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BCM Chess Book Reviews : December 2003

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My Great Predecessors Part 2 by Garry Kasparov, Everyman, 480 pages, £25.00.

Part two of Kasparov’s monumental work – which he tells us is going to run to five volumes – covers world champions Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov and Mikhail Tal. As we go to press, we’ve just seen a few pages (covering Tal’s dazzling eighth-round win against Smyslov from the 1959 Candidates’ tournament), but it looks like being every bit as good as volume one, which was recently awarded the British Chess Federation’s prestigious Book of the Year award for 2003.

Postage £3.50 UK, £5.00 Europe, £7.50 Outside Europe
 

School of Chess Excellence 4: Opening Developments by Mark Dvoretsky, Olms, 205 pages, £18.00.

The fourth and final part of School of Excellence is a fitting conclusion to a splendid series of books. It is substantially more original and more up-to-date than previous volumes, having been earlier published in Russian and German but updated for the English version. Dvoretsky is amongst the very best chess teachers, and his classroom technique transfers seamlessly to a book. He excels in giving an extended account of a game, typically one played by one of his own students. He then duly sets it into the context of the event in which it was played, the career trajectory of the pupil in question, or the history of the particular opening. There is plenty of interesting advice on what (and who) to study along the way. Dvoretsky’s track record as a generator of grandmasters is without parallel and his homilies carry great weight. There is not too much in-depth discussion of specific openings or theory (which Dvoretsky considers his personal weak spot), nor is there even an opening index, so it could be argued that the title is misleading. A riveting read for any ambitious player. JS

The Queen’s Gambit Accepted by Konstantin Sakaev and Semko Semkov, Chess Stars, 221 pages, £14.99.

This looks like a good summary of the latest theory in one of today’s most popular openings. Annotations are in reasonably intelligible English, and there is plenty of advice and not too much variation spaghetti. Produced by one of the most reliable and competent East European publishers of the present day. JS

ChessBase Magazine 96, ChessBase CD-ROM, £17.50.

1,719 games, plus a multimedia report dealing with the Super-Grandmaster tournament in Dortmund, with an interview with Carsten Hensel, the manager of Kramnik and Leko. JS

The Times Winning Moves by Ray Keene & Byron Jacobs, Everyman, 160 pages, £12.99.

This is a collection of 500 chess puzzles from Ray Keene’s newspaper column. They are of the ‘White to play and blast Black off the board in one move’ variety. An absorbing book to flip through whilst riding on a train or to take your mind off the forthcoming dentist’s drill. JS

It’s Your Move: Tough Puzzles by Chris Ward, Everyman, 160 pages, £12.99.

Another book from Chris Ward, setting multiple-choice questions about various positions arranged into tests. This selection is more testing, with the reader’s positional skill being tested rather more than usual. Enjoyable. JS

Advance and Other Anti-French Variations by Lev Psakhis, Batsford, 160 pages, £14.99.

If it’s about the French Defence, and the author is Psakhis, then opening cognoscenti know that they will have to own the book though, once again, the author has not been well served by the publisher in terms of layout. The other variations referred to are the Exchange variation, 2 d3, 2 Qe2, with some coverage of very minor second move alternatives. Essential if you want to keep up with French theory. JS

World Chess Championship 1948 by Harry Golombek, Hardinge Simpole, 226 pages, £16.95.

A reprint of the 1949 Bell book, in descriptive notation. Harry Golombek was on the spot and produced a masterly account that befitted this epic match-tournament. Pen pictures of the players and some photographs which reproduce reasonably well. JS

World Chess Championships 1957 and 1958 by Harry Golombek, Hardinge Simpole, 179 pages, £19.95.

A combination of Golombek’s 1957 match book, published by McGibbon and Kee, and his annotations and report of the 1958 match reprinted from BCM. High quality material. JS

Creative Chess Strategy by Alfonso Romero, Gambit, 224 pages, £17.99.

A large-format strategy book by Spanish grandmaster Romero, with deeply-annotated games illustrating themes such as the isolated queen pawn, control of a colour complex and other positional subjects. It is discursively written and enjoyable to read. JS

Decision-Making at the Chessboard by Viacheslav Eingorn, Gambit, 208 pages, £15.99.

Mainly a collection of games played by the 46-year-old Ukrainian grandmaster Viacheslav Eingorn, who is not very active these days but was a formidable player in the 1980s. A few games by other players are included to illustrate his themes. His writing is thoughtful and entertaining, and this is a good read. JS

Chess Endgame Training by Bernd Rosen, Gambit, 176 pages, £13.99.

This book was first published in German some years ago and has been fully revised for this, the first English language edition. It’s a well-structured endgame primer with a useful chapter describing how the material may be used for classroom training. JS

Just in: Bad Bishop video series are now available as DVDs at the same price of £19.99. Accelerated Dragon Assault! (Andrew Martin); Bashing the Sicilian With Íb5 (Vols. 1 and 2, both by Murray Chandler); The Knock-Out Nimzo (Tony Kosten); and Scheming Scandinavian with 2...Ëxd5 (Andrew Martin). Click here for details

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