Beating the Fianchetto Defences by Efstratios Grivas GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 191 large pages £15.99
The author is a Greek GM (born 1966) with experience as a trainer and writer. He aims to provide a comprehensive and internally coherent repertoire for the White player of “d4 c4 systems” against the following defences: Gruenfeld ( 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Bg5 - 40 pages); Benko Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 Nf3 – 25 pages); The Modern defence (1 d4 g6 2 c4 Bg7 3 Nf3 – 15 pages); Modern Benoni (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 Nf3 Bg7 8 h3 0-0 9 Bd3 – 30 pages); King’s Indian (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nf3 0-0 6 h3 – 45 pages ).
Within each section he also deals with minor lines, such as the Snake Benoni and even lines that can arise by transposition (e.g. the Schlechter Slav). He is also alert to the sort of move order tricks that are part and parcel of modern chess. Each chapter has roughly the same format: “Starting out” (basics, plus a bit of history of the line), “Typical Endgames”, then coverage of minor lines and earlier deviations, gradually approaching his main line, and finally a few illustrative annotated games. Grivas has played most of these lines himself and he makes many original suggestions and assessments. The material is laid out clearly; there is an index of variations and a small but useful bibliography showing the cut-off point for the research in such standard sources as Informator and New in Chess Yearbook. There is no index of the complete games however.
Many other repertoire books give sharp lines where the stakes are very high. Grivas in contrast tends to prefer lines which offer White a slight edge (mostly based on extra space), with few losing chances. If that is the way you like to play then this book will definitely suit you!
An example would be the “ultimate main line” of his coverage of the King’s Indian, which is based on the game Sadler-Gallagher 2002: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 e5 7. d5 Na6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Be3 Nc5 10. Nd2 a5 11. Be2 Bd7 12. h4 c6 13. g4 a4 14. g5 hxg5 15. hxg5 Nh7 16. Rg1 Qa5 17. Qb1 cxd5 18. Nxd5 Rfe8 19. f3 Qd8 20. Qc1 Bc6 21. Nb1 Ne6 22. Nbc3 Nd4 23. Qd2 Rc8 24. Kf2 Rf8 25. Rg3 Bxd5 26. Nxd5 f5 27. Bxd4 exd4 28. exf5 Rxf5 29. Rag1 Be5 30. f4 Qf8 31. Rf3 d3 32. Bxd3 Bd4+ 33. Kg2 Rxd5 34. Be4 Bxg1 35. Bxd5+ Kh8 36. Qc3+ Qg7 37. Kxg1 Re8 38. Kf2 b6 39. Qxg7+ Kxg7 40. Re3 1-0. In his acclaimed book “Play the King’s Indian”, Gallagher gave 19…Bc6 as an improvement, but Grivas has looked at this in more detail and continues with 20. Qc1!! (his punctuation) with the comment “White can claim a small advantage, as his queen comes to c3 and , in case of a queen exchange, the recapture bxc3 will always be a good move.” He then gives some original analysis, the main line of which ends on move 26 with +=. Not much to show, you might think, for a novelty on move 20 awarded two exclamation marks, but this is typical – all through the book Grivas rejoices in what he considers to be small but stable advantages to White.
Given the huge amount of material in this book, it is almost inevitable that there will be some mistakes and some questionable assessments. In some quarters I have read, for instance, criticism of Grivas’s treatment of the Gruenfeld. This may or may not be justified – the devil is in the detail – but I think it should be kept in mind that Grivas is an experienced GM who has been playing his recommended system for a long time and with good results; for instance there are 33 games with his line against the Gruenfeld in my database, from which Grivas scores an impressive 71%, whilst he has scored less well, but still impressively, with his 6 h3 line against the King’s Indian (60%). Of course, even with such a highly qualified author, one should always follow the maxim of “trust – but verify”, but I suggest that the (rightly) sceptical reader needs to judge on a more substantial basis than a quick glance and a couple of minutes with Fritz – Grivas’s book is a solid piece of work and his judgement deserves respect.. If one cannot immediately see why Grivas prefers White in a certain position, it will probably be very instructive to make a serious analytical effort to find out!
Verdict: A serious repertoire book for the “d4 c4” player who likes extra space, sound and solid positions and small but workable advantages. Rating: ****
French: Advance and Other Lines by Steffen Pedersen GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 143 large pages £14.99
The French: Tarrasch Variation by Steffen Pedersen GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 191 large pages £16.99
Fans of the French Defence should be feeling spoilt; they have a wealth of excellent material to help them, including Psakhis’s authoritative series for Batsford, Watson’s series of repertoire books for Everyman, and the wonderful book on the Winawer by Kindermann and Dirr for Chessgate. Thus these books from GAMBIT enter a very competitive market. The first thing I usually do when reviewing an opening book is to find out whether the author has first-hand experience of his subject. Steffen Pedersen is a Danish IM and an experienced chess author. However, the number of games in my database in which he plays on either side of the French is quite small, which right away made me think that his assessments might not be as authoritative as those of, say, Psakhis or Watson. However, the more I looked at Pedersen’s two books, the more they rose in my estimation. Of course, they benefit enormously from GAMBIT’s high production values: good design, large pages, double-column layout, lots of diagrams, good organisation, bibliography, index of variations.... However, what really swung it for me is the large number of outstandingly clear and useful explanations that you can find on practically every page. The options and ideas in each variation are explained so well that I feel a lot clearer now about some lines that I have been playing for many years!
Verdict: Despite
the strong competition in this field, these books can be recommended
to anyone interested in playing either side of the French Defence.
They are very suitable for keen club and tournament players, but
even quite strong players new to these lines will find very useful
instruction.
