"U cannot be serious!" by IM Gerard Welling and IM Michael Basman

A wonderful new book about Mike Basman's chess will be released at the beginning of April 2021! (And this is not an April Fools Joke 😉)

Two of the most esteemed chess players in the world of Unorthodox Chess Openings combined their efforts to produce the FINAL word on Basman's unusual openings.

A new book with 304 pages!

A real labour of love.

Content

004 Symbols and bibliography

006 Contents

007 Introduction

011 Chapter 1 Basmania in Biel

047 Chapter 2 Basmania in Belgium

061 Chapter 3 St. George’s Opening with Black and White

099 Chapter 4 Grob’s Inheritance

161 Chapter 5 Global Opening Play

217 Chapter 6 Basmania for the 21st Century

293 Chapter 7 Outro

299 Index Games

Here you can read a detailed description and a 18 pages sample as well!

I can't wait to read the whole book!

Mike Basman's new - old book - "Bas-Man : My best games 1951-1961"

A new old book has been published.

The title is "Bas-Man : My best games 1951-1961" , 40 pages 30 annotated games with many diagrams.
Written in 1961 and first published in 2019 by :
Chess Ambassador Ltd.
ChessFest
7 Billockby Close
Chessington, Surrey
KT92ED England

Mike Basman's current email address where you can contact him is
surreyhundreds@gmail.com

The price is 5,95 British Pound

On the backflap text we read :

"Mike Basman is one of the most famous eccentrics of the chess world - but was he always like this ?
This book of his early years, written when he was about 15 year old, shows a more orthodox player,
who, steeped in the books of the great chess popularisers Fred Reinfeld and Irving Chernev,
played regular openings such as the Giuoco Piano. Queens Gambit and Sicilian Defence.
As such, the books is a marvellous instructional work for any young player hoping to rise up from the amateur and novice ranks to become a succesful performer on the national and international stage.
How far can YOU go ? "

PS I want to express my appreciation to IM Welling for letting me know about it.

eBook on sale: "La Difesa du Chattel: Un sistema universale"

We talked about the eBook "La Difesa du Chattel: Un sistema universale" in a previous blog post (see HERE).

Now the eBook has been published as an ePub/Kindle file and you can purchase it at the following links:
ePub:    HERE    
Mobi:   HERE    or  HERE

"The Elshad for White" by FM Nemtsev

After the "outrageous" "The Elshad System" was published in 2017 now here it is the follow up for White to be published in the coming weeks.

Here you can read the previous posts on Black's opening system.

Du Chattel Defence: A Universal System

In autumn 2019 it will be published a new book about the du Chattel opening. This universal opening system involves an early Nh6 move. It has been my favourite chess opening for more than a decade now. A few info about the upcoming book:

1. More than 120 pages;

2. Italian language but algebraic notation;

3. Its authors are :

- Italian CM Walter De Marco, current Fide rating 1861 but he had a 2096 peak Fide rating back in 2003. He is also a registered Chess Instructor for the Italian Chess Federation.

- Chess enthusiast Paola Mezzanzanica, with no Fide rating.

Chessplayers intererested to purchase this work may contact directly the authors at the following email address: chess.duchattelsystem@gmail.com

A book preview can be downloaded here

A real labour of love about an original but fully playable opening system. In the past I used it in national chess tournaments and I realized that even strong players playing the White side of the board need some time in order to organize their thoughts to be able to face a rarely used system. Also this opening is excellent in Rapid & Blitz tournaments where the time on the clock is a key factor.

Link to previous blog posts on the same subject.

Dec. 2019: A new repertoire book by IM Gerard Welling and FM Steve Giddins!

According to Amazon there's an upcoming new book, to be published on Dec. 20th 2019 by IM Gerard Welling and FM Steve Giddins!

The title is:
"Side-stepping Mainline Theory: Cut Down on Chess Opening Study and Get a Middlegame You are Familiar With"

And this is the description of it:
"The average chess player spends too much time on studying opening theory. In his day, World Champion Emanuel Lasker argued that improving amateurs should spend about 5% of their study time on openings. These days club players are probably closer to 80%, often focusing on opening lines that are popular among grandmasters. Club players shouldn't slavishly copy the choices of grandmasters. GMs need to squeeze every drop of advantage from the opening and therefore play highly complex lines that require large amounts of memorization. The main necessity for club players is to emerge from the opening with a reasonable position, from which you can simply play chess and pit your own tactical and positional understanding against that of your opponent. Gerard Welling and Steve Giddins recommend the Old Indian-Hanham Philidor set-up as a basis for both Black and White. They provide ideas and strategies that can be learned in the shortest possible time and require the bare minimum of maintenance and updating. They deliver exactly what you need: rock-solid positions that you know how to handle. By adopting a similar set-up for both colours, with similar plans and techniques, you further reduce study time. With this compact and straightforward opening approach, Welling and Giddins argue, club players will have more time to focus on what is really decisive in the vast majority of non-grandmaster games: tactics, positional understanding and endgame technique."

