"Alekhine's Block" by Victor Charushin, 1997 Pickard & Sons,
Figurine Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 95pp., $11.95

When this book was received, the title raised a few eyebrows. A
book about Alekhine's inability to get motivated to write? His
psychological problems? Or perhaps he played American football
and was a key in his team's "student body left?" Well, perhaps not.
Anyway, upon closer inspection, it turns out that this was a book
devoted to one particular type of tactic - "the blockading sacrifice
of a piece - from a Knight to a Queen - on the sixth (or third) rank."

Still not following what this is about? Let's look at one of the most
famous "blocking" sacrifices in modern times, Bobby Fischer's
spectacular 19th move Rf6!! that he uncorked in the 1963-64 U.S.
Championship against Pal Benko. (See Diagram) The blockading
sacrifice sealed Black's fate. If 19...Bxf6, after 20 e5, Black cannot
avoid being mated - any help that might have been provided by the
advance of the f-pawn has been eliminated by the block. And of
course, e5 follows anyway if the Rook is not taken. The essence of
the blockading sacrifice.

The author of this slim volume, a correspondence master by the
name of Victor Charushin, has assembled 164 games and 32
positions all of which illustrate the blockading theme. To this
reviewer's knowledge, this is the first book that has devoted itself
to the presentation of such a narrow tactical theme. Actually, quite
a novel idea. Ah, but betwixt cup and lip...

The 164 games, although sorted by which piece goes to the sixth
rank (or third rank, if it is Black executing the tactic) have very
little to offer except a short note or two, and almost no text. The
thirty-two positions are also somewhat of an enigma. Some refer to
the games from which they come, others do not. Why the
discrepancy? Why even give a game segment and not the entire
score?

The categorization is almost superfluous, as it is of no real value to
the reader. There is no attempt made to analyze the elements of this
tactic, investigate what makes for a good one and what to avoid for
a bad one. The result is a simple compendium stressing one tactical
theme.

Two games from the book - One more recent game, and, one from
the block-man himself...

Sax-Sveshnikov Hastings 1977 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 4
Nc3 Nd4 5 e5 Nxb5 6 Nxb5 Nd5 7 O-O a6 8 c4 Nb6 9 Nc3 d5 10
d4 e6 11 Bg5 Qd7 12 cxd5 Nxd5 13 Nxd5 Qxd5 14 dxc5 Bxc5 15
Qc2 O-O 16 Rfd1 Qc6 17 Rac1 Ba7 18 Qd2 Qb6 (See Diagram)
19 Bf6 h6 20 Qf4 Qxb2 21 Qg4 Qxf2+ 22 Kh1 g6 23 Qb4 Bb6 24
Rd2 Qe3 25 Rc3 a5 26 Qxf8+ Kxf8 27 Rxe3 1-0

Alekhine-Wolf Bad Pistyan 1922 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 c5 3 c4 cxd4 4
cxd5 Nf6 5 Nxd4 a6 6 e4 Nxe4 7 Qa4+ Bd7 8 Qb3 Nc5 9 Qe3 g6
10 Nf3 Qc7 11 Qc3 Rg8 12 Be3 b6 13 Nbd2 Bg7 14 Bd4 Bxd4 15
Qxd4 Bb5 16 Bxb5+ axb5 17 O-O Ra4 18 b4 Qd8 19 a3 Nbd7 20
Rfe1 Kf8 21 d6 Ne6 (See Diagram) 22 Rxe6 fxe6 23 Ng5 Qb8 24
Nxe6+ Kf7 25 Ng5+ Kf8 26 Qd5 Rg7 27 Ne6+ Kg8 28 Nxg7+
Kxg7 29 dxe7 Nf6 30 Qxb5 Ra7 31 Re1 Qd6 32 e8=N+ Nxe8 33
Qxe8 Qxd2 34 Qe5+ Kf7 35 h4 Rxa3 36 Qe8+ Kg7 37 Re7+ Kh6
38 Qf8+ Kh5 39 Re5+ Kg4 40 Rg5+ 1-0

This publisher has produced several books of very good quality.
This too could have been a noteworthy addition to the chess
publishing world. But instead of a truly ground-breaking book, a
fascinating look into one of the most spectacular tactics that may
be executed on the chessboard, we were teased with a book that is
only mildly interesting. "Dommage" as they say in Paris.