Chess in the Greater Manchester area
Book Reviews page 3
Eine Reise über das Schachbrett
Kombinations-Lehrbuch
By Klaus Trautmann
Schachverlag Kania, April 2003
ISBN: 3931192067
If you have a reasonable understanding of German, say at about O or A level, then you’re likely to enjoy Klaus Trautmann’s book a lot. You can certainly follow the book and get a lot out of it without knowing the language especially well (for example,you can analyse the positions quite easily because the diagrams indicate whether White or Black is to move), but to get the full benefit a good knowledge of German is necessary.
It is a book on tactics and combinations that is entertaining and instructive, and a wee bit different than most. Every one of its 18 main sections (they are not really chapters) have been divided into smaller sections, so that there are some 128 subsections in total. So you’ll have a section on combinations occurring in positions where some kind of material imbalance exists, for
Kombinations-
Schachverlag Kania, April 2003
ISBN: 3931192067
If you have a reasonable understanding of German, say at about O or A level, then you’re likely to enjoy Klaus Trautmann’s book a lot. You can certainly follow the book and get a lot out of it without knowing the language especially well (for example,you can analyse the positions quite easily because the diagrams indicate whether White or Black is to move), but to get the full benefit a good knowledge of German is necessary.
It is a book on tactics and combinations that is entertaining and instructive, and a wee bit different than most. Every one of its 18 main sections (they are not really chapters) have been divided into smaller sections, so that there are some 128 subsections in total. So you’ll have a section on combinations occurring in positions where some kind of material imbalance exists, for
example, and within that subsections where a queen battles against two rooks or where one side has the advantage of the exchange. Some themes and topics covered in other sections include various types of mating combinations, ‘the move’ (where specific subsection topics include zugzwang, the zwischenzug and ‘winning a tempo’, etc.) and ‘forcing a draw’ (e.g. through stalemate, perpetual check or positional means such as setting up a fortress).
In each subsection you’re given one position, or on the odd occasion two, showing a typical tactic; and then there are five positions for you to work out on your own. Most of the exercises are both beautiful and difficult; all will reward the effort invested in attempting to solve them. At the end of the book you’ll find comprehensive solutions to all the exercises, with explanations as and when necessary.
What is especially noteworthy about Klaus Trautmann’s book is his entertaining prose, his eye for positions that possess both beauty and instructive value (and many of
In each subsection you’re given one position, or on the odd occasion two, showing a typical tactic; and then there are five positions for you to work out on your own. Most of the exercises are both beautiful and difficult; all will reward the effort invested in attempting to solve them. At the end of the book you’ll find comprehensive solutions to all the exercises, with explanations as and when necessary.
What is especially noteworthy about Klaus Trautmann’s book is his entertaining prose, his eye for positions that possess both beauty and instructive value (and many of
which were new to me) and the interesting and innovative way in which he has organised his material.
This is an excellent, enjoyable book on chess tactics that is in a class above most others.
This is an excellent, enjoyable book on chess tactics that is in a class above most others.
Calculate like a Grandmaster
Learn from the World-class Attacking Players
By Danny Gormally
Batsford, 2010
ISBN: 9781906388690
Xysts within the grounds of a palatial estate, that would be an apt metaphor for Danny Gormally’s deep and detailed annotations to some 39 thrilling attacking games.
Such a feast of spectacular chess is not only enjoyable in itself. As Gormally explains, studying games like these is an effective way of developing the two key skills of analysis: accurate calculation and evaluation.
For the first two chapters, Gormally concentrates on some eight games of Mikhail Tal. Eleven pages are given over to the first game, eight pages to the 8th and last game, just to give you a sense of how detailed and lengthy Gormally’s notes are. Up later there
Learn from the World-
By Danny Gormally
Batsford, 2010
ISBN: 9781906388690
Xysts within the grounds of a palatial estate, that would be an apt metaphor for Danny Gormally’s deep and detailed annotations to some 39 thrilling attacking games.
Such a feast of spectacular chess is not only enjoyable in itself. As Gormally explains, studying games like these is an effective way of developing the two key skills of analysis: accurate calculation and evaluation.
For the first two chapters, Gormally concentrates on some eight games of Mikhail Tal. Eleven pages are given over to the first game, eight pages to the 8th and last game, just to give you a sense of how detailed and lengthy Gormally’s notes are. Up later there
are chapters devoted to some four current players, all of whom could be said to have picked up Tal’s baton and run with it: Shirov, Topalov, Morozevich and Anand. His next chapter is a bit sketchy: one game each by Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov, two games by Carlsen – a bit of a mixed bag, in truth. Yet the quality of the annotations makes up for it all. The last chapter has five of Gormally’s own attacking games, showing that he can also walk the walk.
