Customer Reviews

Russian Silhouettes

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Genna Sosonko left the then Soviet Union and settled in Holland in 1972. He was chess trainer who developed into a world class Grandmaster AFTER arriving in Holland. Rising through the Soviet training system until he left, and having served as seconds to Tal and Kortchnoi, he offers a unique view into the world of Soviet chess. This is a book about people; the human side of top flight chess. The chapters were all originally published in the magazine New in Chess, of which Sosonko is now an editor. There are NO GAMES, NO ANALYSIS, and NO DIAGRAMS. It is a book which would most interest serious chess fans who are familiar with the people Sosonko writes about. It is a bit gossipy but also quite poignant. Great world champions are profiled. Mikhail Tal, his phenomenal talent and his love of chess and the many problems he had after his championship year: alcoholism, drug abuse, illness, and personal issues. Mikhail Botvinnik, his single determination and analytic style, and his opinion of his successors and pupils such as Karpov and Kasparov. But it is the profiles of the people behind the scenes - important trainers and coaches such as Vladimir Zak (Spassky, Kortchnoi), Semyon Furman(Karpov), and Alexander Koblenz (Tal)which are most interesting. This is a fascinating work for those who are curious about the people who played so many great games of chess. Episodic and a bit uneven at times, and on ocassion awkward in language, it is nonetheless a fascinating narrative. It is not an academic history - so crucial dates and places may or may not be spelled out. It is a like a long conversation with someone who was an 'insider' in that world, who is now relating to you the stories and recollections. Highly recommended but only to the serious chess fan - those seeking practical help with play should look elsewhere.

Sosonko never reached the very top echelons of competitive chess but having been a reasonably strong chess grandmaster he has sufficient "chess authority" to address the game-related issues he covers in this book. That, however, is not the main point, because the volume, very well analyzed by the first reviewer, is not about chess games or theory. It is rather a collection of "portraits" cum remembrances, both of top chess players (Tal, Botvinnik, Geller, Polugaevsky, Levenfish) and of some less visible chess characters (coaches, trainers and passionate lesser masters) like Zak, Furman or Vitolins.

The reason I give it 5 stars instead of 4 is the wise, tender, quasi-elegiac quality of Sosonko's ruminations and memories. He is both honest and empathetic, a most engaging mix. Through the pages of the book you can feel what is was living as a ches player (or in any other non traditional way) under the ever-present watch and control of the Soviet State. You get a sharp sense of the disordely passion for the game and for sundry other non ortodox life-styles embraced by most of the characters portrayed (Geller and Botvinnik excluded).

I am hard put to remmber another book, chess-related or not suffused with such a misty and yet realistically resigned longing for an irrevocably bygone era.

My only disagreements with the first reviewer are that I found Sosonko's prose to be remarkably literary and that I sense non chess fanatics may deeply enjoy this book too.

I enjoyed "Russian Silhouettes" and consumed it quickly. It is not a typical chess book, however. It's a reminiscence about quirky, single-minded chess personalities and how the Soviet system affected them deeply. I freely admit that there were personalities featured I didn't recognize, but this didn't diminish my enjoyment. The description of Mikhail Botvinnik as stubborn, cold and machine-like was most memorable. I salute the author, a fine chess player himself, for remaining respectful in his descriptions of the players as that was probably difficult in some cases.

One criticism is the placement of the page numbers; what a puzzlement. On each right facing page the number appeared on the left instead of on the right. This bothered me every time I turned the page. It's not like it's a single mistake you can forget; it's on every other page.