Uncompromising Chess [Paperback]

Alexander Belyavsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

Here, for the first time, Ukrainian grandmaster Belyavsky has selected and annotated the finest of his chess games. The reader quickly becomes immersed in the fighting spirit and love of attacking play that has made Belyavsky one of the most respected modern grandmasters.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Alexander Belyavsky has been among the world's leading grandmasters for more than two decades. He is a determined fighter at the chessboard, with a direct, aggressive style of play. Here, for the first time, he has selected and annotated the finest of his chess games. The reader quickly becomes immersed in the fighting spirit and love of attacking play that has made Belyavsky one of the most respected modern grandmasters. This new title includes games against Kasparov, Karpov, and other giants of modern chess, as well as insights into Belyavsky's training techniques. In addition, it shows how to handle critical positions and discusses sharp opening systems. Alexander Belyavsky is a Ukrainian grandmaster, who became World Junior Champion in 1973 and won the USSR Championship on many occasions. He has reached the Candidates' stage of the world championship three times and has competed regularly and successfully in countless super-grandmaster events. In 1993 he acted as at trainer to Garry Kasparov. This is his first book for Cadogan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857442059
• ISBN-13: 978-1857442052
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,478,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy addition to a collection, December 26, 2000

By 

John Kato (Honolulu, Hawaii USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uncompromising Chess (Paperback)

This is a book that I without hesitation recommend. Part of this is my belief a player can never have too many chess biographies; chess biographies, particularly if you play those systems as a useful shortcut as to how to handle those positions; and a tool as a general understanding of chess. Chess biographies are for me the best reason to collect chess books. They never go out of style as opposed to openning books, they are great tools to how to handle a very idiosyncartic system of preparation, and you can get a feel for how a strong player looks at chess. Chess biographies can give a short cut in the opennings that the master plays. In this case Beliavsky plays Queen pawn openning as white and closed Ruy Lopez and open Sicilian as black. As a tool for understanding chess chss biographies are at their best. Using analysis from New in Chess you get a real sense of how Beliavsky approaches positions and how he understands chess. As a chess biography the book succeeds on all levels. The only reason why I gave it four stars rather than five stars if that there are so many great books in this genre that this book must be of the level of Fischer and Keres to get the highest standard.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent all-around reading, December 31, 1999

By 

Anonymous reviewer (NY State United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uncompromising Chess (Paperback)

One of the best modern game collections I've read. There are 71 well-annotated games, with a reasonable amount of historical and biographical text. Belyavsky wins or draws all games, but I can't criticize this feature, since his opponents compose a virtual Who's Who of international chess since 1972 (this date knocks out Fischer, of course; Anand seems the only noteworthy absence). The annotations are highly instructive from the point of view of contemporary opening theory; I particularly liked coverage of the Closed Spanish and various Open Sicilian systems. Belyavsky is candid about subjects like playing slumps, fatigue and time pressure, which are sometimes glossed over. He also provides many brief but informative anecdotes about famous players. One game I really enjoyed, for instance, was Belyavsky-Polugayevsky, Moscow 1979. The reader gets a mini-course on Polugayevsky's famous Sicilian variation, some glimpses into a GM's home preparation laboratory, and some sharp tactics countered by inspired defense, concluding with an aesthetically pleasing endgame. Ken Neat's translating and editing are solid (he also contributed some analysis), and the book's binding is sturdy (unlike some of Cadogan's fatter volumes).