New book on the Hippo by FM De Santis

March 2019 Update

In April 2019 the book will be available in english language as well.

https://www.newinchess.com/the-hippopotamus-defence

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click here to read a preview

Published Aug. 10 2018

384 pages

algebraic notation

italian language

1st printing limited to 500 copies only

The book can be purchased here

"The Hippo System" by Eric Briffoz

Perhaps the only book on earth dealing with the White Hippo as well.

By the way this blog dedicated a few posts to this  opening system. They can be read here
Last but not least, please note that 48 lightly annotated White Hippo games can be found in UON 24 downloadable here

Becoming GM...without reading chess books...

From New In Chess Magazine n° 6 - 2017

In the interview GM Eric Hansen wasn't asked how his chess improvement happened...chess software? a trainer? chess videos? no chess study at all but pure talent only? 
We are curious...

"The Elshad System" by FM Igor Nemtsev

Following a previous post on the subject, we are happy to report that now it is available a Forward Chess Interactive ebook on the Elshad Opening System, written by FM Nemtsev

The ebook contains analysis of the opening 1.d4 c6 2.c4 d6 followed by Nd7, h6 and g5, from the Black's point of view. Material is sorted into 5 chapters: 1) lines with e4 and f4. 2) lines with g3, Bg2. 3) the classical line e4, Nf3, Be2, 0-0. 4) White plays long 0-0-0. 5) the other lines. This repertoire is really ok for blitz & rapid games mostly. The system has been developed by the player Elshad Mamedov.
Here's the author's preface:

The original book was published in Russia in 2016:

CONCLUSIONS:

The ebook is highly recommended to the UCO player for his blitz & rapid games.

*****************************************
PS At last, if you know the russian language, you may even watch this videos on the opening: by FM Nemtsev 

FM De Santis' new book on 1.b3

There is a brand new book dealing with 1.b3 
Its author is FM Alessio De Santis, winner of a lot of Chess Tournaments. He has obtained three IM norms.
The book (270 pages) is written in italian language but it has algebraic notation. Price € 19,98 + shipping.
We really like this book because De Santis knows the matter having played 1.b3 many times.
A magnificent work, a labour of love!
The book can be purchased here or here

Front Cover

Back Cover

About GM William Lombardy

In this video you can see Magnus Carlsen winning easily against a chess player via a proxy child with a hidden earpiece.

At 52" (also at 1'22") you can see GM William Lombardy watching the game 

Apart from Lombardy's own chess merits, according to Wikipedia:

•  he was the only World Junior Champion to win the title (year 1957) with a perfect score; 
•  he won three individual Gold medals between the Men's Chess Olympiads and the World Student Team Tournament (Under 26 Years Old)

Lombardy offered a meaningful support to Bobby Fischer during the 1972 match

As a 2016 ChessBase article reported that GM Lombardy was facing serious financial problems, please know that his chess autobiography is available through his website: http://williamlombardychess.com/books/

and on the same site he offers private chess lessons

RASHID NEZHMETDINOV

A documentary about the legendary International Master Rashid Nezhmetdinov." 

• "Nobody sees combinations like Rashid Nezhmetdinov." Mikhail Botvinnik 
• Nezhmetdinov is "the greatest master of the initiative." Lev Polugaevsky 
• "His games reveal the beauty of chess and make you love in chess not so much the points and high placings, but the wonderful harmony and elegance of this particular world." Mikhail Tal 
• "Rashid Nezhmetdinov is a virtuoso of combinational chess." David Bronstein

Books about Nezhmetdinov:

Valuable Hippopotamus Bibliography

There is a rise in interest in the Hippopotamus Defence.
In this brief post you will find  references of the Hippo bibliography not mentioned in the above mentioned Wikipedia link:

In 2006 the Italian FM De Santis published the book: "La Difesa Ippopotamo". The book is out of print now, but the editor is currently selling an ebook of it. 
At this link you can read a preview of this work.
The book has 146 pages, italian language, algebraic notation.
Highly recommended.
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Chapter 4 of GM Hillarp Persson'5 2005 book on the modern is fully devoted to the Hippo: that means 26 pages.

