Isaac Kashdan American Chess Grandmaster by Peter P.Lahde
Career Summary with 757 games
2009
McFarland &
Company,Inc.,Publishers Box 611
Jefferson,North Carolina 28640.
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com
348 pages
Price $65,00
ISBN 978-0-7864-3296-7
Peter P.Lahde describes in this beautiful printed hardcover of
McFarland the life,chess career and games of Grandmaster Isaac Kashdan
(19 November 1905, New York – 20 February 1985, Los Angeles},who was
one of the best chess players in the world of the late 1920s and early
1930s.
The main part of this work,273 pages holds hundreds of his tournament
games,match games, simultaneous exhibitions, speed games etc.
Many of these games cover original analyses of the great Kashdan or
other prominent chess players of his time.
For example in this book I found nine games from Kashdan against
Alexander Alekhine where Alekhine only managed to win one game from
Kashdan in serious competition, and that was the Pasadena Chess
Congress game from 1932.
A other lost game can be found in the consultation game between Kashdan
& Phillips against Alekhine & Wahrburg,New York 1933.
Alekhine thought sufficiently highly of this game, that Alekhine
included it in his book,My best games 1924-1937.
Kashdan had the talent to extract victories from seemingly even
positions and some called him "The little Capablanca".It was Alekhine
who named him one of the most likely players to succeed him as
World Champion.
For financial reasons,Kashdan was forced to earning a living as an
insurance agent and administrator in order to support his family.
Peter P.Lahde writes: Since Kashdan could no longer make his living by
playing chess in tournaments and exhibitions,he advertised in January
1938 in Chess Review that he would be a special agent for Prundential
Insurance Company.He invited anyone interested to consult him for life
insurance and investments.
Kashdan best performance was the 48th United States Open,Open Christi
of 1947,where Kashdan won 10 of his 13 games,while drawing the other 3.
Mrs.Kashdan took quite an interest in chess herself.She even formed a
chess club that would consist of seven men and eight women,and Helen
Kashdan even played in the United States Women’s Championship of 1938!
There is a story that Sir Umar,the master of Sultan Khan,was deeply
impressed by Helen Kashdan. He wanted to add her to his harem and
offered Isaac Kashdan £150.
One of Kashdan's children, Howard had serious health
problems,born in 1941 and saidley died in 1955.
The cause of death was “idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis”which is probably
“cystic fibrosis”.
Their younger son,Richard born in 1944,is a lawyer with offices in San
Francisco.
Howard’s health is one reason Kashdan did not compete in any events in
1949 and 1950.
In 1963 and 1966 Isaac Kashdan was director of the first and second
Piatigorsky Cup tournaments, and these belong to some of the best
tournaments books that where ever written.
An interesting sidelight was in 1996, that Kashdan’s wife Helen,was
instructed to locate a smaller set of board and pieces for Bobby
Fisher.
Included in this book is a introduction with missing games, tournament
crosstables,bibliography,Index of players,index of ECO openings and 11
photographs!
Conclusion: On of those fabulous made
McFarland chess books!
Understanding chess endgames by John Nunn
2009
Gambit Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
231 pages
Price $ 24,95
ISBN 978-1-906454-11-1
Dr.John Nunn provides the
reader in this book with all the necessarily endgame knowledge,that you
must be aware of!
All material from Nunn is provided by 100 endgame positions and the
World Chess Solving Champion explains, you in readable text the secrets
of these endgame positions.
As GM Nunn explains some knowledge of elementary mates with King and
queen vs king,and king and two bishops vs is necessarily for a
good understanding of this book.
Pleasant to mention are the wealth of new positions in this book and
that makes it also interesting for the more experienced club player,who
likes to expand his or hers endgame skills.
Nunn calls each group of two pages a ‘section’.Where each section is
good for four columns and there is a diagram at the top of each column
and this all makes the material very understandable.
Nunn is the man of detailed analyses but honest this book is
unbelievable readable!
The sections in this book are divided into: King and pawn
Endings,Knight Endings,Same-Coloured Bishop Endings,Opposite Coloured
Bishop Endings,Rook Endings,Rook vs Knight Endings,Rook Endings,Rook vs
Minor Piece Endings,Queen Endings,Other Material Combinations and
Tactical ideas.
Here I found the classic beauty Kmoch – Nimzowitsch,Bad Niendorf
1927,where black is a pawn up with two connected passed pawns,but at
the moment his pawns are blocked.
How can he lift the blockade and win?
Please see page 227!
Conclusion: A very understandable
endgame book!
The most
valuable skills in chess by Maurice Ashley
2009
Gambit Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
159 pages
Price $ 27,95
ISBN 978-1-904600-87-9
I have seen a lot of book on chess tactics but how the Maurice
Ashley brings his chess pieces to life is very special.
Ashley goes back to there their fundamentals and learn you to be a
hunter and sometimes you have to play like a butterfly.
Ashley describes the board as a minefield where potential peril lurks
behind every pawn front.
The words from Ashley make a lot of sense,for example: the position
between Petrosian and Bronstein,Amsterdam Candidates 1956.
White,a future World Champion,overlooked the fact that his queen was
being threatened by the black knight on f5.He played 36.Ng5?? and gave
immediately after his opponent pocketed the queen.Sometimes we feel a
little better if we know it happens to legends of the game too.
Just how can we learn to avoid these hazardous squares?
The way beginners usually learn is through the school of hundred
blunders and bruised egos,we finally begin to stay away
from the greedy mouths hungering to swallow up our pieces.I think that
is not a bad way to learn {we have all been through it}but I believe
there are ways to train your self to learn your self to learn how
to become much more aware very quickly.
In the chapter Wall street the player learns to asses and make good
trades.
The book holds five fabulous,well analysed games,Paul Morphy –
Duke of Brunswick/Count Isourd,Paris 1858,Wilhelm Steinitz – Curt von
Bardelen,Hastings 1895,Mikhail Botvinnik – Milan Vidmar,Nottingham
1936,Donald Byrne – Robert James Fischer,New York 1956 and Bent Larsen
– Boris Spassky,Belgrade 1970.
All these games cover a wealth of text.
Included are a lot of exercises to see if you have, understood the
lessons from Tiger Woods of chess GM Maurice Ashley!
Conclusion: Also highly recommend for chess trainers!
