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Reviewed this Month

Vassily Ivanchuk: 100 Selected Games

Checkpoint
by Nikolay Kalinichenko

Kasparov on Kasparov, Part II: 1985-1993

by Garry Kasparov
Carsten Hansen
Winning Chess Openings
Fighting Chess:

by Yasser Seirawan
Move by Move
by Colin Crouch

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Disappointing Biographies
This month we examine two biographies on two of the most fascinating
players in recent years. Neither player needs any further introduction. The
volume on Kasparov is the most recent in his apparently never-ending series.
The other is on Ivanchuk, who as far as I know has never been the subject of
an English language biography. Lastly, we round off with a book that was first
published several years ago, but is now available as an e-book.

1000 TN!
This month we examine two biographies on two of the most fascinating by Chess Informant

players in recent years. Neither player needs any further introduction. The
volume on Kasparov is the most recent in his apparently never-ending series.
Rating Chart The other is on Ivanchuk, who as far as I know has never been the subject of
an English language biography. Lastly, we round off with a book that was first
Awful – published several years ago, but is now available as an Ebook.

Utter rubbish Vassily Ivanchuk: 100 Selected Games by Nikolay Kalinichenko, New In

Chess 2013, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 317pp. $32.95
Poor –

Inferior
Ukrainian grandmaster, and many times world
champion candidate, Vassily Ivanchuk is truly one of
Uneven – the most fascinating players around today. He is
capable of absolute chess mastery, displaying depths

Mix of good and bad of understanding and imagination that is difficult to
The Complete Kalashnikov
by Matthieu Cornette
Good – fathom, or inexplicably collapsing with bad moves,

& Fabien Libiszewski
early resignations, and strange handling of time on

Worth buying the clock.
Great – From the back cover blurb, we learn the following:

Above and beyond average

"'Chuky, you're a genius.' Leading grandmasters
Excellent – have been heard to whisper these words, impressed with yet another
brilliancy of the Ukrainian wizard. "Vassily Ivanchuk is one of the

Everyone should own greatest players of modern time. He has finished first in all major
tournaments in the world, at times with astonishing supremacy and
always with deeply creative chess. He is adored by chess lovers,
admired(and feared!) by fellow grandmasters. "For this book,
correspondence grandmaster and chess author Nikolay Kalinichenko has
 selected over 100 of Ivanchuk's best and most instructive games,
explaining his moves and plans for club players. "Ivanchuk is known for
his unusually broad opening repertoire. He literally plays almost
anything. Whenever a new opening appears in a game, Kalinichenko
presents a brief introduction to this opening, thereby providing a
panoramic view of modern opening theory. "The result is a fascinating
and rewarding journey to 'Planet Ivanchuk', the extraterrestrial location
where the sphinx from Lvov is said to receive his best brainwaves."

Opening the book, we see the material is divided as follows:

Vassily Ivancuk, a portrait (12 pages)

Selected Games
1985-1993 (34 pages)
1994-2001 (42 pages)
2002-2007 (71 pages)
2008-2012 (157 pages)
Vassily Ivanchuk's Principal Tournament Successes (2 pages)
Rating Chart (2 pages)
Game List (3 pages)
Index of Openings and ECO Codes (1 page)
Index of Names (7 pages)

The book opens with a relatively short chapter that provides sparse

biographical details, some career achievements, a few complete games and

some game excerpts. Mixed in are some rather arbitrary interview questions
that are attributed to a variety of websites. This makes for a very
unsatisfactory and incomplete portrait of a player that is largely inaccessible
to most of the chess playing public, many of whom have been fascinated with
him for years. He is an extraordinary player, but this attempt at a portrait falls
spectacularly short.

The author is mostly known for his opening works; therefore, it is not
surprising that his focus is on the opening phase in many of the games. This
must be what was meant on the back cover by "presents a brief introduction to
this opening, thereby providing a panoramic view of modern opening theory."
Yet, this too is mostly disappointing. In many cases the panoramic views are
simply randomly selected games that are not analyzed carefully and do not
accurately represent the theoretical status of a particular variation. For
example after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 g3 Ba6, the game continues with 5
b3, but Kalinichenko offers single game references to most of the other

available lines, some of which are truly unrepresentative of the variation. For
instance, after 5 Qa4, he offers the game Banikas-Miroshnichenko, Eforie-
Nord 2009 that continued 5...Be7 6 Nc3 0-0 7 Bg2 Bb7 8 Bf4 Ne4 9 Qc2 f5
"with mutual chances."

