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UPDATES FOR DECEMBER 2011
From this point on, material will be posted throughout each month at random times
INSTRUCTION & OTHER
(March. 1, 2010) Postal Master Manuel Gerardo Monasterio shows why the Accelerated Dragon is still alive and well ... MORE (Nov. 4, 09) Postal Master Manuel Gerardo Monasterio talks about the OBNOXIOUS TORRE ATTACK, PART THREE ... MORE
(July. 4, 09) Postal Master Manuel Gerardo Monasterio talks about the OBNOXIOUS TORRE ATTACK, PART TWO ... MORE (Jan. 7, 09) GM Yasser Seirawan answers a reader's question about an experimental line in the CARO-KANN ... MORE (Jan. 7, 09) Postal Master Manuel Gerardo Monasterio talks about the OBNOXIOUS TORRE ATTACK ... MORE (Feb. 9, 08) IM Silman talks about DYING WITH YOUR BOOTS ON:
His brother (who was also playing at the event) rushed to his side and Cecil whispered something into his ear. Then he died. His final words? One might imagine something like, "Tell my wife I love her." Or "The gold is hidden under the bedroom floorboard." But no, this is a chess player and so his last thoughts were about chess. His dying message to his brother: "I have a win, but it will take time!" ... MORE (Feb. 5, 08) IM Silman tells the tale of THE MASKED GRANDMASTER:
Of course, Mills won the brilliancy prize, and none of us could do anything but applaud him. Truly a fantastic creative effort and, perhaps, the greatest game by a non-master of all time... MORE (November 12) Grandmaster van der Weide gives us Part 15 of THE PAIN AND ANGUISH OF OPENING THEORY ... MORE (October 07) Larry Tamarkin gives us Part Four of his entertaining series, MEMOIRS OF A CHESS FISH ... MORE (September 07) IM Silman presents ENDGAME OF THE MONTH 4 ... MORE
BOOK REVIEWS
WANT TO WRITE A GUEST REVIEW? Anyone that has a strong need to praise or lambast a chess book should send their review to jeremysilman.com for consideration.
(Dec 4, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews PLAY THE BENKO GAMBIT: This book is one stop shopping for those interested in an up to date answer to 1.d4. The author examines not only the Benko Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5) but what he calls the Topalov Variation against 2.Nf3 which goes 2...c5 3.d5 b5 4.Bg5 Ne4... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) NM Randy Bauer reviews THE IMPROVING ANNOTATOR: The premise of the book is that annotating your own games can help you to play better chess. By examining the choices you made during the game – and how they turned out – you can pinpoint the flaws in your thinking process so that you can work on them... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews TACTICMANIA: is a tactics book with several twists. First all of the examples are drawn exclusively from the play of Grandmaster Flear or his wife Christine, a five-time French women’s champion. This husband and wife combination must be a first and to make it a real family affair their eldest son James has done the illustrations featured throughout this work... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews FIGHTING THE FRENCH - A NEW CONCEPT: GM Yevseev advocates a new method of development to meet the French in which White plays 3.Nd2 and then deploys his pieces according to the scheme Ngf3, Bd3, c3, 0-0, against almost anything that Black may try... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) NM Randy Bauer reviews NO PASSION FOR CHESS FASHION - FIERCE OPENINGS FOR YOUR NEW REPERTOIRE: The chapters generally contain a fair amount of useful discussion about what is going on, in terms of key ideas and alternatives. Each chapter also comes with a conclusion box that summarizes the status of the variation.The authors should be commended for their honesty ... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews MASTERS OF TECHNIQUE: This book is not only a fine collection of writing, it is a beautifully produced hardback with an attractive dust jacket. On top of that everyone involved with the project including the publisher have donated their time. All profits from this book help support multiple chess charities... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews KARPOV'S STRATEGIC WINS 2 - THE PRIME YEARS: This is is a great book by an outstanding author who is one of the very best at making the great players games accessible to all levels without talking down to them... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews IMPROVE YOUR CHESS TACTICS: Discussions of how to improve at chess cover a wide range of territory but on one topic everyone agrees - to get better all players need to study tactics on a daily basis... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) IM Silman reviews CHESS SECRETS - GIANTS OF INNOVATION: Craig Pritchett explains his stance on each player with tons of illuminating and entertaining prose. And, lest I forget, thickly annotated/commented games. I say annotated/commented because each and every game is a mix of analysis and enormous amounts of prose that explain the position’s ideas, and the innovations going on before your eyes... MORE
