"Play the Evans Gambit" by Tim Harding and Bernard Cafferty,
1997 Cadogan Books, Paperback, Figurine Algebraic Notation,
239pp., $21.95

"The Great Evans Gambit Debate" by Michael Rohde, 1997
Thinkers' Press, English Algebraic Notation, Monograph, 86pp.,
$15.95

When one speaks of the Romantic Period in chess, it usually isn't
very long before conversation turns to the Evans Gambit, perhaps
the most romantic of all openings. After the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3
Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4, the b-pawn is offered for the sake of
furthering White's development, a concept which quickly became a
favorite of such 19th century tacticians as Morphy, Anderssen and
Chigorin.

But, for much of this century, the Evans had fallen into disfavor at
the highest levels due in large part, no doubt, to the belief that a
pawn in the pocket is worth more than a couple of tempi in
development. It wasn't until 1995, nearly the end of the end of this
century, before players once again began to take a second look at
the Evans. Among other things, the impetus seems to have been at
least twofold: World Champion Gary Kasparov's quick win over
one of his principal challengers, Vishy Anand, and the appearance
of a controversial book by the amateur player, Richard Moody,
which revealed a number of new and interesting ideas in the Evans.
Harding and Cafferty's "Play the Evans Gambit" and GM Michael
Rohde's "The Great Evans Gambit Debate" are products of that
renewed interest.

The Harding and Cafferty (H & C) book is a comprehensive
treatise on the opening, containing 15 chapters of material as
follows: Chapter 1, an historical overview of some of the opening's
most important games; Chapter 2 examines the line 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3
Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bxb4 5 c3 Be7; Chapters 3 through 7 provide
coverage of variations after 5...Ba5 6 d4; the famous Lasker's
Defense, which comes about after 6 0-0 d6 7 d4 Bb6, can be found
in chapter 8; miscellaneous lines after 5...Ba5 are contained in
chapter 9; the defense 5...Bc5 is examined in the subsequent three
chapters, while the Evans Gambit Declined and unusual 4th and
5th moves complete the final three chapters of the book.

Rohde's book is more in the category of an overview and contains
less detail than offered by Harding and Cafferty. There are six brief
chapters (or "Parts") which look at the gambit accepted after
4...Bxb4 5 c3 Ba5 6 0-0/d4/Qb3; 5...Be7; 5...Bc5 and 5...Bd6; the
gambit declined and unusual early alternatives. Also included is a
formal bibliography, a list of the book's variations and a
chronological listing of games.

Comprehensiveness and accuracy of coverage can be determined
by comparing critical lines in the opening, as identified in
"Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, Volume C" (ECO), to that
found in each book.

Taking a close look at perhaps one of the most important lines of
all in the Evans, 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bxb4 5 c3 Ba5
6 d4 d6 7 Qb3 Qd7 8 dxe5 Bb6, all three sources, H & C, Rohde
and ECO give 9 Nbd2 as one of the principal options, at this point.
In Chapter 6, H & C continue with 9...Na5 10 Qc2 Nxc4 11 Nxc4
d5 (attributed to former World Correspondence Champion Vytas
Palciauskas), with three possibilities for White: 12 Nxb6 and Black
eventually won in Estrin-Palciauskas, 10th Corres. Champ.
1978-84; 12 exd5 Qxd5 13 Qa4+ Bd7 14 Nxb6! cxb6 15 Qd4
Qxd4 16 Nxd4 Rc8 17 Bd2 "and then advance the kingside
majority but the pawn on c3 is a thorn in the flesh" (page 105); and
12 Bg5!? attributed to Richard Moody, with the continuation
12...Qg4 13 0-0-0! f6 14 exf6 gxf6 15 Ne3! and now Black's two
options of 15...Bxe3 and 15...Qxe4 both lead to a White advantage.
All of this is very nice except that Black can deviate with 12...h6!?
13 Bh4 Qg4 14 0-0-0 g5!? leading, perhaps, to no better than a
draw for White (page 106).

In the line 9 Nbd2 Na5 10 Qc2 Nxc4 11 Nxc4, Rohde similarly
suggests 11...d5! 12 Bg5 h6 13 Bh4 g5!, noting that "Black is
doing fine" (page 17).

And, in the variation 9 Nbd2 Na5 10 Qc2 Nxc4 11 Nxc4 d5 12
exd5 Qxd5 13 Qa4! Bd7 14 Nxb6 cxb6 15 Qd4, Rohde parrots H
& C (as well as Harding's 1996 book "Evans Gambit And A
System Versus Two Knights' Defense, Revised 2nd Edition") with
the recommendation of 15...Bc6. Rohde follows that with 16 0-0
0-0-0!, adding that "Black maintains his grip on the central
squares." (Page 17).

A curiosity is Harding's lack of confidence in the move 15...Bc6,
which he cites in his 1996 book and H & C as an even position, yet
provides a main line in each that follows a different 15th move. In
1996, he gave 15...Ne7 and White won in the game
Carlsson-Abrahamsson, a 1990 correspondence game, while in H
& C from 1997, 15...Qxd4 is given along with the clear as mud "c3
is a thorn in the flesh" assessment given above.

