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BCM Chess Book Reviews : June 2002Return to the BCM Review Index
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Translated
into English for the first time by Karen Taylor, and edited by Dale Brandreth,
Jack OKeefe and Richard Cantwell. The Soviet player Rashid Nezhmetdinov
(1912-1974) was 'only' an International Master, yet competed at the highest
levels and played many games of rare brilliance. His emphatic plus-score
against Tal and his beautiful sacrificial king-hunt against Polugayevsky
brought Nezhmetdinov fame: but generally his games have unfortunately
not been widely circulated in the West. This edited translation of the
Russians own annotations to his selected games is therefore very
welcome. The first five chapters present 72 games in chronological order,
interspersed with brief passages of autobiography. Finally there is a
chapter to illustrate certain positional and tactical themes, with emphasis
on the endgame. Every page brings a new explosion of creative tactics,
and the annotations are good quality: concise prose explanations are backed
up by substantial but not excessive variations. The editors have made
various minor analytical corrections while mostly allowing Nezhmetdinov
to speak for himself. Even though this means that the opening notes in
particular are often dated, readers with a taste for sharp Ruy Lopez,
Sicilian and Kings Indian positions are sure to find inspiration
here, and the authors own accounts of his preparation are worthwhile.
In fact Nezhmetdinovs commitment to
preparation surprised me, given the reputation he seems to have now as
an erratic gambler. The autobiographical sections at times resemble a
religious confession: the author becomes aware of his deficiencies first
in general strategy, then in the opening, then in the endgame, and so
on. The cure always involves hard work, healthy eating and regular exercise,
a regime which took its toll if Nezhmetdinovs dour expression in
the two photos is anything to judge by. But even if parts of the book
are dry, the games themselves make this a thoroughly entertaining work.
Both for the savage onslaughts of his early career and the sophisticated
attacking concepts of his prime, Nezhmetdinovs collection deserves
to be read and re-read. Review by James Vigus.
The latest Informator covers top-level chess played
between October 2001 and January 2002. It contains 584 annotated games,
with such names as Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Adams, Ponomariov and Ivanchuk
included amongst the annotators. Tournaments include the World Team Championships,
the FIDE world championship, the European Team Championship, the Kasparov-Kramnik
match in Moscow and Corus Wijk aan Zee. There is a biographical retrospective
on Jan Timman, plus the usual best games and best novelty features. Still
the best way to stay up-to-date and keep abreast of the opening theory.
The best game from the previous edition was Kramniks win over Anand
from Dortmund 2001, and the best theoretical novelty was Rogozenkos
14 Qb1 against Filipenko from the WICC 2001.
Another prodigious new tome from Moravian Chess,
which rather belies the title (publication is becoming rather more leisurely
than the projected 'quarterly'). This issue kicks off with 122 pages on
HN Pillsburys European activities of 1902/3, compiled by the editor,
followed by 24 pages on Bernhard Horwitz, and further biographies of Hromádka
and Morris Freed. The chapter on 'forgotten tournaments' features Amsterdam
1911 and 1923, and the 8th American Congress, Atlantic City 1921. That
only takes us up to page 230; there is much more besides in this mighty
volume.
The exclamation mark might
draw a wry smile; the great US players elevation to the highest
title hardly rates as a surprise 30 years on, and an 'instant book of
the match' this is definitely not. But it is the first time the book has
appeared in English, and the conjunction of the two greatest names in
Dutch chess provide us with a feast of good chess writing. The then president
of FIDE, Max Euwe covers the wretched business (his words)
leading up to the start of the match, and, given his central role in the
match, is able to dispel many of the myths that have grown up around it.
Timman gives a brief sketch of what happened during the match before getting
down to his main role: game analyst. In the preface he acknowledges help
from Andersson and Donner. Timman was not yet 21 when he co-wrote the
book, but already his style was mature and objective. He does not get
caught up in the hype surrounding the match and is not blinded by the
dazzling light of Fischer. His deep and insightful approach helps to put
these famous games into perspective. All in all, a delightful read.
A brand-new,
2002 edition of one of the five volumes which make up the world-famous
ECO: volume B covers lines beginning 1 e4, excluding 1 e4 e5 and 1 e4
e6 (which form part of Volume C). No serious chess player will want to
be without this definitive work.
This is a new translation of Dvoretsky's Secrets
of Chess Tactics, originally published by Batsford in 1992 and reviewed
on page 630 of BCM, December 1992. Dvoretsky draws on his vast training
experience few can boast a pupil list as impressive as his
to put together an advanced manual on the subject of chess tactics. This
is a superbly written and produced book. As our original review said:
"there is so much meat in this book that a close study of it will
take months, and should make one a better player".
The selling point of this book, for elementary or weak club
adult players, is the fact that the author has improved his own play by
more than 400 USCF (50 BCF) rating points in 12 months using his own work
plan. Theres some advice about concentrating on tactics to the exclusion
of all else, then some drills and exercises designed to improve visual
skills, and feedback from players who have followed the authors
plan. It is persuasively written, and might provide the necessary stimulus
for underachieving adult players who wish to get serious.
This, together,
with John Emms book on the Sicilian (see below), is the first of a series
of opening books pitched at elementary or junior players, or perhaps those
who fancy a change of opening repertoire. The emphasis is on user-friendliness,
with lots of hints, tips and summaries to ease the readers way.
British champion Joe Gallagher is the ideal author for this book on his
favourite Kings Indian Defence, and stronger players might also
be tempted to read it for his illuminating annotations of the 68 illustrative
games included.
See the above review for comments on the books
general lay-out and target audience. A 174-page book on the Sicilian can
hardly claim to be comprehensive (and the author makes no such claim),
but this provides a broad and well-written overview and much general advice
on the vast range of Sicilian variations for the improver or stronger
non-Sicilianists who are considering a change of opening and wondering
which system would suit them best.
The January issue opens: What happened to
our Christmas number? Come with us into the silent and impenetrable wildwood....
The editor goes on for 160 or so words, with references to whippowills,
gibbets and ravens, in order to explain that the printing press had broken
down causing the issue to be late. Edgar Allan Poe it isnt, but
its lively and readable.
"It's
basically the English team together with a few foreigners... we occasionally
allow other nationalities in, but prefer to keep it a bit exclusive":
John Nunns comment, not on Beeson Gregory in the 4NCL, but Lübeck
in the German Bundesliga. This latest edition of the CD-ROM magazine has
some excellent multi-media material: a 25-minute interview and analysis
session with Nunn, plus no less than 56 minutes with Peter Svidler, who
talks about chess, books, humour, cricket and the reason why he played
in last years 4NCL (answer: so that he could watch the world snooker
championship on TV).
The author
was a pupil of the late Moldavian coach Chebanenko, who gave his name
to the variation (1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 a6) which, until now,
has been poorly documented in chess literature. Theres much more
besides: a 32,000 game database, a tree of variations plus a training
database of 22 exercises, plus ChessBase reader software.
The title and
blurb hint at study material for the Nimzo-Indian, but the 17 introductory
texts (in indifferent English) do not contain much content, but are little
more than lead-ins to certain games within the 345-game annotated database.
Comes with a 35-game training database, and a 47,000 database of unannotated
games.