Critical moments in
chess by Paata Gaprindashvili
2010
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
271 pages
$22,95
ISBN 978-1-906388-65-2
In Imagination in Chess Paata Gaprindashvili did focus how to play
with creativity but in his latest work, Critical Moments In Chess the
International master of correspondence chess explains at the hand of
269 exercises, the critical moment of chess.
In these touching moments you are invited to find the one and
only winning move,as for example in the correspondence game Estrin –
Boey corr,1980 where Estrin did manage to win with a study like Rook
move.
Unfortunately enough Gaprindashvili does not give any references to the
correspondence games in this book so for the interested reader here is
the whole game:
Estrin,Yakov Borisovich - Boey,Jozef Martin (BEL) [C55]
Wch10 Final 7884 corr ICCF, 1978
{1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 Ng4 6.Qe2 Qe7 7.Bf4 f6
8.exf6 Qxe2+ 9.Kxe2 Nxf6 10.Re1 d6 11.Kf1+ Be7 12.Nbd2 a6 13.Nb3 b5
14.Bd3 Bd7 15.Nbxd4 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Kf7 17.c4 Rhb8 18.Rac1 bxc4 19.Bxc4+
d5 20.Bb3 Rb4 21.Be5 c5 22.Nc2 c4 23.Bxf6 Kxf6 24.Rxe7 Kxe7 25.Nxb4
cxb3 26.Nxd5+ Kd6 27.Rd1 Bb5+ 28.Ke1 bxa2 29.Nb6+ Kc5 30.Nxa8 Kb4
31.Nc7 Kb3 32.Kd2 g5 33.Ne6 g4 34.f4 gxf3 35.gxf3 Kxb2 }36.Ra1 Bc4
37.Nd4 a5 38.f4 1-0.
The reader shall find seven game positions from Estrin in this book,and
from Taimanov even twelve!
Impressive is the game from Alvis Vitolins against Zhuravlev Riga
1980,yes Vitolins motto was initiative!
The material is devided into the following chapters: Critical
moments.Critical moments:struggle and capture of the
initiative,Critical moments: development of the initiative,creation of
an attack,Critical moments: obtaining and retaining the advantage;
creation of counterplay;taking over the initiative from the opponent,
etc.
Critical moments: delivering the decisive blow and of course a lot of
exercises!
Conclusion: A very enjoyable read!
Studying chess
made easy by Andrew Soltis
2010
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
256 pages
$22,95
ISBN 978-1-906388-67-6
The educative GM Andrew Soltis has managed to fill his latest Batsford
book,Studying chess made easy with a wealth of original trainings
tips as, Chess isn’t school, Cultivating your chess sence, The biggest
study myth, The right way to study an opening, Two-and-a-half move
chess, Overcoming endgame phobia, Learning to live with TMI and how
learn from a master game.
If you don’t like to memorize openings than limit your self for moves
as 1.Nf3,2.g3,3.Bg2,4.0-0 5.d3 and 6.Nbd2,and Soltis writes,your basic
way of creating play is to push the e-pawn, perhaps supported by the
queen at c2 or e2.
Another system is based on 1.d4 followed in some sequence by Nf3,Bf4 or
Bg5,e3,c3,Bd3 and Nbd2.You can get play from e3-e4,usually supported by
the queen at c2 or e2.
As black,a bad memory repertoire comes at the risk of getting a cramped
game.One example is 1…g6,2…Bg7,3…d6 and later Nd7,…b6,…Ne7.
One finale point.It may also be possible to stretch your memory muscles
by doing mental exercises.So far,the evidence is purely anecdotal but ….
But many players who turned into champions enjoyed committing trivia to
memory when they were young. There is no guarantee this will work for
you, But there have been some remarkable examples. Among them:
When Magnus Carlasen was 5 he reputedly memorized the
area,population,flag and capital of all countries of the world.The
young Anatoly Karpov memorized the year and location of all of
the Olympic Games since 1896.As a boy Garry Kasparov memorized Russians
poems and, later,the capitals of all 50 American states. And they
turned out to be pretty good players.
Conclusion: This book will certainly improve your playing skills!
