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Chess
Founding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. [Link] †
Contents
Executive Editor: Malcolm Pein Editorial....................................................................................................................4
Editors: Richard Palliser, Matt Read Malcolm Pein on the latest developments in the game
Associate Editor: John Saunders
Subscriptions Manager: Paul Harrington 60 Seconds with...Aditya Munshi ................................................................7
Twitter: @CHESS_Magazine
The Nottingham teenager certainly enjoys his chess
Twitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm Pein
Website: [Link] A Silver Lining........................................................................................................8
Russia won the World Team Championship and England also shone
Subscription Rates:
United Kingdom Forthcoming Events.........................................................................................20
1 year (12 issues) £49.95 Will you be playing chess over either Bank Holiday weekend?
2 year (24 issues) £89.95
3 year (36 issues) £125
The Old and the New .......................................................................................22
Europe Hikaru Nakamura and Jennifer Yu triumphed at the U.S. Championships
1 year (12 issues) £60
2 year (24 issues) £112.50 Manx Derailed.....................................................................................................24
3 year (36 issues) £165 Guildford were left in a clear lead after round 8 of the 4NCL
USA & Canada
1 year (12 issues) $90 Endgame Masterclass......................................................................................30
2 year (24 issues) $170 Gawain Jones presents two instructive endings from Astana
3 year (36 issues) $250
Rest of World (Airmail)
Studies with Stephenson...............................................................................33
1 year (12 issues) £72 David Hodge triumphed at the British Chess Solving Championship
2 year (24 issues) £130
3 year (36 issues) £180 Fifty Years Ago ..................................................................................................34
John Saunders looks back at the world’s best players in 1969
Distributed by:
Post Scriptum (UK only), Find the Winning Moves.................................................................................36
Unit G, OYO Business Park, Hindmans Way,
Can you do as well as the players at the 4NCL?
Dagenham, RM9 6LN - Tel: 020 8526 7779
LMPI (North America) How Good is Your Chess?..............................................................................40
8155 Larrey Street, Montreal (Quebec), Daniel King presents an Adhiban win from the World Teams
H1J 2L5, Canada - Tel: 514 355-5610
Views expressed in this publication are not Opening Trends..................................................................................................43
necessarily those of the Editors. Contributions to The Reti continues to hold sway at the top of the chart
the magazine will be published at the Editors’
discretion and may be shortened if space is limited. Never Mind the Grandmasters...................................................................44
No parts of this publication may be reproduced Carl Portman has been frustrated by a run of draws
without the prior express permission of the publishers.
Blundering ............................................................................................................46
All rights reserved. © 2019
Matthew Lunn examines four instructive early blunders
Chess Magazine (ISSN 0964-6221) is published by:
Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker St, London, W1U 7RT Overseas News...................................................................................................48
Tel: 020 7288 1305 Fax: 020 7486 7015
Vladislav Artemiev triumphed once again in the European Individual
Email: info@[Link], Website: [Link]

FRONT COVER: Home News ..........................................................................................................51

Cover Design: Matt Read Alan Merry and Aditya Munshi did well at the Nottingham Congress
Cover image: David Llada
Solutions ...............................................................................................................54
US & Canadian Readers – You can contact us via our
American branch – Chess4Less based in West Palm This Month’s New Releases ..........................................................................55
Beach, FL. Call toll-free on 1-877 89CHESS (24377).
You can even order Subscriber Special Offers online
Works from McFarland and on the Alekhine come under the microscope
via [Link]
Saunders on Chess............................................................................................58
Magnus Carlsen’s play of late has reminded John of Alekhine
Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Photo credits: Baku Olympiad (p.28), Chess Club & Scholastic Center of Saint Louis/Austin
Company using only paper from FSC/PEFC Fuller (pp.23, 48), Maria Emelianova (pp.8, 10, 13), David Llada (pp.1, 11, 15-16, 19-20,
suppliers [Link] 31, 41), Phil Makepeace (p.24), Sabrina Needham (p.33), Brendan O’Gorman (pp.27, 52),
Lennart Ootes (pp.6, 25, 48), [Link] (pp. 5, 58).

