CORRESPONDENCE CHESS BOOK REVIEWS Including Books, Periodicals, and Software (All Reviews by John Knudsen Unless Otherwise Indicated)
Attention publishers, writers, and other literary types: I will be happy to review your books, software, or periodicals. Mail your review copies to John C. Knudsen, Chattenweg 10, 34582 Borken-Kleinenglis, Germany. By the way, this site averages over 3,000 readers a month.
Reviewed in 1998 September 25, 1998
Correspondence Chess World CD By ICCM Timothy Harding, Chess Mail Ltd.
Tim Harding's anxiously awaited "Correspondence Chess World" CD appeared in my mailbox earlier this week for review. My review is given below. I would like to preface it by stating that I am (and have been) an advertiser in Chess Mail, the one essential correspondence chess magazine, and at the Chess Mail web site. I do this to support correspondence chess and Tim's efforts, not for financial gain. This is the limit of any "connection" I have with Chess Mail, Ltd., and will not significantly effect this review, in my opinion. Ultimately, the reader will decide this...
Correspondence Chess' Premature Burial
The non-cc press, newsgroups, etc. often contain the infamous general statement that "correspondence chess is dead." The cause of this death is usually attributed to the use of computers in cc. Strong cc players know the absurdity of this statement, because computers don't play strong correspondence chess at, say the master class or higher. Dedicated cc players are constantly pestering their OTB friends to at least try cc as a different form of the game. The release of "The Correspondence Chess World" CD just made the promotion of correspondence chess much easier.
The CD itself sports a colorful design, professionally done. I tested it on my Sony 731 Vaio (200 Mhz) laptop with Windows 98, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat, etc. An Adobe Acrobat Reader is included on the CD for those without one. To get the most out of its features, you should have a high end machine.
Let us deal for a moment with the minor (and I mean minor) bugs on this CD. There is an animated image that somehow didn't make it onto the introductory page. There are some links, recently changed, which are incorrectly given. Unless you can figure out how to make time stand still for a few months, this is totally expected. There are also some images that didn't make it to the Players A-Z section. Not to worry, as Tim Harding will post a supplemental zip file at the Chess Mail web site in October to fix the glitches. As Tim says in his introduction, he isn't a Microsoft, so minor bugs are to be expected. Readers who have come to expect a high standard from Mr. Harding in every project he throws himself into will not go away disappointed.
This whole project is something that has never even been attempted before in "chess", let alone "correspondence chess."
The A-Z listing of cc players and organizers is extremely well done. Three hundred people are given, with about two hundred of them containing a photograph. Games from the listed players/organizers are also given, utilizing the special Chess Mail Mistybeach game viewer. That's not all - links to tournament results (for the good players) and tidbits about the player's career are also given. I learned alot about some personalities, and I thought I was fairly familiar with correspondence chess history. This outstanding feature is alone worth the cost of the entire CD for me. I spent several hours learning more about those players. It is important to preserve our correspondence chess history and heritage!
There are about 55,000 cc games given, in *.cbf, *.cbh, and *.pgn formats. Many of these contain the tight, especially well done annotations that we would expect. Out of the total figure, about 9,000+ games are online games, which only by a stretch of the definition can be considered cc, in my opinion. Nonetheless, the remainder are gems which set this cc games archivist into a mild frenzy, from which he has not completely recovered.
One of the best features of this CD are the back issues of Chess Mail magazine contained therein. The pilot issue of August 1996, as well as all of the issues from January to December 1997, are given, to be read with the Adobe Acrobat reader. I have a confession to make. At the house, my Chess Mail magazines can be found all over the place! I like to pick one up when I have a few spare moments, and read it. Consequently, having them all in one place is a definite plus. I have commented before how high the quality of this magazine is, I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say that if you are interested in correspondence chess and don't subscribe, shame on you! Tim sets a standard in this magazine which no one else can equal, it is that good. Having them all together, in one place, within easy reach, is a blessing for me.
The classic cc tournaments section, linked via the cc players A-Z index, is another innovation. Crosstables are given, background of the tournaments, all the information that the casual (or serious) follower of cc wants or needs is right here. This is history come alive via the new medium. Again, the Chess Mail Mistybeach game viewer is used to bring you replayable games from all the top events.
There is also important information concerning ICCF rules and contacts, national contact information, and general information about cc spiced throughout. Handy for the newcomer and practical for the veteran.
The links section will be useful when you desire to visit the important sites - they are only a mouse click away.
There are software items included as well. A Chess Mentor demo, three different shareware programs for managing email cc (DBS Chess, Ectool, and IceChess), Rob Weir's freeware Chessbase utilities, and, of course, the Mistybeach game viewer. This is a nice touch, as much of the traffic to the various newsgroups involves questions such as, "What is the best software to do (fill in the blank)?"
I believe that this product will be popular within the general chess community, and a hit within our cc world. It lives up to all of my expectations, and delivers even more than that. My congratulations go to Tim, Joan, and all of the others involved in bringing this project to fruition. In my book, Tim is definitely the "rock star" of the cc community, and we should all support his efforts.
Correspondence Chess World is available for purchase (approximate cost $40 excluding postage) from the Chess Mail web site:
http://chessmail.com
As Tim so aptly says, "What more could you want for Christmas?"