Index of All Book Reviews

Review 1 Three World-Class Games Collections

Vishy Anand: My Best Games of Chess;
Vishy Anand; 238 pages; Gambit Publications 1998
Jon Speelman's Best Games;
Jon Speelman; 240 pages; BT Batsford 1997
Fire on the Board: Shirov's Best Games;
Alexei Shirov; 252 pages; Cadogan Chess 1997

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Review 2 Three Improvement Books

Secrets of Practical Chess;
John Nunn; 176 pages; Gambit Publications, 1998
Improve Your Chess Now;
Jonathan Tisdall; 224 pages; Cadogan Chess, 1997
S.T.A.R. Chess;
Paul Motwani; 240 pages; Gambit Publications, 1998

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Review 3 Four Small Chess Publishers from the U.S.

Winning with the Sicilian Defense, 2nd Edition;
Jeremy Silman; 353 pages; Chess Digest, 1998; $22.50
How Purdy Won;
C.J.S. Purdy, Frank Hutchings & Kevin Harrison; 176 pages; Thinkers Press, 1998; $18.00
Scandinavian Defense: Portuguese Variation;
John Roush, Mark Lance & Mike Cornell; 112 pages; Chess Enterprises, 1998; $7.95
A Strategic Opening Repertoire;
John Donaldson; 142 pages; International Chess Enterprises (I.C.E.), 1998; $14.95

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Review 4 Some Recent French Defense Books

The French Tarrasch;
John Emms; 144 pages; B T Batsford, 1998
The French Advance;
Tony Kosten; 144 pages; Chess Press, 1998

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Review 5 Reflections on Opening Repertoire Books

Easy Guide to the Nimzo-Indian;
John Emms; 128 pages; Cadogan 1998
Beating the Indian Defences;
Graham Burgess & Steffen Pedersen; 192 pages; B.T.Batsford 1997
The Grünfeld for the Attacking Player,
Bogdan Lalic; 223 pages; B.T.Batsford 1997

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Review 6 Chess Videos: Indulge Yourself!

Shirov! Best Games, Volumes 1-5,
with Alexei Shirov and Ron Henley, (between 90 and 118 minutes each), R&D Publishing, 1998
Grandmaster Video Magazine #18,
with Daniel King, (2 hours), Grandmaster Videos 1996
Foxy Openings: The Najdorf,
with Nigel Davies, (75 min), Grandmaster Videos 1998; $26.95
Foxy Openings: Nimzo-Indian Defence,
with Chris Ward (70 min), Grandmaster Videos 1998; $28.95
Foxy Openings: d4 Dynamite!,
with Aaron Summerscale (2 hours, 30 minutes), Grandmaster Videos 1998; $34.95

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Review 7 Two High-Quality Opening Books

The Scotch Game;
Peter Wells; 160 pages; B.T.Batsford 1998
The Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4!;
Colin Crouch; 256 pages; Cadogan Chess 1998

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Review 8 Odds and Ends #1: Books for the Developing Player

The Chess Analyst;
Jon Edwards; 154 pages; Thinker's Press, 1998
How to Beat Your Dad at Chess;
Murray Chandler; 128 pages; Gambit Publications, 1998
The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games;
Graham Burgess, John Nunn & John Emms; Robinson Publishing, 1998

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Review 9 Odds and Ends #2: Improvement and the Openings

101 Chess Opening Surprises;
Graham Burgess; 128 pages; Gambit Publications 1998
101 Chess Opening Traps;
Steve Giddens; 112 pages; Gambit Publications 1998
Complete Defense to Queen Pawn Openings;
Eric Schiller; 288 pages; Cardoza Publishing, 1998
Complete Defense to King Pawn Openings;
Eric Schiller; 288 pages; Cardoza Publishing, 1998

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Review 10 Second to Nunn?