Find the right plan by Anatoly Karpov & Anatoly
Matsukevich
2010
Batsford Ltd, London
http://www.Batsford.com
256 pages
$22,95
ISBN 978-1-906388-68-3
Anatoly Karpov is a chess players who dominated the chess world for
more than a quartet of a century, his openings knowledge was not
spectacular but his talent lays in his fantastic ability to handle
technical positions.
In this book ‘Find the right plan’Karpov and his companion Anatoly
Matsukevich explain you in readable words the fine techniques of play.
This all is well based on seven basic principles:
1.Material relationship between the forces.
2. Presence of direct threats.
3. Position of the kings, their safety.
4. Possession of open lines.
5. Pawn structures, weak and strong squares.
6. The centre and space.
7. Development and the position of pieces.
As a result of comparing these elements the chess player makes a
statistical evaluation of the position, selects a plan of action and
begins searching for specific moves and calculating variations.
The work starts with some chess history and fine games from Philidor
and Paul Morphy.
Here you will find some classic beauties as Paulsen – Morphy,New York
1857:
Paulsen,Louis - Morphy,Paul [C48]
USA-01.Kongress New York (4.6), 07.11.1857
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bc5 5.0-0 0-0 6.Nxe5 Re8 7.Nxc6 dxc6
8.Bc4 b5 9.Be2 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 Rxe4 11.Bf3 Re6 12.c3 Qd3 13.b4 Bb6 14.a4
bxa4
15.Qxa4 Bd7 16.Ra2 Rae8 17.Qa6 Qxf3 18.gxf3 Rg6+ 19.Kh1 Bh3 20.Rd1 Bg2+
21.Kg1 Bxf3+ 22.Kf1 Bg2+ 23.Kg1 Bh3+ 24.Kh1 Bxf2 25.Qf1 Bxf1 26.Rxf1
Re2
27.Ra1 Rh6 28.d4 Be3 0-1.
Karpov & Matsukevich writes: in his action at the chess
board,Morphy superbly planned his
play and foresaw the course of events a long way ahead.A different fate
lay in store for
his plans in life...
Karpov does by the way not mention that Morphy did miss with 23...Bh3+?
the most accurate win: 23...Be4+! 24.Kf1 Bf5!
But throw the whole book you will find fantastic games and positions of
games as for example this fantastic Latvian game:
Borik,O - Novak,Ivan [C40]
Czechoslovakia, 1969
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 fxe4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.d4 Qxg2 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Bf7+ Kd8
8.Bxg6 Qxh1+ 9.Ke2 c6 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Qg5 Be7 12.Nf7+ Ke8 13.Nxh8+ hxg6
14.Qxg6+ Kd8 15.Nf7+ Ke8 16.Ne5+ Kd8 17.Bf4 Qxa1 18.Nf7+ Ke8 19.Nd6+
Kd8 20.Qe8+ Kc7 21.Qxe7 1-0.
And what do you think about this less known blockade game:
1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 b6 3.Bd3 Bb7 4.Nf3 e6 5.Nbd2 d5 6.Ne5 c5 7.c3 Bd6 8.f4
Nbd7 9.0-0 Qc7 10.Qf3 0-0 11.g4 Ne8 12.Qh3 g6 13.Ndf3 Ndf6 14.Ng5 Ng7
15.Qh6 Rae8 16.Rf3 Re7 17.Rh3,Deken – Dieks,Amsterdam 1979.
I assume it was Roy Dieks who was a great youth talent in the
seventies, and who came second just to Miles in the world junior
championship 1974 in Manila!
Besides the games there is a large collection of instructive
compositions all well indexed as all the other instructive games in
this book.
The excellent translation of this work comes from Sarah Hurst.
Conclusion: A master piece of explanation!
Understanding the
Marshall Attack by David Vigorito
2010
Gambit
Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
191 pages
Price $ 23,95
ISBN 978-1-906454-17-3
The American IM David Vigorito comes in this book with a impressive
study of the Marshall Gambit with all it’s mainlines as the Spassky
variation and anti lines.
Between these lines lays the modern rook shuffle 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 9.exd5 Nxd5
10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Re4,nowadays
this move is played more than any other Marshall line,but the real
lovers buy this book for the complicated mainlines.
