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Recent Reviews

[Complete index of reviews]

	Slay the Spanish by Timothy Taylor (Everyman Chess, 2011), reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "The Modern Steinitz Defense in the Ruy Lopez begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6. Though it has been played by a number of leading players including Keres, Capablanca, Alekhine, Rubinstein and Bogoljubov, the line never became a real staple for them. It also never became a darling of theory. This is difficult to understand..."

	Vienna 1922 by GM Larry Evans (Russell Enterprises, 2011), reviewed by Ken Surratt. "Vienna 1922 was one of those tournaments the chess world dreams about, the kind now referred to as super-tournaments, and featuring all (or almost all) the strongest players of the day. Alekhine. Rubenstein. Tartakower. Tarrasch. Spielmann. Reti. Bogoljubow. Etc. Fifteen of the very strongest players of the time, save only for Jose Capablanca and Emmanuel Lasker, participated in this, the first great international tournament since the end of the first World War..."

	A Killer Chess Opening Repertoire (New Enlarged Edition) by GM Aaron Summerscale and Sverre Johnsen (Gambit, 6/2010), reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "This is a second edition of “A Killer Chess Opening Repertoire”; the original came out in 1999. This is a great book for aspiring players who have some time to spend working on their openings as White, but don’t want to get involved with endlessly long strings of theory..."

	Chess Openings: New Theory by James Alan Riechel, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Of course, A fool and his money are soon parted, and I am nothing if not a fool when it comes to pursuing unorthodox chess openings, especially those presented by little (or un- ) known authors via independent book publishing: self-, print-on-demand or small press. In short, I did not even request a review copy. I went ahead and bought the book. If this review were a television commercial, it would immediately begin flashing the warning “Review provided by a trained professional. Do not attempt at home.”..."

	Grandmaster Repertoire 5: English Opening Vol. 3 by GM Mihail Marin, reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "This is the third book in a series from Quality Chess devoted to the English Opening and it covers the lines starting 1.c4 c5. This could be the most difficult Black response to write about. The reason for this difficulty is rooted in a basic point of opening play..."

	Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy by Stan Vaughan, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "I could hardly wait to pick up Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy. The American chess champion from Louisiana, cast as an undercover agent during the War Between the States! First, though, I had to set aside my concerns about the author..."

	*The Rules of Winning Chess* *by GM Nigel Davies, reviewed by Rick Kennedy*. "Grandmaster Nigel Davies is a successful chess player and chess teacher. In his The Rules of Winning Chess he sets down a lot of what he has learned about playing chess well. After the Bibliography (always a good thing in a chess book, and in this case with some fascinating entries) and Introduction, The Rules is divided into five sections: The Player, Preparation, The Opening, The Middlegame and The Endgame. Each section is divided into ten chapters..."

	Play the Dutch - An Opening Repertoire for Black Based on the Leningrad Dutch by Neil McDonald, reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "When an author opens a book with a straightforward comment I get a good feeling about what will follow. Sometimes that first remark is the sum total of heavy effort put forth by the author, but usually any writer will put forward a good effort to support their opening statement. Neil McDonald makes a clear point in the first few words of “Play the Dutch”..."

	Genius in the Background by Tibor Karolyi and Nick Aplin, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Have you ever enjoyed a book so much that your were sad to have it end? A chess book? That was my experience with Karolyi and Aplin’s Genius in the Background. It really is that good. It makes me quite pleased to keep my commitment to read almost every book that I review twice before committing my opinion to print..."

	In Your Face by Andrew Tocher, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "The bottom line is: if you are a club player looking for something different to use to win more games – you could study the endgame (for most club players that would really be different), you could perfect your martial arts skills and power up your chi, you could study Sartre and the Existentialists and decide that it really doesn’t matter much, anyhow… Or, you could Join The Circus (or is it the Rodeo?) and take a flyer with In Your Face Chess Novelties. Just keep your cell phone camera ready, to record your opponents’ responses..."

	Chess Masterpieces by George Dean with Maxine Brady, reviewed by David Surratt. "Look. Just look. Click on any image for a larger view... Do I need to say anything more? Above you have more than the proverbial thousand words (times four), but for those who insist... A introduction by former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. 200 full-color illustrations. 272 pages of intelligent and relevant text and eye-candy images enough to sate the senses even of Caissa herself. The Table of Contents is revealing of the depth and span of this absolutely gorgeous..."

	Play the Ponziani by Dave Taylor & ICCF-IM Keith Hayward (Everyman Chess, 2010), reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "When I found out that this book was coming from the publisher, I had a feeling reviewing it would be a unique experience. I have played the Ponziani from either side in blitz or informal games, but in only one serious game in over 35 years of playing. Another thing is that both Taylor and Hayward are stalwarts of correspondence chess in the U.S. (Correspondence chess is an arena that doesn’t receive the mainstream following it deserves.) So, I had a number of motives for reading Play the Ponziani..."

