by Yakov Neishtadt. Published by New In Chess, 2011.
Neishtadt has gathered 736 positions and puzzles that provide good tactics practice for club players. I can recommend this book whole-heartedly for any club player that wants to improve his or her tactical ability.
The collection is divided into two parts: a set of chapters devoted to specific tactical motifs, and an "examination" comprising 357 problems with no motif hints. Solutions for all problems are at the rear of the book. Each motif-oriented chapter starts with instructive examples that include a detailed analysis of the principal and alternate variations for each position. The chapter then concludes with problems for the reader to solve. Here are the motifs which get a chapter:
* Deflection
* Decoying
* Eliminating Defenders
* Clearing Squares and Lines
* Pinning and Unpinning
* Interference and Shutting-Off
* Pawn Promotion
* Stalemate
As a player rated about 1800, I found most of the problems in the motif chapters to be relatively easy (but rarely trivial). The "examination" problems were substantially more difficult, although I think lower-rated club players could still benefit from looking each one over for a couple of minutes, then working through Neishtadt's explanation at the end if the right move proves elusive.
Neishtadt's explanations include lucid prose as well as variations, which makes absorbing the material easier. While I had previously seen about 15% of the positions, Neishtadt occasionally presents them a move or two prior to the game situation that others had presented. This allows him to explain how the eventual loser could have avoided catastrophe by a more accurate defense. Too many tactics books (and tactics servers) emphasize the winning shots, while in fact the most important use of tactical ability as you advance in chess is to *avoid* your opponent's winning shots.
I was pleased by the quality of New In Chess' production. The binding is sturdy, the puzzles are easy to read, the principal variation of a solution is in bold to distinguish it from the alternate variations, and analysis diagrams are provided for key positions in long solutions. The answer section always repeats a starting diagram before providing a solution, which spares you the pain of having to skip back and forth.
However, not all is well in paradise:
(1) I do not understand why Neishtadt omitted so many important tactical motifs; double attack, skewers, overloaded defender, zwischenzugs (in-between moves) and discovery should be covered in any book which aspires to provide well-rounded tactics practice for the club player.
(2) Neishtadt short-circuits his analysis too frequently (almost 10% of the problems). For instance, in example #20 Neishtadt concludes "1...Qf3! forced white to resign," and then he goes on to the next problem. He neglects to mention that black must find *another* deflection to win after white defends with 2.Qf1, namely 2...Ra1! After 3. Qxa1 (or 3. Rb1 Rxb1 4. Qxb1) black mates with Qg2#. Neglecting these kinds of details can confuse the less advanced club player.
(3) Finally, his chapter on multiple motifs is a real muddle. Basically every permutation of two or three motifs is presented as a sub-chapter, and gets one or two problems. If I'm looking to practice, say, decoy and interference together, wouldn't I want more than 2 problems to work with? But why I would be looking for specific motif combinations like that in the first place? Neishtadt could profitably move all the examples and problems in this chapter to other chapters, or to the examination.
That said, with over 700 interesting problems accompanied by useful explanations, "Improve Your Chess Tactics" is a good value for the club player.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book to me. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Review of "1.d4 - Beat the Guerillas!"
by Valeri Bronznik. Published by New In Chess, 2011
International Master Valeri Bronznik has burned a lot of midnight oil to help the 1.d4 player build a good repertoire against offbeat opening responses by black. He assumes that white will continue 2. c4 and 3. Nc3 or 3. Nf3 before black goes off the beaten path, although black can still essay some of these openings (like the Delayed Stonewall) against 2. Nf3. Since the black player in these unusual openings will have the advantage of familiarity with the complications that can ensue from white's sharpest continuations, Bronznik has designed his repertoire to help white obtain a stable, though often modest, advantage while sidestepping the deep complications. If you're the kind of 1. d4 player who likes the chess equivalent of a knife fight in a blind alley, some of Bronznik's suggestions may not be your cup of tea; but if (like most 1. d4 players) you're happy with a stable positional plus, I can recommend it without reservation.
For each opening Bronznik presents a chapter in three parts:
1. Introduction to the opening: what black is trying to accomplish and what possibilities white might consider.
2. Detailed discussion of the suggested white repertoire in the context of model high-level games. A few of the "games" are actually just Bronznik's analysis, although his discussion cites play from recent high-level games to justify his analysis choices.
3. Summary of the repertoire choice(s).
Bronznik's work is both thorough and well-organized. His analysis incorporates the published analysis of dozens of grandmasters, although he is not afraid to explain why he occasionally disagrees with even the most highly regarded (like Avrukh) when a recent game result or better computer analysis is available. His analysis includes plenty of top-flight games from the last couple of years, although earlier examples are not neglected when appropriate. And where black has plenty of choices for seeking to impose his will, Bronznik provides detailed analysis of white's strongest responses.
