Amazing miniatures

A while back, I almost completely lost my motivation for chess. I felt uninspired and uninterested. Nothing seemed to be fun anymore. But one day I looked at my book shelf and picked up a little book and started to flip through it. I went through a game. Wow! I went through another. Wow again! This book is nice! So since that day, the book has been on my bedside table, and I have (mostly) gone through one game per day before going to sleep. The book I am talking about is Instructive Chess Miniatures. Let me tell you why I like this book.

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?

I have written about miniature games before. In my review of Catastrophes and Tactics, I mentioned that the definition of a miniature can vary. In Ataman's book, the games last 25 moves at most.

So what's the point? Why study miniatures? First of all (and obviously), they are quite short. This means that you can play through a game quite quickly. This also means that you can use the games for visualization training, aiming to keep all the moves in your head. Secondly, master games often consist of a lot of subtle maneouvering, which can make them quite difficult to follow for patzers like us. However, in minitatures, the ideas and plans (strategic and tactical) are carried out in full, which allows us to see the logic behind the moves more clearly.

Ataman sums this up quite well in the foreword:

These short games usually come to an end with a spectacular combination or an admirable deep idea. This makes miniatures really amazing and memorable!

Instructive Chess Miniatures is a simple book in terms of structure. There is a short (!) foreword of just half a page, and then the games are presented. The book contains 57 games in total, of which 4 are presented as "supplementary games". The remaining 53 games make up the main body of the book.

Each game is presented in full. The games are clearly presented with detailed annotations and several (usually 3-5) diagrams. The games are presented over roughly 120 pages. This means that each game is given about two pages on average. The supplementary games are, however, not annotated at all.

If you are curious about the layout and level of detail, you can find an excerpt of the book on the publisher's webpage. The excerpt also contains a table of contents which lists all the featured games.

As indicated in the introduction of this review, I have read read this book in bed before going to sleep. As you probably understand, this means that I haven't used a board to play through the moves. In some cases I have turned to my phone for assistance, but for the most part, I have played through the games in my head - of course with the help of the diagrams in the book. I think this is a perfect book for the purpose of visualization training. The combination of few moves and many diagrams means that you have to keep just 5-10 moves in your head.

The selling point of the book is the game selection and annotations. The book is a nice sample of games that really illustrate the beauty of chess. There are quite a few classics such as Anderssen's "evergreen game" and Morphy's "opera game". But there are also several lesser known and more recent examples. The games usually end with a beautiful combination or the execution of a deep strategic plan.

For me, personally, this book was very inspiring and rekindled my love for the game. It reminded me why I was drawn to the game in the first place. Each game has left me with the feeling of amazement and awe. I have repeatedly found myself just saying "wow" and going back and reviewing the game again to really take in all the awesomeness.

Who should read this book?

In the foreword, the author writes that the book is suitable as an introduction for younger players. I don't think age is the deciding factor. Rather, I think the book is good for developing players (patzers) of all ages. It can be used for beginners, in order to illustrate various points; both opening ideas as well as tactics and strategy. As suggested above, it is also a perfect book for visualization training. And it can of course also be read purely for enjoyment - if you just want to look at some beautiful games. Probably, your playing strength is somewhere below 1800 Elo. If this sounds like you, I suggest you read this book.

About this book

Author:	Alper Efe Ataman
Title:	Instructive chess miniatures
Type of book:	Game collection
Level:	Beginner, Intermediate

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...

Judgement and planning

Some books "fly under the radar" and do not get the same attention as the evergreen classics. But sometimes, there is gold in old mines. And I found a little golden nugget while shopping for used books. A book written for amateurs, by (arguably) the best amateur of all time; former world champion Max Euwe. Sounds promising, right? 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? In my previous review of Chess Fundamentals , said that few world champions have written books for beginners and intermediate players. Capablanca is, of course, one exception. And another is Max Euwe. Euwe is not the most well-known world champion. He was in his prime in the 1930s and 1940s, most notably in 1935 when he dethroned none other than the great Alexander Alekhine. Although many have suggested that Alekhine only lost because of heavy use of alcohol, beating him is no small feat (rega...

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...

Understanding middlegames

Have you ever found yourself unable to find a move in the middlegame? Of course you have. We all have. About ten years ago, this was a recurring problem for me, which led to a lot of frustration. My conclusion was that I needed to learn how understand middlegames. So what better way than to read a book with the title Understanding Chess Middlegames ? Sound like the perfect remedy, right? Ok, let's find out. 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? I first read this book when I was just starting to study chess seriously. I bought it after reading a recommendation in an online forum. I would say this was ten years ago, but the book came out 2011, so it couldn't have been before that. Anyhow, my playing strength was probably around 1200 (I was unrated at the time) and I was having trouble choosing moves in non-tactical positions. Basically, I was playing without ...

Patzer's review

Search This Blog