The Ultimate Pirc;
John Nunn and Colin McNab; 320 pages; BT Batsford, 1998

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Review 11 NCO: A preliminary Look

Nunn's Chess Openings;
John Nunn, Graham Burgess, John Emms & Joe Gallagher; 544 pages; Everyman Chess/Gambit, 1999

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Review 12 Assorted Recent Books

Die Tarrasch-Verteidigung;
Harald Keilhack; 298 pages; Schachverlag Kania, 1993
The King's Gambit for the Creative Aggressor!;
Thomas Johansson; 176 pages; Shachverlag Kania, 1998
The King's Gambit: A Modern View of a Swashbuckling Opening;
Neil McDonald; 160 pages; B.T. Batsford, 1998
Logical Chess: Move by Move;
Irving Chernev; 256 pages; B.T. Batsford 1998 (algebraic edition of original 1957 work)
The Art of Attack in Chess;
Vladimir Vukovic; 352 pages; Everyman Chess/Cadogan Chess Series, 1998 (algebraic edition of original 1965 work)

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Review 13 More NCO, Gambits and Repertoires

Hanging Pawns;
Adrain Mikhalchishin & Wit Braslawski; 203 pages; International Chess Enterprises (ICE), 1998
Four Gambits To Beat the French;
Tim Harding; 264 pages; Chess Digest, 1998
A Startling Chess Opening Repertoire;
Chris Baker; 240 pages; Cadogan Chess, 1998

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Review 14 Comments on the Great Dvoretsky Project

Attack and Defence;
Mark Dvoretsky, Artur Yusupov, and contributors; 288 pages; B.T. Batsford, 1998

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Review 15 Kings, Commoners, and Knaves

Kings, Commoners, and Knaves;
Edward Winter; 452 pages; Russell Enterprises Inc, 1999; $29.95

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Review 16 Stories, Training, and Data

The Human Comedy of Chess;
Hans Ree; 334 pages; Russell Enterprises, 1999; $24.95
Basic Principles of Chess Strategy, Volume 1; software on CD,
Aleksey Bartashnikov; ChessBase GmbH, 1999
1000x Checkmate; software on CD,
Lubomir Ftacnik; ChessBase GmbH, 1999
Opening Encyclopedia; software on CD,
various authors; ChessBase GmbH, 1999
Chess Informant 75;
346 pages; Sahovski Informator, 1999

***

Review 17 Dance of the c-pawns

The Dynamic English;
Tony Kosten; 144 pages; Gambit, 1999
English Defence;
Daniel King; 144 pages; Everyman Chess, 1999
Gambit Guide to the English Opening: 1…e5;
Carsten Hansen; 256 pages; Gambit, 1999
c3 Sicilian;
Joe Gallagher; 176 pages; Everyman Chess, 1999
Easy Guide to the Bb5 Sicilian;
Steffen Pedersen; 128 pages; Everyman Chess, 1999

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Review 18 A New Approach to Internet Chess Study

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Review 19: 8 Recent Books and CDs

Small Encyclopedia of Chess Openings ('ABCDE');
Z Krnic (editor); 608 pages; Sahovski Informator, 1999
NIC Yearbook #52, CD-Rom;
various GM and IM authors; New In Chess, 1999
Slav Defense, CD-Rom;
Nikolov Dorobanov; (ChessBase format); 4.3 hours, 1999
Mega Database 2000, CD-Rom;
L Ftacnik & R Knaak (editors); Chess Base,2000
Chess Software Sourcebook;
Robert Pawlack; 152 pages; Treehaus Books, 1999
Aron Nimzowitsch, A Reappraisal;
Raymond Keene; 256 pages; B T Batsford, 1999 (algebraic version of 1974 edition)
The Two Knights Defence;
A Belyavsky & A Mikhalchishin; 112 pages; Chrysalis, 1999
The Unknown Bobby Fischer;
John Donaldson & Eric Tangborn; 191 pages; ICE 1999

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Review 20 An Exceptional Chess Book

The Road to Chess Improvement;
Alex Yermolinsky; 224 pages; Gambit, 1999

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Review 21 Electronic Instruction and an Excursion into History

The Sicilian Defence, CD-ROM;
various authors; New In Chess, 1999
The French Defence, CD-ROM, 2nd Edition;
Paul van der Sterren, editor; New In Chess, 1998
Soviet Chess 1917-1991;
Andrew Soltis; 450 pages; McFarland & Company, 2000

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Review 22 The Complex Benko/Benoni Complex

The Benko Gambit;
Byron Jacobs & Andrew Kinsman; 160 pages; B.T.Batsford/Chrysalis, 1999
Guide to the Benko Gambit;
Steffen Pedersen; 176 pages; Gambit Publications; 1999
Die Komplette Moderne Benoni-Verteidigung, vols 1-3;
Attila Schneider; 300, 224, and 196 pages; Reinhold Dreier, 1997-98
Modern Benoni (video);
Chris Ward; 95 minutes; Grandmaster Video Ltd 1999
A70 Benoni;
Boris Gelfand & Albert Kapengut; 200 pages; Chess Informant 1998

