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Product Description
Product Description
The legendary Anatoly Karpov has won over 250 Grandmaster tournaments, many more than any other player in chess history, and his games are characterised by his gradually and patiently pushing an opponent back to the wall, before finally finishing him off with a deadly blow. In this unique book, aimed at ordinary club players, Karpov gives a wealth of tips on how to incorporate this dramatic style of play into your own repertoire, through careful planning and evaluation of positions: looking at the fire-power of your forces, being aware of threats to your own king and how to safeguard it, and careful control of open lines. As he says himself: 'Finding the right plan is the key to success'. Warmily and accessibly written, but with Karpov's usual air of authority, this book makes you feel like you are spending an evening with the man himself, and will help you to absorb a little bit of the Karpov magic.
About the Author
Anatoly Karpov is a living legend; he dominated the chess world for over a decade as the world chess champion between 1975 and 1985. Garry Kasparov dethroned him and the two ideologically opposed Russians have had a bitter rivalry ever since. He is considered the best positional player in the history of chess and is the author of several other books on chess theory.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm rated at about 1600 on ICC and often feel I have difficulty in creating a plan for the middle game. I bought this book thinking it might help me, but alas it was not helpful.
As someone else remarks, the first chapter. which is called "With the sources" is a historical overview. The first game is from the 15th century, where the play is so bad to be of no use whatsoever to ever bother reading the notes. So you might as well skip that chapter.
The second chapter of the book, which covers 14 pages, is called "Evaluating a position, Reference Points". This is the most useful chapter. In this, it considers 7 points to consider when analysing a position.
1) Material balance between the forces.
2) Presence of direct threats.
3) King safety
4) Possession of open lines
5) Pawn structure, weak and strong squares.
6) The center and space
7) Development of the position of pieces.
This second chapter then covers about 6 games, in only three of which the above 7 points are considered, along with a conclusion. I'll discuss forming a plan from the very first game, which is between two super GMs (Anand vs Karpov) is discussed. In my opinion the analysis is pretty hopeless and really does not teach one to create a plan. It might help a strong IM or less GM, but I doubt it. It certainly did not help me.
The analysis starts after move 12, at which point both side have a queen, bishop and rook which are not developed.
Points 1 (material), 2 (threats), 6 (centre) and 7 (development) are said to be all about equal in this Anand vs Karpov game. The discussion of the other 3 points contains less than 100 words in total. It really does not discuss the imbalances in the position in any detail. Without some understanding of the imbalances you can't make a plan.
Finally we get a general conclusion:
"The position is roughly equal. White has a slight advantage, as he can start an attack on the kingside sooner".
So that's the conclusion of this game. The less than 100 words about the imbalances and 20 word conclusion really does not help one understand why white can start this kingside attack, despite having 3 pieces undeveloped. Looking at the position, my plan would have been to develop the queen rook and bishop - starting a kingside attack would be the last thing on my mind.
The next couple of pages are an annotation of the game, where white plays two dubious moves and so Karpov wins. But I'm none the wiser about how this plan was formed. There's no discussion of alternative plans, and why they are inferior. Why was my plan of developing the other pieces inferior?
So basically this book does not help me form a plan, and as such I don't think the title matches the content.
Latter parts of the book are just annotated games - with even less discussion about how to form a plan.
As someone else remarks, the first chapter. which is called "With the sources" is a historical overview. The first game is from the 15th century, where the play is so bad to be of no use whatsoever to ever bother reading the notes. So you might as well skip that chapter.
The second chapter of the book, which covers 14 pages, is called "Evaluating a position, Reference Points". This is the most useful chapter. In this, it considers 7 points to consider when analysing a position.
1) Material balance between the forces.
2) Presence of direct threats.
3) King safety
4) Possession of open lines
5) Pawn structure, weak and strong squares.
6) The center and space
7) Development of the position of pieces.
This second chapter then covers about 6 games, in only three of which the above 7 points are considered, along with a conclusion. I'll discuss forming a plan from the very first game, which is between two super GMs (Anand vs Karpov) is discussed. In my opinion the analysis is pretty hopeless and really does not teach one to create a plan. It might help a strong IM or less GM, but I doubt it. It certainly did not help me.
The analysis starts after move 12, at which point both side have a queen, bishop and rook which are not developed.
Points 1 (material), 2 (threats), 6 (centre) and 7 (development) are said to be all about equal in this Anand vs Karpov game. The discussion of the other 3 points contains less than 100 words in total. It really does not discuss the imbalances in the position in any detail. Without some understanding of the imbalances you can't make a plan.
Finally we get a general conclusion:
"The position is roughly equal. White has a slight advantage, as he can start an attack on the kingside sooner".
So that's the conclusion of this game. The less than 100 words about the imbalances and 20 word conclusion really does not help one understand why white can start this kingside attack, despite having 3 pieces undeveloped. Looking at the position, my plan would have been to develop the queen rook and bishop - starting a kingside attack would be the last thing on my mind.
The next couple of pages are an annotation of the game, where white plays two dubious moves and so Karpov wins. But I'm none the wiser about how this plan was formed. There's no discussion of alternative plans, and why they are inferior. Why was my plan of developing the other pieces inferior?
So basically this book does not help me form a plan, and as such I don't think the title matches the content.
Latter parts of the book are just annotated games - with even less discussion about how to form a plan.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the best chess books I have ever read, it really helped to improve my game. Unlike some other chess books which suffer from an extremely boring writing style, the discussions here are all carried out in a fun and interesting way, and many unique and memorable positions are presented which really help to keep ideas stuck in your mind. This book will help out any player, whatever their style, but it is especially useful for players who enjoy a strategic game and who appreciate the games of players like Karpov and Capablanca and more recently Carlsen. Don't buy this book expecting it to teach you to attack like Tal, but it will teach you to crush like Karpov! 10/10
8 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A real waste of money.
The first part of the book that contains a "historical" review is a waste of paper.
The analysis given in the various games is ridiculous and cannot stand any real criticism.
The writer forgot that he was writing a book about chess and all he does is to choose "beautiful" words and expressions.
I think that Karpov should be more careful next time he lends his name to a book.
The first part of the book that contains a "historical" review is a waste of paper.
The analysis given in the various games is ridiculous and cannot stand any real criticism.
The writer forgot that he was writing a book about chess and all he does is to choose "beautiful" words and expressions.
I think that Karpov should be more careful next time he lends his name to a book.
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