(Dec 5, 2011) IM Donaldson reviewsTHREE NEW BOOKS FROM RUSSELL ENTERPRISES: The books are: 212 SURPRISING CHECKMATES by Bruce Albertson and Fred Wilson,
CHESS MOVIES 2: THE MEANS AND ENDS by Pandolfini, and TRAGICOMEDY IN THE ENDGAME by Dvoretsky... MORE (Dec 5, 2011) IM Silman reviews PLAY THE BENKO GAMBIT: 36 years ago – Toronto. Grandmaster Walter Browne had made a name for himself by making the Benko Gambit part of his repertoire. In fact, at one point he began to refer to the opening as the Browne-Benko Gambit. He was paired against a 1650 player, and everyone understood that his opponent was going to be eviscerated. Walter was White, and the game began 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5... MORE (Sept 9, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews A COURSE IN CHESS TACTICS: This book differs from many of the current works on tactics – it’s not a puzzle book with hundreds of positions to solve but a primer on the subject ... MORE
(Sept 9, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews INVISIBLE CHESS MOVES:
This is an original work dedicated to helping chess players improve their ability to eliminate blind spots when selecting moves. As the authors show, even very strong players can overlook “simple” moves
... MORE (Sept 9, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews JAMES MASON IN AMERICA - The Early Years, 1867 - 1878: Author Joost van Winsen not only examines Mason’s career in depth, but also that of contemporaries like his great rival George McKenzie and other important figures of the day including Lowenthal, Stanley, Reichelm, Winawer, Zuckertort, and Blackburne... MORE
(Sept 9, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews NEW IN CHESS - THE FIRST 25 YEARS: There is no question that New in Chess has been the best magazine of the last twenty-five years and deserves to be on the short list of the best of all time... MORE (Sept 9, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews THE JOYS OF CHESS: This is the rare chess book that can be read without the use of a board. This compendium of bedside reading recalls Irving Chernev’s CHESS COMPANION and Horowitz and Rothenberg’s THE PERSONALITY OF CHESS. Like these works, the JOY OF CHESS is filled with a potpourri of articles on all aspects of the game... MORE (August 1, 2011) IM Silman reviews KARPOV'S STRATEGIC WINS 1 - 1961 to 1985: Karpov was, for many years, my favorite player. The depth of his strategic understanding boggled the mind, and his games reminded one of Petrosian in that Karpov had the same rare ability to wrap the opponent in his positional coils like a python and then squeeze him into submission... MORE
(August 1, 2011) IM Silman reviews KARPOV'S STRATEGIC WINS 2 - 1986 to 2010: This volume continues where Volume 1 left off, and since there are so many massive battles versus the world’s best, the book is even thicker than the first one! We get the same excellent layout, the same wonderful bios and indexes, and the same wonderfully presented notes ... MORE (August 1, 2011) IM Silman reviews EXPERTS ON THE ANTI-SICILIAN: This extremely useful book brings in a host of well-known chess writers to find the best ways to deal with all the very annoying anti-Sicilian lines that players of all ratings use to avoid main line Sicilians. Great research, hard work, and computer help not only leads to great analysis, but also to a number of important theoretical novelties... MORE (August 1, 2011) IM Silman reviews GM Repertoire 8 - THE GRUNFELD DEFENSE Volume 1: Both volumes are wonderful, and any Grunfeld aficionado will grab these puppies as fast as he can. However, I also feel that anyone that plays 1.d4 will also be forced to buy these books... MORE (August 1, 2011) IM Silman reviews GM Repertoire 9 - THE GRUNFELD DEFENSE Volume 2: As always, Avrukh takes all known theory and then fights to find what he deems to be the most critical lines. Having done that, he analyzes it to death and in the process comes up with an enormous amount of new ideas, most of which he happily publishes ... MORE (August 1, 2011) IM Saidy reviews MY 60 YEARS OF CHESS [MOYIKH SHESDESET GODINA u SHAKUH]: When you’re an oldster, you sometimes need a nap. Today I went to bed and used this book to read myself to sleep. No such luck. Transfixed by my old friend GM