For the first time the internet refutation from Daniel Quigley is
clearly explained: 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 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6
13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Be3 Bg4 16.Qd3 Rae8 17.Nd2 Re6 18.a4 f5 19.axb5
f4 20.Bxf4 Bxf4 21.Rxe6 Bxe6 22.bxa6 Bxd2 23.Qxd2 Ra8 24.Qe2 Bf7 25.a7
Qd7 26.Qa6,white has four pawns for the piece and the passed a-pawn
will keep Black all tied up.
The lines of the Marshall are complicated and I would to suggest the
reader to be critical in the recommendations, for instance in the old
main line: 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 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1
Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Be3 Bg4 16.Qd3 Rae8 17.Nd2 Re6 18.a4 bxa4 19.Rxa4 f5
20.Qf1 Qh5 21.f4 Rfe8 22.Qf2 g5 23.fxg5 f4 24.gxf4 Bh3,David Vigorito
writes:
25.Kh1 This is probably best.In 1990 Nunn wrote “A good line on move 25
for white is hard to find”and 20 years later after a lot of back and
forth is still {or should I say again}in white’s court.
But here Vigorito misses the much stronger 25.Nc4!!
Tim Harding wrote about this move on his Marshall CD: This could be a
critical move. White hopes to simplify to a won endgame, exploiting the
wrecked black queenside. Therefore Black needs a concrete attacking
continuation but despite his apparently promising build-up it is hard
to find anything.
Well known is the following game but not mentioned in the book from
Vigorito:
Nemec,J - Talla,Vladimir [C89]
CZE liga corr, 1997
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 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3
15.Be3 Bg4 16.Qd3 Rae8 17.Nd2 Re6 18.a4 f5 19.Qf1 Qh5 20.f4 bxa4
21.Rxa4 Rfe8 22.Qf2 g5 23.fxg5 f4 24.gxf4 Bh3 25.Nc4 Bxf4 26.Ne5 Bxe5
27.dxe5 Rxe5 28.Qg3 Qxg5 29.Rxa6 Qxg3+ 30.hxg3 Be6 31.Bf2 Rxe1+ 32.Bxe1
Nc7 33.Bxe6+ Rxe6 34.Ra1 Re2 35.b4 Nd5 36.Rd1 Kf7 37.Kf1 Rc2 38.Rd2 Rc1
39.Rd3 Ke6 40.Ke2 Ke5 41.Bd2 Rb1 42.Rf3 Ke4 43.c4 Nxb4 44.Bc3 Nd5
45.cxd5 Kxd5 46.Rf4 c5 47.Rh4 1-0,maybe black can improve with:
32….Nb4!! 33.Bxe6+ Rxe6 34.Ra8+ Kf7 35.Ra7+ Kg6 36.Bf2 Nd3 37.b4 Re2
38.Bd4 Kf5 39.Kf1 Rc2 40.Re7 h5 41.Re2 and it looks that black
has a draw.
Conclusion: One of the best Marshall Gambit books that I have seen in
the last ten years!
A killer chess
opening repertoire by Aaron Summerscale
& Sverre Johnsen
2010
Gambit
Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
192 pages
Price $ 19,95
ISBN 978-1-906454-18-0
Aaron Summerscale book, A killer chess opening repertoire from 1999 has
been updated and expanded by the Norway chess expert Sverre Johnsen.
The previous edition from Summerscale was a Cadogan/Everyman book but
Gambit has managed to become the copyrights of this outstanding work.
Strange enough there is no input from Summerscale himself on this
update, but it looks that the work has been increased by Sverre Johnsen
with a third of new material
but the original structure of Summerscale
work has been kept in touch.
For all fans of the anti Dutch, the following line from Trygstad’s 1.d4
f5 2.Bg5 h6 3.Bh4 g5 4.e4 Rh7!? is well covered between the lines of
the
game Summerscale – Santo Roman,Montpellier 1994.
Conclusion: Impressive update!
Julius Finn
A Chess Master's Life in America,1871
-1931 by Olimpiu G.Urcan
2010
McFarland &
Company,Inc.,Publishers Box 611
Jefferson,North Carolina 28640.
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com
271 pages
Price $65,00
ISBN 978-0-7864-3296-7
The Romanian Olimpiu G.Urcan describes in this wonderful produced
McFarlan book the life and games from the American chess master Julius
Finn.
