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BCM Chess Book Reviews : February 2001Return to the BCM Review Index
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If you follow the advice of strong players and diligently try to predict
the next move in grandmaster games by covering the text and analysing,
you will no doubt have asked yourself time after time: what is wrong
with my move/idea/plan? This book answers that question. The bulk
of it comprises 16 games which the author has annotated; points are awarded
for finding the best moves, but also for other good lines. The reasons
why other promising candidate moves are mistakes are given. When I worked
through the games, the self-assessment scheme correctly (if unflatteringly)
identified my strength. The book also contains a number of positions on
certain themes, again with points awarded for the purpose of self-assessment.
These positions can be used to determine whether your strengths lie in
the opening, middlegame, or ending. This is an exceptionally instructive
book, and my only complaint is that I could do with a few dozen more games
(i.e. several more volumes) just like these. Review by Helen Milligan.
Following his recent book on 1 c4 e5, young Danish FIDE master Carsten
Hansen now provides detailed coverage of all variations arising from 1
c4 c5, including the Rubinstein variation, the Hedgehog and the Anti-Benoni.
Each chapter is prefaced with a quick summary indicating the current status
of the main variations. Hansen gives lots of original analysis, and his
evaluations often differ from general theoretical opinion. Strategies
for both sides are also explained very well. The book also has an excellent
index which is very important considering the plethora of possible transpositions.
An absolute must for English aficionados. Review by Hans-Peter Hansen
(not related to the author! - ed).
OUT OF PRINT |
It sometimes seems these days as though chess literature has been reduced
to a language of moves and symbols, a language of strict logic, devoid
of feelings. This book is completely the opposite. It is described as
an introduction for the learner and a refresher course for the club player,
but it is a great deal more than that it is a refreshment course,
packed with the authors infectious and boundless enthusiasm for
the game. Given his reputation as an attacking genius, it is not surprising
that much of the new material for this edition comes from inspirational
players like Shirov. Read this book and it will fill your head with ideas,
and remind you of the power chess has to make men (and women) happy! Review
by Helen Milligan.
OUT OF PRINT |
This is a snapshot of the current version of Harold van der Heijdens
endgame study database, which now contains an incredible 58,796 studies
including alternative versions. It is not yet fully definitive, its presentation
of some studies is seriously incomplete, and the search facilities currently
offered by ChessBase are not ideal for endgame study retrieval, but it
contains a vast amount of material and is worth far more than its modest
cost (you need ChessBase 7.0 as well, plus a suitable machine). Buy it,
and use it; it is a great asset, and is much more likely to help than
to mislead. Review by John Beasley, summarized from an extended review
to appear in British Endgame Study News.
Sufficiently up-to-date to include analysis by a triumvirate of English
grandmasters on the Berlin Wall the newly popularized
name for the variation of the Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, with which immoveable
object Vladimir Kramnik showed that irresistible force
Garry Kasparov wasnt. Another newly-minted world champion, Anand,
shares some the secrets of his recent spectacular successes against the
French Defence. Joe Gallagher writes about his potential novelty
of the year in the Sicilian Paulsen or was it Larry Christiansens?
No matter what your opening preferences, there is plenty for everyone
with 36 opening surveys.
Despite the date, this is only just out. If you are interested in chess
history and looking to buy in bulk(!), then this book is for you. It covers
a wide range of topics and is really several books in one. In this edition:
Wilhelm Steinitz in Russia 1895-6 (over 100 pages), Chess in Philadelphia,
extra games of Emanuel Lasker (by Ken Whyld), chess biographies of Duz-Khotimirsky,
Vidmar (snr), Saint-Amant, The Hague (Individual) Olympiad 1928, Steinitz
Lasker 1894 (100+ pages), field studies of chess columns which
in this edition covers how to research at the British Newspaper Library
book reviews, games database, and much more besides.
This is a reprint of Kling and Horwitzs magazine for the period
August 1852 to July 1853. The two famous study experts relabelled this
the New Chess Player and filled it with a cornucopia of studies
and games. A superb collection of material.
More of the same. This was the final number of King and Horwitzs
periodical. They described the undertaking as not fraught with profit
and felt compelled to bring it to an end owing to other and more
pressing engagements.
A reprint of Stauntons magazine for March 1867 to February 1868.
A collection of games, studies and news from the time, plus assorted gossip
and letters from England, Ireland and the USA. This fine periodical, which
must have drawn on many sources around the world, was the blueprint for
chess magazines to come.
Another volume of Stauntons lively and varied magazine. It contains
many games, problems, articles on openings, reports from around the world,
and general articles of interest. One concerns the demise of Maelzels
automaton The Turk, which was the subject of Gerald Levitts
book reviewed in the January 2001 BCM.
There is also an interesting proposal about chess education; and a plea
for quicker play in chess tournaments. One wonders if the FIDE president
has read it.
This A4-sized publication is a collection of all the 928 games played
at the eighth Olympiad (International Team Tournament) held in Buenos
Aires in August/September 1939. The competition was seriously affected
by the outbreak of World War Two but play continued and the event was
completed. Many of the players stayed on in Argentina for the duration
of the war and longer. The Olympiad was won by Germany ahead of Poland,
though the two teams did not meet. Together with the games, the book has
articles on the play taken from the British chess press of the time. This
is the earliest Olympiad for which all the games are available. Many of
the major figures of the chess world competed and this was Capablancas
last event. Opening and player indexes.
This is the second volume of Botvinniks 1984 work Analiticheskie
i kriticheskie raboty, which has been translated into English and
edited by Ken Neat. The first volume was reviewed in the April
2000 issue of BCM. It contains 130 games from the period in
question, plus crosstables of the events Botvinnik played in and other
statistical material and no less than 35 photographs. Once again, there
is much evidence that Botvinnik reviewed and edited his earlier annotations,
with references to material from the 1970s and 1980s. A third volume relating
to the final period of Botvinniks career (1957-1970) is in preparation.
A superb work.
The chess tournament held in Paris in 1900 was one of the great chess
events with most of the worlds leading players taking part. World
champion Emanuel Lasker continued his domination of the chess world with
a second crushing win to follow that in London in 1899. Seventeen players
took part in an event where draws were replayed the style at that
time. The book contains all 166 games, plus the 12 games of a blindfold
simul given by Pillsbury. The game scores and annotations have been taken
from Samuel Rosenthals Traite des echecs et recuil des
parties jouees au Tournoi International de 1900", published in 1901.
The annotations have been supplemented by those from other contemporary
sources.