Kirjahaku

Ray Keene selects and annotates his most interesting games against such giants as Anatoly Karpov, Mikhail Botvinik, Mikhail Tal, Jan Timman, John Nunn, Tony Miles and Svetozar Gligoric. Originally published as a private limited edition.

In just 10 easy lessons, beginning and novice players learn everything they need to know to play and win at chess. From setting up a chess board and moving the pieces, to basic concepts and winning strategies, and even how to get rated and play on the internet, this is a great book for players looking to learn and improve their game. The book is jam-packed with numerous examples, hundreds of easy-to-read diagrams, and clear explanations, to make learning both easy and fun. Chapters cover basic openings, strategy, tactics, computer chess, middlegame play, endgame play, the best games of chess ever played, the history of chess, and lessons from the greatest players who ever lived. Great for beginners!

Leonid Stein?s brilliant chess career, cut tragically short in 1973, included overwhelming victories against the world?s leading grandmasters, Stein not only stormed to an incredible total of 3 first prizes (out of 4 attempts) in the USSR Championships, but also won what were arguably the two strongest tournaments of all time, (Moscow 1967 and Moscow 1971)

The Nimzo-Indian Defence is one of Black's most dynamic ways of countering 1 d4. From the outset of the game Black seeks to create pawn weaknesses in his opponent's position to be exploited in the middlegame. Usually this involves renouncing the bishop pair, typically leading to positions in which both sides have clear strategic objectives, where the outcome is decided by the skills of the two players in executing these plans.

The Nimsowitsch/Larsen attack ( 1 b3) is one of the most interesting and most flexible opening systems in which the theory has not yet fully crystallised. It is, therefore, an ideal choice for the player wishing to avoid sharp theoretical duels in the opening and preferring to throw his opponent on his own resources at an early stage.

Moscow, in the autumn of 1984, was the setting for a clash between two of the all-time greats of chess: defending champion Anatoly Karpov, the most deadly tournament player in the history of the game, and Gary Kasparov, the 21 year old from Baku who would become the youngest ever World Champion were he to overthrow his rival. This gruelling test of contrasting character, style and sheer physical reserves roused a wave of media interest and thrust chess into the forefront of public attention.

The 1978 world chess championship in the Philippines was the most riotous of modern times. Pitting the soviet defector Korchnoi against the golden boy of the soviet establishment - Karpov - the players were not just content to hammer each other over the chess board; they also enlisted such weird assistants as the parapsychologist Dr Vladimir Zukhar and orange-robed gurus from the Ananda Marga sect. The dramatis personae were completed by President Marcos, his shoe-collecting First Lady Imelda and a gaggle of shady characters from the KGB. Grandmaster Ray Keene was Korchnoi's chief second during this wild chess extravaganza and this book tells the inside story of one of the most exotic chess competitions ever staged.

In 1981 - World Champion now for 6 years - Anatoly Karpov had reached the height of his powers. He was a master of sharp modern opening systems, thought swiftly and acted decisively. His play was virtually error free. Facing this juggernaut the veteran Viktor Korchnoi pulled out the final stops for his ultimate chess challenge to become champion. In vain. Karpov brushed aside his efforts to secure one of the easiest victories ever achieved at chess summit level. As in 1978 Korchnoi produced his orange robed Ananda Marga gurus to help him chant for victory - but in the sober atmosphere of the Italo-german mountains-rather than the exotic and heady surroundings of the far eastern Philippines-the antics of Korchnoi's suppporters had little effect. Karpov emerged as a seemingly unbeatable colossus. Now guaranteed a reign of at least 9 years Karpov had already exceeded the championship performance of Capablanca and was threatening to surpass the exploits of such mighty champions as Steinitz, Lasker, Alekhine and Botvinnik.

