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BCM Chess Book Reviews : November 2002

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School of Chess Excellence 3: Strategic Play by Mark Dvoretsky, Olms, 232 pages, £18.00.

This is the third in the reissued, retranslated series of works by Mark Dvoretsky, and we need hardly question its quality, which is of the highest order. This particular volume features more original material than the previous two (though none of the featured games are dated later than 1992), and covers positional play, plus an extensive chapter on play in simple positions.
The style of the book is akin to a series of stimulating university lectures, punctuated by chatty anecdotes, questions to the class and exercises. For chess players who want to get on: don’t think about it, buy it and read it (and then let the thinking start).



 

Starting Out: The Caro-Kann by Joe Gallagher, Everyman, 192 pages, £12.99.

A fatter and more substantial book than previous volumes in the series, possibly down to different grade paper being used. The content is also pretty substantial: Gallagher is not a Caro-Kann player himself but has produced a book on the opening that will be of great interest to experienced players as well as the target audience for this series of books (intermediate strength players). It is not intended to provide comprehensive coverage but there are very good summaries of the ideas behind all the main variations, with Joe also showing his soft spot for the offbeat but potent ‘Fantasy Variation’. Excellent value.


 

 

Starting Out: The Queen’s Gambit by John Shaw, Everyman, 144 pages, £12.99.

Another good-value overview of a popular opening, this time by strong Scottish IM John Shaw, making his Everyman debut. Don’t be fooled by the back cover blurb which starts talking about the ‘Queen’s Gambit Declined’; this really is about the entire system, including Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Slav, Chigorin, etc. Of course that means there is a phenomenal amount to cover in just 144 pages, but Shaw has produced a very readable and useful primer.

Sicilian Kan by John Emms, Everyman, 192 pages, £14.99.

The Kan (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 a6) was the first Sicilian variation that the author took up, having struggled against it when playing White. This variation is slightly less complex and memory-intensive than such Sicilian variations as the Dragon and the Najdorf, though these things are relative compared with other less theoretical responses to 1 e4. Effectively what you get here are 75 related games, annotated by one of the UK’s top chess authors.

Understanding The Sacrifice by Angus Dunnington, Everyman, 143 pages, £14.99.

IM Angus Dunnington aims to avoid the obvious puzzle-book approach to presenting sacrifices and instead concentrates on positional sacrifices rather than the tactical variety. Dunnington categorizes and selects his material carefully and has organized it into a logical sequence. The final product is a very instructive and enjoyable work.






 

Behind Deep Blue by Feng-hsiung Hsu, Princeton UP, 298 pages hardcover, £19.95.

The author is the programmer at the heart of the IBM ‘Deep Blue’ project which finally ended Garry Kasparov’s aura of invincibility and, arguably, dealt a severe blow to the mystique of chess itself. The publishers, obviously worried that chessplayers wouldn’t read it because they would think it was a ‘nerdy book’ for computer programmers – and vice versa – have pitched it as a book which encompasses both specialisms, but also tells a human story of discovery and adventure. The claim is justified as this is a very readable book and is basically a story about the coming together between two very different worlds, and the clash of personalities involved. Most of us have heard Garry Kasparov’s version of events via the chess media but this is a valuable opportunity to hear the other side of the story.



 

The Steinitz Papers: Letters and Documents of the First World Chess Champion, Ed. Kurt Landsberger, McFarland, 325 pages hardcover, £40.95.

Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900) is the key personality in the development of chess from the time of Anderssen to Lasker and his contemporaries. His great-great-nephew Kurt Landsberger brought out a huge 500-page book on the great man in 1993. Now the same author tackles the more intimate details of Steinitz’s life and times, as revealed through letters and other papers.
Of course, the life of a professional was hard, and there are many insights in the book of the difficulties of this calling. There are sections on the negotiations and resulting contracts for the matches with Zukertort, Chigorin, Gunsberg and Lasker. We have here a very rich collection of material, spoiled only by the occasional lapse in English.
 



 

The Complete Sveshnikov Sicilian by Yuri Yakovich, Gambit, 272 pages, £15.99.

