Category Archives: Games Collection

2021, Autobiography, Biographies, Books, Games Collection, London Chess Centre Publishing, Reviews, Richard James

Kupreichik: The Maestro From Minsk

March 6, 2023 Richard James Leave a comment

From the London Chess Centre Publishing web site:

“Kupreichik: The Maestro from Minsk features tributes to the legendary attacker from those who regularly faced him at the board, including Alexander Beliavsky, Oleg Romanishin, Evgeny Sveshnikov and Vladimir Tukmakov. Kupreichik also inspired the next generation, as the contributions of Boris Gelfand, Garry Kasparov, Andrey Kovalev and Rauf Mamedov reveal.

Our picture of Viktor Kupreichik is completed by a series of pen portraits from his family, which make clear the kind and principled man this hero of Belarusian chess was, as well as his love for the 64 squares.

Translated by Ken Neat, this work is also a collection of Kupreichik’s best games, many annotated by the man himself. His wins over Tal and Zilbershtein are legendary examples of the power of a knight sacrifice on d5 in the Open Sicilian. Inside you will learn not just about handling Kupreichik’s favourite Classical Sicilian, Slav and King’s Indian, but attacking and sacrificial chess in general. Readers even have the chance to solve 26 positions and so play like Kupreichik!

Viktor Kupreichik (1949-2017) was a leading Soviet Grandmaster in the 1970s and 1980s, famed for his attacking prowess. He twice won a staggering five games in a row at the super-strong USSR Championship. A former world student champion, Kupreichik won many tournaments, including the Masters section at Wijk aan Zee in 1977 and the Hastings Premier of 1981/82.

with forewords by Anastasia Sorkina and Genna Sosonko”

If I asked you to guess who played this game you’d be forgiven for thinking Tal. (Click on any move in any game in this review for a pop-up window)

[pgn]

[Event “”]
[Site “”]
[Date “”]
[Round “”]
[White “”]
[Black “”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B82”]
[PlyCount “61”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bc4 Qb6 7. Nb3 e6 8. Be3 Qc7 9. f4 a6 10. Bd3 b5 11. a3 Be7 12. Qf3 Bb7 13. O-O Rc8 14. Rae1 O-O 15. Qh3 b4 {[#]} 16. Nd5 exd5 17. exd5 Nb8 18. Bd4 g6 19. Rf3 Bxd5 20. Rfe3 Bd8 21. Qh4 Nbd7 22. Qh6 Qb7 23. Rg3 Nc5 24. Nxc5 dxc5 {[#]} 25. f5 cxd4 26. fxg6 fxg6 27. Bxg6 Kh8 28. Qxf8+ Ng8 29. Bf5 Rb8 30. Re8 Qf7 31. Rh3 1-0

[/pgn]

You’d be partly right: Tal was playing – the black pieces. Spoilsport Stockfish will tell you he should have won, but it’s not easy, even for a genius, to defend against that sort of attack over the board. It was played in Sochi i n 1970, in a match tournament between a team of young layers and a team of grandmasters.

On the white side was the hero of this book, Viktor Davydovich Kupreichik (1949-2017). This book, unusually without a credited author, was compiled by his family and friends after his death and published in Russian in 2019 to celebrate what would have been his 70th birthday. Here we have an English translation from London Chess Centre Publishing.

Genna Sosonko wrote the foreword to the English edition:

A master of attack, he demonstrated play that you rarely see nowadays. Even today when playing over games by Minsk’s favourite, an expression of Tal’s comes to mind – “tasty chess”.

Memories of him have been written by world champions, trainers, colleagues, friends and Viktor’s pupils. They all remember not only a wonderful chess player, but also an extraordinary personality. Even in the world of Soviet chess, Viktor was distinguished by his independence.

Mikhail Tal, Viktor’s idol, once said that his favourite squares on the chess board were d5 and f5. Viktor, who was similar to Tal not only in his constant striving for the initiative, but also the incredible boldness of his play, repeatedly placed his pieces en prise too on these very squares. And his most brilliant firework display began with a knight sacrifice on d5 in a game with Tal himself.

If you’re a fan of Tal’s games, then (and who isn’t?), you’ll enjoy Kupreichik’s games as well. You might put him in the same category as other chess mavericks such as Nezhmetdinov and Planinc: a player who valued creativity, beauty and excitement above results.

One of the contributors, Boris Gelfand, recalls, as an 11-year-old in 1979, being deeply impressed by this game.

[pgn]
[Event “URS-ch47 Final”]
[Site “Minsk”]
[Date “1979.12.??”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Tseshkovsky, Vitaly”]
[Black “Kupreichik, Viktor D”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B64”]
[WhiteElo “2560”]
[BlackElo “2365”]
[PlyCount “58”]
[EventDate “1979.11.29”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “17”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[EventCategory “12”]
[SourceTitle “URS-ch”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O O-O 9. f4 h6 10. Bh4 Bd7 11. Nf3 Qa5 12. Bc4 {[#]} b5 13. Bxb5 Rfc8 14. Bc4 Nb4 15. Qe2 Rxc4 16. Qxc4 Rc8 17. Qb3 Nxe4 18. a3 {[#]} Nxc2 19. Qxc2 Nxc3 20. Be1 Bf6 21. Ne5 Ba4 22. Bxc3 Bxc2 23. Bxa5 Bxd1+ 24. Kxd1 dxe5 25. fxe5 Bxe5 26. b4 Rc3 27. a4 Ra3 28. Kc2 Bd4 29. Rd1 e5 0-1
[/pgn]

Kupreichik’s niece, Anastasia Sorokina, is President of the Belarus Chess Federation and a FIDE Vice-President. She wrote the foreword to the Russian edition.

The publication of this book is timed to coincide with the 70th birthday of an outstanding chess-player, the first Belarusian Grandmaster, a true friend and a wonderful person, Viktor Davydovich Kupreichik. Vitek – that’s what his friends and the fans called him.

In the distant 1980s the name of Kuprechik resounded throughout the country. He was recognised in the street, fans would queue up to watch him play, and largely thanks to him a chess boom began in the Republic.

and

A sensitive and tactful person, he did not like boasting and bravado, so when the idea of this book emerged I wanted to make it modest, like him, but at the same time show all the power of his chess talent and the charm of his human character.

The first half of the book, then, comprises tributes to Kupreichik from friends and colleagues, including Kasparov and Karpov, very often with annotated games.

His friend Andrey Kovalev describes this encounter as ‘one of the best King’s Indian games in the history of chess’.

See what you think.

[pgn]
[Event “URS-ch49 Final”]
[Site “Frunze”]
[Date “1981.12.??”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Agzamov, Georgy”]
[Black “Kupreichik, Viktor D”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “E73”]
[WhiteElo “2435”]
[BlackElo “2575”]
[PlyCount “74”]
[EventDate “1981.11.28”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “17”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[EventCategory “12”]
[SourceTitle “URS-ch”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Qd2 e5 8. d5 Nc5 9. f3 Bd7 10. h4 Qe8 11. g4 h5 12. O-O-O hxg4 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. fxg4 Qd8 15. Qe1 Bg7 16. Nh3 f5 17. exf5 gxf5 18. g5 {[#]} b5 19. cxb5 a6 20. b4 axb5 21. bxc5 b4 22. Nb1 Rxa2 23. Bc4 Ra5 24. c6 {[#]} Qb8 25. Qe2 b3 26. cxd7 Qb4 27. Rd2 e4 28. Nf4 Ra1 29. Rh3 Bc3 30. Bxb3 Bxd2+ 31. Qxd2 Rxb1+ 32. Kxb1 Qxd2 33. Ne6 Rb8 34. d8=Q+ Rxd8 35. Nxd8 e3 36. Ne6 e2 37. Rh1 f4 0-1
[/pgn]

Throughout his long career, lasting 55 years or so, Kupreichik remained loyal to his favourite openings. He preferred 1. e4 with White, replying to 1. e4 with the Sicilian, and to 1. d4 with the King’s Indian or the Slav. If you enjoy these openings yourself you’ll find a lot of inspiration from the games in this book.

The second major section of the book is a collection of games annotated by Kupreichik himself. Those he annotated for Chess Informant have had verbal explanations added by the editorial team.

Here’s a quick win against Nigel Short.

[pgn]

[Event “Telechess ol2 8182”]
[Site “telex”]
[Date “1982.05.08”]
[Round “3.6”]
[White “Kupreichik, Viktor D”]
[Black “Short, Nigel D”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B07”]
[WhiteElo “2570”]
[BlackElo “2430”]
[PlyCount “43”]
[EventDate “1981.06.30”]
[EventType “team-k.o.”]
[EventRounds “4”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2000”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “Soviet Union”]
[BlackTeam “England”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “URS”]
[BlackTeamCountry “ENG”]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 c6 5. Qd2 Nbd7 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Bd3 e5 8. O-O-O b5 9. Kb1 Qc7 10. Bg5 Be7 11. h4 a6 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. h5 Nxh5 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 {[#]} 15. Rxh5 gxh5 16. Qg5+ Nf6 $6 17. Nxe5 Rg8 18. Qf4 Ra7 {[#]} 19. Nd5+ cxd5 20. exd5 Bb7 21. Ng6+ Kd7 22. Qf5+ 1-0
[/pgn]

By now you might be wondering why Kupreichik isn’t better known, or why he never reached the heights these games would suggest he deserved (his highest rating was 2575). I guess he was one of those players who loved chess too much, who valued beauty above success.

You might also think there are many higher rated players who deserve to be the subject of a games collection. You may well be right, up to a point, but were their games as entertaining as Kupreichik’s?

Here’s one final example: another spectacular miniature.

[pgn]
[Event “GMA Baleares op”]
[Site “Palma de Mallorca”]
[Date “1989.??.??”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Kupreichik, Viktor D”]
[Black “Sunye Neto, Jaime”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B43”]
[WhiteElo “2520”]
[BlackElo “2480”]
[PlyCount “45”]
[EventDate “1989.12.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “ESP”]
[SourceTitle “TD”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1994.03.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1994.03.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bb7 6. Bd3 e6 7. O-O Qc7 8. Qe2 Nc6 9. Nxc6 Qxc6 10. a4 b4 11. Nd5 Nf6 12. Bc4 Bd6 13. Rd1 Bc5 14. Bh6 O-O-O{[#]} 15. Bb5 axb5 16. axb5 Qd6 17. Nxf6 Qf8 18. Bxg7 Qxg7 19. Qc4 d6 {[#]} 20. Rxd6 Qg5 21. Nd5 exd5 22. Qxc5+ Kb8 23. Rc6 1-0
[/pgn]

At the end of the book you’ll find a puzzle section: 26 tactical puzzles based on his games, spaciously laid out with only two diagrams per page. Finally, and charmingly, we have short memoirs from his closest family: his sister, niece and daughter.

There are also 16 pages of photographs, on glossy paper. Here you’ll see pictures of Kupreichik throughout his life, from the young boy with his parents to playing in tournaments at the end of his life: sadly he was denied the pleasures of old age. You’ll see him playing chess – and also playing football and volleyball.

All in all, it’s a delightful book: 85 games brimming with exciting tactics and sacrifices as well as reminiscences of someone who was a much loved human being as well as a highly creative player.

It’s beautifully produced as well: a handsome hardback which will look good on your bookshelf. It’s refreshingly free from typos and the translation is, as you’d expect from Ken Neat, outstanding. I very much hope that the London Chess Centre plan to publish more books of this quality.

The one thing that’s missing, for me, is a career summary. I’d have appreciated a full list of Kupreichik’s tournament results and perhaps also his ratings over the years. We do, however, have indexes of openings and opponents.

While it might not be an essential purchase, many readers will enjoy this book. If it appeals to you it comes with a strong recommendation.

If you enjoy games collections you’ll want this book. If you enjoy the games of players like Tal, Nezhmetdinov and Planinc, you certainly won’t be disappointed in this book. If you play the Sicilian (with either colour), the King’s Indian or the Slav, or you’re an e4 player looking for new ideas, you’ll find this book inspirational.

Here are some sample pages in pdf format.

Richard James, Twickenham 6th March 2023

Book Details :

Hardback: 344 pages
Publisher: London Chess Centre Publishing; New edition (10 Sept. 2021)
Language: English
ISBN-10:0948443960
ISBN-13:978-0948443961
Product Dimensions: 15.24 x 3.49 x 23.5 cm

Kupreichik: The Maestro From Minsk, Translated by Ken Neat, London Chess Centre Publishing; New edition (10 Sept. 2021), ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0948443961

2022, Biographies, Books, Games Collection, Reviews, Russell Enterprises

The Immortal Games of Capablanca

March 2, 2023 John Upham Leave a comment

The Immortal Games of Capablanca: Fred Reinfeld

From the publisher:

“We are pleased to release another book in the Fred Reinfeld Chess Classics series. The Immortal Games of Capablanca was – and continues to be – one of Reinfeld’s most popular books. A detailed biography of the third world chess champion introduces the 113 games. They are presented chronologically, with clear and instructive annotations.

This 21st century edition has been revised and reformatted to meet the expectations of the modern chessplayer. This includes:

(a) The original English descriptive notation has been converted to modern figurine algebraic notation;
(b) Over 200(!) diagrams have added, along with more than a dozen archival photos; and
(c) The Index of Openings now has ECO codes.

Reinfeld’s annotations were also cross-checked by Stockfish 14, one of the most powerful engines available. When Stockfish had a different, meaningful evaluation from that of Reinfeld’s, the engine’s suggestion is indicated by “S14:” followed by the specific line.

As in our other “21st Century Editions,” and with the exception of the occasional supplement by Stockfish, Reinfeld’s original text has been preserved.

Follow the life and games of the brilliant Cuban world champion in Reinfelds’s timeless classic The Immortal Games of Capablanca.”

End of blurb…

According to Wikipedia:

“Fred Reinfeld (January 27, 1910 – May 29, 1964) was an American writer on chess and many other subjects. He was also a strong chess master, often among the top ten American players from the early 1930s to the early 1940s, as well as a college chess instructor.”

In July 2019 Richard James reviewed Fred Reinfeld: The Man Who Taught America Chess, with 282 Games and perhaps you might like to read this to get a better feel for FRs legacy.

Russell Enterprises (via New In Chess) with this new edition have, to date, added a total of eight titles to their Fred Reinfeld Classic Series: the more the merrier!

Over the years many have looked down their noses at publications from Reinfeld, Chernev, Schiller and others but if we are completely honest then Reinfeld and Chernev have brought a huge amount to the chess buying public and many have found much benefit from their publications.

The Immortal Games of Capablanca by Russell Enterprises is (to use a modern phrase) a “re-imagining” of a timeless classic. Most of us reading this review would have almost certainly had one of the previous versions. The first edition dates from 1942 and, interestingly, the copyright lies with Beatrice Reinfeld rather than Fred, himself. Published by Horowitz and Harkness, New York here is an original first edition copy from the collection of Jose Font:

The Immortal Games of Capablanca, Fred Reinfeld, Horowitz and Harkness, New York, 1942.

Betts (Chess: An Annotated Bibliography of Works Published, 1850-1968) informs us that this very edition was re-issued in 1953 by the same publisher. In 1974, Collier Books (A Division of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. New York) brought out their own edition and added an Introduction by Robert Byrne, Chess Editor of The New York Times. This had the following appearance front and rear:

The Immortal Games of Capablanca, Fred Reinfeld, Collier Books, New York, 1974

and, for the sake of completeness, and because it is worth reading, here is the Introduction from Robert Byrne:

Introduction

I joined the Manhattan Chess Club a year or so after Capablanca’s death, and the afterglow of the great Cuban’s presence still filled his favourite haunts. There was an old white-haired patzer, Richard Warburg, who would collar me, my brother Donald, and several other young high school players to tell us the “compliment” Capa had once paid him. What Capa had said was, “Warburg, nobody plays the Rinky-Dink the way you do!” So overcome with pride and delight was Warburg that the great man had deigned to remark on his play that he never stopped to think why Capa had dubbed his Accelerated Dragon Variation the “Rinky-Dink.” Needless to say, the ironic joshing of Capablanca’s remark was totally lost on him.

Moreover, it would not have mattered, for Capablanca was so idolized that it was deemed a privilege to breathe the same air he did. Not only did his fans feel that way about him, but the man from whom he won the world championship, Emanuel Lasker, said of him, “I have known many chess players, but only one chess genius.” Capablanca’s successor, Alexander Alekhine, also termed him “a very great genius whose like we shall never see again.”

What lent Capablanca the glamour that was denied to his fellow champions of the game was the incredible speed of his play. Hard work at the board, consuming the full two and one half hours for forty moves, was unknown to him at the peak of his career. Brilliant strategic plans, marvellous com binational possibilities, scintillating turns in the play came tumbling out of him in response to his extraordinarily quick sight of the configuration before him.

He did not consider what he achieved as coming under the head of thinking, scandalizing his colleagues by insisting that chess was not an intellectual game. For him it was nothing remotely resembling problem solving, but rather flashes of intuition in which he grasped the essential pattern governing each individual position. That is why he looked upon chess playing as an aesthetic activity.

Quite obviously, no greater natural player ever lived. At the age of four, Capablanca learned the moves by watching his father play and, years later, he declared that he had never bothered to study the game. Of course, growing up in the fertile chess climate of Havana and later New York, he honed himself on very strong opposition. Watching the games of his competitors could hardly have failed to serve as an education in itself.

In chess style, Capablanca was the master par excellence of reduction, stripping positions down to the bare backbone by exchanging off all irrelevant material. In what were for others
positions of unfathomable complexity, he could, with uncanny lucidity, expose the genuinely dominant but often hidden theme that dictated the strategy to be pursued.

It is this astonishing clarity in Capablanca’s conceptions that makes his games a gold mine for the aspiring student. The elements of chess strategy can all be seen here purged of the confusion introduced by side issues. The late Fred Reinfeld has made an excellent selection of 113 Capablanca games which give a rounded picture of the scope and invention of Cuba’s greatest genius. These are the wonderful performances that have so heavily shaped the play of current world champion Bobby Fischer, Capablanca’s spiritual descendant.

One of my favourites, which I have replayed many times, is game 6, from Capablanca’s match with Frank Marshall (see page 39 ). It is not too much to say that this is the indispensable stem game for the understanding of how White develops a kingside attack in the Ruy Lopez. Another lesson in the Ruy Lopez, this time in the exchange variation by transposition, is given by game 17 against David Janowski (see page 83). Capablanca’s handling of the pawn structure and his fine rook play in the ending beautifully illuminate a formation reintroduced into current practice by Bobby Fischer.

In the realm of bishops-of-opposite-colour play, the drawing chances of the defence can only be defeated by the kind of positional mastery Capablanca evinces in game 2L against Richard Teichmann (see page 97 ) and in game 25 against Aron Nimzovich (see page 111). Capablanca’s terrifically coolheaded defensive play shows up in his defeat of Frank Marshall’s anti-Ruy Lopez gambit in game 36 (see page 157), which the American champion kept under wraps for eight years to spring on him. I could go on and on, but, if I must limit myself to just one more, Capablanca’s best-played-prize-winning Caro-Kann Defense in game 63 against Aron Nimzovich (see page 276) would be my choice. It is a wonderfully instructive masterpiece of infiltration tactics to undermine a passive position and score with Zugzwang.

Fred Reinfeld’s annotations are clear and schematic and give a dramatic portrayal of these epic battles. Fred, the epitome of the hero-worshipper, is a little too harsh in fastening on the very human foibles that brought about Capablanca’s loss of the world championship to Alekhine. With the ease of success Capablanca enjoyed, it was all but impossible for him to have taken Alekhine’s challenge seriously, especially since Capablanca had a 6-O record against him going into the match. No one could have guessed the fanatic zeal that Alekhine put into his preparation for the struggle.

Moreover, the last word on Capablanca’s enormous capacity can be gleaned from Alekhine’s behaviour. He sought lesser opponents rather than give the awesome genius a return match.

-Robert Byrne”

In 1990 Dover did their usual “reprint” thing and re-issued the Horowitz and Harkness, New York, 1942 version with this cover:

The Immortal Games of Capablanca, Fred Reinfeld, Horowitz and Harkness, Dover Publishing, 1990 and then 2011 by Sam Sloan

and in 2011 Sam Sloan put on his anti-copyright Ye-Ha! cowboy spurs and re-issued his version with the original 1942 cover.

So, in 2022, what do we have that is new in this 21st century edition?

Firstly, we have FAN or figurine algebraic notation which should help to bring in those for whom English Descriptive is old hat (their words not ours).

Secondly, thirteen photographs of of Capa and his opponents liven up the pages that once contained a single image of Capa giving a simultaneous display at the Imperial Chess Club in London, 1911. Printing quality could have been improved but welcome they are nonetheless.

The format has transitioned from the old style single column with diagrams few and far between to a double column format with a liberal sprinkling of diagrams of greater printed clarity than the originals. Each game has been allocated an ECO code (or Rabar Index for our more mature readers). Indeed, the font is a little smaller than it was in 1942 but quite readable all the same.

The authors pithy annotation style has been retained for the modern student to enjoy and engine worshippers (“I cannot read a chess book that has not been engine checked”) are acknowledged using supplemental comments indicated by a Stockfish (S14) label.

We carried out a detailed edition comparison with the Collier edition and found some subtle differences. As noted previously the Robert Byrne Introduction is not present but then again, it wasn’t in the original. Game 2a, Corzo-Capablanca is now Game 3 and the comment “This game discovered just as the book was going to press” is no longer present.

Capablanca-Voight, Philadelphia, 1910 is labelled as a Team Match between Manhattan CC and Franklin CC in 1942 and in 2022 as a simultaneous display game. Both Megabase 2023 and Chessgames.com concur with the recent verdict: any Capa scholars (EGW) out there with definitive knowledge?

Game 15 is now identified as Capablanca – Bacu Arus from a blindfold simul whereas Black was listed simply as “Amateur” in the original.

Through out this fresh, new edition there are subtle additions of detail together with corrections to the original which are to be admired.

The Stockfish (S14) comments are sparse and unobtrusive but of value. For example, from Capablanca- Janowski we have reproduced the comments to Black’s 24th move only:

[pgn]
[Event “American National Manhattan CC”]
[Site “New York”]
[Date “1913.01.22”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Capablanca, Jose Raul”]
[Black “Janowski, Dawid Markelowicz”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C48”]
[Annotator “Fred Reinfeld, 1942 and 2022”]
[PlyCount “107”]
[EventDate “1913.01.19”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “13”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[SourceTitle “Fred Reinfeld, 1942 and 2022”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,107,19,31,34,19,13,24,13,26,63,19,60,34,29,22,19,11,7,-5,0,19,21,19,21,26,40,25,25,19,22,44,46,19,39,35,87,90,97,83,53,50,57,74,81,74,68,44,39,43,27,30,36,36,46,46,53,35,44,39,63,38,30,49,79,80,74,76,100,85,105,112,108,117,128,114,111,125,124,133,170,155,174,174,207,184,209,209,202,221,231,237,234,210,203,210,245,199,199,208,196,196,197,233,228,239,236,233,361,437]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 a6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. O-O Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. Qe2 Bd6 9. d3 Qe7 10. Nd1 O-O-O 11. Ne3 Bg6 12. Nh4 Rhg8 13. Nef5 Qe6 14. f4 Bxf5 15. Nxf5 exf4 16. Bxf4 Bc5+ 17. Be3 Bf8 18. Qf2 Rd7 19. Bc5 Bxc5 20. Qxc5 Kb8 21. Rf2 Ne8 22. Raf1 f6 23. b3 Nd6 24. Rf4 {[#]} Nxf5 {This and the following exchange only hasten the end, but Black had little to hope for in any event.} ({(S14:} 24… Qe8 {and White only has a small edge)}) 25. Qxf5 Qxf5 26. Rxf5 Re8 27. g4 b6 28. b4 Kb7 29. Kf2 b5 30. a4 Rd4 31. Rb1 Re5 32. Ke3 Rd7 33. a5 Re6 34. Rbf1 Rde7 35. g5 fxg5 36. Rxg5 Rh6 37. Rg3 Rhe6 38. h4 g6 39. Rg5 h6 40. Rg4 Rg7 41. d4 Kc8 42. Rf8+ Kb7 43. e5 g5 44. Ke4 Ree7 45. hxg5 hxg5 46. Rf5 Kc8 47. Rgxg5 Rh7 48. Rh5 Kd7 49. Rxh7 Rxh7 50. Rf8 Rh4+ 51. Kd3 Rh3+ 52. Kd2 c5 53. bxc5 Ra3 54. d5 1-0
[/pgn]

In summary it was an absolute pleasure to be re-united with this timeless classic and Russell Enterprises are to be congratulated on producing this fresh new edition with added value.

John Upham, Cove, Hampshire, 2nd March 2023

Book Details :

- Softcover : 256 pages
- Publisher: Russell Enterprises (September 12, 2022)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1949859274
- ISBN-13: 978-1949859461
- Product Dimensions: 15.24 x 1.27 x 22.86 cm
Official web site of Russell Enterprises

The Immortal Games of Capablanca Reinfeld, Fred Reinfeld, Russell Enterprises, Hanon Russell,
September 12, 2022, ISBN:
9781949859461

2022, Books, Games Collection, History, New in Chess, Reviews

The Greatest Attacker in Chess: The Enigmatic Rashid Nezhmetdinov

September 30, 2022 Richard James 1 Comment

From the publisher:

“Rashid Nezhmetdinov (1912-1974) played fearless attacking chess. With his dazzling style, the Soviet master already was a legend during his lifetime, but international fame largely eluded him. Only once did he get permission to show his exceptional talent in a tournament abroad. Five times Nezhmetdinov was chess champion of the Russian Federation. In the 1961 Soviet Championship, he won the ‘Best Game’ prize for a spectacular win against Mikhail Tal who praised his opponent for his ‘amazing creativity.’ Other stars that ‘Nezh’ defeated in grand style included Spassky, Polugaevsky, Bronstein, and Geller.

His games, full of tactical pyrotechnics, are his legacy and have reached an ever-growing audience. Nezhmetdinov’s shocking strategic queen sacrifice, in 1962 against Chernikov, as shown on Agadmator’s YouTube channel, has become the best-watched chess video of all time with millions of views. In this book, Cyrus Lakdawala pays tribute to the genius of the enigmatic Nezhmetdinov, a Tatar who grew up as an orphan in the part of the Soviet Union that is now Kazakhstan.

In more than one hundred impressive and instructive games and positions, Lakdawala shows how Nezhmetdinov fought for the initiative, how he bluffed and sacrificed, and how he kept his cool to out-calculate his opponents. Lakdawala’s lucid writing perfectly matches the power of ‘Nezh’s’ moves. This wonderful collection celebrates Nezhmetdinov as the Greatest Attacker in Chess.”

Cyrus Lakdawala is an International Master who lives in San Diego, CA. He has been teaching chess for four decades and is a prolific and widely read author. Much acclaimed books of his are How Ulf Beats Black, Clinch It! and Winning Ugly in Chess. He twice won the Best Instructional Book Award of the Chess Journalists of America (CJA), in 2017 for Chess for Hawks and in 2020 for In the Zone: The Greatest Winning Streaks in Chess History.

We all know and love the games of the great world champions, but there are also a few players who, while not reaching the summit, have become cult figures amongst chess fans for their creativity, imagination and brilliance.

Albin Planinc is one, and another is Rashid Nezhmetdinov, the subject of this book. He has been the subject of several books over the years, and now the prolific Cyrus Lakdawala adds his name to the lists.

Here’s Lakdawala in his Preface:

If you asked the question ‘Who do you believe was the most tactically creative player of the 20th century?’ then I’m guessing that most chess players would pick either Alekhine, Bronstein, Tal or Kasparov. Now we have a new potential entry for the top spot: Rashid Nezhmetdinov. Why are so many people irrestistibly drawn to Mikhail Tal’s chess games? The spirit of Nezhmetdinov the pirate lived on in his friend’s games. Tal was merely a more powerful extension of Nezhmetdinov. Nezhmetdinov was Tal’s trainer and muse in his successful 1960 bid to dethrone Botvinnik as World Champion. Tal explained that Nezhmetdinov taught him ‘paradox’, taking risk-taking to previously unheard-of levels. Then Tal, his stylistic offspring, displayed to the world the power of this radical new style, when in 1960 he defeated the great Mikhail Botvinnik in a match for the World Championship. If you love Tal’s games, then by default you will automatically love Nezhmetdinov’s.

Who doesn’t love Tal’s games? Book collectors who enjoy brilliant tactics and sacrifices will surely have several collections of Tal’s games on their shelves. They’ll really need a collection of Nezhmetdinov’s games as well. Is this the right one for you?

If you’ve read other books by Cyrus Lakdawala, you’ll know what to expect. His, shall we say, picturesque style of writing divides the critics. There are those who find his friendly approach and sometimes outrageous metaphors draw them in, and others who find this distracts them from the chess. You pay your money, or not, as the case may be, and take your choice.

The annotations, as is customary with this author, feature Moments of Contemplation, where you’re encouraged to think about the position, and Exercises, split into Planning, Combination Alert and Critical Decisions, inviting you to guess the next move. There are also Principles (in italics) offering you nuggets of general advice. All this will help less experienced readers navigate their way through the book and gain tangible benefits which they’ll be able to employ in their own games.

Here’s an early game. Click on any move for a pop-up window.

[pgn]

[Event “Kazan”]
[Site “Kazan”]
[Date “1936.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kosolapov, N.”]
[Black “Nezhmetdinov, Rashid”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C42”]
[PlyCount “48”]
[EventDate “1936.??.??”]
[EventType “game”]
[EventRounds “1”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2015”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.11.20”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2014.11.20”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Be2 Bb4 7. Bd2 O-O 8.
Ne4 Be7 9. O-O f5 10. Ng3 g5 11. Ne1 Nf4 12. f3 Bc5+ 13. Kh1 Rf6 14. c3 Be6 15.
Nc2 Rh6 16. Be3 g4 17. Bxc5 Qh4 18. Bg1 Qxg3 19. Ne1 Bd5 20. b4 Nh5 21. Bf2 Qf4
22. fxg4 {[#]} Qxh2+ 23. Kxh2 Ng3+ 24. Kxg3 f4# 0-1

[/pgn]

This is one of his most famous victories – against a formidable opponent. If you haven’t seen it before, do take a look.

[pgn]

[Event “RSFSR-ch18”]
[Site “Sochi”]
[Date “1958.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Polugaevsky, Lev”]
[Black “Nezhmetdinov, Rashid”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A53”]
[PlyCount “66”]
[EventDate “1958.??.??”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “19”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2014”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2013.11.20”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2013.11.20”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e4 exd4 5. Qxd4 Nc6 6. Qd2 g6 7. b3 Bg7 8. Bb2
O-O 9. Bd3 Ng4 10. Nge2 Qh4 11. Ng3 Nge5 12. O-O f5 13. f3 Bh6 14. Qd1 f4 15.
Nge2 g5 16. Nd5 g4 17. g3 fxg3 18. hxg3 Qh3 19. f4 Be6 20. Bc2 Rf7 21. Kf2 Qh2+
22. Ke3 Bxd5 23. cxd5 Nb4 24. Rh1 {[#]} Rxf4 25. Rxh2 Rf3+ 26. Kd4 Bg7 27. a4 c5+ 28.
dxc6 bxc6 29. Bd3 Nexd3+ 30. Kc4 d5+ 31. exd5 cxd5+ 32. Kb5 Rb8+ 33. Ka5 Nc6+
0-1

[/pgn]

The ChessBase score concludes here. Lakdawala adds the moves 34. Ka6 Ndb4#, commenting, in typical style: This is an overkill on par with Rasputin’s murder, where the unlucky monk was stabbed, shot, poisoned, bludgeoned, and then, for good measure, drowned.

Your opinion of the book will depend on how you react to this sort of thing. Here are another couple of examples.

Everyone knows that the Dragon, much the same as a Bond villain babe, is simultaneously beautiful and dangerous.

You are on trial for your life for a murder you committed in front of a police station and 30 witnesses, most of whom recorded you with their cell phone video cameras. Your victim fought back and your blood was found on her and on the knife you used to stab her. I just described Aronin’s position’s chance of being found Not Guilty by the jury.

You might enjoy them. You might be prepared to live with them even though you think they’re both irrelevant and bordering on tasteless, and that the publisher might have made more use of the Delete key. Or you might decide there’s no way you’d buy a book written like that. Me, I’m in the middle camp, as I am with most things.

In this game from towards the end of his career he defeats a future world champion.

[pgn]

[Event “Chigorin Memorial-04”]
[Site “Sochi”]
[Date “1964.??.??”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Nezhmetdinov, Rashid”]
[Black “Spassky, Boris Vasilievich”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C92”]
[PlyCount “101”]
[EventDate “1964.08.26”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “15”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[SourceTitle “MCD”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. c3 h6 11. a4 Re8 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Qxa8 14. Na3 b4 15.
Nb5 Qb8 16. Ba4 d5 17. Nh4 dxe4 18. dxe4 bxc3 19. Nxc3 Bf8 20. Qd3 Re6 21. Nf5
Kh7 22. Bb3 Ba6 23. Qd1 Nb4 24. Bxe6 fxe6 25. Ng3 Nd3 26. Re3 Qd8 27. Rf3 Qd6
28. b3 Be7 29. Na4 Qc6 30. Bb2 Nxb2 31. Nxb2 Bc5 32. Qc2 Qb5 33. Nc4 Bd4 34.
Ne2 c5 35. Ng3 Qb4 36. Qe2 Qb8 37. Kh2 Bb7 38. Na5 Bc8 39. Nc4 Ba6 40. Qa2 Bb7
41. Qe2 Qa8 42. Nd6 Ba6 43. Qa2 Qc6 44. Nc4 h5 {[#]} 45. Rxf6 gxf6 46. Nxh5 f5 47.
Qa5 Kh6 48. Qd8 Qc8 49. Qf6+ Kxh5 50. exf5 exf5 51. Nd6 1-0

[/pgn]

Even if you don’t care for Lakdawala’s prose, you should admire his hard work and enthusiasm. He knows his audience, knows exactly what he’s doing and has perfected his art over many years. You may well think that his colourful annotations are a perfect match for Nezhmetdinov’s colourful chess.

For many readers, this will be a hugely enjoyable read, and one which may also take their play to new levels of creativity. You’ll find 116 ‘games’ (about half complete games – not all won by Nezhmetdinov – and the others just conclusions) against many of the Soviet greats of the time: Bronstein, Tal, Korchnoi and others. As you’ve seen, the book is a cornucopia of daring attacks and sacrifices, not all of which are completely sound. The book is produced to New in Chess’s customary high standards and can be highly recommended to anyone not put off by the author’s writing style.

You can read some sample pages on the publisher’s website here.

Richard James, Twickenham 30th September 2022

Book Details:

Softcover: 288 pages
Publisher: New In chess (25 Feb. 2022)
Language: English
ISBN-10:907168900X
ISBN-13:978-9071689000
Product Dimensions: ‎17.15 x 1.88 x 23.57 cm

Official web site of New in Chess

2022, Books, Games Collection, Reviews, Richard James, Steel City Press

Blind Faith

August 24, 2022 Richard James Leave a comment

From the publisher:

“Chris Ross has come a long way from the back streets of Middlesbrough to a senior administrative role at Sheffield Hallam University, helping the education of those with a wide range of disabilities. A former teacher, Chris’s natural ability to educate has developed many of his colleagues in UK chess clubs – and not least, fellow members of the Braille Chess Association.

Join Britain’s strongest ever blind player and 2015 IBCA Olympiad silver-medallist Chris Ross on a journey through 80 of his most memorable games. Many years ago Chris elected to follow Botvinnik’s advice by writing deep analysis to his games: initially to better understand his own style, but later because his highly detailed annotations are also highly instructive for weaker players.

This collection charts his journey from turbulent days as a strong club player in 2006 to a more polished and rounded style by 2020. From smooth, positional wins, to bumpy, sharp encounters, we watch and learn with Chris as he develops into a 2250-strength player. The reader will pick up many handy tips to improve their own game: opening repertoire, middlegame and endgames strategies, and – crucially – appreciating how to plan.”

Chris Ross, Braille Chess Association, What chess did for me, courtesy John Upham Photography

I’ve long thought that, while looking at top level games can be inspirational, you can learn much more either from studying games played at your level and looking at typical mistakes, or from studying games played by someone rated about 200-300 points above you and learning to do what they do.

Chris Ross is about 200-300 points stronger than me, so, at least in rating terms, I might be seen as the ideal reader for this book.

If I look at a Magnus Carlsen game I’d think “Wow! I could never conceive how I could play like that!”, but, looking at a Chris Ross game I might think “Yes! I could learn to play like that by studying his book!”.

I’ve always seen myself, by temperament rather than ability, as a positional rather than a tactical player, but when I played someone of about Chris’s strength I’d often find my opponent would latch onto a, to me, imperceptible weakness, win a pawn and grind me down in the ending. If I ever played Chris, I’m sure the same thing would happen.

Chris is a positional player as well, but, unlike me, he really knows what he’s doing.

Having been coached for many years by GM Neil McDonald has clearly helped.

Here’s Neil in the Foreword:

Many years ago Chris Ross made the excellent decision to follow Botvinnik’s advice by writing deep analysis to his games, and then sending it to his colleagues and friends in the chess world. Many players including myself regularly receive emails with his deep and interesting comments to his games.

and

You can see the outcome of decades of exhaustive and objective analysis in this book. Although Chris has never been a full-time chess player, having pursued a successful career in academia, his approach has always been professional. He has developed an impressive opening repertoire, as well as worked on his endgames and middlegame planning. I hope the reader enjoys this fine collection, and is inspired to follow Chris’s example in studying their own games.

Chris provides the reader with 80 games played between 2006 and 2020, mostly, but not exclusively, games he won.

In his introduction he explains his method of annotating games.

I do not display lengthy variations of computer analysis. Indeed I deliberately avoid many annotated games that possess such streams of text. I find it baffling and unhelpful. So, I do not adopt that style in my own writings. My analysis is instead based on my way of thinking, how I am attempting to obtain something and the such like. Naturally, that may inevitably mean that the annotated game may have flaws in it, due to computer analysis finding a better way to play. This does not interest me either. My intention is to show how I’ve focussed myself mentally and how, through that elaborate dance of non-visualisation and figuring out a way to play the game of chess, I’ve gradually but inevitably improved.

A very unusual approach to annotation, then, and something very different from anything I’ve seen in any other recent book. Another, perhaps, unique, feature of Chris’s annotations is that he provides the opening references at the end of each game rather than incorporating them at the appropriate points. You might think this is an excellent idea, not interrupting the flow of the text, or you might find it rather frustrating. I guess you could argue either way.

One of the things that immediately struck me when reading this book was that, on several occasions, he’d present a diagram of a position which looked to me about equal and claim that one player had a winning advantage. Well, perhaps. We’ll see.

Here’s a particularly interesting example which will give you a flavour of the style of Chris’s annotations, and, perhaps its weaknesses as well as its strengths.

[fen]r4rk1/1bq1bppp/p1np1n2/1p2pP2/4P3/PNNBB2P/1PP1Q1P1/R4RK1 b – – 0 15[/fen]

This is from Peter Mercs – Chris Ross (4NCL 2014), with Black about to play his 15th move.

Some extracts from Chris’s annotations:

Ultimately, Black is positionally winning, despite the aggressive potential of the white attack. To fully appreciate the position in its entirety, the actual manoeuvrability of all the forces have to be considered and their fluidity. What is White immediately threatening, and is Black able to react immediately, or slowly against such a threat?

A position deep with potential, but rich in understanding. Consider carefully and read on!

15… Nb8!

A remarkable retreat, which resolves all of Black’s difficulties and puts into place all his positional objectives. In doing so, Black also defends against all of White’s intentions. After this incredibly calm, slow move, White has no real play at all.

Now we have another five paragraphs of explanations and a few variations before:

16. g4

With very little left for White in the position, he pins all of his hopes on a last minute king-side hack, which is doomed to fail from the outset, due to the superiority of the black pieces.

Now, another paragraph and a half of comments.

16… d5

A flank attack is suitably countered by a central attack. Due to the superior positioning of the black forces, the tactics work themselves out.

17. g5 dxe4

After 17… Nxe4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 White can play around the blockading pawn on e4 with his kingside attack still rampaging. The text-move is the calm, simple way to eliminate all the tactics and reduce the white king to an exposed status.

18. gxf6

When we get this annotation:

Only the computer could come out with the variation 18. Bxb5 axb5 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. Nc5 with seeming equality. No human would play 18. Bxb5 though!

I’m not entirely convinced that no human would play Bxb5. It looks like a fairly natural desperado try to me.

This extract raises all sorts of interesting questions about the nature and purpose of annotations. Chris claims that Black has a winning positional advantage: well, arguably he does, but sometimes tactics get in the way. Objectively, I suppose, the diagrammed position is level, but Black’s positional trumps, as long as he’s aware of what they are, give him excellent practical chances. Chris explains in the introduction that there may be analysis errors, but that’s not the point of the annotations or the book. The important thing is that he’s explaining the strategic ideas of the game and how he decided on his moves.

Different annotators take different approaches, and that is one thing which, in these days of approaching engine perfection, makes our game so fascinating. Should annotators search for the objective truth in any position, justifying their verdict with extensive computer analysis, or should they consider the human angle? Whose position is easier to play? Could you realistically expect players at their level, or at the readers’ level, to find the best moves?

There are some annotators, usually leading GMs, who take the former approach, but Chris, a strong amateur, prefers the latter approach. There’s plenty of room for both. As long as you’re happy to buy into the overall concept, you might find this book a refreshing change.

Chris is very proud of this game, which won a Best Game prize, where he beat an opponent rated almost 200 points above him. (Click on any move for a pop-up window.)

[pgn]

[Event “IBCA-ol blind 15th”]
[Site “Ohrid”]
[Date “2017.06.19”]
[Round “1.1”]
[White “Ross, Chris Neil”]
[Black “Dimic, Pavle”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B31”]
[WhiteElo “2158”]
[BlackElo “2349”]
[PlyCount “57”]
[EventDate “2017.06.19”]
[EventType “team-swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “MKD”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 179 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2017.08.23”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2017.08.23”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “England”]
[BlackTeam “Serbia”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]
[BlackTeamCountry “SRB”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg4 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 g6 8.
O-O Bg7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Nd7 11. Qg3 e5 12. Kh1 Re8 13. Rad1 b6 14. Ne2 Nf8
15. c3 Ne6 16. f4 exf4 17. Nxf4 Qd7 18. Ne2 Nf8 19. a3 c4 20. dxc4 Qe6 21. Bd4
Qxc4 22. Bxg7{[#]} Kxg7 23. Nd4 Kg8 24. Nf5 Qxe4 25. Nh6+ Kg7 26. Nxf7 Qe3 27. Qh4
Re4 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Qh8# 1-0

[/pgn]

However, Chris comments on move 22 that Black could have tried Qxe2, ‘but this is pretty miserable for him and the white pieces will still swarm all over the black camp’. Stockfish just shrugs its shoulders and tells me it’s completely equal.

I was also impressed by this short game, where he’s merciless against his opponent’s dubious third move.

[pgn]

[Event “BCF-chT3 0910 (4NCL)”]
[Site “England”]
[Date “2010.03.28”]
[Round “8.2”]
[White “Foster, James J”]
[Black “Ross, Chris Neil”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C00”]
[WhiteElo “2089”]
[BlackElo “2205”]
[PlyCount “44”]
[EventDate “2009.10.24”]
[EventType “team-tourn”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2011”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2010.11.26”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2010.11.26”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Be3 Nxe4 8.
dxe4 Qxd1+ 9. Rxd1 b6 10. Be2 Bb7 11. a3 Be7 12. O-O Bf6 13. Rd2 Rd8 14. Rfd1
Ke7 15. Bf4 Bd4 16. Nxd4 Nxd4 17. Bf3 f6 18. Be3 Nb3 19. Rd3 Na5 20. Rxd8 Rxd8
21. Rc1 Nb3 22. Re1 Nd2 0-1

[/pgn]

For some of us, playing a simple but beautiful positional game like this is at least as satisfying as a flashy queen sacrifice. There may not be a lot of tactics in most of the games, but without exception they’re anything but dull: Chris has chosen games of strategic complexity and interest to present to his readers. Contrary to what some people think, positional chess is not synonymous with boring chess. Chris also demonstrates in some of these games that he excels at playing tactical chess when the opportunity arises,

But once he’s reached a winning position, simplicity is the keyword to Chris’s approach. There are several examples in the book where he rejects a quick tactical win which requires calculation, preferring instead a simple positional route which will guarantee victory more slowly. Keep it simple, don’t rush, avoid unnecessary risks and tactics. There are important lessons here for many more impulsive players.

On a personal level, as a lover of words rather than variations, I enjoyed the book very much, although I realise that the annotations may not be to everyone’s taste. You have to accept that not everything will stand up to computer analysis, and that this isn’t really the point of the book. If you work at it, though, it will be well worth your while. I think anyone from, say 1600 to 2200 strength will find a lot of invaluable insight into positional chess within these pages. Perhaps it might even encourage you to start annotating your own games. The book will also appeal to those readers, and I know there are quite a few around, who enjoy collections of games played by amateurs.

As many of the games are against strong English amateurs well known on the chess circuit, you’ll probably find games played by some of your friends included. Chris has moved round the country a lot over the years and played in a lot of different leagues.

Chris plays both 1. e4 and 1. d4 with White, choosing strategically rich variations such as Bb5 lines against the Sicilian, slow d3 lines in the Spanish and the QGD Exchange, and, with Black favours the Sicilian Taimanov/Kan complex and the King’s Indian. If these openings appeal, you’ll find a lot of useful study material in his games.

The book is impressively and refreshingly free from typos, although, if I were to be picky I might suggest that some editing for excessive verbosity and clumsy grammar might have been useful. You might also think, I suppose, that a more ‘chessy’ title would be preferable to the name of a short-lived 1969 supergroup.

But, for many reasons, this is an inspirational book. You may well, quite rightly, be inspired by how Chris has overcome his disability to become a formidably strong player. You might also be inspired to take his approach to chess improvement: to hire a GM coach, to annotate your games deeply (preferably without too much engine assistance) and send them to your friends and colleagues asking for their suggestions. You might be inspired to improve your positional play and strategic understanding, using Chris’s annotations as a starting point, or to take up the Sicilian Taimanov or another of his favourite openings.

Perhaps not a perfect book, and perhaps not to everyone’s taste, but if you’re happy with the style of annotations it’s highly recommended for readers looking for a very different approach to chess. You can find some sample pages, including a couple of complete games, on the publisher’s website here.

Richard James, Twickenham 24th August 2022

Book Details:

Softcover: 421 pages
Publisher: Steel City Press (23 May 2022)
Language: English
ISBN-10:1913047318
ISBN-13: 978-1913047313
Product Dimensions: 250mm by 176mm

Official web site of Steel City Press

2022, Books, Games Collection, New in Chess, Reviews, Richard James

From Ukraine with Love for Chess

August 4, 2022 Richard James Leave a comment

From the publisher:

“The Ukrainian chess community is helping Ukraine in the war against Russia. The chess genius Vasyl Ivanchuk is giving online simuls to raise funds. European champion and Olympic gold medal winner Natalia Zhukova is working as a politician in Odessa. And FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov coordinated this wonderful collection of chess games from Ukrainian players, published by New In Chess. All games were nominated and annotated by the players themselves. The proceeds of this book will support Ukrainian charities. The book also covers the three legendary Olympic victories by Ukraine, in 2004 and 2010 for the men’s team and 2006 for the women’s team. Oleg Romanishin remembers his training match against Mikhail Tal. And Jan Timman has a look at his favourite Ukrainian study composers. With contributions by Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Anna and Mariya Muzychuk, Anton Korobov, Vladimir Tukmakov, Pavel Eljanov, Andrei Volokitin, and many, many others.”

Ruslan Ponomariov (1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004 and he won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in 2011 with a performance rating of 2853. Ponomariov was born in Horlivka in Ukraine. He was taught to play chess by his father at the age of 5.

What we have here is a chess book written and published to support Ukrainian chess players and Ukrainian charities in general.

GM Ruslan Ponomariov in the preface:

All funds from the sales will be used to help the Ukrainian people. By doing something good, I hope you can also enjoy and share a passion for chess with us.

And:

In your hands is the work of many authors and contributors. It was not a simple task, as it would be in normal circumstances. Some of them had fled from their homes without knowing what would happen on the next day. Some were hiding in a bomb shelter, trying to survive. But we managed to do it!

The publisher, Remmelt Otten, writes in the Acknowledgements:

This book started with an email by Steve Giddins, chess author, translator, and contributor to New in Chess. He wanted to share his desire to help the Ukrainian chess community in the terrible times after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. If New in Chess was planning to publish anything by Ukrainian chess players, Steve offered to translate their writings for free.

We embraced his idea and decided to publish a book to support Ukrainian chess and Ukrainians in need. All proceeds (all revenue minus costs such as printing and distribution) will go to Ukrainian charities.

It’s the chess book equivalent of a charity compilation album, then. It’s extraordinary, given the circumstances in which it was conceived, that the book could have been compiled and published within less than four months. If you want to support a great cause there’s no need to hesitate.

But it’s also a remarkably good and well produced book, so not only will you make a contribution to charity if you buy a copy, you’ll also get some great chess as well. There are 42 well annotated games as well as a chapter on endgame studies. Some of the material has previously appeared in New in Chess, so if you’re a subscriber you might have seen it before, but there will still be much that is new to you, and you may well find it convenient to have the best in Ukrainian chess all in one place.

The first chapter introduces us to the pioneers of Ukrainian chess: Stein, Savon, Kuzmin, Tukmakov and Beliavsky.

Here’s the game chosen to illustrate Gennady Kuzmin. Click on any move for a pop-up window.

[pgn]

[Event “URS-ch34 Semifinal”]
[Site “Orel”]
[Date “1966.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Kuzmin, Gennady Pavlovich”]
[Black “Furman, Semen Abramovich”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B82”]
[PlyCount “47”]
[EventDate “1966.08.21”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “17”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Be7 7. f4 Nf6 8. Qf3
e5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. fxe5 dxe5 11. Bc4 O-O 12. h3 Bb4 13. O-O Be6 14. Bb3 Qa5
15. Bg5 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qc5+ 17. Kh2 Nd7 18. Qg3 Kh8 19. Rad1 Nb6 20. Rf6 Nc4 21.
Qh4 Rg8 22. Rd3 Nd6 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. Rh6 1-0

[/pgn]

The second chapter will be, for many readers, the most interesting of the book. Oleg Romanishin talks about his secret training matches against Tal in 1975 and 1976.

Here’s a sample game.

[pgn]

[Event “Jurmala”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1976.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Tal, Mikhail”]
[Black “Romanishin, Oleg”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C10”]
[PlyCount “82”]
[EventDate “1908.??.??”]
[SourceVersionDate “2022.08.03”]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Be7 4. e5 c5 5. Qg4 g5 6. Qh5 cxd4 7. Nb5 a6 8. Nxd4
Qb6 9. Ngf3 Nd7 10. Bd3 h6 11. Bg6 Kd8 12. Bxf7 Nxe5 13. Bxg8 Nxf3+ 14. Nxf3
Qb4+ 15. Bd2 Qe4+ 16. Kd1 Rxg8 17. Ba5+ Kd7 18. Re1 Qa4 19. Qf7 Kd6 20. Qxg8
Qxa5 21. Nd4 Qd8 22. Qf7 Qf8 23. Rxe6+ Bxe6 24. Qxe6+ Kc7 25. Ke2 Bc5 26. Qxd5
Kb6 27. c3 Rd8 28. Qc4 Qd6 29. Nb3 Rc8 30. h3 Qe5+ 31. Kf1 Qh2 32. Rd1 Qh1+ 33.
Ke2 Re8+ 34. Kd2 Rd8+ 35. Nd4 Qxg2 36. Kc2 Bxd4 37. cxd4 Qxf2+ 38. Kb3 Qf3+ 39.
Rd3 Qd5 40. Re3 Qb5+ 41. Qxb5+ Kxb5 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Chapter 3 contains pen pictures of some of the older generation of current Ukrainian players, headed by Ivanchuk and Ponomariov.

Ukrainian Olympiad successes feature in Chapters 4-6: the 2004 open team, the 2006 women’s team and the 2010 open team.

In Chapter 7 we meet the younger Ukrainian players, born in 1985 or later, including Anna Ushenina and the Muzychuk sisters.

Here’s another game:

[pgn]

[Event “EU-Cup (Women) 23rd”]
[Site “Porto Carras”]
[Date “2018.10.13”]
[Round “2.1”]
[White “Muzychuk, Anna”]
[Black “Mammadzada, Gunay Vuqar Qizi”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B51”]
[WhiteElo “2555”]
[BlackElo “2438”]
[PlyCount “75”]
[EventDate “2018.10.12”]
[EventType “team-swiss”]
[EventRounds “7”]
[EventCountry “GRE”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 186 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2018.08.24”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2018.08.24”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “Monte Carlo (W)”]
[BlackTeam “Odlar Yurdu (W)”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “MNC”]
[BlackTeamCountry “AZE”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. c3 g6 7. Bc2 Bg7 8. d4
O-O 9. e5 Ne8 10. e6 fxe6 11. Ng5 Nc7 12. dxc5 d5 13. f4 e5 14. Nxh7 Kxh7 15.
Qh5+ Kg8 16. Bxg6 Nf6 17. Qh4 e4 18. f5 Bd7 19. g4 Be8 20. g5 Bxg6 21. fxg6 Nh5
22. Rxf8+ Qxf8 23. Qxh5 Qf5 24. Be3 Ne6 25. Nd2 Nf8 26. Rf1 Qe6 27. Nb3 Nxg6
28. Nd4 Bxd4 29. Bxd4 Rf8 30. Rf6 Rxf6 31. gxf6 Qf7 32. fxe7 Qe6 33. e8=Q+ Qxe8
34. Qxd5+ Kh7 35. Qh5+ Kg8 36. Qd5+ Kh7 37. Qxb7+ Kh6 38. Be3+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Finally, Chapter 8 is an article by Jan Timman featuring endgame studies by Ukrainian composers.

This pawn ending (White to play and draw) was composed by Mikhail Zinar (2nd Pr Moscow ty 1983)

[pgn]

[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “????.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “?”]
[Black “?”]
[Result “*”]
[SetUp “1”]
[FEN “2K5/8/2p5/5kP1/3p4/8/3P4/8 w – – 0 1”]
[PlyCount “23”]

{[#]} 1. Kb7 $1 c5 2. d3 $1 Kg6 $1 3. Ka7 $1 Kf7 4. g6+ $1 Kg8 5. g7 $1 Kxg7 6.
Kb6 c4 7. dxc4 d3 8. c5 d2 9. c6 d1=Q 10. c7 Qd7 11. Kb7 Kf6 12. Kb8 *

[/pgn]

You’ll see that, as well as supporting a great cause you’ll get a lot of great chess for your money. The content will appeal to all serious players, from 1500 or so upwards. It may not be the last word on Ukrainian chess or a book that will add a few hundred points to your rating, but it’s a well structured, highly entertaining and enjoyable read. Considering the timescale and circumstances the publishers have done an outstanding job and our thanks are due to everyone involved in the project, not just for the quality of their work but for their generosity in doing it for free. You can find further details and sample pages here.

Should you buy this book? Certainly. If the content appeals (as it should to almost everyone) you won’t be disappointed, and you’ll also be helping both Ukrainian chess players and the wider Ukrainian community in that war-torn country.

Richard James, Twickenham 4th August 2022

Book Details:

Softcover: 208 pages
Publisher: New In Chess (30 Jun 2022)
Language: English
ISBN-10:9493257576
ISBN-13:978-9493257573
Product Dimensions: ‎16.51 x 1.57 x 24.33 cm

Official web site of New in Chess

2022, Books, Correspondence, Games Analysis, Games Collection, Opening Theory, Reviews, Richard James

110 Instructive Chess Annotations

May 10, 2022 Richard James 1 Comment

From the back cover:

Senior International Master Mike Read competed 115 times for the England and Great Britain teams at correspondence chess, including playing on board one for England in the 13th Olympiad.

In this, his fourth book, he aims to instruct his readers by dissecting 110 games played by local players at all levels of chess. In doing so, he isolates typical mistakes and explains the methods of taking advantage of them.

Philidor wrote that pawns are the soul of chess. In one sense, yes, but in another sense the soul of chess is the mass of club and tournament players, without whom the chess world wouldn’t function. Yes, it might be inspirational to look at games played by top grandmasters, but it’s always been my view that club standard players will learn more from games played at their level than from GM games.

Mike Read shares my opinion. Here’s how he starts his introduction.

One of the surest ways for a club player to improve his playing ability is to study annotated games featuring players of similar strength to themselves. The mistakes, and the instructive methods of taking advantage of them, will be familiar to them from similar happenings in their own games. Meanwhile the notes to such moves will educate the aspiring player in both how to avoid typical errors, and also how to take advantage of them when it is his opponent who is unfortunate enough to err.

Mike was a strong junior in the 1970s who graduated to correspondence chess which he played with great success up to the year 2000, playing on top board for England and obtaining the title of Senior International Master. You don’t get to that level without being an excellent analyst.

He continues:

It is reasonable for the reader to enquire as to why my correspondence chess career ended at a time when I was still being reasonably successful. The truth is that, during the 1990s, I suffered three nervous breakdowns. I managed to continue to keep on competing during the first two of these and, in fact, had my most successful chess years during the second of them, even though I was barely capable of coping with even the simplest aspects of day to day life. However my third breakdown, which occurred in the period 1999 to 2000 was too much for me to deal with and I was forced to abruptly retire from the game that I love at the beginning of the new millennium.

I was in an absolutely desperate situation at this time, but chess was to prove to be a major factor in my eventual recovery. A number of local players, recognising the severity of the predicament that I was in, made a great effort to assist me and get me out of the house where I had been languishing alone for several months. I do not feel I would ever have recovered, had it not been for the support of the Norfolk chess community.

And again:

Contained within these pages are 110 games, played by Norfolk players of all strengths from superstars of local chess such as John Emms, Owen Hindle and Robert Bellin down to some of the county’s lower graded (but still very talented as you will see!) enthusiasts. All of the games I have included feature top quality opportunities for the aspiring player to learn a lot, and all also feature some very fine chess!

The book is published through Amazon: Mike Read is selling it as cost price as he has no interest in collecting royalties from its sales.

The games are presented, unusually, in ECO code order, so you get all the Sicilian Defence games, for example, together. The annotations, which were produced without computer assistance, are excellent, scoring highly for both clarity and accuracy as well as instructive value. Many readers will, like me, appreciate the human touch. If you look at the sample pages on Amazon you’ll get some idea of their flavour.

Most of them are tactical, often involving spectacular sacrifices, which will delight anyone (and that probably means all of us) who enjoys combinative play.

This was the first game Mike analysed. He witnessed it taking place and decided to annotate it to thank his friend Grant Turner, who had helped and supported him during his breakdown. (If you click on any move you’ll be able to play through the games in this review on a pop-up board.)

[pgn]

[Event “Norwich Dons Club Championship”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2004.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Turner, Grant”]
[Black “Osborne, Keith”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B21”]
[PlyCount “63”]
[EventDate “2004.??.??”]
[SourceVersionDate “2022.05.10”]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 e6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O d6 8.
Nbd2 Nf6 9. Qe2 Qc7 10. Rac1 h6 11. Bb3 e5 12. Nh4 Be7 13. f4 Qb6+ 14. Kh1 O-O
15. fxe5 dxe5 16. Nf5 Bd7 17. Nc4 Qd8 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 Bxf5 20. Rxf5 Qb6
21. h3 Rac8 22. Rcf1 Rfd8 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Qg4 Rc6 25. e5 Bg5 26. Rxf7 Kh8 27.
h4 Rg6 28. hxg5 Rxg5 29. Rf8+ Rxf8 30. Rxf8+ Kh7 31. Bc2+ g6 32. Qd7# 1-0

[/pgn]

Another of Mike’s friends, Brian Cunningham, was responsible for the production of this book. In this game he demonstrates that the Stonewall Attack can be a potent weapon at lower club level.

[pgn]

[Event “Norfolk League”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2005.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Cunningham, Brian”]
[Black “Carter, Bruce”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D00”]
[PlyCount “45”]
[EventDate “2005.??.??”]
[SourceVersionDate “2022.05.10”]

1. d4 d5 2. f4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bd3 Be7 7. Nbd2 c4 8. Bc2 b5
9. O-O Bb7 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. fxe5 Nd7 12. Qf3 O-O 13. e4 Qc7 14. Qg3 f6 15. exd5
Bxd5 16. Ne4 fxe5 17. Bh6 Rxf1+ 18. Rxf1 g6 19. Qf3 Nf6 20. Nxf6+ Bxf6 21. Qxf6
exd4 22. Qf8+ Rxf8 23. Rxf8# 1-0

[/pgn]

At the other end of the spectrum, here’s a game played by Norfolk born GM John Emms.

[pgn]

[Event “World Open Philadelphia”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1991.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Yudasin, Leonid”]
[Black “Emms, John”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C77”]
[PlyCount “44”]
[EventDate “1991.??.??”]
[SourceVersionDate “2022.05.10”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. a4 Rb8 8. axb5
axb5 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Nxb5 d5 11. exd5 e4 12. Ng5 Ne5 13. Nc3 Bg4 14. Qa6 Rxb3
15. cxb3 Nd3+ 16. Kf1 Nxf2 17. Rg1 Nd3 18. Qc4 Qd6 19. Ncxe4 Qf4+ 20. Nf3 Bxf3
21. Nxc5 Be4+ 22. Ke2 Qf2+ 0-1

[/pgn]

I know many readers enjoy collections of games played at amateur level, finding them both more entertaining and more instructive than higher level encounters. If you’re one of these you’ll be entranced by this book.

There are also many readers who like to support authors who prefer to self-publish their books. An admirable sentiment, I think, and if you fall into this category, again you certainly won’t be disappointed.

The word that first comes to my mind when considering this book is ‘generous’. Mike Read generously offers this book at cost price. The size is generous, his tributes to his friends who saved his life after his third breakdown, scattered within the introductions to these games, are also generous. The annotations are also generous in every respect. Mike is generous in his comments about the winners’ play, and also, very often, about the losers’ play as well. You might think that a more critical approach might have made the annotations even more instructive, but this would have been out of place given that they were originally written for a local chess magazine.

Anyone rated between, say, 1000 and 2000 will certainly learn a lot from this book, but stronger players will also benefit. And anyone who just enjoys playing through entertaining games will, like me, fall in love with this book. Don’t be put off by the title, which makes it sound rather dull and didactic (didactic, perhaps, but certainly never dull), or the lack of an illustration on the front cover. It’s what’s inside the book that really matters.

At another level, the book is also a wonderful tribute to all Mike Read’s friends within the Norfolk chess community (a few of whom, sadly, are no longer with us), who helped him when he was going through a very difficult time. Many will find Mike’s story inspirational, and that, again, is a powerful reason why you should buy this book.

It’s my view, and I’m sure Mike, even though he was a chess champion himself, would agree, that, ultimately, chess is less about prodigies, champions and grandmasters, but about forging friendships and building communities of like-minded people who enjoy the excitement, beauty and cerebral challenge of chess.

I’d urge all readers of this review to do themselves a favour, and do Mike a favour as well, by buying a copy. I really enjoyed this book, and I’m sure you will too. The Amazon link is here.

From https://mikereadsim.weebly.com/photos.html

Richard James, Twickenham 11th May 2022

Book Details:

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09M791556
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (25 Nov. 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 551 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8466415964
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.85 x 3.18 x 19.84 cm

Official web site of Amazon Publishing

110 Instructive Chess Annotations, SIM Mike Read, Independently published (25 Jan. 2020), ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1708364748

2022, Books, Games Collection, History, Reviews, Richard James, Thinkers Publishing

Modern Chess– From Steinitz to the 21st Century

March 31, 2022 Richard James 1 Comment

From the publishers’ blurb:

“The revolutionary Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900) considered himself to be in the vanguard of an emerging, late-19th century ‘Modern’ school, which embraced a new, essentially scientific vitality in its methods of research, analysis, evaluation, planning, experiment and even belligerent fight. Steinitz, who dominated the chess world in the shadow of a more directly attacking, openly tactical and combinative, so-called ‘romantic’ age, established a much firmer positional basis to chess. A pivotal change! This book follows that story, both before and beyond Steinitz’s early ‘modern’ era, focusing closely on the subtly varied ways in which the world’s greatest players in the last two centuries have thought about and played the game, moving it forward. The author reflects on all sixteen ‘classical’ world champions and others, notably: C-L. M. de la Bourdonnais, Adolf Anderssen, Paul Morphy, Siegbert Tarrasch, Aron Nimzowitsch, Richard Réti, Judit Polgar and the contemporary Artificial Intelligence phenomenon, AlphaZero. Be inspired by this exploration of the ‘modern’ game’s roots and trajectory!”

IM Craig William Pritchett, Courtesy of John Upham Photography

“Craig Pritchett (b 1949) is a former national champion and international master (1976), who represented Scotland in nine Chess Olympiads (1966-1990), including four times on top board (1974-1980). Gold medal winner on top board for Scotland at the European Seniors (60+) Team Championship in 2011, he continues to compete regularly at Senior and Open events. Chess Correspondent for the Scottish newspaper The Herald (1972-2006) and East Lothian Life (since 2005), he has taught and written widely on chess, specialising latterly on the historical development of chess thought and the fascinatingly wide differences in players’ chess styles. A University of Glasgow graduate in Modern History and Politics and a Chartered Public Finance Accountant, he also worked for many years in UK central government audit. President of his local Dunbar Chess Club, he has also long been associated with three major chess clubs: Edinburgh West, Barbican 4NCL and SK Berlin-Zehlendorf.”

From the author’s introduction:

This book takes the reader on a journey from early 19th century developments in the game up to the present-day.

And:

Today’s top players still borrow from the best games and ideas of past generations. Do join them!

I wrote this book primarily to explore, confirm and convey my own understanding of this grand sweep of chess history.

What we’re offered here, then is a brief history of top level chess from 1834 to the present day, looking at both the development of chess ideas and the world championship itself. As you’d expect, the text is illustrated with games, annotated in a refreshingly straightforward fashion, and there are also a few photographs of the book’s heroes. An ambitious project, following in the footsteps of many other authors from Réti onwards. Not the first book of this type I’ve reviewed here either: but I wasn’t particularly impressed with this offering from two years ago.

We start then with Bourdonnais and McDonnell from 1834. Pritchett is impressed with their ‘calculating powers and creative imaginations’, and you will be too.

Most readers will have seen the extraordinary 62nd game before. I decided to ask Stockfish 14 to have a look. The notoriously hard to please engine was also impressed, but had one issue.

[fen]4Br1k/1b2b1pp/2P4q/p3p3/2Qp4/5p2/PPR3PP/3R2K1 b – – 0 25[/fen]

Here, Bourdonnais played 25… Qe3+, when 26. Rf2 would have held, according to both Pritchett and Stockfish. Pritchett also mentions that 25… Ba6 27. Qxa6 favours White: Stockfish 14 thinks Black’s winning after 27… e4!. A remarkable position which you might want to look at yourself. Perhaps Craig was using an older engine.

The theme of tactical brilliance continues with Anderssen, and, inevitably, we see the Immortal and Evergreen Games. Of course most readers will have seen them many times before, but there will always be those new to chess history who will relish witnessing them for the first time.

We then move onto Morphy and Steinitz, which is where the story becomes more complex and therefore more interesting. Pritchett is good at outlining Steinitz’s professionalism, opening research and patience at accumulating small advantages.

Pritchett describes this game as an early ‘hypermodern’ masterpiece, created decades before the term itself even existed, of a most insightful and visionary kind. (Click on any move of any game in this review for a pop-up board. I’ve used Stockfish 14 to annotate the games: readers might like to compare them with the author’s annotations in the book.)

[pgn]
[Event “Wien International-02 25years WienerSK”]
[Site “Vienna”]
[Date “1882.05.23”]
[Round “11”]
[White “Steinitz, William”]
[Black “Weiss, Miksa”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C00”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.1 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “69”]
[EventDate “1882.05.10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “34”]
[EventCountry “AUT”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2002”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2001.11.25”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2001.11.25”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 {ChessBase II} e6 2. e5 c5 ({Predecessor:
} 2… f6 3. d4 c5 4. Bd3 g6 5. h4 f5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bxe7 Qxe7 8. Na3 cxd4 9.
Nb5 Kd8 10. Qd2 {1-0 (53) Pollock,W-Blackburne,J London 1866 EXT 2017
[ChessBase II]}) 3. f4 d5 4. exd6 Bxd6 5. g3 Bd7 ({Better is} 5… Nf6 $17 {
Threatens to win with …0-0.} 6. Nf3 Nc6) 6. Nf3 {C00: French: Unusual White
2nd moves.} Bc6 7. Bg2 Nf6 8. O-O {Black is slightly better.} Nbd7 9. d3 O-O {
[%cal Oc5c4]} 10. Nbd2 Nb6 (10… b5 $15) 11. Qe2 $11 Qc7 (11… Re8 $11) 12.
b3 $14 Be7 13. Bb2 a5 {[#]} 14. a4 $1 Nbd5 15. Nc4 Nb4 16. Rae1 {[%cal Of4f5]
And now f5! would win.} Nfd5 (16… Rae8 $16 17. c3 Na6) 17. Nfe5 Bf6 18. Qf2 (
18. Rf2 $18) 18… Be8 (18… b5 $16 {was necessary.}) 19. g4 {[%cal Bg3g4,
Bg4g5][%mdl 32]} Rd8 20. g5 Be7 21. Ng4 Nc6 {[%cal Oc6d4]} 22. Qh4 Nd4 $2 (
22… f5) 23. Be4 $18 {[%csl Ge4][%cal Rh4h7] [#]} f5 24. gxf6 $1 Nxf6 25.
Nxf6+ Bxf6 26. Qxh7+ Kf7 27. Bg2 {[%cal Be4g2,Bg2h3,Bh3e6][%mdl 32]} Rg8 28.
Ne5+ Kf8 29. Rf2 b5 (29… Qd6 $142 30. Be4 Qe7) 30. axb5 Bxb5 31. Bh3 Re8 32.
Re4 Bc6 33. Rxd4 cxd4 34. Ba3+ Be7 35. Bxe6 {White took control after the
opening. Weighted Error Value: White=0.32/Black=0.80} 1-0
[/pgn]

This takes us into what, for me, is the strongest part of the book, covering the last few decades of the 19th and the first few decades of the 20th century. It’s excellent that Pritchett includes sections on Tarrasch and the Hypermoderns along with Lasker and the other world champions. Readers of Ray Keene’s masterpiece Aron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal will be aware that he wrote insightfully about the feud between these two players who had very different views about how chess should be played.

Almost half a century on, Keene’s contemporary Pritchett, takes a rather different approach, seeking to find a synthesis between the two. He quite rightly praises Tarrasch’s books Dreihundert Schachpartien and Die Moderne Schachpartie, although accepting that he could at times be over-dogmatic.

If you’ve never studied the games of the 1893 Tarrasch – Chigorin match do yourself a favour and have a look. One of the greatest matches in chess history, in my opinion.

Pritchett offers us the 4th game, although his annotations fail to point out Chigorin’s missed wins at moves 29 and 32.

[pgn]
[Event “Match Chigorin-Tarrasch +9-9=4”]
[Site “St Petersburg”]
[Date “1893.10.14”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Chigorin, Mikhail Ivanovich”]
[Black “Tarrasch, Siegbert”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C00”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.1 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “124”]
[EventDate “1893.10.08”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “22”]
[EventCountry “RUS”]
[SourceTitle “HCL”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “2”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Be7 5.
Bg2 d5 6. d3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. Nc3 a6 {C00: French: Unusual White 2nd moves.}
9. Bg5 h6 (9… d4 $5 {[%cal Rd4c3]} 10. e5 dxc3 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6
$15) 10. Bf4 b5 {Black is slightly better.} (10… d4 $5 {[%cal Rd4c3]} 11. Nb1
b5 $15) 11. Rfe1 d4 12. Nd1 Nd7 13. Kh1 (13. e5 $17) 13… Re8 14. Rg1 e5 15.
Bd2 Nf8 (15… a5 $17 {[%cal Oc5c4] …c4! is the strong threat.} 16. a4 bxa4)
16. Ne1 $15 Ne6 (16… a5 $15) 17. f4 $11 Bb7 {[%cal Oc5c4]} 18. f5 (18. Bh3
$14) 18… Ng5 {[%cal Oc5c4]} 19. Nf2 Rc8 {[%cal Oc5c4]} 20. Qh5 Nh7 21. Nf3 c4
(21… Nf6 $11 {remains equal.} 22. Qh3 c4) 22. Bf1 (22. g4 $16) 22… cxd3 (
22… Nf6 $15 23. Qh3 Nb4 24. Bxb4 Bxb4) 23. cxd3 Ng5 (23… Nf6 $14 24. Qh3
Bb4) 24. Bxg5 ({White should try} 24. Be2 $16) 24… Bxg5 (24… hxg5 25. h4
Qd6 26. Nxg5 Bxg5 27. hxg5 $18) 25. Ng4 Kf8 $2 (25… Be3 $11 {and Black has
nothing to worry.}) 26. Be2 $18 Bf6 (26… Nb4 $142) 27. h4 Qd6 (27… Nb4 $16)
28. Nfh2 (28. Nxh6 $2 gxh6 29. Qxh6+ Ke7 $19) 28… Ne7 $2 {[%mdl 8192]} (28…
Ke7 $16) 29. Raf1 $2 (29. Nxf6 $18 Qxf6 30. Raf1) 29… Ng8 $1 $11 (29… Rc2
$2 30. Nxf6 Rec8 31. Nh7+ Ke8 32. Qg4 $18 (32. f6 g6 $18)) 30. Bd1 {Against Rc2
} Rc7 31. Bb3 (31. Nf3 $14) 31… Rec8 $2 {[%mdl 8192] [#]} (31… a5 $15) 32.
Nf2 $2 (32. Nxh6 $1 $18 {[%mdl 512]} gxh6 33. g4) 32… Bd8 $1 33. Qe2 a5 34.
Nf3 a4 35. Bd1 Bc6 $36 {[%mdl 2048] Black fights for an advantage.} 36. g4 f6 (
36… Be8 $1 $14) 37. Nh3 Be8 38. Qh2 Bf7 39. a3 Bb3 40. Nf2 ({White should
play} 40. g5 $1 $11) 40… Bxd1 $15 41. Nxd1 Rc2 42. Qg3 b4 (42… R8c5 $15)
43. axb4 $11 Qa6 44. Nf2 Rxb2 {And now …Rcc2 would win.} 45. g5 hxg5 46. hxg5
Rcc2 47. Ng4 {[%cal Ob4b5] Strongly threatening b5!} Qd6 $2 {[%mdl 8192]} (
47… Qxd3 $2 48. gxf6 Qxe4 49. Nf2 $18) (47… Rxb4 48. Qh3 (48. Nxf6 Nxf6 49.
Qh3 Kg8 $11) 48… Rbb2 49. gxf6 (49. Qh8 fxg5 50. f6 Bxf6 $14) 49… Bxf6 50.
Nxf6 Qxf6 51. Rg6 $18) (47… fxg5 $15 {keeps the upper hand.} 48. f6 (48.
Nfxe5 Bc7 $11) 48… Bxf6 49. Nfxe5 (49. Ngxe5 Bxe5 50. Nxe5+ Nf6 $15) 49…
Ke8) 48. gxf6 $18 Bxf6 49. Qh3 $2 ({Not} 49. Nfxe5 $2 Bxe5 50. Qh4 Rh2+ $1 {
[%mdl 512]} 51. Nxh2 Rxh2+ 52. Qxh2 Bxh2 $19) (49. Ra1 $1 $18 {[%cal Ra1a4]})
49… a3 $11 {[%cal Ba4a3,Ba3a2][%mdl 32]} (49… Rxb4 $2 50. Nxf6 Qxf6 51. Rg6
$18) 50. Nxf6 Qxf6 51. Rg6 $1 a2 $1 (51… Qe7 $2 52. f6 gxf6 53. Qh8 $18) 52.
Rxf6+ $4 {[%mdl 8192]} (52. Ng5 $1 $11 {and White is okay.} Qe7 53. Ne6+ Ke8
54. Rxg7 (54. Nxg7+ Kf7 $11) 54… Rh2+ 55. Qxh2 Rxh2+ 56. Kxh2 Qxb4 57. Rg2)
52… gxf6 $19 {Black is clearly winning.} 53. Rd1 Rb1 54. Qf1 Rcb2 55. Nd2 {
[#]} Rxd1 $1 56. Qxd1 {[#]} Rxd2 $1 {[%mdl 4608] Endgame KQ-KRN} 57. Qc1 (57.
Qxd2 a1=Q+) 57… Rxd3 {Hoping for …Rb3.} 58. Kg2 Rc3 59. Qa1 Rc2+ 60. Kf3 d3
{[%cal Bd4d3,Bd3d2][%mdl 32] Threatens to win with …d2.} 61. Qd1 Rb2 62. Qa4
d2 {What a fight! Weighted Error Value: White=0.65/Black=0.47} 0-1
[/pgn]

Moving on from Tarrasch, via Lasker, to Nimzowitsch, Pritchett is just as complimentary about My System and Chess Praxis as he is about Tarrasch’s books, telling us that together they offer a wealth of insightful exposition of the new paths that the game was beginning to take in a post-classical era.

The contrasting champions Capablanca and Alekhine then follow, as stylistically different as Tarrasch and Nimzowitsch were in terms of their ideas and both interpreting their teachings in different ways.

Euwe only merits a very short chapter, and, as you might expect, the Pearl of Zandvoort, the Dutch champion’s most famous game, is demonstrated.

Botvinnik then takes us beyond the Second World War and into the latter half of the 20th century, at which point the tone of the book seems to undergo a gradual change.

As FIDE took over the organising the World Championship (with a break between 1993 and 2006) Pritchett’s narrative becomes more a list of world championship matches than a study of the development of ideas. We meet Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian and Spassky, four players with very different styles. Then, of course, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand and Carlsen.

The book ends with chapters on Judit Polgar, understandable in these days where representation is considered so important, and Alpha Zero, whose games add a totally new dimension to the development of chess ideas.

Pritchett quotes this Petrosian game, along with a 1966 interview from Sovetsky Sport, in which Petrosian, when asked what he valued most in chess, replied with the word Logic. I like only those games where I have played in accordance with the demands of the position … logical “correct” play. Botvinnik and Smyslov might both have agreed, but Tal? Probably not.

[pgn]
[Event “World-ch24 Petrosian-Botvinnik +5-2=15”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “1963.04.01”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Petrosian, Tigran V”]
[Black “Botvinnik, Mikhail”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D94”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.1 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “95”]
[EventDate “1963.03.23”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “22”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[SourceTitle “100 Jahre Schach”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2000.04.19”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2000.04.19”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. c4 g6
2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 dxc4 7. Bxc4 c5 8. d5 {[#]} e6
$146 {D94: Grünfeld: 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 e3.} (8… Nbd7 {looks sharper.} 9. a4 Nb6
10. Ba2 e6 11. dxe6 Bxe6 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. Ng5 Rd6) ({
Predecessor:} 8… Ne8 9. O-O Nd6 10. Be2 Bf5 11. Nh4 Bd7 12. a4 c4 13. e4 Na6
14. Be3 e5 15. dxe6 Bxe6 16. g3 {0-1 (75) Wood,G-Prins,L Hastings 1947 MCL
[Ftacnik,L]}) 9. dxe6 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 Bxe6 {White is slightly better.} 11. Bxe6
fxe6 12. Ke2 Nc6 13. Rd1 (13. Ng5 {is interesting.} Rae8 14. Rd1 h6 15. Nge4
Nd5 16. Nb5) 13… Rad8 14. Rxd8 Rxd8 ({Of course not} 14… Nxd8 15. Bd2 $11)
15. Ng5 Re8 16. Nge4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 b6 18. Rb1 Nb4 19. Bd2 Nd5 20. a4 Rc8 21. b3
{[%cal Bb2b3,Bb3b4][%mdl 32]} Bf8 22. Rc1 Be7 23. b4 (23. Bc3 $5) 23… c4 24.
b5 Kf7 25. Bc3 Ba3 26. Rc2 Nxc3+ 27. Rxc3 $16 {[%mdl 4096] Endgame KRB-KRN} Bb4
28. Rc2 Ke7 {[#]} 29. Nd2 $1 c3 30. Ne4 Ba5 31. Kd3 {[%cal Re4c3] Prevents Rc4.
} Rd8+ 32. Kc4 Rd1 33. Nxc3 Rh1 {A mistake that costs the game.} (33… Bxc3
$16 34. Kxc3 (34. Rxc3 Rg1 $14) 34… Kf6) 34. Ne4 $18 Rxh2 $2 (34… Rd1 {
might work better.} 35. g3 h5) 35. Kd4 Kd7 36. g3 Bb4 37. Ke5 {Prevents Bd6+.}
Rh5+ {[#]} 38. Kf6 $1 Be7+ 39. Kg7 e5 40. Rc6 {White is clearly winning.} Rh1
41. Kf7 Ra1 42. Re6 Bd8 43. Rd6+ Kc8 44. Ke8 Bc7 45. Rc6 Rd1 46. Ng5 Rd8+ 47.
Kf7 Rd7+ 48. Kg8 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.04 (flawless) /Black=0.20
(precise)} 1-0
[/pgn]

A different approach might have been to consider the period from 1948 onwards through looking at openings rather than players. You could discuss, for instance, the increasing popularity and development of dynamic openings such as the Sicilian and King’s Indian Defences in the post-war years, followed by the effects brought about by computer usage from, say, 1990 onwards. You’d be looking at the world champions, but also players such as Bronstein and Larsen who also, like Tarrasch and Nimzowitsch in their day, had an impact on the development of chess.

It strikes me that the history of the world championship and the development of chess ideas are two very different, but obviously interconnected subjects. From my perspective as a student of chess history, this book rather falls between two stools. The first half is written more from the latter perspective and the second half more from the former perspective. Inevitably so, perhaps, given the difficulty of telling a long and complex story within the confines of a relatively slim book.

If you’re knowledgeable about chess history, you’ll be familiar with the stories and have seen most of the games before. But if you’re new to the subject, this book, which will appeal to players of all strengths, would be a good place to start. It’s accessible, well researched and written, with well annotated games and well produced, although with a few typos and errors which might have been picked up at proof stage. Not all the analysis stands up to the scrutiny of Stockfish 14 but for most readers that won’t matter. Recommended for those unfamiliar with the subject matter, but perhaps superfluous for those who will have seen most of it before.

Richard James, Twickenham 31st March 2022

Book Details :

Softcover: 328 pages
Publisher: Thinkers Publishing; 1st edition (15 Feb. 2022)
Language: English
ISBN-10:9464201436
ISBN-13: 978-9464201437
Product Dimensions: 17.02 x 2.29 x 23.37 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

2021, Amazon Publishing, Books, Games Analysis, Games Collection, History, Reviews

Memorable Games of British Chess

November 11, 2021 John Upham 1 Comment

From the back cover:

A collection of the classic games of British chess, including one or two which, though truly memorable, are by no means masterpieces; with a few more included by way of a little light relief. We shouldn’t be serious all the time, even at the chess board.

Neil is a retired county court judge who, after living in Bedford for over 40 years and playing for Bedford (and on Bedfordshire on occasions when they got desperate), now lives near Norwich and plays for Wymondham chess club.

Before going further please take this opportunity to Look Inside.

Despite being published in 2019 BCN was recently offered a copy of Memorable Games of British Chess and was unable to resist the chance to review this self-published Amazon book from Neil Hickman, a friend of Jim Plaskett.

The book is a paperback and of a size making it physically easy to read. Unlike some Amazon published efforts the paper is of decent quality (not yellowing) and the printing is clear. The diagrams are frequent and excellent of a decent size. Each diagram has a [Position after 24.0-0] type caption.

Many of you will be familiar with

British Chess Masters, Past and Present, Fred Reinfeld, George Bell and Sons Ltd., London, 1947.

and

A Treasury of British Chess Masterpieces, Fred Reinfeld, George Bell and Sons Ltd., 1950

and

British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983. Editors : GS Botterill, DNL Levy, JM Rice and MJ Richardson, ISBN 0 08 024134 4

and especially

The English Chess Explosion (from Miles to Short), Murray Chandler & Ray Keene, Batsford, 1981, ISBN 0 7134 4009 0

which highlight successes by British chess players.

The authors book presents ninety OTB and correspondence games (which is a nice touch) covering the period 1788(!) to 2016 and selecting just this number must have been challenging to say the very least. Confidence in the book is derived early from a truly excellent List of Sources demonstrating an academic and studious attitude to the job in hand.

Each game is prefaced by background information on the game, venue, circumstances and details of the players all of which is most welcome. The book started well since the first game Bowdler-Conway, London, 1788 was unknown to myself. Instantly memorable however since Thomas Bowdler caused the creation of the verb “Bowdlerise” and the game was one of the very first recorded double rook sacrifices that is also discussed in the charming

Take My Rooks, Seirawan and Minev, International Chess Enterprises, 1991, 1-879479-01-X

To give you some idea of the annotations here we have game 66, Ligterink-Miles, Wijk aan Zee, 1984:

[pgn]
[Event “Wijk aan Zee”]
[Site “Wijk aan Zee”]
[Date “1984.??.??”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Ligterink, Gert”]
[Black “Miles, Anthony John”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B00”]
[Annotator “Neil Hickman”]
[PlyCount “34”]
[EventDate “1984.??.??”]
[SourceTitle “Memorable Games of BritisH Chess”]

{[%evp 0,34,19,29,37,13,63,84,71,73,78,93,86,78,78,69,105,66,56,55,53,21,35,32,
42,11,7,-2,-3,-22,-38,-337,-368,-527,-507,-533,-486] Writing mournfully on the
Internet after Miles’ premature death, Geoff Chandler of Edinburgh Chess Club
drew attention to this little gem, which does not feature in the anthology of
Miles’ own writings “It’s Only Me”. The finish involves something truly
special. Sources: ChessBase; www.chessedinburgh.co. uk.} 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3.
d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. Bb5 a6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. h3 Bh5 8. Qe2 e6 9. g4 Bg6 10. Bg5
(10. Nh4 d5 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Bg5 Be7 13. Bxf6 gxf6 $5 {was Hulak-Miles, 1982.
While Miles eventually lost that game, he had missed a clear win towards the
end of it, so it is not too surprising that he is happy to repeat the opening
line. Ligterink is the first to deviate.}) 10… Be7 11. O-O-O h6 12. Bf4 Qb8
13. Kb1 Qb4 14. Bc1 Rb8 {[#] The position is about even, with Black’s two
bishops and open b-file probably worth slightly more than White’s position in
the centre. White now makes the mistake of trying to be too clever. If he
could fianchetto his QB, that would strengthen his position. But there is a
problem with doing that – the c3 knight would be hanging. Ligterink recognises
this, but sees that if Black greedily grabs the knight…} 15. b3 $2 Qxc3 $3
16. Bd2 {…his Queen gets trapped. And if Black tries to rescue the situation
with} Nxe4 {White simply retreats the bishop with} 17. Be1 {[#] , maintaining
the attack on the queen. What is Black to do now?} O-O $3 {This amazing quiet
move, which Miles must have seen before taking the knight, emphasises that
White is completely helpless. Black will simply play …c5 and extricate his
queen, remaining a piece to the good. Computers will tell you that 17…Nd2+
was “better”. But the same computers will tell you that other moves would have
done just as well as 25…h6!! in Sämisch-Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923, the
“Immortal Zugzwang Game”. Miles’ choice was the artistic one. And Ligterink
acknowledged his opponent’s genius by resigning. What is so wonderful about
the final position, I think, is that as in Sämisch-Nimzowitsch the Black win
is so clear that even an amateur like me can work it out – but most of us
could never have seen it coming, and would never even have thought to look.}
0-1[/pgn]

A wonderful finish to be sure.

and secondly we have Game 58 played in Luton in 1976 between Viktor Korchnoi and Peter Montgomery:

[pgn]
[Event “Simul, Luton”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1976.01.21”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Korchnoi, Viktor”]
[Black “Montgomery, Peter”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C36”]
[Annotator “Neil Hickman”]
[PlyCount “30”]
[EventDate “1976.??.??”]
[SourceTitle “Memorable Games of British Chess”]

{[%evp 0,30,19,31,34,-42,-13,-29,-13,1,8,21,28,6,9,-24,9,15,23,14,-2,12,-21,-7,
-7,-71,-1,-342,-326,-457,-456,-458,-465] This game is included as a tribute to
the little guys. It appeared in B H Wood’s column in the Daily Telegraph, and
was excavated by Mark McCready in his excellent chess blog. You might suppose
from some of the games in this collection, such as Penrose-Tal (Game 46) and
Speelman-Short (Game 70), that mastery of the opening was the most important
thing in the game. This game shows that even having helped to write the “book”
doesn’t necessarily guarantee safety from upsets. After playing at Hastings in
1976, Viktor Korchnoi, one of the finest players never to become World
Champion, gave a simultaneous display over 32 boards at Luton. He won 30 of
the games and drew another. But in the remaining game… Sources: J Gallagher,
Winning with the King’s Gambit; P Keres, Dreispringerspiel bis Konigsgambit; V
Korchnoi & V Zak, The King’s Gambit; Mark McCready in https://mccreadyandchess.
com; N Macdonald, The King’s Gambit, A modern view of a swashbuckling opening;
B H Wood in The Daily Telegraph.} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 {Korchnoi and Zak had written
a well-received book on the King’s Gambit.} exf4 3. Nf3 d5 $1 {Some argue that
3…g5 is theoretically the best answer to the King’s Gambit, but this defence
is the safest if Black isn’t too sure what he is doing…} 4. exd5 Nf6 {
…as Peter Montgomery engagingly confessed was the case. “I am not very
familiar with the King’s Gambit,” he said afterwards. “I played the game by
ear.”} 5. c4 {Writing in 1998, Neil McDonald goes so far as to suggest that
the only playable moves for White are 5 Bc4 and 5 Bb5+. But 5 c4 is the first
option Keres gives in Dreispringerspiel bis Königsgambit.} c6 $1 {For someone
playing an unfamiliar opening by ear, Montgomery isn’t doing badly.} 6. d4 cxd5
{Keres argues that 6… Bb4+ is more accurate, not giving White the chance to
play 7 c5. He quotes two games Keres-Schmidt, Salzburg 1942, and
Johannessen-Jimenez, Leipzig 1960, both of which ended in draws.} 7. c5 Be7 8.
Bxf4 O-O 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. Bb5 Bg4 ({Jimenez played} 10… Nh5) 11. O-O {[#]} Ne4
$1 12. h3 ({Deviating from} 12. Qa4 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Ng5 14. Bg3 (14. Bxc6 Nh3+
15. Kh1 bxc6 16. Bg3 Qd7 {and Black stands better}) 14… Ne6 {as in
Tolush-Averbakh, Leningrad 1959. Black got the better of that game and won in
40 moves. So it is understandable that White looks for an “improvement”.})
12… Bxf3 13. Rxf3 $4 {[#]} ({“Amazing. He forgets his own book” remarked
Wood. But did Korchnoi forget the book, or was he seeking to improve on a game
which White lost?} 13. gxf3 Ng5 {is an inferior version of Tolush-Averbakh –
White’s queen is less active and the h-pawn is hanging. But White’s still in
the game.}) {Now, as I repeatedly observe elsewhere, there was nobody leaning
over to Black at this position murmuring “There’s a win for you in this
position, all you have to do is find it”. Peter Montgomery has to find the
self-belief to look for the winning move, the imagination to discover it, and
the courage to play it.} 13… Nxd4 $3 {Peter Montgomery plays the move of his
life, and Korchnoi resigns on the spot. After} 14. Rf1 (14. Qxd4 Bxc5 {pins
the Queen of course.}) 14… Nxc3 15. Qxd4 Nxb5 {the Knight dances away to
safety and Black is simply a piece to the good with White having no
compensation at all. Note that although he could surely have given Montgomery
Knight odds, Korchnoi sportingly acknowledged that he had been outplayed and
did not seek to play on after losing the piece.} 0-1
[/pgn]

also delightful in its own modest way.

The other 88 games all have their own significance including games of historical significance covering many of the greats with detailed articles on this review web site.

The author clearly has done his homework and a nice touch is the listing for each game of where in the literature it had been previously annotated. The notes are chatty and friendly and not spoilt by reams of dull engine analysis. It was delightful to find mentions of British players who rarely get a mention such as Edward Jackson, Thomas Lawrence, Francis William Viney of the General Post Office, Herbert Francis Gook of HM Customs, Harold Saunders and Kenneth Charlesworth to name but a few.

Of course, the old favourites are given the treatment including Alekhine-Yates, Capablanca-Thomas, Bronstein-Alexander, Penrose-Tal etc plus our modern heroes such as Michael Adams, Luke McShane, Gawain Jones, David Howell, Julian Hodgson, Nigel Short and John Nunn.

I particularly like the annotations which include those from other notable authors and sources and in summary, this is a charming book that would make an excellent coffee table book for any chess enthusiast and you won’t be disappointed.

Please add it to your Christmas list!

John Upham, Cove, Hampshire, 11th November, 2021

You can buy the book on Amazon via here

Publisher: ‎ Independently published (3 September 2019)
Language: English
Paperback: 271 pages
ISBN-10: 1794053565
ISBN-13 : 978-1794053564
Dimensions: 17.78 x 1.83 x 25.4 cm

2020, Books, Games Analysis, Games Collection, Reviews, Thinkers Publishing

Fundamental Chess Strategy in 100 Games

August 4, 2020 Andrew Martin 1 Comment

Boroljub Zlatanovic was born in Cuprija, Serbia, 05 August 1977 • Meet chess in 4 years old watching father and his brother playing • Entered first club “Radnicki” Cuprija in 7 years • FM since 1994 ( however, it was recognized in 1998) • Serbian youth champion in 1995 • Champion of Belgrade University in 2001 and 2002 • Many times won Serbian team championship (in youth competition also) • IM since 2014 • FT since 2015 • Winner of many open, blitz and rapid and internet events • Professional coach for more than 15 years • Author and contributor in American chess magazine since 2019

From the rear cover :

“This book would bring something new into your chess library. In computer era focus is usually on openings. Watching broadcasts new generations rather choose games with favorite opening played seeking for some interesting idea or even brilliant novelty. I offer and recommend different concept, based on famous Soviet chess school. Focus should be on understanding strategy concepts, principles and inner logic. Fashionable opening lines will be forgotten (or re-evaluated) sooner or later, but understanding cannot be lost and can be only upgraded. It is sad to see some player well equipped with opening lines, unable to realize big positional advantage in deep endgame. So, our advice is to learn about Strategy and Logic. The book is highly recommended for club players, advanced players and masters, although even higher rated players can find a lot of useful things for themselves. There is no doubt lower rated players will learn a lot about thinking process and making decisions, while some logical principles can be good advice for strong players also.”

Another review :

“Zlatanovic uses a light touch of his notes, limiting the complexity of his analysis and working to clearly explain the logic of positional decisions and ideas. Using examples both well-known and less studied, class and club players are taught quite a bit about basic positional play. I certainly leaned a thing of two. Johh Hartmann – Chess Life – April 2020.”

As with every recent Thinkers Publishing publication high quality paper is used and the printing is clear. The book can easily be laid flat next to the board and does not require weights to prevent it from “self-closing” (a particular bugbear of ours !). Each diagram is clear and the instructional text is typeset in two column format, which, we find, enables the reader to maintain their place easily. Figurine algebraic notation is used throughout and the diagrams are placed adjacent to the relevant text and each diagram has a “to move” indicator.

There is no index which, unfortunately, is a standard omission of Thinkers Publishing books. Also missing is a bibliography.

This is a massive book, over 500 pages and is a collection of classic games, with instructive notes. It is more or less designed for the club player. There is a bit of blurb on the back cover stating that the book will be useful to advanced players and masters, but I am not at all sure about that.

I cannot see advanced players buying this book.

Apparently, the book is based on the same principles as the famous Soviet school of chess. Strategy, logic and understanding should take pride of place, even in our computer era. I agree, but I don’t need the Soviet school of chess to tell me that. I can work that out for myself.

The book is beautifully produced and is very easy to read. It retails at a whopping £29.95 in the UK.

As there are so many books of the same type around, what I was looking for was a bit of originality. At the very least , all of the games should have been from the last 20 years, trying to unravel the complexity of the modern game.

What I found were games that I almost all seen before. There are only 15 games in the entire book that come from the period 2000-2020. None from Magnus Carlsen, for instance. This was disappointing.

Players under 1800 will get the most out of this book and trainers will have a ready source of lesson plans, if they are willing to make what is a hefty investment.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Three out of Five Stars

IM Andrew Martin, Bramley, Surrey 4th August 2020

Book Details :

Hardcover : 512 pages
Publisher:Thinkers Publishing; 1 edition (19 Mar. 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10:9492510685
ISBN-13:978-9492510686
Product Dimensions: 7 x 3.6 x 23.4 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

British Chess News

Category Archives: Games Collection

Kupreichik: The Maestro From Minsk

The Immortal Games of Capablanca

Introduction

The Greatest Attacker in Chess: The Enigmatic Rashid Nezhmetdinov

Blind Faith

From Ukraine with Love for Chess

110 Instructive Chess Annotations

Modern Chess– From Steinitz to the 21st Century

Memorable Games of British Chess

Fundamental Chess Strategy in 100 Games

We focus on the British Chess Scene Past & Present !