These book reviews by Matthew Sadler were published in New In Chess magazine 2023#3
I picked up Zlotnik’s Treasure Trove by the Russian trainer Boris Zlotnik (New In Chess) while looking for puzzles to train my tactics. I haven’t played at all since the first UK Covid lockdown in March 2020, but I still have periodical bouts of panic about my chess strength, which I attempt to soothe by solving puzzles (hopefully successfully!).The title suggested that the puzzles would be entertaining, and indeed, the first five puzzles I solved in Chapter 2 were pleasingly aesthetic. How about this one?The solution is very neat – I cannot remember seeing this exact tactic before.
1.♖c2! ♕xc2 2.♕f6+ ♔g8 3.♗e6+ ♔h7 4.♗f5+That nice introduction stimulated me to read the rest of the book in the proper order and I was surprised to discover that it wasn’t just a puzzle book but something much broader. This book essentially comprises the musings of an experienced coach (he was a coach of a young Fabiano Caruana)175
On April 30 Ding Liren became the 17th World Chess Champion by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in a thrilling tiebreak. Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam takes a look at Ding’s Tiebreak Brilliance… Four Years Ago in another blog post, but here I would like to share another example of the amazing chess that Ding is capable of playing.
Six years prior to playing the World Championship match, Ding played a Masterpiece game with the black pieces against Bai Jinshi in the Chinese League.
Look at the diagram below.
The pawn on d4 is pinned because the queen on d8 is attacked by the rook on d1. That did not stop Ding from taking the knight on c3 with the d4-pawn. And here the fun was just starting!
Trainer and coach IM Merijn van Delft walks us through this gem, which Ding himself analysed for New In Chess Magazine 2017 #8.
Easily the most-heard remark in the chess world the past weeks was what a wonderful and exciting fight the World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi had turned out to be. There simply were no dull moments and dramatic turns and wonderful games were the order of the day. Traditionalists might have hoped that the outcome would be decided in the classical games, but those considerations were probably quickly forgotten when the rapid tiebreak proved no less entertaining. And what a finale it was! Ding Liren’s decision to play for a win in the fourth rapid game was epic and will be remembered for a long time to come.An account of the match in Astana and the key games with great notes by Anish Giri, Jan Timman and Jorden van Foreest you will find in the 2023/3 issue of New In Chess that will be published (the digital edition) on May 6. Here I would like to remind you of another most remarkable tiebreak game that Ding Liren played, a brilliancy that I had the pleasure175
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