Latest book
reviews of 1 July 2017
BOOKS REVIEWS BY JOHN ELBURG.
Wilhelminalaan 33
7261 BP RUURLO
The Netherlands.
The New In Chess Book of Chess Improvement
Lessons From the Best Players in the World
by Steve Giddins
2017
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
350 pages
Price $ 24.95
ISBN: 978-90-5691-717-3
The English Chess Master Steve Giddins had the pleasant honour from New In Chess to write a follow up from his 2010 successor The First 25 Years.
Giddins has specially compiled for this book a collection of 100 best games, played by famous and less famous players but one thing is certain they are all highly worth playing throw!
Specially with the extra included key lessons and introduction texts.
All kind of strategies can be found here as smashing endgames, killing attacks and positional masterpieces.
Many of these games are from World Champions or Worlds leading players but I was also surprised to see a correspondence chess game from the ten time British over the board champion Jonathan Penrose.
Interesting are the words from Steve Giddins on modern chess:The computer has shown us the extent of the defensive resources in chess,and top players nowadays are remarkably tenacious.
However, it is also true that it is not only at the grandmaster level that standards have improved greatly over recent years. The same true at the amateur level as well.
The average player nowadays is much stronger than his equivalent
of 50 or even 25 years ago.
One of my favourite games in this book is: Leko,Peter (2736) - Anand,Viswanathan (2753) [C42]
Linares 20th Linares (13), 08.03.2003
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Rac8 16.Bd3 Qd7 17.Rb1 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 b6 19.d5 Bf6 20.c4 h6 21.h3 Re7 22.Rbd1 Rd8 23.Rxe7 Nxe7 24.Ne5 Bxe5 25.Bxe5 Re8 26.Bg3 Nf5 27.Bxc7 Qxc7 28.Qxf5 Qxc4 29.d6 Rd8 30.d7 Qc6 31.g3 a6 32.h4 b5 33.Rd5 a5 34.Rxb5 g6 35.Qd5 Qxd7 36.Qxd7 Rxd7 37.Rxa5 Kg7 38.a4 Rd1+ 39.Kg2 Ra1 40.g4 Kf6 41.Kg3 Rc1 42.Rb5 g5 43.Rf5+ Kg6 44.h5+ Kg7 45.a5 Ra1 46.Kg2 Re1 47.f3 Re6 48.Kf2 Kf8 49.Rb5 Kg7 50.Rf5 Kf8 51.Rc5 Kg7 52.Rb5 Kf8 53.Rb6 Re5 54.a6 Kg7 55.a7 Ra5 56.Rb7 Ra3 57.Ke2 Kf6 58.Kd2 Ke6 59.Kc2 f6 60.Kb2 Ra4 61.Kb3 Ra1 62.Kb4 Kd6 63.Rh7 Ke5 64.Kb5 Ra2 65.Kb6 Kd5 1-0,yes 45…Ra1? Is a terrible mistake!
But what a great fight!
Conclusion: This book is a gift to every lover of the game!
Chess for Hawks
Improve your Vision, Sharpen your Talons, Forget your Fear
by Cyrus Lakdawala
2017
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
282 pages
Price $ 24.95
ISBN: 978-90-5691-719-7
The well known chess author and trainer Cyrus Lakdawala comes with a well thought refreshing trainings manual that is overloaded with highly instructive topics as When should we weaken our structure in exchange for attack or initiative? Single colour based attacks. Surviving opening ambushes. Minor pieces in relation to structure. Bishop domination. Opposite coloured bishops. Defence, Attack and initiative. The final frontier, Revolt of the frontier.When to fight and when to bail out with a draw offer?Petrosian the Yin Master and more!
I loved chapter 12 with the title how to survive the gifted kid: Alexander Costello – Cyrus Lakdawala San Diego rapid 2015,1.e4 My opponent at the time was 12 year old master, which is pretty scary, since I was about 1150 rated at age 12. 1…c5!? Wait,wait,one moment. let me explain. Sometimes your writer is a highly skilled actor over the chessboard,who puts on the haughty airs of an alpha male,when in reality I am no more than an impostor.
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 h6!?
This move gets nearly a half a page of text but I like to show some instructive tips:
Rule number one against gifted kids: Avoid sharp and popular theoretical byways, since odds are they out-memory you. As Lakdawala explains the fact is that with databases coupled with powerful chess engines, a child can go over a hundred games a day,and by age 12,play like a veteran of 25 years.
My opponent took a satisfyingly long time to respond, which left me with the happy feeling that he was already yanked out of his prep.
7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 a6 9.dxc6 axb5 10.cxd7+ Bxd7 11.Be2 Bc6 12.0-0 Bc5 13.Qd3 Qxd3 14.cxd3 Bd4 15.Bd1 Bd5 16.a3 b4 17.Rb1 Ba2 18.Ra1 b3 19.Re1 0-0 20.Re2 Rxa3 21.bxa3 Bxa1 22.Bb2 Bxb2 23.Rxb2 Rd8 24.Bxb3 Rxd3 25.Rxa2 Rxb3 26.f3 h5 27.Kf2 Kh7 28.h4 Kg6 29.g3? White’s best shot at a draw is to avoid all forms of weakness with 29.a4 Rb4
30.Kg3 Kf5 31.a5 f6 32.a6 bxa6 33.Rxa6 with decent chances to hold the draw.
At long last,a kid-error. Children tend to measure life on the scales of fair and unfair.As we get older, we get more and more accustomed to unfair, when we are deprived of our rightful share of life’s profits.
29… Kf5 30.a4 e4 31.fxe4+ Kg4 32.Rd2 Rf3+ 33.Ke2 Kxg3 34.Rd7 b6 35.Rb7 Rf6 36.e5 Rf5 37.Rxb6 Rxe5+ 38.Kf1 Kxh4 0-1.
The author played a King’s Indian set-up against all non 1.e4 openings in the early 1980s which did not suit his playing style, when he took up the Slav in the 1990s his rating went up by almost 200 points. Cyrus Lakdawala writes:Maybe I just got stronger,or maybe the rating jump was due to playing openings in harmony with my natural style.
Conclusion: This work is a truly master piece of explanation!
One of those books that will help you to become a master in chess!
Understanding the Sicilian by Mikhail Golubev
2017
Gambit Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
239 pages
Price £19.99
ISBN 978-1-911465-10-4
The chess genius from Odessa, Grandmaster Mikhail Golubev does not only help you to play and understand the Sicilian Defence, but provides the reader also
with a lot of latest developments in sharp lines as the Dragon,Sozin,Najdorf,Velimirovic,Fischer Attack,Taimanov,Kan Systems and more!
Many lines are so detailed that the reader can use the analyses from Golubev simple to make a easy win from the book!
Some readers are probably aware of Golubev previous works as Understanding the King’s Indian and Easy Guide to the Dragon and his various contributions as for example his impressive chapter on the Dragon in the book: Experts vs the Sicilian.
Golubev is a unbelievable expert on the Dragon and it is not easy to find a second expert from Grandmaster level who is willing to share his opening secrets!
Grandmasters enjoy analysing there games but not there opening secrets and here lays for the reader a unique chance for a truly grandmasters view!
I love the explanations from Golubev as for example after the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 a6
Golubev:But this is a non-standard set-up for black. I call it ‘Botvinnik’s Dragon’not because I have ever been a Botvinnik fan,but because I think that it’s historically accurate. Some prefer to name this hybrid system the ‘Dragondorf’,etc. I used it as a surprise weapon, playing it in five long time-control games against opponents no higher than master level, and won all of these games. But objectively black’s life is far from easy here.
White’s most dangerous setup against Botvinnik’s Dragon runs with the moves:1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 a6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4! b5 10.h4!
After 10….Bb7?! Golubev honestly writes:This may be unplayable even against an unprepared opponent.Just mixing things up,I forgot my own preparation!
Conclusion: Buy this book before your opponent does!
My secrets in the Ruy Lopez by Lajos Portisch
2017
Gambit Publications Ltd
http://www.gambitbooks.com
E-mail info@gambitbooks.com
239 pages
Price £16.99
ISBN 978-1-911465-11-9
A other super read from Gambit this month is My Secrets in the Ruy Lopez from the legendary Lajos Portisch,who had the nick name
as the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s till the late 80s.
It is a great pleasure to announce a such high standard work as this book from Lajos Portisch on the Ruy Lopez and I can insure the reader
they are one for one highly instructive games!
To see Portisch and his contemporaries of that time is a truly fascinating time trip, there are several battles with Bobby Fischer in this book as for example the one of Santa
Monica 1966,where Portisch did specially attach some fresh ideas and later games.
All material is pleasantly divided into 8 sections as Exchange Variation,Old Steinits Defence,An early d3,Keres Set-up,Modern
Steinitz Defence,Delayed Exchange Variation, The Central Advance and the Main Lines.
Good for 80 deeply analyses games,not to a painstaking death but readable and highly educative.
One of my favourite games is Portisch lost against the Dutch Johan Barendregt,who was a great expert on the Exchange variation but Portisch does not fear to show us his mistakes.
Between the lines I enjoyed Portisch meeting with Bobby Fischer in Hungary 1993.
Conclusion: This is a great chess book!
Maybe one of the best!