It is an entertaining read, not least for Gormally’s digressions on various topics: an ICC addict’s typical day, the strength of computers, the conditions and prize money on offer at your usual weekend congress and psychology. And a few other topics an’ all.
Zeal is a precious quality, as rarely seen as an Aardvark or an intact £5 note, and Gormally’s zeal for chess shines through in this terrific book.
It is an entertaining read, not least for Gormally’s digressions on various topics: an ICC addict’s typical day, the strength of computers, the conditions and prize money on offer at your usual weekend congress and psychology. And a few other topics an’ all.
Zeal is a precious quality, as rarely seen as an Aardvark or an intact £5 note, and Gormally’s zeal for chess shines through in this terrific book.
Improve Your Chess Tactics
700 Practical Lessons & Exercises
By Yakov Neishtadt
New In Chess, 2011,
ISBN: 9789056913342
Neishtadt’s book is a good solid effort. He describes it as aiming to be both a self-tutor and a sparring partner; it inspires and delights too.
An introductory chapter discusses the mercurial nature of combinations, gives some examples and attempts a definition (and of the related concepts of combinative motif and theme); a clear presentation which, however, owes a debt (unacknowledged) to Botvinnik and Bondarevsky.
There follows a huge section where Neishtadt looks at various combinative themes, both singly and in (the word, alas, is
700 Practical Lessons & Exercises
By Yakov Neishtadt
New In Chess, 2011,
ISBN: 9789056913342
Neishtadt’s book is a good solid effort. He describes it as aiming to be both a self-
An introductory chapter discusses the mercurial nature of combinations, gives some examples and attempts a definition (and of the related concepts of combinative motif and theme); a clear presentation which, however, owes a debt (unacknowledged) to Botvinnik and Bondarevsky.
There follows a huge section where Neishtadt looks at various combinative themes, both singly and in (the word, alas, is
unavoidable) combination. All the usual suspects are here: deflection, pinning, clearing squares and lines… Generally, he introduces and explains each theme by way of a fair few positions, then provides a goodly number of exercises to end.
The next section, ‘Examination’, consists of 356 (!) test positions. Here, any combinative theme may be present and the positions may be very easy or very difficult, just as in an actual game. That the ‘Solutions’ section, containing very full and detailed comments, is also of substantial length almost goes without saying. I wouldn’t advise that you attempt this exam at one sitting.
Improve Your Chess Tactics will undoubtedly do what it says on the cover. But readers of Neishtadt’s other books on tactics and sacrifices (he has written a fair number along these lines before) may well be familiar with
The next section, ‘Examination’, consists of 356 (!) test positions. Here, any combinative theme may be present and the positions may be very easy or very difficult, just as in an actual game. That the ‘Solutions’ section, containing very full and detailed comments, is also of substantial length almost goes without saying. I wouldn’t advise that you attempt this exam at one sitting.
Improve Your Chess Tactics will undoubtedly do what it says on the cover. But readers of Neishtadt’s other books on tactics and sacrifices (he has written a fair number along these lines before) may well be familiar with
many of the positions. Overall, an altogether excellent book that it is difficult to fault.
Attacking Chess: The French: A dynamic repertoire for Black
By Simon Williams
Everyman Chess, 2011
ISBN: 9781857446463
The French Defence has a reputation as a solid and, let’s be frank, somewhat stodgy opening but in this book Simon Williams shows that it ain’t necessarily so. His view is that you can play the French in an aggressive, attacking manner and he puts forward a repertoire to allow you to do just that. You cannot always get the position of your dreams, of course, and sometimes it’s best to settle for a sound, solid position. But that’s true of any opening.
Most of the book is taken up with the Winawer Variation, 3…Bb4 being Williams’ recommendation against 3.Nc3, and Tarrasch’s move 3.Nd2, against which Williams plumbs for 3…Nf6: this eats up 7 of the 11 chapters. A chapter is given over to each of the Advance Variation (3.e5), the Exchange Variation (3.exd5) and the King’s Indian Attack (2.d3), leaving a final chapter as a hold-all for various minor lines like 2.b3
By Simon Williams
Everyman Chess, 2011
ISBN: 9781857446463
The French Defence has a reputation as a solid and, let’s be frank, somewhat stodgy opening but in this book Simon Williams shows that it ain’t necessarily so. His view is that you can play the French in an aggressive, attacking manner and he puts forward a repertoire to allow you to do just that. You cannot always get the position of your dreams, of course, and sometimes it’s best to settle for a sound, solid position. But that’s true of any opening.
