Last update: Apr 06, 99
	Chess books published in March 99
	Nunn's Chess Openings by John Nunn A reader from U.S.A., March 14, 1999 At long last an up to date openings guide The long-awaited replacement for the ancient Batsford Chess Openings II, and Modern Chess Openings 13 has finally arived in the form of NCO. This is a huge work -- some 540 pages in length and densely packed with material. Devotees of BCO will be instantly familiar with the column and note layout which is absolutely identical. One thing they have improved over BCO is that the openings have been place exactly in the order in which they can be found in the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings. If you know, for instance, that the Mar del Plata variations of the King's Indian Defense have an ECO code of E99, then you know to go directly to the back of the book. Critics have made the point that modern chess opening theory has become so advanced that a one-volume compendium just can't cover all the major variations convincingly. This may be true, and with the advent of databases and laptop PCs, NCO may be of limited usefulness to GMs, but to those of us down here in Patzerland it is often difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff and determine which among 1.2 million are the seminal games in a given variation. NCO tells us and provides an excellent starting-point for any db search. If you are a serious tournament competitor under USCF 2400, this book is for you. It's not inexpensive at $30, but will almost certainly assume a front-and-center position among all you chess reference works. I just hope that we do not have to wait another decade for a replacement... The Amateur's Mind: Turning Chess Misconceptions into Chess Mastery by Jeremy Silman A reader from Goteborg, Sweden, March 13, 1999 The best chess book I own I have a modest chess library (60+ titles) of carefully selected books, and I can honestly say that this is the one that has done the most for my chess understanding; boosting me more than 500 rating points within the space of a year. I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone serious about wishing to improve his/her game. The lessons and long annotations are exemplary, and the way we get to "see" inside amateur players' minds and follow their thoughts are most instructive. Chess Braintwisters by Burt Hochberg Easy Guide to the Classical Sicilian by Demetrios Agnos John Nunn's Chess Puzzle Book by John Nunn Kings, Commoners and Knaves: Further Chess Explorations by Edward Winter The publisher, Hanon Russell, March 25, 1999 A cornucopia of games, biographies, quotes, howlers, etc. 452 pages. Foreword by Yasser Seirawan. Illustrated with 24 photographs and many reproductions of chessmasters’ signatures. Fully indexed. Soft cover. $29.95. A cornucopia of games and positions (over 300 of them), notes on openings, biographies, mysteries, howlers, book reviews, quotations, etc., featuring a cast of hundreds from the chess world of today and yesteryear - the champions and the under-achievers; the scholars and the bunglers; the saints and the sinners. Every page provides fascinating, little-known material from an author who is prepared to name names. Sample range of features: announced mates, smothered mates and missed mates; miniatures; a 21-page dissection of Capablanca v Bogoljubow, Moscow, 1925; nineteenth-century prodigies; royal walkabouts; Kasparov, Karpov and the Scotch Game; Fischer and Damiano’s Defence; the Swiss Gambit; hypnosis; the termination of the 1984-85 world championship match; copyright on chess games; Reshevsky’s psychology test; what is a combination?; the origins of FIDE titles; duplication of games; Fischer revelations; rare queen sacrifices; cheating; how far ahead have masters calculated?; chess impostors; Morphy and beer; the FIDE President who married a film star; six players named Lasker; chessy words; Zugzwang; the master accused of war crimes; the Torremolinos brilliancy that never was; howlers and chicanery; did Alekhine miss a mate in one?; chess on the Internet; the Rubinstein trap; players who captured their own pieces; historical havoc; was Marshall showered with gold?; revelations about Najdorf’s Polish Immortal game; was Alekhine a Nazi?; did Steinitz play Jack the Ripper?; early use of ‘grandmaster’ and ‘world champion’; bribery and roguery; a pawn ending mystery; ghosting; Capa’s mysterious challenger; a catastrophic encyclopedia; Fischer’s return in 1992; masters’ choices of their best games. ‘I promise you that you will never look at chess history in the same way after you read this book. …Combining scholarly and lively writing, it is uncommonly well-researched and well-written, and has that delightful undercurrent of humour and wit that has always graced Winter’s writings. Kings, Commoners and Knaves is a rare chess book, to be treasured for years to come.’ – From Yasser Seirawan’s Foreword. ‘Probably the most meticulous and diligent researcher and chess writer around. …Winter’s brilliantly scathing style, always adopted in the noble cause of accuracy, gives his writings a marvellously entertaining as well as instructive quality.’ William Hartston, The Independent (reviewing Winter’s earlier book, Chess Explorations). Practical Chess Analysis Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances Since Nimzowitsch John Watson A reader from New York, USA, March 26, 1999 Modern Chess Explained Along with the Dvoretsky series, this is the most important work written on chess strategy since Nimzowitszch's My System. I wouldn't recommend this book for a beginner because Watson's premise is that "there are no rules by which you can understand chess; you have to analyze everything concretely" and he backs this up with terriffic examples and analysis. Of course, we all use rules as shortcuts to help guide us through a position and learn exceptions to the rules as mastery of the game improves. There is a goldmine of information here. The section on Minor Pieces is particularly valuable. The System; A World Champion's Approach to Chess Hans Berliner Winning Chess; Tactics & Strategy Ted Nottingham, et al