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Chessville
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CJS Purdy's Fine Art of Chess Annotation and Other Thoughts Volume One, Revised Second Edition Reviewed by David Surratt
Cecil Purdy was quite an accomplished player in his day. An Australian, he was an International Master (a difficult title to achieve in the days before jet travel if you were from Down Under) and the first World Correspondence Chess Champion as well. An excellent writer, he aimed his annotations and writings at the average chess player as opposed to the master player. Purdy published the Australian Chess Review (1929-1944), Check (1944-1945) and Chess World (1946-1967, all games in this book were taken from Chess World's pages) magazines, filling each with (among others) his own clear and lucid style of writing and teaching chess. Bobby Fischer is said to have declared Purdy to be the finest chess teacher in the business, and many others have echoed this sentiment over the years. Dr. Ralph J. Tykodi, fortunately for lovers of chess, has compiled many of Purdy's writings into what has come to be known as The Purdy Library. Published by Thinkers Press, the list of titles includes:
The current volume being reviewed is listed as a "Revised Second Edition", although I have been unable to discover just what has been revised. It really doesn't matter though, as what is delivered here is worth the price of admission, many times over. One hundred master-level games, annotated with Purdy's customary style and wit, comprise the bulk of the offerings. The first 25 games are taken from World Championship events. Curiously, all but two of them feature Mikhail Botvinnik as one protagonist, the other two being Euwe-Keres (1948 Match Tournament for the World Championship) and Spassky-Petrosian (7th game from the 1966 World Championship Match). The next 25 games are taken from the annals of chess history, and feature many of the most recognizable names from chess's past: Alekhine, Nimzovich, Reti, Fine, Bronstein, Smyslov, Tal, Keres, Fischer, and Petrosian to name just a few of the giants examined herein. The book finishes up with 50 master-class games from "Down Under". Those looking for some Purdy introspection need look elsewhere, however, as none of his own games have been included in this volume. A nice addition to the games is the inclusion of some of Purdy's advice on improvement. Chief amongst these is, yes - you guessed it, playing over well-annotated master level games:
The one infallible way to improve is by practice, but I don't mean just
playing chess. That is certainly helpful, provided you record your
games and go through them afterwards trying to run your mistakes to earth -
still more if, in addition, you have a coach to go through them with you a
third time. If by any chance you can afford coaching, this is by far
the most valuable kind; other kinds of coaching can be gotten from books,
and far more cheaply. In another extract he explains the best method of doing so:
Play one side only - usually the winner's, if it is not a draw. ...as well as the justification for studying top-level games: It is absolutely necessary to play over games if you want to become a strong player. Talented players have become champions without swotting openings, without frequent practice against live opponents, without indulging in correspondence play, without reading many books - but no one has ever become a champion without playing over plenty of first-class games. Even Morphy had to learn that way. An essay on tactics (What's Wrong with Everybody's Chess?) and Purdy's thoughts on annotating round out the contents. The meat and potatoes though, are the games themselves, so let's take a look at part of one of the games (#51) from this excellent collection:
Enough of a snippet to taste the flavor of Purdy's style - plain simple talk, direct and uncluttered. Like any dated material, the opening analysis may no longer represent mainstream thought on a given variation, yet the timeless basic principles are there for all to see - and to learn from. CJS Purdy's Fine Art of Chess Annotation and Other Thoughts runs 152 pages, in double-column format. The diagrams are small and few between, but somehow even this is in keeping with Purdy's belief in playing the moves out on the chessboard. What, I wonder, would he have thought of our computer age? Take Purdy's advice, and study these games. There is much here to benefit the average tournament or club player.
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