Rating:
****
Understanding the King’s Indian by Mikhail Golubev GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 207 large pages £15.99
The KID is quite unfashionable at the moment; its drop in the ratings can be attributed to three factors: a) Kasparov’s problems as Black against Kramnik and his eventual abandonment of the KID in the late 1990s; b) specific problems in some lines, notably the Bayonet Attack against the Classical system; c) a gradual shift amongst the strongest players in the last decade or so away from defences that concede space, along with a growing feeling that such defences are really not quite “correct”. This is not new of course; it could be seen in the writings of say Botvinnik or Fine in the middle of the last century; I also recall Larsen expressing the same opinion in the 1970s, and it seems that Korchnoi never had a high opinion of this defence either. Yet as long as there was a steady stream of brilliant games and impressive results from the long and distinguished line of KID exponents that included Boleslavsky, Bronstein, Geller, Gligoric, Tal, Stein, Fischer and Kasparov (closer to home, I can recall some wonderful KID games played by Jonathan Mestel and John Nunn), the critical voices were largely ignored.and the KID remained popular at all levels of chess. In the last few years the Slav (of all things) has been more popular than the King’s Indian, and I think chess has been the poorer for it. This may change, of course, if a KID player gets close to the World Championship – at the moment, Radjabov seems the best hope for this. Meanwhile, I take heart from the statistics, which show that in recent years the KID has been scoring no worse than average for Black.
One of the first things I look for when reviewing an opening book is: does the author play this opening? Well that’s no problem here: Mikhail Golubev is a dedicated career-long King’s Indian player, and indeed the book is based almost entirely on his own extensive experience with this opening. There are 56 main games, grouped according to variation, with many others mentioned in the notes. There is plenty of verbal explanation and lots of original analysis. Also the author’s enthusiasm for this opening really show through!
Verdict: Golubev’s inspiring work deserves to take its place, alongside Gallagher’s excellent King’s Indian books, on the shelf of aggressive players everywhere.
50 Essential Chess Lessons by Steve Giddins GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 159 large pages £14.99
When I first started being interested in chess, the first books I came across in my local library were two collections of games annotated by an American, Irving Chernev: Logical Chess – Move by Move, and The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played. I learned a lot from these books, particularly about the basics of classical theory. I bought my own copies and for quite a log time I continued to recommend them to colleagues and (later) students. But for many years now these books have been gathering dust on my shelves. The problem is not so much that they use the descriptive notation (I think everyone should be “bilingual” in this respect) but that chess has moved on, and what we expect from a chess book has also changed. I still think that collections of well annotated games can be a very useful means to improve your game, but now I find that Chernev’s writing is on the one hand far too dogmatic and on the other not rigorous enough. It seems that Steve Giddins too was inspired and then gradually disillusioned by Chernev, but he has actually done something about it; he has chosen fifty instructive games played between the 1930s and the present day, and annotated them à la Chernev, i.e. with extensive verbal comments and relatively few variations, but from a modern standpoint. He has also moved beyond Chernev in structuring the didactic content more systematically, by grouping the games into thematic sections (Attacking the King, Defence, Piece Power, Pawn-structure, Endgame Themes) and by providing a summary after each game (The Essential Lessons). I liked the choice of games, which includes many that I am sure will be new to the reader.
Verdict: Amid the recent flood of chess books, this one stands out as being one that can be heartily recommended to anyone seeking both entertainment and instruction on wide variety of chess topics in one volume.
Would make a good present, say for a keen (and literate) junior.
Chess Explained: the Classical Sicilian by Alex Yermolinsky GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 2006, 111 large pages £12.99
The flood of chess opening books continues, but this new book by the former US champion Alex Yermolinsky shows the market-leading Gambit publishers adopting a different format from their usual attempt to provide a through “tree” analysis of an opening. “Yermo” provides 25 annotated games, with the emphasis on understanding rather than comprehensive coverage, hence more verbal explanation than variations. The aim is to provide a good “feel” for the opening. The author’s chosen topic is a slightly surprising one for launching the new series, in the sense that it is not a “sexy” one such as the Najdorf or the Dragon.
The Classical Sicilian is a Yermolinsky speciality however; it involves the move order 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 (or d6) 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 (or Nc6). Up to the 1930s, this was one of the common routes to reach both the Dragon (which would often arise after 6 Be2 g6) and the Scheveningen (6 Be2 e6). Then aggressive Whites started playing 6 Bg5, after which 6...g6 is risky (to say the least) so the main line rapidly became 6...e6 7 Qd2! with the plan of 0-0-0, known as the Richter-Rauser Attack. In the 1940s Boleslavsky demonstrated in some influential games that 6 Be2 could also be answered by 6...e5!; it was soon realised that 6 Bg5 enabled White to avoid that variation as well. The 1950s saw interest developing in an alternative plan for White which also ruled out the Dragon and the Boleslavky: the even more aggressive 6 Bc4 (Sozin) which for a while in the 1960s and early 70s became a serious rival in popularity to 6 Bg5, largely under the influence of Fischer and Velimirovic.
The present book represents the current pecking order of White’s options against the Classical: 37 pages on the Richter-Rauser; 18 pages on the Sozin (focusing on 6...Qb6 but glancing at the interesting 6...Na5; no treatment of 6...e6), 9 pages on the Boleslavsky; and one game each with the much rarer options 6 g3, 6 Be3 and 6 f3 (no mention of 6 f4).
I am sure that it the Richter-Rauser that puts most players off playing the Classical. This has scored consistently well for White for over half a century and, although Black has many options, the middlegame positions are often easier for White to play, especially since he usually has the much safer king. Black’s chances tend to come in the endgame (in many lines he has the two bishops as well as extra pawns in the centre) - if he can last that long.
Yermo’s text reads pretty well and I didn’t get the impression that he was holding much back. I would say that if you liked his first book “The Road to Chess Improvement” (and are interested in this Sicilian line) you will like this one too.
In recent years the Classical Sicilian has declined in popularity, especially compared to the Najdorf and the Sveshnikov, but it received a recent boost at the 2006 European Championships; where the new champion Zdenko Kozul scored 3.5/4 with Black, including winning all three of his games against the much-feared Richter-Rauser!
There is a list of games and an index of variations, but no bibliography. Interested readers should try to get hold of The Complete Richter Rauser by Wells and Osnos, and the Easy Guide to the Classical Sicilian by Yrjola.
