Khalifman: Life and Games (Everyman Chess)

Rating:
Summary: How to study
Review: According to Shereshevsky (author of 'The Soviet Chess Conveyor', 'Endgame Strategy', and 'Mastering the Endgame Vol 1&2) the best way to study any game collection is to go over the first 5 games to get a feel for the style. After that you need to cover up the moves, play a guessing game of all Khalifman's moves by covering up the page. At the end of the game, write a sentence or two describing the struggle you saw in a notebook (or computer). For instance 'White delayed the development of the queenside knight until Black had committed to d5'.

There is lots of work to be done, but the best trainers have all indicated there is no substitute to hard work. Good luck.

PS If you can get Shereshevsky's and all of Dvoretsky's work you will have a chess library anyone would be proud to own.

Rating:
Summary: Nesis on Khalifman
Review: Before I say anything else, I think I should tell you that I am pretty much a "professional" chess player. (I teach chess on the Internet, build web pages about chess, etc.) I also often seek input and advice from my students about the books I review. I do not believe - as a Chess Master - that my views, desires, and needs for a chess book would be the same as the average player. Therefore I often feel it necessary to ask students what they thought of a book in order to get a more balanced approach.

This is a book that would have probably never seen the light of day, except for one very fortuitous event ... in 1999 GM Alexander Khalifman won the (FIDE) knock-out event to become the 14th World Champion. This book is written by Khalifman's trainer of 17 years - with input from the World Champion himself.

Personally - I liked this book quite a bit. I enjoyed reading the story of Khalifman's rise as a player, and how he became a Master, a GM and how he eventually became the World Champion. (Although at times the prose is a bit dry.)

On page # 36 we are given an extremely interesting battle between the protagonist of this book, and GM Tseshkovsky. We are given the story leading up to this game, and the events of the times, as they swirled around both players. But the problem is that the game is completely UN-annotated, we don't even get a single exclam or question mark to guide us. Trying to figure out exactly what the losing move was proved to be an EXTREMELY vexing task for two of my {former} students. I also think this is an example of lazy writing, the author should have taken another few hours and provided at least some light notes to this game. (Trying to interpret a difficult game like this is nearly an impossible task for a player rated 1600, or below.)

I could go on and on - provide you with many more examples - but I would be belaboring an obvious point. Suffice it to say that most of the games are only LIGHTLY annotated, especially in the early part of the book. (Example: Game # 14, page # 43. We are given the first six moves of the game vs. Ulybin, and then told: "The Chatard-Alekhine is a formidable weapon in the hands of an aggressive player." While true, this is stating the obvious. It would have been more useful to discuss what some of the general ideas are, the methods of attack White might employ, or how current opening theory regards this whole system. The game is very snappy and attractive, however.)

Probably my favorite game of the whole book is the one versus GM Ermenkov from Elenite, 1994. (Game # 44, page # 76.) White sacrifices his Queen, or more correctly allows it to be trapped. All he gets for the lady is a lone Rook - which is normally not nearly enough. Then at the end of the game he even returns the Rook to press home his advantage. To say that this game is brilliant would be the under-statement of the year!

In closing, I would like to say that there is much "meat" in this book. Dozens of games, many of which do not seem to be in all the databases. There is a lot of reading to do, any big fan of Khalifman should be quite happy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book ... but many of my students found it a very, very tough sled. I would NOT recommend this book to beginners. The average player who is looking for a book that will teach him about chess should also probably skip this book. The chess connoisseur, who enjoys well-annotated games, should not purchase this book as well. I also feel - very strongly - that lazy players, who cannot force themselves to work hard, would not enjoy this particular book at all.

Who should buy this book? Obviously all the fans and faithful followers of this player should acquire this volume. Plus I think any player who is looking for a {modern} GM to model themselves after, a player who is 'soundly aggressive' if you will ... will also greatly enjoy this book. Any player who is looking to SERIOUSLY sharpen his tactics would also find a great deal of material here to chew on. In the end, you often get out of a chess book as much as you are willing to put into it. For the few who can commit to a real labor of love, then I think you will enjoy the life and games of Alexander Khalifman. (But it may not be for everyone!)

