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Magazine Chess Book Reviews : February 2010Return to the Magazine Review Index
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An ‘ideas’ book, rather than an encyclopaedic treatment, with some supplementary material from Gambit editor, Graham Burgess. The defence seems worth adoption – as a rule of thumb one may say that it has enjoyed its best percentage score the less frequently it is seen in master play. Review by Bernard Cafferty.
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“They also serve who stand and wait” is the phrase that comes to mind on surveying this original idea of featuring some of the lesser-known figures in the chess world: trainers who worked with the likes of Kasparov and Topalov, leading composers like Olge Pervakov, and polymath Dutch-resident Yochanan Afek, the diligent German writer Karsten Müller and six others, including a Hungarian referred to in the chapter headed “The Man Whose Life was Saved by Chess”. Each personality has examples of his games and other works quoted, along with testimonials from better-known figures whose lives have been affected by their mentors and supporters. Review by Bernard Cafferty.
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A wonderful collection of material from a galaxy of stars, mostly by way of interviews: Botvinnik, Spassky, Larsen, Timman, Karpov, Kasparov, Sosonko... The article I liked best of all was Jan Timman’s appreciation of Tony Miles after his untimely death in 2001. Strongly recommended. Review by Bernard Cafferty.
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If I know the average age of readers of our mag like I think I do, the title of this book is going to appeal. This is the story of a 47-year-old unrated player who entered for the 2008 New England Masters and emerged with a first-time FIDE rating of 2199 in October 2008. This is pretty good going by anyone’s standards, although I have to say that the author’s rating has since subsided to 2068 on the January 2010 list. It transpires that he was already 2100 on the USCF rating list in 1994, so it was not as if he came from nowhere.
It is basically the story of a strong amateur who takes a longish break from competitive play, does some analytical work on his approach to the game and then demonstrates a significant improvement despite the long lay-off. I’m not sure this is such an unusual story. Many players have long breaks from the game and do well on their return, perhaps because some distraction that impeded them earlier has gone away, or they’ve rediscovered their motivation (which is surely the key to improvement). Nevertheless, the book contains much common sense, is well written and clearly delineates how efforts to tighten up your game in apparently minor ways can offer rich dividends in improved results. The games are not just those by the author but also master games which have influenced him. JS.
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We are well used to teenage prodigies at the board but it still comes as a surprise to learn that the author of this book was born in November 1995 – yes, 14 years old and already writing chess books. He is a FIDE Master from California, rated 2337 on the January 2010 list, and winner of the World Under-12 Championship in 2007. The preface, written by Daniel’s parents, tells how he started writing notes on games from the age of four, so he has a decade of writing under his belt already (almost a veteran writer). Dipping into the book, you would never guess that he was so young when he wrote it as it is imbued with a great deal of understanding of the game and expressed in good, plain English. There are chapters on prophylaxis (starting with as good a definition of it as I have read), defending worse positions, building and breaking fortresses, positional sacrifice, paralysis in the middlegame and manoeuvring. Production values are good, too. Recommended. JS.
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A tournament book is an unusual commodity these days, although Quality Chess also produced one for the San Luís world championship tournament won by Topalov. This one commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Italian tournament which, like Hastings, spans the New Year. This particular tournament was won by Zoltan Almasi, ahead of Vugar Gashimov, Ni Hua, Pentala Harikrishna, Konstantin Landa, Viktor Korchnoi, David Navara, Sergei Tivialov, Mihail Marin and Michele Godena. Each game is fully annotated and there are copious photographs and features, including the crosstables of all previous events. Marin’s annotations are up to his usual high standard, while Yuri Garrett, the tournament organiser, contributes to what for him was a labour of love. A well-produced book. JS.
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The Russian IM, who has been second to Alexander Morozevich in various events, has written a well-produced primer on this useful system. There are seven chapters based on Black’s major choices on move four, with 4...Nf6 being covered in two chapters. Each chapter starts with a quick repertoire, to give you a flavour of what is being recommended, and then goes into further depth. The layout works well and there is plenty of textual guidance (in keeping with Chess Stars’ high standard of production values). Recommended. JS.
Just In: King’s Gambit by Nikolai Kalinichenko, Russian Chess House, 347 pages hardcover, £19.99; New in Chess Yearbook 93, New in Chess, 246 pages, £23.45; The Rules of Winning Chess by Nigel Davies, Everyman, 189 pages, £15.99; Open Files by Wolfgang Uhlmann and Gerhard Schmidt, 163 pages, £19.99; Dangerous Weapons: The Dutch by Richard Palliser, Simon Williams and James Vigus, Everyman, 224 pages, £15.99; Chess Metaphors: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Mind by Diego Rasskin-Gutman, MIT Press, 205 pages hardcover, £18.99; Modern Chess Move by Move by Colin Crouch, Everyman, 413 pages, £19.99; Mega Database 2010, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £129.95; Big Database 2010, ChessBase DVD-ROM, £44.95.