With FIDE (the World Chess Federation) claiming that its Tournament in Libya - in fact, little more than a rapidplay open - was the world title clincher, this match for the Classical World Chess Championship would confirm one of the two mental matadors -Kramnik or Leko - as the legitimate heir of Steinitz, Alekhine, Fischer and Kasparov. Peter Leko, the Hungarian Grandmaster, qualified from the Dortmund Candidates' Tournament in 2002 to meet Vladimir Kramnik from Moscow, who had unseated Garry Kasparov in London 2000. Although both contenders were noted for their solidity, the clash turned out to be a sporting classic, as Kramnik poured every ounce of energy into the last games in an effort to rescue his title.

Tony Miles was a phenomenon in English chess. From an early age it was apparent that he had no respect whatsoever for the vaunted Soviet School of chess and held their grandmasters in scant esteem. At the very start of his career victories came in quick succession against such renowned opposition as Bronstein, Geller, Smyslov and Spassky. The culmination was a victory at the head of the British Chess Federation team in the European Team Championship at snow bound Skara in Sweden against the reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov. For the very first time in any anthology of Tony Miles' games this win appears here with Tony's own profound notes. This was an historic win with Miles using the iconoclastic 1...a6 to defeat the champion's habitual 1e4. Amongst Tony's exploits were winning the Junior World Championship, becoming the UK's first FIDE grandmaster in over the board play and leading the BCF team to silver medals behind only the USSR in the prestigious Chess Olympiads. Miles also won numerous first prizes in international tournaments. He feared no-one and his will to win was legendary, as exemplified by the front jacket photograph of this book. Taken at the Tilburg 1985 tournament, this shows Miles in play on a form of stretcher against grandmaster Djinjihashvili. Although suffering from terrible back pain, Miles insisted on competing, even from this unorthodox position, the only one in which the pain subsided. Characteristically Miles went on to win shared first prize in the event. Tony Miles died tragically early in November 2001. This book is a memorial to him, written by a Grandmaster rival who faced him many times over the board. Raymond Keene is a British Chess Champion, and the first British Player to achieve a FIDE (World Chess Federation) Grandmaster norm. He was awarded the OBE for services to chess in 1985. He is Chess Correspondent of The Times, The Sunday Times, The Spectator, and The International Herald Tribune. He is a prolific author of chess books, several of which are classics of the genre. He has organised three World Chess Championships

Inspired by both Daniel Defoe's 'A Journal of the Plague Year' (1722) and 'The King', an anthology of the witty and provocative chess columns of the Dutch Grandmaster, Jan Hein Donner, Ray Keene here collects his thoughts and writings on the year 2020 - both in chess and the wider world. His reflections include the impact of Covid-19 on the popularity of chess, the remarkable influence of the Netflix series 'The Queen's Gambit', the growing army of teenage Grandmasters, the online pivot of chess competition and the emergence of chess entrepreneurs, such as World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.. Like Donner, Ray uses chess as a metaphor for observations on art, culture and civilisation.

A new edition of Ray Keene and Barry Martin's lucid presentation of how to start on the stimulating path of playing chess. It features: a clear explanation of the legal moves for each piece; a straightforward guide to special rules, such as castling and en passant; and a discussion of how to begin - basic openings - and how to finish - endgames. There is also an updated gallery of chess 'heroes' past and present, a section on the Golden Rules of chess mastery, and - to reinforce the important ideas - a selection of puzzles (with solutions) to test progress and understanding.

Inspired by both Daniel Defoe's 'A Journal of the Plague Year' (1722) and 'The King', an anthology of the witty and provocative chess columns of the Dutch Grandmaster, Jan Hein Donner, Ray Keene here collects his thoughts and writings on the year 2020 - both in chess and the wider world. His reflections include the impact of Covid-19 on the popularity of chess, the remarkable influence of the Netflix series 'The Queen's Gambit', the growing army of teenage Grandmasters, the online pivot of chess competition and the emergence of chess entrepreneurs, such as World Champion Magnus Carlsen and Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.. Like Donner, Ray uses chess as a metaphor for observations on art, culture and civilisation.