The Soviet chess machine of the last century was the strongest power in the world, and the most dominant single example of global domination in the long history of the game.
From the time that the Soviet authorities decided to take part in full-scale international competition, Soviet chess teams and players astonished the rest of the world with their skill, determination and scientific preparation. Soviet magazines and books raised chess theory to unprecedented heights. Shortly after World War 2, Soviet teams, in radio matches, and direct encounters, just about wiped out the opposing teams of England and the US. From the first world championship tournament, 1948, until well after the collapse of the USSR, Soviet-born players held the world championship, for almost sixty years with the single exception of the three year Fischer interlude (1972-1975): Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik. Soviet teams won all the Olympic gold medals (single exception: Hungary 1978), and similar results were achieved in women's tournaments, student competitions etc.
A large number of books touch on this subject, in a variety of ways: for instance, just last week I started a thread on the three books by Sosonko which are basically memoirs of his early life in Soviet chess. Kotov's instructional books (we two collections of them in threads, one started by me), in particular his TRAIN LIKE A GRANDMASTER, say a great deal about Soviet chess. Also, some of the books by Bronstein (see on this my post in the thread http://chessindia.net/community/topic/16080-the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-david-bronstein/?hl=%2Bthe+%2Btriumph+%2Band+%2Btragedy). Of course, books of and about other great figures in Soviet chess, such as Botvinnik and Korchnoi (on the latter see my post in the thread:http://chessindia.net/community/topic/16702-korchnois-courageous-cruel-and-controversial-career-in-16-books/?hl=%2Bthe+%2Bcruel) in particular, are relevant, too. However, in this post I am discussing twelve books explicitly devoted to Soviet chess as such, and once again, I have not included booklets, pamphlets, articles etc, and I have also omitted, for example, a book on correspondence chess in the USSR, which may not be of much interest to most of our members.
I have condensed the twelve books into a single RAR file, for the benefit and the convenience of the members. The book by Romanovsky is from the relevant CIC thread (thanks to the scanners and the up-loaders!), but the other books are from my own collection of older scans, even though CIC threads exist for them in our index (and once again, thanks to those contributing to them).
The first three books are misnomers, because they use the term RUSSIANS where they mean SOVIETS (by the way, this is also the term that was used regularly by Bobby Fischer, and it appears also in the tittles of a couple of books describing his wars with his Soviet enemies-once again, I have decided to omit these books from this collection, and I do hope to address this great vendetta in a future posts.
The Soviet Union was a large multi-national Empire, and so many of the greatest figures in Soviet chess were NOT Russian. Two world champions demonstrate this fact: Tal was a Latvian and Petrosian was an Armenian. The almost-world-champion Keres was an Estonian. Among the participants of the first candidates tournament, Budapest, 1950 we find Flohr, a Czechoslovak and Lilienthal, a Hungarian. Above all, perhaps, we can find a large number of outstanding players and theoreticians born in the Ukraine: Boleslavsky, Bronstein, Geller, Stein etc.
"The truly cool thing about this particular Chernev book is that there are diagrams every few moves, so you can read it without
a board. I got it in a used book store, and almost jumped for joy.
A good mix of tactics and strategy, but leaning more toward tactics compared with "Sixty Most Instructive", for example.
Strangely enough, Bruce Pandolfini, many years later, came out with a book with a similar title ("Russian Chess") and format
(diagrams every few moves). Of course, different games, and also recommended.
Yet Chernev himself could also "borrow". For example, the notes from one of the Tarrasch masterpieces from "Sixty Most Instructive", were obviously lifted from Reinfelds' great Tarrasch book.
But so what? Chernev is the greatest for my playing strength ( around 1700)."
"I've either read or browsed all of Pandofini's books and I feel this is his best work. Using the format of move-by-move analysis of six games by rising Russian masters, he illustrates all of the basic strategic motifs, the "meat and potatoes" of the game for a beginning or intermediate player. At the time I read it as a newbie I did not have any strategy classics such as Nimzovich's "My System"; I learned many of the same concepts from this book and a few others. In addition to it's instructional value, "Russian Chess" is quite entertaining to read. For chess history buffs he includes pertinent quotes from the greats in between moves, revealing both their thoughts and general philosophy of play. The book is quite humorous in places as well. All in all, a very practical addition to any library."
"Paul Keres -- "the greatest player never to have been world champion" -- was a legendary figure in chess. The depth of his conceptions and the elegance and beauty of his play rank him among such immortals as Alekhine, Tal, Bronstein, Botvinnik, and Bobby Fischer.
As a chess analyst, Keres had even fewer equals. The first Soviet grandmaster with a regular column in an American chess magazine, his articles for Chess Life between 1968 and 1975 set new standards in chess analysis.
Power Chess contains twenty-two of his best articles. Here are incredible rook sacrifices by Bronstein, ferocious attacks by Tal and Spassky, heroic defenses by Korchnoi, subtle endgames by Petrosian and Karpov, uncompromising struggles by Keres himself -- all profoundly analyzed by the greatest annotator who ever lived."
"This book discusses the first Russian grandmasters and prominent masters, such luminaries as Mikhail Chigorin, Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Alexander Kotov, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal, Alexander Tolush and many others. Also included is a section dedicated to the women players. There are numerous, chessboard diagrams, and page upon page of annotated games and game fragments in the book.
Chess is a national game in Russia. It is played by millions of men, women, and children. Large-scale tournaments are held regularly in factories, offices, and schools.The Russian style of play is characterized by creative scope, boldness and energy in attack, plus tenacity and resourcefulness in defense. It is founded on scientific methods of studying theory and training for competitions."
