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BCM Chess Book Reviews : August 2004Return to the BCM Review Index
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The Colle has long been a favourite of the club player: easy to learn
and understand, not too much head-breaking theory, but a good chance of
a steady plus out of the opening. To aficionados, this new book will be
very welcome. It is well organised and nicely presented, written by a
Ukrainian IM and chess teacher, and blends variation analysis with plenty
of textual comment and suggestions. The index is reasonably detailed and
the translation perfectly acceptable. The Colle is not quite a ‘one
size fits all’ opening, of course. Bronznik is candid about this
and gives some sensible advice about other things to do when your opponent
annoyingly trots out 1...Nf6, 1...f5, etc. All in all, a very useful opening
manual. We look forward to seeing more from this author. JS
This is a follow-up to Marovic’s previous works on pawn structures
and positional play, also published by Gambit. The author has a solemn
and serious way of writing but his deliberations carry weight. Amongst
his subjects are the sacrifice, the lead in development, space and time,
with the overriding theme being the important skill of transforming one
advantage into another. JS
The author, a former Russian champion, originally intended this book
for blitz players, with 1 e4 c5 2 a3 being a good way to derail theoreticians
at the earliest opportunity. But after further study he felt that 2 a3
was good enough for long-play chess as well and is not convinced there
is an easy road to equality. He would say that, of course. But it is a
detailed and well-presented book, and he makes his case well. JS
The cover, introduction and photo captions are in Russian but the collection
of 701 games are annotated Informator-style with variations and figurines,
and sorted in Informator opening code order. A cheaply-produced but economical
selection of games by the great Indian genius. JS
This is a well-presented selection of games illustrating openings starting
1 e4 e5. As indicated in the title, the emphasis is on tactical struggles.
The authors do not strive particularly to use contemporary material, sometimes
preferring to use older examples of interesting lines, with annotations
pointing up later developments. The selection is nevertheless fresh and
interesting. A good place to start if you want to take up 1 e4 e5 with
either colour. JS
German grandmaster Roland Schmaltz is better know to Internet Chess
Club aficionados as ‘Hawkeye’. With an awesome online rating
way over 3000, he is the fastest mouse in the West. If you are not interested
in internet chess playing, you should avert your gaze at this point, but
if you are an online addict, you will be fascinated to know how Hawkeye
does it. The book assumes you are familiar with the internet chess scene
and uses all the ‘buzz-words’ associated with this branch of
Caissa’s empire. There is no logical narrative to this book, which
provides snappy chapters on the longest, the weirdest, the best, etc,
of internet chess, and talks about various forms of skulduggery indulged
in by internet chessists. It is fun and not too serious. JS
An excellent chatty chess periodical, whose editor had an eye for wit.
Marshall defeated Blackburne on top board of the USA vs Great Britain
cable match that year. Just before closing time, Marshall announced mate
in five moves. The announcement elicited the laconic reply: “Saw
it. Gone home.” Things were obviously not that easy financially.
In May: “We again request those of our subscribers who owe us for
the Chess Weekly to remit at once. Please give us a chance. We need
the money.” JS
Another massive tome encapsulating chess, and other ‘indoor and
outdoor amusements’. By this time, chess periodicals had really come
of age and there is no significant difference in scope between this magazine
and the magazines of today. All international and national chess club
topics are included, and most top-ranking chess players of the day are
contributors in one way or another. JS
The CPC resumed publication after a period of five months of silence.
The revived publication was only slightly thinner than previously and
with the same mix of contents. This was a thriving time for chess in the
UK, with many new local organisations and clubs coming into existence.
JS
This volume includes a general review of the year 1908, with articles
on Marshall’s return match with Janowski, the US-GB Cable Match,
the Prague and Vienna tournaments, the BCF Congress at Tunbridge Wells,
and the Lasker-Tarrasch title match. JS
In Moscow, Smyslov unseated Botvinnik as world champion, but back home
the 14-year-old Fischer was garnering all the headlines. This volume has
all his games from the Cardoso match. Santasiere writes entertainingly
as always. JS
By now, all roads lead to Fischer who on the first page is being spoken
of in the same breath as Morphy and Mozart. “I confidently expect
Smyslov to retain the title, despite his bad start... I believe that [he]
will hold the title for another five to ten years.” CHO’D Alexander,
quoted from The Sunday Times, writing about the 1958 Botvinnik
vs Smyslov match. Oh well, we all make mistakes. JS
The year starts with an obituary on the first president of FIDE, Dr.
Rueb. Fischer was spending a lot of time in Yugoslavia while his mother
was trying to raise funds for him at home. There are plenty of his games
annotated in this volume. JS
This CD covers lines included in Informator codes B70 to B74. Grandmaster
Dorian Rogozenko looks at lines where White castles short and does not
try too hard to achieve an opening advantage. Though less sharp than lines
where White castles long, there is a great deal of theory that is specific
to this set-up. The disk also includes 29 texts and 113 annotated games,
a 24,000+ game database, a training database, a tree of variations containing
all the games and the ChessBase database reader. JS
Danish IM Jacob Aagaard presents an introduction to the art of attack.
In total there are more than three hours of video training on each CD-ROM.
All the lectures are presented in their entirety with video pictures and
synchronised chess graphics and database. Note: you must have one of Fritz
8, Shredder 8, Hiarcs 9 or Junior 8 running on your computer to use this
disk, plus the latest interface which can be obtained from playchess.com.
JS
503,255 correspondence games on a CD-ROM, including all world championships
and most other major cc events, up-to-date to early 2004. Also included
is a player’s encyclopaedia of some 60,000 correspondence players.
JS
A softback reprint of the 1993 Caissa Editions book, this is a collection
of Morphy’s games with discussions of his and other notable 19th
century players’ styles. There is a 27-page essay on Morphy by Steinitz
and a series of letters between Alexander Alekhine and Eugene Znosko-Borovsky
debating Morphy’s chess style. JS
Just In: The Chess Player’s Magazine Vol. 2 (1864), Moravian Chess, 194 pages hardcover, £24.99.
