More Mongoose

The 'Mongoose Times' blog is building up nicely. Here's the latest:

http://mongoosepress.info/blog/?p=96

Chess Reviews: 78

New York 1924
By GM Alexander Alekhine
352 pages
Russell Enterprises

‘‘We use ‘super tournament’ so much today that, as with ‘super-model’, ‘super-computer’ and like, its meaning has become, well, less than super. But New York 1924 was a super tournament that was truly extraordinary’’

So says GM Andy Soltis in his thoughtful foreword, before going on to add some important historical context to the tournament.

There’s a note from the publisher, explaining that although various editorial mishaps have been corrected form earlier editions, Alekhine’s original game notes have not been checked against the analysis of chess engines

‘By all means, if that is what you wish to do, go for it. For the rest of` us, it may be enough to sit back and savor one of the great chess tournament books of all time. Enjoy…’

There’s a reproduction of a memorable group photograph, with facsimile autographs of all of the players. They all look very serious except for Dr Emanuel Lasker. I’m not sure if the picture was taken before or after the event, but the impish look on the face of the second World Champion was of course ultimately justified. Further photographs of the players intersperse the text.

The tournament thoroughly deserves its place as one of the most memorable ever seen. The reigning World Champion, Capablanca, was there as were his predecessor (Dr. Lasker) and eventual successor (Alekhine). Past and future World Championship challengers Janowsky, Marshall and Bogoljubow (plus Maroczy, who for some reason never did get around to playing his proposed title match with Lasker) were there too, no doubt all eager to prove themselves against the world’s elite.

Ultimately, Dr. Lasker pulled off another one of his extraordinary tournament victories after an exciting race with Capablanca. The latter had sensationally lost to Reti early on and just couldn’t catch the eventual champion.

Revitalised tournament books can be judged by various methods.

It’s time for a close examination of three of the key criteria.

1) How good is the original version of the book?

Those who already own the Dover version of the tournament book will probably read it with mixed feelings. There’s no doubt that Alekhine’s annotations were ahead of their time but the format of the notes is clearly very dated and they are difficult for modern eyes to follow.

In short, the old edition is undoubtedly a great book, but these days can be seen as hard work.

2) Are the games lively, entertaining and educational?

The grand mix of players highlights a pivotal moment in the history of chess. This was the true dawning of a new age, with Richard Reti leading the way for ‘Hypermoderns’ and their ‘openings of the future’.

The old guard were by no means willing to move aside and the sparks certainly flew over the board.

Here’s a few key examples:

Reti v Yates

An excellent demonstration of White’s hypermodern approach 1-0 (31)

The clashes in the openings were evident throughout the tournament. Famous endgames abounded too:

Dr. Lasker v Ed. Lasker

White drew from here, in 103 moves.

Capablanca v Tartakower

35 Kg3 ‘Decisive! White sacrifices material in order to obtain the classical position with king on f6, pawn on g6 and rook on h7, whereupon the black pawns tumble like rotten apples’.

Janowski - Ed. Lasker

Yes - White really is moving up the board. Several wins were missed before the game was drawn after 71 moves.

Those snippets should whet the appetite. Many more await the reader.

3) Is the new edition a worthy addition to chess literature?

The original book suffers from an outdated format and cramped layout. Russell Enterprises have very successfully improved both issues, with the notes now flowing through each game and the notation fully converted to algebraic. The pages are easy on the eye and the number of diagrams has been greatly increased.

The main body of the work is of course intact, and includes Alekhine’s famous article:
‘The Significance of the New York Tournament in the Light of the Theory Openings’.

His survey takes up 27 pages and he certainly has his work cut out, analysing his way through the classic openings (starting with the Ruy Lopez) through to the Reti Opening.

Some of his conclusions now appear quaint, such as his swipe at 1 e4 g6:

‘Capablanca took the liberty once of playing this ‘‘Joke Opening’’…naturally, this experiment has no claim to any theoretical significance.’

However, there is still plenty of wisdom in his words and it is historically interesting to see the differences in opinion between then and now.