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FM Feustel's "Eroeffnungen-abseits aller Theorie" devotes 47 pages to the Hippo, mostly annotated games in german language, algebraic notation.
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In 2009 Nicholas Kostov compiled a free booklet on the Hippo. His work has been much appreciated:
http://www7.zippyshare.com/v/UttP91ZU/file.html

"La mia polacca" book on the Polish Defense by Alberto Mortola

Alberto Mortola is an italian Candidate Master who has published a book on the Polish Defense (1.d4 b5) in 2015: “La mia polacca” Here you can see the book cover and the Index.

The book is in italian language but all the games are in algebraic notation. In this post, we will ask Alberto (see picture on the left) a few questions:

Question (Q): We are curious to know how you came to play the Polish Defense…

Answer (A): I came to play the polish defense by chance. I was searching for a chess tournament in Poland through internet and suddenly the polish defense appeared to me. I started to use it at school and at the chess club, then I decided to experiment it in the tournaments, at the beginning against 1d4 and later with other White first moves.

Q: In your opinion, is there “a best way” to study the Polish Defense?

A: I think the best way to study the Polish defense is buying and reading “The Polish defense” written by Kapitaniak. Then, if you want to enjoy yourself, you can start playing it and, if you are really interested in this matter, you could buy and read also my book.

Q: Would you recommend to play the Polish Defense in blitz/rapid chess tournaments?

A: Yes, I recommend the polish defense, above all in blitz tournaments, perhaps also in rapid ones, but I don’t promise you will obtain immediately good results.

Q: Are there any strong players who played the polish defence in their chess career?

A: It was ideated by Wagner and successfully used by Miles against Karpov. The only chess players I know that currently employ it are Hubert Biernacki and Emanuel Binaj, two friends of mine.

Q: Is it correct to state that the polish Defense is a reversed 1.b4 in some variations ?

A: I think it is quite correct, but in some complex variations black can find himself in troubles if he plays as he was White.

Q: Do you want to show us your best game with 1.d4 b5 ?

A: In my opinion it is this one (from page 39 of my book):
Saffioti Massimo – Mortola Alberto
Genova, 18/10/2014
1 d4 b5 2 Cf3 Ab7 3 e3 a6
questa è la variante Hubert vera e propria, in cui il nero preferisce difendere il pedone b5 senza spingerlo in b4.
4 c4 bxc4 5 Axc4 e6 6 0-0 Cf6 7 Cc3 Ae7 8 Te1 0-0 9 Dc2 Axf3
come in una delle partite precedenti, qui ho deciso di rinunciare all'alfiere polacco. In questo caso la mia scelta è giustificata anche dal fatto che il mio avversario, costretto a riprendere con il pedone
g, indebolirà irrimediabilmente l'arrocco corto.
10 gxf3 d5
secondo la mia consueta strategia, dopo essermi liberato dell'alfiere campochiaro sistemo i pedoni centrali su case bianche.
11 Ad3 c5 12 dxc5 Cc6
il nero non ha fretta di recuperare il pedone e continua tranquillamente lo sviluppo minacciando 13...Cb4.
13 a3 Ce5 14 Ae2 Axc5 15 b4 Ad6
con questa mossa completo lo sviluppo: tutti i miei pezzi sono disposti attivamente, mentre il mio avversario deve ancora tirare fuori l'alfiere camposcuro. Ora la mossa migliore dovrebbe essere la semplice 16 Ab2.
16 f4 Cg6 17 Dd3 e5 (D)

con questa spinta sacrifico momentaneamente un pedone per ottenere un forte attacco. Il mancato sviluppo dell'Ac1 comincia a farsi sentire.
18 Cxd5 Cxd5 19 Dxd5 exf4 20 exf4 Df6 21 f5 Ce7 l'immediata 21...Dxa1 consentirebbe 22 Dxd6 con un buon compenso per la qualità, ma dopo la ritirata del cavallo effettuata in partita il nero ottiene un netto vantaggio. Il bianco avrebbe
dovuto accontentarsi di 21 Ae3, restituendo il pedone con ottime possibilità di difesa, anche se l'iniziativa del nero rimane insidiosa.
22 Dd2 Dxa1 23 Ab2 Af4
in caso di 23...Da2 24 Dc3 Cxf5 25 Ac4 Tac8 26 Axa7 Txc3 27Axc3 il finale pare favorevole al bianco in virtù della coppia degli alfieri in posizione aperta e della possibilità di crearsi un pedone passato sull'ala di donna. Tuttavia, dopo la corretta 24...Axe5 25 Dxe5 f6 26 De6+ Dxe6 27 fxe6 il nero ha buone possibilità di vittoria.
24 Dc3 Ae5 (D)