While Bronznik focuses on white's repertoire choices, he has not written a one-sided how-can-white-not-win-with-this-great-repertoire book. Against sound black openings like the Schara-Hennig Gambit (the von Hennig-Schara Gambit for American readers), he acknowledges that white cannot expect anything more than a slight advantage out of the opening. In his analysis of model games he offers improvements for black as well as for white, too. As a result, I can recommend this book for those who play the black side of any of the 24 openings that he discusses.
So you'll know the scope of Bronznik's work, here are those openings:
Englund Gambit
Soller Gambit Delayed
Hartlaub Gambit Delayed
Felbecker Gambit
Zilbermints Gambit
Dutch Benoni
The Woozle
Polish Defence
Keres Defence
English Defence
Owen Defence
Marshall Defence
Austrian Defence
Baltic Defence
Albin's Counter Gambit
Schara-Hennig Gambit
Delayed Stonewall
Snake Benoni
The Vulture
Fajarowicz Gambit
Budapest Gambit
Black Knights' Tango
With a rating of only about 1800 (based on my online play) I cannot pass judgment on the quality of Bronznik's choices, other than to say that he has obviously read widely and analyzed deeply with computer assistance to arrive at his conclusions. That said, as a player of the black side of the Schara-Hennig Gambit, I have found his analysis to be much more helpful than anything else I have read on the opening.
I can heartily recommend this book for anyone rated 1800 and up who wants a good repertoire against offbeat black responses to 1.d4, although someone rated down to 1500 could probably derive great benefit by using it as a reference. Also, anyone who plays the black side of any of these openings would find plenty of helpful material as well.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book to me. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
You can buy the book at Amazon here.
International Master Valeri Bronznik has burned a lot of midnight oil to help the 1.d4 player build a good repertoire against offbeat opening responses by black. He assumes that white will continue 2. c4 and 3. Nc3 or 3. Nf3 before black goes off the beaten path, although black can still essay some of these openings (like the Delayed Stonewall) against 2. Nf3. Since the black player in these unusual openings will have the advantage of familiarity with the complications that can ensue from white's sharpest continuations, Bronznik has designed his repertoire to help white obtain a stable, though often modest, advantage while sidestepping the deep complications. If you're the kind of 1. d4 player who likes the chess equivalent of a knife fight in a blind alley, some of Bronznik's suggestions may not be your cup of tea; but if (like most 1. d4 players) you're happy with a stable positional plus, I can recommend it without reservation.
For each opening Bronznik presents a chapter in three parts:
1. Introduction to the opening: what black is trying to accomplish and what possibilities white might consider.
2. Detailed discussion of the suggested white repertoire in the context of model high-level games. A few of the "games" are actually just Bronznik's analysis, although his discussion cites play from recent high-level games to justify his analysis choices.
3. Summary of the repertoire choice(s).
Bronznik's work is both thorough and well-organized. His analysis incorporates the published analysis of dozens of grandmasters, although he is not afraid to explain why he occasionally disagrees with even the most highly regarded (like Avrukh) when a recent game result or better computer analysis is available. His analysis includes plenty of top-flight games from the last couple of years, although earlier examples are not neglected when appropriate. And where black has plenty of choices for seeking to impose his will, Bronznik provides detailed analysis of white's strongest responses.
While Bronznik focuses on white's repertoire choices, he has not written a one-sided how-can-white-not-win-with-this-great-repertoire book. Against sound black openings like the Schara-Hennig Gambit (the von Hennig-Schara Gambit for American readers), he acknowledges that white cannot expect anything more than a slight advantage out of the opening. In his analysis of model games he offers improvements for black as well as for white, too. As a result, I can recommend this book for those who play the black side of any of the 24 openings that he discusses.
So you'll know the scope of Bronznik's work, here are those openings:
Englund Gambit
Soller Gambit Delayed
Hartlaub Gambit Delayed
Felbecker Gambit
Zilbermints Gambit
Dutch Benoni
The Woozle
Polish Defence
Keres Defence
English Defence
Owen Defence
Marshall Defence
Austrian Defence
Baltic Defence
Albin's Counter Gambit
Schara-Hennig Gambit
Delayed Stonewall
Snake Benoni
The Vulture
Fajarowicz Gambit
Budapest Gambit
Black Knights' Tango
With a rating of only about 1800 (based on my online play) I cannot pass judgment on the quality of Bronznik's choices, other than to say that he has obviously read widely and analyzed deeply with computer assistance to arrive at his conclusions. That said, as a player of the black side of the Schara-Hennig Gambit, I have found his analysis to be much more helpful than anything else I have read on the opening.