Bora Ivkov’s love of chess, I read it to the end, and still haven’t slept ... MORE (August 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews CHESS CHILD - THE STORY OF RAY ROBSON: A reoccurring theme throughout this book is the sacrifices the Robson family (Gary, Yee-chen and Ray) make. There can’t be too many families in Florida that have spent several summers without air-conditioning! Giving a young talent a chance to thrive is not cheap. At one point the Robson’s are spending $25,000 a year out of pocket and they are not materially wealthy people... MORE (August 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews CHESS PERIODICALS - 1836 to 2008: This much-needed work will find at least two receptive audiences. The first will be those interested in chess history who need to know what materials may be available. The second group that will want this book are collectors who need to know what they have and what they are missing... MORE
(July 7, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews MY BEST GAMES OF CHESS:
This reviewer has known Seirawan for 36 years and considered himself well versed in the former World Championship Candidate’s career before viewing this DVD, but he found much that was new. One that struck home repeatedly was the depth and originality of the author’s strategical thinking ... MORE
(July 7, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews WOJO'S WEAPONS, Volume 2:
This is an excellent guide to the White side of the fianchetto King’s Indian that is ideally suited for players from 1800 on up ... MORE
(July 7, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews CHESS LESSONS:
A highly respected coach in Russia and not to be confused with GM Valery Popov, he believes the best way to do this is by examining games in which typical mistakes are made by amateur players ... MORE
(July 7, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews NEW IN CHESS MAGAZINE:
To quote Silman: "The best chess magazine in the world" ... MORE
(July 7, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews ATTACKING CHESS - THE FRENCH, A Dynamic Repertoire for Black:
Another fine addition to a long list of repertoire books devoted to the French Defense from Black’s perspective ... MORE
(June 14, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews THE SCOTCH GAME:
Fans of the Scotch Game will be delighted by the new monster (381 pages!) book on 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 ... MORE
(June 14, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews THE COMPLETE HEDGEHOG, Volume 2:
One opening that first came into fashion in the 1970s was the Hedgehog. Named after the small spiny mammal that uses its quills for defense, this opening setup is characterized by Black shedding his c-pawn for White’s d-pawn and then fianchettoing his queen Bishop while placing many of his pawns on the third rank. White has a space advantage from the opening but attempts to translate this into something concrete like a kingside attack are often rebuffed by Black’s resilient structure ... MORE
The 76 games selected for this volume are all extremely well annotated with plenty of explanatory prose supported by concrete analysis. The author not only utilizes all existing annotations but also has made plenty of new discoveries of his own ... MORE
(June 14, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews CORRESPONDENCE CHESS IN BRITAIN and IRELAND, 1824 - 1987:
This reviewer particularly enjoyed the chapter “Becoming World Champions” which deals with the Ninth Correspondence Chess Olympiad (1982-87) in which Great Britain, led by Jonathan Penrose, broke the perennial Soviet grip on first place ... MORE
(June 14, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews SACKING THE CITADEL:
This work, devoted to the life of Greco and his famous sacrifice Bxh7 (or ...Bxh2), is light years more comprehensive and focused than earlier treatments of the theme ... MORE
(June 14, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews THE SAFEST GRUNFELD:
The term “safest” might not sound like it belongs with a dynamic opening like the Grunfeld, nor does it have the zip of a title with the words “winning” in it, but rest assured the reader is well served if their expectations are realistic ... MORE
(May 6, 2011) IM Silman reviews GRANDMASTER CHESS STRATEGY:
I was a big fan of Andersson’s during his heyday, and learned a lot about the science of positional chess from him. If this was just a collection of his games, I would be high on the book. However, the authors took things to another level ... MORE (May 6, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews CALCULATE LIKE A GRANDMASTER:
Gormally offers plenty of useful advice (one being when confronted with several plausible choices always analyze the most forcing line first), but what makes this book more than a standard treatise is the author’s lively writing style which is never boring... MORE (May 6, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews CAPABLANCA - A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Cuban Chess Genius:
When Nigel Short says it is “undoubtedly one of the best chess books I have read,” and Yasser Seirawan describes it as “a magnificently researched work by the world’s most renowned chess historian,” you know this is a special book on a special player ... MORE
(May 6, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews EXPERTS ON THE ANTI-SICILIAN:
This is a group effort involving numerous opening experts who examine primarily non-Open Sicilian variations where White forgoes 3.d4 ... MORE
(May 6, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews THE KGB PLAYS CHESS:
This is a book that doesn’t shy away from naming names of those who for whatever reason decided to cooperate with the KGB and the list is not confined to just Soviet citizens ... MORE
(May 6, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews BOOST YOUR CHESS 3 - Mastery:
This book will prove quite useful for coaches looking for high quality material. Players from 1800 to 2400 working on their own will also find it an excellent study guide, with those at the low end finding the entire book helpful and stronger players using it to fill in gaps in their understanding ... MORE
(May 6, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews SICILIAN ATTACKS:
This is not a stand-alone book for anyone wanting to play the Sicilian variations covered, but there is a much gold to be gleaned ... MORE
(May 6, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews SOS - SECRETS OF OPENING SURPRISES 13:
This latest volume once again offers a tasty choice of different types of surprises – some lesser-known forgotten variations, sharper lines to be used only in certain situations and fresh new ideas ... MORE
(April 13, 2011) IM Silman reviews CHESS INFORMANT 108:
Some might think that the day of the INFORMANT has come and gone, but I beg to differ ... MORE
(April 13, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews THE WONDERFUL WINAWER:
This book is must reading for all French Winawer enthusiasts ... MORE
(April 13, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews 1001 DEADLY CHECKMATES:
Recognizing patterns has long been viewed as one of the hallmarks of chess mastery and Nunn's new book offers a series of exercises to train this skill arranged by theme and increasing difficulty ... MORE
(April 13, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews SLAY THE SPANISH:
The Modern Steinitz was a favorite of the late Paul Keres and Taylor credits the
Great Estonian with showing the viability of this defense at the highest level ... MORE
(April 13, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews NEW YORK 1927:
Russell Enterprises has done a real service in making New York 1927, with Alekhine’s excellent comments, available to all in a first-rate translation in algebraic notation with plenty of diagrams ... MORE
(April 13, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews A UNIVERSAL WEAPON 1.d4 d6:
Barsky spends a fair amount of time analyzing the critical continuation 3.e4 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.h3 Bh5 6.Qe2 and believes that Black is doing well ... MORE
(March. 11, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews STARTING OUT - THE RETI:
Neil McDonald is focused almost exclusively on the sequence 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4, which is identified with the great Richard Réti who did much to promote it through his games and writings ... MORE
(March. 11, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews DYNAMIC CHESS STRATEGY:
The present work is considerably enlarged from the first edition with a new, improved translation. While there are no additional games featured, almost all the games given have had the annotations reworked to bring them up to date ... MORE (March. 11, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews SECRETS OF OPENING SURPRISES VOLUME 12:
This twice yearly New in Chess series, edited by IM Jeroen Bosch, continues to chug along. The latest volume, number 12, continues the successful mixture of articles aimed at a wide audience from club players to FIDE titled, from Internet blitz aficionados to those who play at regular tournament time controls ... MORE (March. 11, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews LONDON 1922:
This book continues Russell Enterprises’ project of making great tournament books of the past available to a new generation of chess players. Following on NEW YORK 1924 and NOTTINGHAM 1936, the present work not only presents the tournament book by Geza Maroczy in its entirety in figurine algebraic (from the original descriptive notation) but also a Foreword by Andy Soltis ... MORE (March. 11, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews THE SNIPER:
The Sniper is an ambitious project to provide a one-system setup for Black. There is much that is original and the author’s passion for his subject matter shows on every page but so does a clear bias for Black that sometimes goes too far and causes him to omit or overlook strong possibilities for White ... MORE
(March. 11, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews CHESS BLUEPRINTS:
The 188 positions and 559 diagrams drawn from classics and Soviet chess of the 1950s to 70s, is a handbook for learning positional themes and patterns ... MORE
(March. 11, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews MASTERING CHESS STRATEGY:
An oversize paperback, nearly 500 pages in length, it is part middlegame teaching course and part middle game training exercise book ... MORE
(Feb. 19, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
THE CHESS CAFE PUZZLE BOOK 3 - TEST AND IMPROVE YOUR DEFENSIVE SKILL:
Most importantly for a book of this type, the solutions are quite detailed with plenty of explanation featuring both analysis and prose ... MORE
(Feb. 19, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
GREATEST CHESS TOURNAMENTS 2001-2009:
The tournaments are presented in chronological order. Along with a crosstable of the event, each tournament is represented by the best game of the winner, the best game played at the tournament, and the game with the most important theoretical novelty. There is also a selection of game fragments, the most beautiful combinations and endings ... MORE
(Feb. 19, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
THE ENGLISH OPENING VOLUMES TWO AND THREE:
One of the outstanding chess books of 2009 was volume one of Romanian Grandmaster Mihail Marin’s trilogy on 1.c4. This 477-page work covering 1.c4 e5 won deserved recognition for the depth and quality of the analysis. The second and third volumes in the series, recently released, maintain the same high standards ... MORE
(Feb. 19, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
ELEMENTS OF CHESS STRATEGY:
Still one crucial element has not been mentioned – the importance of skilled and dedicated coaches. Until recently only in the former Soviet Union could you find strong players that dedicated themselves to coaching at an early age ... MORE
(Feb. 19, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
THE COMPLETE c3 SICILIAN:
This book that will long be remembered for both its erudition and bulk. The size of a large city phone book, this is the life’s work of a player who has given his name to a major opening system in the Sicilian but who arguably has done even more to advance the theory of the 2.c3 Sicilian ... MORE
(Feb. 19, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
CAPABLANCA - A PRIMER OF CHECKMATE:
The author uses 58 games of the great Cuban to illustrate and explain the classic mates whose names echo through time – Greco, Boden and Pillsbury to name but three ... MORE
(Feb. 19, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
AVRO 1938 INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT:
The fatigue generated by this scheduling may have had an impact on the play of the two oldest players (Capablanca at 50 and Alekhine at 46). As it was, AVRO 1938 will be remembered in part as an event where youth was served ... MORE
(Jan. 1, 2011) IM Saidy reviews
BOBBY FISCHER FOR BEGINNERS:
The initial 74 pages are a biography cum psychological impressions of Bobby, full of anecdotes and even reminiscence by a girlfriend I’d never heard of. Verwer has consulted the books and periodical literature about his subject, including the American journalists who uncovered the identity of Bobby’s probable father, Nemenyi ... MORE
(Jan. 1, 2011) IM Silman reviews the 2011 wall calendar IMAGES OF CHESS:
This excellent calendar features six fascinating chess themed images (with a thoughtful explanation under each one), which means that two months with dates and holidays are under each image. They also give a full (usually famous) game that demonstrates the ideas depicted in the artistic image, and describe that melding of artistic and practical application in detail ... MORE
(Jan. 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
3 CLASSICS:
The famed IM explores 3 newly published classics - MODERN IDEAS IN CHESS by Reti, NEW YORK 1924, and NOTTINGHAM 1936 ... MORE
