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BCM Chess Book Reviews : November 2005Return to the BCM Review Index
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The story starts before the sisters were born, with their father pitching
his dream to their mother of having six children and bringing them up
with specific goals in mind. The bizarre aspect of this particular episode
is that the future Polgar parents were merely acquaintances at the time,
and he didn’t specifically have her in mind as the mother of these
future wunderkinds. Reading between the lines, you sense that the
future Mrs Polgar was slightly freaked out by this rather obsessive young
man at the time. It was a year and a half before she softened towards
him, and they eventually married.
There is not much more about the father of the family.
Though not the subject of the book, he would surely be worth a chapter
to himself. The three main chapters deal with each sister in age order.
The author is best at telling her own story, with its various highs and
lows. It is more revealing than the Judit chapter, which is rather thin
when it comes to biographical information. Although Susan gives a warm
pen-picture of her younger sister as an infant, she has less to say about
her as she grows up, apart from listing her tournaments, scores and names
of opponents.
The narrative is punctuated by games annotated by the
author, often pitched at club or elementary level for the benefit of a
less ‘chess savvy’ audience. There are eight pages of photos,
both colour and monochrome. It makes for an absorbing story and contributes
towards an understanding of the Polgar phenomenon. JS.
This well-produced book collects together what Soviet players and administrators
have had to say about Bobby Fischer and features the 158 games he played
against Soviet grandmasters (annotated mainly in Informator style),
working chronologically through Fischer’s career. It is a reworking
of a 1994 original, since when the authors claim to have made ‘many
new finds and discoveries’. It is not obvious what is new in this
edition, though there are references to more modern books in the bibliography.
But certainly those not possessing the earlier edition will find this
an excellent source book for Fischerology. JS.
This is a worthy record of the epic series of matches played between
the two great rivals. They played six matches, totalling 85 games, and
this monumental hardback has every game with notes culled from many sources,
including Bilguer, Staunton, etc. There is also a wealth of background
material, all of which makes this a must for any student of the game’s
early history. Review by Steve Giddins.
A superb contrast to faceless databases and routine opening guides: a book written with conviction, care, and outstanding up-to-date research. 1 Nc3 is better known as the Van Geet Opening, but the author dubs it ‘Knight on the Left’, a translation of the snappier German ‘Linksspringer’. Since the independent paths of this opening mostly don’t promise White a theoretical advantage, strong players tend to use it as a transpositional device. But it’s one of those openings with a cult following, and from Keilhack’s work you can see why – I found myself absorbed for hours. He points out that the player of 1 Nc3 can’t avoid some mainstream theory and needs good general opening knowledge to negotiate the transpositions. After cross-referencing other openings that have a ‘Linksspringer’ flavour (a very useful feature), Keilhack critically presents material which is hard to find elsewhere (the book is a vast improvement over the recent ChessBase CD on 1 Nc3). Wittily sceptical of standard book refutations, he challenges many old assessments. This work contains as many deadly ideas as most volumes of ‘opening surprises’. Review by James Vigus.
.
The tactical points being demonstrated here are a cut above the sort
of cheap traps sometimes retailed in similar (but inferior) books. As
such, this book is a good back-up to a theoretical work on the openings
in question, which comprise the French, Caro Kann, Centre Counter, Pirc/Modern
and Alekhine’s Defence. JS.
This large-format softback encyclopaedia lists films which feature chess
content, ranging from a fleeting glance of a board (which the author terms
a ‘chess encounter of the first kind’) to full-blown films about
the game. Inevitably there are a few errors and omissions. For example,
young players may wince at a reference to a film mistitled Harry Potter
and the Prince of Azkaban. But by and large the author has done a
painstaking job and produced an enormously enjoyable book which would
make a good choice for Xmas vacation reading. JS.
Simon Williams presents the ‘Dragadorf’ (a Dragon/Najdorf hybrid),
while Sosonko has a humorous look at 1 e4 e5 2 Qh5, which has been
introduced to tournament play by US champion Hikaru Nakamura. Sergey Tiviakov
advocates 2 c3 against the Sicilian, while Glenn Flear presents some enthusiastic
reviews of recent books. JS.
This disk contains more than 92,000 of them, together with languageless
annotations – from Informators 1-91 (i.e. 1966 to September
2004), in four different database formats (ChessBase, Chess Assistant,
PGN and Informator Expert). The ChessBase or PGN databases can be installed
by a simple file copy to your PC’s hard disk. JS.
This book is all about zugzwang – or ‘move compulsion’
as it is translated here. The first chapter consists of examples of from
king and pawn endings, followed by similar chapters on the endgame and
middlegame. An enjoyable introduction to a fascinating area of chess knowledge.
JS.
One advantage of the Scotch is its variety: there are lines to suit tactical
players who enjoy theoretical battles, and others where the more positional
player will be at home. But Black also has a big say in the choice of
system, and he can put the cat among the pigeons with early digressions
such as 4...Qh4!? John Emms covers all this ground in a well-worked
and comprehensive book designed for those coming to the opening for the
first time. JS.
