Tournaments Books

Vassily Smyslov is one of the greats of chess and this tournament victory is one of the greatest ever chess sporting performances. Facing a field which included such titans as Keres, Bronstein, Reshevsky and Petrosian, Smyslov shattered the oppposition and thus secured for himself the sole qualifying slot to face the great Botvinnik in a match for the world title. Combined with the companion Hardinge Simpole volume on the World Championship Candidates Tournament 1956 this book begins a record of staggering tournament expertise and determination by the immortal Smyslov.

Written by eye witness chess journalist Barry Wood, Member of the English Olympiad team, Chess Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and for many years Editor-in-chief of Chess Magazine..

The World Championship Candidates' Tournament of 1950 marked a fresh phase in the history of the world title. Hitherto, the champion had chosen his challenger, of course bearing in mind such pressures as public opinion and prize purses on offer. Now, after the interregnum caused by the death of Alekhine as incumbent in 1946, FIDE, the World Chess Federation, instituted a regular series of qualifying events to determine the rightful challenger to the chess throne. Budapest 1950 was to be Bronstein's finest hour: coming from behind he caught his imperturbable compatriot Boleslavsky at the finishing post and then squeezed ahead of him in the play-off.

The notes to this great event, which also featured such immortals as Smyslov, Keres, and Najdorf, are by the British publishing pioneer Cordingley, while the comments to the tie-breaking match are furnished by the world champion of chess journalists, Grandmaster emeritus Harry Golombek OBE, based on his insights for the British Chess Magazine.


As we now know, Bronstein advanced to challenge Botvinnik for the world title, but faltered at the final hurdle. That epic clash is covered in World Chess Championship 1951, by William Winter and R.G.Wade.

I can't remember now how I found this staggeringly beautiful chess book detailing the 1948 world championship tournament involving Botvinnik, Keres, Smyslov, Reshevsky, and Euwe. The only bad thing about this book is the title, which led, no doubt, to its being virtually unknown today. It is one on my favorite chess books. The annotations are approximately half by Horowitz and half by Hans Kmoch, author of the famous "Pawn Power in Chess." I am a huge Kmoch fan, and am so pleased to have this book. His annotations in print are few and far between, and the ones here sound more like the author of "Pawn Power," than do those in another work of his, "Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces." The present book contains all 50 games between the five superstars mentioned, deeply annotated (nearly all the games are d4-openings, plus several Frenches and Lopezes, with only one Sicilian). There are many great photos of the tournament, including one of Smyslov calmly strolling around on the stage while two games are in progress, biographies of each player, caricature drawings of each player with humorous captions (one drawing has Smyslov as a snail). And to top it all off, there is a 41-page treatise by Kmoch detailing the history of the opening in chess from Anderssen to Botvinnik. This part alone is worth the price of the book to me. Trust me, this book is a treasure, that is worth hunting down and buying. I surely will never part with my copy.

I WANT TO BUY THIS BOOK.WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY

The Silence of the Lambs is a classic for serial killer fanatics like myself, Harris went to the trials of real life serial killers like Ted Bundy as research for the book and it shows. Buffalo Bill is more disgusting than the tooth fairy and Lector's role in the book is greatly improved. I read this after watching the movie, so I pretty much knew everything that was going to happen, but that didn't stop it from being one of the more interesting books I've read in the past year. If your considering reading this I'd recommend picking up Red Dragon first because the ending of the last book is spoiled about ten pages into this one.

I enjoyed this book immensely and got it for a great price in good condition.

Thomas Harris is the real deal, and this is the second time I've read Silence of the Lambs. I loved everything about the story, including:

- The well-drawn characters, esp. the heroine: Clarice Starling, the FBI trainee from a poor background. How Harris describes her--her hillbilly idioms, the chip on her shoulder, her perception of sexism from her colleagues--is flat-out brilliant. The other characters are equally well-defined, like her boss Crawford with his dying wife and, of course, Dr. Lecter.

- The original, interesting prose. Harris writes prose that's both unique yet utterly unpretentious (unlike, say, Dennis Lehane with his "silkworm[s] of smiles," etc.). For example, in describing a guy nervous about asking Clarice out on a date, Harris writes, "Pilcher polished his teeth, his tongue moving behind his lips like a cat beneath the covers." Brilliant!