Verdict: Yermo’s book represents a good way to get to grips with this sound and interesting opening system. Rating: **** Recommended
Beating the Fianchetto
Defences: by Efstratios Grivas,
GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 191 large pages £15.99
The author is a Greek GM (born 1966) with experience
as a trainer and writer. He aims to provide a comprehensive and internally
coherent repertoire for the White player of “d4 c4 systems” against the
following defences: Gruenfeld ( 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3
Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Bg5 - 40 pages); Benko Gambit (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 Nf3 – 25 pages);
The Modern defence (1 d4 g6 2 c4 Bg7 3 Nf3 – 15 pages); Modern Benoni (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4
g6 7 Nf3 Bg7 8 h3 0-0 9 Bd3 – 30 pages); King’s Indian (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3
Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nf3 0-0 6 h3 – 45 pages ).
Within each section he also deals with minor lines,
such as the Snake Benoni and even lines that can
arise by transposition (e.g. the Schlechter Slav). He
is also alert to the sort of move order tricks that are part and parcel of
modern chess. Each chapter has roughly the same format: “Starting out” (basics,
plus a bit of history of the line), “Typical Endgames”, then coverage of minor
lines and earlier deviations, gradually approaching his main line, and finally
a few illustrative annotated games. Grivas has played
most of these lines himself and he makes many original suggestions and
assessments. The material is laid out clearly; there is an index of variations
and a small but useful bibliography showing the cut-off point for the research
in such standard sources as Informator and New in
Chess Yearbook. There is no index of the complete games however.
Many other repertoire books give sharp lines where the
stakes are very high. Grivas in contrast tends to
prefer lines which offer White a slight edge (mostly based on extra space),
with few losing chances. If that is the way you like to play then this book
will definitely suit you!
An example would be the “ultimate main line” of his
coverage of the King’s Indian, which is based on the game Sadler-Gallagher
2002: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7
4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 e5 7. d5 Na6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Be3 Nc5 10. Nd2 a5
11. Be2 Bd7 12. h4 c6 13. g4 a4 14. g5 hxg5 15. hxg5 Nh7 16. Rg1 Qa5 17. Qb1 cxd5 18. Nxd5 Rfe8 19. f3 Qd8 20. Qc1 Bc6 21. Nb1 Ne6 22. Nbc3 Nd4 23. Qd2 Rc8 24. Kf2 Rf8 25. Rg3 Bxd5 26. Nxd5 f5 27. Bxd4 exd4 28. exf5 Rxf5 29. Rag1 Be5
30. f4 Qf8 31. Rf3 d3 32. Bxd3 Bd4+ 33. Kg2 Rxd5 34. Be4 Bxg1 35. Bxd5+ Kh8 36. Qc3+ Qg7 37. Kxg1 Re8 38. Kf2 b6 39. Qxg7+ Kxg7 40. Re3 1-0. In his acclaimed book “Play the King’s Indian”,
Gallagher gave 19…Bc6 as an improvement, but Grivas
has looked at this in more detail and continues with 20. Qc1!! (his
punctuation) with the comment “White can claim a small advantage, as his queen
comes to c3 and , in case of a queen exchange, the recapture bxc3 will always
be a good move.” He then gives some original analysis, the main line of which
ends on move 26 with +=. Not much to
show, you might think, for a novelty on move 20 awarded two exclamation marks,
but this is typical – all through the book Grivas
rejoices in what he considers to be small but stable advantages to White.
Given the huge amount of material in this book, it is
almost inevitable that there will be some mistakes and some questionable
assessments. In some quarters I have read, for instance, criticism of Grivas’s treatment of the Gruenfeld.
This may or may not be justified – the devil is in the detail – but I think it
should be kept in mind that Grivas is an experienced
GM who has been playing his recommended system for a long time and with good
results; for instance there are 33 games with his line against the Gruenfeld in my database, from which Grivas
scores an impressive 71%, whilst he has scored less well, but still
impressively, with his 6 h3 line against the King’s Indian (60%). Of course,
even with such a highly qualified author, one should always follow the maxim of
“trust – but verify”, but I suggest that the (rightly) sceptical reader needs
to judge on a more substantial basis than a quick glance and a couple of
minutes with Fritz – Grivas’s book is a solid piece
of work and his judgement deserves respect.. If one cannot immediately see why Grivas prefers White in a certain position, it will
probably be very instructive to make a serious analytical effort to find out!
Verdict: A serious repertoire book for the “d4 c4” player who
likes extra space, sound and solid positions and small but workable advantages. ****
Chess for Children, by
This the hardest book that I’ve
had to review for some time. An adult
can only guess at the impact a book will have on a child! All I can say is that
this looks an attractive and well thought-out book for very young beginners. I
was a bit shocked to find what seemed to be a repeated spelling mistake
(practicing), but then I also spotted “center” and
concluded that book is aimed at the American market.
Verdict: looks like a good book for
young beginners, but “the proof of the pudding” etc.
Chess Explained: the Classical
Sicilian, by Alex Yermolinsky, GAMBIT Publications
Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 2006, 111 large pages £12.99
The flood of chess opening books
continues, but this new book by the former US champion Alex Yermolinsky
shows the market-leading Gambit publishers adopting a different format from
their usual attempt to provide a through “tree” analysis of an opening. “Yermo” provides 25 annotated games, with the emphasis on
understanding rather than comprehensive coverage, hence more verbal explanation
than variations. The aim is to provide a good “feel” for the opening. The
author’s chosen topic is a slightly surprising one for launching the new
series, in the sense that it is not a “sexy” one such as the Najdorf or the Dragon.
The Classical Sicilian is a Yermolinsky speciality however; it involves the move order
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 (or d6) 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 (or Nc6). Up to the
1930s, this was one of the common routes to reach both the Dragon (which would
often arise after 6 Be2 g6) and the Scheveningen (6
Be2 e6). Then aggressive Whites started playing 6 Bg5, after which 6...g6 is
risky (to say the least) so the main line rapidly became 6...e6 7 Qd2! with the
plan of 0-0-0, known as the Richter-Rauser Attack. In
the 1940s Boleslavsky demonstrated in some
influential games that 6 Be2 could also be answered by 6...e5!;
it was soon realised that 6 Bg5 enabled White to avoid that variation as well.
