Bob,
That opening is called the ‘Dragondorf’ and GM Simon Williams published a book about it.
Fire on Board may be fine for strong players, but it is over the head of most people. I’m 1800+ and I confess to not understanding a fair bit of the analysis. More than once Shirov would end his analysis with a comment like, “and here White is clearly winning”, and I would look at it and think, “how the **** is White winning?”
A fair point - it is pretty high level stuff. So . . . for a more fun read (with still some interesting games), I’d suggest Confessions of a Chess Grandmaster by Andrew Soltis. Soltis is a professional writer, and it shows. This book is part travel guide, part ‘will he or won’t he’ story of a player striving (for many years) to become a Grandmaster, and part some interesting chess. As a ‘part-time’ professional player, some of Soltis’ explanation about things like avoiding theory in the opening are also extremely useful. My guess is you’ll also have several LOL moments.
It is difficult to pick just one favorite book out of my collection. Here are a few which have been influential.
- Master’s of the Chessboard, by Richard Reti. His clear explanations, uncluttered with variations, are a good view of the way chess was played in his time. My well worn book has been read many times for work and pleasure. Many games, like Schlecter-John, have been bookmarked.
- The Hypermodern Game of Chess, by Savielly Tartakower. This opus explains openings and the state of thinking of the time. It provides a good foundation to understand the increasing exploration of chess on a scientific basis. This is the source for many of Tartakower’s adages.
- The Genesis of Power Chess, by Leslie Ault. An excellent work showing how to analyze and evaluate positions. The emphasis is on the development of technique in endgames and in calculation.
- Learn from the Legends, by Mikhail Marin. One of the top books on endgames. The chapter on Rubinstein alone is worth the price. Marin covers Fischer’s “pet bishop” and other typical endgames of the great players. It is a deeper book, and will likely only appeal to those who are 2000+ in rating. The analysis is first rate.
My first two chess books, read at the age of 17, were Reuben Fine’s, “Chess the Easy Way” and Emanuel Lasker’s, “Lasker’s Chess Manual.” Fine’s work was a distillation of his other works and provided a logical, rule based approach to chess. Lasker’s book was deeper and more philosophical in nature, spurring the curiosity and challenging the reader to think for himself and not be tied to rules. After reading them I played in my first USCF rated tournament which was a stepping stone to further play, study, and involvement in chess. One never knows what book will spark the imagination. The quest for a new favorite continues. The above six books would keep you busy for a long time if you were on a desert island.
I second the recommendation of Reti’s book - it is a classic. I am not familiar with the books by Ault or Marin - but that’s the fun of this, as I now have two new books to check out.
Other favorites: Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions, by Jeremy Silman. A nuanced look at the life and times of a most under-appreciated player. Benko’s life was/is incredibly rich, and Silman does it justice. I couldn’t put it down.
Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy and Chess Strategy in Action by John Watson. Watson is an incredibly talented chess writer with a number of excellent books to his credit. These two are ‘you’ll learn a lot’ guidebooks for players seeking to better understand ‘modern chess strategy.’ Think of them as the counterpoint to the points made by Nimzovitch in ‘My System.’
I’d delineate between books focused on players, games, tournaments, etc. and books that are primarily historical. In the latter category my top ten in no particular order:
Soviet Chess–Soltis
The King; Chess Pieces–Donner
Steinitz–Landsberger
Center Stage and Behind the Scenes–Averbakh
Secret Notes–Bronstein and Voronkov
My Chess–Ree
Smart Cip From St. Petersburg–Sosonko
A Picture History of Chess–Fred Wilson
The World of Chess–Saidy and Lessing (primarily for Lessing’s chapter on coffeehouse players in NYC)
The KGB Plays Chess–Felshinsky
Birth of the Chess Queen–Yalon (oops–that 11)
And then there’s film:
The Chess Players
Chess Fever
The Love For Wood
Queen to Play
The Luzhin Defense
Requiem for Bobby Fischer (Serbian film. I may not have the title quite right)
The Dark Horse
Only Lovers Left Alive (for the chess scene where Tilda Swinton mates Tom Hiddleston while eating frozen Type O negative on a stick)
youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9GBsdhiCg
I don’t know if it is my favorite, but How To Win In the Chess Openings by Horowitz had the biggest impact on my game. As an 11 year old who wasn’t getting much milage with the Scholar’s Mate but didn’t know what else to play, that book was perfect.
A review can be seen at theweekinchess.com/john-watson-r … by-najdorf
A failing I shared. I tended to blame the Reinfeld books of my youth, probably unfairly.
“Re-access Your Chess” opened my eyes.