Chess Books

This book also sells as
'Grandmaster Meets Chess Amateur".

It is a very enjoyable read, and very informative for a player at about the 1200-1300 level.

The best thing about the book is that the games are at the level of the amateur. Some are versus the GM, and some against slightly better or slightly worse players. That makes these games useful for coaching sessions.

You'll get coached on every phase of the game. It's all very useful information, and not over the heads of advanced beginners.

The worst thing about this book is its length. It is short, about 100 over-sized but sparsely used pages. I highly recommend it at the used-book price.

Review of 1987 edition:
Soltis examines the Stonewall in five chapters in 134 pages. 1.Matter of the move order. 2. Strategies 3. Theoretically Best Defense. 4. Traditional defense. 5. Black Fianchettoes. & 8 Illustative Games with text notes which are great for understanding the ideas behind the moves. Also a brief section on the Colle which Soltis recommends as a necessary companion opening to the stonewall, ((or optional early white dxc5 hanging on to the extra pawn(however soltis only goes to 10 moves on 5. dxc5 variation and I wish a full game would have been added in this unsual line.)).

A comprehensive move order Index is included in the front which should give greatly needed help to the format.
It took awhile to get use to his format but after a few days of reading the mainline format interposed with multiple sub-variations; although sometimes hard to follow, should be easier to review particular sequences.
The main drawback with this book was it seemed to overlap itself way to much with exact same move order in different sections.(However in some ways this might be good review.) Also if the book would have included some potential endgame theory or more mating attack examples coming from the stonewall this book would of been top class.

However, the main mating attacks are present and opening and middlegame are exhaustive covering every variation nearly possible. Sometimes Soltis presents GM game lines he feels are inferior for white and gives "better" lines. This is probably good, but can also add to confusing you if your just looking for the "best moves". I've found the explanations for moves very good, even going as far as showing you what bad things will happen if you make the incorrect move. Which alot of opening books just leave out, assuming you can see the problem with a move.

This book even has a little bit of history on the stonewall and gives example games, 90% of them I felt were effective examples.

I'm uscf 1600, paid $8 for this book plus shipping and am very happy with the book based on its small 134 page count. After reading this book you will definitely know most of the lines up to the middlegame and get a generally idea of your mating attacks, and ideas on when you should switch over to a queenside attack as well as understand the importance of the Knight outposts and C and G files which seem to become a theme in the stonewall. Also explains options when to push the e3 pawn. As well as know which squares are common for white to attack. The explanation of letting black take the Bd3 in chapter 3 was very interesting. Also deveopment of the Knight to Nh3. Chapter five lacked a little in comparision to chap 3&4, this probably wasn't due to Soltis, only the nature of the play. Leaving less traps and attacks for white appearing seemingly less deep. However Soltis explains the good and the bad of blacks fianchetto and its up to white to "prove" the stonewall as black appears to be in a defensive stance.

I think if you read this book twice you would fully understand the stonewall, "seeing" what Soltis is talking about on the second read. However its it to you to hammer home the good attacks, as the book puts them in, but doesn't make them stand out. Also you'll probably have to buy a book on the Colle to fully benefit from the Stonewall.

Dvoretsky's reputation as a coach's coach is well deserved as he proves book after book, if not student after student, that he is the leading chess trainer in the world. This book, his third in the series, School of Chess Excellence, rumored to be a revised and updated reissue of his acclaimed book on Positional Play, (1996), indeed, follows in his tradition of excellence! Beyond its tutorial content, the exercises in the book are very instructive.

This book bids to improve its reader's positional understanding under the following themes summarized in the first chapter: positional operations conducted by piece placement, pawn play and exchanges; evaluating and prioritizing factors in specific positions; planning the course of play in the short- and long-term; prophylaxis, that is blunting the edge of the opponent's perceived intentions preemptively; typical positions resulting from specific openings; typical game situations including those that invite psychological strategies; the technique of converting an advantage into winning chances; the interplay of positional play with tactics and dynamism; the possession of the initiative and finally, the concrete analysis of positions at critical moments of transformation.

