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BCM Chess Book Reviews : January 2000Return to the BCM Review Index
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The book is sub-titled “A US Champion provides solutions to real-life chess problems”, but “I Did It My Way” seems somehow more appropriate. Yet Yermolinsky is more Springsteen than Sinatra; though not “born in the USA” he has embraced what he refers to as its honest blue-collar culture and enjoys the prevailing work ethic. He writes in fluent American, using the colourful slang of his adopted country. This can be rather startling for anyone brought up on Kotov and Botvinnik. For example, to express his agreement with Tarrasch’s dictum that ‘a knight on b3/b6 is always bad’, he says : “Man, was the dude right, or what?”. Yermolinsky is acutely aware of the psychological and emotional element involved in chess, and devotes a full chapter to ways of coping with the emotional ebb and flow of the game. His chess career has had some false dawns and disappointments; but also some remarkable upswings, particularly after he moved to the greener pastures of the USA and his beloved Cleveland.
As someone who has always had to work hard to succeed, Yermolinsky gives practical advice which is probably more useful to the ambitious player than that which is passed down from the chess greats. One theme running through the book is the overriding need to be sceptical of chess books, teachers and advice in general, including his own writings and teaching. Having dealt with the psychological side of the game, he turns his attention to the opening, generally coming down on the side of mainstream openings and warning against over-reliance on all-purpose or ‘quick-fix’ systems such as the Grand Prix Attack. He looks into the ideas behind a number of important openings, and gives some invaluable advice on how to choose an opening repertoire and get started with a new opening. Later chapters deal with tactics and strategy, and computer chess.
Yermolinsky depicts the formal chess lessons he received in the old Soviet
Union, under the sub-heading of “The Miseducation of Alex Yermolinsky”.
He was something of a rebel and his reminiscences of being taught by Vladimir
Zak are at times painful as well as humorous. He rejected the dogmatism
of the teaching he received, but one cannot help thinking that his famous
old teacher at least gave him something tangible to rebel against and
indirectly helped to build his chess philosophy. He is refreshingly free
of any impulse to justify himself, and is not afraid to show himself in
a bad light from time to time. In summary, the book contains many invaluable
insights into how a promising but underachieving player turned himself
into a very strong one, and reveals the author’s honest and practical
approach to chess.
. | A NEW EDITION OF THIS BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE - CLICK HERE |
For those who are tired of lugging all five volumes of the full ECO in
their travelling bag to tournaments, comes the solution: a one-volume
SECO (for so it will inevitably be called soon enough). It’s bang
up-to-date with a plethora of 1999 references, as well as to its main
rival in the one-volume market, Nunn’s Chess Openings. Of
course, a lot of material has had to be pruned back from the five full
volumes, and unfortunately the cross-referencing of variations is sometimes
unsystematic, but nevertheless it is a very useful reference source for
the practical player, backed up by the Informator reputation for excellence.
. A fairly conventional beginner’s book, probably for adults and teenagers
rather than children, attractively laid out and written without gimmicks
by International Master Byron Jacobs. Production values are generally
good, though at one point the author warns players of the black pieces
against giving White “free reign” in the centre, and there was
another typo on the same page.
. This book picks up more or less where the previous one left off, and
is intended for those who have learnt the moves but been playing for a
few months. It is unusual for such a book to be written by such a high-stature
player. However Sadler has not acquired the world-weary patina that all
too often seems to go with great strength at the game. He has a lot of
time for those less blessed with talent than himself, and his writing
is suffused with an infectious enthusiasm for the game which has not been
dulled by his time as a world-class professional. Via a number of well-chosen
examples, he manages to get across the message that chess is fun if you
are prepared to work hard. This is an invaluable book and full of excellent
advice for players (of any age) who are keen to learn.
| OUT OF PRINT |
The latest ECO monograph covers the Ruy Lopez lines beginning 1 e4 e5
2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0, such as 5...b5 6 Bb3 Bc5 or 6...Bb7.
References are up-to-date to 1999.
|
Volume 2 is out of print
|
Volume One covers 1888-1925 and Volume Two 1926-1942. This two-volume
work is cheaply produced but is more than a database dump. The games are
set out Informator-style with extensive analysis (with sources attributed)
and liberal quantities of contemporary annotations in English, both by
Capablanca himself, his opponents or others. There are 826 games in total
across the two volumes; the author claims that this constitutes “all
his official games with one exception”. Between games there are reports
of the tournaments and matches in which he took part and quotations from
Capablanca’s own writings. Volume One has a foreword by the author,
a summary of the Cuban’s life and his career statistics; Volume Two
has an openings index for both volumes, a “list of famous opponents”
and a bibliography. Useful source books for an important subject.
| MORE RECENT EDITION OF THIS DISK REVIEWED HERE |
This ChessBase CD-ROM contains a database of 4,000+ analysed games in
the Budapest Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e5!?), training databases for strategy,
tactics and opening traps, plus an interesting history of the variation
from its beginnings in the early part of the century. The data comes complete
with a Chessbase Reader, so there is no need to own ChessBase or Fritz
to be able to enjoy the contents. The author is a 34-year-old Muscovite
chess trainer with an ELO of 2300. His English is a little sketchy but
he has an engaging manner and provides endless examples of Budapest themes
which the student will soon pick up.
The first book came out in 1998 and the follow-up has been delayed by
Batsford’s re-emergence. The author has structured his course in
chronological terms and this book corresponds to the second year (months
13-24) of the students’ work. Nigel Davies is a very experienced
teacher and has put together a useful textbook which can be used in conjunction
with formal teaching or on its own. Presentation is not very exciting,
and Batsford’s new black and white livery might be rather unappealing
for younger students.
This is perhaps the most challenging of defences to 1 d4, with Steffen
Pedersen’s Gambit Guide being the most recent offering available.
The opening is examined via complete games and an index of games appears
at the back. There is no global openings index, though each chapter has
a summarising index of its own. All in all, a very useful survey of the
popular black system that arises after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5.
Neil McDonald has a splendid track record as a chess author and brings
his usual qualities to bear on an examination of this sturdy black system.
There are no 1999 references, but plenty of 1998 ones, including two games
from the memorable Rowson-Adams match held that year in London. The lack
of a truly comprehensive opening index detracts slightly from its reference
value, but this is a worthy openings manual which will no doubt be of
service to the Sveshnikov practitioner.
The idea for this book came out of a previous publication by the same
publisher – Legend on the Road – covering Fischer’s US
simul tour of 1964. The two authors have traced games from Fischer’s
early years. The first game in the book dates from 1953 and shows the
youngster from Brooklyn being trounced at blitz by Dan Mayers, now a familiar
face on the British tournament scene. There is lots of other interesting
material culled from many sources, and some newly published photographs
of the young Fischer. Loyal Fischer fans will consider this a must.
.