The Best I Saw in Chess: Games, Stories and Instruction from an Alabama Prodigy Who Became U.S. Champion

by Stuart Rachels

Overview

At the U.S. Championship in 1989, Stuart Rachels seemed bound for the cellar. Ranked last and holding no IM norms, the 20-year-old amateur from Alabama was expected to get waxed by the American top GMs of the day that included Seirawan, Gulko, Dzindzichashvili, deFirmian, Benjamin and Browne.



Instead, Rachels pulled off a gigantic upset and became the youngest U.S. Champion since Bobby Fischer. Three years later he retired from competitive chess, but he never stopped following the game.

In this wide-ranging, elegantly written, and highly personal memoir, Stuart Rachels passes on his knowledge of chess. Included are his duels against legends such as Kasparov, Anand, Spassky, Ivanchuk, Gelfand and Miles, but the heart of the book is the explanation of chess ideas interwoven with his captivating stories.



There are chapters on tactics, endings, blunders, middlegames, cheating incidents, and even on how to combat that rotten opening, the Réti. Rachels offers a complete and entertaining course in chess strategy. At the back are listed 110 principles of play—bits of wisdom that arise naturally in the book’s 24 chapters.



Every chess player will find it difficult to put this sparkling book down. As a bonus, it will make you a better player.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789056918828
Publisher:	Continental Sales, Inc.
Publication date:	04/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	372
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stuart Rachels (b. 1969) is an International Master who retired from chess when he was 23. He works as an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Alabama and has edited new editions of books by his father, the famous philosopher James Rachels.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Human and Computer Assistance 12