I can heartily recommend this book for anyone rated 1800 and up who wants a good repertoire against offbeat black responses to 1.d4, although someone rated down to 1500 could probably derive great benefit by using it as a reference. Also, anyone who plays the black side of any of these openings would find plenty of helpful material as well.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book to me. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
You can buy the book at Amazon here.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Ron Paul and His Publications
There's a lot to like about Ron Paul. When he was a full-time medical practicioner, he provided free and reduced-price medical services to the needy. He does not think that America's strength lies primarily in its military power, as so many of his colleagues do. He champions religious liberty for Americans of all persuasions, including Muslims. And I'm just getting started.
But today I must profess that I, like James Kirchick, am deeply troubled that Paul issued, under his name, terrible racist propaganda in the 1990s. Paul disclaimed the abusive statements in 2008, saying that he had not paid sufficient attention to the Ron Paul Political Report that was written and edited by others. But I am not reassured for two reasons:
But today I must profess that I, like James Kirchick, am deeply troubled that Paul issued, under his name, terrible racist propaganda in the 1990s. Paul disclaimed the abusive statements in 2008, saying that he had not paid sufficient attention to the Ron Paul Political Report that was written and edited by others. But I am not reassured for two reasons:
- During his 1998 campaign for Congress, Paul did claim responsibility for the statements, but contended that they had been "taken out of context." (So what was the context for claiming that the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was a "world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours...and seduced underage girls and boys"? )
- Even after his 2008 disclaimer, Paul has continued to spin astonishing conspiracy theories. For example, Paul has continued to make appearances on the radio program of Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist run amok. (Jones has claimed that the US government is adding chemicals to the nation's water to turn everyone homosexual so they don't have children, and that the government blew up the space shuttle Columbia as a "textbook psychological warfare operation.") In March 2009 Jones asked for Paul's thoughts on the alleged conspiracy by NORTHCOM, the U.S. military command for North America, to take over the country. Paul responded that "the average member of Congress probably isn't a participant in the grand conspiracy." Note that Paul did not say that the "grand conspiracy" does not exist! And Paul claimed in a 2010 speech that the CIA had implemented a coup and seized effective control of the U.S. government and military (see it on YouTube here).
- First, to accept his 2008 disclaimer I must also accept that he lied in 1998 when he did take responsibility for the newsletters.
- Second, and most importantly, his utter inattention to newsletters that were going out under his name betrays an inability to act as a trustworthy manager of a political enterprise. How am I supposed to trust him to manage a cabinet and federal agencies, when his utter detachment from a small staff that reported directly to him allowed bitter and reprehensible propaganda to stream forth under his name for a decade?
DeMint's egregious violation of the 8th commandment
The pro-life movement that Senator DeMint professes to be part of rests on the foundation of traditional Judeo-Christian ethics. The Fifth Commandment--"You shall not murder"--might even be considered the cornerstone of the pro-life movement. DeMint is evidently too busy to continue reading to the end of Exodus chapter 20, though, as yesterday he ran afoul of the Eighth Commandment ("You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"). In fact, DeMint bore false witness against 44 million neighbors: the Americans who are in such economic distress that they receive food stamps.
I was aghast at DeMint's fabrication: "Many Americans are sick of seeing the guy in front of them in the grocery line using food stamps to buy steaks." Maybe his insult against the poor is hitting me so hard because at one time I myself was a food stamp recipient. I couldn't even afford ground round, much less steak! As far as I can tell, DeMint and economic reality are in two separate universes. I have seen plenty of people use food stamps at grocery stores, but never once have I seen them procure steaks. There are members of my church who receive food stamps, and they don't use them to buy steaks either.
Most of you who are reading this have "neighbors" who are food stamp recipients, since they constitute about 15% of Americans. They're the members of your worship community, perhaps, who are struggling financially. Do you think they buy steaks and caviar with food stamps? Nine million of them are elderly and blind who depend on Supplemental Security. About nine million depend on Social Security. About the same number are unemployed and looking for work. And about half are children. Hey kids--stop picking up those packages of sirloin from the meat department!
It is probably easy for DeMint to weave fables like this because the company he keeps does not include food stamp recipients. Recipients are, I imagine, in short supply in the hallowed halls of Congress. Not many of his campaign donors receive food stamps either, I reckon.
