The Flanders Panel

I happened across this book by Arturo Perez-Reverte in B&N one day, and was drawn to the image of the chessboard on the cover. The book was originally written in Spanish and has been translated to English.

The story revolves around a couple of things that I like – classical art and chess. When Julia uncovers a hidden message in The Game of Chess, a classic Flemish painting she’s restoring, her entire world changes. Her ex-lover is murdered, and the killer seems to want to play out a real-life game of chess based on the game depicted in the painting. Julia must solve the chess puzzle in order to figure out who is after her and why.

I enjoyed this one. The author skillfully weaves the chess game into the story without overdoing it. There isn’t a lot of action – instead there’s a lot of discussion and contemplation, so I was surprised to find out that a movie had been made that is based on the book. The movie’s called Uncovered, and it’s a British film starring Kate Beckinsale. It’s an interesting movie if you’ve read the book, because they’ve changed a few things, and completely overhauled one of the main characters. Both versions of the character are very interesting. So after you’ve read the book, you can check out the movie.

If you are a fan of chess or art history, you should give this book a read.

This Crazy World of Chess

I finished this book by Larry Evans a few days ago, but haven’t gotten a chance to review it until now.

Larry Evans has played a prominent role in the chess world for over half a century now, as player and journalist, so who better to dig up and expose the dirt of the international chess scene? This book is a collection of Larry’s articles from the last 50 or so years, and it provides a behind-the-scenes look at the chess world, for better or worse.

Evans was Bobby Fischer’s second for a while, so some of the articles provide more information about the former chess champion, and his rise to the top.

Evans doesn’t care much for FIDE, the international chess association. After reading this book, neither do I. It sounds like an organization that is rife with scandal, and is actually harming chess in the pursuit of protecting its own interests. Reading about this was quite disheartening. Right now, chess needs an organization to boost it up and really bring it back into the public eye, and FIDE doesn’t seem to be that organization. The USCF doesn’t seem to be much better, but I’m hopeful that with Susan Polgar at the helm, chess will experience a renaissance of sorts in this country. I really like what she has done with her foundation, and with trying to bring more girls into the game. I think that she will help to bring more visibility to the game. But enough of my soapboxing, back to the review.

One of my favorite articles was one in which he details a trip that he took to Russia during the 50s with the US chess team. It paints a very vivid picture of 1950s Russia, and just how large a role chess played in Russian culture. It was a source of national pride, and apparently still is. It’s what baseball is to America (well, without the steroids).

With all the articles collected in one book, some of Larry’s tendency to repeat himself becomes more obvious. There are several points or anecdotes that are repeated in multiple essays, and I found this a bit annoying. That’s really the only negative comment that I have about the book though.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The chess world truly is a crazy place, and I’m glad that Larry Evans has spent his life chronicling it.

The Art of Learning

The author of this book is Josh Waitzkin, whom you may know better as the subject of the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. A chess prodigy as a child, he has spent the last few years studying Tai Chi and participating in international Push Hands competitions. As an international master in chess, and a world champion in Push Hands, Josh has been wildly successful in setting goals and working hard to achieve them.

This book is a mixture of things. He uses his personal experiences to convey information, and he does this effectively. Rather than describing the learning process in dull text, he writes about his experiences in the worlds of competitive chess and martial arts. This allows him to describe the learning process within the context of a story, which makes the information far more palatable and entertaining. I really enjoyed some of his anecdotes, and many are quite inspiring.

He has an interesting perspective on the learning process, and offers sound advice for those who desire to achieve greater focus in their endeavors.

I’d recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about the learning process, or learning to become more focused on their goals. Also, Josh has had a pretty amazing life thus far, so it’s an interesting read.

Bobby Fischer Goes to War

I picked up this book by David Edmonds and John Eidinow at the same time that I got the Pandolfini book, at the Crown Books liquidation center. It cost me $5.

This book chronicles the famous world championship chess match that took place in Iceland in 1972. The players were Boris Spassky, from the USSR, and Bobby Fischer, from the US. Fischer ended up winning, becoming the first ever (and still the only) world chess champion from the US. Not only does the book chronicle the event itself, it also describes Bobby Fischer’s rise to the top.

It also details the state of Soviet chess at that time, and Soviet life in general. Spassky was world champion, and his title afforded him perhaps too much leeway within the Soviet government. They allowed him to pick his team, and let him practice without much oversight. There are many that say that Spassky did not prepare properly for the competition, and there were several games in which he makes horrible blunders.

The games played over the board were but a small part of the competition. Fischer nearly didn’t show up at all, and only did so after much persuasion. Spassky had to wait to see if he would play at all. This extra stress may have caused him to perform poorly, and midway through the competition he was suffering greatly from stress. Bobby’s continued demands and commands caused a lot of stress for everyone involved.

Bobby Fischer is an amazing chess player. But he is also an amazing ass. His behavior leading up to and during the competition was deplorable. His behavior continues to be deplorable. He is an anti-semite, despite the fact that he himself is Jewish by birth. He’s made several horrible comments about the September 11th attacks in the US. It is a shame that the only thing that he seems capable of doing well is playing chess.

