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Chessville
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The Big Book of Chess Reviewed by Rick Kennedy
“At first, playing chess
will seem difficult. Then it will get easier, before it seems utterly
impossible!” Eric Schiller’s latest book is a frothy, fun collection of instruction and chessiana – the kind of title that I can see myself taking down from the Library’s shelf, thumbing through, always finding something to smile at. For the new chess enthusiast, it’s “big” but not too big (i.e. not Mammoth), and the content ranges far and wide (if not deep) – the author sees The Big Book of Chess as kind of an appetizer for the newbie or the curious, avant the endless meal that is the Royal Game itself. Surely the publisher overstates when it places on the front cover “everything you’ve ever wanted to know about chess”; although Schiller, with a PhD in linguistics as well as an FM in FIDE, likely understands that the “everything” in the targeted reader’s mind is likely to be ever-so-much smaller than the “everything” that may actually be believed to be out there (variously defined), so perhaps Cardoza is not too far off in the final analysis. In any event, those encountering The Big Book of Chess likely face less disappointment than the sculptors and Playboy-wannabes who drooled at first awareness of Schiller and Watson’s 1995 Big Book of Busts. Run your finger down the menu, er, Contents, and you’ll encounter:
The Big Book of Chess is loaded with chess diagrams, photos, sidebars, bolded quotes, indents, changes in fonts and font sizes – it’s not a book you have to read front-to-back, chapter-by-chapter. My favorite quote, by Pope Innocent III:
Of course, errors creep in, and disappointments arise. I did not go through my copy with anything like a Sherlockian magnifying glass (or a Winterian spleen) but a few still tumbled out when I raised an eyebrow. Gary Kasparov’s quote “Chess is not skittles!” (p. 129) for example, appeared in Batsford Chess Openings (which Schiller had a hand in) regarding 1…g5 as a response to 1.c4, not in response to 1.g4. On page 177 we learn that “Colonel Moreau holds a special place in the history of chess, though not a coveted one. He managed to lose all 26 of his games in this event.” Unmentioned was the event: Monte Carlo 1903. The conclusion of the Harry Potter chess game (proper credit is given to creator IM Jeremy Silman) on page 227 will puzzle readers who notice that the enemy King is not checkmated. From first to last diagram, there should be a white pawn on h2. (Quite possibly wizardry, although I did not find “He whose name shall not be mentioned” listed among the team that examined the book at the proof stage.) The photo on page 287 seems to have a hair on it, and along with several others seems rather dark. In the section “All About the Openings” on page 296 the author gives only four references – all books he has written. Cardoza does Schiller no favors by referring to the book (on the back cover) as “one of the most comprehensive and important books on chess ever published!” – unless you are also willing to believe that on my desk at work are photos of “four of the most beautiful people the world has ever seen!!” The Big Book of Chess largely hits the target the author aims for. The more chess knowledge, skill and experience the reader has, however, the less likely the book will benefit him or her; although there still should be some entertainment value. Patzers on up to Grandmasters will still howl at the reproduction of the Oregon Department of Corrections’ “Publication Violation Notice” that disallowed Prisoner #13353605 from receiving a chess book because it “contains code throughout”! Although I might
move down the Library shelf and offer GM Patrick Wolff’s The Complete
Idiot's Guide to Chess (3rd Ed, 2005) to an adult friend as an
alternative, or finger-walk over to Fox and James’ The Even More Complete
Chess Addict (1993) for my share of chess zaniness, The Big Book of
Chess has its place among the many titles dedicated to the 64 squares
(and I will be returning my copy there later this morning).
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