But why would he pronounce such reckless slander to the press? It appears that he's trying to demonize the impoverished children, and the blind, and the aged, and the disabled, and the unemployed so he can justify a budget-cutting plan whose burden falls almost completely on the poorest Americans. In fact, $3 trillion of the cuts he proposes affect the poorest Americans, and only $20 billion (one half of one percent) affect the wealthy. And you wonder why there's an Occupy movement.
DeMint is trying to take the easy road by talking tough on deficit spending without addressing its root causes. Something you rarely hear in all the Tea Party talk is that, with the exception of three key programs, federal spending as a percentage of the national economy has not grown at all over the past few decades. And what would those three runaway components of the federal budget be? I'll save that for another post....but suffice it to say that those 3 programs have extremely well-financed lobbyists and vast constituencies. So DeMint would put himself in real political peril if he were to advance an effective deficit reduction plan that aims at the 3 runaway programs. But courage, like food stamp recipients, seems to be in short supply in the hallowed halls of Congress.
I was aghast at DeMint's fabrication: "Many Americans are sick of seeing the guy in front of them in the grocery line using food stamps to buy steaks." Maybe his insult against the poor is hitting me so hard because at one time I myself was a food stamp recipient. I couldn't even afford ground round, much less steak! As far as I can tell, DeMint and economic reality are in two separate universes. I have seen plenty of people use food stamps at grocery stores, but never once have I seen them procure steaks. There are members of my church who receive food stamps, and they don't use them to buy steaks either.
Most of you who are reading this have "neighbors" who are food stamp recipients, since they constitute about 15% of Americans. They're the members of your worship community, perhaps, who are struggling financially. Do you think they buy steaks and caviar with food stamps? Nine million of them are elderly and blind who depend on Supplemental Security. About nine million depend on Social Security. About the same number are unemployed and looking for work. And about half are children. Hey kids--stop picking up those packages of sirloin from the meat department!
It is probably easy for DeMint to weave fables like this because the company he keeps does not include food stamp recipients. Recipients are, I imagine, in short supply in the hallowed halls of Congress. Not many of his campaign donors receive food stamps either, I reckon.
But why would he pronounce such reckless slander to the press? It appears that he's trying to demonize the impoverished children, and the blind, and the aged, and the disabled, and the unemployed so he can justify a budget-cutting plan whose burden falls almost completely on the poorest Americans. In fact, $3 trillion of the cuts he proposes affect the poorest Americans, and only $20 billion (one half of one percent) affect the wealthy. And you wonder why there's an Occupy movement.
DeMint is trying to take the easy road by talking tough on deficit spending without addressing its root causes. Something you rarely hear in all the Tea Party talk is that, with the exception of three key programs, federal spending as a percentage of the national economy has not grown at all over the past few decades. And what would those three runaway components of the federal budget be? I'll save that for another post....but suffice it to say that those 3 programs have extremely well-financed lobbyists and vast constituencies. So DeMint would put himself in real political peril if he were to advance an effective deficit reduction plan that aims at the 3 runaway programs. But courage, like food stamp recipients, seems to be in short supply in the hallowed halls of Congress.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Review of "Power Chess for Kids" by Charles Hertan
I've coached chess kids for many years, and have always sought good material to recommend to students who want to make progress. For the student who is at the appropriate stage in development, Hertan's work is among the best I've seen.
Hertan teaches four "power tricks" to get better:
1. Know and use the value of the pieces.
2. The 'Quick Count' - Count the defenders and attackers to see whether a piece can be safely captured
3. Takes Takes Bang! - Make a trade to set up a winning (bang!) move
4. Check Moves Bang! - Use a check to set up a winning (bang!) move
The last 2 power tricks are a very useful introduction to forcing moves, which every chess player must master in order to become strong.
Hertan then shows how to use these power tricks with 4 different tactical motifs: forks, pins, skewers, and interference moves. The last 4 chapters contain a total of about 150 teaching positions, along with 30 exercises to reinforce the reader's grasp of the concepts.
The book closes with a useful glossary of chess terms (like "endgame" and "perpetual check") for the chess learner. The author references a forthcoming second book, which will presumably cover how to apply the 4 power tricks with other tactical motifs like discovered attack, deflection, and removal of the guard. Keep an eye out for it; it's sure to be worthwhile.
The 4 cartoon characters add zest and quirky humor, making it a fun read. I asked my teenage son, a retired chess prodigy, to read the book and give me his opinion. He said he really enjoyed it and found it helpful; in fact, he wished he had been able to read it when he was playing chess. That, in a nutshell, is why I award the book 5 stars out of 5.
That said, I must disagree with the notion that this is the most complete chess book for kids:
* It is too advanced to serve as a second book for chess learners, who need more grounding in fundamentals like not leaving your pieces unguarded, and not playing with just your queen. It also assumes a mastery of chess rules, and the explanation of chess notation is quite rudimentary.