Most of the book is taken up with the Winawer Variation, 3…Bb4 being Williams’ recommendation against 3.Nc3, and Tarrasch’s move 3.Nd2, against which Williams plumbs for 3…Nf6: this eats up 7 of the 11 chapters. A chapter is given over to each of the Advance Variation (3.e5), the Exchange Variation (3.exd5) and the King’s Indian Attack (2.d3), leaving a final chapter as a hold-
and 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3. Yet Chigorin’s 2.Qe2 is nowhere to be seen. A curious omission.
What Williams demonstrates is that repertoire books like this need not spoon-feed the reader; and in this respect chapter 6, covering the main line Winawer with 7.Qg4, is extremely impressive indeed. There, the author examines the line 7…Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 dxc3 12.Qd3 Nf5 (12…Bd7 is the ‘common as a shop cake’ move), which is all very cutting edge, up in the air and on the edge of your seatish. Up there also, as being of the same high quality, are chapters 8 and 9, dealing with two current lines in the Tarrasch. As a writer, Williams’ style is engaging and accessible, conversational even, but there’s some real theoretical substance to these three chapters in particular. Heavy duty theory dressed in a light style.
Just the one small subtext was discernible: Williams seems to be employing Nick Pert as a test pilot for many of his opening ideas (see for example pages 172, 176, 266). It looks like a dangerous job (fun, though), so
What Williams demonstrates is that repertoire books like this need not spoon-
Just the one small subtext was discernible: Williams seems to be employing Nick Pert as a test pilot for many of his opening ideas (see for example pages 172, 176, 266). It looks like a dangerous job (fun, though), so
let’s hope he’s paying him enough...
If you are looking for a new defence to 1.e4, or if you play the French anyway but would like to replenish your understanding of the opening with some new aggressive ideas, then Simon Williams’ book can be wholeheartedly recommended.
If you are looking for a new defence to 1.e4, or if you play the French anyway but would like to replenish your understanding of the opening with some new aggressive ideas, then Simon Williams’ book can be wholeheartedly recommended.
Capablanca
A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Cuban Chess Genius Jose Raul Capablanca, 1888-1942
By Edward Winter
McFarland, 2011
ISBN: 9780786466344
Edward Winter states in his preface that this book ‘is less a biography than a compilation of documents and data’; nonetheless one can glean from it a vivid picture of the great champion’s life and chess career.
In the first chapter Winter gives in full Capablanca’s article, ‘How I Learned to Play Chess’, wherein he describes how he beat his father in his very first game of chess. He was then just 4 years of age. Further articles by Capablanca and others are quoted later in the same chapter and indeed throughout the book. There are also interviews conducted at various crucial points in Capablanca’s life, and transcripts of his broadcasts and lectures. Several games are included, many with annotations by Capablanca himself, and there’s a generous helping of rare photographs. Included also is the chess column where Capablanca introduced the now famous game Ortueta-Sanz to a waiting world.
A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Cuban Chess Genius Jose Raul Capablanca, 1888-
McFarland, 2011
ISBN: 9780786466344
Edward Winter states in his preface that this book ‘is less a biography than a compilation of documents and data’; nonetheless one can glean from it a vivid picture of the great champion’s life and chess career.
In the first chapter Winter gives in full Capablanca’s article, ‘How I Learned to Play Chess’, wherein he describes how he beat his father in his very first game of chess. He was then just 4 years of age. Further articles by Capablanca and others are quoted later in the same chapter and indeed throughout the book. There are also interviews conducted at various crucial points in Capablanca’s life, and transcripts of his broadcasts and lectures. Several games are included, many with annotations by Capablanca himself, and there’s a generous helping of rare photographs. Included also is the chess column where Capablanca introduced the now famous game Ortueta-
Winter provides a linking narrative, but he does more than that, especially in his discussion of the negotiations for various world championship matches. Capablanca negotiated with Lasker and Alekhine as challenger (after he lost the championship in 1927) and as champion he received challenges from Rubinstein, Alekhine and Nimzowitsch. The protracted and ultimately unsuccessful exchanges for a rematch with Alekhine take up a fair amount of the book.
One small detail as an indication of the character of Capablanca: when he sends a letter of challenge to Alekhine via a friend, it is unsealed, out of courtesy. It is a signal of respect and regard to his friend; he naturally trusts him not to read the letter. On the whole, Capablanca comes across as a person of impeccable manners. He was a great champion and also - considering his many simultaneous displays, his writing for newspapers and chess magazines, his broadcasts and lectures - a great populariser of the game. A perfect ambassador for chess.
