The CURSE OF KIRSAN is that very rare chess book that doesn't have a single game of chess in it, not even one diagram! The book consists of a series of interviews, but don't be mislead. Only a small portion of this book is devoted to chess politics and Kalmykian dictator Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Much of CURSE OF KIRSAN is taken from a series of articles that the British journalist Sarah Hurst did for the English magazine CHESS (There is a previously unpublished seventeen-and-a-half page interview with Raymond Keene that does a good job dealing with the complexities of the man often called "Raymundo"). The subjects run the gamut from top-level players, like the Polgar sisters, Alexander Alekhine and Ruslan Ponomariov, to lesser-known figures such as Robert Wade, Leonard Barden, Tony Gillam and Ken Whyld. These latter four are, to my mind, much more interesting to read about than many better-known personalities. Wade, who left his native New Zealand more than 50 years ago, has many interesting stories to tell about his travels around the world, including visits to the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Barden stopped playing at a relatively early age, but has been writing columns in English papers for over four decades and has seen England rise to become a great chess power. He has interesting things to say about the one recorded game Bobby Fischer played in the United Kingdom and the late Gordon Crown. Right after the Second World War, England played the Soviet Union and the teenage Crown was one of its stars, defeating Alexander Kotov. Tragically, Crown died just a short time later.

Gillam and Whyld are perhaps even less well known to the casual tournament player than the two afore mentioned individuals, but I think that Hurst does a great job of showing their passion for the game. Both individuals long ago gave up playing tournaments, but that in no way caused them to lose interest in chess. Gillam, with close to 500 published chess books to his credit, is one of the greatest chess preservationists of all time. His books (in many cases, booklets) don't cater to the mass market, but fulfill an important function in making available hard to find information at reasonable prices. Whyld is simply one of the greatest chess historians of all time.

Hurst, who took up the game late, is by her own admission, not a very good chess player, but she was definitely bitten by the bug. You may not always agree with some of her views, but I guarantee that after reading this work, you will be completely convinced that chess journalism is not a well-paid profession!

I can warmly recommend this book to anyone interested in more than the latest novelty in the Najdorf.