Fighting Chess with Magnus Carlsen by
Adrian Mikhalchishin & Oleg Stetsko
2011
Edition Olms
http://www.olms.de
280 pages
Price € 24,95
ISBN 978-3-283-01020-1
Last month we had Kämpfen und Siegen mit Magnus Carlsen on our
site and now I am pleased to announce the
English release Fighting
Chess with Magnus
Carlsen, excellent translated and edited
by no less than by Ken Neat!
Magnus Carlsen was born in Tønsberg, Norway, on the 30th
November 1990. He learnt to play the game of chess from his father at
the young age of 5.
Magnus first goal was to beat his sister, then his father.
Wonder boy Magnus Carlsen became an International Grandmaster at the
age of 13, the youngest at the time.
On January the 1st of 2010 the new Fide list was published and at the
age of 19 Magnus became the youngest ever chess player to be ranked
World Number One.
Bobby Fischer became at the age of 15 Grandmaster in Chess.
Garry Kasparov,was aged 20 when he reached World Number one.
The Russian grandmaster has been coaching Carlsen and in his blog the
teenager thanked Kasparov for helping him reach the top.
This beautiful produced Olms book, written by Adrian Mikhalchishin und
Oleg Stetsko does not only holds 64 of his most interesting and
instructive games,but there
is also a very detailed recorded of Magnus his chess career.
Thanks to the range and depth of the analysis, the hidden beauties of
Magnus chess unfold themselves to the reader.
Beginners and advanced players will enjoy to turn the leaves of this
beautiful heavy weight with great benefit.
Conclusion: A highly instructive game
collection!
Arthur Kaufmann
A Chess Biography, 1872-1938 by
Olimpiu G. Urcan and Peter Michael Braunwarth
Foreword by Grandmaster Mihail Marin
McFarland &
Company,Inc.,Publishers Box 611
Jefferson,North Carolina 28640.
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com
266 pages
Price $45.00
ISBN 978-0-7864-6145-5
Olimpiu G. Urcan and Peter Michael Braunwarth cover in this lovely
produced book the life and chess career of Arthur Kaufmann 1872-1938+.
Kaufmann was born on April4,1872 in Iasi,Moldavia,within the Jewish
family of Anna and Louis J.Kaufmann, located in the Eastern province
of Romania, the city of Iasi hosted one of the most vibrant Jewish
communities in Eastern Europe.
Kaufmann’s chess career is unbelievable well reconstructed by Urcan and
Braunwarth,but the reader shall also find in this book interesting
tournament
and match games,played against players as Capablanca,Tartakower,Reti
and Schlechter.
All together there are 71 annotated games with historical sources.
Interesting to mention is Kaufmann’s close relationship with Arthur
Schnitzler, the famed Austrian dramatist, whose diary offers important
information to Kaufmann’s life as a philosopher.
As Hooper and Whyld described it in there book The Oxford Companion to
Chess,all games of Kaufmann where played in Vienna.
But as we can read in the appendix there is a small chance that
Kaufmann played a interesting game with Alekhine in Odessa
1919: Alekhine,Alexander - Kaufman,A [D02]
Odessa Casual Odessa, 06.1919
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.dxc5 Nf6 4.c4 e6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Be3 Na6 7.g3 Bxc5
8.Bxc5 Nxc5 9.Bg2 0-0 10.0-0 Bf5 11.Nc3 Re8
12.Nd4 Bg6 13.Bh3 Nce4 14.Rc1 Nxc3 15.Rxc3 Ne4 16.Rb3 Rb8 17.f4 f6
18.Rb5 Bf7 19.Rf3 a6 20.Rb4 Qa5 21.Rfb3 Qc7
22.e3 b5 23.a4 bxa4 24.Ne6 Rxb4 25.Nxc7 Rxb3 26.Nxe8 Rxb2 27.Qc1 a3
28.Qc8 Rb1+ 29.Bf1 g6 30.Nxf6+ Kg7 31.Nxe4 a2
32.Qc3+ Kh6 33.Nd6 a1Q 34.Nxf7+ Kh5 35.Kg2 Rxf1 36.Kh3 g5 37.g4+ Kg6
38.Ne5+ 1-0.
But the great mystery stays how did Kaufmann run into Alekhine?
The day before the game was played Alekhine has been released
from prison by the Odessa Che-Ka,the counter revolutionary secret
police.
Urcan and Braunwarth writes: Unfortunately, as none of Kaufmann’s
letters elaborate on his transit through Odessa,this unusual
encounter remains by large obscure.
In the late 1890s Kaufman patented a variation in the Petroff: 1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.c4.
Included in this book are 55 photos, 217 diagrams, tables, appendices,
notes, bibliography and indexes.
Conclusion: One of those wonderful
written McFarland chess books!
SOS – Secrets of
Opening Surprises 14 by Jeroen Bosch
2012
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
143 pages
Price € 17,95
ISBN:
978-90-5691-366-3
Volume fourteen of the SOS secrets is again good for a highly
interesting collection off beat lines as the one from Simon
Williams on the
King’s Gambit: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Be2 as Williams explains in his
intro to this move: This little bishop gambit is a very interesting way
of
trying to take your opponent out of the theory.