Finn belonged in the begin of the last century to one of New York’s
most successful chess players,Finn was also a great blindfold artist
and successful insurance Agent.
As leading spirit of the Manhattan Chess Club he has insured of it’s
prominent members which made him throw the years a very wealthy man.
But he was also organizers of the famous New York 1924 chess
tournament and the president of the 1927 New York Tournament!
This all began when he came to New York as immigrant in 1887 at the age
of 16,where he started his career as peddler on the Lower East Side.
Finn’s first tournament in America was a handicap tournament played at
Café Boulevard at 156 Second Avenue from September to November
1985,where here he was ranked as a 2nd class player at the beginning of
the competition but he took home the 1st prize ahead of William Napier
and Hermann Helms!
Finn played several times against the great Lasker and even managed to
win the following game, which also can be found on the MegaBase,but
that is only one of the few that you can find on this DVD:
Lasker,Emanuel - Finn,Julius [C39]
New York game New York, 1907
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bc4 d5 7.exd5 Bd6 8.0-0
Bxe5 9.Re1 Qe7 10.c3 Nbd7 11.d4 Nh5 12.Bb5 Kd8 13.Bxd7 Bxd7 14.Rxe5
Qxh4 15.Rxh5 Qxh5 16.Bxf4 Re8 17.Bg3 Qxd5 18.Qf1 Qe4 19.Na3 Qe3+ 20.Bf2
Qe2 21.Bh4+ Kc8 22.Qxf7 Qxb2 23.Re1 Rxe1+ 24.Bxe1 b6 25.Qd5 Rb8 26.Nc4
Qe2 27.Bg3 Qe6 0-1
In the second game Lasker did take revenge: Lasker,Emanuel -
Finn,Julius [C39]
New York game New York, 1907
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Bc4 d5 7.exd5 Bd6 8.0-0
Bxe5 9.Re1 Qe7 10.c3 Nbd7 11.d4 Nh5 12.Bb5 Kd8 13.Bxd7 Bxd7 14.Rxe5
Qxh4 15.Rxh5 Qxh5 16.Bxf4 Re8 17.Bg3 Qxd5 18.Qf1 Qe4 19.Na3 Qe3+ 20.Bf2
Qe2 21.Bh4+ Kc8 22.Qxf7 Qxb2 23.Re1 Rxe1+ 24.Bxe1 b6 25.Qe7 Qc1 26.Nc4
Kb7 27.Nd6+ Ka6 28.Qe2+ b5 29.Ne4 Bc6 30.a4 Qb1 31.axb5+ Bxb5 32.Nc5+
Kb6 33.Qe6+ c6 34.Qe7 Rb8 35.Kh2 Qg6 36.Nd7+ 1-0.
Only the last game of this analytic match organised by Rice is lost.
Rice,the influential magnate and chess patron sponsored this three-game
match between Finn and the great Emanuel Lasker.
Lasker handled the attack in all three games,where the first 18 moves
where prearranged.
Finn continued to provide valuable research on the gambit.But he also
agreed to a series of exhibitions and travels to promote the Rice
Gambit outside New York.By the end of 1907,Finn was not only the New
York State champion, he was also one of the country’s strongest players
and most active performers.
In the Philadelphia Inquirer from February 1908 we can read that
Capablanca was “shortly to play a match with Julius Finn but the match
was scrapped,apparently due to Capablanca’s determination to focus on
his examinations.
Included are 96 well analysed games from Finn in this book plus a lot
of supplementary games and a fine collection unknown photographs.
The foreword comes from John S.Hilbert.
Conclusion: One of those marvellous McFarland
reads!
Chess results
1951-1955
2010
McFarland & Company,Inc.,Publishers Box 611
Jefferson,North Carolina 28640.
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com
596 pages
Price $49,95
ISBN 978-0-7864-4801-2
Chess results issue 1951-1955 holds over 1620 tournament crosstables
and 144 match scores with sources.
When we compare this issue with the one below than we can say the begin
of the 1950s where the golden years of chess with it’s 1620
crosstables.
