Customer Reviews

Paul Keres Chess Master Class (Pergamon Russian Chess Series)

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This is not a book by Paul Keres. Keres merely plays the games; Neishtadt, the author, wrote the book. But don't let this discourage you. This is an excellent book.

It is a book about attack, defense, and counter-attack. Some subjects are: what are the positional preconditions for attack; how to conduct an attack; how to defend; when to defend passively and when to counter-attack; where and how to counter-attack (e.g., it is usually good to counter-attack in the center against an attack in the flank, if possible); the different goals of attacks on the king side, the queen side, and the center; and so on.

Instead of using games by many players to illustrate the material, Neishtadt chose only games by Keres. The choice is very apt, since Keres, perhaps more than any other player of his generation, was an extremely well-rounded player. First and foremost an attacking player, he also had very deep positional understanding -- in particular for using positional weaknesses and strengths superbly for creating an attack (or defending, or counter attacking). Neidhtadt knows Keres' play very well and almost invariably chooses his examples in a way that illustrate the matter at hand excellently.

For example, when discussing the way a better center can be used profitably for an attack, Neidhtdat chooses a lesser-known game, Keres-Terpugov (USSR championship 1951). Why? Because, as Neidhtadt explains, Terpugov deliberately chose a little-played opening that cedes the center to White (1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6!?) as his "secret weapon" for his first USSR championship, trusting his deep analysis of many variations to compensate for the objective inferiority of the opening. How Keres refutes his preperation teaches us much about the importance of a center.

Similarly, to illustrate "best defense for wing attack is counter-attack in the center", Neishtdat chooses a game (Browne-Keres, 1975) that would not, in all probablity, appear in any of Keres' "greatest games" collections, being late in his career and against a relatively weak opponent ("weak", of course, only compared to top Soviet grandmasters). But it illustrates the theme very well: Keres does indeed counter-attack in the center, but does not forget to first simplify and put his pieces in their best defensive positions against the kingside attack. Have you lost many games following this rule, and had no idea why? You probably forgot to block before you punched. Keres and Neidhtadt show you how to do it.

The book is full of such examples. Neishtadt gives the principle; Keres the details. Highly recommended.