[Link]
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Home News
BELFAST – March 23rd saw the Ulster Ash (Musselburgh) 4½/5, 3-5 Ewan Taylor, Neil LONDON – What to do when you come up
Rapidplay Championships take place in their Fleming (both Wandering Dragons, Edinburgh), against powerhouse Wood Green in the
modern home, the Falls Bowling Club. Martin Robinson (Edinburgh West) 4. London League? Battersea Chess Club had a
Teenager Daniil Zelenchuk (Strand) proved Bishops: 1 Vagif Ramazanov (Bon Accord, Aber- novel solution on April 10th. Rather than field
too strong, his 6/6 a point and a half more deen) 4½, 2-7 Jamie Hand (Edinburgh their normal line-up, they allowed 10 England
than Danny Roberts (Civil Service) made. The University), Louise Adrian (France), David juniors to gain experience against titled
Intermediate, Under-1400 section also saw a Teague (Harrogate), Steve Gibson opposition. Aditya Verma lost to Luke
100% score, achieved by Adrian Dornford- (Musselburgh), Andrew Whalley (Edinburgh) , McShane on top board and Shreyas Royal to
Smith, with Ciaran Rowan and young Taufik Pranav Arcot (Aberdeen) 4. Stephen Gordon on board 3, but 11-year-old
Kamal (all Strand) back on 4½/6. Knights: 1 Greig Gordon (Dunfermline) 5, 2 Luca Buanne drew with Richard Pert and 17-
Gary Clarke (Gosforth) 4½, 3-6 Graham year-old Jacob Watson with John Emms, as
BIRMINGHAM – Mark Hebden triumphed in Wilson (Corstorphine), David Cubitt Wood Green ran out 9-1 winners.
the Birmingham Rapidplay at the Quinborne (Edinburgh), Iain Hope (Musselburgh), Latvian FM Dmitrijs Tokranovs triumphed at
Community Centre on March 31st. William James (Edinburgh University) 4. the latest Golders Green Rapidplay on March 2nd.
Open: 1 Mark Hebden (Leicester) 6/7, 2 Don’t forget that if you’re ever in Edinburgh Open: 1 Dmitrijs Tokranovs (Latvia) 5½/6, 2
Lawrence Cooper (Stafford) 5½, 3-6 Tomasz on a Thursday or Sunday afternoon to drop Davit Mirzoyan (King’s College) 5, 3 Charles
Sygnowski, Henrik Stepanyan (both Sutton by the Fountain Cafe in the stunning setting Tippleston (Northampton) 4½.
Coldfield), Shabir Okhai (Syston), Andrew of Princes Street Gardens beneath the castle, Major: 1-2 Jonathan Arnott (Sheffield), Neil
Brett (Writtle) 4½. where from 2-5pm Chess in the Park takes Davies (Pimlico) 5, 3 Nicholas Mohnblatt
Major: 1 Oleg Cukovs (Poulton-le-Fylde) 5½, place, often attracting 40 players of all ages. (France) 4½.
2-4 Shahab Quraishi (West Bromwich), Minor: 1 Georgi Aleksiev (Bulgaria) 6, 2 Paul
Gheorghe Albu (Braunstone), Dustin Bowcott HULL – It was great to see the 2018 British Chantrell (Kings Head) 5, 3-4 Matthew Ball
(Halesowen) 5. Chess Championships being shortlisted in the (St Albans), Salvatore Pepe (Hendon) 4½.
Intermediate: 1 Joe Hirst (Newcastle- Remarkable Tourism Category at the Amateur: 1 Alexander Funk (Kings Head) 6,
under-Lyme) 6½, 2 Gary White (Telford) 6, Remarkable East Yorkshire (REYTA) Awards. 2 Frankie Badacsonyi (Muswell Hill) 4½, 3-6
3-5 Steve Whatmore (Rugeley), Christopher Unfortunately that award went to the Allyn Blake (Golders Green), Faye Ainscow
Evans (Mutual Circle, Birmingham), Tony Humber Street Sesh, although we were (Kings Head), David Dane (Letchworth),
Shaw (Worcester) 5. pleased to see the Remarkable East Yorkshire Geoffrey Simms (Surbiton) 4.
Minor: 1 Don Curry (Halesowen) 6, 2-4 Passion Award being presented to Graham Improver: 1 Michal Kajda (Newham) 5,
Granville Hill (Latimer), Ansh Agrawal Chesters, a strong chessplayer and the chair 2-3 Aaron Dhillon (Kent), Andrew Jacobs
(Harborne), Victor Brown (Walsall Kipping) 5½. of Hull’s Freedom Festival. (London) 4½.