questa è una delle combinazioni più complicate che io abbia mai calcolato in una partita di torneo: niente di straordinario, naturalmente, ma quanto basta per sentirmi, almeno per un giorno, un forte giocatore di scacchi.
25 Dxe5 Dxe1+ 26 Rg2 Cxf5 27 Dxf5 Dxe2 28 Axg7 Tfe8 il nero non cade nell'ultimo tranello del bianco: dopo 28...Rxg7 29 Dg5+ Rh8 30 Df6+ Rg8 la partita terminerebbe con una patta per
scacco perpetuo. 29 Dg5 De4+ 0-1

Q: After a book on the Polish Defense, are you planning to publish other chess books?

A: At this moment I think I am not going to publish other chess books, in the future I don’t know.

We thank Alberto for this interview and we wish him much success for his chess life & his book as well.
*****************************
The book “La mia Polacca” can be purchased at this link. 

Remembering FM Bernd Feustel

A few years ago, I came across a very interesting book in german language "Eroeffnungen abseits aller theorie" (english translation of the title: "Openings - beyond all theory") written by FM Bernd Feustel. 
The book contains many Modern Defence & Hippo annotated games mostly. Feustel was a strong player who had a peak elo rating of 2375 in the year 1981. In the above mentioned link, we learnt that Bernd Feustel passed away in 2012. His games will continue to inspire chess players around the world.
In this perspective we offer two games from his book:

Chessbase article in german language

Chuzhakin System

Pdf Download Link

Chuzhakin's Chess Page 

Remembering IM Giorgio Porreca

IM Giorgio Porreca has been an important man in the italian chess world.

In these days it has been published a book about him, in italian language, full of anecdotes and a few games.

At this link:
"Il maestro dei maestri della scacchiera: Giorgio Porreca" di Achille della Ragione e Carlo Castrogiovanni
you can download the entire free pdf.

See also this web page http://scacchisalerno.arciragazzi.com/2015/05/05/il-maestro-dei-maestri/

These are some of Porreca's books upon which a whole generation of italian chess players has studied:

More on the "Chess-Steps Method"

 At this web page 

 we read that specific books are recommended for players having a target rating. For instance:

• Step 4 Workbook & Manual suit players having an USCF rating up to 1750
• Step 6 Workbook & Manual are recommended for players USCF rated up to 2100

Somewhere I read that Fide Ratings are about 100 elo points lower than USCF ratings. I have wondered if these indications were really correct or if they were a vague guess only. So I made a research on the Internet in order to find  if other chess players, besides me, had published any report of their own success/ratio in solving the Chess-Steps Workbooks.

Unfortunately I found only one.
This is the link:
http://chesstrainerphaedrus.blogspot.nl/2009/12/step-6-and-stoyko-exercises.html
There we can read what follows:

5 december 2009 - Step 6 and Stoyko exercises

At the moment I use two training methods. The first is step 6 of the steps method. I already did this book once (over a period of more than a year) and had an overall succes rate of about 85%.
At first I thought it would be best to concentrate on the exercises I failed to solve. But when I started to pick up the book I noticed that I didn't remember most of the (1300) positions. For this reason I decided to go through the book again. Not surprisingly my succes rate is now about 95%, and I also solve them a lot faster than I did the first time. I consider this work to be largely a kind of maintenance of acquired patterns. (...)

 In another post written on 25 February 2009:
http://chesstrainerphaedrus.blogspot.nl/2009_02_01_archive.html
the author states that :
"(...) I think that for a player of my strength (2050+), (...)
so, that player had a Candidate Master rating at the time he was solving the Chess Steps 6th Workbook.

As my own final success rate of Step 4 is about 95% (my current FIDE rating is 1780), in absence of additional data, for the very limited info/reports in my hands, I suppose that the rating indications provided at http://www.chess-steps.com/index.php may be accurate.
If any reader has gone through the chess-steps workbook and he/she would like to share his/her success ratio, please send an email at ricettario@fastwebnet.it so I will be able to update this post. Thanks.

The beginner's game by Pafu

The book "The beginner's game" by Pafu can be downloaded for free at http://www.beginnersgame.com/TheBeginner%27sGame.pdf