Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Chess since lockdown.

Firstly I finished reading "Lasker's Greatest Chess Games" by Reinfeld and Fine. I really enjoyed this early book by Reinfeld in collaboration of Reuben Fine. The games are of course superb. The only thing I would say, the comments are rather harsh on Lasker's opponents at times and not always as objective as they could be. I believe they tend to be based on the outcome of a game a bit too often,and not always on the value of the variations being analysed.                                          
Since the lockdown began in March in the UK, I basically decided to try to improve my chess for the day when we can play over the board again. I added to my library and decided to read some of my classics that have been sitting on my shelves in their entirety. Like many Chess players, I normally tend to dip in and out of books, but I have really enjoyed the experience of reading from cover to cover.

The next book I decided to finish is the classic collection of Tal's games by the great man himself, "The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal".



                                                     
I actually own two copies of this book. The algebraic Cadogan one pictured above with some of Tal's analysis corrected by computer and John Nunn, and the earlier one by RHM Press in descriptive notation.

I found myself reading the autobiographical parts in the descriptive book and playing through the games in the algebraic. The photos that you get in the descriptive edition went missing from the algebraic, and I found the binding on my Cadogan edition gave up the ghost long ago, with many pages becoming loose. Despite this, it's a fantastic book, quite rightly praised as possibly being the best ever Chess book in many circles. the games sparkle with Tal's genius and his honest appraisal in his notes. If he plays well he says so and if his opponent  plays well he equally praises their moves. If he thinks he played poorly he also says so and is quite self critical at times. The book abounds with stories and characters and he is surprisingly candid in a book written in Soviet times about his dis-satisfaction of how he was treated on occasion by the Soviet Chess authorities. The book is full of humour as well as mentioning his ongoing health problems with his troublesome kidneys that was eventually to end his life far too soon. It's a great book, not only as Chess literature but in literature in general.

Books I added to my collection include J.H. Donner "The King".


I have only just begun to read it but already I am aware that I am holding another fantastic book in my hands. It is a collection of Chess columns and articles Donner wrote in Dutch newspapers and publications from the 1950's til his death in 1988. Wonderful insight and he doesn't hold back in his sometimes controversial opinions. A wonderful read. I bought several other books that I will talk about later. suffice to say, I have plenty to keep me busy. As a professional musician, I cannot work until the theatres and Orchestras open up again for performances, so I have plenty of time to get stuck into the great Chess literature at my disposal.

Other books bought since Lockdown:











Lesser known game of Raaphy Persitz

A figure not well known to younger players, but Raaphy Persitz was a strong master who played and lived in England before moving back to his...