CHESTER – GM Stephen Gordon was held to

a draw by both Paul Townsend and John
Carleton, but still scooped the £250 first
prize as Chester Chess Club celebrated
turning 100 with the Chester Centenary
Rapidplay on April 7th.
Open: 1 Stephen Gordon (Wood Green) 5/6,
2-4 John Carleton (Chester), Henrik Stepanyan
(Sutton Coldfield), Paul Townsend (York) 4½.
Major: 1-2 Philip Zabrocki (Shrewsbury),
Michael Connor (Great Lever) 5, 3-4 Robert
Clegg (Huddersfield), Tim Jones (Bristol) 4½.
Minor: 1 Robert Owens (Formby) 5½, 2-4
Andrew Hughes (Rhyl), Barry Edgar (Hetton
Lyons), Vijay Kakarparthi (Altrincham) 4.

EDINBURGH – Two grandmasters and twos

IMs were four of the players who shared first
place in the Open at the strong and popular
Edinburgh Congress (5-7 April).
Open: 1-6 Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
(Edinburgh West), Danny Gormally (Alnwick),
Michael Kopylov (Ukraine), Adam Hunt We’re pleased to report that sales of Roger Noble’s (pictured above) lavishly-produced
(Woodbridge), Alan Tate (Wandering history of chess in Hull, Rank and File, have raised over £1,200 for Yorkshire Cancer
Dragons, Edinburgh), Junhao Xian (Glasgow Research. If you’d like to purchase one of the few remaining copies, do please contact
University) 4/5. roger_noble@[Link]. The Hull & District Chess Association would like to thank and
Major: 1-2 Joy Durno (Newmachar), Michael acknowledge the funding from Hull Culture and Leisure which made this publication possible.

[Link]
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Under-80: 1 Vladislav Negura (Bloomberg)

5½, 2 Nick Silver (Middlesex) 5, 3 Oliver
Dorn (Hertfordshire) 4½.
Stephen Prior (Grantham) bagged sole first
with 4½/5 at the Hampstead Under-2200
Congress (9-10 March), finishing half a point
ahead of Aaravamudhan Balaji (Coulsdon),
Nicholas Tavoularis (Middlesbrough) and
Marcus Osborne (Wimbledon). All of James
McDonnell (Streatham), Oliver Finnegan
(Loughton), Arnav Srivastava, Steve Pride
(both Cambridge), and David Smith
(Maidstone) shared first place with 4/5 in the
Under-1900 section, while Gert de Block
(Cambridge) won the Under-135 with 4½/5,
finishing half a point ahead of Michal Kajda
(Newham).

NEWBURGH – To celebrate discovering a

chessboard and pieces featuring in a 500-
year-old inventory of Lindores Abbey, on the
edge of the small Fife town, the Lindores
Abbey Distillery are putting on a very special
chess event over the weekend of May 25th
and 26th. None other than the world
champion, Magnus Carlsen, will be taking part
in a unique tournament, with Vishy Anand and
Ding Liren two of the other three players
confirmed. To celebrate the occasion the
distillery are creating a special edition of their
Aqua Vitae spirit. For further information, do
see [Link].

