Akiba Rubinstein: Uncrowned King

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful collection
Review: This book has been a godsend to me, particularly in my apparently never-ending search for a repertoire that fits my character. I think I have found my chess hero to emulate: Rubinstein. The reason for this may in fact appeal to a large mass of amateur players. Specifically, Rubinstein, especially early in his career, played tons of Queen Pawn openings, where his second move was Nf3 or e3. There are lots of Colle-Zukertorts and London System games in this book. This is wonderful not only for the reason that those are easy to understand openings for the amateur, but for the confidence one receives from this book to play those systems. If Rubinstein played those openings, aren't they good enough for me? This is not a trite question, as in the past I have often abandoned lines like the Colle because I lacked confidence in them. After all, only Colle himself really seemed to play the Colle regularly, and he seemed to lose every time he essayed it against a great player. Granted, most of his losses were not because of the opening. I have Summerscale's excellent "killer repertoire" book, and Lane's fine recent work on the London System (New Ideas in the Chess Openings); but it is only by playing through the dozens of Rubinstein games from this collection that I have attained the confidence to make these non-c4 openings the starting basis of my repertoire. In addition to these reasons, the book is very well-made, with indexes by opening name, ECO number, and by opponent. Many of the games are annotated, the authors having collected from a variety of sources, including Kmoch's comments in his classic, "Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces." The production is excellent, with thick, white pages and a sturdy binding that seems built to last. I love everything about this book, and its companion book on Rubinstein's later years. I think you can still find them reasonably priced at the chesscafe site.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful collection
Review: This book has been a godsend to me, particularly in my apparently never-ending search for a repertoire that fits my character. I think I have found my chess hero to emulate: Rubinstein. The reason for this may in fact appeal to a large mass of amateur players. Specifically, Rubinstein, especially early in his career, played tons of Queen Pawn openings, where his second move was Nf3 or e3. There are lots of Colle-Zukertorts and London System games in this book. This is wonderful not only for the reason that those are easy to understand openings for the amateur, but for the confidence one receives from this book to play those systems. If Rubinstein played those openings, aren't they good enough for me? This is not a trite question, as in the past I have often abandoned lines like the Colle because I lacked confidence in them. After all, only Colle himself really seemed to play the Colle regularly, and he seemed to lose every time he essayed it against a great player. Granted, most of his losses were not because of the opening. I have Summerscale's excellent "killer repertoire" book, and Lane's fine recent work on the London System (New Ideas in the Chess Openings); but it is only by playing through the dozens of Rubinstein games from this collection that I have attained the confidence to make these non-c4 openings the starting basis of my repertoire. In addition to these reasons, the book is very well-made, with indexes by opening name, ECO number, and by opponent. Many of the games are annotated, the authors having collected from a variety of sources, including Kmoch's comments in his classic, "Rubinstein's Chess Masterpieces." The production is excellent, with thick, white pages and a sturdy binding that seems built to last. I love everything about this book, and its companion book on Rubinstein's later years. I think you can still find them reasonably priced at the chesscafe site.