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Review 23 Looking Back, Part 1

Three Hundred Chess Games;
Siegbert Tarrasch; 366 pages; Hays Publishing, 1999
The Game of Chess;
Siegbert Tarrasch; 270 pages; Hays Publishing, 1994
The Life and Games of Carlos Torre;
Gabriel Velasco; 295 pages; Russell Enterprises, 2000

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Review 24 Looking Back, Part 2

Chess Highlights of the 20th Century;
Graham Burgess; 208 pages; Gambit 1999
The Mammoth Book of The World's Greatest Chess Games;
Graham Burgess, John Nunn, & John Emms; 560 pages; Robinson Publishing, 1998

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Review 25 Openings, High Level and Club

Grandmaster Efim Bogoljubow;
Victor Charusin; CD-ROM; Pickard & Son, 2000
Easy Guide to the Najdorf;
Tony Kosten; 128 pages; Everyman/Globe Pequot Press, 1999
The Najdorf (video);
Nigel Davies; 75 minutes; Grandmaster Video, 1998
Smith-Morra Gambit, Finegold Defense;
Bob Ciaffone & Ben Finegold; 139 pages; 2000
The Botvinnik Semi-Slav;
Steffen Pedersen; 224 pages; Gambit Publications, 2000
Easy Guide to the Ruy Lopez;
John Emms; 144 pages; Everyman/Globe Pequot Press, 1998
Play the Open Games;
John Emms; 224 pages; Gambit Publications, 2000
The Alekhine Playbook & CD;
Tim Sawyer; 157 pages; Pickard & Son, 2000
NIC Yearbook 53;
New In Chess, 2000
ChessBase Magazine #75;
ChessBase, 2000

***

Review 26 Endings, Endings, Endings

Practical Rook Endings;
Viktor Korchnoi; 98 pages; Edition Olms, 1999
Winning Endgame Strategy;
Alexander Belyavsky & Adrian Mikhalchishin; 28 pages; Batsford/Chrysalis, 2000
Endgame Virtuoso;
Vassily Smyslov; 176 pages; Cadogan, 1997
Secrets of Rook Endings;
John Nunn; 352 pages; Gambit, 1999 (revised edition)
Chess Endgame Lessons;
Pal Benko; 254 pages; self-published, 1989
Grandmaster Secrets: Endings;
Andrew Soltis; 214 pages; Thinker's Press, 1997
The Survival Guide to Rook Endings;
John Emms; 160 pages; Everyman, 1999
Endgame Secrets;
Christopher Lutz; 175 pages; Batsford/Chrysalis, 1999
Improve Your Endgame Play;
Glenn Flear; 160 pages; Everyman, 2000
Secrets of Pawn Endings;
Karsten Mueller & Frank Lamprecht; 288 pages; Everyman, 2000
Endgame Strategy;
Mikhail Shereshevsky; 218 pages; Cadogan, 1985 (reprinted 1998)
Basic Endgame Strategy, Rooks and Queens;
Bill Robertie; 139 pages; Cardoza, 1998
639 Essential Endgame Positions;
Eric Schiller; 392 pages; Cardoza, 2000
Pandolfini's Endgame Course;
Bruce Pandolfini; 320 pages; Simon & Schuster, 1988
Endgame Challenge!;
John Hall; 222 pages; Hays Publishing, 1995
Improve Your Endgame!;
Eric Schiller; 84 pages, Chess Enterprises , 1997

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Review 27 Coping With the Flood, Part 1

Queen's Gambit Declined;
Matthew Sadler; 176 pages; Everyman, 2000
Queen's Gambit Declined, Bg5 Systems;
Bogdan Lalic; 208 pages; Everyman, 2000
The Meran System;
Steffen Pedersen; 224 pages; Gambit 2000
The Most Amazing Moves of All Time;
John Emms; 192 pages; Gambit, 2000
Storming the Barricades;
Larry Christiansen; 176 pages; Gambit, 2000
Action Chess;
C.J.S. Purdy; 192 pages; Chessco, 2000
The Mammoth Book of Chess, 2nd Edition;
Graham Burgess; 537 pages; Robinson, 2000

***

Review 28 MCO 14 (in part, vs. NCO)

