The Soviet School of Chess

by M. Yudovich, Mikhail Yudovich

This book discusses the first Russian grandmasters and prominent masters, such luminaries as Mikhail Chigorin, Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Alexander Kotov, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal, Alexander Tolush and many others. Also included is a section dedicated to the women players. There are numerous, chessboard diagrams, and page upon page of annotated games and game fragments in the book. Chess is a national game in Russia. It is played by millions of men, women, and children. Large-scale tournaments are held regularly in factories, offices, and schools. The Russian style of play is characterized by creative scope, boldness and energy in attack, plus tenacity and resourcefulness in defense. It is founded on scientific methods of studying theory and training for competitions.

Genres: Chess

392 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1951

Reviews

[Alec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old School Soviet Chess Book from the 1950's by Alexander Kotov for some reason the voice of Ivan and Natasha from Rocky and Bull Winkle comes to mind when I read this book.

Instructional but don't pay any attention to the pro Soviet propaganda that was added to it!

[Corey Butler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full of propaganda, so it is mostly of historical interest. The book also contains bios of many of the older Russian GMs.

[Mohit Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

full of propaganda, but a really nice book to shape your chess knowledge(both playing and historical) with.

[Fayçal · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will not complete it because the games are a descriptive notation, and this makes me slow in the movements. This is because I am accustomed to algebraic notation and the modern way. As for the issue of propaganda, this is the same for the Americans, so one cannot talk about the cold war without talking about chess.

[Alberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lit bit of commie propaganda, but still a good book.