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Tenth Annual
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And the winner is... After four weeks of voting, Chess Strategy for Club Players has become the ChessCafe.com 2009 Book of the Year. This year's voting seemed like a battle between Spain and the Netherlands. However, the Dutch took an early initiative and never relinquished it. Congratulations to author Herman Grooten and publisher New In Chess. See below for comments on this round of voting. ChessCafe.com
Read an excerpt here. Here are some of the comments received in round two of the voting: This short list is embarrassing. Picking among these three is like selecting the valedictorian of summer school. Surely there were better books than these three. None of the above. I can't say I'm not disappointed in the list of finalists for ChessCafe's 2009 Book of the Year. They may all be fine books, but do we really need to honor another work that's all the rage today and gathers dust tomorrow. ... I ought to realize by now that histories like Blindfold Chess, Isaac Kashdan, and Bobby Fischer don't even rate a blip on the screen for the player who has only one thing on his mind: beating the brains out of his patzer opponent and raising his rating a few measly points. ... Unfortunately, since Bobby's statements of prejudice and excess no longer shock, and the exploits of blindfold chess seem quaint to cranked up bullet-heads, what chance does a biography of a true gentleman who did so much for the game have of making the cut? Perusing the list of past winners, I'm shocked that Paul Benko's book won in 2004. ... ChessCafe's 2000 winner, namely Shady Side: The Life and Crimes of Norman Tweed Whitaker, is harder to explain until you realize that Americans love reading about thieves, particularly gentleman thieves of mythic proportions ... If only Mr. Kashdan had shot a patzer or arbiter along the way, then he'd receive some recognition from the current generation of chess players. My money is on Grooten, but some may vote for Rudel based on the cover alone. So it goes ... Chess Strategy for Club Players - My only vote goes to Herman Grooten's masterpiece, a class of its own! It's superb and I think Nimzo might now rest in peace. It's the new standard of middlegame strategy for all club players! Revolutionize Your Chess - An outstanding book. Of the half-dozen chess books I've purchased in the last year, Revolutionize Your Chess by Viktor Moskalenko has given me the most "Aha!" moments. Tough call between the Grooten text and Moskalenko's. I have to give the edge to Moskalenko, although the former has been helpful for me as well. To be honest the other two seem pretty poor, a strategy potboiler and a book on the Colle - for heaven's sake, there most be better books to pick than them. Very, very nice reading. Easy to follow and use. Zuke 'Em - What I find exceptional about Rudel's book is the clarity and detail of the material presented. This is a much different opening book than any I've examined - Rudel provides explanations and insights about the opening variations that show his love for the Colle-Zukertort. The practice positions and accompanying solutions and explanations provide a ready-made way to learn the opening. I've read criticism of Rudel's work, usually that he does not have a FIDE title, but I've not yet read any valid critique of the material in his book from such a titled player. This book breathes new life into one of the most reliable and easy-to-learn opening systems; its conversational text and lucid annotations, as well as Rudel's creative approach to chess book writing and material presentation, makes this title a sure contender for Book of the Year. This book has great appeal for the average club and tournament player and is likely capturing the imagination of a whole new generation of chess players. Not the kind of opening book we see everyday. A great work of love about the Colle! One of the best books written for the club player. It speaks our language. I have only ever found one other opening book as accessible, easy to read and to understand, the other being Tiger's Modern - I consider this to be high praise! I hope it wins because it's the best chess book ever written for club level players. The language is conversational rather than chess-ese that you get from grandmasters. And, it's extremely thorough in the lines explained, especially the non-book moves. Club players don't know openings well enough to play the book moves, so what you need is the typical non-book moves that club players make and how to respond to them. That is what is most helpful and no other book teaches this. It is a path-breaking opening-repertoire book. I purchased all three finalists and they all are very good. But only one book is for me above all the others: Zuke 'Em. Previous ChessCafe.com Book of the Year Winners 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 |
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