.
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                        Sicilian Love
                Lev Polugaevsky Chess Tournament
                       Buenos Aires 1994
                   Reviewed by Hanon W. Russell

Sicilian Love, by Lev Polugaevsky, Jeroen Piket and Christophe
Gueneau, 1995 New In Chess, hardcover, Figurine algebraic
notation, 236pp., $35.00

     Under the sponsorship of the Dutch industrialist J.J. van
Oosterom, the past several years have seen the holding of a
special theme tournament in Buenos Aires. A prestigious group of
world-class players have been invited to play in a double round-robin, the only condition being that opening of each game must be
the Sicilian Defense. As explained in the comprehensive
introduction...     

           What gave the Polugaevsky tournament its charm
     was above all the unique rule: all players must respect
     the imposed opening moves: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 (or 2...e6
     or 2...d6) 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4. Despite its originality
     this type of tournament was far from being a novelty as
     at the beginning of the century in Vienna, the
     celebrated King's gambit was thus honored. Nearer to
     our time, in Utrecht in the middle-eighties, a
     tournament took place where positions noted for their
     complexity were selected and "imposed." Several top-flight
     grandmasters took part such as Timman and
     Miles...The games were played at the rate of 40 moves
     in two hours, then 20 moves in an hour, followed by one
     hour per player K.O., implying that no adjournments
     were possible. As for Elo rating, at the request of
     several players it was decided that the tournament
     would not be counted. A debatable decision as it could
     have, perhaps, added further spice to an already
     attractive competition.
     
     The tournament has been held in honor of the late Russian
grandmaster Lev Polugaevsky. The 1994 version of this tournament
had Polugaevsky attend though not play. The stellar field did
include Anand, Ivanchuk, Kamsky, Karpov, Ljubojevic, Polgar,
Salov and Shirov. The book recently published by New In Chess is
a great tribute to the Sicilian and Polugaevsky.
     It is divided into four basic sections. The first presents
ten memorable Sicilians played and annotated by Polugaevsky. This
is followed by an in-depth interview of Polugaevsky by Christophe
Guenea, who has a most interesting history of the Sicilian
Defense. Finally, the games themselves, heavily annotated by both
the authors and the players and with a detailed tournament
report. Part of the attraction that this book holds is seeing
some of the world's great players engaging in lines that they
have rarely or never played before. All in all, this is great
stuff.
     This is a very special book. Many chessplayers may not buy
it because they do not play or have any interest in the Sicilian.
That will be their loss. Lev Polugaevsky may not be with us any
longer, but his legacy will endure - and with it this magnificent
tribute to the man and his passion.
     
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   The books which are reviewed by Mr. Russell are furnished
   courtesy of the United States Chess Federation. The views
expressed are those of Mr. Russell and do not necessarily reflect
 the views of the United States Chess Federation. You may order
 this book and/or obtain the latest catalog of chess books and
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                Copyright 1995 Hanon W. Russell
                      All Rights Reserved
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