Saturday, October 11, 2008

Not Much Literature on the BDG?

Now and then I google "Blackmar-Diemer" to see what might turn up. Today I came across a short article from July of this year by Ronan Bennett in The Guardian.
"There's not much literature on the BDG. [my emphasis] John Cox has a short and dismissive chapter in Dealing with d4 Deviations (Everyman Chess), and while Gary Lane's out-of-print Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (Batsford) makes more of an effort to sell the opening, it's hard to escape the conclusion that the BDG is a pretty risky undertaking."
Now since Bennett is an accomplished novelist, ordinary writing probably must meet high standards to make his list as literature. However, there has certainly been much written on the BDG. Here's my incomplete list:
Chess Digest. Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. 1977 edition. Dallas, Texas: Chess Digest Magazine, 1977. Diebert, Charles. The Blackmar-Diebert Gambit. Diemer, Emil Josef. Vom ersten Zug an auf Matt! funfundzwanzig Jahre Erfahrungen mit dem Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit. Amsterdam: Ten Have, 1957. This is the original edition of Diemer's book. Diemer, Emil Josef. Das moderne Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit. Heidelberg: Schachverlag Rudi Schmaus, 1976-1983. This is a reprint of Diemer's Vom Ersten Zug... above. Dommett, Alan. Emil Josef Diemer 1908-1990 A Life Devoted to Chess, The Book Guild, Ltd., 2003. Freidl, Alfred. Das moderne Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit, Band 2. Heidelberg: Schachverlag Rudi Schmaus, 1978. This is a general survey of the BDG, organized in chapters by variation. Freidl, Alfred. Das moderne Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit, Band 4. Heidelberg: Schachverlag Rudi Schmaus, 1983. Covers 5...g6, the Bogoljubov Defense, and 5...e6, the Euwe Defense. Gunderam, Gerhart. Neue Eröffnungswege. Berlin: Siegfried Engelhardt-Verlag, 1961. Gunderam, Gerhart. Neue Eröffnungswege II. Berlin: Siegfried Engelhardt-Verlag, 1972. Gunderam, Gerhart. Supertaktik modernen Gambitspiels. Düsseldorf: Schachverlag Manfred Mädler, 1980. Gunderam, Gerhart. Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Düsseldorf: Edition Mädler im Rau, 1986. Harding, T. D. Colle, London and Blackmar-Diemer Systems. London: B. T. Batsford, 1979. Hergert, Volker. Die O'Kelly-Verteidigung im Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit. Dusseldorf: Schachverlag Manfred Mädler, 1993. Hodgson, Julian GM. Trends in the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. [London]: Trends Publications, 1995. Jensen, Niels Jorgen. Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Copenhagen: Dansk Skakforlag/Skakhuset, 1985. Kunath, Emil. Der Sneiders-Angriff im Lemberger Gegenangriff. Ludwigshafen: Volker Drüke, 1986. Lane, Gary, IM. The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Batsford chess library. New York: H. Holt, 1995. Pape, Rasmus; Jensen, N. J.; Burk, Dietrich. Hübsch Gambit. Copenhagen: Eleprint, 1991. Purser, Tom. Blackmar Diemer Gambit Correspondence Tournament. Warner Robins, Georgia: Blackmar Press, 1991. Purser, Tom. The Langeheinecke Defense to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Warner Robins, Georgia: Blackmar Press, 1991. Purser, Tom and Tejler, Anders. Blackmar, Diemer & Gedult. Headland, Alabama: Blackmar Press, 1991. Sawyer, Tim. The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Keybook. Davenport, Iowa: Thinkers' Press, 1992. Sawyer, Tim. The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: Keybook II. Wylie, Texas: Pickard & Son, 1999. Schiller, Eric. Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Coraopolis, Pennsylvania: Chess Enterprises, 1986. Schiller, Eric. Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: Bogoljubow Variation 5-- g6. Moon Township, Pennsylvania: Chess Enterprises, 1995. Schiller, Eric, and Crayton, John. The Ryder Gambit Accepted. Moon Township, Pennsylvania: Chess Enterprises, 1995. Sénéchaud, Dany. Emil Joseph Diemer: missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques. Poitiers, France, 1997. Smith, Ken. Winning with the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Dallas, Texas: Chess Digest, 1993. Stevens, Arthur M. A statistical analysis in chart form of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: (1. P-Q4, P-Q4, 2. P-K4, PxP, 3. N-QB3) based on 490 tournament games by the world's greatest players. San Diego, California: Chess Charts, 1964. Studier, Georg. Das moderne Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit, Band 3. Heidelberg: Schachverlag Rudi Schmaus, 1980. Probably the most objective of the Schmaus series, this volume covers 5...Bf5, the Tartakower/Gunderam Defense. Studier, Georg. Emil Joseph Diemer: Ein Leben für das Schach im Spiegel seiner Zeit. Dresden: Schachverlag Manfred Mädler, 1996. A brutally frank biography of Diemer by a good friend. Tejler, Anders. Discover the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Dallas, Tex.: Chess Digest, 1970-73 (4 pamphlets). Tejler, Anders. The Euwe Defense: Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Coraopolis, Pennsylvania.: Chess Enterprises, 1979. Tejler, Anders. Euwe Defense: Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Moon Township, Pennsylvania.: Chess Enterprises, 1995. Wall, Bill. 500 Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Miniatures. Moon Township, Pennsylvania.: Chess Enterprises, 1999.
In this list I don't even include many works, such as "Dealing with d4 Deviations" mentioned by Bennett and other such "system" or repertoire books which devote chapters or sections to the BDG. Nor do I mention numerous periodicals such as Diemer's original Blackmar Gemeinde, Kampars' Opening Adventures, Drüke's BDG Revue, or my own BDG World. I will agree with Bennett on one point. The BDG is a pretty risky undertaking.