How to Play Dynamic Chess

The Israeli GM Valery Beim is making a name for himself as a first rate author. His earlier books, Chess Recipes From a Grandmaster’s Kitchen, Understanding the Leningrad Dutch, and Lessons in Chess Strategy, were all well-received and I have no doubt that his latest effort, How To Play Dynamic Chess will add to his reputation.

The theme of How To Play Dynamic Chess, as the title implies, is how to weigh the value of the initiative against material and other static factors. Beim deals with this in five chapters headed – Dynamics, Development, King moves for attacking purposes and Initiative. Both fragments and complete games are given to illustrate the author’s points. The examples are both classics (several games by Alekhine) and contemporary. Beim, as usual, does an excellent job of explaining difficult concepts. Unlike Lessons in Chess Strategy, there are no exercises to solve.

Recommended.