<paris> forum is closed...hope he joins us here.

<hms123> <paris> <guys> <CBF>, i found two Karpov books coming..

Karpov's Strategic Wins 1: 1961-1985 The Making of a Champion by Tibor Karolyi..

http://www.amazon.com/Karpovs-Strat...

Karpov's Strategic Wins 2: 1986-2009 The Prime Years by Tibor Karolyi..

Chess Periodicals by Gino di Felice..

Ideal audience: Players below master-strength

Pros: well-written, sections on the isolated queen pawn and hedgehog pawn structures are especially good.

Cons: first two chapters lack cohesion, but the individual games are still instructive.

Rating: 4 out of 5 pawns

"If your philosophy is 'put pieces on good squares and don't worry about an overall plan or tactics!' you are in effect playing Russian Roulette. Sooner or later someone will be mopping bits of brain off the chess board, which is bad news even for someone who doesn't like to think too much."

In the introduction to Chess Success: Planning After the Opening, Neil McDonald explains that his book explores the relationship between middle-game planning and pawn structure. To do so, McDonald discusses typical middlegame pawn structures (isolated queen pawn, hedgehog formation, etc.) and illustrates how they shape middlegame planning. In the later chapters, McDonald accomplishes a difficult task: he elucidates the importance of subtle aspects of pawn structure. The book is filled with the kind of discussion that can really improve one's play; McDonald explains concepts that generally elude the average player.

My favorite aspect of McDonald's book is the way the start of each chapter dissects a key pawn structure. Often a diagram of the pawn skeleton is given along with a brief discussion of each side's basic ideas. After this summary, McDonald includes games that illustrate the central middlegame ideas arising from the pawn structure on which the chapter focuses. This is where McDonald shines, as he has a talent for annotation. During critical parts of the illustrative games, McDonald's move-by-move comments manage to describe (with words!) the reasoning behind various ideas and moves, rather than drowning the reader with analysis variations.

Lasker - Steinitz

"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Steinitz", McDonald's chapter on the isolated queen pawn (IQP), is especially good. He uses classic examples to illustrate playing both with and against the IQP. Best of all, he includes a discussion of a pawn structure that often evolves from the IQP structure: the hanging pawn duo. McDonald's discussion opens with the classic game Lasker - Steinitz, World Championship, 1894. Lasker plays with the IQP beautifully, transforming it into a hanging pawn duo before winning with the crushing breakthrough 34.d5!

While some readers might complain that countless other volumes have examined this classic game, it's only fair to point out that McDonald includes a number of more obscure, but no less instructive, examples. Furthermore, McDonald's commentary on Lasker - Steinitz, as well as his discussion of the other games in the book, is what makes his work so refreshing. Rather than providing reams of analysis, McDonald gives clear descriptions of critical, yet subtle, middlegame ideas.

With this collection of well-chosen and entertainingly annotated games, Neil McDonald fills a void in middlegame literature. Reading his book improved my grasp of middlegame play, and it will probably improve yours.

"The idea is to simulate competitive chess, when the player does not know the theme of a combination, or even the exact problem."

Igor Sukhin's Chess Gems was a pleasant surprise from Mongoose Press. Not only is the book well done (more on that in a moment), but I have to give the publisher love for producing a chess book that isn't embarrassing to carry around. Not to judge a book by it's cover (well actually, to do exactly that), but anybody who has seen the cover of recent books like Gambit publishing's new edition of the AMAZING Secrets of Pawn Endings (the much better original cover can be seen here), has to agree that chess book covers are often embarrassingly ugly. So hats off to Mongoose Press for producing a chess book I wouldn't be afraid to read in public.

But back to the book. Chess Gems is fantastic. While in one sense Sukhin's work is very run of the mill, merely a collection of 1,000 chess puzzles, the presentation is original and the samples are well chosen. The positions are organized chronologically instead of the typical thematic or difficulty-based organization. I found this surprisingly enjoyable as flipping through the book was a journey through chess history. Chapters five (on Anderssen and Morphy) and eleven (on Capablance, Alekhine, and Euwe) are particularly enjoyable. Sukhin even includes a chapter on Shatranj.

Each chapter includes a brief historical overview alongside a number of examples with text explanations and analysis. Then at the end of each chapter is a "How Would You Play?" section of exercises. Again, this is typical fare, but beautifully presented.

