Unpretentiously Interesting Taylor Kingston Startling Correspondence Chess Miniatures, by Tim Harding, 2000 Chess Mail Ltd., Softcover, Figurine Algebraic Notation, 128 pp., $16.00 Few if any people do more to promote the cause of correspondence chess than does Tim Harding. As editor of Chess Mail magazine Harding is working to keep the traditional correspondence game alive in a world increasingly given to real-time internet quick play. Also few people know correspondence chess (CC) as well as Harding; in addition to being an active player for many years, he has collected a great many games, as reflected in his CD compilations Correspondence Chess World and the 270,000-game database Mega Corr. He has authored at least 20 books, but this is the first under the auspices of Chess Mail Ltd. The book is a modest but attractive effort. Perhaps inspired by the recent spate of "most amazing move" lists, Harding here presents 100 annotated games, all miniatures (25 moves or less) which have some sort of "startling" quality about them, usually a striking combination or unusual situation. An example of the latter is Schatzle-Fil rtiga, Argentina 1974, which after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Bb4 6 e5 Ne4 7 Qg4 Qa5 8 Qxg7 Bxc3+ 9 bxc3 Qxc3+ 10 Ke2 b6 11 Qxh8+ Ke7 12 Ba3+!? Qxa3 13 Qxc8 Qb2 14 Nb3 Nc6?! (better 14...Qxe5 15 f4 Qxf4, says Harding) 15 Qxa8 Qxc2+ 16 Ke3 Qxf2+ 17 Kxe4 Nxe5 arrived at this strange position (See Diagram). Things then got even stranger with 18 Qf8+!!. Amazingly, this is the only way White can survive, and a resource Black must have overlooked when he played his 14th move. The point is to allow White's King to find a safe haven via d6. 18...Kxf8 19 Kxe5 Qe3+ (19...Qh4!? was an alternative, but not 19...Ke7? 20 Ke4! and the King slips back to safety on his own side of the board) 20 Kd6 Ke8 21 Kc7, 1-0 (See Diagram). Startling indeed to see a position where at the 21st move the winner has only one piece developed and his King on the 7th rank. On practical grounds, Harding considers Black's resignation here premature, but he presents analysis indicating that objectively White's extra material should eventually win. The games are given light to moderately deep annotations, some of which reflect Harding's pro-CC attitude. For instance in this position (See Diagram), from Kalvach-Drtina, Czech Republic 1986, after Black's 12...g6! he notes "A June 2000 British Chess Magazine article by a FIDE IM fails to mention this move, giving the impression that White is winning comfortably. This is typical of OTB masters' ignorance of innovations discovered by CC players." Another of the book's pro-CC themes is the greater analytical depth CC players can attain, which sometimes allows them to see farther than OTB GMs or computers can. Thus they confidently take what seem like outlandish risks, as in Trummer-Salm, Australian Correspondence championship, 1966: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Na5 6 Bb5+ c6 7 dxc6 bxc6 8 Qf3 Rb8 9 Bxc6+ Nxc6 10 Qxc6+ Nd7 11 d3 Be7 12 f4? "... really asking for trouble ... 12 Ne4 is the main line." 12...exf4 13 Ne4 Rb6 14 Qa4 Rb4 15 Qxa7 Rxe4+ 16 dxe4 (See Diagram). Harding notes that Black has blithely "sacrificed the Exchange and is also two pawns down. His opponent has three connected passed pawns and no black piece is developed beyond the second rank." Yet after 16...Bc5!! White resigned: he must give up his Queen, or else after 17 Qa8 Qh4+ be mated no later than move 31. Another far-sighted example is the famous "mate in 19" announcement by one Mrs. Gilbert, the strongest American woman CC player of her time, in an 1875 game. As her opponent obligingly resigned immediately, her intended continuation, beginning with (See Diagram) 24 Rxa6!, was never actually played but it was published. Harding subjects it to computer-supported analysis and finds it almost perfect (she actually could have mated one move faster). Try Fritz or whatever software you may have on this or the previous position, and I doubt it will find mate no matter how long you let it run. Entertaining as these examples are, the book is not all flash. There is much instruction, practical advice, and commentary on the correspondence scene. A few examples: "To be frank, it is relatively rare that