Here I found Bobby's Fischer first chess result with the USA Junior
Lightning championship not to be confused with the Lincoln USA Junior
Championship,where Viktors Pupols outplayed Bobby with the
Latvian Gambit.
Between the pages of this book I found many forgotten chess players as
Mulder van Leens Dijkstra
who later become a very strong correspondence chess player,later he was
later buried with his favourite chessmen.
Included is of course the Interzonal tournament of Goteborg 1955
the great success of David Bronstein where I found Jan Hein Donner only
on place twenty.
Chess results
1956-1960
2010
McFarland & Company,Inc.,Publishers Box 611
Jefferson,North Carolina 28640.
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com
572 pages
Price $49,95
ISBN 978-0-7864-4803-6
The Italian Gino Di Felice documents in this book all the main
chess competitions that took place all over the world from 1956 through
1960.
Entries record location, when available ,the group that sponsored the
event plus the first and last name of the players.
All compiled from contemporary sources as newspapers, periodicals,
tournament records and match book.
Resulting in 1390 tournament cross tables and 142 match scores, all
indexed by events and by players.
Included is for example Montreal 1956 but I am missing results of Bobby
Fischer,for instance the U.S Junior Championship,of July 1956
where Bobby Fischer won his first national title, finishing clear
first with a finale score of 8.5 –1.5 in the ten round Swiss.
This book is a fascinating read!
Conclusion: A must for all chess lovers!
The final
theory of chess by Gary M.Danelishen
2008
Phillidor Press
385 Pages
Price $25,00
ISBN 978-0-9815677-0-9
The final theory of chess is a computer generated openings book
based on all kind of openings as the Bird and two Knights Defence, but
I am missing in this 385 page heavy weight openings as the Latvian
Gambit!
The finale theory of chess relies disproportionably upon extensive
computer analyses, which where all taken between the years 2004
and 2008.
This was done by a network of six computers all running on the famous
Fritz family.
As we can read Deep Fritz produced far superior analysis to
either Fritz 7 or Deep Fritz 8.
The first computer run on 2.4 GHz Pentium processor, soon a Dual Xeon
1.5GHz workstation was added and there after a 2.67 GHz Celeron.
This all result is a mass of moves where it is difficult to find your
favourite pet line.
It is like playing around with Frits but than without his Powerbook!
Fritz has a complete other taste than the latest chess theory made by
our chess heroes from the Informator.
Every theory line has a human import with some readable
introduction text.
The author Gary Gary M.Danelishen is also well known on his Chess Wiki
project,where
enthusiasts armed only with computer chess software and a passion for
creating chess theory.
Please see:
http://finaltheoryofchess.game-server.cc/mediawiki/index.php/Table_of_Contents
Personal I am missing in this book the human touch, but I it is a great
book for all who enjoy computer generated chess moves!
Conclusion: Completely overloaded with computer moves!
Who dares
wins! by Lorin D'Costa
2010
Everyman
Chess
http://www.everymanchess.com
190 pages
Price €17,90
ISBN 978-1-85744-629-6
Who dares wins is also the title of a movie but the bright Lorin
D’Costa,one of the most interesting players of the UK,presents
you in this book a smashing attacking games,all provided at the hand of
64 impressive played attacking games.
The basis of this book lays by opposite-side castling but our young
author digs in all kind of attacking patterns.
Going throw these games is pure chess enjoyment as the for example the
following game:
Reeve,Jeff (2243) - Huber,Gregory (2236) [B80]
Edmonton op 3rd Edmonton (9), 04.08.2008
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 d6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 Be7 8.Qd2
0-0 9.0-0-0 Nc6 10.g4 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 12.h4 Qc7 13.h5 b4 14.Ne2 e5
15.Be3 a5 16.g5 Nd7 17.Kb1 Nb6 18.Ng3 Nc4 19.Bxc4 Qxc4 20.Nf5 Bxf5
21.exf5 Rfc8 22.g6 Rc7 23.Rdg1 Bf6 24.gxh7+ Kxh7 25.Qg2 Rg8 26.Bg5 Bxg5
27.Qxg5 Qxc2+ 28.Ka1 a4 29.f6 a3 30.Qg6+ Qxg6 31.hxg6# 1-0, Lorin
D’Costa writes:Although the following encounter was a blitz game {with
five minutes each},this has to be one of the most entertaing games that
I have ever seen!