Modern readers, who habitually eschew anything old fashioned (regardless of content and value) will have no problems being inspired to study the fabulous games.

It is good to see Russell Enterprises continuing to resurrect classic tomes for modern readers. One can only hope that the tournament book of Nottingham 1936 will receive similar treatment soon.

For more on books from Russell Enterprises, pop along to:

http://www.chesscafe.com/

Missed a review? Please visit my archive:

http://marshtowers.blogspot.com/2007/12/chess-review-archive.html

GM Adams Tribute to GM Keene

There was a good article in yesterday's Daily Telegraph by GM Michael Adams, in which he paid tribute to GM Raymond Keene.

The article is not on the Telegraph website, but it can be seen here:

http://www.keeneonchess.com/index.asp?contiene=new&id=16

Fans of The Grob should look away!

New Blog: Mongoose Times

There's a brand new blog for you to read and enjoy.

Mongoose Press, famous for publishing chess books, are the brains behind 'Mongoose Times'.

There are going to many contributors and the content is by no means confined only to chess.

To join the fun, pop along to: http://mongoosepress.info/blog/ and add it to your 'favourites' while you're there.

Chess Reviews: 77

Secrets of Positional Play

By GM Mark Dvoretsky and GM Artur Yusupov
240 pages
Edition Olms

‘It became clear that there was the need to develop an approach to the position, which I call ‘prophylactic thinking’ - the habit of constantly asking yourself what the opponent wants to do, what he would play if it were him to move, the ability to find an answer to this question and to take account of it in the process of coming to a decision’.

This is volume 4 in the acclaimed ‘School of Future Champions’ series.

‘Prophylaxis’ is the main theme running through the book, but plenty of other positional motifs receive attention.

The material is split into five main parts.

Part 1: Methods of Improving Positional Play

Featuring three chapters by GM Dvoretsky and a shorter one by GM Dlugy.

The pick of the bunch is ‘Prophylactic Thinking’, particularly the annotated games by Karpov (against Timman) and Petrosian (against Gufeld). Those two masters of the prophylactic style played moves which can be very hard to predict. Try guessing what they will play while looking at their games; the ‘hit’ rate will be surprisingly low considering nothing much seems to be happening. Good annotations are essential to understand what is going beneath the surface.

Karpov’s own notes are used to augment the author’s and they shed a very revealing light on the art of preventing the opponent’s intentions.

Karpov - Timman
Montreal 1979

‘Karpov’s next move is probably the best in the game. How did he find it? Obviously he asked himself what the opponent wanted. The answer is clear: to bring the Knight into play via c5. How can this be prevented?’

22 Qc2!! (22 …Nc5 would be met by 23 b4! as the pressure on c6 is set to be strong)
The author points out that White had the tactical option of 22 Nxc6!? Qxc6 23 e5, but he was completely unwilling to allow any activity for the Black pieces.


A few moves on, Karpov is at it again. 24 Qd3 is tempting, but he chose the subtle 24 Bf2!

‘Prior to his decisive offensive White places his pieces in the most harmonious way possible, and…once again reinforces his central outpost at e4!’

It’s these little moves that make all the difference. Having the presence of mind and patience to find them at the height of the battle is one of the big differences between those who can play like this and those who can’t. Karpov very rarely lost his patience.


29 Be3! …and Black never did get even a glimmer of activity 1-0 (38)


Part II: Ways of Looking for Positional Solutions

There are two sections by Alexey Kosikov, one by GM Dvoretsky and one by GM Yusupov.

Part III: Typical Positions

This part contains two sections by GM Dvoretsky and one by the duo of Igor Khenkin and Vladimir Kramnik (on the Stonewall Variation of the Dutch Defence).

GM Dvoretsky’s section on ‘Opposite-Colour Bishops in the Middlegame’ is one of the most instructive in the book, showing how to use them alongside the initiative.

