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Grandmaster Jonathan Speelman was an analyst in Vishwanathan Anand's camp for the 1995 world championship match against Garry Kasparov. They looked at the Center Counter (aka ´Scandinavian`) and pronounced it as quite playable.

In 2004 one test was made of this decree and it was Speelman-Martin, 4NCL, September. This important game was full of fireworks before eventually being drawn. Martin's ...Lf5 was more than a little playable - Black possibly had a slight edge.

But the real point is that the Center Counter can be aggressive and dangerous. Because of international master Martin's preferred 2... Dxd5, the Center Counter also doesn't require a mountain of memorization nor knowledge to learn it and use it.

In 10 chapters you are guided through declined and accepted variations. Transpositional variations from non-CC games such as the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit are not just investigated, they are taken apart.

36 games are annotated in the friendly style that Andrew Martin is known for - his writing makes you want to play the system!

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In 2004 Martin set a world record by playing 321 simultaneous chess games, all at once.
He lives in London with his wife and two daughters. His recent King's Indian Battle Plans for Thinker's Press was an international bestseller.

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A Practical Guide for Black

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