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BCM Chess Book Reviews : June 2001Return to the BCM Review Index
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This latest book from Gambit contains fifty games from the period 1993-2000,
annotated by the Slovakian grandmaster Igor Stohl. The annotations take
as their source the author’s own notes from his ‘Game of the
Month’ column in the magazine Ceskoslovensky Sach, but he
has revised and expanded these in the light of further analysis by the
players and other annotators, plus his own subsequent analysis. Most of
the games feature big-name battles, many of which will be familiar to
chess readers, including the Microsoft match between Kasparov and the
World. But a comparison with ‘instant’ post-match sources shows
that Stohl scores over earlier annotations with a beguiling blend of deep
analysis and adroit commentary. His assessments are well-balanced, embracing
fresh suggestions to be tried in topical opening lines, thorough coverage
of concrete variations in tactical positions, and strategic possibilities
in positional games. Each game is supplemented with an overview which
summarises its main stages and incidents.
The latest Informator covers the months October 2000 to January 2001,
and contains 601 games, 27 combinations and 18 endgames. There is full
coverage of the Brain Games Network world championship with the players
themselves providing annotations. Kramnik’s win against Hübner
at Dortmund was voted the best game of the previous volume, while Gallagher’s
remarkable 8 Qg4!! against Milov at Biel was voted the most important
theoretical novelty (TN) for the period. Elsewhere Informator readers
have voted on the Magnificent Ten Players of the 20th Century, with Fischer
edging out Kasparov. There is a 24-page article celebrating 80 years of
Vassily Smyslov, with games, photos and statistics. There is a short piece
on the two new world champions who were crowned during the period in question,
with veteran editor Alexander Matanovic advocating a three-way match-tournament
between Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand to determine the “supreme champion”.
Now all that’s needed is the money to fund it.
The ECO reference series scarcely needs an introduction for the serious
student of chess openings. It has been the leading reference work for
nearly thirty years now, and still retains a place of honour despite the
tidal wave of specialist chess literature and databases that have flooded
the market in the intervening years. Volume A deals with games beginning
with moves other than 1 d4 and 1 e4 (hence 1 c4, 1 b3, 1 f4, etc, may
be found within); it also covers 1 d4 openings where Black replies with
anything other than 1...d5 or 1...Nf6, plus 1 d4 Nf6 systems without ...e6
or ...g6 to follow. Hence it contains the English, Dutch, Reti, Benoni
and a number of the more esoteric Queen’s Pawn openings. There are
plenty of references to games played in 2000, and effective cross-referencing
to other parts of the volume. One curiosity: there never was a third edition
of this volume of the Encyclopaedia.
This book is sub-titled ‘How to Master Chess Imbalances’ and
is a companion volume to the 1993 publication How to Reassess Your
Chess by the same author. That said, there is no need to have read
the earlier work in order to benefit from the new one. Basically it consists
of 131 test positions covering all facets of the game. After some pages
discussing thinking techniques and giving a crash course on what constitutes
imbalance, the reader is confronted with the test material. He/she is
asked to come up with the next move, or make a choice or assessment of
the positions, which are divided up into openings, middlegames and endings.
Then there are tests of the reader’s ability to annotate or assess
a whole series of moves at a time, and try to figure out the playing strength
of the (unknown) players. That fills around a third of the book, and the
rest of it consists of the author’s suggested solutions, and reveals
the players of the moves that the reader has been asked to appraise. Naturally
there is a mixture of patzer games and megastar encounters. Finally the
book is topped off with a short glossary, which also appeared in the earlier
book. All this is delivered in Jeremy Silman’s engaging style, as
he draws upon his extensive experience as player and coach. His anecdotes
often cause the reader to laugh out loud.
The obvious book to compare this with is The Ultimate Pirc by
Nunn and McNab, 320 pages, £17.99. It is hard to think of any reason
to prefer the book under review. It is much more expensive, and it although
it has more pages, the material is far more sparsely laid out than in
the Nunn and McNab tome. The analysis and lines from important games stop
a long way short of the earlier book’s coverage. Nunn and McNab’s
book is three years “out of date” but Pirc Alert! does
not make it seem obsolete. The current volume is purely intended for the
black side, whereas The Ultimate Pirc provides lines and ideas
for both sides. On the positive side, one could say that this new work
is a very friendly book, full of plans, tips and ideas which a young player
or beginner would find very helpful. The generous number of diagrams and
lack of heavy analysis mean it can be read easily without a chess set.
For serious study, though, I’d recommend The Ultimate Pirc.
Review by Helen Milligan.
Edited by Howard Staunton, this latest reprint covers the year 1854.
There are articles on the origin of chess by Duncan Forbes, and some cut
and thrust between Staunton and Harrwitz about a proposed match. As ever,
Staunton’s magazine is a lively and informative record of the contemporary
chess scene in the middle of the 19th century.
The next volume of Staunton’s periodical: there are further articles
on the origins of chess. 400 pages (plus index) of games, studies and
problems from the era.
The 1856 volume of Staunton’s magazine contains an encomium of the
player Elijah Williams who had died two years before. As the volume’s
sub-title puts it: “Games by the principal players of Austria, Belgium,
England, France, Italy and Prussia; problems; and original articles”.
A curious omission from the list of countries cited is the United States.
This is a reprint of a brief history of chess in Philadelphia, compiled
and edited by Gustavus Reichhelm, assisted by Walter Shipley, and published
in 1898. Many famous masters of the 19th century played in the great US
city, including Morphy, Lasker and Steinitz, and the book contains their
games as well as numerous charts, tables, problems and a goodly number
of illustrations (some reproducing better than others).
A collection of games, problems, etc, dedicated to the tragically short
life and times of William HK Pollock (1859-1896), who is probably best
known for being one of the competitors in the great Hastings Tournament
of 1895. His health then was not good and he succumbed the following year.
This collection was made by Mrs Frideswide Rowland in 1899, as a tribute
to a very good and evidently likeable player who, after qualifying as
a surgeon in Ireland in 1882, went on to compete successfully in chess
events in Britain and abroad.
Another reprint from Victorian times, this New York chess periodical
started life just four months after BCM, and was very well produced,
with games, articles, and particularly splendid drawings, covering both
American and European chess. There is some squabbling with other periodicals
(including the fledgling BCM) and personalities in this lively
magazine.
The second half of the first volume continues the impression given of
a well-produced chess periodical, comparing favourably with many of its
contemporaries. It was edited by HC Allen, assisted by G Reichhelm and
JN Babson. The writing is colourful and includes a fairly hefty dig at
the BCM editor, John Watkinson.
This was the second, and last volume of Brentano’s, containing just
four issues. Despite the quality of the writing and the contributors (including
Falkbeer and Dufresne), and some superb drawings by GR Halm, the curtain
came down after 16 months.