The bishop is more passively placed on e2 compared to c4 but there are
some benefits to placing the bishop on this square.
Strange enough some older books on the King’s Gambit don’t even mention
this line!
A other hot line on the King’s Gambit comes from Arthur Kogan with his
Patzer Check: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Qh4+!?
Most authors don’t give this move a name but Korchnoi and Zak call it
in there book on the King’s Gambit the
Keene Variation, but did you know that this Patzer check was already
mentioned in the good old Bilguer?
After 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Qh4+ 3.g3 Qe7 4.Nc3 Kogan comes with the move 4…d6!
And that is a lot better than Neil McDonald his 4…exf4.
But 4…d6 is also mentioned in the older work from Korchnoi and Zak on
the King's Gambit.
Conclusion: These SOS books are
perfect for all who are searching for tricky side lines!
The Caro-Kann by Cyrus
Lakdawala
2012
Everyman
Chess
http://www.everymanchess.com
432 pages
Price € 24,95
ISBN 978-1-85744-687-6
Cyrus Lakdawala doe not only examines the Caro –Kann with move to move
annotation but provides the black player also with a time less
repertoire line.
Between the lines instructive selected questions and answers are
included to keep you at the lesson.
Going throw this 432 page heavy weight will not only help you to play
the Caro-Kann but even more
important, it will help you to understand the strategies of the most
solid defence that there is to the move 1.e4.
You don’t have to wonder as black which variation should I play in the
Caro - Kann, Cyrus Lakdawala the National Open and American Open
does it all for you in this heavy weight and goes after 4.Nxe4 for the
Smyslov Variation:1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7.
And if you are wondering what has Lakdawala than in mind after 5.Ng5!?
Virually unknown until about 20 years ago,this move has in recent years
almost totally dominated developments after 4....Nd7among the world's
top players.
Peter Wells in his gambit book The Caro - Kann!
Well Lakdawala gives the following move order: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3
dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4
10.Qxe4 Qc7 11.0-0 b6 12.Qg4 Kf8 13.b3 Bb7 14.Bb2 Nf6 15.Qh4 Nd5 16.g3
Nb4!
But after: 17.Be2 Nxc2 18.d5 Nxa1 19.dxe6 Re8 20.Qg4 fxe6 21.Rd1! In
the game Bobras – Wojtaszek Polish Championship 2010 followed 21.Nh4!
Lakdawala!
But GM Neil McDonald gives in Chess Publishing com 21.Nh4? And prefers
21.Rd1!
Lakdawala continues than with the moves 21.Bxa1 c5 23.Bb5 h5! 24.Qxh5
Qf7 25.Bxe8 Qxf3 26.Qxf3 Bxf3 27.Rxd6 Kxe8 28.Rxe6+ which leaves
black fighting for the draw.
Conclusion: Impressive and useful
learning book on the Caro – Kann.
The Kaufman Repertoire
for Black and White
A Complete, Sound and User-friendly
Chess Opening Repertoire
by Larry Kaufman
2012
New in Chess
http://www.newinchess.com/
496 pages
Price € 24,95
ISBN: 978-90-5691-371-7
After eight years grandmaster Larry Kaufman is back with his brand new
work The Kaufman repertoire for black & white,yes all presented in
one heavy loaded tome,
where both cover sides of this work cover a repertoire part.
Many things have changes after his first book,The Chess Advantage in
Black and White,so Kaufman has switch for black from the Berlin Defence
to
The Breyer 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5
7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8.
After Kaufman the Berlin Defence remains quite respectable and is used
fairly often by top players,but the Berlin endgame is now generally
regarded at as least slightly better for white.
But there are more other changes as for example in the Italian game:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+
where Kaufman recommend in his earlier book 7…Nxe4.Now he thinks that
7…Bxd2 is the better move.
In the King’s Gambit Kaufman goes for the good old Falkbeer Counter
Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 but after 3.exd5 he goes for 3….exf4.
And against the Danish gambit he prefers 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 Qe7!
Kaufman has also changed his older love 1.e4 into 1.d4, where his
main new conviction is that 1.d4 gives White better chances of an
advantage than 1.e4.
Against the Grünfeld he prefers set-ups with the Russian System:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 and
against the
Dutch: 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5.
With his first book Kaufman used a single core machine now he had the
use of a twelve core computer that permits analyses to go on 24 hours a
day,using each core
for a different position and putting everything into a nice tree.
Kaufman writes:The bottum line is that the quality of computer analyses
used in this book is several hundreds rating points stronger than what
I could do back in 2003.
On top of all this,I myself am a stronger player now than in 2003
despite my age 64 when this book comes out, probably because of all
this work I do
with these super strong engines.
In Europe there is little known about Larry Kaufman,he had first chess
lessons at age 8 from Harold Phillips,who had been a New York champion
in 1895!
And Kaufman his first major accomplishment in chess was winning the
American Open Championship in 1966. In 2008 Kaufman won the World
Senior
Championship in Germany,right after reaching the required age 60,and
this gave him the grandmaster title.
Conclusion: Certainly one of best repertoire books than I ever had on
my website!