	The Most Valuable Skills in Chess by GM Maurice Ashley (Gambit, 2009), reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "What if you wanted to improve your writing? Would you focus on increasing clarity, demonstrating conviction and projecting energy? Would you brush up on your noun and verb agreement, adverb and adjective selection, and proper punctuation? Improving your chess play involves similar considerations: where you put your effort depends upon what level of play you are currently at and what level you aspire to. It does no good to examine 15^th move improvements in the Najdorf Sicilian, for example, if you are still trying to keep in your head how differently the horsie and the castle move..."

	10 Great Ways To Get Better At Chess by GM Nigel Davies (Everyman Chess, 2010), reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "If you wanted to learn how to get better at chess, you could ask a Grandmaster. You could, for example, ask England’s GM Nigel Davies. He’s written a dozen and a half books, and produced a score and a half of DVDs. He’s a chess coach, has his own website and has written some columns here at Chessville – see "Tigerchess" and “Ask the Tiger”. You might offer to buy him a pint and maybe he would tell you ten great ways to get better at chess. On the other hand, for the cost of about a half-hour of time working with him as a chess coach (or the cost of about 9 pints) you could simply buy his latest book, titled (wait for it) 10 Great Ways to Get Better at Chess..."

	The Improving Chess Thinker by Dan Heisman (Mongoose Press, 2009) reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "The practice of “testing” players with positions and then recording and analyzing their responses as they work toward the next move has been carried on ever since, leading to, among others, the deep, albeit murky, How to Think in Chess (2001) by Przewoznik and Soszynski, the bright if somewhat hesitant Inside the Chess Mind (2004) by Aagaard and the sparkling and sometimes head-spinning The Grandmaster's Mind (2004) by Avni. Now along comes long-time chess instructor National Master Dan Heisman’s The Improving Chess Thinker, which in many ways addresses the anti-De Grootian protest from the club player “Hey, why doesn’t anybody study us for a change??” Be careful what you wish for, pawnpusher..."

	Starting Out: The Trompowsky Attack by IM Richard Palliser (Everyman Chess, 2009), reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "I was extremely excited to see Richard Palliser’s “Starting Out: the Trompowsky”. I wasn’t put off by the idea that this might be a book for players new to the Tromp. The opening is just so fresh that every book I have seen which covered it was aimed at people new to the ideas. Consequently, when I opened the book I was looking for just a couple of points. I wanted to know..."

	Chess Therapy, 2^nd Edition by Jose A. Fadul and Reynaldo Nuelito Q. Canlas, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Lately, chess seems to have been rehabilitated, at least in the public perception. Once considered to be the refuge of the odd, the overly passionate or the likely mad, it is now seen as good for young students (“chess makes you smart!”), protective of adolescents (“push pawns, not drugs!”), and possibly even of benefit to aging adults (keeping the mind sharp and possibly putting off the onset of Alzheimer’s disease). So it should not be too surprising to encounter the title Chess Therapy by Fadul (PhD) and Canlas (PhD..."

	The Complete Hedgehog Volume 1 by GM Sergey Shipov (Mongoose Press, 2009), reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "The book is aimed at players who are seeking to take up the Hedgehog as their defense against the English. Yes those who already play it will enjoy it also, yet a lot of the material will be redundant for them. This leads me to believe that GM Shipov wrote the book out of an abundance of enthusiasm for the defense and not with a marketing scheme in mind..."

	Chess Child - The Story of Ray Robson, America’s Youngest Grandmaster by Gary Robson, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Roy Robson became a Grandmaster early, before he was fifteen years old – earlier than any other American chess player did, including Bobby Fischer. Chess Child is the story of this journey, as told by his father, Gary Robson – a hardly a “life story” yet, given Roy’s youth..."

	Formation Attacks by NM Joel Johnson, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Like the heroic fighter in the 1975 movie “Rocky”, Formation Attacks is relatively unknown, but full of heart, wisdom, aggression, – and, at 500 pages, is a seriously heavyweight contender. This title easily goes the distance, and those who read it and study with it are sure to come away with some champion-sized results. The author is an American chess master and chess teacher, with plenty of varied experiences, including playing for the Arizona Scorpions of the U.S. Chess League..."