The remainder of the book deals with what Dvoretsky characterizes as "simple positions" that he defines as those in which each player has two or more pieces as the transition from the middlegame to the endgame begins. In this section, the author prescribes sustained attacks, active defense and, above all, warns against indifference in quiet and apparently even positions. He reaffirms Yogi's baseball maxim, "it ain't over till it's over" with exclamatory examples from grandmaster games.

No doubt, the themes of the book are copiously illustrated with quaint examples and mostly complete games at that! About half of the games are his or those of his pupils, Dolmatov and Yusupov, through whom his ideas are tested vicariously over the board. The text is awash with nuggets of chess wisdom, if not his secrets, like, on page 42, he reveals: "Every player has his opening tastes. In closed positions I often chose plans involving the exchange of my `bad' bishop. In the French Defence I liked to play ...b7-b6 and ...Bc8-a6." What's good enough for Dvoretsky is good enough for most of us!

Dvoretsky cannot say too often that one must develop the habit of prophylactic thinking, the hallmark of almost flawless play by its distinguished exponents, one-time world champions Petrosian and Karpov. If conceived and executed correctly, the author assures one that this brainchild of Nimzowitsch will give ones play stability. Any reader who works painstakingly through this book will be rewarded with a lifetime of enlightened chess play. It is far better to do the right thing poorly than to do the wrong thing very well and this book teaches one the right strategic aims to pursue in oft-occurring positions.

Before tackling this gem of a book, a serious positional player is urged to read or reread Nimsowitsch's "My System." A highly-recommended, contemporary complement is John Watson's "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances Since Nimzowitsch." Israel Gelfer's "Positional Chess Handbook" is directly accessible and stay tuned for Michael Stean's revision of "Simple Chess" that was admirably succinct in the first edition.

The title is rather deceptive; this is not a general middlegame/endgame book, rather it concerns the following:

I.French Tarrasch with 3...c5. When White plays exd5, Black replies ...exd5.
II.French Tarrasch with 3...c5. White White plays exd5, Black replies ...Qxd5.
III."Almost Symmetrical Endgames," for example 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1.
IV.Endgames from Hedgehog Formations.

IF you play any of these systems, or would like to, this book really does explain the "strategic themes" excellently. This book is dated (late 1980s), but the overall themes have not changed since then.

Mednis goes into some variations, but only so that they illustrate the play. Also included are many game examples of fairly strong GMs playing games featuring these lines.

Highly, Highly Recommended!

In this book, Dr Max Euwe, a former Chess World Champion and great Dutch grandmaster of his time, discussed in a clear and conversational way about both strategy and tactics theory and practice, laying special emphasis in tactics.

I enjoyed and played a lot chess in high school and in college and since I started working I had less and less time available for playing so my game suffered from it. Having said this currently I consider myself a novice again after about twelve years without being able to play a single game of chess. When I recently started playing again I found myself confused and kind of lost questioning if I should attack?, defend?, and if so when?, where?, how? I was looking for some books to start from scratch and try to reassess my game.

I bought this book as part of a used chess book collection on an auction, and I was not disappointed at all with this title. The book showed me again the essentials about both strategy and combinations to actually play stronger and wisely.

Since the Table of Contents is not included in the book information presented above by the seller, I am including how the book is organized, so everybody can visualize what topics are covered in this book:

I. Strategy and Tactics.
II. Strategy: General principles.
- The greatest possible field of action for the pieces.
- As much choice as possible of intervening
III. Strategy: Special principles.
- Taking the initiative where one is strongest.
- Directing the attack in general on fixed pawns.
IV. Tactics: Combinations in General.
- Mating combinations.
- Open-field combinations.
V. Mating combinations.
- Direct mate combinations.
- Break-up combinations.
- Penetrative combinations.
- Lateral combinations.
VI. Open-field combinations.
- Combinations for gain in material.
- Focal-point combinations.
- Pinning combinations.
- Unmasking combinations.
- Overload combinations.
- Desperado combinations.
- Cumulative combinations.
VII. Compound combinations.
VIII. End-game combinations.
- Forcing combinations.
- Advancing combinations.
- Promotion combinations.

