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BCM Chess Book Reviews : May 2006Return to the BCM Review Index
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The Kasparovian saga reaches the author’s own greatest rivals –
Karpov and Korchnoi. The book is divided into two parts – ‘Viktor
the Terrible’ and ‘Anatoly the Twelfth’ (a pity he couldn’t
think up a more resonant title for Karpov). But anyone expecting a juicy
settling of scores in this book will be disappointed. Kasparov treats
his immediate predecessors with more respect than Fischer was accorded.
As with previous volumes, Kasparov allows his subjects and their colleagues
to speak for themselves, confining himself to the occasional short editorial
intervention.
There are some entertaining insights into the Soviet
conveyor belt which kept party favourite Karpov well supplied with theoretical
titbits. The historical narrative is slightly thin on research, especially
when compared with Kasparov’s masterly analysis and opening philosophy
(it is a cut above mere ‘theory’). When it comes to chess openings
and their development, Kasparov outranks the Delphic oracle.
As part of his treatise on Korchnoi, Kasparov annotates
his one and only loss against him – the first game of their 1983
Candidate’s Match in 1983. This is followed by a discussion of Korchnoi
against the King’s Indian Defence. Devotees of that counter-attacking
system (and Kasparov expresses his surprise that Korchnoi did not use
it more with Black) will find much of interest in Kasparov’s exposition
of VK v KID.
As regards Karpov, Kasparov puts his play with the Queen’s
Indian under the microscope, and then looks at his play against the Grünfeld.
But Karpov was always more of a practical player than a theorist, and
Kasparov concentrates on what made him tick. In doing so, he draws together
the commentary of many who were close to Karpov as he prepared for Fischer.
This is fascinating material, much of which has not seen the light of
day before. It is intriguing, and almost touching, to see how Kasparov
restores our memory of the brilliant player whom he himself was to eclipse.
Note, this book does not cover Kasparov’s own matches with Karpov
– that is lined up for volume seven, with the sixth ‘predecessors’
volume devoted to the ‘openings revolution’ (his description)
of the 1970s and 1980s. JS.
This final book of the Anand 1 e4 series (perversely, volume seven was
published before volume six) provides a White repertoire for the French
Defence line beginning 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3, except for 3...Bb4
which was covered in volume seven. JS.
The Dutch chess player Van Perlo spent over 30 years collecting endgame
positions which “have a particular charm for their special character”.
These have now been sorted and edited by the New In Chess team
into a most attractive volume with 1,105(!) positions. All chess life
is here: brilliant wins, amazing draws, unlikely outcomes and not infrequently
defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Great entertainment! Review
by Ray Edwards.
Sosonko takes another wistful glance back at the Soviet (and Dutch) chess world and its characters. All these articles (bar two) have previously appeared in New In Chess. One of the two new articles features Sosonko’s observations on fame in chess, ending with a very funny story about his own name appearing in a Dutch lonely hearts advertisement as the ‘type’ of man the female advertiser was seeking (fame indeed). The second new article is a slightly depressing, but largely accurate, piece about the ageing process and its effect on your chess. The ‘smart chip’ of the title is a reference to Genrikh Chepukaitis (1935-2004), a brilliant blitz player who was always known as ‘chip’ and later became ‘smartchip’ at the Internet Chess Club. Not all the articles are about specific individuals: there is one about chess dreams and another about the killer instinct in chess. The last article, about Donner, is the most amusing, and moving. As Sosonko himself says: “remembering is sometimes sheer joy”. One minor blemish: a wrongly-oriented front cover photo (repeated inside) means that Tal and Spassky seem to be playing with the board round the wrong way. JS.
This is a chunkier volume than usual in this series, which is perhaps
appropriate to an opening which is so rich in variations. The author has
done a workmanlike job of presenting the options (primarily from the Black
point of view) in a clear and thorough way. A very good starting place
for those thinking of taking up this ambitious defence. JS.
Bangiev offers a repertoire built around a kingside fianchetto and c7-c5,
whatever White plays (except 1 b3 or 1 b4). That said, the repertoire
could not be described as ‘all-purpose’: for instance, if you
start 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nf3 c5, you are in some peril of
reaching a highly theoretical Sicilian Dragon. There are plenty of other
openings which overlap this opening scheme. The material is well laid
out and there is plenty to get your teeth into, with nearly 500 practice
tests and a database of some 100,000 games. JS.
A collection of master games, annotated in great depth (a note to every
single move of each game à la Chernev), by one of Britain’s
best and most experienced authors. This impresses as a first-rate work,
and includes very up-to-date games, including some from this year’s
Wijk aan Zee and Gibraltar tournaments. Recommended. Review by Steve
Giddins.
IM Andrew Martin is the presenter of this DVD-ROM, which traces the evolution
of this popular gambit through to the present day and describes its main
themes and ideas. More than four hours of video lessons, plus ChessBase
Reader software as well as an unannotated database of the presented games.
Note: You don't need an up-to-date Fritz or similar to use this
disk (though you do with other titles in the 'Fritztrainer' series). JS.
Garry Kasparov starts off this multi-media offering on his favourite
Black defence with an introduction filmed at the Lasker Museum in Berlin.
He claims to be inspired by his surroundings but in fact seems ill at
ease in the context of a set lecture, and nothing like his ebullient self
at a post-match press conference or in front of a live audience. But this
is only a minor quibble: once he gets into his stride and is considering
a particularly interesting position (he is very hot on the Polugaevsky
variation), he becomes a spellbinding speaker. This is not just a digest
of existing material but contains some of the lines that he would have
been playing had he still been an active player. There are 23 video clips
in total, adding up to some four hours of material. The best player ever
on the most dynamic opening via the most advanced technology that the
21st century has to offer – it doesn’t get any better than this.
Note that this DVD does not run on domestic TV-based DVD players, only
on a computer DVD drive. JS.
This disk has a database of 2.5 million games, of which about 77,000
are annotated, plus special theory databases culled from ChessBase
Magazine. Each one of 500 opening systems (according to the ECO index)
has at least one opening survey. Comes with ChessBase Reader software.
If you buying the upgrade (price £37.99), please return the 2005
disk. JS.
More fun for use with your pocket PC: 1,170+ combination exercises classified
by themes and difficulty. This and the following product run on pocket
PCs with Windows Mobile 2005, Windows Mobile 2003 and Pocket PC 2002.
JS.
This opening training program for pocket PC is aimed at intermediate
players. It contains over 1,250 instructive exercises of varying difficulty
from practical games with refutations of wrong moves as well as other
hints to help find the correct answer. JS.
Everyman titles just in: Rudolf Spielmann: Master of Invention by Neil McDonald, 192 pp, £12.99; Starting Out: Closed Sicilian by Richard Palliser, 192 pp, £13.99; Play The Queen’s Gambit by Chris Ward, 192 pp, £14.99.