NOTTINGHAM – The Nottingham Congress

(23-24 March) featured an incremental time
control and computerised pairings, with IM
Alan Merry holding off two GMs to pocket
the £1,000 first prize.
Open: 1 Alan Merry (Bury St Edmunds)
4½/5, 2-4 Mark Hebden (Leicester), Oleg
Korneev (Spain), Jonah Willow (West
Nottingham) 4.
Major: 1 Stefan Walentowicz (West
Bridgford) 4½, 2-3 Jim Davis (Sheffield),
John Cawston (Selby) 4.
Intermediate: 1-4 Neal Fisher (Peter- Nottingham teenager Aditya Munshi was in action in the Reykjavik Open as we went to press.
borough), Alan Ruffle (Swadlincote), Andrew In his home congress he crushed the Scandinavian with the aid of a fine queen sacrifice.
Allen (Worksop), Bill Egan (Scunthorpe) 4.
Minor: 1 Leonard Barham (Peterborough) e6 12 a4 18 b3! Îb8 19 bxc4!
4½, 2-4 Ben Larkin (Stratford-upon-Avon), Provoking Black’s next to make Ëb5 more Also the engine’s top suggestion after
Lijith Job, Douglas Bramley (both Spondon) 4. powerful. some thought.
One of Alan Merry’s victims was Aditya 12...a5 13 c5 Ìd5 14 Ìxd5 exd5 15 Ëb5 19...Îxb5 20 cxb5
Munshi, but the Nottingham High School b6 16 cxb6 Ìxb6 17 Îac1 Ìc4 Black is hopelessly uncoordinated.
pupil bounced back with a fine queen sacrifice 20...Ëe7 21 Íxc7 Ëb4 22 b6 Íxd4
en route to finishing on 3/5. 23 Ìxd4 Ëxd4 24 b7 Ëxa4 25 Îb1!
The most precise. White is now winning.
Notes by Aditya Munshi 25...Êg7 26 Íd6 Îd8 27 b8Ë Îxb8
28 Îxb8 Ëe4 29 Íf8+ Êf6 30 Îb6+
Êf5 31 Íg7 a4 32 Îf6+ Êg5 33 Îf3
[Link] Threatening Íf6+ and intending to meet
Nottingham 2019 33...h5 with 34 h4+! Êxh4 35 Íf6+ Êg4
Scandinavian Defence 36 Îd1.
33...f5 34 Îg3+ Êh5 35 Îh3+ Êg5
36 f4+ Êg4 37 Íf6 g5 38 Íxg5 Ëd4+
1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Ìf6 3 d4 Íg4 4 Íb5+
39 Êh1 1-0
Ìbd7 5 Íe2
5 f3 is the main move, but sharper.
5...Íxe2 6 Ëxe2 Ìxd5 7 c4 Ì5b6 8 PENCOED – Tom Brown (Cardiff) triumphed
Ìf3 g6 9 Ìc3 Íg7 10 0-0 0-0 11 Íf4 with 5½/6 in the Welsh Rapidplay

May 2019
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Championship on March 23rd. Grzegorz Toczek

(Cardiff) and Ian Jones (Swansea) shared
second on 4½, while in the subsequent Welsh
Blitz Championship, Alex Bullen (Cardiff)
finished first with 9/11, half a point ahead of
Toczek, with Brown and Robert Taylor (Malpas)
a further half point back.

SOLIHULL – Paul Littlewood and Kevin

Bowmer became the English Over-50 and
Over-65 Champions respectively at the
English Seniors Championships (4-7 April).
We’ll have the best of the chess and a full
report next time.

ST ALBANS – Thanks to a final round victory

over IM Richard Bates, John Merriman
triumphed ahead of plenty of titled
opposition at the St Albans Congress (6-7
April).
Open: 1 John Merriman (Petts Wood) 4½, 2-
3 Richard Pert (Billericay), Chris Ward
(Beckenham) 4.
Challengers: 1 Joshua Pink (Stockport) 4½, Recently retired former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, paid a friendly visit to the Chess &
2 Brendan Ruane (Hastings) 4, 3-6 Victor Bridge shop in Baker Street. He ended up buying some books and magazines (strong players do
Jamroz (Petts Wood), Ernest Karumazondo still read chess books!), and even had the time to analyse with Malcolm a recent Carlsen game.
(Watford), Robert Collopy (St Albans), Mark
Whitehead (Rochdale) 3½. Intermediate: 1 Dave Turner (Bourne End) Steven Ashworth (Ely) 4½, 3-8 Gul Kapur
Major: 1 Andrew Brocklehurst (Civil Service) 4½, 2-5 Simon Moth (Loughton), Dennis (Enfield), Tim Cutter (Guildford), Joan
4½ 2-5 Alan Prince (Edinburgh), Gavin Wright (Barnet), Francois Swiegers Gardner (Buckinghamshire), Patrick Sartain
Hughes (Brentwood), Stephen Mitchell (Stevenage), Simon Morris (Hertford) 4. (Harrow), Tomy Joseph (Watford), William
(Slough), Vladimir Bovtramovics (Woking) 4. Minor: 1 Anthony Dunford (Exeter) 5, 2 Stock (Hastings) 4.

EXPLORE THE BEAUTIFUL ENGLISH RIVIERA WHILE PLAYING IN THE...

