Chess Lessons: Solving Problems & Avoiding Mistakes - Softcover

Dvoretsky, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1941270700 ISBN 13: 9781941270707

Publisher: Russell Enterprises, Inc., 2018

Synopsis

“Success is a collection of problems solved.” – I.M. Pei, Architect

In this, his penultimate work, legendary chess instructor Mark Dvoretsky (1947-2016) explores identifying and dealing with problems on the chessboard.

“While working on the games that I have included in this book, I have sought to uncover their core ideas which are important for a chessplayer’s improvement and demonstrate them as vividly as possible. Those may include both approaches to playing out certain typical situations and mastering various positional and tactical ideas, as well as improving technical skills and training an ability to search for decisions and to make them on the basis of the precise calculation of variations.

“The last two parts of the book are devoted to the specific forms of training that I routinely use during my lessons: analysis of games in the form of solving a string of consecutive tasks and playing out of certain specially selected positions.

“I hope that this book will be of help not only to high-ranking players at whom it is primarily aimed, but also to every reader who is serious about self-improvement and wishes to understand problems that grandmasters and masters face over the board and the ways they solve them; what are the reasons for errors they sometimes commit and how to avoid those mistakes.”

– Mark Dvoretsky, from his Foreword

About this title

About the Author:

(1947-2016) is widely regarded as one of the best chess instructors ever. His books are routinely best sellers. He is probably best known for his "Endgame Manual" which many consider the best single-volume work on the endgame.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

A Stumbling Block

Ashot Nadanian is a multi-talented

man, and I have read his book Moyi

Shakhmaty (My Chess) with great

pleasure. He is an interesting player, an

informative and objective commentator,

and his writing style is “savory.” While

demonstrating his best games and

unexpected and spectacular ideas he has

carried out over the board, Nadanian

never tries to convince us that all his

novelties are impeccably correct and

supplies his readers with the results of

an objective analysis.

Nowadays, when everything gets

checked with help of the all-powerful

“iron friend,” it is only rarely that you

manage to cast doubt on the picture of

a struggle painted by a conscientious

annotator, to discover ideas that change

the perception of an examined game (I

do not speak here about picking on the

details or different approach to

controversial moments). Still, I did

manage to do this in one of the games

quoted in Nadanian’s book, and the

results turned out to be so interesting

that I would like to introduce them here

for your consideration.

1.e2-e4 c7-c5 2.Ng1-f3 e7-e6

3.d2-d4 c5xd4 4.Nf3xd4 Bf8-c5!?

[Diagram]

An extremely rare continuation that

is nevertheless connected with quite a

concrete plan. Having developed his

bishop on the g1-a7 diagonal, Black is

going to advance to e7 with his knight

and, after castling, carry out f7-f5.

In his comments, Nadanian tells

about the origin of this move.

he Basman-Sale Variation. I have

included it in my opening repertoire

after having read an article by the

Croatian master Srdjan Sale in one of

the issues of New in Chess.

It is thought that the strongest

continuation is, as Kiril Georgiev played

against me in the 2000 European

Championship. He had also seen the

article in New in Chess and knew Sale’s

recommendation.

As usual, after a while, certain

theoretical evaluations got corrected.

Ashot’s reaction in the above-mentioned

game was not successful:

7...d5?, and after 8.N2b3, his position

became difficult. He should have

answered 7...Nxd4, for example, 8.Nc4

Qc6 9.Bxd4 Qxe4+ 10.Be2 Be7! 11.0-

0 Nf6 12.Bf3 Qf4 with unclear play

(Spasov-Sale, Zagreb 2012).

5.Nd4-b3 Bc5-b6 6.Nb1-c3

Ng8-e7 7.Bf1-c4

White hampers the freeing move 7...d5.

7...0-0 8.Bc1-f4 f7-f5!

[Diagram]

About this edition

• Publisher: Russell Enterprises, Inc.
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1941270700
• ISBN 13: 9781941270707
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 274