i hate to be called your expensive friend but these 4 must-haves should be in our shelf.. :-)

If I may join you, my friends. :)

<hms123> Flexible French is a great book and you're in a good company reading it as I know a handful of masters who read and use this book.

As my friend <wordfunph> knows, I don't publish my own collection (for reasons he also knows-I think) but I'm also very fond of chess books.

Kasparov-Korchnoi 1983 Match: Garry Kasparov took his time-out on 29 November, the day which is initially scheduled for Game 5. During the respite, he ordered copies of five volumes of ECO sets (Batsford/Informant: Encyclopedia of Chess Openings) plus all four complete years of MCT (Modern Chess Theory).

The back cover tell us that the author “is one of the leaders of the youthful revival in Italian chess” and that he “is still a teenager, but his rating is already 2550 and increasing daily. By the time this book is printed he will probably be a grandmaster.” This is an odd embellishment to say the least. A quick check on FIDE’s website shows that he has yet to become a grandmaster (at least the title hasn’t been awarded yet) and his rating is down. However, the poorly worded promotion was completely unnecessary, because he is already a stronger player than most authors today.

This title is different from most other opening books in that it focuses exclusively on three different variations. All three are gambit continuations that have been played several times by top ten players in recent years. The table of contents is as follows: • Introduction (2 pages)
• The Schliemann
• 1 Schliemann: 4 d3 (30 pages)
• 2 Schliemann: 4 Nc3 (32 pages)
• 3 Schliemann: Minor Lines (24 pages)
• The Gajewski
• 4 Gajewski: 11 d3 and 11 exd5 (26 pages)
• 5 Gajewski: 11 d4 (34 pages)
• The Marshall
• 6 Anti-Marshall (30 pages)
• 7 Marshall: 12 d4 (40 pages)
• 8 Marshall: 12 d3 (34 pages)
• 9 Marshall: Modern Lines (22 pages)
• Index of Variations (5 pages)

To the average player with some knowledge of opening theory the Schliemann (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5) and the Marshall (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 c3 d5) should be familiar names, whereas the Gajewski (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 c3 d6 9 h3 Na5 10 Bc2 d5!?) is of newer vintage, and may be unfamiliar to many.

While the Schliemann has been played by Radjabov, as well as Aronian and Adams, it has never been popular at top level. It lacks the dynamic potential of the Marshall Attack, and has mostly been used as a surprise weapon. In the eighty-six pages of coverage in this book, Brunello provides the most detailed and accurate coverage of this opening to date. However, his conclusion on the critical lines in the Schliemann is quite telling: “The critical test of our repertoire came in variation C2) after 7 Qe2! Be7 8 Bxc6 dxc6 9 Nxe5. Black must certainly demonstrate some precise knowledge here, but I believe his position to be quite defensible. It is important for the second player to understand when to swap down to an opposite coloured bishop position, and I hope that after absorbing the contents of the present chapter the reader will feel equipped to make that decision. When carried out correctly, this should lead to a position that the second player ought to be able to draw without many problems.”

Each of Brunello’s chapters begin with an introduction to the lines covered, the general themes, central ideas, and theoretical highlights. The theoretical coverage follows, and then he presents the reader with a conclusion that highlights the most important issues in the particular line. All in all, this makes the chapters a joy to read. However, in addition to just presenting the material on a given line, with the current theory and the established evaluations, Brunello goes much further, offering the reader a smorgasbord of new ideas, theoretical novelties and improvements over existing theory. He has been kind enough to assign them with the Informator novelty symbol, which helps draw our attention to these instances. I think that in a work of this kind, it can be quite useful for players of either color to see where they need to pay attention and put some extra work in if they intend to use the line in question.

The material is very advanced, particularly in the coverage of the Marshall, which for a long time has been Brunello’s main weapon to counter the Spanish. The author warns the reader about the vast volume of variations in the main lines after 12 d4, whereas it appears that 12 d3 is currently more critical for the time being. This is an important and very interesting book. The young author presents the material in a very mature fashion, while injecting plenty of youthful enthusiasm into the coverage and analysis. For anyone playing the Spanish from either side, this book is an absolute must buy. My assessment of this book: Five stars (Review by Carsten Hansen)

It should be clear to anyone who follows top chess tournaments and current theory that the Marshall is one of Black’s most important weapons against the Spanish. In the present book, by Serbian grandmaster Milos Pavlovic, it is Black’s main weapon and the central part of a complete repertoire for Black in the Spanish, or Ruy Lopez if you so prefer.