We follow his chess career from prodigy to young pretender to world champion; and even though the loss to Alekhine took the wind out of his sails for a bit, renewal and revitalisation followed soon after. He continued to show his calibre at Carlsbad
One small detail as an indication of the character of Capablanca: when he sends a letter of challenge to Alekhine via a friend, it is unsealed, out of courtesy. It is a signal of respect and regard to his friend; he naturally trusts him not to read the letter. On the whole, Capablanca comes across as a person of impeccable manners. He was a great champion and also -
We follow his chess career from prodigy to young pretender to world champion; and even though the loss to Alekhine took the wind out of his sails for a bit, renewal and revitalisation followed soon after. He continued to show his calibre at Carlsbad
1929, Moscow 1936, Nottingham 1936 and elsewhere.
He was an admirable man and, though he died at the relatively early age of 53, his life was by no means a tragic one. Purdy’s summation seems fair: ‘Let us rejoice that here was one genius who was fully appreciated in his lifetime.’
No admirer of Capablanca should be without this book.
He was an admirable man and, though he died at the relatively early age of 53, his life was by no means a tragic one. Purdy’s summation seems fair: ‘Let us rejoice that here was one genius who was fully appreciated in his lifetime.’
No admirer of Capablanca should be without this book.
Opening for White According to Kramnik: 1.Nf3: Volume 3, 2nd edition
By Alexander Khalifman
Chess Stars, 2011
ISBN: 9789548782821
This is the third volume in an ongoing series. What these volumes attempt to do is to present an opening repertoire that is consistent with Kramnik’s positional style of play. All the lines are ones that Kramnik actually plays, or could well play; according, that is, to Khalifman’s conception of Kramnik’s approach to chess.
On 1.Nf3 c5, Kramnik usually goes 2.c4 and so the Symmetrical English is the subject of the present volume. Part 1 is devoted to the Four Knights’ Variation (1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3), including the line 4…d5 5.d4. Fans and followers of Kramnik’s career will know that this is very much one of his specialties; he has contributed greatly to the theory of the line over the years. The second part of the book looks at lines where Black avoids or considerably delays playing …Nf6. Perhaps he plays 2…Nc6 3.Nc3 Nd4 or plays 3…e5 and eventually develops the king’s knight to …e7, achieving a kind of Botvinnik set-up.
By Alexander Khalifman
Chess Stars, 2011
ISBN: 9789548782821
This is the third volume in an ongoing series. What these volumes attempt to do is to present an opening repertoire that is consistent with Kramnik’s positional style of play. All the lines are ones that Kramnik actually plays, or could well play; according, that is, to Khalifman’s conception of Kramnik’s approach to chess.
On 1.Nf3 c5, Kramnik usually goes 2.c4 and so the Symmetrical English is the subject of the present volume. Part 1 is devoted to the Four Knights’ Variation (1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3), including the line 4…d5 5.d4. Fans and followers of Kramnik’s career will know that this is very much one of his specialties; he has contributed greatly to the theory of the line over the years. The second part of the book looks at lines where Black avoids or considerably delays playing …Nf6. Perhaps he plays 2…Nc6 3.Nc3 Nd4 or plays 3…e5 and eventually develops the king’s knight to …e7, achieving a kind of Botvinnik set-
Throughout, Khalifman’s recommendations reflect the state of current theory rather than being simply a revision of the first edition of the book. He suggests many improvements and presents a lot of original analysis. His suggested improvements are often unpretentious, at least at first glance, but they invariably impress. One surprise recommendation is a little-
Most of the book is concerned with the detail of this or that specific move or variation, but the conclusions at the end of each chapter give a useful executive summary, tying together what’s been demonstrated and setting out some guidelines as to how to treat the positions and variations that have arisen. For Khalifman, it seems that opening theory is akin to working on foreign policy. It’s all a matter of quelling crises, trouble-
faced with the quandary of mending his boat while at sea.
This is an excellent opening book, rigorous and exhaustively detailed in its analysis. If you have a positional style, play flank openings and are serious about your chess, then it is pretty much an essential resource. You probably won’t be able to play as well as Kramnik just from reading it, mind.
This is an excellent opening book, rigorous and exhaustively detailed in its analysis. If you have a positional style, play flank openings and are serious about your chess, then it is pretty much an essential resource. You probably won’t be able to play as well as Kramnik just from reading it, mind.
Invisible Chess Moves: Discover Your Blind Spots and Stop Overlooking Simple Wins
By Emmanuel Neiman and Yochanan Afek
New in Chess, 2011
ISBN: 9789056913687
Why are certain chess moves difficult to see? That is the question the two authors address in this book, and they come up with some fascinating answers.
