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World Chess Championship: Carlsen v. Karjakin
The dramatic 2016 World Championship match in New York City stunned the chess world, as Sergey Karjakin fought champ Magnus Carlsen to a tie until matters had to be settled in a rapid-play shootout. You’ll learn chess tactics and strategies from the best players in the world, as a top team of writers—including a former world champion--explains the moves.
- GenresChess
336 pages, Paperback
Published September 26, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 30, 2018
You don't need to be a rated player to enjoy this book but I think you would need to be a serious player to be interested in the first place. Gets a bit crowded with authors Alburt and Crumiller sharing insights with "Vlad's Viewpoint" items spread throughout, Vlad being former champion Vladimir Kramnik as well as results of analysis from various computer programs. Speaking of which, after each game re-cap, there is a graphic of the computer analysis of the game showing the calculated values of white and black, move by move.
I appreciated that the book covered the psychological aspects of competition chess as well as coverage of the event itself, including color pix of the match, venue, etc. Part of the "blessing and curse" at this level of play is that both contestants are so good, that at the end of 12 games they are tied at 1 win apiece so go into "Rapid" chess to determine a winner. Interesting for me as a long term fan of the game to see how much technology is now involved in championship play.
I appreciated that the book covered the psychological aspects of competition chess as well as coverage of the event itself, including color pix of the match, venue, etc. Part of the "blessing and curse" at this level of play is that both contestants are so good, that at the end of 12 games they are tied at 1 win apiece so go into "Rapid" chess to determine a winner. Interesting for me as a long term fan of the game to see how much technology is now involved in championship play.
January 22, 2021
As far as World Championship chess match books go, this may be one of the better ones, but I am left not fully satisfied.
For one, the match itself, was an extremely short format in number of games, which led to a cautious, nervy, uncharacteristic approach from the game's greatest finisher, Carlsen.
Second, the book is co-written by a lesser master and GM Lev Alburt, the former using computer valuations, his contribution in addition to the majority of the variations and prose in the text, being the computer evaluation line, given as a curiosity and as fodder for the worshippers at the altar of the chess engines and Intel Pentium cores. There is a third "author" the super GM Vladimir Kramnik and former World Champ, but more on that below.
The rather voluminous coverage for an average match makes for some tedious reading, given the excitement of other match books in the storied history of the game, and well-known to collectors.
A redeeming feature is that several "key positions" are highlighted in each game, (with a sophomoric red key, and diagram in red, alongside), so you can fast forward to these.
The best feature is the contributory analysis of super GM Vladimir Kramnik in little boxes called "Vlad's view".
All in all, a way to market a book with star analysis mingled in with mundane.
Only 4 stars.
For one, the match itself, was an extremely short format in number of games, which led to a cautious, nervy, uncharacteristic approach from the game's greatest finisher, Carlsen.
Second, the book is co-written by a lesser master and GM Lev Alburt, the former using computer valuations, his contribution in addition to the majority of the variations and prose in the text, being the computer evaluation line, given as a curiosity and as fodder for the worshippers at the altar of the chess engines and Intel Pentium cores. There is a third "author" the super GM Vladimir Kramnik and former World Champ, but more on that below.
The rather voluminous coverage for an average match makes for some tedious reading, given the excitement of other match books in the storied history of the game, and well-known to collectors.
A redeeming feature is that several "key positions" are highlighted in each game, (with a sophomoric red key, and diagram in red, alongside), so you can fast forward to these.
The best feature is the contributory analysis of super GM Vladimir Kramnik in little boxes called "Vlad's view".
All in all, a way to market a book with star analysis mingled in with mundane.
Only 4 stars.
October 21, 2017
I received this book as a gift. Of the chess books I have read this one stands out. It is a recap of the recent extraordinary World Chess Tournament with commentaries by three expert champions, including a former World Champion. The introduction and running commentaries give fascinating insights into the psychological, physical, and emotional factors that both players experienced. I found the book took, this non-competitive chess player, into the world of chess at its highest level. I was very pleasantly surprised by this account of the world championship.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews