No comments about Los Secretos De LA Estrategia Moderna En Ajedrez: Avances Desde Nimzowitsch.

No comments about Comprehensive Chess Endings: Bishop Endings : Knight Endings (Pergamon Russian Chess Series).

1 comments about Winning With The Dragon.

1. Ward writes with humor, yet his explanations are lucid and insightful. If you don't play the Dragon but want to, this is the book to get.

3 comments about Chess Facts And Fables.

1. This book is a generous selection of items from Edward Winter's long-running "Chess Notes" column. Its goal--like that of "Chess Notes" in general--is, first, to discover and investigate new (or forgotten) facts about chess history, and, second, to explode old fables circulating as "facts". There is no way to fairly review all of the material in the book, but a few examples will give the idea:
   
   1). In the "Games" section, Winter presents many dozens of unknown games by famous masters--and also investigates in detail what is possibly the most famous game of all time (Morphy vs. the Duke and Count), noting that much of what is written about that game in various books has no basis in fact.
   
   2). The "Biography" section contains much information on lesser-known or unjustly forgotten players (such as Gossip and Mary Rudge) and investigation of lesser-known aspects of famous players' life (such as Blackburne's feats as a problemist). But it also investigates and disproves fables (not to say libels) about famous players, such as the claim that Alekhine "smashed the furniture" after losing a game, or Sultan Khan being "completely illiterate".
   
   3). The "Quotes" section--perhaps the area of chess history where fable is the most prevelant--Winter gives us forgotten genuine quotes about chess which are deserve to be remembered for being either especially insightful or spectacularly awful. But he also investigates the origins of oft-quoted chess cliches ("The threat is stronger than the execution"; "Chess is vanity"; etc.), finding that, in many cases, the master to whom the quote is usually attributed probably never said it.
   
   Of course these are just examples--the book contains, literally, hundreds of items on every aspect of chess history, all throroughly researched.
   
   So what? One could say. Why replace the amusing tall tales with dour, boring truths? But the book's real strength is that truth, in chess, is often stranger than fiction. The true biographies, games, histories, quotes, and incidents from players' lives and famous tournaments, are more often than not FAR more interesting and amusing, than the ersatz "Morphy once said", "Alekhine once did", "Steinitz once played" 'history' presented to us in one potboiler after another.
   
   If one has any interest in chess history at all, one should get this book (and for that matter, Winter's previous ones). Not only will you be educated about chess history, you will also be greatly entertained. It is a rare book indeed that manages to do both well, and an even rarer one that can amuse and entertain so well without sacrifising anything in accuracy and thoroughness.



2. Mr.Winter is THE MAN , of Chess History. I have played the art my whole life off and on , and I can tell you that no one has researched the science and mystery of the royal game as has this man.If you like to read in the WC , then I suggest you not take this into that chamber! You will never get off the Pot! The volume is packed with rare photos and is a treasure trove of inside information on the great masters and history of Caissa`s web!
   A Thumbs Up!



3. Historiographical analysis.
   
   (L) I would like to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Edward Winter's work but do note: I am not attacking or praising "the man" but offering effective exegesis on "his work."
   
   The advantages are obvious: precise, well-cited, no grammatical errors in the text and to the novice reader, consistant. The information is quoted exactly from seconday sources and nothing is ever left out. Refuting fables written by other "historians" is very noticeable in Winter's work but it is necessary for any historical subject. It is clearly evident that no other chess historian stands on Winter's level and any "historian" should hopefully produce the same results in the future. To make matters simply, one only needs to read his article titled, "Worst-ever Chess Book?"
   
   The disadvantages are not noticeable to the novice reader and now the subject turns into a philosophical and historiographical one. In The Idea of History (Oxford University Press, 1994The Idea of History: With Lectures 1926-1928, Revised edition with an introduction by Jan Van Der Dussen) R.G.Collingwood writes, (page 257)
   
   "History constructed by excerpting and combing the testimonies of different authorites I call scissors-and-past history."
   
   We see this in all of Winter's work such as, for example:
   
   In contrast, on page 79 of A Short History of Chess (written in 1917 but not published until 1963) Murray wrote that Johann Allgaier `was the conductor of the Automaton when it played and defeated Napoleon'
   
   or
   
   The BCM (October 1922 issue, pages 375-376) reported that on the morning of Thursday 14 September 1922 Williams was found dead in bed:
   
   or
   
   1922: Samuel Reshevsky (C.N. 742)
   
   A report on pages 16-17 of the January 1923 BCM:
   
   It is very useful to note exact references and citings from other works but let's return to R.G.Collingwoood's, the Idea of History, in which he writes, (page 260)
   
   "Now, anyone who had read Vico, or even a second-hand version of some of his ideas, must have known that the important question about any statement contained in a source is not whether it is true or false, but what it means. And to ask what it means is to step right outside the world of scissors-and-paste history into a world where history is not written by copying out the testimony of the best sources, by BY COMING TO YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS (caps are mine)
   
   Winter never comes to his conclusions but only compiles "facts" and "fables" from the works of others. His articles are a compilation of material already printed from other authorities or, "correspondents." He is not a writer nor an historian but an experienced researcher. Historians come to their own conclusions drawn from primary sources. Primary sources are archaeological artifacts, scientific data, etc. Secondary sources are books, articles, or columns, written about them.
   
   To understand this concept more clearly, let's use the following model of history:
   
   (a) Archaeologists discover primary sources: thier job is to dig up material and decipher these materials using scientific analysis.
   
   (b) Researchers then compile this data and categorize this information.
   
   (c) After the compiled work of the researcher from the material discovered by the archaeologist, the historian will now come to his own conclusion as to what happened, where, why, who, and when. He must produce exact, unbiased, and scientific analysis in a book (the secondary source)
   
   (d) After the historian has drawn his own conclusions, there is one more person in our model, (often the most critical) and that is the writer: his job is to make a story out of it or to produce a moral or fable. This is where "lost in translation" occurs, or better yet, an old adage says: "traduttori traditori"
   
   It is very easy to copy already printed material from other chess books, but coming to your own conclusions from primary sources, is the making of a real historian. There is nothing original, "stunning" or "riveting" about Winter's work...only that is brilliantly researched as compared to the works of other chess historians. This is the faux paus of his work but since there are only a handful of chess researchers/historians (the subject is very limited) his books are monumental compared to others.
   
   One needs to be very skeptical about such historical tidbits, no matter how tedious or time-consuming it may be. Jan Timman writes the the following taken from his foreword of Winter's other book, A Chess Omnibus:
   
   "He is particularly skilled at sifting research material from a multitude of sources thoughout the world and drawing everything together in the form of elegant essays and notes which take our knowledge forward."
   
   This...I agree (T)
   

5 comments about Modern Chess Self-Tutor.

1. The book has many well annoted games to illustrate the different learn items. Most of them Bronstein's own games.
   A very good book for intermediate playes (>1600).
   My rating is abt 1300 and the text was to difficult for me.



2. Bronstein's words are pure joy to read. If that's what you're looking for, then this book may be for you, especially as most of the older books in this style are out of print.

   However, I am not sure that anyone can learn much about chess from this book. He takes a paragraph, or even a page, to say what could be said in five words.

   The games do not really illustrate his points. More often, they are simply sources of amusement, as when Petrosian blundered away his queen in a winning position while Bronstein had only 30 seconds left for 10 moves! Petrosian had plenty of time, but until he left his queen hanging he could find nothing better than to shuffle his rooks aimlessly while Bronstein let his knight bounce back and forth safely. Fortunately for us, translator Ken Neat added the actual moves; otherwise, we would have only Bronstein's description to go by.

   Of course, not all the games contain such amusing mistakes. More often, Bronstein shows us positions which are interesting for a startling, somewhat tactical move overlooked by the opponent. So the games themselves are quite interesting.

   And the prose is undeniably compelling:

   "... every player believes that with the help of imagination and knowledge, tenacity and steadfastness, boldness and caution, sooner or later he will enter the headquarters of the opposing king and will be fortunate enough to utter the sacred words 'check and mate'."

   But the words are not actually instructive. Sure, Bronstein has a way of bringing attention to an easily overlooked strategic element of a position. He also provides much advice, as in his section on the opening. (He advocates the Evans Gambit for amateurs.) But more often he simply gives a voice to the chess pieces, as if they could think.

   Bronstein reminds me of Feynman writing on physics. You love to listen to him. You think you've been bequeathed a rich trove of wisdom. But when you sit down at your desk, you realize that you cannot actually apply any of what you thought you'd understood.

   You may very well enjoy reading this book. Just do not expect to learn from it.

   For real chess instruction, try his Zurich annotations.




3. Bronstein is one of the best chess writers/instructors ever, and this is one of the best chess books! I find the reviewers who thought the games didn't illustrate his points, that it is difficult to read, and the book as a whole is not instuctive--incomprehensible.

   The text is a joy to read (by chess book standards), the games illustrate key points in memorable, often startling ways, and his explanation of conducting a game in stages marching foward rank by rank and invadind with pieces through pawn structure quite unique, logical, and simple.

   This book, along with a book on tactics and endings, would get a player far indeed if s/he puts in the hard work chess demands.




4. At first this book looks like a primer of chess. But it is one of the best book ever written about chess strategy. GM Bronstein invented modern chess ( with a few others) so what he thinks is fundamental in chess strategy is very, very, very interesting.
   I'm fide master and it is yet one of my favorite books.



5. I have to disagree with the comments about Feynman made by another reviewer. I read through Feynman's Lectures on Physics two times, and then I scored near the top end of the scale on the Physics GRE. Of course it helped that I had previously spent four years doing hundreds of physics homework problems at a good university. But before I read Feynman my knowledge was a formless blob; Feynman brought it all together, made sense of it, and made it useable.
   
   Translating that study program into chess terms might look like this: Several times work through several books whose author is named Polgar (Susan and/or Laszlo) or Ivashchenko or Blokh. Read Bronstein several times to bring everything together. Also, of course, play games frequently.
   
   The other reviewer did make a very perceptive observation. Bronstein does feel a lot like Feynman: good ideas presented well by an advanced practitioner at a level that can be understood by intermediate practitioners.

5 comments about The Killer Grob (Pergamon Chess Series).

1. None other than three-times world champ Botvinnik had a high opinion of the young Basman in the 60s, saying that he reminded him of Simagin.

   Now Basman is achieved notoriety by advocating the antipositional Grob. A cynic might claim that this gives him a win-win situation -- if he wins, the game is heralded, while if he loses it's put down to his choice of opening (I think a GM has made this point but I can't recall who).

   Indeed, Basman is an International Master so is a strong player, so is bound to have netted some scalps.

   In the 1992 New Zealand Championship, the defending champion played the Grob (or reversed Grob) in every game. He was clearly strong enough to extricate himself sometimes from a number of the messes he got himself into. But still he scored only 50% although he would clearly have been one of the favorites, and this was flattering for the opening.

   In a review of the opening in Spectator some years ago, Grandmaster Raymond Keene claimed that the Grob had to about the worst first move on the board, except maybe h4. It does nothing for development or the center, commits more time to be lost by h3 in Basman's line, and weakens the K-side. And Keene backed up his judgement by a severe thrashing of Basman, which he noted was unlikely to appear in pro-Grob books ...

   I couldn't give a book only one star, when it has such entertainment value, and might even help a few club players net some points. But be warned: the novelty will wear off, and it will be necessary to learn a proper opening.

   When I see the opening used in 2600+ events, then I might revise my opinion. I really doubt that I'll need to change my mind.




2. Published in 1991, this 170 page book has more entertainment value than actual solid positional play. IM Michael Basman has won a number of Master games with it, so regardless of Raymond Keene's opinion on this being a horrible opening, The Grob is not without logic. If you're looking for something different, this is definately it, as 1.g4 or as Black 1.e4 g5 (1.d4 h6, 2.e4 g5) can be a great 'shock value' opening for the intermediate and club player. I have won with this opening many times, but i will admit, i can't see it being a major part of my opening repertoire. It would be nice if Basman wrote a follow-up to this book for more current treaments, as well as the Gambit line of 1.g4 d5, 2.Bg7 Bxg4 which is not addressed here. This book will not appeal to all, but i am the type of player that loves to throw 'odd' lines at my opponent. There's also a small section of 3 games touching on the 'Global Opening' which deals with 1.h3 and 1.a3 or 1.h6 and 1.a6 for Black. I would like to see Basman write a book with more detailed analysis of this as well. In closing, i have to give this book 5 stars, partially because it's not as bad (at least at the intermediate level) as most people think, and it's extremely entertaining. Many people i have faced comment on how much they hate facing the Grob quite simply because they are unsure how to play against it. Most people are not 'serious' chess players, so why not go for a little gusto now and then?



3. Basman's Grob book is a fun read, with real-life wins so bizarre they seem to come from a fantasy chess game. One leaves this book convinced that one should add the Grob to one's blitz repertoire. Although Basman spends a fair bit of time trying to explain the theory, the "ideas behind the opening" sections of the book just don't hold up as well--but is this Basman's fault, the reader's lack of subtlety (I'm only a B player), or the simple that fact that the Grob, while immense fun, does not really line up as a good old fashioned linear opening? I'm not sure.

   I love unorthodox openings, and I cannot deny the fun this book injects into chess with the Grob. But I think I'll stick to the Lengfellner System, and leave the Grobmaniacs to their party!




4. Many people are impressed by the fact that IM Michael Basman win by playing stuff like sct. georges defense, the global opening (1. a3 2. h3) and finally, the GROB (1.g4). HOWEVER, I am personally of the opinion, that if you as a mediocre 12-1400 player look at these openings and think that they're all that, and play 'em, you will learn your lesson ! The Grob Opening is probably the WORST opening on the board, except for the EVANS BLASTOFF (1. h4), seeing they both severely weaken the kingside. IM Michael Basman may play these openings - and win!- but it is not thanks to some strange opening that he wins, he is a strong middlegame and endgame player, and that pays off. Finally there's the so called "psychological effect" which one might aim at, like one might aim at catching a meteor with one's tongue. My advice is play solid and safe ! If you are going to play agressive play 1. e4, but of course 1. d4 can also be very aggressive. Do this, seeing they are just as aggressive, instead of playing silly, weird and unsound openings. And remember, you see so many games with Basman winning with these crazy attempts of openings, but you never see the one's where he loses... Wonder why?? Well let me just tell you, he does not go down in style...



5. This opening is very strong, in the right hands... its clearly not for everyone, it has it all, it can be played as a closed position, semi closed, or open. "what more do you want"
   Very! Very! Fun. it will be part of my repertiore for life
   Long live THE KILLER GROB.

1 comments about Russian Silhouettes.

1. Genna Sosonko left the then Soviet Union and settled in Holland in 1972. He was chess trainer who developed into a world class Grandmaster AFTER arriving in Holland. Rising through the Soviet training system until he left, and having served as seconds to Tal and Kortchnoi, he offers a unique view into the world of Soviet chess. This is a book about people; the human side of top flight chess. The chapters were all originally published in the magazine New in Chess, of which Sosonko is now an editor. There are NO GAMES, NO ANALYSIS, and NO DIAGRAMS. It is a book which would most interest serious chess fans who are familiar with the people Sosonko writes about. It is a bit gossipy but also quite poignant. Great world champions are profiled. Mikhail Tal, his phenomenal talent and his love of chess and the many problems he had after his championship year: alcoholism, drug abuse, illness, and personal issues. Mikhail Botvinnik, his single determination and analytic style, and his opinion of his successors and pupils such as Karpov and Kasparov. But it is the profiles of the people behind the scenes - important trainers and coaches such as Vladimir Zak (Spassky, Kortchnoi), Semyon Furman(Karpov), and Alexander Koblenz (Tal)which are most interesting. This is a fascinating work for those who are curious about the people who played so many great games of chess. Episodic and a bit uneven at times, and on ocassion awkward in language, it is nonetheless a fascinating narrative. It is not an academic history - so crucial dates and places may or may not be spelled out. It is a like a long conversation with someone who was an 'insider' in that world, who is now relating to you the stories and recollections. Highly recommended but only to the serious chess fan - those seeking practical help with play should look elsewhere.

1 comments about Computer Chess II.

1. This sequel to "Computer Chess" is an ambitious attempt to combine the insights of a chess programmer who is a competitive player, and those of a very strong master who at the time was adviser to Fidelity Electronics, then the largest manufacturer of chess playing computers.

   Like its predecessor, the book is organized into two sections: a detailed discussion of how computers play chess, and a detailed analysis by Boris Baczynskyj of games played by chess programs.

   The technical section is more extensive and invoved than that of the first volume, and this book has been selected as a university textbook. Its insights are deeper than those of the first volume, thus it is more oriented toward advanced players and programmers, than toward the average chess player.

1 comments about Alekhine in Europe and Asia.

1. This book features over 600 non-tournament games of the famed world champion. These games come from a variety of sources, including simultaneous displays, exhibitions, blindfold play, exhibition games, blitz events, and correspondence games. The games are very instructive and over a hundred of them have annotations. This book includes a lot more, including rare photos.

No comments about Jewish Chess Masters on Stamps.