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Magazine Chess Book Reviews : December 2009Return to the Magazine Review Index
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The variations of the Ruy Lopez opening which the Dutch/Bosnian grandmaster considers in this volume are the Jaenisch Gambit (3...f5); the Delayed Jaenisch Gambit (3...a4 4 Ba4 f5); the Cozio variation (3...Nge7); the Smyslov variation (3...g6); Bird’s Defence (3...Nd4); and the Classical variation (3...Bc5) – hence the sub-title of the book, which is Offbeat Weapons and Unexplored Resources. Though the emphasis tends to be on variations from the point of view of Black, Sokolov tries to be fair-minded and also considers positions with White’s welfare in mind. It is a well-written, well-structured book with a lot of interesting ideas to explore. Sokolov introduces each chapter with plenty of textual material and also summaries at the end. It would probably suit players rated from 1800 upwards. JS.
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Sub-titled ‘A Brand-new System to Become a Better Player’, this is a substantial work, rich in ideas for all three stages of the game, originally written in Spanish and translated into English by a Spanish friend of the Ukrainian author. Much of the early part of the book is well-trodden territory, so attention is likely to be concentrated on the opening section, pp 227-346. Nothing here for e4 players, since the treatment is restricted to three systems: the Sämisch 4 a3 against the Nimzo-Indian and its related line 4 f3; the Dutch Stonewall; and the King’s Indian Four Pawns Attack, covered over just 26 pages. The Sämisch is a meaty section, but I fail to see there the sideline 4 a3 Bxc3+ 5 bxc3 c5 6 f3 and now 6...Qa5!?, played by Najdorf and with which the reviewer has achieved reasonable positions. One annoying feature is to refer to games by a code rather than a page reference – poor editorial planning. Review by Bernard Cafferty.
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Spawned by the internet age, this abomination of the Noble Game is based on pure instinct rather than rational thought. Described as great fun by its protagonists, it is pattern recognition and tactics to the nth degree, in which Nakamura excels. Review by Bernard Cafferty.
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This marvellous work, replete with information on every aspect of chess, won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year prize in 1997 and now comes out in a third revised and updated edition. 500+ pages for less than a tenner is certainly value for money in these hard times. BC.
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The Romanian author has established an enviable reputation in recent years. Here he covers 1 c4 e5 in its various branches: the Reversed Dragon, Nge2 lines, Reversed Rossolimo (...Bb4), 2...d6 and ...f5 lines, Keres’ 3...c6 and so on. A monumental work from a skilled writer on the game. BC.
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Planning is the most difficult part of the game of chess, says the blurb. (Are there any easy parts? I’ve yet to find one, responds the reviewer). But, yes, planning is certainly hard work. This disk has more than three hours of video commentary by the renowned ex-Soviet grandmaster writer and trainer Adrian Mikhalchishin, who now resides in Slovenia. On the screen he somehow manages to look like a typical British office worker... until he opens his mouth, of course, when the strong Slavonic accent is revealed. He is a fluent English speaker, without quite reaching the exalted Kasparov/Svidler level when speaking our language.
At first I was a bit bewildered by the menu when I opened the disk (using ChessBase 9). On the screen it gives the title as Power of Planning and Majority (whereas the word ‘Majority’ does not appear on the box cover). and the first few lectures are labelled Majority 01, Majority 02, etc. I clicked on the first one and Mikhalchishin immediately pitched into a verbal annotation featuring pawn majorities, without any form of introduction or preamble. Had I missed something? I felt like I had arrived late for the lecture and didn’t know what it was all about. I then opened the first of the Planning lectures and this time I found something more comprehensible, as Mikhalchishin delivered what was obviously an introduction to the whole question of planning. He speaks rather quickly and it wasn’t always easy to follow him as he rattled out his ideas (some of them very interesting, by the way).
Having now seen quite a few such videos, I find I am less awestruck by the technology (though it is generally excellent) and am becoming more interested in considering what precisely a student can gain from working with them. I’m not convinced that a chess student will derive much concrete benefit from using chess video disks as opposed to studying books as the lecturer does not pause to reflect for long. Of course, you can press the pause button, but doing this too often can break up the flow of the lecture.
That said, it is possible that students will pick up something less concrete but still very educational from hearing the way a very strong and well-schooled grandmaster approaches a subject or position. I suppose the ultimate answer is that you have to play the disks more than once as you would a music record, and gradually absorb the content: a sort of ‘chess education by osmosis’. The content of this particular disk struck me as pitched at a fairly high-level so it may be of more use to players rated in excess of 2100. Review by John Saunders.
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To swap or not to swap – that is the question. Most chessplayers probably think that Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with all his existential problems, had it relatively easy compared with our problems of knowing when to exchange pieces. Luckily, Grandmaster Mikhalchishin is on hand to deliver sage advice. He starts with an introduction to the subject and then concentrates on classical games, in particular Rubinstein and Smyslov. These lectures seemed more suitable to lower-rated players than the more complex ‘planning’ disk; perhaps 1800+. JS.
