Wanted: A Good Editor Kramnik: My Life and Games, by Vladimir Kramnik and Iakov Damsky, 2000 Everyman Chess, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Softcover, 272pp., $24.95 The book reviews that have been featured the last few weeks at The Chess Cafe have examined recent releases by the British publishing firm Everyman Chess. The focus on Everyman books primarily during this period is in part the luck of the draw; it is not a result however of the publisher providing us timely review copies. Their reliability in that regard is suspect. Be that as it may, one of the most awaited books to appear on the scene this year is the collection of games of world title contender Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik's star has risen rapidly. In fact, the number two in the world will begin a match with Gary Kasparov in just a few weeks for the title. Unless of course Gary changes his mind. The book is divided into four major sections: An Unusual Childhood; A Vertical Take-off; The Spirit of the Time; and Selected Games. This last part is further subdivided into six sections: Breakthrough, Attack, Positional Play, Complicated Battles; Victories in the Opening; and From the Opening into the Endgame. The material is preceded by a very short Authors' Foreword and Acknowledgments and ends with a Postscript, a summary of Kramnik's career and two indexes, of opponents and of openings. Kramnik is of course one of the great players today and his games sparkle with originality. There are 178 games in the book. Some are annotated in great depth, some lightly. They are roughly grouped by the kind of game involved - with some consideration given within these groups to chronology - and not, as one would logically suppose in a book subtitled My Life and Games, chronologically from beginning to end. This, although a little confusing at times, of course does not detract from the quality of the games. Most games are introduced with one or two paragraphs that put the particular game into perspective. In addition, biographical segments are sprinkled throughout the book. Note that most of these games, with their notes, have already appeared in other sources. Unfortunately, the book suffers from the same lack of good editorial direction that was also missing from the other Everyman books recently reviewed. Certainly the presentation of the material chronologically would have been less confusing than what we have now, but even that would have been manageable provided the content reflected the results of quality editing. It does not. Another problem appears to be the dual authorship. In the book, it is often not clear at all who is writing what. Kramnik? Damsky? Perhaps even someone else? A likely scenario is that Damsky was brought in to add biographical highlights to a collection of Kramnik's annotated games that had been pulled together, for the most part, from existing publications. It would seem, at that point, someone either abdicated editorial responsibility for the finished manuscript or worse, no one looked at it further. Without access to the original Russian text, we cannot tell if the translation is accurate. We can say however that the English is awkward, at times disjointed, and sometimes just plain bad. A few examples shall suffice: On page 16 New York City is referred to as "the city of the Big Apple". No, the correct reference is simply the "Big Apple". Introducing a game fragment from Kramnik-Lerner, Gausdal 1992, we are told that "now White only needs to suppress the counterplay, unwillingly begun by Black" (page 18). Huh? Page 21 contains a few factual errors and an obscure paragraph. The Helsinki Olympiad was not held in 1950, but in 1952. The 1950 Olympiad was held in Dubrovnik and the Soviets did not play. The Soviets began their participation in the Olympiads in 1952. The second paragraph on that page has the following penultimate sentence (talking about the Soviet Olympiad teams): "The only 'silver' exception came in Buenos Aires 1978, when several of the strongest players could not be enlisted, and the team lacked the willpower to oppose its virtual leader, who was serving simultaneously on two state committees of the Soviet Union." Readers are invited to submit their guesses about the meaning of this sentence and what is meant by a 'virtual leader'. On page 38 the first game of the 1994 Kramnik-Yudasin match is presented. The rambling narrative after it has, two pages later, the following: "Kramnik remained 'unpunished', although in the third game with Black he was close to defeat, and he scored one more black victory, not without the help of his opponent. And - he came to believe in the competence of such a method, although in its mirror reflection." Right. That clears things up. On page 89, describing Kramnik's reaction to the Kasparov-Shirov non-match, we read "Vladimir laughed the matter off, making on that he agreed " In the annotations to White's 32nd move in the game Kramnik- Yusupov, on page 211, we are told that: "The bishop as though 'side-steps' the powerful knight". As though 'side-steps'? What kind of English is that? The note after White's 25th move of the game Kramnik-Lautier proclaims that "an opening with four bishops