The material is divided as follows:
• Preface (1 page)
• Introduction (8 pages)
• Part One: Gambit Lines
• 1 The Main Line (11 pages)
• 2 The Modern Rook Shuffle: 15 Re4 (14 pages)
• 3 The Mysterious Retreat: 13 Re2 (5 pages)
• 4 The Kevitz Variation: 12 Bxd5 cxd5 13 d4 (4 pages) • 5 The Dangerous 12 d3 (15 pages)
• 6 The Tricky 12 g3 (5 pages)
• 7 Declining the Marshall (6 pages)
• Part Two: Anti-Marshall Lines
• 8 The 8 h3 Anti-Marshall (21 pages)
• 9 The 8 a4 Anti-Marshall (11 pages)
• 10 The 8 d4 Anti-Marshall (12 pages)
• 11 The Steinitz Variation: 8 d3 (11 pages)
• Part Three: Other Lines
• 12 The Worrall Attack (7 pages)
• 13 The Delayed Exchange Variation (7 pages)
• 14 Early d4 and Nc3 Variation (12 pages)
• 15 The Exchange Variation (12 pages)
• Index of Variations (7 pages)

For a book that covers the Marshall, as well as all anti-Marshall sidelines for white, this volume seems incredibly slim, a mere 174 pages that are not exactly jam-packed with analysis. However, I have spent several hours with this book, and I don’t feel anything is missing, nor do I feel shortchanged when it comes to explanations of important ideas or strategic issues. This can only be because Pavlovic really knows his material exceptionally well and he manages to convey his knowledge and his message in perfect measure so as not to confuse and overwhelm the reader, which is something that can easily happen in the massive theory of the Marshall Attack.

While this work will never become the definitive word on any of the lines covered in this book, the repertoire for Black is an excellent introduction for those wishing to combat the Ruy Lopez. The author is bit sparse when it comes to original analysis and novelties, but the confidence potential devotees can gain from reading this book will go a long way to counterbalance the lack of knowledge in the minor sidelines. For players who already employ the Marshall Attack as black, the Marshall chapters may seem a little light, but, together with the rest of the repertoire, this book is still worth buying. For stronger players rated 2300+, the material in this book will by and large be insufficient. However, this book is a great introduction for the rest of us.

(Review By Derek Grimmell; original source: http://www.chesscafe.com/Reviews/bo... )

In the eleventh game of their world championship match, Boris Spassky had the white pieces and once again faced Fischer's dreaded Poisoned Pawn Variation. This time, however, Spassky played 13.Kh1 and then 14.Nb1, a move that Svetozar Gligoric awarded seven exclamation points. It's actually not a good move, but it had the wonderful property of taking Fischer off guard and pushing him into lines he appeared never to have studied. Sure enough, within a few moves Fischer lost the thread of the position, began playing badly, and went down to defeat. All of which illustrates the importance of pattern recognition in top-flight chess. And pattern recognition is the raison d'etre of Open Files.

The story of this book may already be well-known: how Uhlmann and Schmidt wrote a classic work on the strategy of exploiting the open file, only to have the book buried in obscurity when Schmidt defected from the former East Germany. Now it's a boon for Edition Olms, the specialty publisher who now brings this neglected masterpiece to a broad public. And I hope Wolfgang Uhlmann, now seventy-five-years old, can enjoy some of the acclaim he deserves for writing this book.

The title is the best description of the contents: this is a learned treatise, a dissertation, on the creation, use, transformation of, and fight against open files in chess. In a brief introduction the authors explain their choice of topic by quoting Alexander Kotov. Chess masters, they assert, possess neither astounding calculating abilities nor exceptional memories. Rather, chess masters have become familiar with a number of typical positions and themes, know how to evaluate these positions and themes in combination with each other, and have learned basic plans associated with each of the above. They mention several other such typical themes, including doubled pawns, the bishop pair, and a space advantage, then state that they chose to write about the open file because, although it occurs frequently, amateur chess players typically also have problems with the correct deployment of rooks. Thus, this book is intended to be a complete training manual to the open file, as well as a mostly-complete training manual on the use of the rooks in the middlegame.

The first chapter describes the elements of open files. Exchanges create them; minor pieces and pawns usually protect entry squares, which must somehow be won; the seventh and eighth ranks are their ultimate targets. Essentially they repeat and slightly expand on ideas found in My System. They then go on to annotate 113 games in which an open file plays a pivotal role. Games are sorted into categories according to the following scheme: • The struggle for control of the open file
• The conquest of the open file
• Square weaknesses on the open file
• The struggle against the open file
• The dominant open file
• Exploiting the open file
• Exploiting the open file in conjunction with other positional advantages • Exchanging the advantage of the open file for other advantages • Tactics on the open file
• The connection between the open file and the seventh and eighth ranks

(Review By Derek Grimmell; original source: http://www.chesscafe.com/Reviews/bo... )

Here is an example, game forty-eight, from the section that focuses on the struggle against the open file.

