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Chessville
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TWO MASTERS reviewed by Russell Miller
My first experience with a chess work on CD turned out fine. ChessBase has taken the two IM John Donaldson books, “Elmars Zemgalis - GM without a Title” and “Olaf Ulvestad - An American Original” (really just a pamphlet) - in full and added more content and more games. The Zemgalis section has 189 games, 53 with notes while the Ulvestad section has 333 games and 2 positions, 55 with notes. Did I mention there are pictures also? There is also a short interview with Zemgalis from 2002. The software you need to read/play the books is on the CD. If you have ChessBase software already on your computer you can use that. There is no instruction manual, but one is not needed as I proved by getting along without one. The text is clear and easy to read and move through, and it is broken up into sections. The games appear in ChessBase format with a board that is clear and easy to follow; the move list appears along the right side of the screen. Some of the games have notes, however they are not very deep for the most part. Most were written by Donaldson but some are from publications such as the WASHINGTON CHESS LETTER. The annotated games appear in the table of contents. You bring up the list of games and then click on the one you want to look at. A lot of Washington/Oregon chess history appears on this CD. I played over an Ulvestad - Clark Harmon game from the 1960’s that Harmon lost when Ulvestad forced a Queen against two Bishops ending. Biographical information on both players is covered by the CD. The crosstables of a number of tournaments are given, and being a chess history buff I wish there had been more for Ulvestad. Zemgalis started in Latvia with a lot of play in Germany before he came to Seattle in 1952. There really is not a lot of USA play for him and what there was is mostly in the Seattle area where he handled the likes of Viktors Pupols, Jim McCormick and also Ulvestad. Zemgalis had a wife to support so he had to earn a living as a math professor when they settled in Seattle. Ulvestad on the other hand started playing in Seattle as a teenager, and spent much of his life earning money from chess play and instruction. He went to the New York City chess scene for awhile, and got a trip to Russia in 1946 with the USA Team, where he won one and lost one to David Bronstein. His full article about that trip from the pages of the WASHINGTON CHESS LETTER of 1948-49 appears on the CD. Arthur Dake of Portland was on the team also. Ulvestad spent some time in the US Army during World War II then returned to Seattle with a move to Europe in the 1960’s. Donaldson is an excellent author, with many fine books to his credit. The two included on this CD are no exception, and should provide both enjoyment and edification for the discerning reader. The added material serves to further enhance the experience. This CD is highly recommended. Check out your favorite chess products supplier to purchase this CD.
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