If you're looking for a relaxing book where you'll learn a good deal about the history of chess and improve your tactical skills, don't hesitate to order Chess Gems, one of the most refreshing books of it's kind that I've seen.

<Review: How Chess Games Are Won and Lost by Lars Bo Hansen>

Grandmaster Lars Bo Hansen's new title for Gambit, How Chess Games are Won and Lost, describes the author's personal approach to improving at each of the five phases in chess. Most chess books separate the game into opening, middlegame, and endgame, but Hansen usefully adds two transitional phases to the established three: (1) opening [69 pages]; (2) transition from opening to middlegame [37 pages]; (3) middlegame [37 pages]; (4) transition from middlegame to endgame (strategic endgame) [43 pages]; and (5) technical endgame [22 pages]. The book concludes with a final chapter on practical competitive tips [24 pages].

In HCGAWAL, Hansen's innovation is to separate the objective and subjective elements of the early phases. While a technical endgame may present a limited number of known winning methods, the first two phases provide significant scope for stylistic preferences. For example, all viable openings share certain objective goals, namely: (1) controlling the center, (2) developing the minor pieces, and (3) getting the king to safety. However, these objective goals may be carried out in any number of practical ways, and this is where subjective preferences drive a player's choices. Borrowing a theme from Watson's Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, Hansen discusses how modern masters play the openings much differently than their forebears, but with the same three objectives in mind. On the practical side, Hansen suggests that only after identifying one's personal playing "style" can a player select openings that yield comfortable middlegame positions, and thereby maximize that player's skills and enjoyment of the game.

The book really shines in its discussion of the transition from the opening to the middlegame. This phase is strategic in nature, and is largely based on pawn structure. Hansen discusses how various pawn structures may relate to a player's personal "style." So that his advice does not exist in a vacuum, Hansen annotates a wealth of examples that exhibit his own personal approach to this phase. As white, Hansen plays solid lines with 1.d4 and 2.c4, while as black he steers toward the "light-square restraint" pawn structure typical of the Caro-Kann and semi-Slav, with pawns on c6 and e6 restraining a white pawn on d4.

Hansen includes a brilliant discussion of one major intersection in his opening repertoire, the Queen's Gambit Exchange variation, which he plays for both colors.

Hansen labels the transition from the middlegame to the endgame "strategic endgames." As with the other transitional phase, strategic aspects predominate. While technical endgames require knowledge and memory of known methods, strategic endgames call upon a player's understanding and judgment. Thus it is not surprising that strategic endgames are often misevaluated by analysis engines. Hansen, the author of an earlier book on this phase of the game, Gambit's Secrets of Chess Endgame Strategy, summarizes his earlier findings in a discussion of fifteen principles of this phase. Owing perhaps to the author's earlier work on this phase, the section on strategic endgames is particularly instructive, concise, and well-organized. Personally, this is the weakest phase of my game, and reading this section served as a gentle introduction.

To conclude the five phases, Hansen gives 22 pages of useful examples on technical endgames. Again, this phase has been treated exhaustively elsewhere, but HCGAWAL serves as a useful launching-off point.

One criticism of the book is that the intended audience is unclear. For example, the discussion of the three basic opening principles is suitable for beginners, but in the same pages Hansen advises not to play particular openings (e.g., Benko gambit) above the 2200-2300 level. My other complaint is more subjective; I found that as an admirer of Spielmann and Tal, my personal "style" (if an 1800-rated player may be permitted to claim a style!) is diametrically opposite to Hansen's. Readers who identify with Hansen's solid stylistic preferences would be well-advised to adopt Hansen (2570 Elo) as a role model and study the chapters on the opening and transition to the middlegame in depth.

However, even slash-and-burn artists can review Hansen's approach to the early phases as an example of how a grandmaster improves at these stages of the game. More importantly, Hansen's chapters on the final three phases transcend personal styles. Therefore, all players could benefit from a study of HCGAWAL.

A glance at the bibliography reveals that the book's amazing breadth of coverage-from Nimzowitsch, to the cult-classic Chess for Tigers, to Watson. Though each chapter is not exhaustive due to space considerations, there is clearly "full compensation" for this relative lack of exhaustive depth. HCGAWAL is eminently readable for practical players who wish to improve at all five phases of the game, and covers the most instructive aspects of each phase from an autobiographical angle.