* It does not cover some important topics, like checkmate patterns, openings, and endgames. I understand the author's desire to narrow the scope of the book, as it provides greater focus on the 4 power tricks. Moreover, middlegame tactics are the single most important topic to learn if you want to become strong. However, you forfeit the right to call the book a "complete" set of chess lessons when you exclude these other important topics. After you finish this little gem, I'd suggest the following reading program --
For checkmate patterns, you'll want to obtain Checkmate for Children: Mastering the Most Important Skill in Chess or How to Beat Your Dad at Chess. For openings, you might try The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess Openings. And for endgames, you should consider Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master.
Like pretty much every chess book, the work under review has some minor flaws:
* The terms "interpolation" and "hook-up" are used without definition, and do not appear in the glossary.
* A few examples have unexplored alternative solutions.
* Chess mastery is gained more from practice than from conceptual understanding, and this book is light on the exercises that would provide practice opportunities.
So it has a couple of warts and limitations...who cares? It's still a fun, instructive and helpful book for anyone--kid or adult--rated 600 to 1400 who wants to get better at chess.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book to me. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
Hertan teaches four "power tricks" to get better:
1. Know and use the value of the pieces.
2. The 'Quick Count' - Count the defenders and attackers to see whether a piece can be safely captured
3. Takes Takes Bang! - Make a trade to set up a winning (bang!) move
4. Check Moves Bang! - Use a check to set up a winning (bang!) move
The last 2 power tricks are a very useful introduction to forcing moves, which every chess player must master in order to become strong.
Hertan then shows how to use these power tricks with 4 different tactical motifs: forks, pins, skewers, and interference moves. The last 4 chapters contain a total of about 150 teaching positions, along with 30 exercises to reinforce the reader's grasp of the concepts.
The book closes with a useful glossary of chess terms (like "endgame" and "perpetual check") for the chess learner. The author references a forthcoming second book, which will presumably cover how to apply the 4 power tricks with other tactical motifs like discovered attack, deflection, and removal of the guard. Keep an eye out for it; it's sure to be worthwhile.
The 4 cartoon characters add zest and quirky humor, making it a fun read. I asked my teenage son, a retired chess prodigy, to read the book and give me his opinion. He said he really enjoyed it and found it helpful; in fact, he wished he had been able to read it when he was playing chess. That, in a nutshell, is why I award the book 5 stars out of 5.
That said, I must disagree with the notion that this is the most complete chess book for kids:
* It is too advanced to serve as a second book for chess learners, who need more grounding in fundamentals like not leaving your pieces unguarded, and not playing with just your queen. It also assumes a mastery of chess rules, and the explanation of chess notation is quite rudimentary.
* It does not cover some important topics, like checkmate patterns, openings, and endgames. I understand the author's desire to narrow the scope of the book, as it provides greater focus on the 4 power tricks. Moreover, middlegame tactics are the single most important topic to learn if you want to become strong. However, you forfeit the right to call the book a "complete" set of chess lessons when you exclude these other important topics. After you finish this little gem, I'd suggest the following reading program --
For checkmate patterns, you'll want to obtain Checkmate for Children: Mastering the Most Important Skill in Chess or How to Beat Your Dad at Chess. For openings, you might try The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess Openings. And for endgames, you should consider Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master.
Like pretty much every chess book, the work under review has some minor flaws:
* The terms "interpolation" and "hook-up" are used without definition, and do not appear in the glossary.
* A few examples have unexplored alternative solutions.
* Chess mastery is gained more from practice than from conceptual understanding, and this book is light on the exercises that would provide practice opportunities.
So it has a couple of warts and limitations...who cares? It's still a fun, instructive and helpful book for anyone--kid or adult--rated 600 to 1400 who wants to get better at chess.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book to me. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Review of "Joys of Chess"
Published by New in Chess, 2011. Author: Christian Hesse, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Stuttgart
Hesse's labor of love is the perfect antidote to all that hard work you've been investing in tactics puzzles and rook endgames. Crack it open and grab a breath of refreshing chess air for a few minutes; you're bound to find something to make you smile. It's like getting one of the world's top grandmasters to read you Tarzan comics. (Which, I learned from this book, was Bent Larsen's chief duty as Bobby Fischer's second at the 1959 Interzonal tournament!) It's the first chess book that's given me a feeling of guilty pleasure: how can chess be this much fun?
To give you a taste of what you can expect, here are a few of my favorite moments from the book:
In "Retreats of Genius," Dzindzichashvili retreats almost all his pieces back to their starting squares...and wins decisive material.
