Thursday, February 26. 2009
"My Best Chess Book" Part 1, by GM Ray Keene
Ed: In What is the best chess book ever written?, posted yesterday, A.J. Goldsby named David Bronstein's book on the 1953 Candidates Tournament as his "Best Chess Book".
Under the title Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 , the English translation of Bronstein's classic is available in paperback (1980) from Amazon.
I gave my own choice as CHESS SECRETS I LEARNT FROM THE CHESS MASTERS, by Edward Lasker (1951). This book is out of print.
Grandmaster Ray Keene, host of the Impala Publications blog, offers 10 favourites in no particular order. But then he's clearly read at least ten times as many books on chess as me. Ray comments -
Here's my starter for ten - in the interests of objectivity I have included one of my own!
The expression "starter for ten" Ray has taken from the long-running British television quiz show University Challenge. Last Monday the current series was won by Corpus Christi College, Oxford, under the captaincy of Gail Trimble, a student of classics. Gail has become the most successful contestant ever on University Challenge, displaying a breathtaking depth of knowledge together with a stunning swiftness of thought demonstrated by her speed on the buzzer. I've been meaning to post on Gail Trimble, from London [no seeming relation to Nobel-Prizewinning Ulster politician David Trimble]. Perhaps I still shall. Gail is definitely my heroine of the moment.
Here are Ray's first five book choices with my comments -
1. My System
by Aron Nimzowitsch. First published in German as Mein System, the English translation (by Philip Hereford) appeared in 1929.
Arguably the greatest, most important and most influential chess book of all time. Nimzo offers his interpretation of deep chess strategy with brilliant wit. A favourite of mine too.
2. My book on Nimzowitsch
ARON NIMZOWITSCH: A REAPRAISAL, by Ray Keene (1974). A favourite of mine as well. In yesterday's blog I wrote -
'Keene wrote the book as a supplement to Nimzo's own MY SYSTEM and CHESS PRAXIS, but the REAPPRAISAL can stand comfortably on its own. It was one of the very few books in English that was translated into Russian. (I wonder if Ray ever received any roubles for that?)
Keene discusses Nimzo's tournament career (the tournament tables are excellent) and analyses many of Nimzo's greatest games - favourites for me are Nimzo's victories over Alekhine (New York, 1927) and Spielmann (Carlsbad, 1929) where the stakes were of the highest. And Keene discusses the various themes occurring in Nimzo's games and his (unequalled) contribution to opening theory.
A curiosity is the book's transitional position in time. Up to then descriptive notation had been the norm in the English-speaking countries, but Keene was naturally familiar with the algebraic notation used on the continent. Although the book uses descriptive generally, on several occasions Keene employs algebraic in the text. in Rather than refer to "White's QN7" (for example), Keene will write "b7". Within a few years, England went over to the more concise algebraic notation completely.'
3. Reti's best games by Golombek
RÉTI'S BEST GAMES OF CHESS, Harry Golombek, 1954. Sadly I've missed reading this one. Richard Réti was a leading hypermodern, famous for his victory over Capablanca using his own Réti Opening when Capa was regarded as invincible. Réti was an important writer on chess as well, as we shall see in Keene's later choices.
4. Tal's best games by Clarke
First published by Bell in 1961 as MIKHAIL TAL'S BEST GAMES OF CHESS, by P.H. Clarke. Contained 50 games played from 1951 to 1960, the year in which Tal became World Champion by defeating Botvinnik. The Bell series on chess were a delight to own, hardback, expensive paper, real "gentlemen's books". Yet my copy is the Batsford paperback reprint of 1991, entitled MIKHAIL TAL: MASTER OF SACRIFICE, which includes an Introduction by Raymond Keene (!). There Keene wrote-
"Who knows what impact the brilliant Latvian Mikhail Tal would have made on the history of chess had he not have been the victim of prolonged, permanent and almost paralysing bouts of ill health ... On route to the World Championship Tal smashed and confused the world's top players with a sacrificial arsenal, the like of which had never been seen before."
Tal was a very witty journalist and author on chess, as well as one of the most charismatic players ever of the royal game. I'd hope to write sometime on the many books by and about Tal. See Tal Memorial underway (Monday, November 12. 2007) for links to several previous posts on this great player.
5. MGP by Kasparov which I regard as one big book
ON MY GREAT PREDECESSORS, by Garry Kasparov. Published in 5 volumes from 2003 to 2006. Described as "a modern history of the development of chess", Kasparov examines the games and career of all his 12 predecessors as World Champions, as well as the contributions of several others who nearly made it.
I've already posted a review of Part V: Korchnoi and Karpov in two parts;
Part 1 Friday, April 28. 2006
Part 2 Saturday, April 29. 2006
ä ö ü Ä Ë Ö Ü ß ê î â Â ă Ă Ş Ţ Ç ş š ţ ç É É Í Ó Ú á é í ó ú è Ő ő ű ñ ï ë
To be continued
Under the title Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 , the English translation of Bronstein's classic is available in paperback (1980) from Amazon.
I gave my own choice as CHESS SECRETS I LEARNT FROM THE CHESS MASTERS, by Edward Lasker (1951). This book is out of print.