(Jan. 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
CHESS DUELS:
One could add that Yasser is among the best commentators on the game and one of its ablest ambassadors. Despite his many writing accomplishments, at the end of the day he may be best remembered for this new book ... MORE
(Jan. 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE 7 - THE CARO-KANN:
The Caro-Kann has long had a reputation as being solid but a trifle dull, especially the main lines with 4...Bf5. That might have been true in the past when Black met the main lines where White castled queenside by following suit, but things started to change in the early 1980s when Bent Larsen started castling kingside. This approach didn’t catch on in a big way until the last decade when players like Bareev, Motylev and Jakovenko started using it regularly and even the elite (Kramnik, Anand and Topalov) gave it a try ... MORE
(Jan. 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
MASTERING THE OPENINGS VOL. 4:
The section on gambit play is extremely well done and must reading for any player coming up through the ranks. So to is the following chapter “Choosing and Preparing Openings”, which is pure gold ... MORE
(Jan. 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
MODERN CHESS MOVE BY MOVE:
Crouch has made a nice selection of games. The reader will find a variety of encounters from brutal kingside attacks to subtle endgames. There are beautiful positional efforts and others that are for all intents and purposes decided right out of the opening - the result of a strong theoretical novelty. There is enough material here to instruct and entertain the reader for months ... MORE (Jan. 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
PLAY THE SCANDINAVIAN:
Bauer, known for his excellent works on the Philidor and 1…b6, has chosen to cover 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 exclusively in this book. Those looking for material on 2…Nf6 or the new-fangled 2…Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 (or 3…Qd8) should look elsewhere. What the reader gets instead is a very comprehensive look at the main line of the Scandinavian which can bear a strong affinity with the Caro-Kann ... MORE (Jan. 1, 2011) IM Donaldson reviews
UNDERSTANDING THE MARSHALL ATTACK:
Boston IM David Vigorito’s new book is the third to appear on Frank Marshall’s brainchild (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5) in less than a year. Last year there was FIGHTING THE RUY LOPEZ (Everyman Chess) by Milos Pavlovic and ATTACKING THE RUY LOPEZ by Sabino Brunello (Quality Chess), but Vigorito’s work is different ... MORE (Dec. 1, 2010) IM Saidy reviews
FICHEALL:
How dare I review a book in an exotic language, of which I know not one word? Well, I appreciate the graphics! Most of all, I am tickled by it. I collect chess books in all the European languages, plus a few in Arabic, Chinese and Indonesian. And now I am the proud possessor of the very first chess book ever written in the Gaelic language! ... MORE
(Dec. 1, 2010) Paul Kane reviews
FIND THE RIGHT PLAN WITH ANATOLY KARPOV:
In this book, the authors address two related questions: ‘How should you evaluate a position?’ and ‘How should you form and implement a plan?’ ... MORE
(Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
BOOST YOUR CHESS 1 - THE FUNDAMENTALS: Artur Yusupov was a very strong Grandmaster in his prime. Back in 1989 he was ranked third in the world and narrowly missed defeating Anatoly Karpov when the latter was still near the peak of his legendary powers ... MORE
(Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
BOOST YOUR CHESS 2 - BEYOND THE BASICS: As mentioned in previous reviews in this series, these books have three principle audiences. They will be useful for players wishing to increase their strength to improve their rating, for coaches looking for a structured curriculum and/or useful training material and for those who wish to increase their understanding of the game that, because of various circumstances, may no longer be able to play regularly ... MORE (Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
THE FRENCH DEFENSE - A COMPLETE BLACK REPERTOIRE: One doesn’t see many opening books written by top players, so the appearance of THE FRENCH DEFENSE: A COMPLETE BLACK REPERTOIRE by Nikita Vitiugov must be an exception. The 23-year-old Russian, currently rated 31st in the world at 2709, is not an absolute French specialist (he plays the Taimanov and Kan and lately a little Najdorf), but it is clearly his number one weapon and he believes Black can still make it his sole answer to 1.e4 ... MORE (Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