2019 BRITISH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS

incorporating the British Seniors and British Junior Championships

Friday 26 th July to Sunday 4 th August

The Riviera Centre, Chestnut Avenue, Torquay TQ2 5LZ
Plus Major Open, Weekend, Weekday and Rapidplay tournaments!
For online entry and further information please visit:
[Link]
[Link]
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This Month’s
New Releases
Play the Alekhine Defence sharp tries with Black eschewing castling Defence is worth considering.
Alexei Kornev, 288 pages kingside and playing ...g5 instead. Alekhine’s Defence is definitely a perfectly
Chess Stars The Voronezh System presented 1...Ìf6 valid option as an occasional or surprise
RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99 aficionados with significant problems a weapon, but it cannot be played without a
decade or so ago. This offshoot from the good grasp of the theory. This book offers
Chess Stars are not as prolific as some Exchange Variation (5...cxd6 6 Ìc3 g6 7 Íe3 solid coverage of everything players with the
chess publishers and their range, focussing on Íg7 8 Ëd2 0-0 9 Îc1) sees White striding black pieces need to know to get themselves
opening manuals, could be said to be into a space advantage, but it doesn’t leave up and running with 1 e4 Ìf6.
bordering on the unambitious. However, I any legs trailing. Finally, the classical approach Sean Marsh
always find their output to be well thought by White with 1 e4 Ìf6 2 e5 Ìd5 3 d4 d6
out and offering genuine instruction. 4 Ìf3 remains a real test of Black’s resources.
Alekhine’s Defence lacks a devoted The recommendation here is 4...g6. “This
superstar to elevate it from “occasional move was in the shadow of some other
weapon” to “no.1 defence to 1 e4”. Fischer systems for long years, but it gradually
tried his best – and famously used the became more and more popular.” The
defence successfully in his 1972 title match formerly-popular 4...Íg4 is dismissed as it
with Spassky – but we never got to see how “Has failed to withstand the test of time and
he would have developed the theory further presently there are just a few players who Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Korchnoi
than in the relatively small amount of games might be willing to defend Black’s position.” Andrew Soltis, 388 pages
in which he utilised 1...Ìf6. Black’s biggest problem after 4 Ìf3 is the McFarland
Nevertheless, Fischer’s name is a curious spectre of passivity. Think of being on the RRP £54.95 SUBSCRIBERS £49.45
omission from the introduction, when it wrong end of a 1970-style Karpov squeeze, Some may say the chess giants of the title
name-checks other famous players who liked which is exactly the fate awaiting Black if the are almost too mainstream for a McFarland
to play the opening – including, somewhat second player tries to ascend the slippery slope. hardback, which are normally massive tomes
obscurely, Smyslov. It is also pushing it to Careful steps are required from the very on lesser-known players. Others may say
claim “It was to the efforts of Alexander start. After 1 e4 Ìf6 2 e5 Ìd5 3 d4 d6 each of the four giants deserve a full volume
Alekhine, who contributed greatly to the 4 Ìf3 g6 5 Íc4 Ìb6 6 Íb3 Íg7 7 Ìg5 all to themselves. The justification of utilising
development of the main lines of this Black already has to be very careful and play a relatively low page count on the careers of
opening, that it was named after him and was 7...e6!. “This is the only way for Black to three world champions and a twice-runner-
universally acknowledged.” History aside, I fight not only for equality, but also for up for the title is the way in which Soltis tries
found the actual chess content to be more creating active counterplay.” Fast-forward a to weave together the respective strands of
inspiring. few moves and we can see what the author their lives, both on and off the chessboard.
Anyone looking to take up Alekhine’s has in mind for this system. Subtitled ‘A Chess Multibiography with
Defence has three main issues to ponder and 206 Games’, the book has 15 chapters taking
they all receive sound coverage in this the story from ‘Four Boys’ through to
volume. The Four Pawns Attack and other ‘Countdown to Calamity’. As Soltis explains in
provocations will be welcomed by the second his introduction, “Everyone who takes chess
player, who is looking for a wild battle. seriously knows the games of Mikhail Tal,
Frankly, anyone going into a game without Boris Spassky, Tigran Petrosian and Viktor
having carefully studied the sharpest lines is Korchnoi. But they know very little about
not going to have a much fun in this opening. their private lives.” He goes on to add, “This is
However, white players often don’t pick remarkable because their life stories are much
up the gauntlet. Indeed, there are lots of club more dramatic, heart-rending, even
players who prefer 2 Ìc3, hoping to keep the terrifying than those of today’s elite players.”
game quiet, or at last away from any deeply The early days make grim reading.
prepared lines. These are the sort of players Wartime woes, parental deaths and
who simply refuse to enter into any extremely poor family backgrounds; in short,
complications and after 2...d5 they even like character building of the toughest kind. Chess
to play 3 exd5, when it is not at all easy to was the most convenient escape and the
play for a win with Black. 3...Ìxd5 4 Íc4 is a “Black’s plan is quite simple. He exerts terrible backgrounds of the players proved to
common choice and the recommendation pressure against the enemy pawn on d4 and be one of the main inspirations for them to
here is for Black to station the knights on b6 wishes to provoke the move Ìf3, after which move through the ranks.
and c6, and the bishops on e7 and f5. Black White will have no attacking chances The four giants were always rivals and
must try to create an imbalance to counter whatsoever.” This is what happens after 13 sometimes friends. Their respective rivalries
White’s recalcitrance on the matter and one Ìf3 (if 13 Íe3 Ìd5!) 13...f6 when Black led to many bitter encounters and jealousy.
way to do so is to try and seize the bishop- has made good progress. If such a position Soltis points out that Spassky and Korchnoi
pair with a timely ...Ìa5. There are some appeals to the reader then the Alekhine battled against each for an incredible 61

