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BCM Chess Book Reviews : November 2003Return to the BCM Review Index
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Beim provides nine lessons on familiar but essential topics. Chapter one uses king-and-pawn endgame studies to show how chessboard geometry dictates that a king’s best path usually lies along diagonals: perhaps obvious, but I’d never thought of it in that way before. Then follow chapters on the major pieces; the isolated centre pawn; the central passed pawn; the space advantage; zugzwang (this chapter has some lovely studies); the bishop pair; symmetrical pawn structures; and finally static and dynamic features, drawing together some of the advice from previous lessons. Each theme is exemplified by several top-level annotated games, some modern, some classics from the 1930s or before; Beim rethinks a good deal of published analysis (it’s good to see Kasparov’s notes being challenged occasionally!) and is generally thorough. But the main value of this book lies in the 124 exercises – key positions from studies and games which tend to require positional appreciation and planning as much as tactical sharpness. The level is not basic (at least, I’ve found the puzzles tough so far) but the solutions explain things well. The author’s general explanations of ideas are somewhat laboured, and recent works by John Watson and Alexander Baburin are probably better theoretical guides to chess strategy. Nevertheless, as a well thought-out collection of training material Lessons in Chess Strategy can be highly recommended. Review by James Vigus.
This book deals with a very specific set of standard or common bishop/knight sacrifices in the opening or middlegame, such as Nxb5 or Bxb5 in the Sicilian, or Nd5 (en prise to an e6 pawn) in the same opening, as well as the famous Greek Gift (Bxh7+) and many others. Rooks and queens do not figure, and there is no sign of the familiar Rxc3 sacrifice used by Sicilian players against a white king castled on the queenside. The author examines each specific sacrificial motif in detail, discussing the circumstances in which it is feasible or not feasible, and not neglecting the necessary strategy for the defending side. There are plentiful examples of each type in this large-format, good-value volume which is a thoroughly good read. JS
Chess software is so widely used by professional and amateur chess players these days that it is not surprising that a book should come along to give guidance on sensible use. This book confines itself mainly to exploiting the facilities provided in the latest editions of ChessBase and Fritz. Topics include managing databases, learning new openings, preparing for opponents and general training. JS
Another reliable and authoritative volume in this interesting series of books by Khalifman. This one covers ‘open games’ after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3, except for the main lines of the Ruy Lopez (after 3...a6) which are to be in a forthcoming volume. It looks at the game from White’s point of view, considering mainstream lines for White (so 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 c3 is out) but a more comprehensive range of replies for Black. So included in its pages are analyses of such major openings as the Petroff and Berlin Defence, but also minor, unavoidable ones such as the Latvian Gambit. Anand’s name is given to the volume as a major exponent of 1 e4, but there is no rigid adherence to his standard repertoire. There is a typo on page ten, with the opening moves from one of the Kramnik volumes appearing instead of 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3. JS
This is one of many classic titles which have been resurrected and reprinted by Hardinge Simpole. It was originally published by Spearman in 1968, and is in descriptive notation. IM Bob Wade examines the ‘Soviet chess machine’ through an outsider’s eyes. In fact, he traces the rise of Russian chess from the 19th century, via Chigorin and Alekhine, before devoting chapters to the great figures of post-war chess, as well as the women, composers and correspondence chess players who added still more lustre to what in many ways was the golden age of chess. A superb compilation. JS
Another excellent Hardinge Simpole reprint. Eales’ status as an England international player and a noted university historian made him the ideal person to attempt this work, first published by Batsford in 1985. It is more condensed and accessible than Murray’s legendary tome (which always reminds the reviewer of a comment made by a character in Mike Leigh’s famous comedy Abigail’s Party: “Part of our heritage – but you can’t actually read it”). The bibliography is extremely useful in its own right, and a very good guide to further reading about the game. Highly recommended. JS
The two Dutch authors present some tricky ideas in the Sicilian via 250 annotated games which have appeared in New In Chess Yearbook. It is divided up into 12 chapters on different Sicilian systems: Najdorf, Dragon, Scheveningen, Sozin, Rauzer, Sveshnikov, Taimanov, Four Knights/Pin, Accelerated Fianchetto, Rossolimo, Alapin/2 c3. JS
This is a cross between an opening book and a ‘test your chess’ puzzle book. The Czech grandmaster author looks at play in three major openings – Ruy Lopez, Grünfeld and Scheveningen Sicilian – and poses questions to the reader at appropriate moments. Many of the questions are very general, rather than the usual clear-cut solutions in ‘test your chess’ puzzles. Eventually you add up your points to be told what your strategic abilities or limitations may be in a particular system. The book rather rambles about but is entertainingly written. JS