The 1950s saw interest developing in an alternative plan for White which also
ruled out the Dragon and the Boleslavky: the even
more aggressive 6 Bc4 (Sozin) which for a while in
the 1960s and early 70s became a serious rival in popularity to 6 Bg5, largely
under the influence of Fischer and Velimirovic.
The present book represents the
current pecking order of White’s options against the Classical: 37 pages on the
Richter-Rauser; 18 pages on the Sozin
(focusing on 6...Qb6 but glancing at the interesting 6...Na5; no treatment of
6...e6), 9 pages on the Boleslavsky; and one game
each with the much rarer options 6 g3, 6 Be3 and 6 f3 (no mention of 6 f4).
I am sure that it the Richter-Rauser that puts most players off playing the Classical.
This has scored consistently well for White for over half a century and, although
Black has many options, the middlegame positions are
often easier for White to play, especially since he usually has the much safer
king. Black’s chances tend to come in the endgame (in many lines he has the two
bishops as well as extra pawns in the centre) - if he can last that long.
Yermo’s text reads pretty well
and I didn’t get the impression that he was holding much back. I would say that
if you liked his first book “The Road to Chess Improvement” (and are interested
in this Sicilian line) you will like this one too.
In recent years the Classical
Sicilian has declined in popularity, especially compared to the Najdorf and the Sveshnikov, but
it received a recent boost at the 2006 European Championships; where the new
champion Zdenko Kozul scored
3.5/4 with Black, including winning all three of his games against the
much-feared Richter-Rauser!
There is a list of games and an index
of variations, but no bibliography. Interested readers should try to get hold
of The Complete Richter Rauser by Wells and Osnos, and the Easy Guide to the Classical Sicilian by Yrjola.
Verdict: Yermo’s
book represents a good way to get to grips with this sound and interesting
opening system. Recommended ****
Chess Self-Improvement by Zenon
Franco, GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 240 large pages
£16.99
This big book contains 50 games annotated in “How good
is your chess?” fashion. It can therefore be used just as a collection of
high-class annotated games, or for individual or group training. Franco is a GM
and trainer, originally from South America, now resident in
Verdict: excellent material for
enjoyment and training. Highly recommended: ****
Chess
Strategy in action, by John Watson, GAMBIT, [www.gambitbooks.com],
287 pages,
£19.99
This is the follow up to Watson’s
Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy and does not disappoint. Whether or not you
sign up to the complete package of Watson’s chess philosophy, you cannot fail
to be instructed and entertained by another substantial collection of
well-chosen chess material illustrating aspects of the modern game that most
previous text-books have omitted, neglected, mis-interpreted
or even distorted. I’m not going to
attempt to summarise the rich and diverse content of this book – just buy your
own copy – you won’t regret it.
Verdict: “Watson 2” is an
essential addition to the library of every serious chess player. *****
Chess Tactics for Kids by
Some years ago Chandler produced an
excellent primer on checkmate patterns, with the slightly unfortunate title of
How to beat your dad at chess, (unfortunate since a) there are so many families
these days from which the father is absent, and b) a higher than average number
of strong chessplayers seem to come from such
families). Nevertheless, the book seems
to have sold well, and deservedly, so since the content is excellent. Chess
Tactics for Kids uses the same method as the previous book, with schematic examples
of each tactical device leading to more complex positions from actual play.
Verdict: Good value and highly
recommended for juniors and novices. ****
A Complete Guide to the Grivas
Sicilian by Efstratios Grivas,
GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 144 pages pages £13.99
Many players like to play Scheveningen-type Sicilians with ...e6 and ...d6, but ever
since Paul Keres played 6 g4! against
Bogoljubow at
Verdict: another high-class
opening manual from GAMBIT. If you like Scheveningen-centre
positions for Black, this could be a very useful route for you to reach them. Recommended. ****
Creative
Chess Strategy by Alfonso Romero, GAMBIT, [www.gambitbooks.com], 224 large
pages, £17.99
Spanish GM Alfonso Romero presents us
with 16 chapters, each dealing with a positional type or concept. The unifying
theme is creativity; as the blurb puts it, “Once they have obtained an
advantage, too many players make the mistake of assuming that the exploitation
of this advantage will just be a matter of technique, requiring accuracy but
little imagination. Romero shows that the opposite is often the case: sometimes
it is the paradoxical solution that works, whereas the mechanical method would
fritter away the hard-earned advantage”. The material seems to me to be very
original and, unlike many chess books these days, the fruit of personal
searching and effort. I own (and have
enjoyed) the original Spanish version of this book, but I must say that this
GAMBIT publication is much superior in design and production, and is a real
pleasure to use.
Verdict: an original and
fascinating book. Highly recommended. ****
Decision-making
at the chess-board, by Viacheslav Eingorn,
GAMBIT , [www.gambitbooks.com], 208 pages, £15.99
Another new author, another serious,
original, thought-provoking chess book - yes, you guessed, it’s another recent
book from GAMBIT. Eingorn is a tough and experienced
GM from the
Verdict: another original and
high-quality book from GAMBIT. Highly recommended.
****
The English Attack by Tapani Sammalvuo, Gambit
(www.gambitbooks.com), 272 large pages, £16.99
I’ve not heard of the author before
(an IM from
Verdict: sets new standards for opening
books. Highly recommended. *****
The subtitle is “Applying Business Methods to Chess
Preparation and Training” (which will surely put off as many chessplayers as it attracts!). Lars Bo Hansen is a
grandmaster and former Champion of Denmark who also happens to lecture on
business and management, so, guess what, he tries to show how aspects of
management theory can be usefully applied to chess. The material is divided
into eight chapters: What is Chess Strategy? The Factors Shaping Chess
Strategy; The Opponents: the role of the human factor in chess; Characteristics
of Reflectors; Characteristics of Theorists; Characteristics of Pragmatics;
Characteristics of Activists; Environmental Factors.
