From the publisher’s blurb:

“In reviews of the author’s books, Grandmaster Matthew Sadler wrote in New In Chess about David LeMoir’s writing “… always either entertaining or instructive”, and Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson (in the English Chess Federation’s Newsletter) wrote “I like LeMoir’s writing style a lot!”.

David LeMoir has written three popular and highly acclaimed chess books: How to Be Lucky In Chess, which showed how to use psychology to lure your opponent into error; How To Become A Deadly Chess Tactician, a worldwide hit which helped thousands of players to see spotting and analysing tactics as their friends, not things to be feared or shied away from; and Essential Chess Sacrifices, which made learning each of the fifteen most common piece sacrifices as easy and effective as learning a chess opening variation.
He has also become one of the UK’s most popular chess feature writers, his work having appeared in a number of national and regional magazines. Much of his work helps his readers to understand tactics and combinations in new ways, making it easier for them to spot such opportunities in their own games. This book brings together all of his articles for national magazines, a selection of articles from regional magazines plus an excerpt from each of his three previous books. Interspersed throughout are comments by the author on the trials, tribulations and motivations of the chess author. Prepare to be instructed and entertained!

Praise for Chess Scribe: “He is one of those rare talents with the necessary skill to help his readers better understand their craft… Compelling reading … Because his writing is often very funny, LeMoir’s ideas tend to stick in the memory” – Ben Graff in CHESS Magazine. “Now… a new audience can read his witty, clever and instructional articles… a glorious collection of chess articles that will keep you entertained and help to improve your rating” – IM Gary Lane in the English Chess Federation’s Newsletter.”

Before going further you might wish to Look Inside.

 

Christmas 1964. In Twickenham 14-year-old Richard receives a year’s subscription to British Chess Magazine. And in Bristol, 14-year-old David receives a year’s subscription to CHESS.

We both got hooked on reading about chess, and in time both became chess writers ourselves. While I was attracted to DJ Morgan’s Quotes and Queries column, David LeMoir was attracted to brilliant attacks and sacrifices. So, while I wrote about chess trivia, David wrote about tactics.

While we have a lot in common, the main difference between us is that he’s always been a much better player than me.

This, he tells us, was his lockdown project. A collection of his chess writings over half a century. You’ll find extracts from his three books, articles from CHESS and British Chess Magazine (some of you will have read some of these before) along with articles from local publications, most notably En Passant, a magazine from Norfolk, where David has lived since 1997, all interspersed with snippets of chess autobiography.

The articles cover a wide range of topics: David’s own games, tactical and sacrificial ideas, match and tournament reports, pen-pictures of other Norfolk players and much else. There’s plenty of variety here.

What you won’t get is a lot of opening theory: David often prefers less orthodox openings. You won’t get a lot of endings either: the games David demonstrates, whether his own or played by others, are usually decided in the middle game.

You will get a lot of open, attacking play with clear and informative explanations, which will inspire you to improve your tactical skills. Rapid development and open lines are often the order of the day. Bear in mind, though, that many of the articles were written in the pre-engine age, or when engines were much weaker than they are now. The author has, sensibly, I think, chosen not to rewrite his articles to reflect this.

David must be particularly fond of this early effort, which appears several times in different guises. (Click on a move on any game in this review and a board will magically appear enabling you to play through the game.)

[pgn]

[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1967.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “LeMoir, David”]
[Black “Martin, Roger”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B43”]
[PlyCount “45”]
[SourceVersionDate “2021.12.02”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 Bb4 7. O-O Nf6 8.
Bf3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qxc3 10. e5 Qxa1 11. exf6 gxf6 12. Nf5 Qe5 13. Nd6+ Kf8 14.
Nxc8 d5 15. Bh6+ Ke8 16. Nb6 Ra7 17. Nxd5 Nd7 18. Re1 Qb8 19. Bg7 Rg8 20. Nxf6+
Nxf6 21. Bxf6 b5 22. Bh5 Qc8 23. Rxe6+ 1-0

[/pgn]

I particularly enjoyed this game from a Norfolk club match. White outmanoeuvred his opponent, who then, with admirable imagination and presence of mind decided to sacrifice two pieces, leading to unfathomable (at least to humans) complications.

[pgn]

[Event “Woodpushers v Broadland”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2002.11.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Hughes, Roy”]
[Black “Sali, Zulfikar”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B23”]
[PlyCount “80”]
[SourceVersionDate “2021.12.02”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 d5 4. Bb5+ Nc6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. d3 Be7 8.
O-O O-O 9. Qe1 Ba6 10. e5 Nd7 11. Ne2 Rb8 12. b3 f5 13. c4 h6 14. Qg3 Rf7 15.
h4 Nf8 16. h5 Bc8 17. Nc3 g6 18. hxg6 Rg7 19. Qh3 Rxg6 20. Kf2 Qe8 21. Rh1 Qf7
22. Ba3 Qg7 23. g3 a5 24. Na4 Nd7 25. Rag1 Ba6 26. Nh4 Rg4 27. Nf3 Bf8 28. Nh2
dxc4 29. dxc4 Bxc4 30. bxc4 Nxe5 {[#]} 31. fxe5 Rxc4 32. g4 Rc2+ 33. Kf3 Rxa2 34. Bc1
Rb3+ 35. Be3 f4 36. Nf1 fxe3 37. Nxe3 Rxe3+ 38. Kxe3 Qxe5+ 39. Kf3 Qe2+ 40. Kg3
Qf2# 0-1

[/pgn]

White’s choice of 31. fxe5 lost, but David LeMoir analyses three alternatives, Nxg4, Qf1 and Nb2, all of which he claims, correctly, lead to a draw. My spoilsport computer tells me White had a clear win with 31. Rd1, and that the improbable 31. Ke2 would also have given White some advantage. A fascinating position – and just the sort of chess David likes. There are important lessons here as well about randomising the position when you’re in trouble and not being scared of complications.

Two of the sections that appealed to me most concerned the author’s Norfolk chess friends Owen Hindle and Mike Read.

Hindle is almost forgotten now, but for a short period in the mid sixties he was one of England’s strongest players before chess took a back seat to married life.

This game will be of interest to two of my online friends.

[pgn]

[Event “Birmingham League”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1961.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Hindle, Owen M”]
[Black “Horton, Andrew R G”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B82”]
[Annotator “Richard”]
[PlyCount “31”]
[SourceVersionDate “2021.12.03”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 a6 7. f4 b5 8. e5
dxe5 9. fxe5 Nd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Be2 Qxe5 12. Qd2 Bb7 13. Bf4 Qe4 (13… Qc5
14. O-O-O Be7 15. Nb3 Qc8 16. Na5 Bd5 17. Bf3 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Nc6 19. Nxc6 Qxc6
20. Qg2 Rc8 21. Kb1 g6 22. h4 h5 23. Be5 O-O 24. Rd2 Rfd8 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. a3
Rd5 27. Qe2 Bd6 28. Bc3 Bxa3 29. Qe4 Bf8 30. Rg1 Bg7 {0-1 Gharamian,T
(2611)-Colovic,A (2441) Sautron 2009 EXT 2010}) 14. O-O-O e5 15. Nc6!
Be7 (15… f6 16. Qd8+ Kf7 17. Rd7+! Nxd7 18. Qxd7+ Kg6 19. Nxe5+ fxe5 20. Qe6#)
16. Qd8+! 1-0

[/pgn]

Mike Read overcame serious health problems to become a Senior International Master of correspondence chess. It’s well worth studying his games: you can find out more by visiting his website.

While we’re exact contemporaries, David and I have never met, although we may well have been in the same room at the same time on various occasions in the 1970s. I might possibly have witnessed this game from a Thames Valley League match against a Richmond & Twickenham team (possibly, given his opponent, Richmond B).

[pgn]

[Event “Thames Valley League”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1974.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Reece, David G”]
[Black “LeMoir, David A”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C30”]
[PlyCount “34”]
[SourceVersionDate “2021.12.03”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 Bc5 4. Nf3 d6 5. f5 Nge7 6. Bc4 Na5 7. Bd5 c6 8. Bb3
Nxb3 9. axb3 g6 10. g4 h5 11. f6 hxg4 12. fxe7 Qxe7 13. d4 exd4 14. Nxd4 Qh4+
15. Ke2 g3 16. Nf3 Bg4 17. Bf4 g2 0-1

[/pgn]

The same story as in so many games in this book: a sacrifice for open lines and rapid development. This book will teach you a lot about attacking chess.

One of David’s favourite openings is the Latvian Gambit: it’s amusing to learn that, paradoxically, it’s often a good way to score a quick draw as opponents will choose a safe and dull continuation to avoid theory. Again, perhaps a lesson there, although I’m not sure whether the lesson is ‘playing sharp but dubious openings can often pay off’ or ‘make sure you’re aware of the refutation of any sharp but dubious opening your opponent might play’.

Finally, a game which was both David’s best game and worst nightmare.

[pgn]

[Event “Norfolk Championship”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2001.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “LeMoir, David A”]
[Black “Hindle, Owen M”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B50”]
[Annotator “Richard”]
[PlyCount “78”]
[SourceVersionDate “2021.12.03”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. b4 cxb4 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd3 e6 6. O-O Be7 7. Nbd2 Nc6 8. Re1
e5 9. d5 Nb8 10. a3 bxa3 11. Bxa3 O-O 12. Nc4 Re8 13. h3 Bf8 14. Qd2 Qc7 15.
Nh4 Na6 16. f4 b5 17. Ne3 exf4 18. Nef5 g5 19. Bb2 Nd7 20. g3 gxh4 21. gxf4 f6
22. Qg2+ Kh8 23. Kh2 Ne5 24. Rg1 (24. fxe5 dxe5 25. Bxb5) 24… Qf7 25. fxe5
Rxe5 26. Bxe5 dxe5 27. Bxb5 Bxf5 28. exf5 Nc5 29. Bc6 Rd8 30. Rxa7 Be7 {[#]} 31. c4 (
31. d6 Rxd6 32. Rxe7 Qxe7 33. Qg8#) 31… e4 32. d6 {Time trouble, forgetting
that Bxd6 is now check.} Bxd6+ 33. Kh1 Qxa7 34. Bd5 Bg3 35. Qb2 Qe7 36. Ra1 e3
37. Ra7 Rd7 38. Ra8+ Kg7 39. Rg8+ Kh6 0-1

[/pgn]

There’s a lot to enjoy, and a lot to inspire you in this book. David LeMoir is an excellent writer who values clarity of expression, and the tension and excitement of club and tournament chess really come across well. It’s a collection of articles rather than a coherent book so there’s a certain amount of repetition, and production values are not quite at the level you’d expect from a professional publishing house. There are some notation and spelling errors (he’s Graeme, not Graham Buckley, and it’s Middlesbrough, not Middlesborough, for example, but this is to be expected and won’t spoil your pleasure.

As David explains, self-publishing using Amazon is a free and easy way to get into print, although you may not sell many copies.

Books of this nature should, I think, be supported. If you buy it you won’t be disappointed.

 Richard James, Twickenham 3rd December 2021

You may purchase this book from here

Book Details :

• Softcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: David LeMoir Publishing (10 April 2021)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10:1527291189
• ISBN-13:978-1527291188
• Product Dimensions: 17.78 x 1.57 x 25.4 cm

Official web site of Amazon Publishing