I’m sure you’ll agree too….
Very instructive is the following game from Lorin D’Costa where the
young author explains his thinking process and this smashing game is
good for nearly four pages of text!
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Ne7 6.Be3 d6 7.Qd2 Nec6
8.Nb3 Be7 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.g4 Nd7 11.g5 b5 12.f4 Nb6 13.Qf2 Rb8 14.Kb1
Nc4 15.Bc1 Qb6 16.Qh4 a5 17.f5 N6e5 18.Bxc4 bxc4 19.Nd4 Nd3 20.cxd3
Qxd4 21.Ne2 Qc5 22.f6 Bd8 23.d4 Qb4 24.fxg7 Re8 25.Ka1 c3 26.Nxc3 Ba6
27.Rhg1 Bb6 28.e5 dxe5 29.Ne4 Bd8 30.Rg3 Bb7 31.Nf6+ Bxf6 32.gxf6 Qa4
33.Qxh7+ Kxh7 34.Rdg1 Bg2 35.R1xg2 1-0, Lorin D’Costa – M.Madina
Yadarola,Benasque 2009.
All together this book is more than a collection short cuts, Lorin
D’Costa explains in detail all kind of attacking techniques which can
help you to become a better player.
Included is a index of openings and games but there is no bibliography.
Conclusion: This book is great fun!
Starting out: The Reti
by Neil McDonald
2010
Everyman
Chess
http://www.everymanchess.com
206 pages
Price €26,95
ISBN 978-1-85744-622-7
Grandmaster Neil McDonald does not only explain you the basics of the
Reti in this book but, provides the reader also with a detailed
explanation of the Reti Slav,the Reti Slav Capablanca system,the Reti
Slav where black plays …dxc4,the Open Reti,the closed Reti and the Reti
in the English opening.
All material is explained at the hand of 55 model games again all well
explained with a large amount of instructive text.
Interesting are the following words from McDonald: For my 15th birthday
I got Flank Openings by Raymond Keene.
Playing through the subtle positional masterpieces in this book,I
realized that I found the perfect antidote to my travails: a way to
avoid both theory and sharp lines.
Rather than having to face all sorts of pawn structures selected
according to my opponent’s whim, I could impose my upon him by
limiting the battleground to a couple of pawn structures.
The next year I played in the British Under-16 and armed with
1.Nf3 won the tournament with 91/2/11,winning all my games with white.
Included between the model games of this book is a latest game of
McDonald with the Reti:
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 Be7 6.b3 0-0 7.Bb2 d5 8.e3 c5
9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.Qe2 Qc7
11.Rfd1 Rac8 12.Rac1 Rfd8 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 exd5 15.d4 Qd6
16.Bh3 Qh6 17.Bg4 Rb8 18.dxc5 bxc5
19.Ne5 Nf6 20.Bf3 Ne4 21.Ba3 Qf6 22.Bxe4 Qxe5 23.Bf3 Rbc8 24.Qb5
Qc7 25.Bxc5 Bxc5 26.b4 Qb6 27.Rxc5 1-0,
Neil McDonald – D.Wright,London 2009.
In 1920 Reti wrote: As the opening is in general a struggle for
domination in the centre the characteristic feature
of every such new system will be a desire to direct pressure against
the centre without fixing the middle pawns too soon.
The natural opening move in such a system is 1.Nf3 which directs
pressure against the centre,prevents e5,and keeps open almost
all possibilities for the first player.{Masters of the Chessboard}
Conclusion: A masterpiece of
explanation!
De pion by Hans Böhm
& Yochanan Afek
2010
http://www.tirionuitgevers.nl/
141 pages
Price €17,95
ISBN 978 90 4391 296 9
The well known IM Hans Böhm and his companion IM
Yochanan Afek presents you in this latest Tirion Sport book, a fine
collection chess problems and studies where the pawn has a domination
role.
In chess we speak from king power but here we are doing with pawn power!
The material is pleasantly presented in 60 chapters where every chapter
is good for four fascinating pawn compositions.
