(6/30)  Susan Polgar Monthly Scholastic Chess E-Newsletter:  Here we share the first ever monthly Susan Polgar FREE scholastic e-newsletter.  Says Susan, "It is my goal to share my experience and knowledge with young chess players across the country and around the world.  Our mission is to promote chess, with all its social, educational and competitive benefits, throughout the United States, for young people of all ages, especially girls."  The newsletter is done in PDF format, and is reposted here by permission.

Issue #1 (June 2005) includes General Chess Tips; Tactics and Combinations; Endgame Corner; Opening Secrets: French Defense, King's Indian Attack; Questions From Parents and Coaches; Move-by-Move Analysis; Chess Links; Chess Story; and Upcoming Events.

(6/26)  Review:  Chess Tactics by Paul Littlewood, reviewed by Mark Houlsby.  "Chess tactics is, to--almost--all appearances, an unassuming little book.  The caveat has been added owing to the fact that upon its cover it is described, by its publisher, as "A new edition of one of the most lucid chess instructors ever written."  Strong words, indeed, but are they justified?  Before attempting to answer this, here's a little background: the author is an IM, whose father, John Littlewood, is also a fine player.  Suffice it to say, then, that Littlewoods have been around the British chess scene for many years..."

Kosteniuk,Alexandra (2492) - Gunina,Valentina (2340) [B12]
Russian Champ. Superfinal Samara (Russia) (10), 25.05.2005
 

(6/19)  On Opening Preparation: IM Igor Khmelnitsky shares some thoughts on opening preparation, and gives brief reviews of Starting Out: Alekhine's Defence by John Cox, and Beating the Petroff by Vassilios Kotronias & Andreas Tzermiadianos.  "In my opinion Opening Preparation is one of the most complex aspects of the chess training.  It is very time consuming, puts a lot of demand on your memory and overall requires a serious commitment of financial and physical resources.  To reflect my thoughts on the process, I have devoted a chapter in my new book Chess Exam & Training Guide on the subject of openings.  I also a little while ago I had written a detailed memo for my students (not-published anywhere else) on how to prepare openings..."

(6/18)  Review: ChessBase Magazine 100, reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.  "As compared to the Jubilee DVD, the regular issue appears to offer frugal fare (The Jubilee DVD comes bundled together with CBM 100.  See the recent  review.)  But appearances are deceptive..."

(6/5)  Review:  Tactics In the Chess Opening 2 - Open Games by A.C. van der Tak & Friso Nijboer, reviewed by Rick Kennedy.  "If I were limited to recommending to a developing player only one book from my shelves, it would be Tartakower and DuMont's 500 Master Games of Chess, despite its first publication over 50 years ago...Some time in the future, if I were able to fudge a bit, I might change my suggestion to the 6 volumes in the Tactics in the Chess Opening series from New in Chess (two of which have appeared to date)...Tactics In the Chess Opening 2 - Open Games is the latest installment..."
 

(5/29)  Review:  Winning the Won Game, Lessons from the Brilliancy Prizes by Dr. Danny Kopec & Lubomir Ftacnik, reviewed by Michael Jeffreys.  "First, let me say that I have great respect for authors.  Having written nine books myself, I know the huge amount of work and dedication that it takes to produce a finished product.  Furthermore, when it comes to writing a chess book, which has a very limited market, you are doing it first and foremost because you love the game and feel you have something worthwhile to say about it...To be honest, I was quite excited to be able to review this book, as I feel the ability to transform a winning advantage into a won game is one of the most important topics in all of chess, and yet it receives very little coverage..."

Bobby at the Board?

• discover move candidates much faster,

• eliminate the less promising ones more easily, and

• assess the position at the end of each variation more accurately."

(5/22)  Review: Alexander Alekhine - Master of Attack by Alexander Raetsky & Maxim Chetverik, reviewed by Mark Houlsby.

"The title of this book does betray what was, apparently, its authors' main purpose in writing it.  It is a book about attacking, and particularly about tactics...

Indeed, in the book's introduction, the very first example (evidently intended to whet the appetite of the curious reader browsing the bookstall at a tournament) is a tactical masterpiece taken from the game Alekhine-Koutny, Prague (simul) 1935:

White to move

(5/22)  Review:  Improve Your Attacking Chess by Simon Williams, reviewed by Rick Kennedy.  "...against this background comes IM Simon Williams’ Improve Your Attacking Chess, a selection of 250 chess problems focused on attacking the King...Each chapter starts with some introductory material, including an illustrative game or a list of relevant themes. Then come the puzzles, in order from easiest to hardest. The Solutions come at the end of the chapter, and include explanatory text. Each problem has a set-up or hint or instructional bit to get the reader going.