[Link]
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years, making Karpov and Kasparov’s 34 acceptable risk and beat draw-minded world. French-speaking readers may be
years appear paltry. It really is an incredibly players was impressive.” interested to know that ChessBase have also
long time and the fact is the games still 21...Íd8 looks reasonable for Korchnoi, but released of late Christian Bauer’s Le Système
meant a lot to the players, right to the end. I he set up a typically poisonous counterattack de Londres avec 2.Ff4, but Pelletier’s brief is to
remember talking to Korchnoi towards the with 21...Íc5! 22 Ëxf6 cxb3 23 axb3 present methods by which Black should tackle
end of the 2009 London Chess Classic as he Îe7! when the introduction of the queen’s the pesky London. The Swiss Grandmaster
was just about to go to the airport to head off rook via f8 proved decisive (0-1, 29). does this in English – and well. Of course,
to play the rapidplay match in Elista and how There are some interesting photographs in everyone likes to meet 1 d4 in different ways,
motivated he was to produce a good result (it the book that I don’t recall seeing before, so by no means all of this DVD will be of use to
ended 4-4). including a great one of Geller, Petrosian, Zaitsev most viewers, but almost everyone will find
For a long time the West would have had and Averbakh exploring midtown Manhattan something of interest. Pelletier looks at 2...g6
the impression that the Soviet chess machine during the 1954 USSR versus US match. lines, 1 d4 d5 types of London and Queen’s
was well-oiled and highly efficient, but under The story effectively ends in 1972, with Indian set-ups for Black, while even taking a
the surface there were many tensions. These Spassky’s calamitous loss of the title to quick look at how Dutch and 2...c5 players
were in evidence during the famous USSR Fischer. A three-page epilogue rounds off the should react if faced with the London.
versus Rest of the World match of 1970, with stories of the four players and this is the
“Angry disagreements among the players and weakness of the book. The rivalries of the
with the vlasti, the Soviet authorities, over four players still raged for some time after
who should be on the top boards.” Spassky 1972, both on the board and behind the
confirmed: “The atmosphere was terrible.” scenes. Korchnoi went on to play three more
As the players develop and the titles come highly dramatic Candidates’ matches with
and go, certain characteristics crystalise in Petrosian and one against Spassky.
their respective personalities. Korchnoi, in Meanwhile, Tal joined Karpov’s team to plot
particular, had a grim determination to push against Korchnoi when the Soviets were Chess Informant 139
himself to the maximum – a quality that never desperate to stop the latter – a hated, Chess Informant, 352 pages, paperback
left him. Soltis uses this as a touchstone for outspoken dissident – from taking the title. RRP £32.99 SUBSCRIBERS £29.69
comparison with the other three players. “He There would have been enough post-1972 As ever, the most recent Informator
[Korchnoi] sought the maximum score in a material to double the page-count, especially covers the latest novelties, leading games,
tournament even when he was assured of first as the Korchnoi-Petrosian matches have amazing combinations and instructive
prize. In contrast, Spassky would be content never received the attention they deserve. endgames, all annotated in trademark
with clinching first place. Petrosian would be Nevertheless, what we have is excellent languageless fashion. There is also coverage
satisfied with one of the top prizes. And Tal material, despite leaving the story curiously of Wijk and Gibraltar, as well as theoretical
would be happy if he won some nice games.” unfinished. This will be essential reading for surveys from Ferenc Berkes, who looks at
Along the way, we encounter significant anyone interested in learning more about four new trends in the Symmetrical English, and
appearances from other chess giants, such as of the most legendary of all players. Aleksander Delchev, who presents a
Botvinnik, Stein, Bronstein and Geller. I was not Sean Marsh repertoire for White against the Scandinavian.
aware that Geller had fallen out with Petrosian Please note that if you’d also like a CD of
and the reasons remain vague, although Chess Informant 139 that is available for a
jealousy cannot be ruled out. Nuances of combined price of £42.99 (Subscribers –
character are accentuated too. For example, it £38.69) or if you only want the CD, Chess &
is interesting to observe that Petrosian, despite Bridge can supply that too for just £9.99 or
being known as ‘Iron Tigran’, actually suffered only £8.99 for Subscribers.
from nerves in key encounters, which is why he
was content to ‘just’ take a main prize rather
than take a few risks to aim for the top place in A Complete Guide to Flank Openings
a tournament. Compare this ethos with the Neil McDonald, 400 pages, paperback
example in the following game. RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99
Club players looking to take up 1 Ìf3 or
1 c4 for the first time could still do far worse
[Link] del [Link] than start with Everyman’s old Starting Out
Palma de Mallorca 1968 series. That’s where their latest compendium Coach Yourself
work comes from, packaging together two Neil McDonald, 304 pages, paperback
works by the Kent Grandmaster, Starting RRP £18.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.09
Out: The English and Starting Out: The Reti. What to do when you find yourself stuck
at the same chess level for a while and
without access to a good coach? Step
forward Neil McDonald, one of the best chess
writers out there, who makes a welcome
return for Everyman Chess. He believes that
the answer often lies in knowing how to make
the best use of the time you set aside for
chess study. McDonald shows how to really
Anti-London System analyse your games to identify then cut out
Yannick Pelletier, PC-DVD; certain types of mistakes, while also
running time: 4 hours, 50 minutes presenting plenty of instructive material to
RRP £26.95 SUBSCRIBERS £24.25 help improve the reader’s calculational ability,
The popularity of the London System as well as their understanding of the
“Korchnoi’s ability to gauge his own continues to permeate through the chess middlegame and the endgame.