This book marks Russian grandmaster Yuri Yakovich’s debut as an author. It is a well-indexed, up-to-date and skilfully cross-referenced opening manual which will be essential reference material for existing aficionados of the Sveshnikov, if somewhat intimidating for anyone trying to set up a repertoire from scratch. It is packed full of variations and relatively short on text, though the author does volunteer his own opinions and assessments.

The Nimzo-Indian: 4 e3 by Carsten Hansen, Gambit, 320 pages, £16.99.

The main line of the Nimzo-Indian Defence gets the full treatment from Gambit’s prolific author FM Carsten Hansen. As the sub-title says, “comprehensive coverage of the long-established main line of the Nimzo”. It does exactly what it says on the cover.

The Chess Machine: José Raúl Capablanca CD-ROM by Tim Sawyer, Pickard, £19.99.

This database of 1,214 games provides the most complete exhibition yet of Capablanca’s art. Most of the games are unannotated – regrettably in some cases where opponents’ notes are available – but 80 contain Capablanca’s own commentary. The CD also includes three of his books converted into electronic format: Capablanca-Lasker Match 1921, My Chess Career, and the archaic but still sound beginner’s guide Chess Fundamentals. With biographical accounts and appreciations of Capablanca by several contemporaries, crosstables and a gallery of photographs, Sawyer’s compilation is attractive and good value. Review by James Vigus.




     

Classical Dutch by Jan Pinski, Everyman, 160 pages, £14.99.

Just over half of this book is concerned with theory starting from the position after 1 d4 f5 2 c4 e6 3 g3 Nf6 4 Bg2 Be7 5 Nf3 0-0 6 0-0 d6, with the rest devoted to other systems other than those involving a Black kingside fianchetto (Leningrad) or an early d5 (Stonewall). Polish IM Pinski presents the opening via the analysis of games. Nicely presented and a useful manual for Dutch devotees.

Learn From Your Chess Mistakes by Chris Baker, Batsford, 144 pages, £14.99.

Aimed at the club player and featuring games and positions from UK club and county players, much of the material here seems to come from previously published columns and articles of the author. He is refreshingly free of vanity and shares a good number of his own mistakes with the readership; and he also likes to give you plenty of background chatter which makes for a pleasant and effortless read.

Chess Lists (2nd Edition) by Andrew Soltis, McFarland, 248 pages, £22.50.

This book, first published in 1984, features the best, worst, shortest, longest games/champions, etc, of chess. This wonderful browsing material has been updated, but to some degree the balance of the book has been destroyed; e.g. is it meaningful to compare blunders played under modern quick-play time limits with disasters of the past? The book is printed to McFarland’s high standards, but with a paperback cover this time. Review by Ray Edwards.

New In Chess Yearbook 64, Ed. Sosonko, van der Sterren, 236 pages, £14.95.

The latest opening theory collection from New In Chess has all the usual features: forum, readers’ discussions, Sosonko’s column, book reviews by Glenn Flear, plus 35 opening surveys, including one rather one poignant one by the recently deceased Eduard Gufeld.

The Chess Player’s Chronicle (New Series) Vol. 1 1877, Ed. CE Ranken, Moravian Chess, 288 pages hardcover, £24.99.

Another Victorian periodical gets the reprint treatment. This one was edited by the Rev. CE Ranken, and two other Reverends (Skipworth and Wayte) were included amongst the editorial board. Lots of game scores and problems, plus plenty of news from Britain and around the world. A very chatty and readable publication.

King’s Indian Attack CD-ROM by Don Maddox, ChessBase CD-ROM, £18.50.

This CD-ROM on the all-purpose King’s Indian Attack has plenty of explanatory text in English (divided into 23 files). The database consists of 20,000 games, with 740 annotated, plus a training database and a tree of variations. For anyone intending to take up the KIA, this is a good place to start.

CT-ART 3.0, Convekta CD-ROM, £21.99.

This product comes highly recommended by Michael de la Maza in his book Rapid Chess Improvement, reviewed in the June BCM. Installation is very simple, and on loading you go immediately into a customisable desktop to start testing your tactical powers. It is addictive and quite testing for players of all strengths. The training presentation is similar to that of ChessBase’s training mode, except that CT-ART has a facility for named users to keep track of their scores. The program rates your selection of moves via an elo-based system. Great fun and good value for money.

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