Forum
Readers from all over the world join in discussions of previous surveys. Both (grand)masters and club players shed their light on new opening developments and search together for the truth. With contributions by Eric Prié, Richard Palliser, Bogdan Lalic, Pavel Skatchkov/Dmitry Frolyanov, Ashot Nadanian and many others.

Sosonko's Corner
Genna Sosonko's imagination was tickled by Vadim Zviagintsev's bizarre knight move 2.Na3 in the Sicilian. It made Alexander Khalifman laugh, but not for long... The rim knight brought back some sweet memories to our Editor and stirred up some old stories, which does not mean that it has no future! Besides becoming immensely popular on the ICC and in the Moscow Blitz Championship, in a regular game such moves can be a tremendous psychological blow.

Book Reviews
Not quite mainstream either are the openings treated in Glenn Flear's Review section this time. After all, you don't encounter Christan Bauer's favourite 1...b6 every day. The French GM's monograph on this English Defence (!) gets many points for its thorough and original content, though it leaves something to be desired in the structure department.
Next is James Rizzitano's 'Repertoire book' (we get many of those these days) against 1.d4. A robust tome, although doubts remain if Rizzitano can fulfill his promise of 'beating' White's solid first move. Maybe that's just to much to ask... or is it?
The unlikely author couple Sverre Johnsen and Vlatko Kovacevic also want to 'Win' with the London System, but our reviewer found their book to be quite balanced and objective. It's ideal for the stronger club player who wants a solid system without studying day and night.
Boris Schipkov's CD on the A80-A85 Dutch contains by nature much more material than a book, but also more mistakes. A nice feature is the Training Database with useful exercises.

32 NIC Surveys Yearbook 78
Sicilian Defence: Najdorf Variation 6.Be3 Ng4, by Lukacs/Hazai
Sicilian Defence: Najdorf Variation 6.Be3 e6, by Nikitin
Sicilian Defence: Grivas Variation 4...Qb6, by Grivas
French Defence: Tarrasch Variation 4.ed5 Qd5, by Anka
Caro-Kann Defence: Advance Variation 4.c4, by Boersma
Caro-Kann Defence: Classical Variation 4...Bf5, by Olthof
Petroff Defence: Steinitz Variation 3.d4 Ne4, by Fogarasi
Petroff Defence: Jaenisch Variation 6...Be7, by Kuzmin
Ruy Lopez: Neo-Steinitz Variation 6...Nge7, by Karolyi
Ruy Lopez: Neo-Arkhangelsk Variation 6...Bc5, by Kuzmin
Ruy Lopez: Closed Line with 9.d4, by Marin
Italian Game: Evans Gambit 4.b4, by Van der Tak
Scotch Opening: Mieses Variation 8...Ba6, by Van der Weide
Philidor Defence: Antoshin Variation 5...Be7, by Abeln
Queen's Gambit Declined: Blackburne Variation 5.Bf4, by Agrest
Slav Defence: Krause Variation 6.Ne5, by Greenfeld
Slav Defence: Marshall Gambit 4.e4, by Van der Tak
Slav Defence: Meran Variation 8.Be2, by Afek
Queen's Gambit: Accepted Classical Variation 7.Bb3, by Dautov
Nimzo-Indian Defence: Kmoch Variation 4.f3, by Cebalo
Nimzo-Indian Defence: Vienna Variation 7.e5, by Lukacs/Hazai
Grünfeld Indian Defence: Exchange Variation 7.Nf3, by Avrukh
Grünfeld Indian Defence: Makogonov Variation 6.b4, by Panczyk/Ilczuk
King's Indian Defence: Classical Variation 7...Na6, by Mikhalevski
King's Indian Defence: Four Pawns Attack 5.f4, by Vaisser
Benoni Defence: Fianchetto Variation 11.Bf4 Qe7, by Kapengut
Benoni Defence: Volga Gambit 3...b5, by Gavrilov
Queen's Pawn Opening: Trompowsky Attack 2.Bg5, by Tzermiadianos
Queen's Pawn Opening: Prié Attack 2.a3, by Prié
Queen's Pawn Opening: Reversed Albin 3.e4, by Greenfeld
Dutch Defence: Classical Variation 7...Ne4, by Williams
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation 3...b6, by Langeweg