Good defensive play can bring you many extra half points. If there is
one thing our chess computers have taught us, it is that it is incredibly
hard to win ‘won games’ against them. This book discusses all
aspects of defence, one of which is of course counter-attack (or active
defence as it is known here). Dunnington’s examples are invariably
well-chosen and help to dispel any notion that there is anything remotely
dull about defending a passive position. JS.
476 heavily annotated games from February-May 2005 feature in the latest
issue. Ivanchuk’s win against Radjabov from the Calvià Olympiad
is the best game of the previous volume (see BCM, December 2004,
p630). The player feature is on English number one Michael Adams. JS.
If anyone tried to establish which is the most unpopular group amongst
chessplayers, I suspect that London System players would come high on
the list. Few of us can suppress an audible groan when a lower-rated opponent
trots out the moves 1 d4, 2 Nf3 and 3 Bf4. We know that
we are probably in for a long evening’s work, with little chance
of catching the opponent in any sharp theory, or of luring him into a
position of a type he is unfamiliar with. Instead, we usually face several
hours’ hard slog, as we try to grind him down in an extremely solid,
if not to say, frustratingly boring, position.
If you are one of the Black players I have just described,
then I’m afraid that I have some bad news for you. At least in the
past one could rely on such opponents not knowing very much about the
opening. That may be about to change. Despite its hyperbolic title, this
is an excellent book which threatens to equip White players with a deep
knowledge of the subtleties of their favourite opening. There is a lot
more to this opening than meets the eye, with a great many ways for the
Black player to stumble into a surprisingly difficult position, with a
few plausible, but slightly inaccurate moves. Vlatko Kovacevic, the Yugoslav
grandmaster, has played little else for the last 30 years, and consequently
has more than a passing acquaintance with the system. With his enthusiastic
co-author Johnsen, he passes on much of that wisdom in this book, and
the result is an impressive piece of work. An initial section containing
30 annotated games excellently introduces the reader to the typical plans
and positional ideas, and the extensive theoretical section which follows
puts a good deal of flesh on the bones, in places almost to the point
of obesity. The authors prefer the move-order 2 Bf4, delaying Nf3,
which in some instances allows White additional options. They also show
that the move h3, for most club players a sine qua non of the system,
can often be dispensed with, and the tempo thus saved used more constructively.
I can already hear the groans of Black players up and
down the country, at the dual prospect of more opponents playing the London
System, and knowing what they are doing. Maybe it’s time to
study the Englund Gambit 1 d4 e5; at least then we know for sure how to
refute 2 Bf4. Review by Steve Giddins.
This book presents a repertoire for Black based around the Queen’s
Gambit Accepted, an opening which has been the subject of a number of
recent books. It only covers certain lines, e.g. 3...e5 against 3 e4,
8...cxd4 against 7 a4 Nc6 8 Qe2, etc, as well as presenting
detailed recommendations against White’s second move alternatives.
It is well-researched and up-to-date, with a number of original suggestions
and attempted improvements over established theory.
There are a few omissions and oddities but they are relatively minor in
nature. My main reservations concern the book’s target audience.
There is very little general discussion of the positional ideas and plans,
no illustrative games, and far too much space devoted to non-2 c4 lines.
It will appeal to strong(ish) QGA players, but it may need to be supplemented
by other works. The book is also less suitable for the average club player.
Review by Steve Giddins.
The Ruy Lopez seems to be undergoing a welcome revivial. It certainly
seems so from the number of 2005 games in this introduction to the opening.
The author explains the basic ideas before launching into game annotations.
Pleasantly laid out and with an adequate index, this is a welcome addition
to the Batsford chess list.
A mighty tome packed with 2,700+ combinations culled from Informator
over the years. The combinations tend to be more difficult than those
seen in newspaper columns and puzzle books. As such, they make good educational
material for more ambitious students.
Another disk-based course based on the author’s theory of good/bad
squares, this time dedicated to the middlegame phase. There are 20 introductory
texts and 131 annotated game fragments, plus a training database with
69 exercises to work through. The disk comes with its own reader software.
This disk-based training course contains more than 560 games illustrating
the strategy behind the Two Knights’ Defence, the Schliemann Defence
to the Ruy Lopez, the Richter Sicilian, the French (3 e5 and Burn variations),
Caro Kann 3 e5, King’s Indian (Classical and others). The training
section has a further 500+ multiple choice exercises. JS.
Now you can enjoy a chess training course on your pocket PC. Alexander
Kalinin covers 18 of the most important strategic themes, with 1,100 exercises
to reinforce what you have learnt. There is a scoring system similar to
the traditional ‘How Good is Your Chess’ pattern. You will need
to load via the CD-ROM of a PC, and your handheld computer will need to
run Windows Mobile 2003 or Pocket PC 2002.