"This seems to be regarded as the West's answer to “The Soviet School of Chess” by Alexander Kotov ISBN 4871878198 who asserts superiority in the Soviet playing style. However, those who say that are mistaken. This book by a New Zealander who emigrated to England because of the greater opportunities to play chess there, fully concurs with Kotov that the Soviet players were the best in the world. In this book, R. G. Wade, the Chief National Coach of British Chess Federation, with more than one hundred international chess events behind him, examines Soviet Chess. In this unique work, more than 120 games in Descriptive Notation of the leading grandmasters in the USSR are analyzed and commented on, including some of the greatest games ever played by giants such as Botvinnik, Smyslov, Bronstein, Petrosian, Tal and countless others. With the tremendous wealth of biographical material and information, this makes a unique and incomparable reference work, a source of inspiration to all chess players."
"Starting in 1920 and running through to the early 1990s, when the political break-up of the USSR meant the end of the competition, the prestigious Soviet Championships were truly representative events with all of the top Soviet players participating. Because of the enormous State support for the game in the old USSR, these Championships were usually gladiatorial, all-play-all contests lasting weeks, and the Grandmasters represented the elite of World Chess. Alekhine, Botvinnik, Keres, Bronstein, Tal, Petrosian, Korchnoi, Geller, Stein, Spassky, Karpov, and Kasparov were all winners at least once, and the tournaments have gone down in legend for the quality and creative inspiration of the games. This book is a permanent record of those extraordinary times. it encompasses every single Championship, giving a report and the full crosstable of results, as well as a carefully chosen selection of the finest and most memorable games. The annotations bring these extraordinary and instructive struggles to life; many important chess ideas and concepts were first discovered in these games. The introductions to each Championship are equally fascinating, as the majority of these tournaments were played against the oppressive political backdrop of communism. Revered chess masters could get away with more than most, but veiled threats by the authorities were always there for those who might consider stepping out of line."
"Historical Book of the Year--United States Chess Federation This large and magnificent work of art is both an interpretive history of Soviet chess from the Bolshevik Revolution to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 and a record of the most interesting games played. The text traces the phenomenal growth of chess from the Revolutionary days to the devastations of World War II, and then from the Golden Age of Soviet-dominated chess in the 1950s to the challenge of Bobby Fischer and the quest to find his Soviet match. Included are 249 games, each with a diagram; most are annotated and many have never before been published outside the Soviet Union. The text is augmented by photographs and includes 63 tournament and match scoretables. Also included are a bibliography, an appendix of records achieved in Soviet national championships, two indexes of openings, and an index of players and opponents."
"Tactics, audacity, and speed are the hallmarks of chess matches called "miniatures," games played in 25 moves or less. Learn from 100 fascinating games played by Soviet chess masters, taken from the records of the Soviet Chess Bulletin. Selected and annotated by noted chess authority P. H. Clarke. 99 chess diagrams."
"Ilya Maizelis’s masterpiece is the definitive introduction to the game of chess. It has inspired generations of Russians to take up the game, including arguably the two greatest players of all time, the 12th and 13th World Champions.
In the original Russian, this landmark work is simply called "Chess"—no other explanation was considered necessary. The Soviet Chess Primer is a modern English translation of Maizelis’s witty introduction to the royal game.
This new edition of a timeless classic includes an original foreword from the 2nd World Champion, Emanuel Lasker, as well as an introduction from the most celebrated chess trainer of modern times, Mark Dvoretsky."
"Mikhail Shereshevsky is popular in the chess world as one of the leading coaches in the former Sovjet Union. All results enable us to talk about the already established 'Coaching School of M. Shereshevsky' and you can get a first class impression about it after you read this book. Chess players of all levels will surely find a lot of useful information to be able to improve their chess class. "The Soviet Chess Conveyor" is out of print and only available as eBook. The problems of coaching and improvement in chess have been treated in the chess literature before, but the interest towards these subjects enjoys a real revival lately. This is more than easy to explain. The contemporary erudite chess reader is tempted by the possibility to master new methods of work to improve his class. I think that the book you are holding in your hands has been written by one of the best Soviet coaches M. Shereshevsky. This book will certainly attract the players who do not want to limit their chess studies to reading only theoretical literature."
"The Soviet Union is history, but its influence on chess is still strong in the 21st century, as a glance at the rating list proves.
Soviet Chess Strategy is a collection of Suetin’s finest writing. Suetin instructs the reader on all the key aspects of strategic play, including the center, dynamism, accurate evaluation, attack and defense, and the relationship between strategy and tactics. It is not too late to become a pupil in the Soviet chess school!"
"Many of the classics of Soviet chess literature have struggled to see the light of day, but none more so than Soviet Middlegame Technique by Peter Romanovsky. The original version of this famous guide to the middlegame was published in 1929 when Romanovsky was Soviet Champion. Romanovsky later decided to update and improve his work. As he finished his work in 1942, World War II was underway and Romanovsky was trapped in the notorious siege of Leningrad. The author barely survived and his manuscript was lost.
Romanovsky was undeterred and finally recreated his improved book in 1960. His writing was later translated into English and published in two titles – one on Planning and the other on Combinations. In this fresh translation we have included both works to create the ultimate version of a classic of Soviet chess literature.
GM Alexander Kotov on Romanovsky: “One of the best books in the world’s chess literature.”
I hope the dozen books in this compilation make a neat mini-library of value to those interested in chess history. If you feel I have left out something significant, you are welcome to add the relevant book/s to the thread.
Link (zipped PDF):
http://www.solidfiles.com/d/a4b74ed463/
ToutBox mirror:
http://toutbox.fr/ChessCaissa/Soviet+Chess,62517042.rar(archive)