Take, for instance, the case of ‘backward moves’. One answer that Neiman and Afek come up with is that we (all chessplayers, grandmasters included) have a bias in favour of forward moves. At the beginning of the game, we develop our pieces towards the centre – the pieces move forward, pretty much. Most of us like to attack and know (having read Steinitz and others) that we must do so to press home an advantage - and again this generally involves moving the pieces forward. The upshot is that we generally carry a heuristic around in our heads, along the lines of ‘forward moves =good, therefore backward moves= bad’. Backward and even horizontal moves are rejected, perhaps even on a subconscious level. They are literally invisible, never actually reaching consciousness. If such moves do suggest themselves, we may dismiss them out of hand because they lose
By Emmanuel Neiman and Yochanan Afek
New in Chess, 2011
ISBN: 9789056913687
Why are certain chess moves difficult to see? That is the question the two authors address in this book, and they come up with some fascinating answers.
Take, for instance, the case of ‘backward moves’. One answer that Neiman and Afek come up with is that we (all chessplayers, grandmasters included) have a bias in favour of forward moves. At the beginning of the game, we develop our pieces towards the centre – the pieces move forward, pretty much. Most of us like to attack and know (having read Steinitz and others) that we must do so to press home an advantage -
a tempo, contravene established principles, or involve retreat and an admission of error.
There may even be a deeper reason why backward moves are so often missed, to do with our basic biology. As human beings, we are made in such a way that we walk forward and look ahead, so our orientation is always focused on what is in front of us. We don’t have eyes in the back of our head!
Of course some moves may embody a profound strategic idea or they might require deep or intricate calculation to make them work. These are not really the kinds of moves that are discussed in the book. We are talking here instead about moves whose efficacy can be easily demonstrated but which are just as easily missed, sometimes by both players.
Naturally, there are many reasons why moves are missed. Some of the psychological factors touched upon by Neiman and Afek relate to the competitive situation (e.g. when your opponent is a stronger player you don’t expect her or him to make a blunder, so when it happens you miss it) and even the nature of human cognition itself. Strategic principles guide and aid decision-making but they can also blinker and blind if we take them to be imperatives that are universal and true.
There may even be a deeper reason why backward moves are so often missed, to do with our basic biology. As human beings, we are made in such a way that we walk forward and look ahead, so our orientation is always focused on what is in front of us. We don’t have eyes in the back of our head!
Of course some moves may embody a profound strategic idea or they might require deep or intricate calculation to make them work. These are not really the kinds of moves that are discussed in the book. We are talking here instead about moves whose efficacy can be easily demonstrated but which are just as easily missed, sometimes by both players.
Naturally, there are many reasons why moves are missed. Some of the psychological factors touched upon by Neiman and Afek relate to the competitive situation (e.g. when your opponent is a stronger player you don’t expect her or him to make a blunder, so when it happens you miss it) and even the nature of human cognition itself. Strategic principles guide and aid decision-
There is plenty of interesting chess in the book, including 53 test positions for the reader to solve, with very full and detailed solutions. Perhaps, however, it could have been improved by relating its findings to some mainstream studies in the psychology of reasoning and decision-
Nonetheless, this is a thought-
A. Alekhine
Agony of a Chess Genius
By Pablo Moran
Edited and Translated by Frank X. Mur
McFarland, 2010
ISBN: 9780786459810
This is a recent reissue of a book that first came out in 1989. It mainly covers the latter part of Alekhine’s life and career, when he’d fled from Nazi Germany to settle in Spain and then later Portugal. Alekhine made a rather gnomic remark about chess during this period (which lasted for about three years, from 1943 to 1946). He said that chess had been a minor factor in his life. And he then went on to say: ‘It gave me the opportunity to further an ambition and at the same time convinced me of the futility of the ambition.’ What this particular ambition was, he doesn’t say; perhaps it was to become and remain the best chess player in the world.
Separate chapters examine the accusations of anti-Semitism and Nazi affiliation. Another chapter, ‘Exhibitions under the Influence’,
Agony of a Chess Genius
By Pablo Moran
Edited and Translated by Frank X. Mur
McFarland, 2010
ISBN: 9780786459810
This is a recent reissue of a book that first came out in 1989. It mainly covers the latter part of Alekhine’s life and career, when he’d fled from Nazi Germany to settle in Spain and then later Portugal. Alekhine made a rather gnomic remark about chess during this period (which lasted for about three years, from 1943 to 1946). He said that chess had been a minor factor in his life. And he then went on to say: ‘It gave me the opportunity to further an ambition and at the same time convinced me of the futility of the ambition.’ What this particular ambition was, he doesn’t say; perhaps it was to become and remain the best chess player in the world.
Separate chapters examine the accusations of anti-
looks at Alekhine’s well-known predilection for alcohol and includes some games played when the world champion was a little the worse for wear. You don’t know whether to laugh or to cry when you read this chapter. Probably you do a little or a lot of both. Alekhine was an unhappy man, a ruin, during this time and had begun to use alcohol as a form of self-medication.