Batsford's Modern Chess Openings, 14th Edition;
Nick deFirmian et al.; 708 pages; B T Batsford, 2000
McKay's Modern Chess Openings, 14th Edition,
Nick deFirmian et al.; 734 pages; David McKay, 1999
Nunn's Chess Openings;
John Nunn et al.; 544 pages; Everyman, 1999

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Review 29 Coping with the Flood, Part 2

Chess Informant 78;
Z Krnic, editor; 370 pages; ST Chess Informant, 2000
Tal-Botvinnik 1960;
Mikhail Tal; 218 pages; 5th Edition; Russell Enterprises, 2000
The Hedgehog System;
Mihai Suba; 156 pages; Batsford, 2000
Sizilianisch Im Geiste des Igels;
Frank Zeller; 303 pages; Schachverlag Kania, 2000
Schachweltmeister;
Frank Stiefel; Schachverlag Kania, 2000
Der Letzte Fehler;
Klaus Trautman; 158 pages; Schachverlag Kania, 1999
Eine Reise Uber Das Schachbrett;
Klaus Trautman; Schachverlag Kania, 1997
100 Greatest Chess Games of the 20th Century, Ranked;
Andrew Soltis; 265 pages; McFarland, 2000
Corr Database 2000,
Correspondence Games; CD-ROM; ChessBase, 2000
Basic Principles of Chess Strategy, Vol 2;
A Bartashnikov; CD-ROM; ChessBase 2000
Sveshnikov Sicilian;
Dorian Rogozenko; CD-ROM; ChessBase, 2000
100 Jahre Schach;
CD-ROM; ChessBase, 2000
ChessBase Magazine #77;
CD-ROM; ChessBase, 2000
The Traxler Counterattack;
Dan Heisman; CD-ROM; Pickard & Son, 2000
NIC 55: The Ultimate Truth;
CD-ROM; New in Chess, 2000

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Review 30 Mini-Reviews of Noteworthy Releases

Chess Today
Khalifman: Life and Games
by Gennady Nesis (208 pages, Everyman 2000)
Vladimir Kramnik and Iakov Damsky's 'Kramnik: My Life and Games' (Everyman 2000) includes 128 games, 53 annotated in detail (140 pages)
'Shady Side: The Life and Crimes of Norman Tweed Whitaker,
Chess Master' (481 pages, Caissa Editions 2000).
Hilbert and Peter Lahde's 200-page 'New York 1936: The First Modern United States Chess Championship'
'Informant #79'
(Z Krnic, editor; 371 pages, Chess Informant 2000)
'ECO 'C', 4th edition'
(Z Krnic, editor; 568 pages; Chess Informant 2000)
'The Modern Defence'
by Jon Speelman and Neil McDonald (160 pages; Everyman 2000)
Sid Pickard e-book versions 'Henry Bird's Chess Masterpieces',
by Henry Bird,
and 'Common Sense in Chess' by Emanuel Lasker.
'The Queen's Gambit & Catalan for Black'
(192 pages; Gambit 2000)
'The Turk, Chess Automaton',
by Gerald Levitt (258 pages; McFarland 2000).

***

Review 31 More on Opening Books

The Taimanov Sicilian;
Graham Burgess; 208 pages; Gambit 2000

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Review 32 Testifying for the Defence...

How to Defend in Chess (Learn from the World Champions);
Colin Crouch; 224 pages; Everyman 2000

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Review 33 Some Products and Two First-Rate Books

The Seven Deadly Chess Sins;
Jonathan Rowson; 208 pages; Gambit 2000
Understanding Chess Moves;
John Nunn; 240 pages; Gambit 2001

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Review 34 A Remarkable Publisher and Other Topics

The Symmetrical English
Carsten Hansen; ; 256 pages; Gambit, 2000
Endgame Study Database 2000,
CD-Rom; Harold van der Heijden; ChessBase 2001
Moravian Chess Books (see http://www.moravian-chess.cz),
Quarterly for Chess History #3,
Autumn 1999; 514 pages
Complete Games of Alekhine;
Vlastimil Fiala & Jan Kalendovsky:
a. Volume 1, 1892-1921; 187 pages, 1992
b. Volume 2, 1921-1924; 458 pages, 1996
c. Volume 3, 1925-1927; 494 pages, 1998
Botvinnik’s Best Games, Vol 1: 1925-1941;
M Botvinnik; translation Ken Neat, 2000
International Chess Magazine,
Vol 1 1885, ed W. Steinitz; 1997

***

Review 35 Email, Addenda, Reviews

McDonald and Speelman’s Modern Defence
Gufeld and Stesko’s ‘The Ultimate Dragon’.
Santhosh Matthew Paul Carsten Hansen’s ‘Symmetrical English’
The Seven Deadly Chess Sins;
Jonathan Rowson; 208 pages; Gambit 2000

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Review 36 What Should the Average Player Study?