The bulk of the book consists of the four
“characteristics” chapters. Hansen suggests that chessplayers
can be loosely divided into Reflectors, Theorists, Pragmatics (ouch) and
Activists. [In the
i.
Reflectors - have strong intuition, good sense of piece/pawn
coordination and use calculation sparingly, e.g. Capablanca;
ii.
Theorists - systematic players with wide chess “culture”,
good knowledge of theory but with strong ideas of their own, e.g. Botvinnik;
iii.
Pragmatics [this should be 'pragmatists'; pragmatics is the
name of a field in linguistics] - good calculators, often very materialistic,
not held back by notions of “theory”, e.g. Korchnoi;
iv.
Activists – enterprising, risk-talking, very reliant on a
good feel for the initiative, at home in positions of material imbalance,
especially good at faster time limits, e.g. Tal.
Such classifications can only ever be approximate, of
course, but can provide a useful lens through which to view a range of
approaches to chess and the associated strengths and weaknesses. Despite my
initial scepticism, I found Hansen’s discussion of these issues very
interesting. Of course, he illustrates his ideas with many examples from
players’ games, so the treatment is by no means an abstract one; believe me,
there is a lot of well-commented chess in this book! The final chapter on
“Environmental Factors” deals with matters that can affect chess
decision-making, such as the time-limit, the tournament situation, the
opponent’s “chess background”, the type of event, the impact of time-pressure.
As usual with GAMBIT, the book is well-produced and pleasant to work with, and
there is a useful list of players and an index of openings.
Verdict: In this age in which it
often seems that there is too much data and not enough information, it is nice
to come across a book that has some originality and that can make you think
about chess in a new way. Recommended. ***(*)
French: Advance and Other Lines, by Steffen Pedersen,
GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 143 large pages £14.99
The French: Tarrasch
Variation, by Steffen Pedersen, GAMBIT Publications Ltd.
(http://www.gambitbooks.com), 191 large pages £16.99
Fans of the French Defence should be feeling spoilt;
they have a wealth of excellent material to help them, including Psakhis’s authoritative series for Batsford,
Watson’s series of repertoire books for Everyman, and the wonderful book on the
Winawer by Kindermann and Dirr for Chessgate. Thus these
books from GAMBIT enter a very competitive market. The first thing I usually do
when reviewing an opening book is to find out whether the author has first-hand
experience of his subject. Steffen Pedersen is a Danish IM and an experienced
chess author. However, the number of
games in my database in which he plays on either side of the French is quite
small, which right away made me think that his assessments might not be as
authoritative as those of, say, Psakhis or Watson.
However, the more I looked at Pedersen’s two books, the more they rose in my
estimation. Of course, they benefit enormously from GAMBIT’s
high production values: good design, large pages, double-column layout, lots of
diagrams, good organisation, bibliography, index of
variations.... However, what really swung it for me is the large number of
outstandingly clear and useful explanations that you can find on practically
every page. The options and ideas in each variation are explained so well that
I feel a lot clearer now about some lines that I have been playing for many
years!
Verdict: Despite the strong competition in this field, these
books can be recommended to anyone interested in playing either side of the
French Defence. They are very suitable for keen club and tournament players,
but even quite strong players new to these lines will find very useful
instruction. ****
With Kasparov having recently
announced his retirement, the publication of this book is rather timely, but
this handsome large-format hardback has nothing of the “instant book” about it.
The Slovakian Grandmaster Igor Stohl is well known
for his theoretical knowledge and his conscientious and thoughtful annotations
– his previous book for GAMBIT (Instructive
Modern Chess Masterpieces) was highly acclaimed. This new collection of 74
annotated Kasparov games uses the same format and seems well up to the same
high standard of notes. There is also an insightful seven-page introduction
outlining Kasparov’s early career development. Although Kasparov continued to
provide the chess world with masterpieces right up to the end of his career, I
confess a great fondness for the games from his youth when, for example, he
fearlessly played the King’s Indian against all-comers; in fact King’s Indian
fans will have a field day here – there are no less than sixteen fantastic
examples in Stohl’s book. The book is well-made and nice to work with,
and is well indexed by opponent and opening.
Grandmaster Chess Move by Move, by John Nunn, GAMBIT
Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 287 large pages £15.99
John Nunn needs no introduction as a chess author. His
name is almost synonymous with a high quality product and this final (he
retired from tournament play in 2003) collection of his selected annotated
games fully lives up to expectations. In my opinion, Nunn’s direct and vigorous
play provides a good model for young players, who will find much instruction
here. All stages of the games are annotated, and the notes to the openings of
some of the games provide almost a tutorial on the variations in question. The
games are linked with brief autobiographical detail. The book also contains 25
endgame studies and 18 problems composed by the author (with full solutions)
and concludes with two essays, on chess publishing and “The State of the Chess
World”; the latter deserves the widest possible dissemination.
Verdict: surely another winner from John Nunn, interesting,
highly instructive, thought-provoking, and excellent value at £15.99. A top recommendation. *****
How to beat 1 d4, by James Rizzitano,
GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 160 large pages £15.99
The history of the QGA is a long and interesting one.
It was analysed in some of the very earliest chess texts (e.g. by Ruy Lopez, Damiano and Philidor) and it was used in some of the first matches of
the modern era, such as the famous contest between de la Bourdonnais
and McDonnel (1834). The first official World Champion
Steinitz adopted a version of the QGA in his second
match against Zukertort (1886), in which demonstrated
some useful ideas for both sides in the handling if Isolated Queen’s Pawn
positions. In the period between the death of Steinitz
and the First World War, the QGA was condemned by Tarrasch
but supported in practical play by such as Rubinstein. The generation of strong
players that emerged in the 1930s frequently adopted the QGA, ranging from
largely positional players such as Fine and Flohr to
aggressive tacticians such as Keres. It was given a
strong boost by Alekhine in his 1934 championship
match with Bogojubov. The QGA continued to be used
intermittently post WW2, peaking in the 1963 World Championship when Petrosian used it successfully to “block” Botvinnik. More recently, the banner of the QGA has been
held aloft by many strong specialists such as Rublevsky,
Sadler, Yakovich, Ibragimov
and Baburin, but probably the biggest boosts to its reputation
have been supplied by Anand (over 70 games!) and, in
the last few years before his retirement, Kasparov (16 games), when he was in
search of a replacement for his beloved King’s Indian.