has been reached" (page 263). No, it is an ending. Dozens of additional examples could be given. It is too bad, as the overall quality of the book is compromised by the lack of a competent editor's red pencil. When this occurred in less important works (e.g., the Improving Your... series recently reviewed) it was irritating; in a collection by the number two player in the world, it is most unfortunate. The following excerpt is typical... No. 137 Kramnik-Kaidanov Groningen 1993 Queen's Gambit Highest category of difficulty A queen sacrifice always impresses and is practically always concrete. Rooks and minor pieces, as a rule, are also laid on the altar of the attack not on general grounds. But the sacrifice of a pawn for the initiative... It has always been regarded as a distinctive measure of mastery: after all, the activity has a tendency to die away, and then you may simply find yourself in an ending a pawn down... In this game White very skilfully fanned the small flame of his initiative, and in the end the blaze extinguished the heart of the black resistance. 1 Nf3 d5 2 d4 Nf6 3 c4 e6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 e4 Bb4 6 Bg5 c5 7 Bxc4 cxd4 8 Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9 bxc3 Qa5 10 Bb5+ (See Diagram) 10...Nbd7 10...Bd7 leads to a rather unpleasant position for Black. After 11 Bxf6 gxf6 12 Qb3 a6 13 Be2 Nc6 14 0-0 Qc7 15 Rab1 (15 Qa3!?; 15 Rfd1) 15...Na5 16 Qa3 I had already experienced this for myself (Khenkin-Kramnik, Sochi 1989). 11 Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12 Kf1 gxf6 13 h4 a6 Very dangerous is 13...Ke7?! 14 Rh3 Qa5 15 Rb1 Rd8 16 Qc1!, when there is literally nothing that Black can move (Adorjan- Chernin, Debrecen 1990). 14 Rh3 Qa5 15 Be2 Nc5?! 15...Ke7 is stronger, although after 16 Rc1 Rd8 17 Qc2 White, in my opinion, has more than sufficient compensation for the pawn. 16 Nb3! Exchanging Black's only active piece is even more advantageous, for the reason that the white knight at d4 is not too well placed... 16...Nxb3 17 Qxb3 e5 (See Diagram) At that time this was a new move - and an unsuccessful one. It is true that, in order to refute it, at the board I had to find several precise and difficult moves. Earlier 17...Qc7 18 Rd1 Bd7 was tried, but after 19 Qb2! Black had serious difficulties. 18 Rf3 The only way of maintaining the initiative and of forestalling the opponent's clear plan: ...Qc7(d8)-e7 and ...Be6. Instead 18 Rc3 looked tempting, but then 18...Be6! would have fully equalised, e.g. 19 Qxb7 Qxc3 20 Qxa8+ Ke7 21 Qb7+ Kf8 22 Rd1 Bxa2 23 Qxa6 Be6. 18...Qd8?! 18...Ke7 was dangerous on account of 19 Rc1 followed by Rfc3, but in the light of subsequent events perhaps Black should have gone into an ending: 18...Be6 19 Qxb7 0-0 20 Qe7 Qd8 21 Qxf6 (21 Qc5!?) 21...Qxf6 22 Rxf6 Rfd8, where he has certain drawing chances. 19 Rc1! (See Diagram) This move was underestimated by my opponent. Now it is not apparent how he can complete the development of his pieces. I will give a few variations: (a) 19...Bg4?! 20 Rd3 Bxe2+ 21 Kxe2 Qe7 22 Qb6 Rd8 (22...Qe6 23 Qxe6+ fxe6 24 Rc7) 23 Rc7 and wins; (b) 19...Be6 20 Qxb7 0-0 21 Rd1 Qe8 22 Rxf6 and White has a decisive advantage; (c) 19...b5 20 Rc6! Be6 21 Qa3 (21 Rxe6+? fxe6 22 Qxe6+ Qe7) 21...Qe7 22 Bxb5! Qxa3 23 Rxa6+ Ke7 24 Rfxa3 with a positional and material advantage; (d) 19...0-0 (the most critical, but also insufficient) 20 Qe3 Kh8 21 Qh6 Rg8 (21...Be6 22 Rd3 Qe7 23 Rc7!) 22 Rd3 Qe7 (better is 22...Qf8 23 Qxf6+ Qg7, when Black faces a difficult defence in the endgame) 23 Rc7! Qe6 24 Rd6! Qxd6 25 Rxf7. Black chooses another alternative, which is little better. 19...Qe7 20 Qb6 Qd8?! Reluctantly played. Kaidanov's suggestion of 20...Bg4 21 Rc7 Qe6 would have lost to 22 Qxb7 Rd8 23 Bc4! Bxf3 24 gxf3 Qh3+ (24...Qd6 25 Bxf7+ Kf8 26 Bd5) 25 Ke2 0-0 26 Rxf7, but the lesser evil was 20...Qe6 21 Rxf6 Qxb6 22 Rxb6 Be6, with some chances of saving the game. 21 Rc7! More energetic than 21 Rxf6. 21...Qd4 22 Re7+! Simpler than 22 Qxd4 exd4 23 Bc4, which, however, was also quite strong. 22...Kxe7 23 Qxf6+ Kd7 24 Rd3 This is somewhat more accurate than 24 Qxf7+ Kd8 (24...Kc6? 25 Rf6+ Kc5 26 Qe7+) 25 Rd3 (25 Qf6+ Kc7) 25...Bd7 26 Rxd4 exd4 27 Qf6+ Kc7 28 Qe5+ Kc6, where Black connects his rooks (which, it is true, also should not save him). 24...Qxd3 25 Bxd3 Re8 (See Diagram) 26 Bc4! The main thing is not to allow the opponent to coordinate his pieces. 26...Re7 27 Bxf7 White has a small material advantage and a big positional one. The outcome of the game is decided. 27...Kd8 Or 27...b5 28 Bd5 Ra7 29 Bc6+ Kd8 30 Qf8+, winning the ill- fated rook. 28 Qb6+ Kd7 29 Bb3 Ke8 30 Ba4+ Kf7 After 30...Bd7 Black finally 'unravels' himself, but on the way he loses a rook: 31 Bxd7 Rxd7 (31...Kxd7 32 Qxb7+) 32 Qe6+ and 33 Qg8+. 31 Qd8 Black resigns. He did not in fact manage to complete his development. If you have followed Kramnik's games and career, you will find that most of the games, with the same notes, have already been published in other chess journals. This book represents the first major collection of games, with biographical material, in one volume, by and about one of the game's true superstars. It can be reluctantly recommended, warts and all.