May 2019
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If you’d prefer to receive your latest Avrukh more material to help master the technique of,
theoretical tome in hardback format, that is say, rook and pawn against rook, it can be found
available too for £27.99 or £25.19 for Subscribers. here, in abundance and amongst some
hundreds of exercises for the reader to solve.

Coaching the Chess Stars

Vladimir Tukmakov, 352 pages, paperback
RRP £28.95 SUBSCRIBERS £26.05
Thinkers Publishing continue to attract
some big name authors, Tukmakov being, of New in Chess Yearbook 130
course, a famous Ukrainian Grandmaster and Peter Boel, René Olthof, Jan Timman (eds.), The Modernized French Defense
chess trainer. The list of players he has worked 256 pages, paperback Volume 1: Winawer
with is certainly impressive: Geller, Karpov, RRP £26.95 SUBSCRIBERS £24.25 David Miedema, 272 pages, paperback
Eljanov, Giri and So. He has also led Ukraine The latest Yearbook features the world RRP £27.95 SUBSCRIBERS £25.15
twice to the gold medals in the Olympiad and champion on the cover with the headline David Miedema, a Dutch IM, is certainly
has won the European Club Cup as a captain. ‘Carlsen rules in obscure Sicilians’. Fans of an enthusiastic advocate of the French
Now Tukmakov reveals just how he identified theory will enjoy the many letters in the Defence, not least his favourite Winawer
what was holding back each of his pupils and Forum, as well as Erwin L’Ami on ‘Incredibly variation. The good news for many French
how he went about improving their game. Demanding Lines’, not to mention the meat exponents is that Miedema doesn’t
of the product, the 26 theoretical surveys disappoint, the backbone of his repertoire for
themselves. These ranging from razor-sharp Black being the highly complex 1 e4 e6 2 d4
Sicilian theory to René Olthof’s discussion of d5 3 Ìc3 Íb4 4 e5 c5 5 a3 Íxc3+ 6 bxc3
Mike Basman’s g-pawn opening preferences Ìe7 7 Ëg4 Ëc7, dangling the g- and h-
to Luke McShane’s coverage of 1 e4 e5 2 pawns before White. Coverage is extremely
Ìf3 Ìc6 3 Íb5 g6 4 d4 exd4. up to date, as well as complete and features
plenty of unplayed improvements for Black.