As a young player, I remember being strongly advised
against playing the QGA, since it was reputed to be a very sophisticated
opening that was difficult to play, with an off-puttingly
high “infant mortality” rate – as well as conceding to White an early
advantage in the centre, Black tends to develop the queenside pieces first in
the QGA, with the result that the black king often remains stuck in the centre
for longer than in opening such as the Queen’s Gambit Declined, Nimzo-Indian or King’s Indian, and often suffers the
consequences. Some of this remains true, but with the help of a good book such
as this, the dangers can be minimised and if Black is able to avoid early
disasters he will begin to reap the long-term benefits of the QGA: counterplay against the white centre and good play for the
pieces, especially the queen’s bishop (Black’s problem piece in most variations
of the Queen’s Gambit Declined).
One of the great “missing” chess books, the books that
could have been (but never were) written, was probably one on the Queen’s
Gambit Accepted by Matthew Sadler, a world-class expert on the QGA before he
gave up chess to “get a proper job” and also a very gifted chess writer. This new book from the American
IM James Rizzitano goes a long way to compensate for
Sadler’s missing masterpiece. Rizzitano showed how
well he can write in his first book Understanding your chess (also for
Gambit), essentially a review of his own early career and a careful appraisal
of his early games in the 1980s, when he was the scourge of the New England
chess scene. His second book is a repertoire for Black based on answering 1 d4
with ...d5, and then answering White’s strongest move 2 c4 with the challenging
2...dxc4; this occupies 84 pages. The bonus for the practical player is that
the author then goes on to present (in 52 pages) a set of decent lines for
Black against all the other 1 d4 d5 openings that White can (and often does)
choose, particularly in the lower levels of chess, ranging from the solid and respectable
(London system, Colle etc..) to the disreputable but
popular at club level (Blackmar-Diemer). The material
is organised in Gambit’s preferred “tree” structure, rather than “complete
annotated games” approach favoured by other chess publishers. While there each
format has its pros and cons, I feel that the “tree” format is really the best
one for an opening repertoire book, as here, since it makes systematic study
that much easier for the reader and there is less chance of important lines
being overlooked by the author. However, this book is far from being a mere
catalogue of recommended variations; there is a large amount of “added value”
from the author in the form of commentary, explanation and revaluation (of
previously published assessments). Everywhere there is evidence of the effort
and attention to detail that the author has put in. Add in a detailed
bibliography and a useful index of variations, and package it all in Gambit’s
usual high production values, and the result is a very good-quality opening
book of which author and publisher can be proud.
Verdict: an excellent black repertoire book against 1 d4,
particularly suitable for strong players and ambitious “improvers”. Highly
recommended ****
Improve Your
Attacking Chess by Simon Williams, 160 pages, GAMBIT (www.gambitbooks.com),
£13.99
English IM Williams is known for his
aggressive style. Here he provides the reader with 250 test-positions,
practising different aspects of the attack on the king. The puzzles are grouped
into six thematic chapters, and each position is given a short “scene-setting”
introduction. Full solutions are
provided, with both verbal and analytical explanations. There is an index of
players.
Verdict: excellent practice
material on what one of the most enjoyable aspects of chess – the attack on the
king. Recommended. ****
Improve your Positional Chess by Carsten Hansen, 192 large pages, Gambit
(www.gambitbooks.com), £14.99
By means of numerous examples, mostly
taken from modern games, the author reviews important elements of
position-play. There are also some test-positions for the reader. The material
looks pertinent and interesting and I am sure that working through it slowly
and thoughtfully will surely raise the reader’s level of positional
understanding. Not being a strong player myself, I can’t really vouch for the
“security” of Hansen’s judgements; which brings me to a slight worry – with
this much positional understanding, how come Hansen is not at least an IM?
There is an index of players and the usual Gambit high production values are
evident throughout. Two reputedly important authors are conspicuous for their
absence from the otherwise extensive bibliography: Jeremy Silman
and Josif Dorfman.
Verdict: Stronger players than I will have to
make the ultimate judgement of its quality, but this is seemingly a well
researched and interesting text book on positional chess.
Learn Chess
Tactics by John Nunn, 160 large pages, GAMBIT, £12.99
It is becoming generally accepted
that “the quickest way for most players to achieve better results is to improve
their tactical ability”, as Nunn says in the Introduction. Happily there are
now many decent tactics books on the market – what the reader tends to find,
however, is that many books recycle the same hackneyed examples. Nunn has tried
to present fresh material “by deliberately steering clear of well-known
examples and focusing on positions which are recent enough not to have appeared
frequently in print. I have also avoided esoteric examples featuring themes of
limited practical importance; this book focuses on ideas which occur time and
time again and which are bound to arise in readers’ games sooner or later”. As
you would expect with a book from this author, the material is organised
logically and clearly. There are fourteen chapters, each based on a particular
tactical device, such as the Fork, Back-Rank Mate, etc. Each chapter starts
with some explanatory material, followed by some graded exercises. There is
also a gradual increase in difficulty as the book progresses. The answers are
separate from the tests (this should be automatic, but is not always the case
in such books!) and there is an index of players. As usual with GAMBIT books
(www.gambitbooks.com), the production values are high.
When I was a junior, I learnt from
the classic tactics book “Winning Chess” by Chernev
and Reinfeld. I have been waiting for a long time for
a modern equivalent that I could recommend to my students. I strongly suspect
that this is it.
Verdict: There is every sign that
this will become a modern classic of the genre. Highly recommended – and not
just to novices! Good value for money. ****
MASTERING THE NAJDORF by Julen Arizmendi & Javier
Moreno, GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 224 pages £15.99
The authors, both titled players from
I first saw this book in its excellent Spanish edition
and snapped it up. If anything, this English edition for GAMBIT is even better.
