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 3,000 readers a month.
Reviewed in 1997 Chess Mail Edited by Tim Harding (A Correspondence Chess Magazine, The First Issue, Volume 1/1997, was reviewed) A reviewer should above all be honest and straight forward with his readers. There has been a void in English-language periodical coverage of correspondence chess. Yes, we have our various club publications and digests. Local coverage, local news. But there hasn't been anything available on a truly international scale for quite some time. Every attempt that I am aware of has ended in failure after one or two years. And, it has made us sad. Let's face it - Fernschach has been the standard bearer for many years. Some CC players have expressed frustration with Fernschach, because of the language factor. Yet, overall, Fernschach has served us well through the years. That is, until now - and I'll tell you why.
Noted author, chess player, and all-around chess guy, Tim Harding is probably one of the few people in the world who have the ability and the vision to bring us exactly what we need. Tim has authored many chess books. Tim is not satisfied with anything less than a quality production - whether it is a chess book, an article, or a magazine. I must admit to almost having torn up the magazine in my haste to open the envelope!
Let me serve up the plate which is the first issue of Chess Mail. There is a fascinating interview with legendary FIDE GM Ulf Andersson, who has joined the ranks of CC players. This interview, by Lars Grahn, editor of SSKK Bulletinen, is lite in tone and full of anecdotes. Serious CC players know that, oftentimes, strong over the board players do not rise to the top in the CC arena. The reason for this is unknown, perhaps explained by the nature of the short contest. In Andersson's case, this assumption does not apply. One can easily picture Ulf sitting in a cafe, working on his CC games! Going from the lite to the nuts and bolts, there is a piece by CC GM Maurice W. Johnson entitled, "How I became a CC Grandmaster." In this the first in a series of articles, GM Johnson explains in great detail his research and preparation in CC - and, how it has paid off for him. Such advice has great practical value and worth to the average CC player. There is next an article by Tim on the 50th anniversary of the German CC organization, Bdf. Then a section on the 1st US Team CC Championship by Roy DeVault. The 25th Dutch CC Championship is covered by Bertrand Weegenaar. Tim next gives us an article on MacCutcheon French theory, followed by a report of the 1996 ICCF Congress in Germany. A helpful article on how to get started with email CC play is followed by Alan Borwell's piece on "e-mail - A journey into the future." The veteran US journalist J. Franklin Campbell writes about the computer and CC debate. This is followed, in typical witty style, by Ragner Wikman's "The ICCF view on computers." Rounding out the issue is a section entitled "ICCF Results Service." At the tail-end, we get some more of Tim's book reviews. Last, but not least, is a letters to the editor section.
Wow! I fear that before I consume this issue, another will be in the mail box! Seriously, though, if you care about correspondence chess, you must subscribe to this publication. I don't know of any other way to express that point. If you don't, you will be left out, and regret it later on, when it is out of print. It is that good.
The annual subscription rates are as follows: England and the Irish Republic: 29 Pounds (Irish or Sterling); the rest of Europe: DM 70; North America and the rest of the world - surface mail: $46 or 29 Irish Pounds; air mail - $60 or 38 Irish Pounds. Potential US subscribers can order through ICCF-US.
This is a monthly publication. More information can be obtained from Tim Harding's web site:
Chess Mail