CORRESPONDENCE CHESS BOOK REVIEWS Including Books, Periodicals, and Software (All Reviews by John Knudsen Unless Otherwise Indicated)
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Reviewed in 2004 Review of 50 Golden Chess Games 50 Golden Chess Games
More Masterpieces of Correspondence Chess
Softbound, 272 Pages, FAN
2004
ISBN 0-9538536-7-5
By Tim Harding
Edited by Jonathan Tait
Chess Mail Limited
List Price: 25 Euros + postage and handling.
Order at:
http://www.chessmail.com/sales/golden50.html
There is gold in these hills!
"My previous book "64 Great Chess Games" illustrated the wealth of exciting, instructive and entertaining games played by post and email. The goldmine is by no means exhausted, as I show in this volume."
- Tim Harding, from the introduction.
***** Goldmine is an understatement, in my opinion. Along with the usual precious metals, there are plenty of gems to be found here as well. Fifty correspondence chess games, ranging from the 19th to 21st centuries, are heavily annotated in this volume. Many of them with a particular emphasis on the opening phase of the battle.
The major contributors list is useful to give in this review: GMs Baumbach, Berliner, Geenen, Hamarat, Maliangkay, Rause, Timmerman, Umansky and Zilberberg. That listing alone should give you a good idea of the quality of this excellent book. There were many other contributors, in addition, to help ensure the quality of this great book.
I have always been struck by the layout and care that goes into each of Harding's publications. Here we have the useful Symbols and Abbreviations, Index of Openings/ECO Index, Index of Players, as well as an extremely well-written Introduction and a Select Bibliography. Care was taken so that the book would appeal to all chess players. This is a nice touch that others should emulate.
Those familiar with "64 Great Chess Games" will again see the fantastic introductory format here - which introduces the players and sets the scene before each game is given. The "about the opening" section was a nice, added touch to many of the games. In this electronic age, when chess is played by mouse-click, it is nice to know that you can still derive immense pleasure from a well written and presented book, like this one. I dusted off my set and board and enjoyed commented replay of a kind seldom seen today, at least in the cc-world. The games are heavily (and extensively) annotated, and the quality of the annotations is superb. Everyone, regardless of playing strength, cannot help but learn from these games. And, have a whale of a time while doing it.
The chess world (particularly the correspondence chess world) was blessed when Chess Mail, Limited began its book publishing business. "50 Golden Chess Games" is another important addition to the literature. I have tried to find anything, anything at all, amiss with this book. I failed. What I did find was a goldmine, filled with gold and gems. I strongly recommend that you buy this book before it sells out.
12 June 2004
John C. Knudsen
Borken-Kleinenglis, Germany