Reviewed by IM John Donaldson

GRANDMASTER CHESS MOVE BY MOVE by John Nunn is the third and final volume of the well-known English Grandmaster's best games and much more. The bulk of the book is devoted to the analysis of forty-six of Nunn's top efforts from 1993 to 2003. The games are well annotated with a combination of prose and concrete variations. The material is advanced despite Nunn's efforts to make the material accessible to a wider audience. I would guess a rating of 2000 or a keen desire to improve would be prerequisites for getting the most out of the annotated games. GRANDMASTER CHESS MOVE BY MOVE will be particularly useful for 1.e4 aficionados as Nunn was faithful to this move throughout his career and is White in about two-thirds of the featured games.

While the games make up the bulk of this book, which is particularly substantial when you take into account the dimensions are 6 1/2 by 9 1/2, I am confident that this reviewer will not be alone in reading GRANDMASTER CHESS MOVE BY MOVE from back to front. Not only does Nunn offer a wealth of well-annotated games with stories and observations interspersed between them, he has also included two very interesting articles he wrote especially for this volume. The articles alone are worth the price of the book. Nunn, a very smart guy who has been at the heart of the chess world for over three decades, gives his take on the state of affairs in top level chess (poor) and the difficulties of operating a chess publishing company (at the best of times wafer thin profit margins). They are must reading for anyone with an interest in modern chess and where it is heading. To round things off, Nunn offers the reader a chance to solve all the studies and problems he has composed (about 30 pages of the book).

Strongly recommended

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