Bobby Fischer: Click here to read an article by Stewart Reuben [22/1/08]

Solving Nabokov's Lolita Riddle: Vladimir Nabokov, the author of the best-selling novel Lolita, was also a composer of chess problems for many decades. In one particular chess problem, discussed in his memoirs and published separately in Poems and Problems, Nabokov engaged in a stunning Wonderland chess duel against Lewis Carroll. This chess duel has been analysed by me for the very first time on my website www.lolitariddle.com, as well as in my book 'Solving Nabokov's Lolita Riddle' (2005), which has only just been published here in Australia. I thought some of your members might find Nabokov's symbolic chess duel rather interesting. Jo Morgan [1/8/05]

Chess National Press Coverage March/April 05 [5/4/05]

A Busy Few Days - by Stewart Reuben [15/9/04]

Australian Defence scientists checkmate the opposition! Scientists from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) are using the age old game of chess to study how certain strategic advantages can translate into success on the chess 'battlefield'. [22/1/04]

Chess as a Sport - in Australia [7/10/03]

Chess Video Tape Material: by Stewart Reuben [26/3/03] (updated 16/5/06)

Chris Baker's column - [22/12/00]

Previous Articles

Chris Baker Articles: Article 1 22/11/99 — Article 2 29/11/99 — Article 3 7/12/99 — Article 4 14/12/99 — Article 5 21/12/99 — Article 6 10/01/00 — Article 7 24/01/00 — Article 8 09/06/00 — Article 9 07/07/00

Black Is OK Forever!

Andras Adorjan
Batsford, £15.99

Playing with the white pieces is generally considered an advantage in chess, much like the 'serve' in tennis. However, the independently-minded Andras Adorjan, thinks otherwise. This rebel with a cause has a sincere belief, backed up with a super-abundance of examples from his own rich tournament practice - including battles against Petrosian, Spassky, Smyslov and Tal - that there are many positives in playing Black. In this sequel to his two ground-breaking books Black is OK! and Black is Still OK! Adorjan's inspiring games, all deeply annotated and pulsating with creative energy, illustrate the practical application, power and effectiveness of his world-famous credo. Philosophical, psychologi-cal and statistical essays are also included, as are games by world title challenger Peter Leko, trained by Adorjan for a number of years, who once defeated world champion Vladimir Kramnik using the Adorjan Gambit • 192 pages

How to be Lucky in Chess

David LeMoir
Gambit, £13.99

Review by Jonathan Rowson
A delightful book! I like LeMoir’s writing style a lot. It is rare for an untitled player to publish a chess book, but this effort shows that practical playing strength is not essential to good chess writing. LeMoir communicates well and has chosen his examples (a mixture of GM games and games between club players) thoughtfully...

Fundamental Chess Endings

Muller/Lamprecht
Gambit, £19.99

Review by Jonathan Rowson
This looks like one of those formidable books which makes you feel safe but you suspect you’ll never read. However, the authors have somehow managed to create that rare beast - a readable encyclopaedia...

The Sicilian Sozin

Golubev
Gambit, £14.99

Review by Jonathan Rowson
This is another solid Gambit opening book, with a reliable coverage of the main lines of the Sicilian Sozin. The Sozin (Bc4 in the open Sicilian) is a sharp opening but with a solid positional basis. It was a favourite of Bobby Fischer and the value of learning it from White’s point of view is that you can play it against more than one variation of the Sicilian...

Chess Choice Challenge 2

Chris Ward
Batsford, £12.99

Review by James Vigus
Chris Ward, Grandmaster and highly accomplished coach, here presents 80 positions with multiple-choice questions. The format follows that of Volume One, with points being awarded for correct answers, though this is more for fun than serious assessment...

Starting out: The King’s Indian

Joe Gallagher
Everyman, £12.99

Review by Gary Lane
The King’s Indian Defence is a favourite of club players who like tactical skirmishes straight from the opening. Joe Gallagher has the difficult task of trying to explain the labyrinth of main lines in an easy to read format. He uses his experience to explain general plans and sprinkles his games throughout to illustrate ideas...

Mastering the Opening, Mastering the Middlegame and Mastering the Endgame

(all Everyman & all £14.99)

Review by IM Richard Palliser
In 2000 Everyman simultaneously released three books under the headings of ‘Improve Your Opening/Middlegame/Endgame’, although it was not clear that all three titles were aimed at the same strength audience. Now we have another series: ‘Mastering the Opening/Middlegame/Endgame’ with GM Glenn Flear continuing to write on the latter stages of the game, but IM Byron Jacobs having replaced GM Chris Ward on the opening and IM Angus Dunnington coming in for IM Andrew Kinsman to concentrate on the middlegame...

Behind Deep Blue: Building the Computer that Defeated the World Chess Champion

Feng-hsiung Hsu
Cloth, £19.95, ISBN: 0-691-09065-3
(UK publising date 7 October 2002)

Princeton University Press
On May 11, 1997, as millions worldwide watched a stunning victory unfold on Television, a machine shocked the chess world by defeating the defending world champion, Garry Kasparov. Written by the man who started the adventure, Behind Deep Blue reveals the inside story of what happened behind the scenes at the two historic Deep Blue vs. Kasparov matches...

Previous Reviews

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