Patrick Bollig

<Pal Benko
My Life, Games, and Compositions
Reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur>

Pal Benko’s work My Life, Games and Compositions has won the British Chess Federation "Book Of The Year" Award. The quality of competition for this prestigious award can be gauged from the fact that the other contender for the coveted prize, Garry Kasparov On My Great Predecessors II, came an honorable second.

Apart from a gripping personal narrative and interviews with Benko and his close friends like GM Larry Evans and IM Ronald Gross, this book includes 138 well-annotated games and 300 compositions. There is also a 130-page essay on Benko’s contribution to opening theory by John Watson, well-known author of award winning titles like Secrets Of Modern Chess Strategy and Chess Strategy In Action. The career graph of Benko makes curious reading. He won the Hungarian Championship way back in 1948 when he was just 20 years old. After his emigration to the USA he has won the US Open Championship eight times. He has also been a candidate for the World Championship twice (1959 &1962). On the flipside he has never won the US Championship title. His best result was the Second Place in the 1974 US Championship (+3,-0,=10) behind Walter Browne who won the title. Benko contested the US Championship more frequently during 1960s with varying success, occupying no higher than Third Place. Fischer and Reshevsky dominated the US chess scene during 1960s. Other GMs like Pal Benko, Robert Byrne and Larry Evans made valiant efforts to vie for top honors.

<Pal Benko
My Life, Games, and Compositions
Reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur>

On a visit to Berlin for a chess tournament he tried to defect to West Germany. He was caught and brought back to Budapest and put behind the bars without a trial for more than a year. The harrowing account of his life in prison appears to be straight from the pages of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago. One can only mourn the privation, suffering, and degradation of the human spirit. It is to the credit of Benko that he survived this ordeal through hope, courage and fortitude. After his release from prison Benko was under surveillance for quite some time by the secret police and became a persona non grata in the Hungarian chess circuit. It took years for his rehabilitation. Yet Benko had not learned his “ lesson’’. The passionate quest for freedom was begun in earnest all over again. This time he knew that the price for failure would be death or incarceration for life. Opportunity presented itself when he had to qualify for an out-of the country zonal. Benko recounts the irony of the situation with delectable relish: “During the tournament that decided this (Qualification for the Zonal-NSH) I gave myself some uneasy moments by playing too well! The problem was a bit humorous: If I came in first, I would qualify for a zonal that was going to be held in a Soviet-led country. This was not acceptable, and my sights were set on the zonal in Ireland, which required a second-place finish. Ironically I was winning the qualifier and desperately went out of my way to draw the last the last three games (avoiding victory like the plague!), so I could ensure the coveted second position! In the end everything worked out well and I did get sent to Ireland.” Subsequently Benko changed his plans and decided to defect to the US from Reykjavik, Iceland. (Ironically enough, Fischer today is seeking refuge at the same Reykjavik, the scene of his 1972 triumph, even as he is being hounded out by the US Government.) In July 1957 he walked into the American embassy in Reykjavik and asked for asylum. Three months later he landed in New York. He was broke. But he made friends and after a stint on Wall Street became a chess professional. Much later, following a thaw in the US-Soviet relationship, he was able to visit Budapest, and in recent years he has divided time between the USA and Hungary. What happened in Curacao 1962?
This autobiography is not without its share of controversies. It was Benko who played a decisive role in destroying the chances of Keres in the 1962 Candidates’Tournament. The Estonian had beaten Benko (4:0 !) in the 1959 candidates and in Curacao seemed to perform a hat trick, beating Benko whenever they met. Then came the dramatic 20th round. The contemporary British Chess Magazine (August 1962) wrote: “For once Keres slipped up against Benko and came within an ace of defeat. He got away with the point - in a mutual time scramble Benko knocked over a couple of men and exceeded the time limit while putting them back in place! And at that instant Black still had a draw by perpetual check as you can see for yourself.” In the book Benko offers his own version of what happened: This tournament wasn’t only a nightmare for Fischer. The great Paul Keres also had some experiences that prove to be traumatic. In the hunt for first place throughout, his demise effectively began during our third game, with him white against my Sicilian. I got the better game, but I spoiled my chances by incorrectly sacrificing a piece in horrible time pressure. This left me with nothing better than a perpetual check. With only seconds to spare, I made the move that forced the perpetual, but it was slightly off square. He punched my clock and said. ”Adjust your pieces! ” Surprised, my clock ticked for a second or two before I realized what was going on. Then I desperately reached out to fix the position of the piece, glanced at the clock, and watched in horror as my flag fell and I was forfeited. I didn’t complain, but I was very angry and thought, “I am going to beat this guy when it’s most painful for him.’’ Sure enough, our final game was critical to his whole career, since a draw would allow him to conduct a playoff against Petrosian to see who played Botvinnik for the World Championship, while a win would make him the outright challenger.”