THE SICILIAN DEFENSE: Somehow, in the midst of all his regular work, Ftacnik finds time to write books that are both accurate and lively. This latest work for Quality Chess is his best book yet and should prove useful to a wide audience who are devoted to this fighting opening ... MORE (Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
EMANUEL LASKER - 2nd WORLD CHESS CHAMPION: This book by the famous father and son team of Isaak and Vladimir Linder is a substantial work on the man who occupied Caissa’s throne for 27 years. While Lasker has always been recognized as one of the greatest of the great, less than a decade ago English reading chess players wishing to learn more about his life and games had few books to choose from ... MORE (Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
NUNN'S CHESS ENDINGS - VOLUME 1: This book is something different. It’s not an encyclopedia nor does it cover strategic planning. It is not filled with endgame studies or artificial positions. What the readers gets when they buy this volume is a no-nonsense instructional work on the endgame ... MORE (Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
NUNN'S CHESS ENDINGS - VOLUME 2:
Dr. Nunn, in close to 300 pages, provides in this volume a full course on how to play the most commonly occurring endings, those with rooks. There is no theme or idea he leaves uncovered and the reader is left with the firm impression that if they apply themselves they will be able to learn a great deal. They would not be mistaken ... MORE
(Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
STARTING OUT - OPEN GAMES: One of the classical rules of chess is that beginning players need to play double king pawn openings. Conventional wisdom holds that there is no better way to learn the value of a lead in development or King safety than by playing the positions reached after 1.e4 e5 ... MORE (Dec. 1, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
QUALITY CHESS PUZZLE BOOK: The past decade has seen all sorts of new training methods put forward to help players improve their chess, but the tried and true puzzle book formula continues to hold ground. Much like basic calisthenics, the advantages and benefits of solving tactical positions on a regular basis are easy to explain ... MORE
(Oct. 6, 2010) IM Silman reviews
THE LIFE AND GAMES OF FRANK ROSS ANDERSON: Donaldson did some research and realized that this was the same man that had won a couple of Canadian Championships, and who had scored the highest winning percentage at the Munich Olympiad in 1958 on board two (there is a very interesting tale, covered in detail in the book, about this event and how Frank was cheated out of the Grandmaster title) ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE - 1.d4 VOLUME 2: Two years ago Boris Avrukh’s 1.d4 VOLUME 1 set a standard for opening books. His follow-up, 1.d4 VOLUME 2 is possibly even better. Among the openings covered are the Bogo-Indian, Budapest, Benoni systems, Benko Gambit, Dutch, Old Indian, Black Knights Tango and Modern Defense, but Avrukh’s primary focus is on the King’s Indian and Grünfeld ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) Paul Kane reviews
CHICAGO 1926 AND LAKE HOPATCONG 1926: Capablanca was in good form at Lake Hopatcong and played some fine, even classic games, but it is the minor skirmishes (such as the astounding, not to say crazy combination inaugurated by 26.Rxh7 in Fink-Kupchik: who was this guy by name of Fink?) and the marginal stories that the book really comes alive ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
DANGEROUS WEAPONS - THE DUTCH: This book, by GM Simon Williams, IM Richard Palliser and FM James Vigus, offers the sharpest lines of any volume in Everyman’s Dangerous Weapons series to date ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) Tony Rotella reviews
THE SCOTCH GAME FOR WHITE: This is a great book for club players looking for something against 1…e5 that doesn’t require as much work as the dreaded Ruy Lopez. It was voted one of the best books of 2009 ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
JULIUS FINN - A CHESS MASTER'S LIFE IN AMERICA 1871-1931: This book tells the story of a man who arrived penniless in New York City at the age of 16 in 1887 and by dint of hard work raised himself into the highest ranks of New York society. Such rags to riches stories are not unknown but Finn’s differs in that chess helped him get there ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
PLAY THE PONZIANI: Definitely one of the lesser-known and analyzed of the double King Pawn openings, the Ponziani is typically written off as harmless, boring or too rigid, but the authors show that it has plenty of punch and can lead to a wide variety of positions from the sharp lines ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