The latest edition contains the usual batch of in-depth opening theory articles, including material on such diverse systems as the Sveshnikov Sicilian and the Wilkes-Barre/Traxler variation. Glenn Flear supplies some very authoritative book reviews, while Genna Sosonko tells old and new tales of Viktor Korchnoi. JS
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The book is sub-titled “New and Forgotten Ideas” on the cover and “200 Instructive Short Stories” on the inside cover. The latter sub-title is the most relevant as it is really a collection of entertaining Dutch Defence games which are over in 25 moves or less (with black disasters as well as white), rather than an opening manual. Only a handful of games are dated after 1993. JS
The author of this book, a Hungarian IM, died in July, sadly. It’s a very strange book indeed, or even, as its own subtitle suggests, “a very rude chess book”. This leads into a ‘prefatory discourse’ in which the author jokingly insults the reader and praises himself. Unfortunately, this and various other attempts to be humorous in broken English fall flat. As for the content, it’s a worthy collection of chess miniatures, interspersed with more weird and off-topic quotations and observations. JS
Sub-titled The Manual of Chess Combinations, this book has good training material, with six diagrams per page, and is divided up into chapters on combinations, accurate analysis of short variations, etc. The preface and chapter introductions are in four languages (English, Russian, German and Spanish). JS
A slightly different approach is used for this mixed language volume (sub-titled The Manual of Chess Endings) in the same series as the book above, with more textual comment about the basic theory of the different endgame configurations. Chapters on pawn endings, knights, bishops, bishop vs knight, mixed pieces, rooks, queens, and endings with an unusual material balance. Good classroom material. JS
A labour of love by BCM’s Endgame Studies columnist, and a veritable treat for anyone who enjoys his work. Artur Mandler (1891-1971) was a Bohemian composer whose collected studies were published under the title Studie in Czech in 1970 and are only now available in English in this computer-updated translation. Highly recommended. JS
The first 96 pages of this weighty tome are the ‘memoirs’ of the British Chess Association. The book then gets down to the games from the 1862 London tournament won by Anderssen, with such notables as Paulsen, Blackburne and Owen in the field. JS.
The 1952 volume starts with Santasiere’s annotations of games from the previous USSR Championship, won by Keres ahead of Geller, Petrosian, Smyslov and Botvinnik. New York City hosted a match for “the championship of the non-communistic world” between Reshevsky and Najdorf, which the US player won 11-7. In 1953 there is more coverage of post-war chess, with the first big candidates’ tournament in progress. JS
Five more volumes of this gossipy and entertaining British chess magazine. It sustained a major blow in 1922 with the death of its lively contributor, Philip H Williams. As well as being a problemist of note, Williams was also something of a musician and photographer. JS
Lots of juicy combinations and tactical tricks – more than 2,500 in all – to keep you occupied for hours. It’s so easy just to load the first one and do it, then the next one, and the one after that – and soon the whole day has wandered by. And you don’t have to keep setting up the pieces: here it is a matter of a couple of keystrokes. Very addictive. JS
This CD-ROM is a double biography, covering the chess careers of Elmars Zemgalis and Olaf Ulvestad. Zemgalis was born in 1923 in Latvia, and had some very good results in Europe before emigrating to the USA in 1952. He is now a retired professor of mathematics in Seattle. Olaf Ulvestad was born in the USA in 1912, played chess in Seattle in his youth, and spent many years in Europe (particularly Spain) after 1960. He later returned to the USA and died there in 2000. The Zemgalis material consists of biography and photos, plus about 200 games, while the Ulvestad biography is similar, with 300+ games. There is also Ulvestad’s account of the 1946 USSR v USA match. John Donaldson wrote a book on Zemgalis in 2001 (Grandmaster Without the Title); the CD-ROM has some extra material. JS
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5 is one of the less worn by-ways of the Queen’s Gambit but appeals to Black players of either a counter-punching or romantic streak. The text files lead in efficiently to the most interesting examples on the database, which numbers over 3,600 games, 150 of which are annotated. There is a tree of variations, and a separate training database where the reader can try his skill on some typical Albin problems and positions. JS
This CD-ROM from the company responsible for Chess Assistant contains nearly 5,000 exercises to test your ability at solving mates in two, three or more moves. Not all of them conform to problem conventions, i.e. the key may be a capture or a check, but they are all fairly testing. The chess-playing program Crafty is included. System requirements: PC Pentium 100, 32MB memory, hard disk 30MB free, VGA, Windows 95 or higher. JS