For example, an early one from the first chapter:

With the open d-file, well placed queen, and active bishop on c4 it is no wonder that White can checkmate the black king. What should White play?

(5/15)  Review: Judit Polgar: The Princess Of Chess by Tibor Károlyi, reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.  "Her numerous victims see her as a tigress on the prowl, seizing on the slightest opportunity and going for the kill.  Her GM colleagues see her as an old fox who knows every trick of the game.  But to her legions of fans Judit Polgar remains the Princess Of Chess, who has brought charm and grace to the world of 64 squares..." 

(5/15)  Review:  Bobby Fischer, the Wandering King by Hans Böhm & Kees Jongkind, reviewed by David Surratt.  "Hans Böhm and Kees Jongking are "Dutch media professionals" and chess players whose 2003 TV documentary "Bobby Fischer: The Wandering King", forms the basis of this book.  I have not seen that work, and judging from the book I don't think I want to, either..."

(5/14)  Annotated Game: Judit Polgar- Peter Svidler, Wijk aan Zee  2005.  This game was extracted from Prof. Nagesh Havanur's upcoming review of
Judit Polgar: The Princess Of Chess by Tibor Károlyi.

(5/8)  Test, Evaluate and Improve Your Chess, a Knowledge-Based Approach:  by IM Danny Kopec and Hal Terrie.  "The first thing any chess teacher must do, when meeting a new student, is to discover how much he already knows.  Maybe you will ask him to demonstrate the basic mates with queen and with rook.  After that, you may set up the pieces and play a few moves with him, to see if he knows to develop his pieces and castle.  That will tell you a little, if the student is only a bit better than beginner.  But what if he is a more advanced player?  How can one determine, in an hour or so, exactly how much chess knowledge he has and where his deficiencies lie?  One way to answer this question..."
 

Pal Benko - Sawyer
New York 1964

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.c3 a6 5.Bc4 h6 6.d4 d6? (6...exd4) 7.Qb3 Na5?? (better is 7...d5) 8.Bxf7+ Kd7 9.Nxe5+ (9...Nxe5 10.dxe5 11.Qe6 mate) 1-0

(5/5)  New FIDE-Trainers and FIDE-Instructors Tutored in Berlin: Reported by GM Uwe Boensch, Headmaster of the FIDE Trainer Academy.  "For six days nine trainers from three continents met for daily lectures and exercises on the historic site of the recently modernized Olympic Stadium in Berlin, where the final game of the World Football Championship 2006 will take place.  Besides having the chance of being active as expert chess trainers or chess teachers in associations, clubs or schools, the main goal of the seminar was to enable the participants to teach young trainers in their respective countries..."
 

GM Uwe Boensch
 

Hundreds of kids in the area will soon have a safe place to come to learn and play chess daily.  Something like this can positively change a community for generations to come!  The best part is all net profits will be reinvested back into chess in the community!  This is what can happen when a chess celebrity works with parents, coaches, local businesses and the local government.

Below is the letter from the chess coach who was responsible for bringing Susan Polgar to South Texas...
 

(5/1)  Reinfeld in da house:  Robert Tuohey takes another look at a Past Pawn, with this review of the life and chess of one of the most famous American chess authors of the 20th Century.  "If you’re interested in chess books at all, you’re familiar with the name Fred Reinfeld.  You’ve seen Reinfeld-titles everywhere from the mega-chains to the paperback-exchanges, and any public library has a few as well.  In fact, if you’re any kind of a chess player at all, he’s probably on your own bookshelf too..."  Read more about this icon of chess authors, including reminiscences from his son, Don.  See "Professor Bob's" list of the top-10 all-time Reinfeld "pot-boilers", and download a selection of 54 of his best games.  And yes, learn a bit about this life of this fascinating, multi-talented Past Pawn.  Fred Reinfeld - Chess Writer.

(5/1)  Review:  The Benko Gambit Revealed by Neil McDonald, reviewed by Rick Kennedy.  "Recently, the publisher Batsford embarked upon its “Revealed” series of books, which intends to take another look at how to explain openings. I happened upon Neil McDonald’s The Benko Gambit Revealed, noting in passing that a year earlier the Gruenfeld had been revealed by Michael Khodarkovsky.
McDonald has written a summary in his Introduction:  …This book is also going to be something of a roller coaster ride."
 