SOVIET CHESS STRATEGY: You can be one of the best in the world but, if you live in a country that dominates an activity, forget becoming a household name unless you are among the elite ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
STUDYING CHESS MADE EASY: Most players want to improve and are willing to work at it, but don’t know where to start. This is where Soltis’s latest effort comes in ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
BOTVINNIK - PETROSIAN - THE 1963 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: This was a unique competition. Not a single game featured 1.e4! Botvinnik, in seeding 18-years in age to his rival, became just one of three players ages 50 or over (Lasker 1923 and Kortchnoi 1981) to contest a World Championship match post Steinitz ... MORE
(Oct 6, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
PLAY THE LONDON SYSTEM: This is the rare opening work aimed at a wide audience that succeeds. Club players will appreciate the 92 model games that are the centerpiece of this book. Carefully annotated with lots of explanatory prose these games are accessible to players as low as 1600 and yet this is by no means a book aimed solely at amateurs that avoids examining Black’s most promising tries ... MORE
(July 4, 2010) IM Silman reviews
CHESS DUELS: Clearly, this isn’t your typical chess writer! Instead of egotistical posturing, boring bouts of “tournament reports”, or pages of mind-numbing variations, Yaz (as he is affectionately called by his friends) intertwines smooth storytelling, fascinating information about the various World Champions and about chess politics, and annotations filled with down to earth, instructive, highly informative, prose ... MORE
(July 4, 2010) IM Silman reviews
GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE 7 - CARO KANN:
For me, any time a new book on the Caro-Kann appears it’s cause for celebration. Of course, that initial “feast” mentality more often than not turns into a famine state of mind. Why? Because most books on this opening fail to live up to expectations. Fortunately, I can finally let out a cheer since grandmaster Schandorff’s book actually surpassed whatever expectations I might have harbored ... MORE
(July 4, 2010) Paul Kane reviews
DEVELOPING CHESS TALENT: The second section, “Training”, was very much focused on the nuts and bolts of any particular training plan. It covered the content of what was to be taught (strategy, the endgame, etc.), the method through which it was to be delivered (e.g. a game quiz along the lines of “How Good is Your Chess?”), the tools and resources to be used and much else ... MORE
(July 4, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
ALEKHINE ALERT - A REPERTOIRE AGAINST 1.e4: As one might guess from the chapter headlines, Taylor has a lively writing style. This book is not only informative but also fun to read ... MORE
(July 4, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
HEROES OF CLASSICAL CHESS - LEARN FROM CARLSEN, ANAND, FISCHER, SMYSLOV, & RUBINSTEIN: This is a book that belongs in every chessplayer’s library, especially young ones who are apt to spend most of their time studying sharp openings with a computer and are in need of developing their chess culture ... MORE
(July 4, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
A KILLER OPENING REPERTOIRE:
Johnsen has chosen to build on the first edition, addressing the areas where theory has substantially changed or Summerscales’s original coverage needed expanding. There are seven new model games (68 overall) which strike a good balance between explanatory prose and concrete variations ... MORE
(July 4, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
THE RUY LOPEZ REVISITED:
The variations that Sokolov examines range from the sharp (3...f5 the Jaenisch or Schliemann Gambit) to the solid (Smyslov’s 3...g6), to the strategically challenging (Bird’s 3...Nd4) to the onetime Fischer/Spassky favorite (3...Bc5/3...Nf6 followed by 4...Nf6/4...Bc5). Sokolov normally answers the Ruy Lopez with 3...a6 but he has plenty of experience with all the lines he covers ... MORE
(July 4, 2010) IM Donaldson reviews
THE CUTTING EDGE - THE OPEN SICILIAN 1:
This book, the first in a new series from Quality Chess, is aimed at those who want an up to date guide of where theory stands (and where it is likely to head) in important theoretical battlegrounds. There are no older games cited nor are the lines arranged to cobble together a complete repertoire. The author doesn’t write for either color, letting the cards fall where they will ... MORE
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