Absolutely an excellent book for its price.

The Sunday Times is by far and away the best-selling quality Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom. Since 1996 Ray Keene has conducted the weekly chess column in The Sunday Times colour magazine. His articles are noted for their puzzles and lavish prizes - champagne lunches for two each week, provided by that famous home of chess, Simpsons-in-the-Strand.
This anthology gathers together a selection of the best Sunday Times chess columns from the last few years. Readers will be treated to a concise summary of world chess events and a distinguished collection of the best games by the champions, whilst simultaneously being invited to pit their wits against the masters and grandmasters in a series of testing positions that have reached a crisis in actual over-the-board competition.

Raymond Keene is a British Chess Champion, and the first British Player to achieve a FIDE (World Chess Federation) Grandmaster norm. He was awarded the OBE for services to chess in 1985. He has been Chess Correspondent of The Sunday Times since 1996. He is a prolific author of chess books, several of which are classics of the genre. He has organised three World Chess Championships.

This book is incredible, from the high production values to the dense and thorough annotations. This is all the major games played in 2000 with incredible annotations. Lots of good interviews with top players. The only weird thing is how these Chess Stars guys act like the Kasparov-Kramnik match wasn't legitimate, and that Khalifman and Anand are the real world champions, based on the FIDE knockout things. So there is coverage of the "World Championship" of 2000, but the Kasparov-Kramnik match is mentioned as a sort of footnote, like it was of little significance. But everyone knows that the K-K match in 2000 did historically determine the new champion, Krmanik, and that history will never show that Khalifman was a champion, even though he was FIDE champ for a year. Despite this self-delusion, the authors have put together an amzing book, that is the best modern games collection I know.

The essential sequel to Peter Clarke's companion book on Tal, Mikhail Tal's Best Games of Chess. Cafferty takes us further on Tal's career path, covering his loss to Botvinnik in the revenge match, but also the triumphs of Bled 1961 and Tal's remarkable sequence of tournament victories in 1973. Tal is the chess public's favourite - a knight of the chessboard who knew no fear and joyously sacrificed to fight at close quarters with the enemy king. In the annals of chess, Tal ranks with Anderssen, Alekhine, Stein and Kasparov as the undisputed archetypes of aggression on the 64 squares.
Bernard Cafferty was editor of the British Chess Magazine and from 1983-1997 chess editor of the Sunday Times. Cafferty was a frequent and successful competitor in the British Chess Championships and as a Russian scholar he was exceptionally well qualified to comment on the games of such greats as the Soviet world champions Mikhail Tal and Boris Spassky.

Accessibly written by chess grandmaster and trainer Nigel Davies, Taming The Sicilian is a highly detailed chess manual showcasing techniques and strategies that players of the White side in a game of chess can utilize against one of the most popular opening moves for the Black side. Numerous technical diagrams and instructions cover variations including the Najdorf, Classical, Scheveningen, Pelikan-Sveshnikov, and more. An excellent guide for advanced chess players looking to sharpen their skills further, Taming The Sicilian is a highly recommended addition to any dedicated chess player's reference shelf.

The Tennison Gambit is basically a reversed Budapest. If you consider the Budapest sound, then a Budapest with an extra move ought to be playable. And sometimes White's play against the Budapest does rely on that pawn on c4. But at other times, the pawn would be better off on c2. As an example, playing the Tennison, Bb5 for White does not work very well with that Black pawn still on c7. The book does mention that White can play lines such as 1 Nf3 d5 2 a4 c5 3 e4 to get a true reversed Budapest, and it gives a few lines, but I'm not too excited about that idea.

