Chess Analytics, Training with a Grandmaster

En virkelig innholdsrik bok med glimrende leksjoner og mye studiemateriale om viktige temaer i midtspill og sluttspill, av stormesteren og ikke minst treneren Efstratios Grivas.

Innholdsfortegnelsen:

• Foreword by Robert Zysk 5

The Middlegame

• Pinning 7
• Shattered Kingside Pawns 11
• The Weak d5-square 18
• The Important f5-square 25
• Rook on the Run 30
• Sacrifices for the Initiative 36
• The Central Strike 41
• Mate on the Back Rank 47
• Dancing Knights 57
• Doubled f-pawns 63
• Queen Sac around the King 73
• A King’s Golden Cage 81
• The Useless Isolani 88
• Driving Forces 96
• Emptying the Queenside 102
• False Guards 107
• The Double Exchange Sacrifice 114
• Losing a Queen 120
• Twins 126
• The f4 Break 131
• Planning 137
• Recipes from the Grandmaster’s Kitchen 143
• Opening Diagonals 146
• Small Advantages 153

The Endgame

• Keep Your Rooks Active! 164
• A Trapped Rook 170
• Losing a Drawn Rook Ending 175
• Technical Rook Endings 180
• The Isolani in the Endgame 187
• Knight and Three Pawns vs. Rook 193
• Rook vs. the Bishop Pair 198
• The Bishop Pair vs. the Exchange 202
• Pawns on the Seventh Rank 206
• A King’s March 214
• Pawn Endings 220
• Rook and Knight 228
• Rook and Rook-pawn vs. Bishop & Rook-pawn 231
• The Square 248
• Queen vs. Rook 253

Miscellaneous

• Critical Games 262
• Strength of a Novelty 280
• The a7 Forepost 288
• David Bronstein (1924-2006) 292
• Facing a Good Friend 300

• FIDE World Cup 2007 303

• Player Index 312

• Opening Index 316
• Bibliography 319
• About the Author 320

FORORDET:

Why do we read a chess book? There are mainly two reasons: we seek entertainment and we want to improve our play.

While certainly entertaining, this book is clearly dedicated to the ambitious player who has reached a certain level and wants to improve even further. You want to advance from a medium player to a stronger player, from a strong player to a master? Well, you have made an excellent choice. Based on the analysis of high level games you will be presented with and have explained (this is something that your chess engine won’t do for you!) important middlegame and endgame patterns, winning strategic plans, and typical mistakes. Several personal remarks about the author’s and his students’ tournament practice add another dimension, as you get an idea about the emotions involved in a tournament game.

There is a broad range of the subjects which are covered. You will find wellknown subjects like back rank mate combinations, chapters about isolated pawns, strong squares, etc., as well as less commonly presented patterns, such as the chapters “False Guards” or “The King’s Golden Cage.” The guiding principle of these themes is their practical value. This is particularly true in the endgame section where the author deals with structures which occur relatively often but are rarely presented in chess literature.

The structure of each chapter is clear and methodical. The concept is explained in a few lines and illustrated in carefully selected, annotated master games. A conclusion with practical hints rounds off each section.

Working through the book will increase your general understanding of chess. Thus your progress will be permanent and sustainable. Unlike opening theory which is subject to rather dramatic changes in a relatively short period, the principal rules of chess strategy have remained the same over time.

Personally, I particularly enjoyed the chapters about “Dancing Knights” and “Decisive Games” and the entire section about endings. Yes, sometimes you will need to go through a lot of analysis in this section but there is a good chance that this work will bring you the desired extra half-point in your tournament games. Some remarks about your author. I have known and have been good friends with Efstratios (Stratos) Grivas now for 30 years. He is a grandmaster and by definition an excellent player. But more importantly for you he is one of the world’s leading chess trainers, one of those who can help you to become a grandmaster. (Well, I do admit that achieving that goal takes more than reading one book. It takes talent, time and tournament practice and… some luck!) Having been “brought up” as a chessplayer by leading trainers of the Eastern European Chess School, he has devoted almost two decades of his life to chess training. Consequently he is now an executive member of the FIDE trainer’s commission. This position compels him to travel a lot, giving classes to future FIDE Trainers.

Bottom line: you are in the safe hands of a real expert who is dedicated to chess training. That’s the good news. Chess Analytics Now the bad news: buying Stratos’ book and even reading it is not enough. You have to work with it, you have to play through the games, follow the analyses and understand the concepts presented to reap the real benefits. This means that you will have to spend time and effort. And, of course, you will need to play some tournaments to put into practice what you learned.

On the other hand, if you make that effort, you are almost sure to improve your success at chess substantially. And that’s what you really want, right? I sincerely wish to all of you that you will experience this effect!

International Master Robert Zysk Germany March 2012