(5/1)  Review:  Black is still OK! by András Adorján, reviewed by Phil Innes.  "At about the two-thirds stage of reviewing Black is still OK! by András Adorján I chanced into a conversation with GM Mikhail Golubev or Odessa, who is twice mentioned in its pages.  “A classic” commented Golubev.  And it is the rarest of chess titles by its publisher, Batsford, or from any other chess publisher; a psychologically challenging but practical exploration of our attitudes to Black’s chances in chess."
 

Part 1

(4/27)  An Important Message fromAF4C:  America's Foundation for Chess puts qualified compensated instructors into classrooms.  "The First Move™ program builds self-esteem, and provides a learning platform that enables all children to succeed..." - Heather Ramsey, AF4C Executive Director.

(4/24)  Lesson Learned - A Farewell:  Today's Lessons Learned is from the late GM Konstantin Aseev (20 October 1960 - 22 August 2004) and is believed to be the last article he wrote before his untimely passing last year.

GM Konstantin Aseev

This column is sponsored by Chess eXpress Ratings; learn more about CXR in this Review by someone who actually uses their service.

This column was sponsored by...

(4/24)  Review:  An Attacking Repertoire for White by Sam Collins, reviewed by Rick Kennedy.  "Chess openings!  Can’t live with ‘em.  Can’t live without ‘em….  - Perry the Pawnpusher.  Despite the well-meaning advice of modern Grandmasters such as Hort, who once explained that the goal of the opening is to reach a playable middegame, or past masters such as Teichman, who believed that chess is 99% tactics, the club chess player of today still spends a whole lot of time – some would say way too much time – studying the openings.  Nobody is really happy with the situation, either.  Top players shake their heads and say: learn the basics of opening play, pal, then concentrate on winning the middlegame and understanding the endgame; booking up on openings comes later.  The average club player ignores this, however, perhaps remembering younger days when he succumbed to an early trick or trap, and went down in flames in an ignominious miniature..."
 

The logo was created by a chess-playing artist who also produces other chess-themed art.  Check out ChessPrints.com right here at Chessville, then visit his website for even more examples, or to purchase prints of his works.

(4/15)  Grand Opening - Chessville Store!  Chessville, in affiliation with Chess 4 Less, announces the Grand Opening of our new storefront!

Special
Introductory Offer!
10% Off
everything
in the store!

In a special offer to introduce Chessville's association with Chess 4 Less, we are pleased to offer our customers 10% off any purchases from our store. Just key in the word VILLE10 in the Redeem Coupon box as you go through Checkout to claim your 10% discount.

(4/10)  Review:  Latest Trends In the Semi-Slav: Anti-Meran by Konstantin Sakaev & Semko Semkov, reviewed by Rick Kennedy.  "Assessing this new title is more of a challenge, as the line in question – 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 –  is very topical and hotly debated, from the gung-ho 7.g4!? to the more classical 7.Be2 and 7.Bd3.  ...GM Sakaev and IM Semkov have done a great job of bringing together relevant games and resources – and they’ve tossed in a whole lot of their own ideas, experiences and (re)evaluations."

APRIL SPECIAL!!
Chess Exam and Training Guide:
Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve

(4/5)  IM Igor Khmelnitsky is offering the following April only special deal for Chessville's readers: take $5 off of his book, Chess Exam and Training Guide: Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve (2004, IamCoach Press) - a finalist (top 3) of the ChessCafe Book of the Year award in 2004.

Not only do you save $5, but your copy will be personally autographed by the author, "+ extras."  This book normally retails for $24.95, but for the rest of April only, get your autographed copy ("+ extras") for just $19.95 plus $3.95 S/H/I ($23.80 total) or $29.80 for non-US orders.  Order your copy today, and pay via PayPal:     US Buyers     Non-US Buyers
 

(4/3)  Review:  The Story of a Chess Player by Jaan Ehlvest, reviewed by Rick Kennedy.  “The Grandmasters, they are different,” said F. Scott Fitzgerald.  “Yes,” replied Ernest Hemmingway, “They win more games.”  "The life story of GM Jaan Ehlvest makes for interesting reading, ... for anyone who would like a peek into the life and thoughts of a gifted chess player"