- The excellent dialog. Again, like the prose, unique yet not contrived. There are so many zingers in the novel, and the dialog adds to the character of the person speaking. Roger Ebert commented about this line in the movie--which was, of course, taken from the novel. In looking over a dead body, Clarice notices the body wore glitter polish on her fingers, and she says, "Looks like town to me." Here, not only is the expression interesting, it shows Clarice's poor background growing up.

- Structure. Though Harris doesn't write in super-short prose of, say, James Cain or even Ira Levin, you're never bored in this novel. From beginning to end, you just trust that Harris knows what he's doing--and he does.

So . . . overall, 5 stars out of 5. I would recommend this book along with all his other novels, even Hannibal Rising--which, while not his best effort, is still light-years better than any novel by such atrocious writers like Dennis Lehane and James Patterson.

The book would never receive the accolades that the movie did, because it doesn't rise head and shoulders above the pack in terms of quality.

While the movie was seen as a genre-topping masterpiece, the book is merely very good.

The book, like the movie, hinges on the powerful character of Hannibal Lecter, a man whose viciousness is almost overshadowed by his preternatural genius. Lecter is what makes the book special, and Harris deserves plenty of credit for coming up with a twist on the "evil genius" that is both fresh and iconic.

I would recommend that you read the Lecter books in sequence, although you might want to forgo the closing entry, "Hannibal."

It is a cliche to say the book is always better than the movie. It is not. Although rare, one can point to the sluggish novel THE BOURNE IDENTITY or the real life trek across the Australian Outback of RABBIT PROOF FENCE as instances of the movie far outperforming the source material. It is a testament to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS that, despite an excellent and modern-day classic movie, the flick still does not reach the standard of the book. If Thomas Harris' previous book Red Dragon set the standard for the modern serial killer novel, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS picks up the baton and runs with it very well on its own.

The plot is well known. When a killer leaves a trail of skinned women in his wake, the FBI turns once again to the psychopathic Hannibal Lecter for some helpful hints. Upon taking a liking to Clarice Starling, Lecter engages in a tit-for-tat with the young heroine, providing clues to the killer's thinking in exchange for Starling's personal history.

Despite the viciousness of the plot, the true strength of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is its subtlety. Harris refrains from delving into Lecter's inner thoughts or past history and simply presents him, instead, as the embodiment of pure evil (a portrayal that Harris later spoils in the atrocious Hannibal). That he is smarter than anyone else around makes him more interesting still, but also exposes a personal flaw. Like many people who rely too heavily on their own superior intelligence, Lecter fails to notice other defects in his personality that allow others to gain a tactical advantage over him.

Clarice Starling is also excellently drawn. Just enough of the `awe shucks' country girl left in her, combined with that loss of naivety one usually develops the hard way, she provides the perfect foil for Lecter's malevolent sophistication. You know she will hold herself together in the end. But you also know it will take its toll on her.

Harris later tarnished these excellent characters in subsequent books, so badly, in fact, that it is hard not to see them as diminished even retroactively here. But THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS should be judged on its own. And on its own, it will keep a reader turning the pages until the end.

I enjoyed this book on the whole, but can recommend it only to those with a serious interest in Scrabble. A lot of the book gets bogged down in the intricacies of competitive Scrabble tournaments, which is interesting only for a short time. I play living room Scrabble, but did not understand how complex and complete the knowledge required to become a true skilled player is.

The parts of the book describing the game's genesis and history were interesting. But the 366 pages could have been cut by a third to make for a better book for the masses, in my opinion. Three stars out of five. But a nice effort nonetheless.

Word Freak surprised me with its depth. It's a work that weaves technical details of what can be a very tedious game at the upper levels, with an engaging tale filled with emotion and humor. It's basically the journey of one guy (the author) going from "I've played Scrabble before" to a bona fide expert at the game. And along the ways, there are fascinating personalities and gripping stories to enjoy.

The story really becomes more a commentary on an underground society -- the personalities, compulsions, emotion, and triumphs of a small group of people for whom Scrabble is more than just a game. You start out wondering just how someone can come to be so deeply into the game. But fortunately, you get to see it firsthand as the author himself undergoes his transformation.

The book at times becomes laden with technical talks...study techniques, game details...which can be a chore to work through at times. But I felt these passages really enhanced the book, exploring just what people go through for love of the game. Without them, it would be difficult to convey the real feel of the game. It can jst make it a bit harder of a read at times.

