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BCM Chess Book Reviews : September 2005Return to the BCM Review Index
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“What is the Grivas Sicilian?”, I hear you ask. Good question
– the reviewer had not heard the name before either. This is what
the author calls the line 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Qb6 which
he has played (for Black) and analysed for 20 years. Given his status
as a strong and successful Greek grandmaster, he has a strong claim to
naming rights. Furthermore he has given various names from Greek mythology
to 13 of its sub-variations. A nice touch, that, and we can ascribe it
to his affable humour rather than an ego trip. He is not the only grandmaster
to play the line, however, and such names as Kasparov and Kramnik (in
games of lesser importance), and Polgar and Morozevich (in real tournament
games) underline its eminent respectability. “Is the book any good?”,
you ask. Another good question. Difficult to answer, but the reviewer
feels there is no need to fear Greeks bearing (theoretical) gifts, and
£13.99 is hardly a ‘golden fleece’. JS.
This is a repertoire book for Black. After a short chapter of general
advice about how to study the opening, it gets down to considering a counter
to 1 e4. The main variation recommended is the Accelerated Dragon (1 e4
c5 2 Nf3 g6) with the all-purpose 2...g6 also recommended against
2 c3, 2 f4 and 2 Nc3. The reviewer was half expecting to see another
...g6-based system, the King’s Indian, being recommended against
1 d4, but in fact the authors opt for the Nimzo-Indian (and the Bogo-Indian
against 3 Nf3). Against the Trompowsky, they go for 2...c5, and
1...c5/2...g6 against the English. Despite the large number of pages,
there is not overmuch textual detail in the book; most pages have three
or four diagrams filling 40+% of the space. One has to have a wry grin
at the improbable encomium from Anatoly Karpov emblazoned on the front
cover – “a must for every chess player”. But this is a
user-friendly and thorough book which could well be used for study without
board and men. JS.
The title is intended to mean ‘Benoni systems other than the Modern
Benoni” – the latter opening is not covered. So it covers the
Volga Gambit, the Blumenfeld Gambit, various hybrids of the above two,
the Schmid (misspelled ‘Schmidt’ on the cover) Benoni, the Czech
Benoni, and various other related lines which cannot quite make up their
minds whether they are Benoni or King’s Indian. This is an interesting
and sensible grouping of interrelated systems. The authors adopt the familiar
game-by-game approach, analysing 75 up-to-date games played in these lines.
A very worthwhile and interesting book. JS.
This is book about quick, violent and humiliating losses. I could have written ‘wins’ but we all know that such books are studies in schadenfreude – the enjoyment of seeing the great and the good humbled in short order. Like horror movies, such games are irresistible. James Plaskett is a specialist in chessboard ultraviolence. The games are arranged in chapters, with little homilies at the beginning. But these intros are just for show. The best example is Chapter Three, “Trapping The Queen”, which goes thus: “Tip: Do not get your queen trapped! Especially early on.” And that’s the entire text of the chapter before moving on to the games. Wickedly enjoyable. JS.
A slim volume, but a very interesting one about an obscure Russian ex-pat
chessplayer of no mean talent, who was involved in a lurid cause celebre
in the 1870s – but we won’t spoil the story by giving any
more details here. Suffice to say that Owen Hindle has done a fine job
of piecing together the facts of a tragic story, and assembling some excellent
gamescores. JS.
Not just a reprint of the late English IM’s celebrated work: this
is a revised third edition which Simon Webb completed shortly before his
tragic death in March of this year. It contains eminently practical (and
richly humorous) advice for playing competition chess, and it only remains
to recommend it warmly to anyone who has not already read it. You are
in for a treat. JS.
Soltis has a reputation for practical and readable writings about chess,
pitched at the lower or middle-ranking club player. This substantial book
has plenty of sensible advice about how we go about selecting the right
move. It answers questions about what triggers a move in a player’s
mind (“move cues”), balancing the abstract and the concrete,
etc. JS.
Another opening book which does what it says on the cover. The Australian-registered
IM provides up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of this popular opening
via 46 annotated games, supplemented with general advice on each variation.
JS.
The third edition of this handy manual comes complete with the 2005 FIDE
Laws of Chess. The book has been fully revised, and there are now chapters
on the use of technology in running and publicising chess competitions.
The BCM editor has contributed one chapter on inputting games and
another on running chess tournament websites. JS.
This new edition of a 1994 book on Fischer’s 1964 simul tour of
USA and Canada has a lot more information and games, including the rediscovery
of a forgotten visit to Indianapolis, and various new eye-witness accounts
of Fischer’s triumphal progress through the country. JS.
