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Last update: Friday June 3, 2005 9:44
New Edition by Sarah Hurst, Richard Palliser and Graham Brown
Batsford, 176 pages, £9.99.
Chess on the web, like
virtually anything else on the web, can be a time-wasting addiction or a fruitful
source of pleasure and interest, all depending on how you handle it. It was
with trepidation that I first opened this book, due to a paranoid fear that
it might somehow induce me to become one of sad addicts of internet chess. But
I finished the book much reassured, having received clear guidance on exactly
which websites are worthwhile and why.
Ten well-organised chapters - "Megasites", "News", "Clubs and Events", "Where to Play", "History", "Archives and Databases", "Analysis", "Products and Services", "Miscellaneous", "Secrets of Chess Webmastery" - cover the main areas of interest, dealing with a total of 133 websites. This is only a tiny fraction of the thousands of sites in existence, but this selectivity is itself one of the book's strengths. After all, most readers will want a pick of the best, and indeed reviews of the sites, mostly favourable, form the meat of the book.
The reviews are crisply written and informative. Each site gets a star rating, a content summary and a prose description, often including notes on how best to utilise the site. Not surprisingly, The Chess Café, The Week in Chess, and the Internet Chess Club receive glowing reviews; but some less familiar sites also rank highly - perhaps the most striking example being John C. Knudsden's superb The Correspondence Chess Place. Correspondence chess has been revolutionised by the Internet, and the loving care of someone like Knudsen is accessible even to non-correspondence players.
Reviews apart, Chess on the Web features interviews, some brief, most long, with a few of the most eminent webmasters. One or two of these fall flat: Peter Svidler is monosyllabic and Mark Crowther dutiful. But some interviewees respond with enthusiasm, notably Dave Regis of Exeter Chess Club and Hanon Russell of the Chess Café. Readers who are thinking of setting up their own website will find inspiration and practical tips in these interviews - and, in the final chapter, the inimitable John Saunders is on hand to provide specific insight into the "Secrets of Chess Webmastery". His lucid and honest account of the trials and rewards of the job is an apt conclusion to the book.
Many readers, however, will above all be keen to find out where best to play chess. Personally I agree with Saunders that "Chess is like sex - it is only healthy when it involves two consenting humans in the same room." Nevertheless, countless sites are devoted to chess-playing, and Chess on the Web offers much-needed navigation of these. Everything from serious rated games to casual, anonymous blitz chess is available, so it is useful to be told precisely where you will find what.
I have not read the first edition of Sarah Hurst's Chess on the Web and so cannot advise those who have whether this update is worth buying. Websites change fast, though, so fresh reviews are helpful; and Hurst has wisely added a strong player, Richard Palliser, to her authorial team, who is able to make informed judgements on the actual chess content of sites. The only danger of this book is that it is liable to date quickly - and so it is frustrating that it was published a few months after the manuscript was completed. Batsford's delay was fortunately not fatal, however, as most of the sites reviewed are well established, and the comments appear to me to be still current. I therefore strongly recommend Chess on the Web as the best way to find the internet's gems - but if you buy it, do so soon!
Review by James Vigus