As for the chess, there are flashes a-plenty of Alekhine’s genius but these are interleaved with errors and oversights – hence the ‘agony of a chess genius’ – his powers were clearly on the wane. There are 148 games and 12 positions in total and some attention is also given to the games he had previously played in Spain, a country he first visited in 1922 for exhibition games, simultaneous displays and the like.
One curious inclusion is the game Medina-Rico, Bilbao 1945. This was the game that Alekhine was playing through and analysing when the Angel of Death came a-knocking at his door on the night of 23 March 1946. A macabre touch which some may be able to
As for the chess, there are flashes a-
One curious inclusion is the game Medina-
appreciate. But, some would say, quite characteristic of Spain, the land of the duende.
You should look elsewhere for the best of Alekhine’s chess. However, for myriad insights into the man, this is a fascinating and unusual book.
You should look elsewhere for the best of Alekhine’s chess. However, for myriad insights into the man, this is a fascinating and unusual book.
Wojo's Weapons: Winning With White, Volume 2
By Jonathan Hilton and Dean Ippolito
Mongoose Press, 2011
ISBN: 9781936277230
A second volume looking at the opening repertoire of the late Aleksander Wojtkiewicz, focusing this time on the Fianchetto Variation of the King’s Indian Defence.
The starting position for this volume arises after the moves 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d4 d6 6.0-0 and the theoretical material is presented through a series of deeply annotated games. While the authors praise Wojtkiewicz’s play when it is warranted, an uncritical adoration is blessedly absent, as (for example) their notes to Wojtkiewicz-Kretchetov attest.
Wojtkiewicz’s style could be described as positional veering towards technical and
By Jonathan Hilton and Dean Ippolito
Mongoose Press, 2011
ISBN: 9781936277230
A second volume looking at the opening repertoire of the late Aleksander Wojtkiewicz, focusing this time on the Fianchetto Variation of the King’s Indian Defence.
The starting position for this volume arises after the moves 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-
that’s the nature of the lines they recommend. His pet line against the Yugoslav (6...c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Ne5!?) is examined in detail in chapter 10. He would also meet the mainline (6...Nc6 7.Nc3 e5 8.d5 Ne7) in quite an interesting way, with the direct advance 9.c5!? - a move that is the subject of chapter 6 (there are a densely packed 32 pages here). If this is not to your taste, the more usual move – 9.e4 – is covered in the chapter following.
There is comprehensive coverage of Black’s various options throughout and the authors provide helpful pointers and useful advice as to how to meet them. Along, that is, with the kind of detailed theoretical analysis you’d expect from having read Volume 1.
If you’ve ‘come out’ as a slightly boring positional player – and it is really nothing to be ashamed of – and you play 1.Nf3 or 1.d4, then this may be the book for you. It is a
If you’ve ‘come out’ as a slightly boring positional player – and it is really nothing to be ashamed of – and you play 1.Nf3 or 1.d4, then this may be the book for you. It is a
thorough, workmanlike manual on how to meet the King’s Indian.
1.d4 – Beat the Guerrillas!
A Powerful Repertoire Against Annoying Black Sidelines
By Valeri Bronznik
New in Chess, 2011
ISBN: 9789056913731
The Dutch publisher has brought out a revised and updated English edition of Bronznik’s 1.d4 - Ratgeber gegen Unorthodoxe Verteidigungen , a book that has previously been reviewed on this site. Everything that was said about the book a few months back holds true still. Since the book is now in
A Powerful Repertoire Against Annoying Black Sidelines
By Valeri Bronznik
New in Chess, 2011
ISBN: 9789056913731
The Dutch publisher has brought out a revised and updated English edition of Bronznik’s 1.d4 -
English, it will of course be accessible to many more chess players.
Bronznik’s analyses and evaluations remain the outstanding feature of the book. Ian Adams’ translation is clear, perspicacious and fine overall. There are no complaints at all on that score.
And readers of the original review will be relieved to learn that the apostrophe alluded to therein has now been put its proper place: Black Knights’ Tango. Thank you, Ian Adams!
Bronznik has written an excellent book.
Bronznik’s analyses and evaluations remain the outstanding feature of the book. Ian Adams’ translation is clear, perspicacious and fine overall. There are no complaints at all on that score.
And readers of the original review will be relieved to learn that the apostrophe alluded to therein has now been put its proper place: Black Knights’ Tango. Thank you, Ian Adams!
Bronznik has written an excellent book.