	Win with the Stonewall Dutch by Sverre Johnsen, IM Ivar Bern & GM Simen Agdestein, reviewed by ICCF-IM Keith Hayward. "First Impression: I was pleased to see this new book was in consistent format to the previous two opening books that Sverre Johnsen co-authored: Win with the London System and The Ruy Lopez: A Guide for Black. In all three books Sverre has had different co-authors, but the quality of the product has remained consistent! This speaks well for Sverre’s involvement..."

	Starting Out: The Scandinavian by IM Jovanka Houska (Everyman Chess, 2009), reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "The Scandinavian or Center Counter (1.e4 d5) has traveled a unique route. Seen as neglecting standard principles of opening play it gained little traction with titled strength players until Larsen and Rogers. Club players had always liked it because of the limited amount of material to know compared to other defenses. The rise of the Slav defense to 1.d4 motivated some IM/GM strength players to work on it because the pawn structure of the Slav was very similar to the Scandinavian. It then became an accepted venture at most levels..."

	The KGB Plays Chess by Boris Gulko, Vladimir Popov, Yuri Felshtinsky & Viktor Kortschnoi (Russell Enterprises, 2010) reviewed by David Surratt. "This book tells the story of how the Committee for State Security, aka the Soviet Secret Police, aka the KGB, stole the world chess championship, and kept it hostage for more than a decade, defending it against all comers. Told from both an insider's point of view, as well as from the vantage point of the persecuted, this is a unique and important addition to our understanding of Soviet society, as well as how chess was used to serve that society..."

	Play the London System by Cyrus Lakdawala (Everyman Chess, 2010), reviewed by NM Bill McGeary. "When is an opening not an opening? When it is a system! That was a joke we used to describe the amorphous complex known as “Queen Pawn Openings”. Playing a setup that could be reached almost without regard to the opponents moves and from which one could operate successfully fell well short of our youthful desires to be “up on theory.” Such is the London System. The London system (d4/Bf4) is so logical and easy to pick up that it has been nicknamed “The Businessman’s Special.” The explosion of available chess material might cause that moniker to disappear. Play the London System brings to light much of the thinking that “theory” has about the London..."

	The Genius and the Misery of Chess by Zhivko Kaikamjozov, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "If Paul Morphy played in the 1953 Zurich International Chess Tournament, how well would he have done? If Judit Polgar went back in time, would she have beaten Ruy Lopez, and, if so, would she have been accused of witchcraft? If Louis Paulsen, traveling forward, collided with Geza Maroczy traveling backward, would they have collaborated on a psychic game of chess against Victor Korchnoi? Who knows? The fun thing about knowing something about chess players is that it immediately makes you want to know more about them..."

	Chess Duels: My Games with the World Champions by GM Yasser Seirawan (Everyman Chess, 2010) reviewed by David Surratt. "Let me start by answering a small question for some of our younger, less chess-educated readers. Who is this Seirawan guy, anyway? Seirawan won the World Junior Championship in 1979. He served as a Second to Victor Korchnoi during his 1980-1981 Candidates Matches and World Championship campaign. Yasser became a Candidate himself in 1985, qualifying through the Montpellier Interzonal. He eventually broke into the ranks of the top-10 chessplayers in the world..."

	Botvinnik-Petrosian, The 1963 World Chess Championship Match by Mikhail Botvinnik (New In Chess, 2010) reviewed by David Surratt. "In 1963 Mikhail Botvinnik took to the stage, figuratively and literally, to defend his World Chess Championship title. It was Botvinnik's seventh championship match, not counting the famous 1948 match-tournament to determine the successor to Alexander Alekhine, who had died in 1946 still holding the title. Across the board was the then four-time candidate 'Iron Tigran' Petrosian, (who after losing the title himself to Boris Spassky in...

	Coffee House Chess Tactics by John Healy (New In Chess, 2010), reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Coffeehouse Chess Tactics, Healy’s latest (third), is a nice little book. It leads off with “Blood Sport,” a 20-page essay on chess and chess players that comes at you quick and hard – as the reader struggles with the relentless onslaught of words, it is suddenly apparent that not only is the author looking at chess from a coffeehouse point of view, he is writing in coffeehouse style, as it were, Runyonesque characters and all..."

	Checkmate Tactics by Garry Kasparov (Everyman Chess, 2010) reviewed by David Surratt. "Checkmate Tactics is no kiddy's book. Ok, it looks like a kiddy's book - I'll give you that. Colored pages, funny-looking pieces used as page decorations (not in the diagrams though!), fat arrows pointing from one part of a page to another. It feels like a kiddy's book too - at 8 inches by 8 inches it just doesn't fit in one hand. Or a back pocket. Clearly a kiddy's book, I said to myself. Then I opened it up and started browsing the introduction. Browsing quickly developed into reading..."

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the author of the review,
and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Chessville or it's Publisher.

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