Games Collection for the New Millenium | Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions

50 times better than Alburt's work... | Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions | Pal Benko, Jeremy Silman, ...

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	• Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions Pal Benko, Jeremy Silman, ... Siles Press, 2004 - 668 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The best game collection to date

First of all this book is over 600 pages! I haven't seen a chess book this big that wasn't in several volumes. I've read several game collections and this is by far the most informative. I just got this book and am very impressed with how thorough each game is analyzed. Everything is laid out well and the games are easy to find. There is a lot of prose used to comment on the games, which is typical for Silman. The authors discuss the plans that each player is employing and they do a good job of telling you why they did or didn't choose a variation when complications arise. And there are tons of compositions...hard compositions. Pal Benko's life is also very interesting. It is interspersed throughout the games, which lightens up the density of the material. These games are very intense so it's good to get a little back story of what was going on in those times. He went through great hardship to get where he is today, and is still arm wrestling strongly!!! I am very happy I bought this book and am sure it will give me much pleasure for years to come.

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Games Collection for the New Millenium

I'm not one to write book reviews, but when I received this book (after long anticipation), yesterday, I was astounded. Other reviewers have mentioned its length, which can be daunting. Benko/Silman/Watson have packed in as much material (annotated games, biographies, opening analysis, endgame problems) to fill up three or four traditional chess tomes, and they truly cover, at great depth, every aspect of the game. One thing that seems not to have been brought up in the other reviews are the short biographies of other grandmasters, inset in shaded boxes throughout the games section. These, along with the included interviews, really brought home to me the fact that chess is a game fought between two -people- and not only two minds. The pschyological aspect of chess, and its unfortunate victims (a tragic story about Raymond Weinstein is related in his biography), is a repeated sub-theme in the work: Benko's perpetual time problems. All in all, an extremely impressive work; few relevant adjectives can really do justice to it. The authors have surpassed themselves. And, as a side note, it is possible to purchase the book at much less than $45; some searching around should solve that problem.

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50 times better than Alburt's work...

This is an impressive book, I think the size is equivalent to Polgar's book; but at a much better paper quality.
a) The organization is excellent, very easy to follow.
b) The explaination is rather clear.
c) Benko is a master in endgame, so the section of endgame will improve players at least 250 points.
d) Many many games of Benko's throughout his career so it helps to understand how a GM progresses.
e) The part about openings is very good.
f) Lots of pictures of quality prints show that Benko put much effort in it and cared for his product.

One complain, the retail price is 45 USD! Are we chess-amateurs related to Donald Trump or what? I didn't buy it yet, but read about 20 minutes at Borders. Will include this book in my library by a used book at a better price.

Now back to the title, maybe I'm too unexperienced to follow Alburt's books. I read three of Alburt's books and could not understand clearly any one them. (One about Pirc, one about Rule of Thumb, One about 3 days w/ Fischer; all three of them are comparable to Benko's, maybe 50 will do. My limited experiece anyway.) The last one sounds interesting, but after some tens pages, the subject seemed not relevant to the book's title. I might try Alburt's books again.
However, if you can (I can't) afford Benko's book, get it. It's hard to find quality chessbooks nowadays.

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Absolutely amazing

This book is amazing, Silman apparently did a lot of the writing and I'm glad he did, Benko's compelling life stories and Silman's writing skills combine into an incredible book. Not only is the non-chess material gripping, but the games chosen are fascinating games and the annotations will improve any chessplayer's middle game (and endgame and opening!) play. One of the most enjoyable chess reads I've ever had, I love this book!

A truly amazing effort and a joy to read

To be honest, I've never been a huge fan of Benko... until I read this book! I must have more than 100 chess books in my collection, yet this volume stands out, head and shoulders above the rest. Why?

For starters, it is a tremendous effort by two of the best writers in the business: Jeremy Silman and John Watson. They took 5 years to put this together - 5 years! Most chess books nowadays are written in a few months with the help of large databases and computer analysis. Not this one. Care was taken to find some amazing old photographs with lots of stories about legendary players. It was also a very enjoyable read, with stories woven into instructive games. Finally, the way it is presented is very pleasing - hardcover with lots of big diagrams and clear fonts.

At $30, this is truly a bargain. Together with My Great Predecessors I and II, this book should be on every chessplayers
' bookshelf.

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3

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