| Two New Releases from Everyman by John Donaldson The English firm Everyman (www.everymanchess.com) has recently released two new books which are likely to be of interest for those wishing to improve their game. Excelling at Positional Chess (2003, 176 pages, paperback, figurine algebraic, $19.95) is the sequel to author Jacob Aagard's earlier work, the well-regarded Excelling at Chess. The current book differs markedly from its predecessor in that about two thirds of it is devoted to 108 exercises and solutions aimed at improving the students command of positional chess. While the preceding six chapters are of interest it is the exercises which are the heart of the book. The examples are well chosen and in many cases not so clear cut which make them excellent training material. For example in an early exercise - Miles-Kortchnoi, Lugano 1989 - Viktor's sharp play creates a position in which it is very difficult to determine whether Black is actually better (Kortchnoi calls it unclear in Chess Informant) and yet when you see how he handles the situation the logic behind his play is crystal clear. The solutions are well explained and the players in the exercises are of a high enough caliber that more detailed explanation can often be hunted down if desired. I have no doubt that players in the 2000-2500 range can derive great benefit from working their way through this material in this book. Chess Psychology: Approaching the Psychological Battle both On and Off the Board (2003, 128 pages, paperback, figurine algebraic, $19.95) by Angus Dunnington covers a topic that has never been fully addressed in the chess literature. There have been prior attempts like Chess Psychology by Krogius, The Psychology of Chess Skill by Holding , The Psychology of Chess by Hartston and Wason, Chess The Mechanics of the Mind by Pfleger and Treppner, and Winning with Chess Psychology by Benko and Hochberg. One could also include Bent Larsen's book of selected games, where the Dane has many interesting things to say about psychology in chess. More recently one call recall works by Rowson, Aagard, Jesper Hall, Tisdall and Nunn that have touched on the subject, but none that could be called the definitive work. IM Dunnington divides his book into three chapters. The first which deals with psychological factors, covers the nuts and bolts like getting enough sleep, exercise, eating sensibly and thinking positive. This is sound counsel, but nothing terribly new. More interesting to my mind is the following chapter where Dunnington gives practical examples illustrating typical failings. One of the great difficulty many players have is admitting their mistakes. Dunnington shows how a player will usually continue a bad plan rather than cut his losses, just because he doesn't want to admit his previous moves were wrong. The English IM also gives a very nice example of the sin of cashing in one's chips too early, showing the game Pons-Sokolov, from their match in 2001. In this game the Spaniard quickly established a large positional advantage, but threw away the win by going after what proved to be a worthless pawn. Clearly the ability to know when to cash in a positional advantage is one of the most difficult skills in chess. What Chess Psychology and all other chess books on the subject don't really cover is the sort of material you find in modern sports psychology manuals. Things like drills for visualizing success, reducing stress, etc. One can read in the pages of newspapers and magazines how professional athletes hire sports psychologists to help achieve maximum performance. Strangely, outside Dr. Zukhar, who worked for Anatoly Karpov (remember the 1978 World Championship match?) I don't recall reading much about top level chess players and this subject. It would be interesting to know if chess players, who are engaged in a more cerebral than physical activity, would benefit from the sort of training followed by professional athletes. Those that are curious might find the works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi of interest. Chess Psychology is a solid effort that may prove useful for players in the 1800-2200 range. |