Carlsen vs Karjakin

I know, I know. This match was a long time ago, and there has already been another world championship match - against that other guy that begins with "Car" (By the way, is that a prerequisite for the championship now?). Anyway, there isn't a book out on the latest match yet. And, even if there was, this one is really (!) good. So if you're into this kind of book, go read it.

What can you expect from this book?

This book is not just a game collection. It is a book about the match in its entirety. It begins with an introduction that sets the scene for the match. There is a presentation of each player and their respective road to the match, as well as the venue. The book is also full of behind the scenes footage and a other goodies. I would imagine that the book could even be interesting for non-chessplayers.

Each game is of course presented in its entirety along with first class annotations by the authors. Alburt is a renowned chess writer and grandmaster, and Crumiller is a chess engine expert. In that sense, they make a good team with the ability to squeeze out the most of the computer's analyses and translate it into something that can be understood by readers well below the master level (such as myself). But it doesn't stop there. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik provides insights about the strain of playing a title match and comments on the psychology around each game. Kramnik also provides his own analyses on critical positions ("Vlad's viewpoint"). There are diagrams of key positions for each game, which readers can use to challenge themselves, if they wish.

Who should read this book?

This book may be different things to different people. I read it mostly for entertainment, and found it really excellent for that purpose. However, I assume it could also be used for training and analyses, if one desires. However, if you are looking for a book that will make you world champion, this is not it. I would recommend it to any reader who is interested in the world championship and things concerning matches like these.

About this book

Author:	Lev Alburt & Jon Crumiller
Title:	Carlsen vs Karjakin
Type of book:	Game collection
Level:	Any

Comments

Popular reviews

Chaos on the board

Have you ever felt tired of chess? Maybe you’ve been uninspired or perhaps you think it’s too much work. To paraphrase a famous movie: All work and no play makes you a dull person. If that is the case, I may have a cure. You need a fun chess book. Something that will rekindle your joy for the game and inspire you to play creatively. I give you Tiger’s Chaos Theory ! This book found me at a time when I needed it the most. My inspiration and motivation to study chess was way down. And like a bolt from the blue, the Swedish Chess Federation approached me and wanted me to review this book. And the kind people at Quality Chess agreed to send me a review copy. An offer I couldn't refuse. So after this happy turn of events, I have a new review for you. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Persson, a multi-time Swedish chess champion, has al...

Under the surface

I did something different. I bought a chess book without doing any research. I decided to reward myself with a new book after having written ten reviews. So I asked my friends on Twitter for suggestions, and someone suggested that I take a look at the book Under the surface by Jan Markos. Since the book is quite new, I couldn't find much information about it, so I decided to blindly trust the recommendation. Luckily, I was not let down. What can you expect from this book? I am not the only one who has done something different. Jan Markos did the same when he wrote Under the surface . He takes a quite philosophical approach to chess, which should probably be expected from a former student of philosophy. This comes across quite clearly in his choice of chapter titles. The names "Magnetic Skin", "Anatoly Karpov's Billiard Balls" and "On the Breaking Ice" are not the most transparent chapter titles in the world. But once you get under the surfa...

Estimating playing strength

Have you ever felt like your chess rating doesn't represent your actual playing strength? Sometimes we want to be able to estimate playing strength based on individual games rather than rating (which changes more slowly). During the past few months, I've been taking a number of online courses and learning python for data analysis. In one of the courses, the final project allowed me to choose my own dataset. So surprise surprise! I chose something chess related. (Not really surprised, are you?) When we play games online, getting a computer evaluation is just a few clicks away. And a commonly used statistic is the average centipawn loss, or simply the average deviation from the computer's best move. Many of us tend to think that centipawn loss (CPL) is a good estimate of playing strength. And, of course, it gives some indication, but it's far from a perfect predictor. Fellow chess/statistics blogger Patrick Coulombe has investigated the correlation between rating and CPL ...

Master of strategy

During the past two years, I’ve been working on improving my strategic/positional play. In this process, I have read a number of books, and two books that have long been on my reading list are the strategy books by Johan Hellsten. So when the Swedish chess federation requested reviewers for two of these books, I didn’t hesitate. I am happy that I was given the opportunity to review these books, and hope this review can be of help to you as a reader. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from these books? Johan Hellsten has created a name for himself as one of the leading experts of chess strategy in modern times. His series of strategy books ( Mastering Opening Strategy , Mastering Chess Strategy and Mastering Endgame Strategy ) have received glowing reviews from many parts of the chess world. So it feels good to finally dig into these nuggets. His endgame book is still in my boo...

Winning chess strategies

Chess strategy is one of the most elusive and difficult parts of chess. Compared to the direct and transparent world of chess tactics, strategy can be confusing and opaque. At the patzer level, tactical strikes that gain material or lead to checkmate can be obvious (provided that one understands the tactic). However, in many cases, strong players claim that a move is obvious although it doesn't result in material gain or even a semblance of an attack. We, the patzers of the world, scratch our heads and wonder how on earth anyone can find such moves obvious. How can we take steps towards this deeper level of chess understanding? Picking up a basic strategy book is a good first step. And that's what I did here. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? As a part of my ambition to deepen my understanding of chess strategy, I took on a mission of reading (and rev...

Patzer's review

Search This Blog