On the other hand, ECO suggests 9 Nbd2 Nh6 10 0-0 0-0 11 exd6
Qd6 12 Bd5 Na5 13 Qb4 Qg6 14 Ne5 Qh5, with advantage to
Black as in Alexander-Tylor, Hastings 1935/6. Rohde does not
address 9...Nh6 at all, but H & C also cite Alexander-Tylor and
give 11 Ba3! and 16 Bb3 as White improvements.

Rohde strongly advocates the line 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4
b4 Bxb4 5 c3 Ba5 6 Qb3, which was actually a suggestion of
Harding's way back in his excellent 1977 Batsford book, "The
Italian Game". According to Rohde on Page 22, there are two
Black possibilities after 6 Qb3: 6...Qf6 and 6...Qe7. After 6...Qf6,
he gives 7 d4 Nxd4 8 Nxd4 exd4 9 0-0! dxc3 10 e5 Qxe5 11 Bxf7+
Kf8 12 Na3 Nf6 13 Nc4 Qe7 14 Ba3 d6 15 Nxa5 Qxf7 16 Qxc3
and he likes White. H & C cite the same line through 12 Na3, but
then conflict by suggesting 12...Qf6 13 Bxg8 Rxg8 14 Nc4 Bb6 15
Ba3+ d6 16 Qa4 Bc5 17 Rae1 Be6 18 Re3 Bxa3 19 Rf3 Qxf3 20
gxf3 Bc5, commenting that "Black should win in the end" (pages
154/5).

Rohde's jab at Harding after 6...Qe7 7 d4 exd4 8 0-0 Bb6 when he
writes that "This is the Moody line which scared Harding off the
move Qd1-b3 on White's 6th or 7th turn" (page 23) is, in fact, an
accurate statement if one only considers Harding's analysis in
"Evans Gambit And A System Versus Two Knights' Defense,
Revised 2nd Edition". Rohde continues with 9 cxd4 Bxd4 10 Nxd4
Nxd4 11 Qg3!, which he judges to be good for White.

Harding, however, hardly appears "scared off" from playing Qb3 in
H & C, citing a similar line to Rohde which also leads to a White
advantage: 9 cxd4 Bxd4 10 Nxd4 Nxd4 11 Qd3! (page 83). Rohde,
of course, was unaware of this analysis since the bibliography of
his book does not include H & C.

Both sources refer to Pfleger-Mendes, 1973, as leading to a White
"plus" after Black's 9th move alternative, 9...Nxd4: 10 Nxd4 Bxd4
11 Nc3 c6 12 Rd1.

In the line 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4 Bxb4 5 c3 Be7, both
Rohde and H & C include similar lines, except that after 6 Qb3
Nh6 7 d4 Na5 8 Qb5 Nxc4 9 Bxh6 gxh6 10 Qxc4 exd4 11 cxd4 d6
12 0-0 Rg8, Rohde continues to follow Zamora- Hjartarsson, 1994
New York Open, which eventually ended in a draw (although
Rohde failed to mention the result of the game). H & C deviate
from 13 Re1, though, and instead recommend Cafferty's 13 Rc1!,
which resulted in a quick White win after 13...c6 14 d5 Bd7 15
Nbd2 Bg5 16 Qd3 Bxd2 17 Nxd2 Qg5 18 g3 Qg6 19 Rab1 cxd5 20
Rxb7 1-0 in Erlandsson- Ecenarro, Corres. 1978 (page 47).

In the 5...Be7 variation, ECO misses the superior 8 Qb5 and
instead suggests 8 Qa4 Nc4 9 Qc4 exd4 10 Bh6 gxh6 11 cxd4 d5
12 exd5 0-0 with an unclear position. H & C cite the stronger
9...Ng4! and, like Rohde, continues the analysis after 12...0-0 by
referencing the 1987 game Skotorenko-Trapl, which led to a Black
advantage.

Phew! Okay, so what does all of this complex analysis mean in
terms of which book to buy? It means that both books essentially
contain similar material and reach essentially the same conclusions
in most key lines. There are some exceptions of course, but nothing
significant enough to turn this writer's head towards either work. H
& C can be a considered a treatise on the opening, offering
considerably more material than Rohde (more than 230 pages
versus about 80). The Rohde book is in the mode of an overview of
the available material, or a summary, rather than a comprehensive
"bible". Rohde does, however, include a bibliography, an index of
games and an index of variations, none of which can be found in H
& C. Neither work offers chapter summaries, a serious omission in
this writer's opinion, given the complexities of this opening and the
difficulty that such presents to the average player in terms of
assessing variations.

Certainly, the Evans is not an opening for the uninitiated. Both
works reviewed here can be recommended to the experienced
tournament player looking to add today's version of the Evans
Gambit to his opening repertoire, whether from the White or the
Black side. At first glance, one is tempted to recommend H & C as
the better value, given the almost 3 to 1 quantity of material. But,
bearing in mind the often mind-numbing analytical details of the
Evans, this may be a case where more is not necessarily better. The
reader will not go wrong no matter which of these books is chosen,
however, so long as he or she has a penchant for playing
complicated, tactical, and often unclear positions.