Devoted to Chess: The Science of Strategy

The Creative Heritage of Yuri Razuvaev Alexander Kotov, 240 pages, paperback
Boris Postovsky, 365 pages, paperback RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99
RRP £26.95 SUBSCRIBERS £24.25 Alexander Kotov is best known for Think
Yuri Razuvaev (1945-2012) is a name Like a Grandmaster, but he was also a very
likely known to readers for being a strong strong player who liked to instruct his readers
grandmaster and a noted theoretician, but he Openings: Semi-Open Games and pupils. Kudos to Quality Chess for
is actually best known in the former Soviet Jerzy Konikowski & Uwe Bekemann, introducing the English-speaking world to this
Union for being a top-class trainer. Gelfand, 236 pages, paperback translation of a Soviet classic. Unsurprisingly
Karpov and Salov were but three leading RRP £19.95 SUBSCRIBERS £17.95 Kotov’s coverage is pretty scientific, but
players who worked with Razuvaev, while Konikowski and Bekemann continue their structured thought is no bad thing when it
more recently both the young Carlsen and series for Joachim Beyer Verlag by explaining comes to planning and assessing various
Caruana travelled to learn from him. With a the basics behind the Caro, French, Alekhine types of pawn structure. Flank play, counter-
foreword from Vladimir Kramnik, Postovsky’s and Scandinavian. Their aim is to help even the attacking and manoeuvring are some other
work presents Razuvaev’s best games, as well most inexperienced player pick up the initial topics covered in slightly old-fashioned, but
as his finest articles and thoughts. It’s an moves of each opening and especially also clear and instructive fashion by Kotov.
inspiring read, Razuvaev coming across as understand the ideas behind them. Almost Once again from Quality Chess, it’s also
witty and accessible, as well as highly every move receives plenty of explanation, as possible to enjoy The Science of Strategy in
intelligent and with a great feel for the game do the various pawn structures and key plans. hardback format, available from Chess &
to which he really did devote his whole life. Bridge for £23.99 or £21.59 for Subscribers.

Play Chess From the Comfort

of Your Own Home!
National Correspondence
The 100 Endgames You
Chess Club
Grandmaster Repertoire 1.d4: Must Know Workbook Our philosophy:
Dynamic Systems Jesus De la Villa, 288 pages, paperback “To foster friendship between members”
Boris Avrukh, 592 pages, paperback RRP £20.99 SUBSCRIBERS £18.69
For Beginners to Grandmasters
RRP £23.99 SUBSCRIBERS £21.59 That modern classic 100 Endgames You
A wide variety of tournaments
Also known as ‘Volume 2B’, Boris Avrukh Must Know showed that endgame books can
FREE web server chess
completes the latest version of his 1 d4 sell, and well. Quite possibly only Game Changer
FREE bi-monthly magazine
repertoire for White by examining the likes of has sold better for New in Chess, who must
the Dutch, Czech Benoni and the Benko. The have been delighted to receive new material For application form and full details visit our
most notable changes to Avrukh’s earlier from De la Villa. The result of the Spanish website: [Link]
repertoire are that 4 Íf4 is now the line of Grandmaster’s labours is a wealth of material Contact: Des Green, 93 Eldmon Ln, Birmingham,
choice against the Budapest and that 1 d4 d6 which will serve to reinforce the lessons B37 7DN or email: treasurer@[Link]
is no longer met by 2 Ìf3, but rather 2 c4. presented in his seminal work. If you wanted

[Link]
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