Two New Books of Possible Interest
The late Dvoretsky on Technique, Sosonko on the late Everybody
Long-time readers know that I’m a fan of the late Mark Dvoretsky’s work. Widely considered the world’s best trainer during his lifetime, he is still, posthumously, one of the chess world’s best authors. His long-time student and then colleague and frequent co-author, Artur Yusupov (for a time one of the world’s strongest players) has taken some of the material Dvoretsky had in a near-finished state at the time of his (Dvoretsky’s) passing and made it suitable for publication.
The book, Technique in Chess, is pretty much what you’d expect, focusing largely but not solely on endgame technique. Part I gives an overview of the relevant factors involved with good technique, from practical aspects (e.g. “full concentration” and “time management”) to the “four golden principles of technique”: not allowing counterplay, not hurrying, the principle of two weaknesses, and making correct exchanges. (This is not an exhaustive list of the topics in Part I.) This first part runs about 30 pages, with text and examples.
In part II, it’s the reader’s turn, with 102 exercises followed by the solutions. Sometimes Dvoretsky’s work is aimed at students who are IM strength and up, but this work is not typically at that level. It’s challenging, but I think that players 1800-2000 and up can get plenty of benefit from the work. I wouldn’t call it essential, but if you don’t have a book of this sort I’d recommend it. Also - a small bonus at the end - is a list of recommended endgame works.
More info, and an excerpt, here.
I have the Dvoretsky (& Yusupov) book, but don’t have the second book I’m going to mention: The Essential Sosonko. Genna Sosonko is a retired Dutch GM who was born and grew up in the Soviet Union, and knew many of the USSR’s greatest players very well. Over the years he has written many books and articles offering reminiscences of those players - Tal, Botvinnik, Korchnoi, Geller and many others - and generally succeeds in doing so in a way that is intimate without putting the players remembered in an embarrassing light. He’s also a very good writer, so in addition to the intrinsic interest we’ll have in the players memorialized it’s a pleasure to read his work in its own right.
The book is a compilation of his earlier, shorter books and some of his other articles, so if you’ve got the earlier books and have been a New In Chess Magazine subscriber there’s no reason to get this volume (this is my situation), unless you just want to have everything in one place. If you have little-to-none of the earlier work, however, and you’re even slightly interested in chess history, then I can heartily recommend the book. It’s a bit expensive, but the price isn’t crazy for an 840-page monster.
Again: more info, and an excerpt, here.