A disgruntled Garry Kasparov calls chess website publisher Frederich Friedel and says, "You are a dead man, Fred. You have put me in a very embarrassing situation." Friedel, you see, had posed a simple little problem to Kasparov, and when Garry's students couldn't solve it, the world champion spent a day on it and couldn't solve it either. For your edification, here is the possibly the world's most difficult chess problem: "A game begins 1.e4 and ends on move 5 in mate with the move knight takes rook. What was the game?" (The book has the solution, of course.)
In the chapter on chess dreams, we see a theoretical novelty in the Sicilian Defense that came to Larry Christiansen as he slept. We also get to see a Nimzo-Indian that David Bronstein dreamed in its entirety. After a white blunder on move 14, black mates in 3, and "Bronstein can do that in his sleep." And with one hand tied behind his back, no doubt!
Hesse puts a novel spin on chess sacrifices by comparing them to Einstein's e = mc2, which is the equation that explains how a tiny bit of uranium can yield a massive explosion. A sacrifice, after all, can also translate material into incredible energy--on the chess board. Hesse illustrates this with a couple of spectacular sacs, including a 2-piece offer by the inimitable Mikhail Tal.
In "the butterfly effect," we see a study in which white can give up a passed pawn on either h6 or h7. It looks inconsequential, but 9 moves later we see that the difference of just one square is the difference between a draw and a win. The catchy chapter title is a useful reminder that, in a possibly critical situation, you need to be careful about selecting between moves that look very similar.
Several studies caught my eye. In the chapter on symmetry, we see a problem with all eight of white's pawns on the 4th rank and his king on f1, while black's pawns are all on the 6th rank with his king on f8. White to play and win. In the chapter on parity arguments, a problem has 31 pieces on their original squares--except white's h1 rook, which is missing. What was black's last move? Clever stuff.
Hesse suggests an amusing parlor game for chess players: "the conqueror of the conqueror of Fischer." The goal is to see how many degrees of separation exist between you and Bobby, counting a victory over a difficult opponent as one degree. Count your victory over a strong player as one hop, then count his/her victory over a stronger opponent as the next hop, and so on, until you finally get to a grandmaster who defeated Fischer. Count the hops, and there's your Fischer number.
I don't mind the rare moments when Hesse inserts himself into the book, as it illustrates how a patzer not unlike me can have a ton of fun exploring chess. I find his attitude to be charming and infectious.
While the book is mostly just for fun, there's actually a fair amount of instructional value here: more guilty pleasure! If you're a chess player, this is a great book for your wishlist; or if you're looking for a Christmas gift or birthday gift for your favorite chess geek, wrap this book with a bow. It easily rates 5 stars out of 5. You may purchase these 417 pages of rollicking chess fun on Amazon here.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
Hesse's labor of love is the perfect antidote to all that hard work you've been investing in tactics puzzles and rook endgames. Crack it open and grab a breath of refreshing chess air for a few minutes; you're bound to find something to make you smile. It's like getting one of the world's top grandmasters to read you Tarzan comics. (Which, I learned from this book, was Bent Larsen's chief duty as Bobby Fischer's second at the 1959 Interzonal tournament!) It's the first chess book that's given me a feeling of guilty pleasure: how can chess be this much fun?
To give you a taste of what you can expect, here are a few of my favorite moments from the book:
In "Retreats of Genius," Dzindzichashvili retreats almost all his pieces back to their starting squares...and wins decisive material.
A disgruntled Garry Kasparov calls chess website publisher Frederich Friedel and says, "You are a dead man, Fred. You have put me in a very embarrassing situation." Friedel, you see, had posed a simple little problem to Kasparov, and when Garry's students couldn't solve it, the world champion spent a day on it and couldn't solve it either. For your edification, here is the possibly the world's most difficult chess problem: "A game begins 1.e4 and ends on move 5 in mate with the move knight takes rook. What was the game?" (The book has the solution, of course.)
In the chapter on chess dreams, we see a theoretical novelty in the Sicilian Defense that came to Larry Christiansen as he slept. We also get to see a Nimzo-Indian that David Bronstein dreamed in its entirety. After a white blunder on move 14, black mates in 3, and "Bronstein can do that in his sleep." And with one hand tied behind his back, no doubt!
Hesse puts a novel spin on chess sacrifices by comparing them to Einstein's e = mc2, which is the equation that explains how a tiny bit of uranium can yield a massive explosion. A sacrifice, after all, can also translate material into incredible energy--on the chess board. Hesse illustrates this with a couple of spectacular sacs, including a 2-piece offer by the inimitable Mikhail Tal.
