Barry Attack Bibliography

The "Barry Attack" begins 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Be2 followed typically by Ne5 and h4-h5 with a kingside attack. First played this way by Bangledeshi GM Niaz Murshed in London during the 1980s, the line soon became popular among several strong English players, including Mark Hebden and Aaron Summerscale. Like the so-called "150 Attack" against the Pirc (where "150" is the British designation for a class B player), the name is intended tongue-in-cheek. Basically, "Barry" means "rubbish" in British slang but, like the 150 Attack, it has a lot more success than might seem justified.

When I first faced this line against FM Steve Stoyko in the Kenilworth Chess Club championship this past year, I didn't even know that the opening had a name. I had never seen any "book" analysis on it and only prepared for our encounter by looking through a few master games with Fritz. All I knew was that I had seen Stoyko "forcing" opponents to play the Pirc (after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d6) when they had been intending to play the King's Indian Defense. Not being a Pirc player myself, I naturally wanted to try 3...d5 instead. After the game, in which I lost to a startling kingside assault, Steve told me it was called the "Barry Attack" and so I was able to do some research on it. Like Hebden, who didn't start playing the Barry until he lost to it in a game, I have since added it to my White repertoire and have collected all the analysis I can find. If you can add anything to the bibliography below it would be most appreciated.

Barry Attack Bibliography

Fogarasi, Tibor. "Hebden's Favorite!" New in Chess Yearbook 67 (2003): 206-210.
Looks exclusively at what has become the main line since Gallagher's Beating the Anti-King's Indians: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Be2 c5. Now Fogarasi considers 7.Ne5 better than 7.dxc5.

Gallagher, Joe. Beating the Anti-King's Indians (Batsford 1995).
Recommends 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Be2 c5

Goeller, Michael. "Steve Stoyko-Michael Goeller, Kenilworth Chess Club Championship 2005."
Annotates my loss to the Barry Attack, which made me interested in it as White.

Lane, Gary. Ideas Behind Modern Chess Openings: Attacking with White (Batsford 2002).
In a book mostly devoted to the London System with d4 and Bf4, Lane devotes a chapter to the Barry Attack (pp. 136-149) and the 150 Attack against the Pirc (150-159). For those seeking a supplement and an alternative to the Colle-Zukertort in Summerscale's repertoire, this book is a good addition. He does a good job of representing the opening through five GM games and also discusses the origins of the name "Barry Attack," which is British slang for "rubbish attack" meaning something that a lower-rated player might throw at you with little consequence.

Martin, Andrew. "Dodgy Games with Dodgy Names." (Internet Chess, from the Archives).

Considers the Barry and 150 Attacks from the Black perspective and recommends 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5! 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 Bg4! 6.Be2 Bxf3! 7.Bxf3 c6 followed by a speedy ...e5 push.

Krzysztof Panczyk and Jacek Ilczuk. Offbeat King's Indian (Everyman 2004).
Has some coverage of the Barry Attack in a chapter on Bf4 Systems against the KID.

Rogers, Ian. "Queen's Pawn Opening, Murshed's Anti-KID System." New in Chess Yearbook 25 (1992): 151-156.
Attributes to Bangledeshi GM Niaz Murshed the important addition of Ne5 and h4-h5 (in place of the London-esque h3 and Bh2) to the Barry Attack to make a potent weapon. Recommends 6...c5 or an early ...Bg4 with the idea of exchanging with ...Bxf3 and an early ...e5.

Summerscale, Aaron. A Killer Chess Opening Repertoire (Everyman Chess 1998).
The opening chapter of this repertoire book covers the Barry Attack (pp. 7-35) and was important in popularizing the line among club and tournament players. The remainder of the repertoire includes the 150 Attack against the Pirc and the Colle-Zukertort System. This is an excellent overall repertoire for anyone below master level, which is its intended audience. See the review by Alex Baburin at Chess Cafe.

__________. The Barry Attack. Foxy Openings Video 1999.

__________. The Barry Attack at Chess Channel
http://chesschannel.com/cc/listing?L=4,,,&m=69

Van de Mortel, Jan. "Annoying the KID" New in Chess Yearbook 57 (2000): 203-207.
Begins with the encounter Hebden-Gormally, London 2000 where White lost and offers a number of improvements. Most games are sparsely annotated or not at all.

Watson, John L. The Unconventional King's Indian (Hypermodern Press 1997 and Hardinge Simpole Publishing 2004).
In the chapter on Bf4 systems for White, there are four pages (pp. 143-147) of coverage with games from before 1995. If any parts of the book were updated for the 2004 reprint edition, this was not among them.