All in all, a really great book that was more moving than I thought it would be. Very recommended to anyone...just a lot of fun.

In choosing to write about the misfits, neurotics, and obsessives who call themselves Scrabble players Stefan Fatsis could have chosen one of two approaches. He could have for one year followed North America's best players as they trained for and played in the National championships -- the result would have been a screwball comedy. Or he could have focused on why he -- an ostensibly successful Wall Street Journal reporter -- would himself become as obsessed with the game as the unemployed geniuses that constitute the core of the Scrabble elite -- the result would have also been a screwball comedy. Instead Mr. Fatsis chooses the middling path, and focuses on how he as an amateur tried to make it as an elite Scrabble player -- the result is interesting but is the furthest away from a screwball comedy -- it's about a serious man with a serious mission to master a serious game.

That's the most frustrating thing about reading "Word Freak." It should be funny and entertaining, light and ironic -- but it takes itself and the game too seriously. That's because when writing the book Stefan Fatsis the journalist cannot separate himself from Stefan Fatsis the Scrabble player -- and the book becomes bogged down by detail, trivia, and minutaie that only Scrabble players care about. Fortunately for Fatsis there just happens to be millions of Scrabble players out there.

For these Scrabble lovers Fatsis offers sound advice and analysis on playing the game, and shows well the stress and pressures of competitive Scrabble. And Fatsis does a decent job on writing about the history of Scrabble. He has a chapter on the solitary genius Alfred Butts who invented the game, and even a chapter on Scrabble's corporate history.

Even though it's useful and highly marketable "Word Freak" is nonetheless written by a very pedestrian and inexperienced writer. The book is much too long, badly organized, and the diction is just terrible. Instead of gliding across the page the reader stumbles through it, sometimes tripping over the clunky words that Stefan Fatsis has intentionally placed there to show off his vocabulary.

The book feels like a rushed piece of work, and not at all edited. It felt as though when writing the book Fatsis was on a 25 minute timer, and it didn't matter if the chapters and paragraphs he created made any sense he just had to get it done under 25 minutes, and if he did he would win. And judging by the sales of this book he had indeed won.

A friend recommended this one to me. Not a topic that I ever even knew existed - professional scrabble! But this is a fascinating subculture populated by lovable misfits -- the introverted nebbish Joel from New York, the hip Marlon, who comes from one of the poorest black neighborhoods in America, but scrapes by on his earnings from his totally ingenious mastery of a word game most of us know only as a casual past-time. Fatsis writes with genuine affection for his subject - despite using the term "freak" in his title - and he is a really good guide to the intricacies of the game, which, when played at a really high level is far more complicated than I ever could have imagined. He also gives an excellent overview of the history of the game itself - its invention, its commercialization, its growth as a kind of American icon among board games. I can't say how glad I am that I read this book. It's a joy...even if the topic is a bit unusual. Highly, highly recommend.

My advice:

1. Consider the title/subjectmatter of WF. If you're not curious, take a pass.
2. If you are curious, read the first chapter. If
2.a. You're not totally (I do mean totally) sucked in, take a pass on the rest
2.b. You're totally (ditto) sucked in, read on.

My guess is that all of the middling/negative reviews on this page were posted by disgrunted 1- or 2a-readers who should have hit the eject-button early on; all of the praising reviews from us 2b-ers, contentedly strapped in for the ride. With all due respect to 1- and 2a-ers -- and with no aim to convert them from their 1/2a-ish ways (many of them have my sympathies, in fact) -- I'll just say that I'm squarely in the 2b camp. I thought WF was terrific, soup to nuts. I loved every character study, every competition, every lead-up to the next competition, every bout of authorly self-doubt, every instance of authorly self-satisfaction. Fatsis does a brilliant job of capturing -- and, indeed, being captured within -- an exceedingly odd subculture at the crossroads of game- and math-geekdom, on the wire (often literally) between sanity and insanity.

Fatsis writes about Scrabble-mania with a true insider's knowledge, and with a deep affection for both his subjectmatter and his subjects. The result is a greatly engaging, at times inspiring, often humorous, occasionally pathetic glimpse into a slice of life few of us can imagine, but one we must on some level respect.

WF is an odd and entertaining bit of social history. A wonderful read!