Schlechter's Chess Games
By Tom Crain
Caissa Editions, 1998
ISBN: 9780939433537
Carl Schlechter was one of the strongest players of his era, which lasted for close to a quarter of a century, from about 1893 to 1918. He won prizes in virtually every tournament he entered, he drew matches with Lasker (in 1910) and Tarrasch (in 1911), and overall he was an elegant player with a classy positional style. You could well argue that he served as a bridge between Steinitz and the likes of Rubinstein and Capablanca. Yet he never quite made it to the very top. Once, when speaking of his closest rivals, Lasker gave this brutal appraisal: ‘Schlechter has only the ability - nothing more... [He] has so little of the devil about him that he could not be wooed to take anything coveted by somebody else.’
In a wide-ranging, interesting introduction Tom Crain attributes Schlechter’s easygoing nature - in time he got the moniker of ‘Remis Koenig’ or ‘Draw King’ - to the milieu of fin de siècle Vienna. Schlechter’s aim, according to Crain, was to perfect chess technique: to find the best plan, to make the most precise move at every turn. It
By Tom Crain
Caissa Editions, 1998
ISBN: 9780939433537
Carl Schlechter was one of the strongest players of his era, which lasted for close to a quarter of a century, from about 1893 to 1918. He won prizes in virtually every tournament he entered, he drew matches with Lasker (in 1910) and Tarrasch (in 1911), and overall he was an elegant player with a classy positional style. You could well argue that he served as a bridge between Steinitz and the likes of Rubinstein and Capablanca. Yet he never quite made it to the very top. Once, when speaking of his closest rivals, Lasker gave this brutal appraisal: ‘Schlechter has only the ability -
was a quasi-scientific enterprise which often had artistic effects, but the sporting result was of only secondary importance. Consequently, many of Schlechter’s games present the appearance of being curiously incomplete. He would often agree a draw in a position where he had an advantage and, moreover, an advantage that he’d worked hard to attain. Of course, there are many beautiful games here as well; what Reti said of Schlechter in Modern Ideas in Chess holds true: he was an unpretentious artist.
This book contains pretty much all of Schlechter’s available games – about eight hundred in number - arranged chronologically by tournament and match; and there is also a section devoted to miscellaneous games: exhibition games, games played at odds, etc. Just the bare score of the game is given; there are no, or to be precise, very few annotations. A diagram is present only when the initial moves of a game are unknown, which is to say when the game commences from the diagram. There are several statistics relating to Schlechter’s career and a few photos. To be frank it is rather a dry, colourless book and certainly not for everyone. You probably need to have a definite interest in Schlechter as a player,
This book contains pretty much all of Schlechter’s available games – about eight hundred in number -
and in chess history in general, to get the most out of it.
One discovery I made was that Schlechter played the Nimzowitsch Defence with …e5 (1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5) twice at Monte Carlo 1901, versus Winawer and Mieses: a curious opening for him to play.
Overall, this book added to and served as a significant contribution to my understanding and appreciation of Schlechter's play.
One discovery I made was that Schlechter played the Nimzowitsch Defence with …e5 (1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5) twice at Monte Carlo 1901, versus Winawer and Mieses: a curious opening for him to play.
Overall, this book added to and served as a significant contribution to my understanding and appreciation of Schlechter's play.
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Fighting the French: A New Concept
By Denis Yevseev
Chess Stars, 2011
ISBN: 9789548782838
Let’s straight away cut to the chase. The ‘new concept’ is that White can play the Tarrasch Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2) with the aim of reaching an isolated queen’s pawn (IQP) position. So there might plausibly follow: 3...c5 4.c3 (4.exd5 is usual) cxd4 5.cxd4 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nf3 b6 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Re1, etc. Or you could see a sequence going something like this: 3...Nf6 4.Bd3 (refraining from the usual 4.e5) c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Ngf3 cxd4 7.cxd4 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 0-0 10.0-0, etc. Such IQP positions, which more often arise from the Nimzo-Indian, the Queen’s Gambit, the Panov Caro-Kann or even the 2.c3 Sicilian, may objectively give White only a slight edge. But White, if well prepared, can count on having the upper hand psychologically, because the average French Defence advocate will be unlikely to relish
By Denis Yevseev
Chess Stars, 2011
ISBN: 9789548782838
Let’s straight away cut to the chase. The ‘new concept’ is that White can play the Tarrasch Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2) with the aim of reaching an isolated queen’s pawn (IQP) position. So there might plausibly follow: 3...c5 4.c3 (4.exd5 is usual) cxd4 5.cxd4 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bd3 0-
playing such relatively open positions. Not a bit of it; closed positions with interlocking pawn chains would be more his cup of tea.
The book provides a complete repertoire for White against the French Defence, taking in the Rubinstein (3...dxe4) as well as those Tarrasch lines where the first player really must go e4-e5 if he is to have any hope of an advantage. For example, after 3...Nc6 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 is the best move, since playing according to program with 5.Bd3 runs into 5...Nb4=. Denis Yevseev demonstrates, through sometimes detailed and original analysis, that an IQP structure can be obtained from the French Defence. Surprising, really: you wouldn’t necessarily think that it could. A number of James Plaskett’s games are included in the book; he used to meet the French Defence in the manner advocated by Yevseev, and even defeated Short with it on one occasion. (So it can’t really be very new, you might say.)