Keres obtains a pyrrhic victory (Editor: play through the entire game, with annotations, here), as Benko avenged himself in the penultimate round. Benko writes: "In this all-important game, I was a bit better, and adjourned. A while later, Petrosian and Geller came to me in secret and offered to help me beat their own countryman! I was disgusted. Telling them that it would be a draw with best play, I demanded that they leave. However, when we resumed, Keres made an error and I won." In other words Benko did not discuss the position with them at all. A different version emerges in Jan Timman’s report of the Curacao 2002 Tournament at which he met and interacted with three of the survivors of the 1962 Candidates': Korchnoi, Averbach (member of the delegation accompanying the players) and Benko: "Benko confirmed that Keres's competitors had visited him in his room, but they hadn't had much to offer. Benko, already a good endgame expert then, had only given them written notes. These showed that he would only be able to win if Keres made a mistake. Geller and Petrosian had nothing to add to this. Keres eventually did make a mistake and lost." (p. 27 of NIC issue No. 1 ,2003)

[In the last round Petrosian was White against Filip and Keres was paired against Fischer. Now the Armenian GM had everything in his favour. In everyone’s mind he was already the winner of the Tournament. As it happened, Petrosian drew with Filip. Keres was forced to follow suit with Fischer. “One game was left, and if Geller won it he would tie with Keres for the second place. He tried his hardest to do so, but he overreached himself and adjourned in a lost position. But the play in the adjourned session the following day took a dramatic course. Benko having to make three moves before the time control, just forgot what was happening and lost on time! Benko’s terrible addiction had let him down again. And what must Keres have thought of it ! Benko had ruined everything for him.’’ This contemporary account from the British Chess Magazine (August 1962) is corroborated by Benko. Then comes the damaging statement: “Because of this, Keres had to play a match (which he won) with Geller to determine the second place. Keres later wrote that I deliberately lost to Geller to “screw him.” Naturally I would never do a thing like that, but Keres believed otherwise and probably went to his grave with this erroneous impression. One can understand his feelings - losing that one game against me influenced chess history in a big way: Petrosian got the match against Botvinnik, won, and became the new champion. And poor Keres did not get to play the World Championship match that meant so much to him.” (P.S.: Keres beat Benko with Black pieces when they met at the Santa Monica Tournament 1963-NSH.) To be fair to Benko, he did make a lasting contribution to chess history by conceding his place at the Interzonal to Fischer in 1970, and enabling him to play in the World Championship cycle. It is a pity that Fischer’s chess career came to an abrupt end after his triumph in 1972. Read as an autobiography alone, this is an absorbing account of an extraordinary chess career. But the book has much else to offer. The section on Benko’s contribution to opening theory by Watson is remarkable for its insights. Benko was a virtuoso in the treatment of flank openings with White. He managed to beat Tal, Keres, and Fischer with the same opening: 1.g3. Equally noteworthy is his treatment of the English Opening. As an acknowledged author of the standard work on the English Opening, Watson is well-qualified to comment on the subject.

<Pal Benko
My Life, Games, and Compositions
Reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur>

As for the rest, at least three of Benko’s opening systems have stood the test of time:

A. The Benko Gambit:1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5

B. The Benko Variation in Sozin Sicilian: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 Qb6

C. The Benko System in The King’s Indian: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5. Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.f3 f5 11.g4!

The section on interviews, like the curate’s egg, is good only in parts. The interview with Benko is interesting, although he is asked rather bland questions by Silman, the co-author and Editor. The same cannot be said of Larry Evans and Ronald Gross. Both emerge as dissipated individuals with a taste for sleazy stuff.

