BCM Chess Book Reviews : May 2000

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Storming the Barricades by Larry Christiansen, Gambit, 176 pages, £13.99.

The book is sub-titled “Lessons in Attacking Chess from A Top American Grandmaster” and sets out to analyse the key elements that make up a successful attack via an examination of more than 50 examples from contemporary play.

The first chapter, entitled “Evolution of an Attacking Player”, is autobiographical, taking us from the nine-year-old playing his first chess tournament in Riverside, California, in 1966, right through to sharing first place at the Linares tournament of 1981 with world champion Anatoly Karpov. Christiansen is an engaging story-teller, intermingling some impressive examples of his developing chess strength with amusing incidents away from the board. It is clear that he did a lot of work to achieve what he did – including becoming a grandmaster ‘in one’ (i.e. without becoming an IM first) – but he also had a lot of fun along the way. This first chapter is so good that it is a disappointment when it ends with the Linares triumph in 1981. Perhaps this is a shrewd move by the author and publisher, for there is surely scope for a follow-up book on Christiansen’s subsequent career.

Starting with some general considerations regarding attacking chess, the author states the obvious: that there is no substitute for tactical skill. He acquired his via practice as well as devouring combination books – he speaks fondly of his first chess book which was Reinfeld’s 1001 Sacrifices and Combinations. He moves on to discuss how to rip apart the king position (Christiansen’s metaphors are vivid) and then hunt it down. There follows a chastening chapter on “how not to attack”. The author opines that, for every successful attack, there are probably dozens of unsuccessful ones. A trifle disappointing, that: can chess really be quite such a defence-orientated game? He readily admits to attacking disasters of his own. One such example is given, but this might have been a profitable area to explore more deeply. Christiansen has a remarkably good record against fellow ‘attackers’ like Short, Khalifman and Judit Polgar, a weak one against ‘grinders’ such as Andersson, Gheorghiou and Karpov (despite the famous 12-move win), and a frankly bad one against the likes of Adams and Belyavsky. Perhaps this will appear in the follow-up book (please).

The book ends with a count-down of the author’s 11 favourite attacking games of the 1990s. Remembering Kasparov’s ‘Corus of Disapproval’ when the 2000 Wijk aan Zee audience failed to award him enough game of the round prizes, it is a relief to find that his 1999 win against Topalov is Christiansen’s number one: though he then gives the last word to ‘twelfth man’ Tal by including his win against Lautier from Barcelona 1992 as a postscript.

It is interesting to compare and contrast Christiansen’s progress with that of his near-contemporary Yermolinsky in the latter’s The Road to Chess Improvement. It may be that these two books, along with Watson’s Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, will come to be regarded as an ‘American Trilogy’. A splendidly entertaining and instructive read.



 

Queen’s Gambit Declined: Bg5 Systems by Bogdan Lalic, Everyman, 208 pages, £14.99.

The Queen’s Gambit Declined has had a long history and has scarcely ever been out of fashion. The first part of the book is devoted to Bg5 lines that follow on from 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 cxd5 exd5; the second part goes into systems such as the Ragozin and Manhattan, which often start life as Nimzo-Indians and can feature Black’s retaliation with Bb4. This still leaves a lot of ground to cover – such as the Cambridge Springs, the Tartakover and the Lasker Defence – but Lalic looks into all the corners and uncovers a wealth of interesting material.








 

Improve Your Opening Play by Chris Ward, Everyman, 143 pages, £10.99.

The third in an attractively-produced series of volumes from Everyman (the first two – Starting Out In Chess and Tips for Young Players – were reviewed in the January 2000 BCM) explains the basic ideas behind the major openings, with the inexperienced player in mind. Anyone who has seen Chris Ward in action as a chess coach will be familiar with his infectious enthusiasm for the game, and this translates well to the printed page. A very good first book on chess openings, which avoids the temptation of getting bogged down in a mass of variations.








 

Improve Your Middlegame Play by Andrew Kinsman, Everyman, 144 pages, £10.99.

Let’s assume you have just read the above book on the opening: now Andrew Kinsman is on hand to steer you through the minefields of the middlegame. This is a thoroughly readable and enjoyable book designed for the club player, with lots of practical tips and an excellent selection of modern material. The chapter on Time Control (or rather, lack of control) features a gallery of the grotesque in which the author draws upon his own storehouse of disasters. Worth buying just to contrast the blunder made by the current BCM editor (resigning when not lost), and that of his predecessor (winning despite playing an illegal move), illustrating the difference between the titles of Grandmaster and just plain Mr.






 

Improve Your Endgame Play by Glenn Flear, Everyman, 160 pages, £10.99.

Glenn Flear takes the inexperienced player through the endgame, with liberal textual advice and guidance. The endgame is hard to present in an easy-to-read way, but Flear’s book is an admirable starting point for the tyro. One criticism of the three “Improve” books is that they do not contain any suggestions of what to read next.











 

Strategic Chess: Mastering The Closed Game by Edmar Mednis, Dover, 236 pages, £9.95.

Grandmaster Mednis’ collection of 30 annotated games was first published in 1993, hence there is no material after the early 1990s. His selection concentrates on strategic d4 openings, rather than ones where the complex of variations is overly sophisticated or excessively tactical, in order to explain the thinking behind the opening. The annotations are mostly verbal, and the book has almost a period feel to it, of a time before database dumps; it is refreshing to see an author giving considered opinions on a variety of opening lines.








 

Informator 77, Sahovski Informator, 399 pages, £21.00.