Chapter 1 Losing Benonis to Kasparov 15

First Fit, Queen Sac 15

Second Fit, Mating Attack 25

Chapter 2 Five Stories and Their Positions 35

The Simpsons Imperative 35

Advice Is Free 39

Expectations 41

Two Postscripts 44

The Controlled Blitz 44

Very Strong Piece 47

Chapter 3 Two Rogue Sozins 51

Respectable Performance 51

Sweating Up My Suit 63

Chapter 4 Tactical Snippets 76

Second and Fourth Tries 76

Double Check 77

My First Combination 77

One File Over 78

Philidor's Legacy 79

The Spectator-Queen 80

Bank-Rank Mate 81

Jimbo's Gift 82

Sleepless Night? 82

Bad Opening 83

Sharp Bishops 84

First Is Better 85

If Only I Were Tal 87

Delayed Switchback 92

White Dragons 93

That's All, Folks 96

Right, I Knew That When I Played It 97

Chapter 5 Beware the Sickly Pawns 98

Postscript 110

Chapter 6 Assorted Endings 112

Fox and Hounds 112

King Rook 114

Exchange Conversion 116

Exchange-Down Conversion 118

Too Much for One Rook 121

Kinder Tactics 123

Ensnared 125

Picturesque Finish 126

Chapter 7 Six Quirky Games 127

Useless Rooks, Helpless Queen 127

Swiss Cheese 131

A Likely French 132

Catskills 136

Whose Style Is This? 138

Unorthodox Opening 142

Chapter 8 Kyle's Brilliancy 148

Chapter 9 Blunders 155

Best Lesson 155

Hands Held High 156

Sucker 156

Welcome Interruption 157

Playing the Same Game 158

Adjusting to the New Reality 159

No Contest 161

The Overlooked Quiet Move 164

Bye-Bye Piece 165

Reversal of Fortune 166

Inexplicable 167

Rooks Are Not Pawns 168

Collapse 168

Coin Toss 169

Belief Is Contagious 170

Too Much Irrelevant Emotion 171

Chapter 10 Perfect Sicilian Massacres 173

The Blue Max Attack 173

Kamran the Great 176

Chapter 11 Rook Endings 182

The Cut-Off King 182

Activity Is Key 188

Two Prisoners for One 189

The Lucena Position 190

Winning in Increments 192

Kogan's Coup 197

Chapter 12 Impressions of the Greats 201

Brief Encounters 201

Gathering of the Stars in Manila 203

The Legends 205

Miguel Najdorf (1910-1997) 205

Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) 205

Arnold Denker (1914-2005) 206

Robert Byrne (1928-2013) 209

Viktor Kortchnoi (1931-2016) 210

Boris Spassky (1937) 210

Vlastimil Hort (1944) 213

Yasser Seirawan (1960) 214

Garry Kasparov (1963; also see Chapter 1) 217

Nigel Short (1965) 220

Viswanathan Anand (1969) 223

Chapter 13 Rebutting the Rotten Réti 231

The Lasker System 231

Other Encouraging Illustrations 233

Golden 237

Early Timing 239

Chapter 14 Just Kings and Pawns 241

Chapter 15 Pressing an Edge 252

Strike Fast 252

Empowered 253

Nachum Dead 255

Three Moments with Milo 256

Apply Pressure 261

A Little Style 263

Mobilize, Pounce, and Try Again 265

Sicilian Endgame 268

Chapter 16 Two Loud Pianos 274

Destruction 274

Seventeens 277

Chapter 17 Underpromotion 288

Chapter 18 Rook & Bishop vs. Rook & Bishop Endings 296

A Tactical Finish 296

Opposite Colors Notwithstanding 298

Swindled 300

Chapter 19 Doubleheader in Milwaukee 303

Whitehead Reversal 303

Pellant's Revenge 311

Chapter 20 More Tactical Snippets 322

I'd Better Be Right 322

Hungry Bishops (a snippet in three parts) 322

Nicked 325

Kingside Assault 327

Longest Miniature 329

Three Queens 333

Mini-Combo 335

Black Dragons 336

Got Some of It Right 338

Chapter 21 Norwood 340

Chapter 22 The Closest I Came to Cheating 347

Clear Cheating 347

Gloating 348

Kogan's Moral Lapses 351

In the Style of the Old Masters 352

Chapter 23 Foolish Drinker, Optimistic Patzer 356

Chapter 24 The Best I Played in Chess 373

Outlier 373

Weary Joy 384

Appendix A Adjournments 397

Appendix B Principles of Play 400

Appendix C Book Recommendations 406

Index of Names 408

Openings 413

Explanation of Symbols 416

Editorial Reviews

"This book was a blast to read. It is fresh, entertaining, and has funny stories and anecdotes about Kasparov, Kortchnoi, Anand, Seirawan and many others. But it also offers a lot of serious, deep chess analysis, and it is a pleasure to look at plenty of interesting games."

ChessBase News - Arne Kaehler

"While analysis is given where needed, it's the extensive prose commentary that will be best appreciated by the average reader when going through the 124 games and fragments on offer. Not only the game analysis is first rate, this book is well written and accurate. A book that deserves a wide audience. Players from 1600 on up will find it both a good read that is full of instructive commentary."

John Donaldson

"Highly enjoyable. An original book that combines a game collection, a memoir and an instructional guide."

Schaakmagazine - Jeroen Bosch

"A really wonderful book."

Frank Zeller

"Everyone who loves chess should thank Stuart Rachels for giving us this beautifully written book. The analysis is deeply throughout, with just the right mix of variations and English-language explanations, and the stories are delightful."

Patrick Wolff

"Lively, entertaining and instructive."

Matthew Sadler

"Stuart Rachels manages to combine great stories with serious instructions into one absorbing book."

Karsten Muller

"Rachels' annotations are fun. He is at his best when conveying the drama of a long complex battle. Instead of just attaching'?'s to inferior moves and 'I's to alternatives, he shows the surprising moves that one or both sides missed in their calculations, and the emotions that he felt as the game went back and forth. Rachels' ability to involve the reader in the excitement of the battle makes this book worth reading, and there's plenty of other material to brows through. Rachels includes many elementary examples and a good deal of advice, so his book may be more appealing to less advanced players."

Chess Life Magazine - John Watson

"A gripping read throughout, Rachels concludes by presenting 110 principles of play, guidelines which should help all strengths of reader."

CHESS Magazine

"A US Champion celebrates a collection of his best games and explains why he mysteriously walked away from the chessboard aged just 23. This is a really absorbing read because Rachels played games against the elite but with hindsight can be reflective and honest about the people he met...I particularly like his revealing anecdotes which are rather brutal."

Chess Moves Magazine - Gary Lane

"The most enjoyable book I've read in a decade. This is what an autobiographical chess book should be: entertaining, honest and instructive."

Confessions of a Chess Grandmaster - Andrew Soltis

"The book is also full of stories and anecdotes, many of which are highly entertaining. Rachels writes in a friendly style, alternating, perhaps slightly uncomfortably, between self-deprecating humor and arrogance: he might almost be sitting across the board from you explaining his games. The constant switching between topics will ensure you never get bored. Although Rachels is a relatively minor figure in chess history who retired nearly 30 years ago, he still has an infectious passion for chess, writes well, annotates lucidly and tells a great story. It's often very funny too: a hugely entertaining and engrossing read which I thoroughly enjoyed. If you like games collections and biographies you shouldn't hesitate to snap this one up."

British Chess News - Richard James

"Well written and entertaining. Definitely a book to which I will keep returning, both to dive into the games and the quality annotations as well as to enjoy the many stories."

American Chess Magazine - Carsten Hansen