BORIS SPASSKY MASTER OF INITIATIVE
Authors: Raetsky and Chetverik
160 pages
$19.95
Everyman Chess (2006)
Reviewed by Jeremy Silman
When reviewing a book, one must be careful to review the book in
question and not the book you had hoped it would be. When picking up
BORIS SPASSKY MASTER OF INITIATIVE, I got a bit excited since there are
(to my knowledge) no great books on this magnificent player. In fact,
the best I've seen is the enjoyable SPASSKY'S 100 BEST GAMES by
Cafferty (written in the last Ice-Age way back in 1972). However, when
I opened this new book by Raetsky and Chetverik, it quickly became
apparent that it's not a game collection at all (nor a worthwhile bio),
but a gimmick for the study of tactics.
Gimmick titles abound and are designed to get your attention. This
doesn't mean that the "gimmick book" is bad. In fact, many are
absolutely wonderful. Larry Christiansen's STORMING THE BARRICADES is
an excellent book, and the title just adds to the fun.
On the other hand, SEXY WOMEN LOVE CHESS TACTICIANS is a total rip-off
and should be avoided at all costs (hey, I didn't want to read that
book, but I had no choice, it's my job)!
Getting over my disappointment with what BORIS SPASSKY MASTER OF
INITIATIVE was not, I hunkered down and checked to see what it actually
was. It seems to me that the authors' felt that there were already
enough "boring" books on tactics. However, few carry any emotional
weight. Thus, why not have the student create an interest in a
particular World Champion and then present tactical tests from the
games of this super-grandmaster? By humanizing the tactics, and adding
a bit of hero worship to boot, the student will enjoy his study hours
in ways that he never would if he was just looking through some run of
the mill tactical treatise.
Okay, I don't know if any of this went through the minds of Raetsky and
Chetverik, but it made good sense to me! In fact, my disappointment in
the book's basic design vanished and I suddenly felt a surge of
testosterone at the thought of finding every tactic Spassky did! Was I
man enough to accept this challenge? Hell yes! Are YOU ready for the
same challenge?
Perhaps Spassky isn't your cup of tea. Well, the authors have also
written the same kind of tactical book with Tal as the artist (MIKHAIL
TAL: TACTICAL GENIUS A great gimmick title! You read it and say, "If
I solve everything then that would make me a tactical genius too!"). A
third one featuring the tactics of Alexander Alekhine is also
available.
Imagine getting all three and solving every problem in every one of
these books! This would leave you with the combined tactical acumen of
Alekhine, Tal, and Spassky! In fact, at that point you might reconsider
buying SEXY WOMEN LOVE CHESS TACTICIANS after all.
So, this kind of book may or may not be what you're looking for. But
there is one more positive thing they might do: after reading any one
of them, you might find that you want more information on your new
chess hero. Then game collections and biographies can be bought and
absorbed, your chess history IQ will grow, and a whole new area of the
game will shower you with nonstop pleasure.
Cheers!
Click if you would like to buy (or get more information
about) BORIS
SPASSKY MASTER OF INITIATIVE
Click if you would like to buy (or get more information
about) SPASSKY'S
100 BEST GAMES (Author: Cafferty. Price: $29.95)
Click if you would like to buy (or get more information
about) ALEXANDER
ALEKHINE MASTER OF ATTACK (Author: Raetsky and Chetverik. Price:
$18.95)
Click if you would like to buy (or get more information
about) MIKHAIL
TAL: TACTICAL GENIUS (Author: Raetsky and Chetverik. Price:
$20.95)
Click if you would like to buy (or get more information
about) TAL'S
HUNDRED BEST GAMES (Author: Cafferty. Price: $29.95)
Click if you would like to buy (or get more information
about) STORMING
THE BARRICADES (Author: Larry Christiansen. Price: $19.95)
SEXY
WOMEN LOVE CHESS TACTICIANS is out of print.
