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Chessville
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How to Be Lucky in Chess Reviewed by Rick Kennedy
After the reviews in My Chess Psychology Bookshelf appeared at Chessville, I received a friendly but gently chiding e-mail from David LeMoir, who noticed that I had overlooked his How to Be Lucky in Chess. He also stood up for Jonathan Rowson and his The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, which I likewise had not reviewed. I obtained a copy of both books, and I have to say: Thank you, Mr. LeMoir! How to Be Lucky in Chess is an enjoyable book – well laid-out, readable, entertaining, enlightening, and very practical. With the holiday gift-giving season fast approaching, there should be a whole raft of names from your chess club on your shopping list – each of whom could surely make good use of the book. Of course, the notion of “luck” has to be put into proper perspective. For little kids, there are usually only two outcomes of a game – either I won or You cheated! Chess players are much more mature than that – the endings of their games, especially at the club level, are due to either I won or You were lucky! (That’s one way your club mates got on that gift list – they don’t want to be as good as you, just as lucky.) The author explains the psychology of How to Be Lucky in Chess:
So there you have it. After an Introduction ,“Luck in Chess,” Part I is “Getting out of Jail” and Part III is “The Successful Speculative Sacrifice.” It should be no surprise that the role models for these chapters are Lasker and Tal, respectively. The intermezzo Part II is “Aspects of Luck, ” and the Conclusion is “How Not to Be Unlucky in Chess.” The book is enhanced throughout by light-hearted illustrations provided by Ken LeMoir, the author’s father, a freelance cartoonist. LeMoir starts out with some examples (of the 100 or so presented in the book, a quarter are from his own games) where the player who stands worse can make use of what the author calls the “drawing margin,” the fact that an opponent can have an advantage, but that it might not be large enough of an advantage to win. (I have heard some players talk about “winning ¾ of a point” in a game – they wish!) After delineating how bad off the player is in each position, he then presents a list of Reasons to be Cheerful. At this point you might recall the comment made about Nimzovich – that he rejoiced over advantages so small, even his opponents couldn’t see them. LeMoir, though, is pointing out how the defender should think about the situation, how he should round up his remaining chances, and how he should be alert to take advantage of any “luck” that comes his way (in the form of mis-steps by his opponent). Although it is a short section, it is one of my favorites. The analysis is deep enough to explain what each player is doing (or should have been doing), without being so deep that you fall into a trance. The writing is relaxed and casual, but to the point. Chapter 1 shows the proper focus: “Typical Faults of the Superior Side.” Truly, getting an advantage is not the same as winning the game, and it is only for the top players that anything is ever “a matter of technique.” How many times have we heard that the hardest thing to win is a won game? LeMoir gives examples of how he and others helped their opponents grasp defeat from the jaws of victory. Part I continues with Chapter 2 “Reasons to be Cheerful – Summary,” and then Chapter 3 “Fighting out of Trouble” has more game examples. LeMoir discusses Yermolinsky’s notion of trends in a chess game, and the need to counter them as soon as possible. He also notes, interestingly enough, that Sultan Khan was a “lucky” player, in that he often had to play his way out of the problems his lack of opening knowledge had led him into. How to Be Lucky in Chess illustrates the right attitude to have, and the right thoughts to think, in order to have a chance to escape disaster. You need to have tactical skill, for sure, but it will be of no use to you if you’re too clouded by doom and gloom to be aware of opportunities that come your way. Likewise, if you are dizzy from success, even with the better game, you are risking a fall. Part II, “Aspects of Luck,” has an interesting beginning (some of the “luck” mentioned really seems like luck) followed by Chapter 4 “Infamy!” which is “a brief trip through the history of infamous chess luck in the twentieth century from Lasker to Kasparov.” The examples show that good players, even great players, make their own luck, it seems – and sometimes do need it. In Part III, “The Successful Speculative Sacrifice,” LeMoir explains that some sacrifices are clear enough that you can calculate the outcome; some are intuitive, in that the results cannot be fully calculated, but appear hopeful; and some are speculative, in that they are hard to calculate, lead to unclear situations, and may very well need some cooperation from the other side to prove successful. In each case, especially the last, the element of surprise plays a significant part in weakening the defense. Chapter 5 “Why Play Speculative Sacrifices?” has some light statistics drawn from the author’s games. The short answer to the question is: because they work! Chapter 6, one of the longest, and full of examples, is self-explanatory, “Why Do Defenders Fail? Can’t Analyze, Won’t Analyze.” Chapter 7, “Motives for Playing Speculative Sacrifices,” falls well within the area of chess psychology, and gives an interesting list of motives. Since the games LeMoir gives are generally between equals, he leaves out the motive “Because I’m Big, and He’s Little” – Fine once reported a story about odds-giving, but it could equally relate to sacrifices “on spec”:
Chapter 8, “Ways and Means,” and Chapter 9, “When is a Speculative Sacrifice Not a Speculative Sacrifice?” (“Answer: when you find out afterwards it was sound!”) finish out the third part of the book. LeMoir – R.Martin
The Conclusion “How Not to Be Unlucky in Chess” has suggestions to keep the lucky, lucky. I like to think of How to Be Lucky in Chess as a “gateway” book. If you get caught up in LeMoir’s ideas and you want to boost your defensive skills, in thinking as well as in playing, you may want to go on to the “How to Defend Difficult Positions” chapter in Keres and Kotov’s The Art of the Middle Game. Hooked on defense? Want something stronger? There’s Polugayevsky and Damsky’s The Art of Defense in Chess and Colin Crouch’s wonderful How to Defend in Chess. Collections of games by Lasker and Petrosian might follow. On the other hand, perhaps sacrifice (speculative or otherwise) is your thing. If you’re really feeling lucky, you can dabble in Spielmann’s classic The Art of Sacrifice in Chess, or move on to something stronger like Vukovic’s The Art of Attack in Chess. If you’re beginning to see yourself as the next Kasparov, you can always visit with Tal in The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, or Shirov in his Fire on Board. Powerful stuff! Clearly, there are a lot of club players, on up to master, who would love to know How to Be Lucky in Chess! One of LeMoir’s last comments – how not to
be unlucky in chess – is the tongue-in-cheek “Be a Genius.” He goes
from there to talk about Kasparov one more time, while I was left to ponder
the e-mail I had recently received from Jonathan Levitt, who wasn’t sure if
it was a good thing or a bad thing that his Genius in Chess was not
on My Chess Psychology Bookshelf, either. Well I’ve got
Genius now – the book, not the talent – and I guess that’s going to be a
whole ‘nother story… Download a pdf file with a sample from the book (from the publisher's website.)
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