In "the butterfly effect," we see a study in which white can give up a passed pawn on either h6 or h7. It looks inconsequential, but 9 moves later we see that the difference of just one square is the difference between a draw and a win. The catchy chapter title is a useful reminder that, in a possibly critical situation, you need to be careful about selecting between moves that look very similar.
Several studies caught my eye. In the chapter on symmetry, we see a problem with all eight of white's pawns on the 4th rank and his king on f1, while black's pawns are all on the 6th rank with his king on f8. White to play and win. In the chapter on parity arguments, a problem has 31 pieces on their original squares--except white's h1 rook, which is missing. What was black's last move? Clever stuff.
Hesse suggests an amusing parlor game for chess players: "the conqueror of the conqueror of Fischer." The goal is to see how many degrees of separation exist between you and Bobby, counting a victory over a difficult opponent as one degree. Count your victory over a strong player as one hop, then count his/her victory over a stronger opponent as the next hop, and so on, until you finally get to a grandmaster who defeated Fischer. Count the hops, and there's your Fischer number.
I don't mind the rare moments when Hesse inserts himself into the book, as it illustrates how a patzer not unlike me can have a ton of fun exploring chess. I find his attitude to be charming and infectious.
While the book is mostly just for fun, there's actually a fair amount of instructional value here: more guilty pleasure! If you're a chess player, this is a great book for your wishlist; or if you're looking for a Christmas gift or birthday gift for your favorite chess geek, wrap this book with a bow. It easily rates 5 stars out of 5. You may purchase these 417 pages of rollicking chess fun on Amazon here.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Review of "Invisible Chess Moves"
Israeli International Master Yochanan Afek and French FIDE Master Emmanuel Neiman have analyzed hundreds of high-level international games to discover what kinds of moves are difficult even for the masters to see. The result is this extremely useful collection of positions, game fragments, and puzzles that illustrate the most common causes of chess blindness.
Light bulbs kept going off in my head as I worked my way through the book. "Queen circuits" are hard to see? No kidding, my only tournament loss to a non-expert this year was the lamentable result of not seeing a diagonal queen maneuver clear across the board, followed by a horizontal check to the opposite wing. Anticipating a probable result can lead to blindness? Absolutely! In two drawn rook endgames this year I've missed opportunities to punish critical blunders and collect the full point, simply because it didn't occur to me that a winning opportunity might suddenly and serendipitously appear. Best of all, shortly after I had read the section on backward attacking moves, I invested a knight in a kingside attack because I saw that a critical defense would not prevail because of a quiet, backward attacking move available to my light-squared bishop.
Take a look at the invisible moves Afek and Neiman have classified and see how many you might have overlooked recently:
Part I - Objective Invisibility - 21
Chapter 1 - Hard-to-see moves - 22
A: Quiet moves - 23
B: Intermediate moves - 27
The desperado - 31
C: Alignment - 36
D: Forgetting the rules - 53
E: Quiet positions - 57
Chapter 2 - Geometrically invisible moves - 71
A: Horizontal effect - 72
B: Circuit - 74
Rook circuit - 74
Bishop circuit - 75
Queen circuit - 75
C: Changing wings - 77
D: Backward moves - 83
E: Backward knight moves - 86
F: Pin and self-pin - 89
G: Geometrical moves - 96
Part II - Subjective Invisibility - 111
Chapter 3 - Invisible moves for positional reasons - 112
A: Pawn structures - 113
B: Weakening of the king's defences - 118
C: Unexpected exchanges - 123
D: Unusual position of a piece - 126
E: Anti-developing moves - 133
F: Residual image - 135
Chapter 4 - Invisible moves for psychological reasons - 151
A: Anticipation of the probable result - 152
B: Blunders in World Championship matches - 163
C: Forward moves in defence - 167
D: Backward attacking moves - 176
Test - 191
Test solutions - 205
Explanation of Symbols - 237
Index of Players - 238
In addition to 30 exercise positions sprinkled through the text, the book concludes with 53 test positions graded in difficulty from 1 to 5 stars. My online ratings and recent OTB results indicate that I'm about FIDE 1800, yet I found the 2 star puzzles reasonably challenging. I learned a lot from working through the solutions of the harder ones, though, so don't shy away from this book if you're rated 1700 or above. Below that rating, though, you are probably better off just working through a conventional tactics book; if you have difficulties seeing knight forks and X-ray attacks, you should get those under your belt before you attack these more advanced themes.