The book has a number of interesting photographs and lively anecdotes... However, the narration of one particular episode seems to have missed the point. Here is what happened: At Leipzig, 1960, the Chess Olympiad, Tal and Fischer were the centres of interest. At the closing ceremony Bobby asked Tal to look at his hand and read his future. Tal gave his hand, and Bobby started reading: “I see the World Champion is going to be - a young American grandmaster.’’ “ Congratulations, William” said Tal to Lombardy.

+ Pal Benko’s work My Life, Games and Compositions has won the British Chess Federation "Book Of The Year" Award.

+ Still a child, I wanted to crawl under a rock and give up – somehow make it all go away. “ Resignation ” wasn’t possible

+ When I arrived in Szeged, I was starving and penniless. However, a small Master’s tournament led to the acquisition of some desperately needed food (I won flour and bacon!)

I own more opening books, but those are the only ones I really looked at.

As a "young", "aspiring" player, (C to A category ?!) you do NOT need more than that! Watson will give you the basic ideas and impressions on the main openings. That's all you need.

Vol. III is on the English Opening and

Vol. IV will be on irregular Openings?

Am I right?

This final volume draws together many themes in a wide-ranging discussion of general opening topics. By looking at familiar situations from new angles, Watson helps us greatly increase our understanding of them. In the process, he covers a wide variety of opening structures and variations not seen in the earlier volumes and presents a great wealth of original analysis.

* Réti and Fianchetto Systems
* Reversed Openings
* Symmetry
* Irregular Openings
* Gambits: Primitive or Positional
* Universal Openings

In the final two chapters, Watson presents his views on the importance of opening study and explains how players should best prepare and choose their openings for the level at which they play. He looks at the future of chess openings and explains which skills will be most important as chess evolves in the forthcoming decades.

Ideal audience: Players of all strengths, although stronger players 1800+ ELO may derive more benefit from the book's contents.

Pros: Exhaustive computer-aided analysis, full of fascinating endgame studies, the test positions are excellent.

Cons: Some parts are very technical.

Rating: 5 out of 5 pawns

"Don't deceive yourself, though the board may be almost empty, pawn endings are full of traps and tricks."

With <Secrets of Pawn Endings> and their subsequent <Fundamental Chess Endings>, Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht secured their place alongside Reuben Fine, Mikhail Shereshevsky, and Yuri Averbakh on the short list of great endgame writers. While it might be blasphemous to suggest that Muller and Lamprecht's books are better than the works of these other authors, Muller and Lamprecht do have one distinct advantage: their works have benefited enormously from chess' computer age. In Secrets of Pawn Endings, the authors use computer analysis to provide a definitive verdict on all aspects of pawn endgame theory. However, the book's theoretical importance is not its only value. Muller and Lamprecht provide accessible tips for practical play as well.

Secrets of Pawn Endings begins with a theoretical overview of the fundamental pawn endgame positions. The first chapter discusses King and Pawn(s) vs. King while each succeeding section addresses positions with more and more pawns. This progression allows the reader to use the earlier chapters to inform later discussion. But, this does not mean that the basic pawn endings are simple. Even positions with only one or two pawns can be astoundingly complex (if you're skeptical, try the first chapter's training exercises).

After addressing pawn endgame theory, the authors provide chapters on practical issues. Sections like "Thinking Methods to Find the Right Move" and "Complicated Cases" provide strategies for playing complex endings. I particularly enjoyed "Simplifications," a section that helps the reader decide when to trade into a pawn ending. The effect of these later chapters is that the thorough reader, having developed a grasp of theoretical pawn endings, can now harness that knowledge to improve his or her play.

Secrets of Pawn Endings is excellent for all readers, whether the expert level player seeking to ascend into the master ranks (or beyond) or the casual player hoping to gain a deeper appreciation of pawn endings' beauty. A good example of the book's versatility is the discussion of corresponding squares. The discussion is thorough, addressing everything one needs to know about the importance of corresponding squares in pawn endings. The subject matter is highly technical, but Muller and Lamprecht use classic endgame studies to keep the reader's attention. Furthermore, a plethora of diagrams depict the application of corresponding square concepts.

For years, Secrets of Pawn Endings has been one of my favorite endgame books. Muller and Lamprecht have written a book of great theoretical and practical significance. Secrets of Pawn Endings is a must-have.

(Original Source: http://www.chessvideos.tv/article-R...)