What Kalinichenko does well is reference many of Ivanchuk's other games in

the notes, sometimes entire games are quoted. Nevertheless, at other times the
annotations take a strange turn, such as in Game 95: Kotronias-Ivanchuk,
Gibraltar 2011. After 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 g6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3
Bg7 ("Of course, not 6...Ng4?? 7 Bb5+, and White wins.") 7 f3 Nc6 ("By
transposition, we have reached the main line of the Dragon.") 8 Qd2 0-0 9
Bc4, and now the comment that really irks me:

"After 9 0-0-0, Konstantinopolsky's 9...d5!? deserves attention, and then

10 Nxc6 bxc6 11 exd5 cxd5 12 Nxd5 (12 Bd4!? is the main line)

12...Nxd5 13 Qxd5 Qc7 14 Qc5 (after 14 Qxa8 Bf5 15 Qxf8+ Kxf8 16
Rd2 h5!? Black's position is preferable) 14...Qb7 15 Qa3 a5 16 Bc4+=."

It has long been established that 9...d5!? is Black's main move after 9 0-0-0.
The main line continues 10 exd5 (10 Qe1 is also frequently played, unlike
Kalinichenko's line) 10...Nxd5 11 Nxc6 bxc6 12 Bd4 e5 13 Bc5, and here
Black has played moves such as 13...Be6 and 13...Re8. The statement about
12 Bd4 being the main line is clearly a case of the author mixing up the lines.
Furthermore, no one serious about obtaining an advantage for White will
pursue the line indicated by Kalinichenko.

Another case, which is probably worse than the above example, can be found
in Game 40, Morozevich-Ivanchuk, Calvia 2004:

1 e4 c6
 "In the Caro-Kann, as in the French, Black prepared the advance ...d7-d5,
but here he does not shut in his light-squared bishop. On the other hand,
in many cases Black will end up playing ...c6-c5, which will involve the
loss of a tempo.

"As a rule, this defence gives Black a solid, reliable position, but it
requires accurate handling."

2 d4 d5 3 e5

"An old continuation, leading to a manoeuvring game.

The move 3 Nc3 is also seen often, e.g. 3...dxe4 4 Nxe4 Bf5... [etc,

quoting the Polgar-Ivanchuk, Mexico City 2010].

The interesting Panov Attack 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4 is seen in Game 89."

3...Bf5 4 f4!?

"A rare choice."

And here the author mentions the alternatives 4 Bd3, 4 Nf3, and 4 h4, but does
not mention the sharp 4 Nc3. Several similar lapses can be found throughout
the book, which I find strange from someone who should be proficient at
openings.

Moreover, the remaining annotations make no attempt to explain Ivanchuk's

play for an average bystander, as there simply are not enough verbal
explanations. Nor are they in-depth enough analytically to offer a strong
player what he or she would be looking for in a book of this kind. Thus, the
various components of this book do not add up to satisfying product. The
analytical part is insufficient for strong players, the openings coverage is
inadequate, and nothing is explained in a fashion that is likely to benefit
weaker players.

My assessment of this book:

Vassily Ivanchuk: 100 Selected Games

by Nikolay Kalinichenko

Kasparov on Kasparov, Part II: 1985-1993 (Ebook) by Garry Kasparov,

Everyman Chess 2013, ChessBase and PGN file formats, $31.95

I have enjoyed most of the earlier volumes from

Kasparov's body of works, particularly the My Great
Predecessors and Kasparov-Karpov series. These,
while not flawless, should be required reading for

serious students of the game. However, the present

volume, along with Part I in this series, which
constitute a biographical presentation of his career and
own games, have an unsatisfactory feel to them.

Kasparov writes about his experiences and feelings

throughout the games; before, during and after
tournaments; what moved him; how he prepared; with
whom he prepared; and the mistakes he made throughout his career. This
makes for compelling reading, even if the outlook on things is very much
from his perspective. He does occasionally criticize some of his own moves
and choices away from the chess board, but, generally speaking, his life is one
of few regrets.