O. Neikirkh – M. Botvinnik
Leipzig, 1960
Sicilian Defense [B88]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Kh1 Na5 10.f4 b6 11.e5 Ne8

"11...dxe5 12.fxe5 Nd7 13.Rxf7! followed by Nxe6 would have been bad for Black."

12.Rf3 Nxb3 13.Nc6

"If 13.axb3 then Bb7 14.Rh3 g6."

13...Qd7 14.Nxe7+ Qxe7 15.axb3 f6!

"Forcing White to capture on d6 or f6; the knight comes back into the game with tempo and the attack on the king is repelled."

16.exd6 Nxd6 17.Rd3

click for larger view

"Assessment of the position: With his last move White occupied the open d-file. But this only a partial success, since there are no entry squares available yet. White's main problem lies in the passivity of the c1 bishop; in the foreseeable future there is no way for it to participate effectively in the game. As far as the pawn structure is concerned, it should be noted that the endgame will be unfavourable for White, since the doubled pawns on the b-file can easily be blocked. His exposed king's position bodes ill for White. The white king has no escape square, and if Black succeeds in posting his bishop on b6 dangers will quickly appear on the long diagonal a8-h1.Next Black must make some consolidating moves, to counter White's pressure on the open d-file. Then he could perhaps start to make use of his pawn majority on the kingside. Whatever happens, his trump-card will be his bishop, which will combine with his queen to set up threats on the light squares."

As the reader can see, there are limited annotations on the opening in each game, sometimes up until the thirtieth move. The authors commence their real examination of each game at the point when the open file's influence on the position begins.

17...Nf5 18.Ra4 Qe8!

(Review By Derek Grimmell; original source: http://www.chesscafe.com/Reviews/bo... )

Rarely do the authors make a comment without including some textual explanation of the ideas behind the moves. Nevertheless, there are sections that contain extensive annotations. For example, Ligternik resigned against Tony Miles on move thirty-three, but the authors analyze the game up to move forty-nine (!) to show that the resignation was not premature. This section also does more to illustrate the exploitation of the open file than the game itself showed.

19.Ne4 b5!

"Dislodging the rook from the 4th rank and gaining a tempo for the attack by 20...Bb7."

20.Ra5 Bb7 21.Nd6

"21.Nc5 would have lost a pawn to 21...Bxg2+ 22.Kxg2 Qc6+."

21...Nxd6 22.Rxd6 Rd8!

click for larger view

"Now the tables are turned. It is Black who is fighting successfully for the d-file. This is made possible by the dominant position of the bishop on b7 and the weakness of White's back rank. Thus, 23. Rxa7 loses to 23...Qc6! and the cross-pin wins immediately."

23.Qd2

"If 23.Rxd8 Qxd8 24. Qe1 (24.Qxd8 Rxd8 25.Be3 Rd1+ 26.Bg1 Rd2), then 24…Qd5 25.Qe2 Rd8 26.Be3 Qd1+ and wins."

23...Rxd6 24.Qxd6 Qd8!

"Now White is defenceless."

25.Qxe6+ Rf7 26.Qe1 Re7

click for larger view

"White resigned. Mate or loss of a piece can no longer be prevented. A textbook example of the struggle against the open file, where at the right moment the defender himself seizes the open file."

Although the book was completed in the 1970's, the authors have revised and updated the contents to include games from as recently as 2003. There are games from the Lasker-Steinitz matches, from Carlsbad 1907, and from Capablanca and Alekhine, but also games from Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, Short, and even Radjabov. Clearly this is a topic (and a book!) that continued to interest the authors up to the present time, and they continued to update their work, even when the book had fallen into relative obscurity.

ahhh....a month of R&R by <CBF>! happy to see you back <CBF>... hope we continue to make this page lively and interesting..

+ 4th Candidates Tournament 1959
+ A Spanish Repertoire for Black
+ Dismantling the Sicilian
+ From London to Elista
+ Grandmaster Repertoire 1.d4 Vol. 1
+ Play the Alekhine
+ The Samisch King's Indian Uncovered
+ The Wisest Things Ever Said About Chess

so far i scanned my favorite author Andy Soltis' The Wisest...great book! guys, i urge you to look for a copy... truly a work of labor and art by GM Andrew Soltis! i rate the book 10/10!

The award—a one-year premium membership from the <Rinus Award> fund in memory of User: rinus –will be used to encourage non-premium members to contribute to the <chessgames.com> community through the use of the chessbookforum chessforum.

We thank everyone at the site for sharing so much information about books and other media with us. We hope to make this an annual award to be made around the anniversary of the <ChessBookForum>.

<GREAT CHESS BOOKS
Author: Alex Dunne
McFarland & Company, Inc. (2005)
www.mcfarlandpub.com
199 pages
$30.00

Reviewed by Donald K. McKim>

"Fischer’s, MY 60 MEMORABLE GAMES was “without a doubt the highest grossing chess book in history for its time” (though it would eventually be surpassed by Fischer’s, Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess)."

