Customer Reviews

The Slav

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Grandmaster Sadler uses 88 model tournament games by himself, Anand, Shirov, Kasparov, Kramnik, etc., to illustrate the strategy and tactics for both sides in the Slav (1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6). He annotates the games unusually well: asking (and answering questions), discussing (in words!) various positions, and giving alternative move sequences. Sadler's introductory chapter is particularly useful for less-experienced non-master players as it provides a thorough, simple overview of the Slav's aims, move-orders, and typical positions. The chapters organize the Slav: "the old main line" (3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dc 5 a4 Bf5 6 e3 e6 7 Bc4 Bb4 8 0-0) where Black either fights to prevent e4 or allows e4. Following that, is the "new main line" (3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dc 5 a4 Bf5 6 Ne5)where Black fights for control of e4 or counterattacks. There is a chapter on the Smyslov variation (5 a4 Na6) and one on the Bronstein variation (5 a4 Bg4). Two chapters cover the 4...a6 Slav where white plays 5 e3 and other, aggressive options for white. The exchange variation, regarded as very drawish, appears in the ninth chapter,with the plans for white/black players who want a victory. Move orders and transpositions, along with odds and ends, complete the last 2 chapters. This is not a repertoire book that covers every possible variation/move-order, so if you're concerned with having a quick reference, you might get Nunn's Chess Openings. However, this book really does qive you the positions, plans, aims of the Slav thoroughly - you'll have an idea of what to do in most cases.

A previous reviewer (2 items down) has already described in detail the chapter format and the various advantages of this stellar book. You must read that review too.

So I want to answer the question "WHICH Sadler book should I buy?" given that he has written great books on the Slav, Semi-Slav and QGD. In my opinion, if you are preparing you main defence to 1 d4 from scratch get the Slav book, because:

(a) White has a much more limited range of options and therefore you have to learn less disparate lines. (b) The games in this book are a lot shorter than the ones in the QGD book, so it is quicker to work through. (c) 1 d4 Players (in England anyway)tend only to know the first five or six moves of theory and make the rest up. This is probably not the case for continentals.

Hope this helps you decide.

This is a great first book on the Slav. Sadler's writing is witty and humorous making the book a pleasure. Sadler is big on the themes and ideas behind the various lines in the Slav. He is a little short on detailed analysis (which I won't remember anyway). This book will not appeal to players over 1800 USCF. However if you, like me, are just an average club player who needs a solid but active defense against 1. d4, this is a great book.

I've read this from cover to cover. Sadler gives you the general idea of what is going on in each of the lines he reviews and gives you his opinions of what he thinks is best. He tells you up front about the tricky move order issues in the Slav. Reading this book allows you to play the Slav but I think it will take most average players years to play it well. Due to publisher constraints, which I think Sadler hints at in the introduction, this book is far from exhaustive. Early divergences are not considered to any noticeable degree. For that you need the Burgess book on the Slav. To get to know the major ideas of the more well know lines, Sadler's book is the right choice. I give it 4 stars for what the book does with limited pages.

This book is useful to provide an overview over the currently played lines in the Slav defence. Most of the games are taken from recent tournaments featuring some of the strongest grandmasters. At the end of each chapter a nice summary of one page is given. While the main lines are explained quite thoroughly others e.g. the Smyslow variation are treated on a lower level. It has to be pointed out that this book doesn't provide a complete coverage of the Slav theory. Therefore a tournament or correspondence player will need additional sources of information.

This book by Sadler is good for the beginning Slav player: the author favors explaining ideas over analysis. He even clarifies a few points by using the question-answer approach. So why then just 3 stars? Reasons: First there are several of those infamous GM draws (under 15 moves!). These games are too short to be of educational value. And comments like "well, it was a hard-fought
game" won't suffice. Hard-fought with only less than 15 moves???
It's here that Sadler -- and all other authors -- fail : they should analyze the resulting position and explain to the readers why the position is unclear or advantageous to one side. I haven't seen this anywhere, neither in those deceitful "Understanding Chess Openings" books nor in those books written by vain people who add their names to the chess openings as if they had been their creation (Nunn's Chess Openings).
Another reason is that if Sadler's aim was to discourage us from playing the Slav, he succeeded beautifully: in the bulk of the book (chapters 1-8, because 9 and 10 and odds and ends and move orders) there are 70 games. Black won only 14!(20%), white won 26
and there were 30 draws. It's hard to convince anyone to pick up a defense that has only a 20% performance.

Sadler is not only one of England's strongest Grandmasters, he actually plays the opening he writes about. His style is lucid and witty. There are a few atrocious errors in the notes, which may or may not be typos.

The best part? The shocking piece sacrifice by Illescas on the twelfth move of Game 77.

See my comments on "The Queen's Gambit Declined" by the same author. I became a fan of Mr.Sadler by reading his books!

My result for playing Slav is quite good because of this book.