The translation generally reads well, and the production values are very high,
as we have come to expect from GAMBIT. There is a bibliography and an index of
variations. Unusually for GAMBIT, the material is based round complete games,
so an index of players would have been useful. Note that is not a complete
study of the Najdorf – the authors have selected a
repertoire for you. For the most part, the chosen variations seem to be main
lines with a good track record, although I suspect that not all players will be
comfortable with the authors’ recommended line against 6 Bg5: 6...e6 7 f4 Qc7,
allowing doubled f-pawns, after which Black will always have some anxiety
regarding king-safety.
Verdict: if the Najdorf is your defence, then you must have this book. Highly recommended. ****
Modern Chess
Analysis by Robin Smith, 176 large pages, GAMBIT, £15.99
Robin Smith, a very strong
correspondence chess player, shares his considerable knowledge and experience
of using chess-playing programmes to analyse chess positions. There are many
fascinating and potentially useful insights into the relative strengths and
weaknesses of human and computer thinking. As usual with GAMBIT books
(www.gambitbooks.com), the production values are high and, although there is
little wasted space, there is no skimping on diagrams or indices.
Verdict: practically all serious
chess players now use chess programmes in training, analysis or preparation. A
study of this pioneering book should help make your own work with the computer
more effective. ****
Play the Sicilian Dragon by Edward
Dearing, Gambit (www.gambitbooks.com), 256 pages, £15.99
I have several club colleagues who
have been awaiting eagerly the publication of this book, and who are insanely
jealous that I have a review copy. Just why is the Dragon so popular among club
players? I even know some who haven’t played it since their junior days, but
who nevertheless maintain an interest in how this opening is faring
theoretically. Part of the magic of the Dragon probably resides in the romance
of the name itself. The way it just seems to keep bouncing back from each
claimed “refutation” is also attractive. Many of the old Soviet coaches taught
the Dragon to whole generations of juniors, since the basic ideas are easy to
teach and learn, and the typical Dragon middle-games with opposite sides
castling opening provide ample practice in tactics and calculation. OK, now for
the downsides: although the Sicilian as a whole has been the most popular
defence against 1.e4 since World War 2, there are in fact very few professional
players who have the Dragon variation as their front-line weapon; why is that?
It can’t just be the amount of theory involved, since this is easily dwarfed by
the amount required to be able to play the Najdorf,
for instance. Here are some possible factors: play for both sides in the Dragon
is actually severely constrained, even stereotyped; although there is
apparently endless scope for home-cooked improvements, there is very little
room for strategic subtlety or creativity – it can begin to feel like the chess
equivalent of painting by numbers; in
the Dragon, a master can easily lose as Black to a much lower-rated player who
happens to be “packing” the latest theory – there is little margin for error,
and little scope for the master to outplay his weaker opponent strategically.
OK – what about this book? Well, my first impression is that it is a great
piece of work by Dearing; in this, his first book, it’s clear that it’s been
something of a labour of love and that he’s set out from the first to produce
something he himself could be pleased with. Bring together Dearing’s diligence
and subject-knowledge (he has played and studied the Dragon for years) with the
expertise and high production values of the Gambit team, and the reader is the
winner.
After a useful introduction, Dearing
sets out the material in 21 chapters. It is written with Black in mind, but is
much more objective than e.g. Ward's books. Whilst “recent-breaking”
developments such as the Topalov and Chinese
variations are touched upon, and Ward’s old favourite line with ...Qa5 and
...Rfc8 is also examined, most attention is devoted to the lines that seem to
have the best pedigree:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4
Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 and now:
9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3
Ne5
12.h4 h5 (Soltis variation) but if 12.Kb1 Re8!?
9.0-0-0 d5 (9...Nxd4 and 9...Bd7 are
also covered) 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Be6 14.Ne4 Re8
And of course all other reasonable
White systems against the Dragon are covered as well, but inevitably in far
less detail.
There is plenty of verbal explanation
and lots of original analyses and assessments. I particularly like the way the
author tends to deal first with White’s most “cave-man” approaches to the
problems of each variation.
As usual with Gambit books, there is
a useful index of variations and a bibliography, with an indication of the
cut-off point for the research. There is no index of players’ names this time
though, since the book uses a tree structure rather than being built round
complete games.
Verdict: this book now takes over from Golubev’s Easy Guide to the Dragon as the most
authoritative reference on the Dragon. Highly recommended.
*****
Secrets of Attacking Chess, by Mihail
Marin, GAMBIT Publications Ltd. (http://www.gambitbooks.com), 192 large pages
£16.99
Marin is a strong and active grandmaster from
Verdict: very interesting and
original material that will provide much food for thought. Highly
recommended. ****
Verdict: a good effort from Sam
Collins. Probably most useful for players up to about 150 BCF
(2000 FIDE). ***
Understanding the King’s Indian: by Mikhail Golubev, GAMBIT Publications Ltd.
(http://www.gambitbooks.com), 207 large pages £15.99
The KID is quite unfashionable at the moment; its drop
in the ratings can be attributed to three factors: a) Kasparov’s problems as
Black against Kramnik and his eventual abandonment of the KID in the late
1990s; b) specific problems in some lines, notably the Bayonet Attack against
the Classical system; c) a gradual shift amongst the strongest players in the
last decade or so away from defences that concede space, along with a growing
feeling that such defences are really not quite “correct”. This is not new of
course; it could be seen in the writings of say Botvinnik
or Fine in the middle of the last century; I also recall Larsen expressing the
same opinion in the 1970s, and it seems that Korchnoi
never had a high opinion of this defence either. Yet as long as there was a
steady stream of brilliant games and impressive results from the long and
distinguished line of KID exponents that included Boleslavsky,
Bronstein, Geller, Gligoric, Tal,
Stein, Fischer and Kasparov (closer to home, I can recall some wonderful KID
games played by Jonathan Mestel and John Nunn), the
critical voices were largely ignored.and the KID
remained popular at all levels of chess. In the last few years the Slav (of all
things) has been more popular than the King’s Indian, and I think chess has
been the poorer for it. This may change, of course, if a KID player gets close
to the World Championship – at the moment, Radjabov
seems the best hope for this. Meanwhile, I take heart from the statistics,
which show that in recent years the KID has been scoring no worse than average
for Black.