While I do not necessarily agree with all of his opinions, I enjoyed this aspect
of the book. It is in the annotated games that things pull in a negative
direction:

Twenty-seven (out of 100 games) games have identical annotations with

his Kasparov-Karpov books. If you already own that series, which most
of us do, then it is problematic that a quarter of the book is material you

have seen before. The annotations are identical, word for word, diagram
for diagram. That is just not acceptable and a complete mystery to me as
to why it was done this way.
Kasparov has a proclivity for quoting comments from Russian or Soviet

magazines and books. Even when the quotes have little relevance. Often
it just seems self-congratulatory and self-indupgent. As if Kasparov

gains repute from others applauding his beautiful games and excellent

results, even when they speak for themselves and there is no need for

accolades of this kind.
Kasparov uses the same phrases in endless repetition, particularly in

reference to the games played in team tournaments. This is simply lazy

writing, and it spoils the enjoyment of reading the book when there is

such an apparent lack of effort in varying the language and narrative.

The material is divided as follows:

About this Publication

Foreword
Match after Match
At the Peak of my Career
After the Escape
Fall and Rise

There is a wealth of enthralling games, battles where the tide turned several
times, mistakes were made, brilliant solutions were found. The games are
from the phase of Kasparov's career where he was strongest and at a creative
peak. This is an amazing collection that is simply breathtaking and a joy to
study. The annotations are excellent when they are Kasparov's own. He admits
to making mistakes, not finding the most accurate solutions, not always
finding the right way to finish off an opponent, etc. This makes for fascinating
study material that is bound to make you much stronger as a chess player and
add several layers to your understanding.

A game collection of this magnitude should be on the bookshelf of every chess

enthusiast that is serious about improving their game, but that does not excuse
the flaws inherent in the book.

My assessment of this book:

Order
Kasparov on Kasparov, Part II: 1985-1993
by Garry Kasparov

Winning Chess Openings (Ebook) by Yasser Seirawan, Everyman Chess 2007,

ChessBase and PGN file formats, $19.95

Seirawan's Winning Chess is one of the best-selling

series of chess books in the English language. The
reasons for this are many. For starters, he writes in a
manner accessible to the average reader, and, even if
they have not accumulated much in the way of chess

understanding, upon reading this book, they will be a

lot better off than they were before picking it up.

From the back cover we learn the following:

"Start every game with confidence!

"The two greatest challenges for beginning chess players are not only to
survive the openings phase, but also to choose appropriate attack and

defense formations in the process. Winning Chess Openings shows you
how to do both. In Yasser Seirawan's entertaining, easy-to-follow style,

you're shown formations that can be used with other White or Black

pieces.

"Winning Chess Openings will help you develop a solid understanding of

opening principles that you can apply to every game you play without

having to memorise a dizzying array of tedious and lengthy opening

lines.
 Build a safe house for a King
Estimate losses of ten moves or fewer
Utilise the elements: time, force, space and pawn structure
Plan strategy based on time-tested opening principles
Employ a defense for Black against any White Opening
Apply an opening for White used by World Champions

"Winning Chess Openings will help readers develop a solid

understanding of opening principles that can be applied to every game

they play – without having to memorize a dizzying array of tedious and

lengthy opening lines."

The material is divided as follows:

Introduction
Early Days
Basic Opening Principles
Classical King Pawn Opening
Classical Queen Pawn Opening
Modern King Pawn Defenses
Modern King Pawn Defenses
An Opening Solution
Solution to Queen Pawn Openings
Solution to King Pawn Openings
Glossary
About the Author

In the "Early Days" chapter, Seirawan takes the reader through the early trials
and tribulations of his youth when he started playing chess and ran headfirst
into uncooperative opponents that did not do exactly what he was hoping for.
It bridges nicely with the chapter on "Basic Opening Principles," which
explains the rules of development, opening pawn play, and king safety.
However, as we know, the stronger you get, the more you realize that the rules
are simply there as guidelines that can be ignored when it is appropriate.

The remaining chapters give an overview of the most important openings.

Seirawan discusses them in such fashion that the reader is likely to remember
his recommendations. He explains many of the basic principles in some of the
individual lines, but the depth is not comprehensive. For instance, I can
imagine the reader looking for more information immediately upon
concluding any given chapter.

As an introduction to chess openings for novice and improving players this

book is certainly a decent place to start and it is reasonably priced.

My assessment of this book:

Order
Winning Chess Openings
by Yasser Seirawan
Order
Winning Chess Openings (Ebook)
by Yasser Seirawan

A PDF file of this month's column, along with all previous columns, is
available in the
ChessCafe.com Archives.

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