Excellent tactics books have flooded the market, but excellent books dedicated to hard-to-see moves have been, well, practically invisible. Thus I am willing to give this unique work 5 stars in spite of some minor flaws that I hope will be corrected in a future edition:
* The authors do not apply their criteria for game selection consistently. They state that they will generally not use examples that involve rapid time controls or time pressure, but almost 10% of their examples (15) come from rapid games or zeitnot situations. Moreover, in several of the examples the players actually saw and played the putatively hard-to-see winning continuation. Why are they in a book about moves that masters don't see?
* About a dozen of the 53 concluding test problems have hints that are too obvious. "Long diagonal" will definitely draw your attention to the winning skewer on the a8-h1 diagonal, don't you think?
* The first set of 6 exercise positions do not include a discussion of why the winning continuation should be considered hard-to-see.
* The English translation occasionally falters, using phantom words like "automatical," "profylaxis" and "devaluating."
As these flaws detract little from the book's overall impact, I heartily recommend it to anyone rated 1700 or above who wants to improve their chess vision. You may purchase it from Amazon here.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book to me. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
Light bulbs kept going off in my head as I worked my way through the book. "Queen circuits" are hard to see? No kidding, my only tournament loss to a non-expert this year was the lamentable result of not seeing a diagonal queen maneuver clear across the board, followed by a horizontal check to the opposite wing. Anticipating a probable result can lead to blindness? Absolutely! In two drawn rook endgames this year I've missed opportunities to punish critical blunders and collect the full point, simply because it didn't occur to me that a winning opportunity might suddenly and serendipitously appear. Best of all, shortly after I had read the section on backward attacking moves, I invested a knight in a kingside attack because I saw that a critical defense would not prevail because of a quiet, backward attacking move available to my light-squared bishop.
Take a look at the invisible moves Afek and Neiman have classified and see how many you might have overlooked recently:
Part I - Objective Invisibility - 21
Chapter 1 - Hard-to-see moves - 22
A: Quiet moves - 23
B: Intermediate moves - 27
The desperado - 31
C: Alignment - 36
D: Forgetting the rules - 53
E: Quiet positions - 57
Chapter 2 - Geometrically invisible moves - 71
A: Horizontal effect - 72
B: Circuit - 74
Rook circuit - 74
Bishop circuit - 75
Queen circuit - 75
C: Changing wings - 77
D: Backward moves - 83
E: Backward knight moves - 86
F: Pin and self-pin - 89
G: Geometrical moves - 96
Part II - Subjective Invisibility - 111
Chapter 3 - Invisible moves for positional reasons - 112
A: Pawn structures - 113
B: Weakening of the king's defences - 118
C: Unexpected exchanges - 123
D: Unusual position of a piece - 126
E: Anti-developing moves - 133
F: Residual image - 135
Chapter 4 - Invisible moves for psychological reasons - 151
A: Anticipation of the probable result - 152
B: Blunders in World Championship matches - 163
C: Forward moves in defence - 167
D: Backward attacking moves - 176
Test - 191
Test solutions - 205
Explanation of Symbols - 237
Index of Players - 238
In addition to 30 exercise positions sprinkled through the text, the book concludes with 53 test positions graded in difficulty from 1 to 5 stars. My online ratings and recent OTB results indicate that I'm about FIDE 1800, yet I found the 2 star puzzles reasonably challenging. I learned a lot from working through the solutions of the harder ones, though, so don't shy away from this book if you're rated 1700 or above. Below that rating, though, you are probably better off just working through a conventional tactics book; if you have difficulties seeing knight forks and X-ray attacks, you should get those under your belt before you attack these more advanced themes.
Excellent tactics books have flooded the market, but excellent books dedicated to hard-to-see moves have been, well, practically invisible. Thus I am willing to give this unique work 5 stars in spite of some minor flaws that I hope will be corrected in a future edition:
* The authors do not apply their criteria for game selection consistently. They state that they will generally not use examples that involve rapid time controls or time pressure, but almost 10% of their examples (15) come from rapid games or zeitnot situations. Moreover, in several of the examples the players actually saw and played the putatively hard-to-see winning continuation. Why are they in a book about moves that masters don't see?
* About a dozen of the 53 concluding test problems have hints that are too obvious. "Long diagonal" will definitely draw your attention to the winning skewer on the a8-h1 diagonal, don't you think?
* The first set of 6 exercise positions do not include a discussion of why the winning continuation should be considered hard-to-see.
* The English translation occasionally falters, using phantom words like "automatical," "profylaxis" and "devaluating."
As these flaws detract little from the book's overall impact, I heartily recommend it to anyone rated 1700 or above who wants to improve their chess vision. You may purchase it from Amazon here.
Full disclosure: The publisher provided a review copy of this book to me. I have endeavored to remain completely unbiased and helpful, and feel confident that the review reflects my commitment to objectivity.
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