This is a solid opening book. Naturally, it will be of primary interest if you play 1.e4 or meet that move with the French. But I’d
The book provides a complete repertoire for White against the French Defence, taking in the Rubinstein (3...dxe4) as well as those Tarrasch lines where the first player really must go e4-
recommend the book especially to players who want to study and explore positions with IQP structures; in particular playing with the isolani, handling it as an attacker. Yevseev shows you how to reach this type of position against the French.
Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland , 1824-1987
By Tim Harding
McFarland, 2011
ISBN: 9780786445530
Tim Harding’s book is an erudite, very well written work of social history; and there are plenty of annotated chess games as well.
Correspondence chess is (or was: curiously, Harding writes of it having ‘ended in the latter part of the twentieth century’) a worldwide intellectual sport, but it has always been played by amateurs. Harding traces the history of this form of the game, beginning with the 1824-1828 match between the Edinburgh and London chess clubs (the Scottish capital emerged victorious) and ending with the Ninth Correspondence Chess Olympiad that took place between1982-1987. Here Great Britain won the gold medals and the Ragozin Cup, knocking the then Soviet Union off its perch.
Nowadays, correspondence chess is normally played by email or via the internet (the reason, perhaps, why Harding speaks of it in the past tense), but in 1824 the moves were sent from London to Edinburgh and back by stagecoach, in an envelope sealed with wax. At the Ninth Olympiad Great Britain had a team of six players, each one competing as an individual, whereas in 1824 the games were played by consultation; an appointed
McFarland, 2011
ISBN: 9780786445530
Tim Harding’s book is an erudite, very well written work of social history; and there are plenty of annotated chess games as well.
Correspondence chess is (or was: curiously, Harding writes of it having ‘ended in the latter part of the twentieth century’) a worldwide intellectual sport, but it has always been played by amateurs. Harding traces the history of this form of the game, beginning with the 1824-
committee would choose the moves, though greater attention would no doubt be paid to the voices of certain players.
What is fascinating about the book is that it lets you see how correspondence chess developed in response to social and technological change. Most private matches between individuals, common from about 1840 on, were organised via chess columns; and Victorian periodicals that ran chess columns, as many did, took a lead in organising the first postal tournaments. Women would often take up the correspondence form of the game, since visiting a chess club might seem improper. Once the author R.D. Blackmore, a keen correspondence player, wanted to name a rose after an opponent’s wife but she refused. One wonders, having read When Passion Reigned, what the import of Blackmore’s offer was and what the lady said No to. Or perhaps an offer to name a rose after someone is an offer to name a rose after someone is an offer to name a rose after someone. Anyway, such everyday detail about Victorian behaviour and etiquette I found wonderful, as well as some other asides in the book. For example, two ships’ officers would sometimes play chess when at sea, signaling from a distance. Also, soldiers in Australia were banned from playing correspondence chess during World War Two, ‘because the code used might contain information valuable to the enemy.’
What is fascinating about the book is that it lets you see how correspondence chess developed in response to social and technological change. Most private matches between individuals, common from about 1840 on, were organised via chess columns; and Victorian periodicals that ran chess columns, as many did, took a lead in organising the first postal tournaments. Women would often take up the correspondence form of the game, since visiting a chess club might seem improper. Once the author R.D. Blackmore, a keen correspondence player, wanted to name a rose after an opponent’s wife but she refused. One wonders, having read When Passion Reigned, what the import of Blackmore’s offer was and what the lady said No to. Or perhaps an offer to name a rose after someone is an offer to name a rose after someone is an offer to name a rose after someone. Anyway, such everyday detail about Victorian behaviour and etiquette I found wonderful, as well as some other asides in the book. For example, two ships’ officers would sometimes play chess when at sea, signaling from a distance. Also, soldiers in Australia were banned from playing correspondence chess during World War Two, ‘because the code used might contain information valuable to the enemy.’
The role of B.H. Wood, the famous editor of Chess, is a key aspect of the story in the twentieth century. He formed the Postal Chess Club in 1943, undoubtedly a good thing, but his power manoeuvres in the ICCA later in the same decade don’t seem quite so laudable. On another note, it was heartening to see the contribution of Dr. Charles Hunter duly acknowledged. He played correspondence chess for many years and some will still remember him; he lived and worked in Rochdale.
All players with an interest in the history of chess will enjoy this book. Highly recommended.
All players with an interest in the history of chess will enjoy this book. Highly recommended.