Grandmaster Ray Keene, host of the Impala Publications blog, offers 10 favourites in no particular order. But then he's clearly read at least ten times as many books on chess as me. Ray comments -
Here's my starter for ten - in the interests of objectivity I have included one of my own!
Gail Trimble
Here are Ray's first five book choices with my comments -
1. My System
by Aron Nimzowitsch. First published in German as Mein System, the English translation (by Philip Hereford) appeared in 1929.
Arguably the greatest, most important and most influential chess book of all time. Nimzo offers his interpretation of deep chess strategy with brilliant wit. A favourite of mine too.
2. My book on Nimzowitsch
ARON NIMZOWITSCH: A REAPRAISAL, by Ray Keene (1974). A favourite of mine as well. In yesterday's blog I wrote -
'Keene wrote the book as a supplement to Nimzo's own MY SYSTEM and CHESS PRAXIS, but the REAPPRAISAL can stand comfortably on its own. It was one of the very few books in English that was translated into Russian. (I wonder if Ray ever received any roubles for that?)
Keene discusses Nimzo's tournament career (the tournament tables are excellent) and analyses many of Nimzo's greatest games - favourites for me are Nimzo's victories over Alekhine (New York, 1927) and Spielmann (Carlsbad, 1929) where the stakes were of the highest. And Keene discusses the various themes occurring in Nimzo's games and his (unequalled) contribution to opening theory.
A curiosity is the book's transitional position in time. Up to then descriptive notation had been the norm in the English-speaking countries, but Keene was naturally familiar with the algebraic notation used on the continent. Although the book uses descriptive generally, on several occasions Keene employs algebraic in the text. in Rather than refer to "White's QN7" (for example), Keene will write "b7". Within a few years, England went over to the more concise algebraic notation completely.'
3. Reti's best games by Golombek
RÉTI'S BEST GAMES OF CHESS, Harry Golombek, 1954. Sadly I've missed reading this one. Richard Réti was a leading hypermodern, famous for his victory over Capablanca using his own Réti Opening when Capa was regarded as invincible. Réti was an important writer on chess as well, as we shall see in Keene's later choices.
4. Tal's best games by Clarke
First published by Bell in 1961 as MIKHAIL TAL'S BEST GAMES OF CHESS, by P.H. Clarke. Contained 50 games played from 1951 to 1960, the year in which Tal became World Champion by defeating Botvinnik. The Bell series on chess were a delight to own, hardback, expensive paper, real "gentlemen's books". Yet my copy is the Batsford paperback reprint of 1991, entitled MIKHAIL TAL: MASTER OF SACRIFICE, which includes an Introduction by Raymond Keene (!). There Keene wrote-
"Who knows what impact the brilliant Latvian Mikhail Tal would have made on the history of chess had he not have been the victim of prolonged, permanent and almost paralysing bouts of ill health ... On route to the World Championship Tal smashed and confused the world's top players with a sacrificial arsenal, the like of which had never been seen before."
Tal was a very witty journalist and author on chess, as well as one of the most charismatic players ever of the royal game. I'd hope to write sometime on the many books by and about Tal. See Tal Memorial underway (Monday, November 12. 2007) for links to several previous posts on this great player.
5. MGP by Kasparov which I regard as one big book
ON MY GREAT PREDECESSORS, by Garry Kasparov. Published in 5 volumes from 2003 to 2006. Described as "a modern history of the development of chess", Kasparov examines the games and career of all his 12 predecessors as World Champions, as well as the contributions of several others who nearly made it.
I've already posted a review of Part V: Korchnoi and Karpov in two parts;
Part 1 Friday, April 28. 2006
Part 2 Saturday, April 29. 2006
ä ö ü Ä Ë Ö Ü ß ê î â Â ă Ă Ş Ţ Ç ş š ţ ç É É Í Ó Ú á é í ó ú è Ő ő ű ñ ï ë
To be continued
Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks
Comments
Display comments as
(Linear | Threaded)
Could you help me. What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?
I am from Antigua and also now teach English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Apr ria novosti reported that an additional share issue is not being discussed as a measure to help avtovaz amid the ongoing economic crisis.Online news and information for a democratic labor movement."
Thank you so much for your future answers
. Idalee.
I am from Antigua and also now teach English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Apr ria novosti reported that an additional share issue is not being discussed as a measure to help avtovaz amid the ongoing economic crisis.Online news and information for a democratic labor movement."
Thank you so much for your future answers
. Idalee.Could you help me. Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from.
I am from Uzbekistan and also now teach English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Seo pr experts offer a broad range of search engine optimization and public relations consulting services and training classes for bb and bc sites.Software development, database design, web design and development, search engine optimization seo firm has been optimizing business processes and."
Thank
Bertille.
I am from Uzbekistan and also now teach English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Seo pr experts offer a broad range of search engine optimization and public relations consulting services and training classes for bb and bc sites.Software development, database design, web design and development, search engine optimization seo firm has been optimizing business processes and."
Thank
Bertille.Blog Administration
Quicksearch
Calendar
History
Thu, 30.07.2009 15:12Richard Ferguson 1935-2009, [...]
