The Abysmal Depths of Chess

  "Undoubtedly the most difficult game in the book to understand." Michael Stean

  "Black’s position has sufficient 'capacity' for three minor pieces, but not clearly enough for all four of them. This explains why White is willing to invest so much time early in the game (Bb4-a4-b3-c2, h3) purely to avoid exchanges." Michael Stean

  " 'Put your rooks on open files’ is a piece of advice every beginner receives, and a very sound piece of advice it is. But like all pieces of sound advice, it can prove to be inadequate or worse." Michael Stean

  "A very good square for the knight. the pressure on Black’s d-pawn is obvious, but he is not without some counterchances based on his own well-placed knight." Michael Stean

April 1988