SOS - Secrets of Opening Surprises: Vol. 14 Paperback – March 16, 2012

I have all 14 volumes of this interesting series.In this latest volume the analysis is a little better than usual, but still not very good, leaving out the most important lines or giving weak and unreliable moves that support the authors opening novelty.Good analysis is very important since if you are going to use an opening novelty at your next OTB tournament or at club level, if you rely on weak analysis that supports controversial ideas you may get demolished as I have personally experienced in the past.Here are some examples:Chapter 2 by Editor Jeroen Bosch advocates a white system against the Queens Gambit Declined involving 10.h4!? As he examines the game Aronian/Harikrishna, Ningbo World Teams 2011 which went like this:1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 Ne4 (Laskers Defence)8.Be7 Qe7 9.Rc1 c6 10.h4!? Nd7 11.g4 after which black played 11...e5?! giving white a strong initiative. Bosch then spends half a page analyising other 11th moves for black, all of which give white a great game, but does not include 11...Ndf6! which according to "Houdini" leaves white with nothing. Bosch's analysis on page 19 is therefore worthless and may present serious problems for anyone that blindly relies on it at their next OTB tournament.Chapter 15 by Sinisa Drazic advocates the Sicilian Defence with 2...h6!?.He then gives faulty analysis concerning whites strongest continuation:1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 h6 3.c3! g5 4.d4 cd4 5.cd4 d5 6.ed5 Nf6 and now Drazic gives 7.Nc3 rather than 7.Ne5! which leaves black struggling.Even after 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.Ne5! once again would leave black struggling but Drazic gives instead 8.h4 which makes blacks terrible idea playable.Fortunately not all the chapters are worthless however.Dimitri Reindermann in chapter 5 uses "Houdini" (Anands favorite engine according to an interview for Chessvibes.com on June 10, 2011) to check his analysis and so his advocacy of 6.Nb3!? against the Najdorf Sicilian is safe at tournament level.In other words if you rely on Reindermanns ideas and analysis you wont get slaughtered and will give your opponent something to think about.There are many very interesting ideas in this volume,but if you dont have time to check the analysis with a powerful engine your best bet would be to stick with the proven and tested openings found in MCO 15 or NCO (Nunns Chess Openings).Since I do have the time, I find this series very interesting and sometimes rewarding.