Extremely interesting book about a side of Las Vegas high stakes poker that most of us would otherwise never become aware of. The deal brokering and risk management approaches of the top pros working together instead of against each other is fascinating. I always thought that the poker pros were lone cowboys, but that's not always the case. And Andy Beal would be a formidable opponent in anything he decided to take on.

Not a poker instruction manual, but a fascinating glimpse into the high stakes world of the top Las Vegas poker room. Worth the read.

Book arrived as described. Great condition, just one "eared" page. Quite satisfied. If your familiar with poker and it's famous players, this book is a very quick read.

I bought this book because I'm a poker fan and casual player. I love reading dramatic stories surrounding Las Vegas. However, I found myself more interested in Andy Beal throughout the book than any of the stories surrounding the games being played. Maybe it was my entrepreneur/business side coming out, but for pure poker alone this book wasn't that interesting. If there is a biography about Andy Beal, I'll be sure to read that next.

In some ways this could be considered a story about negotiating terms and conditions - these factors were key in determining the outcome of "the game". Very interesting backstories about some of the players that appear at so many final tables of big tournaments.

This is a great book, I believe for a poker player although someone who wants insights into the High Stakes world would also enjoy it. It was absolutely riveting and it was extremely difficult to lay it down. An exceptionally fast read. I would recommend the book wholeheartedly. The ending was a bit off with the author forcibly interjectedly himself into the story. I found that trivial and quite unnecessary.

It is hard to find great novels about golf. This is really one that captures the magic of the game with the skill of a good storyteller. Highly recommended.

This book has received a lot of favorable reviews here. It may well be a good read. Prospective readers should be aware, though, that McAllister makes liberal use of the "F" word. In my opinion he makes way too much use of that word. I read for pleasure and relaxation. If I wanted to hear profanity, I'd hang out at the local bar. If profanity bothers you the way it does me, stay away from "The Green."

This novel, detailing the highly unorthodox strategy of recruiting a golf hustler to participate in the Ryder Cup, was at times brilliant, every bit the equal of some of Dan Jenkins' best work. At times, however, there were glaring mistakes in the description of some of the Ryder Cup matches and the shot selection of many of the players.

For example, in one set of matches, it was stated that one group was playing number twelve, while the two previous matches had ended in ties. Not likely the third group would have fallen six holes behind the group in front of it. The author also messed up the shot sequence in one of the alternating shot matches. He has virtually every player hitting shots that land in front of the green and run up, a strategy not called for at PGA West and rarely seen anywhere other than British Links courses.

These instances, while relatively minor, were frequent enough to detract from the flow of the novel and prevented me from awarding a fifth star. The author is supposedly a golfer, but you'd have to wonder, given many of the mistakes that should have been caught by the most casual golf fan. A well written, highly amusing novel, that could have been much better with just a little editing by a knowledgable golfer.

Every year my daughters buy me a book that I either quietly return, surreptitiously dispose of or make a meager effort to read. Somehow they never seem to get it right. But I counted them out too soon. This year they bought me "The Green." It sat around for weeks undisturbed on my desk, until one day I noticed it on the edge of my desk and picked it up while talking on the phone. I paged through it casually expecting the usual sub-par fare and was surprised to find myself intrigued enough to give it a go.

And what a great read it turned out to be! Eddie Caminetti has got to be one of the great fictional characters of all time. If you love golf and love pedal to the metal characters then this book is for you. This is one of those rare books that you simply cannot put down and when it is over you will crave more. But the author's subsequent offerings, while good, are no match for his first novel.

This is the best golf novel I've ever read and if you are a golf nut, as I am, you owe it to yourself to buy this book immediately! I can guarantee you that you will just flat love this novel and its main character, Eddie Caminetti. You are in for a rare treat if you've never read this novel. Do yourself a favor and buy it now. I promise you will not regret it!

You represent everything that is wrong with the world. How can you find that offensive? Let me guess: you sill believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and that Iraq had the WMD. Grow up. If you are afraid of being offended, you should not think, read, nor speak.

Read this book. It's fantastic.

I was disappointed with this book. I have read his books like Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and Sam's Letters to Jennifer before. And I thought this book would be of the same quality but it wasn't. I got thru the whole book but it didn't give me the feeling that I couldn't put it down.