The Reassess Your Chess Workbook;
Jeremy Silman; 423 pages; Siles Press, 2001

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Review 37 Noteworthy Releases, Part 1

Opening for White According to Kramnik, 1.Nf3;
Alexander Khalifman; 240 pages; Chess Stars 2000
Pirc Alert!;
Lev Alburt and Alex Chernin; 446 pages; CIRC 2001
4...Qh4 in the Scotch Game;
Lev Gutman; 272 pages; Batsford, 2001
The Slav;
Graham Burgess; 256 pages; Gambit 2001
ChessPub,
online program; Chesspublishing 2001

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Review 38 Noteworthy Releases, Part 2

Chess on the Net;
Mark Crowther; 127 pages; Batsford 2001
Russian Silhouettes;
Genna Sosonko; 206 pages; New In Chess 2001
Linares, Linares!;
Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam; 126 pages; New In Chess 2001
Max Euwe, the Biography;
Alexander Mueninghoff; 351 pages; New In Chess 2001
Instructive Chess Masterpieces;
Igor Stohl; 320 pages; Gambit 2001

***

Review 39 Noteworthy Releases, Part 3

Chess Informant 80, CD;
ed by Z Krnic; Chess Informant 2001
The Chigorin Defence, CD;
Martin Breutigam; ChessBase 2001
The Meran Variation, CD;
Alexey Dreev; ChessBase 2001
The Dragon for Experts, CD;
Atilla Schneider; ChessBase 2001
Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack;
Atilla Schneider; 372 pages; Caissa Chess 2000

***

Review 40 Franzoesisch Winawer

Franzoesisch Winawer, Band 1: 7.Qg4 0-0;
Stefan Kindermann & Ulrich Dirr; Chessgate 2001
Franzoesisch Winawer, Band 1: 7.Qg4 0-0;
Stefan Kindermann & Ulrich Dirr; 342 pages; Chessgate 2001
www.chessgate.de

Review 41 Kasparov's Story: A Video Biography

My Story;
Garry Kasparov, moderated by James Plaskett; a 5-tape video series (VHS); GMVideo 2000

Review 42 Chess CDs: Coming of Age?

Chess Informant
81 on CD, with ECO Vol A; Chess Informant 2001
The Ultimate Tarrasch Defense
Eric Schiller; Pickard & Son 2001
World Champion Alekhine
Robert Huebner; ChessBase 2001
Secrets of the English Chess School
Daniel King; ChessBase 2001
Queen's Gambit with 5.Bf4; Rustem Dautov
Chess Base 2001
Opening Encyclopaedia 2002
ChessBase 2001
Junior 7.0 [& deep Junior 7.0, & Pocket Fritz]
ChessBase 2001
New In Chess Yearbook 60
New in Chess, 2001
Chess Authors' Database (ChessBase format)
Bill Haines; Pickard & Son 2001
Morphy's Games of Chess (e-book)
Philip Sergeant, rev. by Tim Sawyer; Pickard & Son 2001

Review 43 Books of Many Flavours

My Best Games of Chess (Expanded Edition)
Vishy Anand; 334 pages; Gambit 2001
Winning with the Sicilian Dragon 2
Chris Ward; 224 pages; Batsford 2001
Chess: The Search for the Mona Lisa (based upon earlier book)
Eduard Gufeld; 254 pages; Batsford 2001
Exploiting Small Advantages
Eduard Gufeld (Oleg Stetsko as 'co-author'?!); 144 pages; Batsford 2001
The Latvian Gambit Lives!
Tony Kosten; 224 pages; Batsford 2001
Dynamic Pawn Play
Drazen Marovic; 256 pages; Gambit 2001
Edmars Zengalis: Grandmaster without a Title
John Donaldson; 160 pages; Pomeranian Publishing 2001
Opening for White According to Kramnik, vol 2
Alexander Khalifman; 239 pages; Chess Stars 2001
Opening for Black According to Karpov
Alexander Khalifman; 191 pages; Chess Stars 2001