I really enjoyed this book, not only for the chess history, but for the glimpses it gives into life in the Soviet Union. I recommend this book, whether you enjoy playing chess or not.

Pandolfini’s Ultimate Guide to Chess

Continuing my quest to get a good grounding in chess fundamentals, I read Pandolfini’s Ultimate Guide to Chess by Bruce Pandolfini. Pandolfini is a well-known chess instructor, most notable for being Josh Waitzkin’s mentor (as seen in the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer – he actually had a cameo). I found the book at a local bargain bookstore for $5. Score!

The information in the book is presented as a conversation between a chess student and his teacher. It starts off by explaining the rules, and then jumps into the good stuff: fundamentals, tactics, analysis, strategy. The teacher and student play a game, which they discuss fully. The student asks intelligent questions, and the teacher answers. Gradually, the student becomes more knowledgable about the game, and starts to answer his own questions. As the student progresses, so does the reader. I enjoyed this format – it seemed to read faster.

The information in the book was good. It reinforced a lot of the stuff that I learned from the Seirawan book, and added some new thoughts. It stressed the importance of developing your pieces, and maintaining an advantage in tempo. The information was presented clearly, and there were plenty of diagrams.

The endgame was covered very briefly. This book tried to tell you how to get to a favorable endgame, but didn’t really explain how to close the deal once you got there. I didn’t really mind this however – I’ve got another book for that.

I enjoyed this book, and I feel like I have a solid grounding in the fundamentals. Now I need to play play play, to ingrain those fundamentals in my gameplay.

I recommend this book to novice players that are looking to get a solid introduction to chess fundamentals.

Play Winning Chess

I have a bunch of chess books that I have read, so I thought I would start reviewing them. I will eventually have reviews up for all the books in my chess library that I’ve read. There are still quite a few that are unread, so hopefully this will spur me on to read them.

Anyways, I’ve added a special page to hold my chess library, so check it out (no pun intended).

The first book I’m going to review is Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan. This is the first book in the Winning Chess series, which is now published by Everyman Press, but I actually have two volumes from the early 90s, when the series was published by Microsoft Press of all things. For the beginning to intermediate player, this series is excellent. By the time you get through the entire series, you’ll be well grounded in the fundamentals and well on your way to becoming a class B player (or higher).

Play Winning Chess is a good book. I was looking for something that would start me gently on the path to mastery, and I think that I chose well. The first part introduces beginners to the game, but the sections of the book that discuss the four elements of chess and their principles are very good. I felt that they gave me a good grounding in the fundamentals.

The four elements of chess are force, time, space, and pawn structure. Seirawan explains each of these elements, and then outlines several basic principles that are related to the element being discussed.

The text is very accessible, and enjoyable. Seirawan got me excited to start playing seriously. His enthusiasm is contagious.

I would recommend this book as a good introduction to chess fundamentals.

A victory present to myself (’cause I deserve it)

After my miraculous victory described in my last post, I decided to reward myself with a new chess book. I stopped by the local Borders on my way home from work to browse the chess section.

Quick Aside: I’ve noticed that the chess sections of the local megabookstores have grown smaller as time has gone on. This is sad. I guess they need to make more shelf space for all the encroaching poker books.

I was planning to get My System, since apparently one is not a true chess player unless one has read that classic. The store didn’t have it – bummer. What they did have was a copy of Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. I know that many people list this book amongst those that have most improved their game, so I decided to give it a try. Yes, Bobby Fischer is an anti-semitic, anti-American douchebag, but he’s a douchebag that can sure play chess.

I’m a little more than halfway through the book now. It’s got an interesting format. At the beginning of each section, there is a brief explanation of a particular concept, followed by an example or two. The rest of each section is dedicated to chess problems involving the concept, and subtle variations on the theme.

I think that this is an excellent way to learn various concepts. By working through the various examples, the point is really driven home, at least for me it is.

The focus on the book is a bit narrow – that of tactics and combinations that lead to checkmate. He talks about back-rank mates for a while, and removal of the guard, and breaking through a pawn defense around the King, often with a sacrifice of some sort. The narrow focus allows each subject to be examined in some depth, and when each section is over, I feel like I am left with a solid foundation on which to build.

The layout of the book is interesting. When you’re holding the book open, you only read the page on the right. The top section of the page is the answer to the previous problem, and the bottom section of the page is the next problem. The left-hand pages are printed upside-down, so when you read all the right-hand pages through to the end of the book, you turn the book upside-down and continue to read only the right-hand pages, which used to be the left-hand upside-down pages. Simple, no?

I thought that this idea was a novel concept until I reached the halfway point and turned the book around. I usually like to read a bit at lunchtime, and I felt like a bit of a jackass sitting in the mall food court reading from a book that to everyone else looks upside-down. I suppose I’ll get over it.

I’m feeling good about what I’ve learned so far. Whether I will remember any of this stuff during a game is yet to be seen. I can only hope.