I got this book because I play the Scandinavian as Black, and I was fortunate to win when someone tried 1 e4 d5 2 Nf3 against me. Reading it, I was impressed by the 1933 Keres-Teltvecker game. That went 1 Nf3 d5 2 e4 dxe4 3 Ng5 Bf5 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 Bc4 e6 6 f3 exf3 7 Qxf3 c6 8 Nxf7 Kxf7 9 Qxf5 Qe7 10 Ne4 h6 11 Nc5 g6 12 Qxe6+ Ke8 13 0-0 b5 14 Qc8+ Qd8 15 Re1+ Be7 16 Rxe7+ Kxe7 17 Qe6+ Kf8 18 Qf7 mate. So I tried the Tennison in six games, and won five times. Twice, I got into this line. The first time, my opponent played 7...Nc6 8 Nxf7 Nd4 9 Qxf5 exf5 10 Nxd8 Nxc2+ 11 Kd1 Nxa1 12 Nf7 Rg8 13 Re1+ Be7 14 Nb5 and I won easily. My next opponent tried 6...e3 (Help! It's not in the book!) 7 d3 Be7 8 Qe2 Nd5 9 N5e4 Nf4 10 Qf1 Qd4 11 Ne2 Nxe2 12 Qxe2 Nd7 13 Qxe3 Qxe3+ 14 Bxe3 and I was lucky to win.

I wasn't worried about 1 e4 d5 2 Nf3 e6 since I intended to play an Advance Variation of the French. Against 2...d4, I would have played 3 Bc4. 2...e5 leads to a Queen Pawn Countergambit (or maybe the Elephant gambit) and that is very good for White. Lutes spends a dozen pages showing what to do about it.

One of my games started 1 e4 d5 2 Nf3 dxe4 3 Ng5 e5 4 d3 exd3 5 Bxd3 Be7 6 f4, and what I learned from the book helped me win it. And I only drew a game which started 1 Nf3 d5 2 e4 dxe4 3 Ng5 Nf6 4 Nc3 Bg4 5 Be2 Bxe2 6 Qxe2 e6? 7 Qb5+, but I can't blame the opening for that.

Another game started 1 Nf3 d5 2 e4 dxe4 3 Ng5 f5 4 Bc4 Nh6 5 Nxh7 (the book says 5 d3 is better) Rxh7 (5...g6 is better) 6 Qh5+ Kd7 7 Qg6 Rh8 8 Be6+ Kc6 9 Bxc8+ Qd6 10 Qe8+ Kb6 11 Qa4, and I managed to win.

My final game began 1 e4 d5 2 Nf3 dxe4 3 Ng5 Qd5 4 d3 exd3 5 Nc3 Qe5+ 6 Be3 dxc2 Now the book move is 7 Qd5, but over the board, I got suspicious of this line, so I tried the, um, "Jill gambit" 7 Qd8+ (no, it isn't in the book). My opponent had been all prepared for 7 Qd5 and my move was a big surprise. After 7...Kxd8 8 Nxf7+ Ke8 9 Nxe5 Nf6 10 Bd3 e6 11 Nb5 Bd6 12 Nc4, I wound up winning again.

That all sounds good. But after I looked at these games and saw all the chances my opponents had, I decided to give up the Tennison. It's unsafe chess. There is no point taking such risks with White. If you want to try an unusual and offbeat line against the Scandinavian Defence, here's one. I was swept off the board with Black in this game, and I think White's line is pretty safe to use. 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 d4 Nxd5 4 c4 Nb6 5 Nc3 (the books do not like this because of Black's reply) 5...e5 6 Nf3 Bg4? (this move does not work: I should have played 6...exd4, but White is safe here) 7 Be2 Bxf3 8 Bxf3 exd4 9 0-0 dxc3 10 Re1+ Be7 11 Bg5 f6 12 Bh5+ g6 13 Bxf6 0-0 14 Bxe7 Qxd1 15 Bxd1 cxb2 16 Rb1 Re8 17 c5! Nc6 18 cxb6 Rxe7 19 Rxe7 Nxe7 20 bxc7 Rc8 21 Rxb2 Rxc7 22 g3 and White eventually won. Note that Black was almost always playing forced moves and White was never at risk.

However, to play this, you need to prepare something against 2...Qxd5 too. And you need something against the Portuguese Variation (3...Bg4) and maybe even something against the unusual Kiel Variation (4...Nb4).

Anyway, if you prefer to play the wild Tennison gambit, and you like the variations you've seen, try this book. Lutes has plenty of lines and information, as well as some background on the originator of the gambit, Captain Tennison.