Review: The Chebanenko Slav According to Bologan

Finally, a great chess player has written an entire book on one of the most fascinating opening variations of modern chess theory: Slav with 4…a6, or the Chebanenko Slav. And the author, GM Victor Bologan, is not just a great player, he’s also a great analyst, as he proved last year with his excellent debut called Selected games 1985-2004. full story »

Endgame technique - it’s in the book

Endgame technique - let’s leave that to the grandmasters. Well… After Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, new top level excercise material is now available. A review of Gambit’s latest: How to Play Chess Endgames.
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Review: From London to Elista

In my previous review I discussed last year’s World Championship match between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov according to the book On the Edge of Elista by the Bulgarians Topalov and Ginchev. About the same time as the review, From London to Elista by the Russians Bareev and Levitov, was published. full story »

Review: On the Edge of Elista, Topalov-Kramnik 2006

When the editor in chief asked me to review this book, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Almost everything has already been said about the controversial match between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik, which was held in Elista slighty more than a year ago. For this review I wanted something new to write about. So, let me give a small disclaimer in advance: this review is not about the actual Toiletgate controversy and the arguments from both camps. Instead, I will try to focus on the perspective and the general idea behind the book. In my opinion, it is not at all about ‘Toiletgate’, but about something else altogether. full story »

Recensie: Matten II

This is a review of the Dutch chess magazine Matten. The magazine is completely in the Dutch language and therefore we decided to publish this review only in Dutch too. full story »

Endgames are fun!

Chess players who like to improve their game, are always adviced by trainers not to spend too much time on openings. “Study the endgame. Your game will benefit from this for the rest of your life.” But, as I always thought, and many other ambitious players with me: endgames are no fun? I must say that I started to appreciate studying the endgame some more after Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual was published, but now three books have appeared that make it even more fun. full story »

Review: ‘Secrets of Practical Chess’ (new edition)

During the last Corus tournament I received good news: a new edition of John Nunn’s classic Secrets of Practical Chess (1998) was forthcoming. In those days (1998) I was working for Chess and Goshop Het Paard in Amsterdam, and I often had to advise chess players which books to buy. I have often recommended Nunn’s book to chess players of my own level (at the time I had a national rating of around 2100) and slightly below. full story »

Book review: ‘The Chigorin Defence’

What’s the first thing you do when you see a new opening book? Look up the variation you know most about and check what is said about it. Surprisingly enough, this is often a disappointment, and usually you don’t even buy it because of this first impression. “This will never work.” But it’s wrong to think like that. full story »

Matten: new Dutch literary magazine

There will be a new Dutch literary chess magazine. MATTEN, Schaakverhalen, will be published twice a year. The magazine, which is almost a book by itself, will be about chess and chess culture. MATTEN will focuss on (semi)literary non-fiction, not on chess games or chess technique. full story »

Toiletgate good for corporate sponsorship?

It’s a well-known dilemma. A young author makes his debut with a novel. The book reviewer has to plough through a huge pile of books every week, and he chooses this debut novel for his next review. The book is crap, so in his article he burns it to the ground. Should the author be happy to see his book being reviewed or not? full story »

Van Perlo’s Endgame Tactics wins Book of the Year Award

The book Endgame Tactics by the Dutchman Ger van Perlo, published by New in Chess, has won this year’s English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award. This ‘Booker Prize of chess literature’ is a wonderful decoration for 72 year old Van Perlo and his publisher. As far as I can see it’s the first time that somebody from The Netherlands has won this prize. full story »

Khalifman schiet gaten in het Frans

De boeken Opening for White according to Anand 1.e4 van Alexander Khalifman zijn een soort Harry Potter voor de serieuze 1.e4-speler. Het ene boek is nog niet uit of we kijken alweer reikhalzend uit naar het volgende. Over de boeken van J.K. Rowling laat ik mij niet uit maar één ding is zeker: Khalifmans werk is hoogstaande schaakliteratuur. full story »

Recensie Chess for Zebras

Zoals dat op vele schaakclubs gebeurt, wordt er bij Euwe (Amsterdam) regelmatig gefilosofeerd over de aard van het schaakspel, over de vraag waarom de ene speler gewonnen heeft van de andere, waarom sommige spelers altijd weer sterker zijn dan andere en vooral: hoe deze status-quo te doorbreken is. Ondanks vele nachtelijke discussies en diverse (bijna-)ruzies is een oplossing nooit dichterbij gekomen. Misschien zijn sommige spelers nu eenmaal beter dan andere, en rest ons niets anders dan dit gewoon te accepteren en zo goed mogelijk ons best te doen. Maar de echte Euwespeler neemt hier uiteindelijk geen genoegen mee, en blijft op zoek naar een antwoord, zo niet van mede-clubgenoten dan wel uit de niet aflatende stroom schaakboeken die gepubliceerd worden.

Het boek Chess for Zebras (Gambit) van Jonathan Rowson, najaar 2005 gepubliceerd, komt meer dan andere boeken in de buurt van de antwoorden waarover we al zo vaak gediscussieerd hebben. Arne Moll en ik vinden het een briljant boek en schreven een (ook kritische!) recensie. We zijn benieuwd wat jullie van het boek en van onze recensie vinden.

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