Quickest Chess Victories of All Time [Paperback]

Graham Burgess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

An ability to punish errors in the opening i s an essential aspect of modern opening play. With this book , FIDE Master Graham Burgess presents a comprehensive collec tion of the shortest decisive games in chess history. '

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This book contains a comprehensive collection of the shortest decisive games in chess history. It is an indispensable guide to the pitfalls and traps that lurk in every opening system. An ability to punish errors in the opening is an essential aspect of modern opening play. All too often players fail to seize their chances to win a crisp miniature game. The thousands of games featured in this book show how to detect the opponent's errors and take maximum advantage. The text includes an outstanding and comprehensive collection of games won in 13 moves or fewer, as well as explanations of the errors made and how to avoid them. This indispensable volume will help sharpen your killer instinct! FIDE Master Graham Burgess is a highly accomplished and versatile writer on chess, whose 'Mammoth Book of Chess' won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award in 1997. He holds the world record for marathon blitz chess-playing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857445384
• ISBN-13: 978-1857445381
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,458,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the better books on chess traps (and early blunders), September 8, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Quickest Chess Victories of All Time (Paperback)

"The Quickest Chess Victories of All Times" is a combination traps book and tactical blunders book. I must say, there are lots of absolutely horrible moves made that are quickly punished. This is the type of book that will help sharpen your tactics. A weakness is that it has very sparce notes to explain things and isn't like getting one of the more detailed trap books available that can help with learning openings at the same time - there are sometimes several games fit into one page. This book has both instructional and entertainment (your eyes will pop out sometimes when a master makes a horrible blunder!). Fun!

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick Victories/Opening Chess Traps at their best!, October 9, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Quickest Chess Victories of All Time (Paperback)

Hey, like to see the guy knocked out in the first round of a fight? Yes, because of the likely well set set up shot, but no because it is all over. Well, chess is not a spectator sport or is it? Well, put into a book of short games you will find this to be both entertaining and instructive - know what to avoid & know what to look for so you can get in that quick punch! I also recommend, "Winning Chess Traps: Tactics in the Opening" for another book of fast games, arranged by openings. You will enjoy these books, and learn both openings and tactical play at the same time!

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am the man from Silicon Valley with the review below., May 16, 2003

By 

C. Dunn "independent thinker" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quickest Chess Victories of All Time (Paperback)

Just a cross-reference, so that more people will be exposed to this great book.
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Original review:

OK. If I had to pick one chess reference book, it would be an opening encyclopedia (probably Nunn's) but this is the best in a different way. It's a book to refer to while you're trying to learn openings.

Many authors have suggested that the way to study an opening is first to walk through the main lines, then to play out some sample games to understand the themes and goals, then to learn the traps, and finally (if ever) to study the variations.

This book is the best reference for traps. In fact, it is the only satisfactory one, and for its uniqueness it deserves the MVB award.

There are a few other useful books of traps (Chernev's especially) but this one has advantages that set it apart:

* Volume -- Over 2000 short games are included, not one over 13 moves. These are tournament games, mostly from this century, so the mistakes made are not the sorts of blunders you will find in Internet blitz chess, but rather subtle errors that you could easily make yourself. (Burgess mentions an interesting exception, noting that the old penalty for an illegal move was a king move, which forced horrible positions and often resignation.)

* Breadth -- All reasonable openings are covered, including a few games for some dubious flank openings.

* Ease of use -- The table of contents lists openings by name. The index is by move order. (There is no index of games or players, but who cares?) If you're studying a given opening, you go to that chapter. If you're studying a particular variation, you find the page in the index. For each variation, there is at least one complete game plus branches for other games within it.

* Reliability -- Burgess went to great lengths, according to his introduction, to ensure that moves which receive question marks are truly mistakes and suggested alternatives are reasonable.

* Insight -- The notes are excellent. Each chapter has a brief summary of the odds of an opening's difficulty. Transposing move-orders are usually mentioned. Some games have little anecdotes or historical connections. Whenever a game is resigned for less-than-obvious reasons (as most of these are) Burgess explains the mate threat or material loss to us patzers succinctly and precisely.

This is really a book of how NOT to play openings. It will complement any repertoire books and opening encyclopediae. I highly recommend it for your shelf, even to intermediate players (like me). You might find it entertaining. You will find it useful.