Customer Reviews

Curse of Kirsan

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It would be reasonable to assume that the focus of this book is Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the controversial President of the world chess governing body (FIDE). Living up to the billing of its subtitle ("Adventures in the Chess Underworld") "Curse of Kirsan" does provide an engaging look into the seamier side of the money and politics which fuel competitive chess at its highest levels. (In fact, the book is dedicated to the memory of murdered journalist Larisa Yudina, a vocal critic of Ilyumzhinov).

However, for the larger part "Curse of Kirsan" is an immensely entertaining treatment of the divergent personalities populating the world of serious chess. Included are familiar names such as Alexander Alekhine and Andor Lilienthal, but also a host of lesser-known, but wonderfully unique, characters such as Andras Adorjan (a tireless proponent of what has been christened "Rainbow Chess").

My favorite chapter of the book is that dealing with Garry Kasparov. Hurst's humerous and self effacing recounting of her efforts to corner Kasparov for an interview provide both a highly amusing story and a captivating glimpse into the personality of perhaps the greatest player of all time.

Much of the book is in the form of personal interviews conducted by Hurst, and the personal touch she brings to the narrative makes it vastly more appealing than would be a simple recounting of people, places, and events. Hurst has a knack for effectively profiling her subjects in their own thoughts and words, and the result is a truly engrossing panorama. One needn't be a chess fanatic to enjoy "Curse of Kirsan".

Highly recommended.

I just finished reading "Curse of Kirsan" after having it strongly recommended by a friend. It is a fascinating read, especially Chapter 5 "Some Unusual Positions" which describes in some detail the story of the smitten author's relentless quest to corner her idol, Garry Kasparov (Sarah ultimately tracks him down at his hotel, and finagles her way into his room). This book is well worth reading, particularly for those interested in the more "human" side of the world of chess.

A chess player is one who can, with almost feline-ease, remove one chess piece from the board, using thumb & forefinger, while at the same time, and with equal ease, shuffle a second piece to that square, using his middle two fingers without the slighest hesitation. It is an image of a more delicate athleticism, having an almost acrobatic quality, and it is the mark of the serious chess player. It matters not the rating, nor whether most games are lost or one. Only the experienced practitioner of chess, can do this.

"The Curse of Kirsan" (by journalist SARAH HURST) is a terrible title. Do not misunderstand me. The book is excellent; but it sounds like fiction of the "myth & magic" genre, and it took over an hour on the Internet to ascertain whether Hurst's book was actually NON-FICTION. Have you ever had that dillemma? You look all over Amazon and everywhere else, searching for the simple words, NON-FICTION, and cannot find them anywhere, and worse, they don't even print the words NON-FICTION inside the book, so...??? Suffice it to say, it is non-fiction. It is certainly NOT a terrible book.

Only a single, thick chapter gives consideration to Ilumzhinov Kirsan of Kalmykia (near CHECHNYA) which is the source for the book title, "KIRSAN". Here are a couple of quotes from Ilyumzhinov Kirsan the dictator, not from Hurst's book, by the way.

"Irrespective of what I tell people, I give them instructions on a subconscious level, a code...I am creating around the republic a kind of extrasensory field, and it helps us a lot in our projects." -KIRSAN

"In my country, there is only one man who plays politics, and that is me. The other men have to work, the women have to bear children, and the children have to play chess." -KIRSAN

{this is the President of FIDE? They couldn't get Homer Simpson to take the job??? }

Hurst is a young journalist whose childhood interest in chess is re-awakened in 1993. She launches into a chess writing career with the result that she is poorly paid, though Her loss is our gain. Hurst gives us the "human interest" side of the contemporary chess scene, covering chess clubs and players in Britain, Hungary & Eastern Europe and the far reaches of Asia.

Hurst's chess history goes back no further than Alexander Alekhine, and through that Soviet player's trials in Europe, as an expatriate Soviet citizen, we become acquainted with the state-sponsored Soviet chess system and its scandals and brilliancies.

Her interviews with scores of chess personalities, some of them now deceased, are highly illuminating, especially in an era when many chess foundations are eagerly seeking to introduce the oldest game in the world into elementary schools and middle schools, as an aid in development. It is a good idea.

Moreover, Hurst writes with a commitment to moral principle, being an outspoken critic of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's corruption and shady dealings when many members of the chess-playing community were reluctant to look further than cash purses, human rights issues be damned. Her outspoken criticism of the world chess governing body, FIDE, expemplifies this commitment to ethical principle. [federation internationale of chess, is essentially the translation from French] Hurst called for a boycott of the chess "Olympiad" in Kalmykia, sanctioned by KIRSAN ILUMZHINOV, while the ordinary citizens of that tiny nation suffered from lack of basic necessities of life.
[Mothers on a hunger strike to protest conditions were beaten!]

What I found most intriguing about Hurst's chapters are the repetitive nature with which chess fascinates and absorbs the attention of ordinary people and prodigies alike. The photographs are surprisingly informative also. The photo of young Luke McShane at the London Chess Club (p. 123) is reminiscent of a young boy, a bit of a prodigy, at our local chess club here. [And there are a handful of child chess prodigies here as well!]

There are not as many chess articles written by world-travelers like Hurst. There are those who are more-traveled, and they may play more chess, but Hurst is a journalist first and only secondarily a chess player. She is capable of phenomenal shifts in tone, from deadly earnest criticism of human rights offenses, to child-like fascination with the Royal Game. Anyone who has observed the tinkling, clacking, rapping, cascade of sound emitting from the moving chess pieces will understand.
--Bruce R. Bain, President, Denver Chess Club