So many books...so little time
I've grown up in a country where chess books are a rarity. I could count on my fingers all the chess books I've seen in bookshops during my 25 years of existance. And I guess I'd need only one hand...

Fortunately there are libraries, having a few chess books one can read, and sometimes one has also aquintaces fortunate enough to have some decades-old chess-books inherited from their grandparents.That's the situation around here. Or, should I say, would've been, unless there was Amazon.

For me at least, Amazon changed all that. I now have a dozen or so chess books, all but 2 purchased online from amazon.com. So here is my top-list:

1. The Art of Checkmate. The only chess book I've ever read cover to cover. Every single bit of information. And let me say that it was well worth it. The book covers every typical mate one is likely to encounter in a game, with examples and quizzes after each chapter. Fun to read, and a confidence booster.It is in descriptive notation, but that won't stop any serios chess afficionado.

2. Logical Chess Move by Move. This is going to be the second book I read cover to cover. Basically, the book is nothing else but a collection of 33 games, annotated to the blood. Chernev made a really good work here, particularly for patzers like me. I am fully confident that even after finishing this book, I'll still remain a patzer, but at least I'll have a better insight into the game. I already have, after studying as little as the first 7 games.

3. Art of Attack in Chess. Another classic. The chapter about mating patterns and focal points had me. However, I didn't have the patience to read through all the chapters. Maybe with a computer in front of me, to replay the moves, I'll once finish this book to.

I have, however, a fond memory of the chapter called "The Classic Bishop Sacrifice". I was once hanging around in Chessclub (yeah, I did have an account there for a year, but didn't renew it...FICS is about the same, and it saves me $49 a year) and there was this guy who challenged me for an unrated game. Without even looking at his rating, I accepted, and there followed a straightforward, humbling and completely humiliating defeat for me. I never had a chance. Bishop sacrifice at h7, knight check, the queen comes into play, and I knew I was lost. As a sore loser that I am, I told him afterwards something along the lines "Well,you know, I also read Vukovic's book but didn't see this coming". Turned out the guy was a 15 year old russian IM from Moscow. And he never read Vukovic's book.In fact, he hasn't even heard about it. He just proceeded to checkmate me exactly like the book described.

The moral is: if you're not a 15 year old russian IM from Moscow, you need this book. If for nothing else, then at least you can brag with your chess vocabulary and assign fancy names to ways of losing.
- posted by Időbeosztás-guru @ 12:14 PM