A large amount comes from game fragments as the following one from
Alexander Alekhine,for my readers I will give all the moves:
Bogoljubow,Efim - Alekhine,Alexander [A90]
Hastings Hastings (10), 21.09.1922
{1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Nxd2 Nc6 7.Ngf3 0-0
8.0-0 d6 9.Qb3 Kh8 10.Qc3 e5 11.e3 a5 12.b3 Qe8 13.a3 Qh5 14.h4 Ng4
15.Ng5 Bd7 16.f3 Nf6 17.f4 e4 18.Rfd1 h6 19.Nh3 d5 20.Nf1 Ne7 21.a4 Nc6
22.Rd2 Nb4 23.Bh1 Qe8 24.Rg2 dxc4 25.bxc4 Bxa4 26.Nf2 Bd7 27.Nd2 b5
28.Nd1 Nd3 29.Rxa5}29.. b4!! 30.Rxa8 bxc3 31.Rxe8 c2 32.Rxf8+ Kh7
33.Nf2 c1Q+ 34.Nf1 Ne1 35.Rh2 Qxc4 36.Rb8 Bb5 37.Rxb5 Qxb5 38.g4 Nf3+
39.Bxf3 exf3 40.gxf5 Qe2 41.d5 Kg8 42.h5 Kh7 43.e4 Nxe4 44.Nxe4 Qxe4
45.d6 cxd6 46.f6 gxf6 47.Rd2 Qe2 48.Rxe2 fxe2 49.Kf2 exf1Q+ 50.Kxf1 Kg7
51.Ke2 Kf7 52.Ke3 Ke6 53.Ke4 d5+ 0-1,Alekhine wrote later,One of the
most beautiful games I have ever played.
The material is very readable presented as for example when the pawn
prefers to promote as knight.
A real adventure is the Babson Task,which goes back to the American
Joseph N. Babson 1852-1929,but here has the pawn a dominating role!
Impressive are the own creations from Afek,as for example: White
Kf5,pawns g6,g5 and a7
Black Kh8 and rook g8
White plays and draws! 1.g7+ Kh7 2.g6+ Kh6 3.a8Q! Rxa8 4.Kf7 Ra7
5.Kg8!! Rxg7+ 6.Kh8!
Interesting to mention are the eleven pages on chess history where
Böhm did make use of a unprinted source from the chess researcher
Leo Diepstraten.
Conclusion: One finest chess books that I have seen on
pawns!
The Alterman gambit
guide by Boris Alterman
2010
Quality Chess
448 pages
Price €21,99
ISBN 978-1-906552-53-4
GM Boris Alterman providies the reader in this book with a
wealth of exciting gambits as
Evans Gambit, Panov Attack, Morra Gambit, Philidor, Danish Gambit,
Urusov Gambit, Morphy Attack, Cochrane Gambit, Max Lange Attack and
Milner-Barry Gambit.
The aim of Alterman lays by juniors and beginners of chess who like to
learn the most important principles of gambit play and I can unsure you
these
openings from Alterman are a great choice to improve your attacking
skills.
Included for example the following game,under the section Evans Gambit.
Fischer,Robert James - Fine,Reuben [C52]
Manhattan blitz New York, 1963
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 dxc3
8.Qb3 Qe7 9.Nxc3 Nf6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Bb2 Qg5
14.h4 Qxh4 15.Bxg7 Rg8 16.Rfe1+ Kd8 17.Qg3 1-0.
For the interested reader Fischer was following a old analyse from
Freeborough and Ranken from 1893!
This game is dubbed as a Skittles game in Bobby Fischer his book My 60
memorable games.
The more experienced can better subscribe on Kaissiber, but this book
is great for all new comers of gambit play.
Conclusion: A fine introduction to gambit play!
British
Chess Magazine No.4
Volume
130
April
2010
Price: £4,05
Ian Rogers was in Linares to see Veselin Topalov take his first
title, this all is good for a twelve page coverage.
Other readable contributions are World Team Championship, Games
Department from Sam Collins,4NCL weekend where John Saunders reports on
the weekends of the British Team Championship.
In Chess Questions answered Garry Lane digs in the exciting line
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c4?!
The regular columns are Problem World,Quotes and Queries,News in
Brief,Spot the Continuation and Reviews and New Books etc.
Conclusion: Certainly one of the
best!
