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Magazine Chess Book Reviews : October 2008

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Questions of Modern Chess Theory by Isaac Lipnitsky, Quality Chess, 228 pages, £15.99.

This superb book had a high reputation in the Soviet Union, and with good reason, for its tragic author, who died of leukaemia in 1959 after three years of great suffering, worked on it for many years, refining and expanding it from a monograph on Ragozin’s Defence (1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Nf3 Bb4) to a much wider set of opening and middlegame topics.
    The insights produced by the retired Ukrainian army officer were approvingly quoted by the likes of Botvinnik and Fischer (who learned Russian to gain the fruits of the Kiev sage’s views) for, after all, the unknown master had come second to Keres in the 1950 USSR Championship, outpacing the likes of Smyslov, Boleslavsky, Geller, Petrosian, Averbakh...
    This English version, translated by John Sugden, omits the Ragozin Defence material, but, as a bonus, the reader has a 41-page appendix of 12 games of Lipnitsky mostly with his own notes.
    The work will convince a wider audience of the deep thought Lipnitsky devoted to top-level chess and its technique. As the blurb states, Russian experts claim it is one of the most influential chess books of the 20th century. For me, it is definitely book of the month, and very likely book of the year. Review by Bernard Cafferty.

Viswanathan Anand: My Career Vol. 1 by Vishy Anand, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £26.95.
Viswanathan Anand: My Career Vol. 2 by Vishy Anand, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £26.95. (Buy both for £49.95).

In these two DVDs, world champion Vishy Anand presents the viewer with the story of his career so far. The first disk (3:48 hrs playing time) deals with his games up to 1999, with his two FIDE world championship successes being covered in volume two (4:28 hrs). Technical presentation is as good as ever, with the software being smooth and intuitive to install. A highly interesting product which you will want to watch again and again. JS.

Starting Out: The c3 Sicilian by John Emms, Everyman, 207 pages, £14.99.

John Emms’ name on the cover is a guarantee of both readability and reliability for this introductory primer on one of the theory-dodgers’ favourite ways of countering the Sicilian. Of course, so popular is this system that it has developed a fair amount of theory in its own right, particularly with the growth of Black systems based on 2...Nf6 followed by a kingside fianchetto but the author steers the reader through it with his customary thoroughness. JS.

Starting Out: D-Pawn Attacks by Richard Palliser, Everyman, 272 pages, £14.99.

Another useful work from Everyman on three d-pawn attack systems: the Colle-Zukertort (1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6), the Barry (1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf6 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Bf4) and ‘150’ Attack (1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Be3 followed by Qd2). It also covers the ‘Colle Queen’s Indian’ (1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 e3 b6). A thorough and well presented work which should give players in the 1400-2000 bracket plenty to work on. JS.

St. Petersburg 1909 by Emanuel Lasker, Russell Enterprises, 189 pages, £13.99.

A reprint in algebraic notation of a famous book of a famous tournament, the Chigorin Memorial, in which Emanuel Lasker was threatened with relegation to second place by the rising star Rubinstein. In the end, the two heroes shared first place, though the younger man beat the older in a famous game in the third round.
    19 players entered the fray and Lasker annotates the 175 games produced with a light touch, yet manages to justify the proud claim in his preface: “this is a book in which analysis is accurate”. The new edition has a foreword by Tim Harding, who sets the scene from a historical point of view. The book has the distinction of appearing in German, Russian (twice) and in English (with a Dover reprint along the way). Review by Bernard Cafferty.

The Chess Assassin’s Business Manual by Bob Long, Thinkers’ Press, 293 pages, £14.99.

Chess publisher Bob Long has been in the chess business for 40 years, publishing books for 35 of them, in the process being responsible for the publication of a good number of fine chess books. This semi-autobiographical work is his take on many facets of the game as it is presented in books and reviews, together with homilies on how to run a business and anecdotes on people in the game. He tells us the book was years in the making. It is an unusual and enjoyable ramble through a busy life in chess in which the author tells of his own business ventures and his associations with many people involved in the game. JS.




   

Chess School 3 by Slobodan Mirkovic, Montenegro Chess Federation, 180 pages, £14.99.

Another useful book which could be used in conjunction with chess lessons, this volume covers a number of disparate themes, including rook and one pawn versus rook, rook and three versus rook and two pawns, endings with four rooks, combinations with rook and knight sacrifices, etc. It is well laid out and provides ample explanatory text. JS.

How to Beat the French Defence by Andreas Tzermiadianos, Everyman, 325 pages, £15.99.

The Greek IM author has produced quite a chunky repertoire book based on the Tarrasch (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2) as White’s best way to counter the French. Consequently, the book gives more Black alternatives than White, though there is some coverage of alternative moves for the first player. The analysis is quite dense but there is also plenty of textual explanation and authorial opinion. JS.





   

Just in:
The ABC of Evans Gambit by Andrew Martin, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £21.95;
ChessBase Magazine 125, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £17.50 ;
The Tarrasch Defence by Nigel Davies, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £21.95;
The Chess Café Puzzle Book 2 by Karsten Müller, Russell Enterprises, 275 pages, £17.99;
The Berlin Wall by John Cox, Quality Chess, 318 pages, £16.99;
Chess Mazes 2 by Bruce Albertson, Russell Enterprises, 141 pages, £11.99;
Chess Training Pocket Book II by Lev Alburt and Al Lawrence, CIRC, 205 pages, £12.99;
Chess Results, 1947-1950 by Gino Di Felice, McFarland, 485 pages, £29.95 (postage £3.50 UK, £5.00 EUR, £7.50 ROW).

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