The latest Informator contains 583 annotated games and tournament results from the period October 1999 to January 2000, including Wijk aan Zee (with Kasparov himself annotating his Van Wely and Timman wins), Hastings, Pamplona, the European Team Championship and Khalifman’s match defeat by Leko. There are 18 combinations and the same number of endgames, plus a feature on Anatoly Karpov and his games as published in the Informator series, with an interesting statistical breakdown of his results by opening. Voted best game from the preceding volume was Leko’s win against Adams from Dortmund 1999.








 

British Chess Magazine Bound Volume 1999, 672 pages, hardcover, £29.95.

Comprehensive and up-to-date reporting of the events of another turbulent year in world chess history, plus regular features such as Problem World and Endgame Studies. A sturdy and fully indexed tome which will keep you informed and grace your bookshelf.




 

Vladimir Simagin by Aidan Woodger, The Chess Player, 99 pages, £9.95.

Another valuable collection of selected games published by The Chess Player. Simagin was a lesser player than Holmov (book reviewed, last month, page 198); nonetheless he possessed an attractive style, variously compared to both Réti and Larsen, which make this selection of 76 games well worth playing through. A 13-page introduction gives valuable background on Simagin’s character and times. (Review by Ray Edwards)




 

The Chess Player’s Chronicle, Vol.7, 1846, Moravian Chess, 420 pages hardcover, £23.99.

The latest reprint in the series includes a description of the annual dinner of Liverpool Chess Club, which featured much laughter, cheering and singing. There is a song entitled The Glasses Sparkle on The Board: perhaps Shot-Glass Chess is not such a recent invention.










 

The Chess Monthly, Vol. 1, September 1879 - August 1880, Moravian Chess, 384 pages hardcover, £23.50.

Leopold Hoffer was editor of this periodical, but co-editor Zukertort added greatly to its prestige. The lay-out has a more modern look and feel than earlier 19th century periodicals, with many excellent annotations, thorough coverage of news from around the world, plus book reviews and an endgame column by Horwitz.









 

Brooklyn Chess Chronicle, Vol. 1, 1882-1883, Moravian Chess, 208 pages hardcover, £19.99.

Edited by JB Muñoz, in cooperation with his brother Enrique M Muñoz, this estimable if slim fortnightly journal provided good coverage of worldwide chess, with annotated games of Steinitz, Mackenzie and Zukertort among others.












 

Brooklyn Chess Chronicle, Vol. 2, 1883-1884, Moravian Chess, 190 pages hardcover, £19.99.

In August 1882 the editor kicked off a circulating (or “tramp”) correspondence game where the player making the move would simply send it on to another player and so on: the game soon crossed the Atlantic and ended up Scotland where it finished in March 1883. Readers looking up the obituary of Morphy (who died in July 1884) will be astonished to find just four lines: the editors did not attempt to write a biographical sketch as “his chess life, his name, and his glorious achievements over the chess board are well-known all over the world.” An interesting read and a valuable source for chess antiquarians.








 

American Chess Bulletin, Vol. 29 (1932), Moravian Chess, 200 pages hardcover, £19.50.

Helms was already long into his reign as editor in the early thirties, and this is a splendid resource for the chess of that era, with comprehensive coverage of world chess and many illustrations. The drab brown cover and poor photographic reproduction don’t do justice to the richly entertaining and informative material to be found on the inside.



 

The Frankenstein-Dracula Variation in the Vienna Game by Eric Schiller, Chess Enterprises, 161 pages, £7.50.

Tim Harding’s lurid name for the variation 1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Bc4 Nxe4!? is very appropriate. There is something other-worldly about the way that the queen swoops in to sink its fangs into the defenceless king. But if you didn’t enjoy that analogy, you are really going to hate this book as there are quotations from the original Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley stories (in different typefaces) throughout the text. The overview of the variation amounts to 16 pages with not many variations. Then it’s 130 pages of scantily annotated gamescores. I’m not sure about the variation, but this book surely belongs in the Chamber of Horrors.



 

The Alekhine Defense Playbook by Rev. Tim Sawyer, Pickard, 157 pages, £15.50.
The Alekhine Defense Playbook CD-ROM by Rev. Tim Sawyer, Pickard, 42,176 games, £12.99.

This repertoire book is based on the author’s collection of 41,000+ Alekhine Defence games over a twenty year period. Games are analysed in great detail, but many of the games quoted (and thousands of those on the CD-ROM) are blitz games from the Internet Chess Club. That said, the author has clearly put a lot of work into the analysis and this would be a useful start for a club player who is keen to take up Alekhine’s Defence.



 

Modern Benoni Chess Training by Jean Hebert (Chessbase CD-ROM), £18.50.

Subtitled “A Fighting Defence for the Bold and the Restless”, though author, Canadian IM Jean Hébert, adds Nimzowitch’s scathing dismissal: “an unfortunate extravagance.” With 18 training games, a database of 13,000 games (copiously annotated) and an opening tree, this is an excellent source for the Benoni student. One training question was contradictory: having found the “best move”, it was surprising to see it subsequently adorned with a question-mark in the score – and then being asked to find its refutation.



 

Intensive Course: Tactics by George Renko (Chessbase CD-ROM), £18.50.

Though the 4,000 tactical positions are gathered together under logical themes and are addictive to play through, there are many positions with alternative answers and quite a lot where there is an obviously better way to win – to which Chessbase will infuriatingly respond “Not the best move”. However loud you scream “It is! It is!”, the computer takes no notice. Do not position your computer near an open window or the temptation may become too much. As for the spelling of players’ names, here’s a sample – Alechine, Euve, Kapablanca. No letters, please. The prosecution’s case rests.



 

All Reviews by John Saunders except where otherwise indicated