important novelties arise in [thematic] tournaments and the standard of play can be rather low ... This often results in spectacular games finding their way into opening books, although they may not represent best play for either side." "Ignorance of theory costs points time and again. This problem perhaps occurs more often in international than local events. Players in the same country mostly have access to the same literature but those in different countries may be consulting works of widely differing depth, accuracy, or topicality." Conversely, though, Harding warns "A common cause of CC disaster is blindly following opening theory. English GM Adrian Hollis, for example, has written that 'If your opponent seems to be following a theoretical line disadvantageous to him, bitter experience teaches that he has probably seen the theory and found an antidote'." As can be seen, most of Harding's advice pertains to CC play more than to OTB. The chapter "The Black Museum" deals strictly with problems unique to CC, such as clerical errors. A sample instance is this position (See Diagram) Black here intended 23...Bh3, but instead actually sent 23...Bc8?? and lost after 24 Bxe5. The reason? In the purely numeric notation required in international play, he meant to write "6583" but instead wrote "6538". Harding also deals with problems unique to the new version of CC, transmission by e-mail, which he believes will largely supplant postal play within ten years. Though the emphasis is mainly on CC concerns, OTB players should not assume the book has nothing for them. Its main attraction, the 100 carefully selected games, are interesting and instructive no matter which kind of chess one plays. I should also add, they will probably be hard to find elsewhere. Scanning various databases, I was able to find only about 20% of this book's games (apparently database compilers suffer from the same bias as the above-mentioned IM). The games deserve wider publicity; several for example would have made better choices for The Most Amazing Chess Moves of All Time than John Emms put in that book. Consider for instance this (See Diagram) from Jorge Aldrete Lobo - T nu im, 1998-99. The two-time CC World Champion won with the delightful 22...Nh4!!. Play proceeded 23 Nc7 (if 23 Nd2 Qh3+ 24 Ke2 Re6+ 25 Kd1 Rxe1+ 26 Kxe1 Ng2+ wins the Queen) Kxc7 24 Qe5+ Kc6, 0-1, since "If 25 Qxe7 Qh3+ 26 Ke2 Re6+ 27 Qxe6+ Qxe6+ 28 Kf1 d3!." In addition to the featured games, there are 12 tactical quiz positions, the solutions for which include those games in full. With other games given in the annotations, the total number of full games is more like 130. They are indexed by player name, opening name, and ECO key. The games go as far back as 1835, but most date from 1980-1999. A number of famous grandmasters, notably Alekhine, Keres and Barcza, who were avid postal players before they achieved OTB greatness, are included. Also featured are two current GMs, Hungary's young P‚ter L‚k¢ and Swedish veteran Ulf Andersson, who have recently taken up CC play. Interestingly, in OTB play Andersson was noted for an ultra-positional, defensive style, but he shows considerable tactical verve in his CC game, making it a fitting example with which to conclude this review. Andersson-Bern, 1994-98: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 g3 b5 4 Bg2 Bb7 5 0-0 c5 6 Bg5 Na6 7 Na3 Nc7 8 c4 b4 9 Nc2 a5? "Black's opening has been very provocative, neglecting the centre. This is too much!" 10 e4!! (See Diagram). "Andersson offers a pawn to open lines. The result is a dashing attack." 10...Bxe4 11 Re1 Bxc2 12 Qxc2 cxd4 13 Nxd4 Ra6 14 Rad1 h6 15 Bxf6 Qxf6 16 Qa4! Bc5 (See Diagram) "The diagram position resembles an Open Sicilian, where a sacrifice on e6 would be thematic. Also the pinned d7-pawn is unprotected." 17 Nxe6!! Bxf2+ 18 Kh1 Rxe6 19 Qxd7+ Kf8 20 Rxe6 Qxe6 21 Qxc7 g6 22 Rf1 1-0 "After 22...Bb6 23 Qb7 f5 24 Rd1 and the final threat is c4-c5." Startling Correspondence Chess Miniatures is an unpretentious but well-crafted book, intelligently presenting some little-known but highly interesting games. Both OTB and CC players will find it entertaining and instructive, and the latter especially will benefit from its practical advice. It is a promising first effort from Chess Mail Ltd.