<PERFECT YOUR CHESS (Andrei Volokitin & Vladimir Grabinsky) 160 pages (248 mm by 172 mm).
£15.99/$28.95/€24,95
Forthcoming.
June 2007

Andrei Volokitin is one of a rare breed of players: he achieved a ranking in the world's top 20 while still a teenager, playing dynamic and often brilliant chess. Although we cannot all aspire to emulate his achievements, there is much that we can learn from his training methods, his games and his general approach to chess. These topics are the subject of this book, written in collaboration with his trainer.

The core material of the book is 375 positions where the reader is given a task or asked a question. These tasks resemble those that players regularly face over the board, and are especially useful from a training viewpoint. Sometimes we are told we need to find a combination, but often the task is simply to decide on a move. It is for us to determine whether to play quietly or stake everything on a sacrificial attack!

The examples are all from recent years, and so even the most zealous reader of chess literature will have seen few of them previously. Many of the positions are from Volokitin's own games, so we get the 'inside story' on some truly spectacular chess. We are also presented with fine examples from Grabinsky's training files, carefully collected and graded over the years for their instructive merit. The commentaries and detailed solutions explain the key issues in each position, and also convey the authors' philosophy of chess and their love for the game. >

It appears as though the tournament he's playing in is being held in a bar somehwere, as the sign behind him sems to be advertising Littleneck Clams (presumably on the half shell--good barfood) for $14.50. Hope all the players ate and drank well.

Volokitin,Andrei - Johannessen,Leif Erlend [C97]
17th European Team Championship - Open Novi Sad/Serbia (3), 24.10.2009 [Robot 3]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 Bd7 13.Nf1 Nc4 14.b3 Nb6 15.Ne3 c4 16.Ba3 Rfe8 17.bxc4 Nxc4 18.Nxc4 bxc4 19.d5 Bf8 20.Nd2 Rab8 21.Qf3 Rec8 22.Reb1 Ne8 23.Rxb8 Rxb8 24.Qe2 Rc8 25.Rb1 g6 26.Bc1 Qa5 27.Nxc4 Qxa2 28.Nb6 Rxc3 29.Rb2 Qa1 30.Rb1 Qa2 31.Rb2 Qa1 32.Qe1 Rc7 33.Nxd7 Rxd7 34.Rb8 Ng7 35.Bd2 Qxe1+ 36.Bxe1 Rc7 37.Bb4 1-0

Johannessen is not the only Norse player who has difficulties facing Volokitin;)

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

That's crap, and you know it. Carlsen would've faced Eljanov (who lost against Hammer today).