James Patterson smashes it out of the park again. Whether you are a golfer or not, this story relates to all who feel like life is crashing in around us. James Patterson does a great job of taking us on a journey through this characters struggle with forced change and how he struggles to make life's changes, make sense.

Through each round of golf becomes another hurdle cleared and the fighting effort of a man who tries to make his life make sense. I think we can all relate with feeling like our work life and our personal lives are out of control, how we relate with getting back into the drivers seat and taking control of the wheel.

This is a wonderful story that keeps you turning each page until the end, the miracle. Not too cheesy and a quick read!

Even if you're not a golfer, I think you would enjoy this book and how it changed a life.

This book was received very quickly and was in excellent shape. Everything about this transaction exceeded my expectations.

Novels and movies about sports tend to follow the same pattern. If the central figure is a boxer, he will overcome adversity and knock out the champ. In Grisham's football novel, a flailing quarterback wins the championship, albeit elsewhere. Braddock knocks out Baer. Etc. And in Patterson's golf novel, a scratch duffer--well, take a guess.

As for miracles, there isn't much of one, and what miracle there is makes little or no sense. Read it for yourself and ask the burning question--why? And why did a weekend golfer suddenly find his putter? There are just all sorts of whys here, and Patterson brushes right by them. He never gets much past superficial in plot, character or theme.

Part of my problem here is golf itself. Men in pastel attire demand absolute silence as they address a ball that is not moving and which no one will try to field once it is struck. There is a kind of religious hush around tee or green. In baseball there is jeering noise as the batter tries to hit a moving ball with the hope that nine fielders won't get to it until the batter at least reaches first base. Golf isn't really sport by a strict definition. Baseball is. Football is. Hockey is.

The only worthwhile golf novel I know of is "Dead Solid Perfect" by Dan Jenkins. In fact, Jenkins wrote the best football novel as well: "Semi Tough." Both these examples are more for fun than for the thrill of victory. When a writer tries to make sports the central and serious theme, we know how it will end.

In my opinion, this is a good poker book. It helped me to open up my game and play a more aggressive style. For me, it kind of confirmed some things that I had thought but didn't have the confidence to try. Now I play a much less predictable, and much more profitable, style. There are some things that he says in the book that I find to not work as well as others, but I think it is a good read and will at least give anyone some new ideas to think about.

Ive bought and read many different poker stratagy guides, but this is the first one to pay off.. I was entering one $25.00 tourny a week, and never placing. After reading this, the first tourny i got 24th out of 223. Unfortunatly they only paid the top 20. Next i got 13th out of 67. Again just short as they paid top 9.

The third tourny hit. Not only did i cash, i actually won. I took home $600 for first place after a final table split. Then 2 tournys later, 3rd for another $200. Dont even think, just get this book. His stratagies for Chip, Placement and Card play are invaluable.

Often people buy a poker book and feel that they must play in that style. My views are a little different. Read this book to understand your opponent as well. You may choose to not play in this style but understand that there will be people who will. Understand the ideas behind the book and you will be better prepared against someone who plays this style. I have used this style in low buy tmts and if you notice the style of your opponents you can amass alot of chips. Like Snyder says, I used to find myself quickly getting short stacked. I would wait for a premium hand and when I got one my chip stack wouldn't be large enough to scare anyone away and subsequently lose my stack to a much larger one (who could afford to play an inferior hand and suck out). But with a larger stack (from getting more chips in positional plays) players were less likely to play against me and therefore making my stack larger. It also allowed me to withstand a bad beat. One bad beat doesn't knock you out. This is a poker book that makes you think about your game and the game of poker in general and that is always a good thing. If you like reading about poker I highly recomend this book.

this author teaches some very interesting concepts that defy most the other advice you'll run across. My game has vastly improved due to his stratagies. Big Stuff... and a must read for all NL Holdem Tournament players, new or experienced!!!

I call this book an 'underground' poker classic because it is deeply underappreciated in the poker world. I write a monthly column for one of the largest poker magazine, and in my opinion, it is the single best book for explaining winning tournament strategy...AGGRESSION. The reason aggression is the winning strategy is that a hold'em players greatest weapon at any time is Folding Equity. Meaning your ability to control your raises, and the probability your opponent will lay down their hand. The main problem I see is that the aggressive style does not fit everyone's personality, but if you want a crash course on tournament aggression, this is the book for you.