Author: Alex Dunne

McFarland & Company, Inc. (2005)

www.mcfarlandpub.com

199 pages

$30.00

Reviewed by Donald K. McKim

Chess books are the backbone of chess. Players at all levels benefit when they study from the amazing number of chess books that have been published through the years and the great number of excellent works available today. Dunne’s book provides a panoramic view of the great chess books of the last century published in English. He gives us a treasury of the best chess writings that will acquaint players and those who love the history of chess with the most significant works that have shaped all aspects of chess playing through the last century.

This is a book born in tragedy. Dunne was an avid chess book collector since 1955. His collection had grown to some 1,100 volumes with nearly complete runs of Chess Review and Chess Life. In February 2003, Dunne was substituting for a player at the U.S. Amateur Championship competition in Parsippany, New Jersey. In the early morning he was awakened to hear that a terrible fire had burned down his house and that his wife and grandson had died in the flames. In the face of this great loss, Dunne was able to retrieve about three hundred “mud books” from the debris, about half of which were salvageable. Through the efforts of good friends, the American Red Cross, the Allentown Chess Club, and his family, Dunne was able to start over and rebuild his chess library.

The number of chess books that have been published through the centuries cannot be estimated. Dunne indicates that in 2003 the John G. White Collection at the Cleveland Public Library listed over 35,000 volumes in a variety of languages in the collection. He says that, “more chess books were printed in English in the past thirty years than in the 500 years before that.” So there is much to read!

Dunne’s unique book is welcomed by all who have benefited from key chess books through the years. He lists the great books by the year of their publication in English – from 1901-2000. While listings and judgments are always subject to questions, there’s no doubt Dunne is thoroughly familiar with the books he has chosen here. He lays out his ten criteria for determining the worth of a chess books and establishing the great books. These are: Popularity; Longevity; Critical acclaim; Influence; Definitiveness; Historical importance; Authorship; Reputation; English or figurine; Twentieth century.

Dunne is balanced in his assessments of the books. When he discusses Reuben Fine’s, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CHESS PLAYER (1967), after describing Fine’s approach as a strict Freudian psychoanalysist who saw chess an expression of the desire for “father-murder” (checkmating the King), Dunne goes on to present the critiques of Fine’s approach: “One of the major flaws is that it is all armchair psychology. There are no experiments, no statistically backed observations. Fine was also called the man who put ‘anal’ into analysis, but that was just a cheap shot.”

Dunne also provides fascinating quotes from books, throughout, and interesting other material. Fischer’s, MY 60 MEMORABLE GAMES was “without a doubt the highest grossing chess book in history for its time” (though it would eventually be surpassed by Fischer’s, Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess). Ever the perfectionist, Fischer insisted on changes in the work at the page proof stage. The book took three years to write. The typescript of the manuscript with Fischer’s handwritten analysis fetched $6060 at auction. Larry Evans, who assisted with the book, finally persuaded Fischer to let go of the work and Fischer conceded: “Maybe we should publish the book. The world’s coming to an end anyway!” The book’s impact was huge and Dunne says that several grandmasters have been known to memorize all the games in the book to improve their play. In 1977, Chess Life asked twelve panelists to choose the best chess books ever published. Seven of the twelve named this book as the best.

Dunne includes his own book, HOW TO BECOME A CANDIDATE MASTER (1985) in the listing as well as Jeremy Silman’s, HOW TO REASSESS YOUR CHESS (1986) and ESSENTIAL CHESS ENDINGS EXPLAINED MOVE BY MOVE (Volume 1, 1988). While the overwhelming majority of the books here are serious in intent, Dunne does include Mike Fox and Richard James, THE COMPLETE CHESS ADDICT (1987) which is a “collection of trivia, history, anecdotes, personalia, and records,” which he describes as “a carnival of chess and is for entertainment, amazement and – perhaps the author expressed it best: ‘Our simple intent is to have you say, ‘Wow!’ every couple of pages or so.” The breadth of chess literature is aptly captured by the publication of a book like this!

Those who love chess books and have built their own libraries over the years will find many familiar volumes in Dunne’s book. He will fill in the gaps in our knowledge about certain titles and authors, leading us to scour Ebay to pick up a used copy and out of print titles. In fact, Dunne frequently mentions how much a “first edition” of a book was sold for on Ebay.

GREAT CHESS BOOKS is a most welcomed title – to read straight through in order to gain a wide a sense of the development of great chess literature through the years, or simply to browse through, as one finds familiar titles and those about which our curiosity is aroused. The tragedy that befell the author has, despite its tremendous impact, led to a book that will benefit many and which will, itself, find a respected place among the “great chess books.”