Karpov - Kasparov
Game 4, World Championship Match 1985

This looks like a balanced position, with Black doing well on the Queenside. GM Dvoretsky shows how Karpov methodically engineered decisive action on the virtually uncontested White squares.


38 Bb1! ‘The triumph of White’s strategy - the queen inevitably reaches the b1 - h7 diagonal.’

The final position demonstrates the culmination of White’s strategy - and Black’s nightmare. The opposite coloured Bishops have not proved equal after all; Black’s is worse than a pawn and White’s is spearheading a decisive attack.

1-0

Careful study of the examples and annotations will give he reader an important addition to their middlegame armoury, especially as a lot of club and tournament will persist in thinking that opposite coloured Bishops are ‘always drawish’.


Part IV: Complicated Strategy in Practice

One chapter each for GM Dvoretsky and GM Yusupov; one by GM Bareev.

Part V: From Games by Pupils of the School

With annotations by GM Yusupov.

I always find the ‘Games by Pupils’ chapters of this series to be essentially filler material. The games are usually replete with mistakes and blunders. The main interest lies in spotting which of the young pupils made it through to be strong Grandmasters between then and now.

There are a few exercises for the reader to solve at the end of some of the chapters. The standard is high; it is not easy to find the right paths.

Here’s a randomly selected sample:

Timman - Larsen
Mar del Plata 1982

It’s Black to move. The only clue given is: ‘What does my opponent want, and what would he play if it were him to move?’

I’m not sure there has been any significant - if any - updating of the material since the earlier Batsford edition. (Kasparov is still ‘the World Champion’, Kramnik a guest writer.) If you already have that one on your library then you might think twice before ordering this one. However, those new to this volume will find much to enjoy. There’s an impressive amount of prose to compliment the (often lengthy) lines of analysis.

The layout is typical for Olms books; everything is presented very tidily with good spacing and very clear fonts.

Of course, it is great to see such a high quality chess book enjoying a new and attractive edition, but there is a strong desire to see some completely original chess writing by GM Dvoretsky.

For further details of these and all other Olms books, please go to:
http://www.edition-olms.com/seiten/schach.php

Missed a review? Pop along to my archive:
http://marshtowers.blogspot.com/2007/12/chess-review-archive.html

200 Years of Mystery, Imagination and Terror

It’s over 25 years since I first read the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I was fascinated by the horrific depths of his imagination. He was able to summon up some of the most disturbing and horrible images in history (particularly impressive as it was so many decades before the invention of reality TV shows).

This year marks the bicentenary of his birth (19 January 1809 - 7 October 1849) so it seems to be an excellent time to visit his works once again.

Everyone has heard of the classics, such as 'The Premature Burial', 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and 'The Fall of the House of Usher', probably due to the fact that there have been famous films based on those stories.

However, there is a lot more to discover. Poe was there in the earliest days of detective fiction. Chevalier Auguste Dupin, the direct inspiration for countless fictional detectives (including Sherlock Holmes) solves the cases of: 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'The Mystery of Marie Roget' and 'The Purloined Letter'. These are clever stories, showing his imagination being used in a different way.

Poe's sense of humour is often overlooked (to say the least) so stories such as 'Never Bet the Devil Your Head' and 'Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling' may come as a surprise to some readers; they are usually left out of the standard anthologies so one has to dig a little deeper.

I was never a big fan of his poetry, although I enjoyed some of it, such as 'The Raven' and 'A Dream Within a Dream'. Far better for me was his one and only novel, 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'. It is a masterpiece of pain and misery and can be an uncomortable read. It's a good antidote if you feel you are having a bad day.

So, dear readers, on these long Winter evenings, turn the lights down low, reach for your Poe and prepare to be entertained, horrified and amused.

Here's a little starter for you (I feel sure I don't have to name this masterpiece for you):

TRUE! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses - not destroyed - not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily - how calmly I can tell you the whole story...

Opening Workshop No. 4

Pop along to the Chess Links Project site...

http://www.chesslinksproject.btik.com/p_Opening_Notes.ikml

...for the latest opening secrets from Norman Stephenson.