Product Description
Questions of Modern Chess Theory is the lost masterpiece of Soviet chess literature. It was written by a two-time Ukrainian Champion, and published in the Soviet Union in 1956. Russian experts say it is one of the most influential chess books of the 20th century, yet it has never been published in English. Questions of Modern Chess Theory has been edited to make it useful for the 21st century and is now accessible for the first time to an English-speaking audience. Isaac Lipnitsky was a major player on the Soviet chess scene just after World War Two, strong enough to take the scalps of Keres, Smyslov and Petrosian.
Promoted as a lost masterpiece Lipnitsky’s book more than lives up to the hype. Very clear and lucid explanations, supported by telling examples, on a range of inter-related opening and middlegame subjects. It is surely telling that great players as diverse as Botvinnik, Fischer, and Karpov (who provides a very good foreword) all hold Lipnitsky in high esteem. This is a chess book to savour again and again.
Amazon User Rating: 5 / 5
This is a superb general chess theory book. Similar to Watson’s ‘Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy’ in terms of its main purpose – to describe the philosophy of chess strategy and the applicability of strategic rules and principles, but much better – nonarrogant, clear in style, and more correct on many issues including “rule-independence” (the term is from Watson’s book). Very easy to read and yet very deep. Clear explanations and examples. Fischer read this book and it is mentioned in his ‘My 60 Memorable Games’ in game 26 vs Reshevsky. There is a misprint of the first page, but the rest is ok and it’s just a duplication of pages.
It does contain practical advice, but it is not a practical book by its design. By that I mean that it only contains select topics, and is not as comprehensive as other books (it does not describe hundreds of different positions to cover all of chess strategy, but again, this is not its point). For more comprehensive practical advice on positional play you can read Pachman’s ‘Modern Chess Strategy’ (that book is great, by the way, despite old notation) or similar works. However, it is highly rewarding to read “Questions of Modern Chess Theory”, especially chapters 7 and 8. Lipnitsky rightly observes that there may exist rules that are correct in a given position, but have not been discovered yet (to be fair, Watson mentions a similar idea in passing, but does not stress it). Lipnitsky also says that in a given position, creative, or concrete, approach should be used to decide which rules or laws apply and which do not. There is also such a thing as balance between many different rules or features of the position, where one of the features (or the interaction of positive vs negative features) will dominate, and therefore the rule associated with that(those) feature(s) will prevail. Another point in Lipnitsky’s work is that there are positions (‘critical’, or unclear, positions) that require concrete analysis, i.e. precise calculation, and there are positions that are “settled” and therefore easier to interprete using “rules”. He also points out that in the process of analysis we try to reach those settled positions, otherwise analysis is impossible. Watson missed much of that.
By the way, more detailed reviews can be found if you google the title, for example at [...]
‘Questions of Modern Chess Theory’, although originally written in the 1950′s and only published in English in 2008, does a better job of addressing the philosophy of modern chess strategy in a much more correct, nonarrogant, and clear way than Watson’s Secrets of Chess Strategy. It is still very relevant today (except obviously some opening variations given in examples). If you want to understand who is right, Nimzowitsch or Watson or Aasgard etc about whether chess rules exist, are still applicable, etc, read this book. After reading it you will feel like Galileo did when he discovered that earth orbits the sun, and not vice versa.
Amazon User Rating: 5 / 5