The Soviet School of Chess - 2nd hand

In recent years Russian chess has risen to the peak of world eminence; the Soviet Union today boasts over one million officially rated players and 20 international Grandmasters. Yet Is there, as the Russian claim, a uniform “Soviet school?” If so, how did it develop and what are its guiding principles?

The authors of the present book (a prominent Russian Grandmaster and Master), in their argument for the unity and and supremacy of the Soviet school, have here compiled the most comprehensive work on Russian chess ever printed, and the single richest sourcebook for the most up-to-date Russian chess theory and strategy. (While the historical portion are often distorted for nationalistic aims, the book’s value is unimpaired, since a new Dover introduction by a foremost authority places the historical elements in proper perspective.)

The body of the work is devoted to a collection of 128 brilliant games, most of them completely unavailable elsewhere, played by 51 outstanding players. Represented are 19 Grandmasters, including Botvinnik, Keres, Smyslov, and Tal; 24 important Masters; and 8 women players. These instructive and beautifully thought-out games (including contests with Capablanca, Euwe, and Reshevsky) are carefully annotated and analyzed. The combinational vision, positional intuition, and creative approach which they exhibit cannot fail to add new boldness and freshness to your own play. Furthermore, valuable biographical information is supplied for each player analyzed.

Other chapters consider the early history of chess in Russia; the careers, and contributions of Mikhail Chigorin (1850-1908), alleged founder of the Russian school, and Alekhine, Russia’s greatest player (who never played chess in Soviet Russia); the development of the Soviet school from 1920 to the present and a very full over-all study of the main features of its games (with 40 diagrams); and the history of Russian chess literature from 1775 to the present.

Commenti:

The Soviet School of Chess is one of the most important books ever written on chess. It starts with the pre-Soviet Era with the beginning of the 19th century and recounts not only the histories of their greatest players up to modern times but also the history of their ideas. A biography is provided for each of the greatest players plus examples from their games and their contributions to chess knowledge and chess opening theory.

Curiosità per i lettori italiani:

Alle pagg. 324-326 c'è una partita di Nezhmetdinov contro il nostro Paoli giocata a Bucarest nel 1954.

• Casa editrice Dover
• Codice 1179us
• Anno 1961
• Pagine p. 390
• Isbn 0-486-20026-4