Sunday, October 12, 2008

Play the Grünfeld

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Author: IM Yelena Dembo

Estimation Price: RM108

Published: June 2007 EU, May 2007 US

ISBN 9781857445213

Format Paperback: 192 pages

Publisher: Everyman Chess

About the Author

Yelena Dembo was born on December 8th, 1983 in Russia. She lived in Israel and Hungary for several years and now married and live in Athens, Greece.

She is a professional chess player and trainer with students from more than 30 countries. Her first chess book has been published! You can read more about her and chess career here. You can also go through a selection of her best games so far, annotated by her.

You can find her online on various chess servers such as the Internet Chess Club (ICC), Playchess.com, Free Internet Chess Server and World Chess Network, where I play chess and give lessons. If you are interested in my teaching services you can contact me.

About the Book

The Grünfeld is an exciting and dynamic answer to 1 d4, and has become very popular at all levels of chess. A major reason for this is that it has been a long-time favourite of the World's strongest-ever chess player, Garry Kasparov, who used it many times in his numerous World Championship battles. The Grünfeld very much relies on the principles of the hypermodern school of chess: Black allows White to erect an impressive-looking centre on the assumption that in the long run it could prove to be more of a liability than an asset. Play often becomes very complex and tactical, one of the reasons the Grünfeld appeals to ambitious players.

Despite its attractions, some prospective Grünfeld players are discouraged by the necessity of needing to learn numerous different variations in such a complex opening. In Play the Grünfeld, however, opening expert Yelena Dembo circumvents this problem by producing a comprehensive and yet workable repertoire for Black, offering a solution against each of White's tries, whether it's a critical main line or a tricky sideline. After reading this book, you will have the required knowledge and confidence to begin playing the Grünfeld in your own games.

  • Written by a renowned Grünfeld expert
  • Covers all of White's main tries
  • Reveals the tactical and positional ideas for both sides

Reviews:

"In her well-researched book "Play the Grunfeld" the Greek International Master Yelena Dembo recommends the Adorjan gambit, 3...e5 4.dxe5 Nh5, as an equalizing line. Her book, recently issued by Everyman Chess, offers a fresh, succinct look at the aggressive defense from the black side."

Lubos Kavalek
Washington Post

"Although the Grünfeld is not an easy opening to learn, Dembo makes a good case for her repertoire as black, and the reader will generally be well-armed in most lines. This book can carry you a good distance towards mastering this opening."

Carsten Hansen
Chesscafe.com

"Dembo's love of the Grunfeld shines through, and I consider that important if you're pushing a repertoire. It's also clear that she has put a lot of time into analyzing her recommended variations, and the original analysis she often presents will be a welcomed sight to anyone that uses this book. I should also add that Dembo is rather fearless in her assessments. She doesn't hesitate to challenge the words and views of world-class players, and this tough, confident stance will surely make the reader feel secure. "

Jeremy Silman
jeremysilman.com

Source: Everyman Chess

Contents

Part One - The Exchange Variation (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 N c3 d5 4 cxd5 N xd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7)

1 Introducing 7 Nf3 c5

3 Be3 Systems

4 The Fashionable 7 Bc4

5 White's 7th Move Alternatives

6 4 cxd5 Nxd5 without 5 e4

Part Two - 3 Nc3 Without The Exchange

7 The Russian System

8 Qa4+ Systems

9 Bf4 Systems

10 Bg5 Systems

11 The Solid 4 e3

12 Offbeat 4th Move Alternatives

Part Three - White Postpones Nc3

13 The Fianchetto System

14 Angling for a Sämisch: 3 f3

Index of variations

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters: Fundamentals of the Game Vol 1

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  • Author: GM Lev Alburt & Larry Parr
  • Price: RM 86.00
  • Paperback: 286 pages
  • Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (July 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0393324524
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393324525
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces

    Chapter 1. Play Chess in One Hour
    Chapter 2. Chessercizes: All the Right Moves 
    Chapter 3. How to Write Down Chess Games 
    Chapter 4. Chess Movie: The "Write" Moves 
    Chapter 5. How to Open a Chess Game 
    Chapter 6. Chessercizes for Healthy Openings
    Chapter 7. Middle game Strategy & Tactics 
    Chapter 8. Chessercizes for Taut Middlegames
    Chapter 9. Endgame Strategy and Checkmates
    Chapter 10. Chessercizes for Energetic Endings 
    Chapter 11. Using a Computer as a Chess Tutor 
    Chapter 12. Plugging in to U.S. Chess

    Index

     

    Product Description
    Increase your skill and understanding of chess with the tactics that have produced unparalleled Russian grandmasters.

    Russia's dominance in modern chess was founded on a uniquely successful program of chess instruction. Now this program has been streamlined and adapted for American readers in a pair of books that will help readers develop, step by step, from total novicehood to an enjoyable and competitive recreational level.

    Volume 1 covers the fundamentals of the game, from beginning strategies to energetic endgames. Learn from the start not just how the pieces move, but also where and why to move them.

    Advance in the game—and have fun doing it—using the techniques that produced a long line of Soviet champions.

    About the Author
    Grandmaster Lev Alburt is a three-time winner of the US Chess Championship and the author of several books on learning chess. Larry Parr is former editor of Chess Life and the author of many articles on chess play and instruction.

