Cet article est le premier d'une série de comptes rendus par Nagesh Havanur (Inde). Ces critiques porteront des livres ou CD en rapport avec les échecs par correspondance, et seront publiées en anglais et en français (note du webmestre).
«64 Great Chess Games» By Tim Harding
Published by Chess Mail, Dublin.
Pages: 304
Price: 25 Euros
This is a superb collection of games spanning a century of correspondence chess.
The author, Tim Harding, is the editor of Chess Mail Magazine. He writes the well-known column, The Kibitzer for the Chess Café website. He is the author of several books. Recently he has released two CDs, The Total Marshall and Megacorr.3 which are yet to be known in this part of the world. He is rightly recognized as an authority on opening theory on account of his intimate knowledge of praxis in both correspondence chess and OTB chess.
The present work happens to include a number of CC games by OTB players of the past and the present. Apart from games by legendary figures like Steinitz, Tschigorin , Keres and Kasparov , there are also games by players like Schiffers, Maroczy, Vidmar , Ragozin from the past and Ulf Andersson from more recent times. However, the book rightly belongs to CC stars like Dyckhoff , Purdy, Berliner, Morgado and Umansky.
There are also a few curious omissions. Harding writes in the Introduction « Because I wanted to say something new about every game, I have excluded a few masterpieces that have been very well dealt with by certain players ( recommended ) in my bibliography.»
As a result , the former CC World Champion Sanakoev is represented only by a loss. Two other CC World Champions , Alberic de Galway O’Kelly and Fritz Baumbach are not represented at all. It is indeed a pity. Harding’s earnest appeal to read their work in the original is not likely to be heeded as the books by these two players are in German, and not easily accessible.
The author’s principled refusal to recycle old material has led him to re-examine the annotations available to almost every game in the book. In the prodigious research that followed he has been ably assisted by the Editor Jonathan Tait with satisfying results.
« In order to arrive at the final 64 games many apparently strong candidates fell by the wayside when subjected to 21st century scrutiny. Hitherto unsuspected blunders, overlooked defences and missed wins were revealed. Such discoveries usually meant a game had to be rejected, but some times the reasons why the errors were overlooked by the players are in themselves instructive. So the book does include some less-than-perfect games of an unusual character ...»
Here is a stunning example: Morgado-Estrin 10th CC World Championship Final 1978-1984 :
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nh5 ! 5.Be5 f6 6.g4 ?!
6.Bg3 d6 is better.
6... fxe5 7.gxh5 exd4 8.Nxd4 d5 9.Rg1?!
9.Nb3 is better.
9...e5 ! 10 hxg6 ?!
All part of the plan. Morgado is seduced by the extraordinary position that he has visualized after move 14.
10...exd4 11.gxh7
Now neither player saw 11...Rf8!!
If 12.Rxg7 Qf6 ! Or 12.Qd3 Qf6 ! with the main point 13.Nxd5? Qxf2+ 14. Kd1 Qxg1 wins
Or 12.Nxd5 Bh8 13. e4 Qxh4 ! winning.
What followed in the game was no less strange.
11...Kf8 !? 12.Rxg7 Kxg7 13. Qxd4+ Kxh7 14.Qd3+ Kh6
A surrealist position.
What happened in the game thereafter was no less amazing .This book has surprises galore.
The whole work has taken years of meticulous preparation and has been produced with loving care. It has an elegant cover design and the editing is very competent.
I could find only one erroneous reference. The game Spassky-Tal from the 25th USSR Championship mentioned on p.90 was played in the year 1958 , and not in 1957 (probably a typo). Years later Spassky was to call it The Game Of His life. He missed a win in a game of fluctuating fortunes and lost his chance to qualify for the Interzonal. Tal won the game and the USSR Championship for the second consecutive year . He was to win the Interzonal and the Candidates’ Tournament on his way to the World Championship in 1960. The rest is history.
To return to Harding’s work , he follows a standard format in the book. Before each game there is a brief introduction to the players . It is followed by a short passage explaining the importance of the game. The cutting edge of modern opening theory is demonstrated by several theoretical novelties and miniatures illustrating them. This book has set standards of excellence worthy of emulation .
I should add that «64 great chess games« also provides analysis of the famous Léotard-Rotariu game («Amici Sumus» tournament), also commented on this page by the winner. (webmaster's note)
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