Magazine Chess Book Reviews : December 2007
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Grandmaster Secrets: The Caro Kann
by Peter Wells, Gambit, 175 pages, £15.99.
Over the years, the dearth of good books on the Caro-Kann has been a major drawback for would-be practitioners of the opening. 2007 looks like the year this started to change. After Jovanka Houska’s first-class Play the Caro-Kann, published earlier this year comes a splendid volume from Peter Wells, long one of the finest and most interesting authors in the English language. Unlike Jovanka’s effort, which was a repertoire book, this covers all major lines, and gives an excellent summary of the state of theory up to mid-2007. As one would expect, the opening looks in pretty decent shape, especially in the 4...Bf5 main lines recommended by Houska. 3 e5 is definitely the most dangerous, and here Wells’ detailed coverage of 3...Bf5 may prove useful to those Caro players who are not totally happy with Houska’s repertoire choice 3...c5. This book should be indispensable to almost Caro players, actual or potential, including those whose staple repertoire is based on Houska’s recommendations. Review by Steve Giddins.
Starting Out: Classical Sicilian
by Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik, Everyman, 176 pages, £14.99.
The latest Starting Out volume covers positions beginning after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6. There is a vast amount of material to cover here, given the complexities of 6 Bc4 and the numerous potential lines after 6 Bg5 (not to mention 6 Be2, 6 g3, etc). The authors do a reasonable job, but only at the cost of filling the book with variations, and largely dispensing with the more basic positional explanations which usually characterise the Starting Out concept. As such, I am not sure what the target readership might be; weaker players may be put off by the level of detail and lack of explanatory prose, whilst stronger players are likely to turn their noses up (unfairly, in this case) at a Starting Out volume. Review by Steve Giddins.
Grandmaster Secrets: Winning Quickly at Chess
by John Nunn, Gambit, 255 pages, £15.99. 
This is a substantially revised and expanded edition of 101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures, which was published in 1999 and reviewed in the September issue of that year. The book is intended to entertain as well as educate and there are enough diagrams (in most cases three or four per page) to make it possible to read without recourse to a chessboard. If you are looking for a ‘comfort read’ during the long winter evenings, this looks like a very good choice. JS.
50 Ways to Win at Chess
by Steve Giddins, Gambit, 173 pages, £14.99. 
A sequel to the same author’s 50 Essential Chess Lessons, reviewed in our February 2006 issue, and covering a wide range of topics including the psychological approach to handling openings and ‘must-win’ situations. The selection of games takes in many of the famous names, but we also see many British players such as John Littlewood, Julian Hodgson, Jeff Horner, Aaron Summerscale, David Howell and Kent players Ian Snape, Rory O’Kelly and... Steve Giddins himself. Review by Bernard Cafferty.
The Complete Chess Workout
by Richard Palliser, Everyman, 318 pages, £17.99. 
This fairly weighty book contains 1,200 tactical chess puzzles. The first 1,000 or so puzzles are arranged six per page, with opening, middlegame and endgame all being featured, and then there are ten tests (of 12 puzzles each) to test what has been learnt from the body of the book. It is an impressive compilation. The author casts his net wide, and there won’t be too many that the reader will have seen before. JS.
The Endgame
by Marat Makarov, Chess Stars, 180 pages, £14.99. 
A typical Russo-Bulgar production in the series Chess Library for Practical Players, with a good selection of instructive positions, including a topical example of Carlsen losing a R+P vs R ending that was a book draw at Moscow 2006. Review by Bernard Cafferty.
Chess Success: Planning After the Opening
by Neil McDonald, Batsford, 267 pages, £14.99. 
This work has an early reference to Capablanca whose intuitive play is so difficult to imitate, so that the rest of us have to use our brains in a systematic way, as outlined in this book. Its flavour may be gained from some chapter headings: The Smiting Style, The Support Point Centre and even Roaring Lion and Crouching Tigers! The author makes a contribution to the debate about planning as considered in Kotov’s Think Like A Grandmaster and quotes 40-odd games ranging from late 19th century to efforts from recent years. Review by Bernard Cafferty.
Sicilian Defence with 2 c3: Alapin Variation
by Sergei Tiviakov, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £18.99. 
Tiviakov is probably the ideal person to be presenting this DVD, as a world-class expert in the c3 Sicilian for nearly 20 years. You get four hours of the thoughts and analysis of this super-grandmaster so it is indispensible for anyone interested in this popular line. JS.
Beating the French, Vol. 1
by Rustam Kasimdzhanov, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £18.99.
Beating the French, Vol. 2
by Rustam Kasimdzhanov, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £18.99.  
Kasimdzhanov is a fluent and witty speaker of English, and this makes his presentation of what to do against the French entertaining as well as instructive. His suggested repertoire is based on the orthodox 3 Nc3 move. On the first disk, he covers the main line Winawer (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 c3 Bb4 4 e5) and on the second the Boleslavsky variation (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 f4 c5 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 Be3). The disks run to about 3½ hours each. JS.
ChessBase Magazine 120
ChessBase DVD-ROM, £17.50. 
Mihail Marin annotates games from the Mexico world championship tournament and there is also coverage of other recent events such as the UK versus China match and Biel. JS.
Just in: Shredder 11, £37.50, Deep Shredder 11 (for a multi-processor machine) £74.99 (both disks require a DVD drive and at least Windows XP (SP 2).
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