One of the first things I look for when reviewing an
opening book is: does the author play this opening? Well that’s no problem
here: Mikhail Golubev is a dedicated career-long
King’s Indian player, and indeed the book is based almost entirely on his own
extensive experience with this opening. There are 56 main games, grouped
according to variation, with many others mentioned in the notes. There is
plenty of verbal explanation and lots of original analysis. Also the author’s enthusiasm for this opening really show through!
Verdict: Golubev’s inspiring work deserves
to take its place, alongside Gallagher’s excellent King’s Indian books, on the
shelf of aggressive players everywhere.
Understanding
your chess by James Rizzitano, 192 large pages, GAMBIT,
£15.99
Rizzitano (born 1961) was one of
the strongest American juniors of his generation, gaining the IM title before gradually
abandoning chess for a career in the software industry. “The idea for this book
hatched when I was contemplating a return to competitive chess after ‘a year
off’ had stretched into a 14 years absence’, Rizzitano
tells us in the Introduction. He has re-analysed more than sixty of his early
games, against opponents of various strengths, and the book presents the reader
with what the author hopes will be relevant lessons. Many authorities stress
the usefulness of analysing your own games as one of the most important ways to
increase your chess strength – Rizzitano presents us
with a collection of good examples of how to do it. He seems honest and
thorough, he has checked his finding with Fritz, and he shows how to draw
appropriate conclusions from such analytical work – there is a summary after
each game. Obviously the book would have more ‘cred’
if the author were still an active player, but you
can’t have everything. As usual with GAMBIT books (www.gambitbooks.com), the
production values are very high, the games are indexed by player and opening,
and there is a detailed bibliography.
Verdict: a fine collection of instructively
annotated games, many previously unpublished.
Win with the London System, by Sverre
Johnsen and Vlatko Kovacevic, GAMBIT Publications Ltd.
(http://www.gambitbooks.com), 176 large pages £14.99
It is unusual for GAMBIT to publish a book on a non-mainstream
opening, so I was quite interested to see what might have led them to issue
this work on what is generally regarded as a rather tedious and unambitious line for White. For a start, the pairing of the
authors is unusual: the Norwegian Johnsen is what we
Brits used call a “county-level” player, current FIDE rating 2162 – the book
was his idea, and he has done most of the donkey-work; his co-author Kovacevic is a Croatian GM and an acknowledged expert on
this opening – he helped select and analyse the illustrative games and helped
“finish” the product.
Originally the name London System referred
specifically to a solid set-up against the King’s Indian played several times
at the London 1922 tournament; it was soon overtaken by more aggressive approaches
with White, but London System became the accepted name given to the white
opening scheme involving the moves d4 and an early Bf4, usually in connection
with an unambitious deployment of the c-pawn to c3
(rather than c4) and the e-pawn to e3 (rather than e4).
The traditional move order, following Lasker’s precept of “knights before bishops, is 1 d4, 2
Nf3, 3 Bf4; the finesse advocated in this book is first to develop the “
The format of the book is unusual; the first large
section consists of thirty illustrative games, designed to explain the basics
and give a feel for the main features of the system; after each game there is a
short summary entitled “Lessons to be learned” – I liked this feature very
much. There follows a detailed “Analytical Section” (pages 63-173). As far as I
can tell, all reasonable Black set-ups against the
Verdict: a model exposition of a sound and practical, albeit
rather unambitious, opening system for White. Highly recommended. *****
50 Essential Chess Lessons: by Steve Giddins, GAMBIT Publications Ltd.
(http://www.gambitbooks.com), 159 large pages £14.99
When I first started being interested in chess, the
first books I came across in my local library were two collections of games
annotated by an American, Irving Chernev: Logical
Chess – Move by Move, and The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever
Played. I learned a lot from these books, particularly about the basics of
classical theory. I bought my own copies and for quite a log time I continued
to recommend them to colleagues and (later) students. But for many years now
these books have been gathering dust on my shelves. The problem is not so much
that they use the descriptive notation (I think everyone should be “bilingual”
in this respect) but that chess has moved on, and what we expect from a chess
book has also changed. I still think
that collections of well annotated games can be a very useful means to improve
your game, but now I find that Chernev’s writing is
on the one hand far too dogmatic and on the other not rigorous enough. It seems
that Steve Giddins too was inspired and then
gradually disillusioned by Chernev, but he has
actually done something about it; he has chosen fifty instructive games played
between the 1930s and the present day, and annotated them à
la Chernev, i.e. with extensive verbal comments
and relatively few variations, but from a modern standpoint. He has also moved
beyond Chernev in structuring the didactic content
more systematically, by grouping the games into thematic sections (Attacking
the King, Defence, Piece Power, Pawn-structure, Endgame
Themes) and by providing a summary after each game (The Essential Lessons). I
liked the choice of games, which includes many that I am sure will be new to
the reader.
Verdict: Amid the recent flood of chess books, this one stands
out as being one that can be heartily recommended to anyone seeking both
entertainment and instruction on wide variety of chess topics in one volume. Would make a good present, say for a keen (and literate) junior.
365 ways to checkmate, by Joe Gallagher,
208 pages, Gambit (www.gambitbooks.com), £13.99
First reaction is “huh, another
puzzle book”. Second reaction is “hey, it’s by Gallagher – let’s take a closer
look” – because by now it’s reached a point where, such is the consistently
high level of his work that “Joe Gallagher” is no longer an author’s name any
more – it’s become a brand. Here he presents us with 365 puzzles, graded into
five levels of difficulty, with a hints section, well-explained answers in the
back of the book, plus a combined glossary of terms/index of themes. Combined
with Gambit’s high production values, what we have is yet another high-quality
product from Gallagher.
Verdict: an excellent tactics book – highly
recommended. *****