Rating:
Summary: How to study
Review: Before I say anything else, I think I should tell you that I am pretty much a "professional" chess player. (I teach chess on the Internet, build web pages about chess, etc.) I also often seek input and advice from my students about the books I review. I do not believe - as a Chess Master - that my views, desires, and needs for a chess book would be the same as the average player. Therefore I often feel it necessary to ask students what they thought of a book in order to get a more balanced approach.

This is a book that would have probably never seen the light of day, except for one very fortuitous event ... in 1999 GM Alexander Khalifman won the (FIDE) knock-out event to become the 14th World Champion. This book is written by Khalifman's trainer of 17 years - with input from the World Champion himself.

Personally - I liked this book quite a bit. I enjoyed reading the story of Khalifman's rise as a player, and how he became a Master, a GM and how he eventually became the World Champion. (Although at times the prose is a bit dry.)

On page # 36 we are given an extremely interesting battle between the protagonist of this book, and GM Tseshkovsky. We are given the story leading up to this game, and the events of the times, as they swirled around both players. But the problem is that the game is completely UN-annotated, we don't even get a single exclam or question mark to guide us. Trying to figure out exactly what the losing move was proved to be an EXTREMELY vexing task for two of my {former} students. I also think this is an example of lazy writing, the author should have taken another few hours and provided at least some light notes to this game. (Trying to interpret a difficult game like this is nearly an impossible task for a player rated 1600, or below.)

I could go on and on - provide you with many more examples - but I would be belaboring an obvious point. Suffice it to say that most of the games are only LIGHTLY annotated, especially in the early part of the book. (Example: Game # 14, page # 43. We are given the first six moves of the game vs. Ulybin, and then told: "The Chatard-Alekhine is a formidable weapon in the hands of an aggressive player." While true, this is stating the obvious. It would have been more useful to discuss what some of the general ideas are, the methods of attack White might employ, or how current opening theory regards this whole system. The game is very snappy and attractive, however.)

Probably my favorite game of the whole book is the one versus GM Ermenkov from Elenite, 1994. (Game # 44, page # 76.) White sacrifices his Queen, or more correctly allows it to be trapped. All he gets for the lady is a lone Rook - which is normally not nearly enough. Then at the end of the game he even returns the Rook to press home his advantage. To say that this game is brilliant would be the under-statement of the year!

In closing, I would like to say that there is much "meat" in this book. Dozens of games, many of which do not seem to be in all the databases. There is a lot of reading to do, any big fan of Khalifman should be quite happy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book ... but many of my students found it a very, very tough sled. I would NOT recommend this book to beginners. The average player who is looking for a book that will teach him about chess should also probably skip this book. The chess connoisseur, who enjoys well-annotated games, should not purchase this book as well. I also feel - very strongly - that lazy players, who cannot force themselves to work hard, would not enjoy this particular book at all.

Who should buy this book? Obviously all the fans and faithful followers of this player should acquire this volume. Plus I think any player who is looking for a {modern} GM to model themselves after, a player who is `soundly aggressive' if you will ... will also greatly enjoy this book. Any player who is looking to SERIOUSLY sharpen his tactics would also find a great deal of material here to chew on. In the end, you often get out of a chess book as much as you are willing to put into it. For the few who can commit to a real labor of love, then I think you will enjoy the life and games of Alexander Khalifman. (But it may not be for everyone!)

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book now!
Review: Certainly one of the best chess books of our time. With his imaginative style, Khalifman shows the reader how magic can be worked successfully on the chess board, in a way that even the world's top grandmasters can't always counter. Advanced players will enjoy this book as well as benefit from Khalifman's detailed explanations. Aided by Khalifman's apparent need to criticize even himself and write about the better ideas even he had missed. Beginners, however, will not find much use for this book, as the basic positional ideas are taken for granted and not explained, in order to emphasize the greatness of Khalifman's great ideas and tactical play. This book is worth every penny for its instructiveness & brilliant chess content. It's destined to be a classic. Get a copy before the price goes over $!

Rating:
Summary: Awesome games collection
Review: This book covers 100 complete games played between 1985-1999 and is one of the best games collections available of a practicing grandmaster. This book and a few opening guides are all a chess player really needs!