    Great is the disappointment to the library patron who browses for a chess instructional and finds only picked-over bones from the pre-Fischer, pre-Kasparov eras. These books by a U.S. champion and a chess magazine editor offer something more. A range of abilities, from novice to entrants in a local tournament, can learn tactics and strategies that improve their play. The authors drop the obsession with "book knowledge" about elaborate openings. More than 98 percent of games, they say, turn on tactical dangers and opportunities about two moves into the future, and for that distance of foresight, the Russian secrets the authors share consist of a series of questions players must ask themselves after each move. "Chessercizes," with hundreds of diagrams, provide practice for analyzing attacking combinations and defenses against them, from opening through endgame, making this a great contemporary resource. Including tips about computer programs.

    Review
    Quite simply, the quickest way to learn chess the right way. -- Grandmaster Larry Evans, five-time US champion

    "Lev Alburt is a brilliant teacher, and his new series written with Larry Parr is his best yet. In fact, it is the best chess instruction I have ever seen, period. Read Lev Alburt, and you will understand the game as never before." - Charles Murray, author of What It Means to Be a Libertarian

    "Grandmaster Lev Alburt, a three-time U.S. champion, is the most brilliant and effective chess teacher alive today. He is the only top-echelon player who specializes in teaching chess to beginners and other nonmasters. Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters reveals secrets that will save you years of hit-and-miss reading. You'll be winning in no time!" -Al Lawrence, former executive director, U.S. Chess Federation

    A great start for visual learners, December 6, 2001

    By DC Lawyer (Washington, DC USA)
    I am a very visual learner. Apparently, so are Russian children. This book is written in the manner that Russian children are taught: a chessboard is laid down, pieces placed, and a question posed, say, checkmate in two. Your job is to figure out how to get there. In the book, the first half is composed of pages of such diagrams, each geared towards either explaining visually how a piece moves, its value in trade, its best positions, etc. It is a great way to learn the game.
    The book starts off slowly, explaining how the game works. You then work through various parts of the game: openings, middle moves, and closings. This game really helped me to develop a solid opening.
    I have always had trouble with the middle game; this book gives the basics for that. The second volume gives a much more in-depth treatment of the game; openings, closings, and middle game strategy. But this is the book to get for a new player, or for one who always seems to get beaten. I started out losing to the computer on its easiest level, now I still lose, but at least I understand why, heh heh. Seriously, it is written in an understandable manner, and if you're a visual learner, the problem sets are really worthwhile.
    I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
     
    Very Informative, Excellent. , March 29, 2005
    By E. J Zapata (Los Angeles, Calif.)
    This is one excellent Beginner book; it is unique and very informative. The first 102 pages have a lot of basic fundamental information ALL beginners should learn. Pages 103 to 264 of the book are devoted to Tactics & Strategy theory of The Opening, Middlegame and Endgame-this is the meat of the book. Lev mixes games, theory and teaching diagrams artfully. The diagrams are clear; most ask you a question or two with the answers right there, no flipping pages to the back of the book to hunt for answers. Many answers are very detailed. This is a great study book for beginners. Reading it once is not enough. Good Luck.
  • Saturday, October 4, 2008

    Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors: Part 2

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    Author: Garry Kasparov

    Price: RM150.00

    Hardcover: 480 pages

    Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (January 1, 2004)

    Language: English

    ISBN-13: 978-1857443424

    Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches

    Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds

    The battle for the World Chess Championship has witnessed numerous titanic struggles that have engaged the interest not only of chess enthusiasts but of the public at large. The chessboard is the ultimate mental battleground and the world champions themselves are supreme intellectual gladiators.

    This magnificent compilation of chess from the mid-20th century forms the basis of the second part of Garry Kasparov's long-awaited definitive history of the World Chess Championship. Garry Kasparov, who is universally acclaimed as the greatest chess player ever, subjects the play of his early predecessors to a rigorous analysis. This volume features the play of champions Max Euwe (1935-1937) Mikhail Botvinnik (1946-1957, 1958-1961 and 1961-1963), Vassily Smyslov (1957-1958) and Mikhail Tal (1960-1961).

    However, this book is more than just a compilation of the games of these champions. Kasparov's biographies place them in a fascinating historical, political and cultural context. Kasparov explains how each champion brought his own distinctive style to the chessboard and enriched the theory of the game with new ideas.

    Kasparov''s Fighting Chess 1993-1998

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    Author: IM Tibor Karolyi & Nick Alpin

    Price: RM 99.00

    Paperback: 304 pages

    Publisher: Batsford (August 1, 2006)

    Language: English

    ISBN-13: 978-0713489941

    Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches

    Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds

    Garry Kasparov has dominated the world of competitive chess longer than any other world champion. What better time than now, on the eve of his retirement, to celebrate his unprecedented achievements? The period 1993–1998, covered in this volume, represents one of the richest phases of his career. International Master Tibor Károly has selected some of the finest games of those years, and with the help of today’s computer programs, analyzes them to a depth never before possible—sometimes correcting the errors of earlier analysts. A unique look at the brilliance and versatility of the player many consider the greatest of all time.