Domino Double 9

« Je voulais, écrit Jean-Philippe Toussaint, que ce livre traite autant des ouvertures que des fins de partie, je voulais que ce livre me raconte, m’invente, me recrée, m’établisse et me prolonge. Je voulais dire ma jeunesse et mon adolescence dans ce livre, je voulais débobiner, depuis ses origines, mes relations avec le jeu d’échecs, je voulais faire du jeu d’échecs le fil d’Ariane de ce livre et remonter ce fil jusqu’aux temps les plus reculés de mon enfance, je voulais qu’il y ait soixante-quatre chapitres dans ce livre, comme les soixante-quatre cases d’un échiquier. »

Construit en 64 courts chapitres, autant que le nombre de cases sur un échiquier, Il y est question  de souvenirs d'enfance, d'amis disparus, de période de confinement, mais c'est aussi, le portrait d'un amateur d'échecs.

Jean-Philippe Toussaint est un écrivain belge auteur de plusieurs romans dont le style se caractérise par un style et un récit minimaliste, dans lesquels les personnages et les choses n'ont d'autre signification qu'eux mêmes.

Il a reçu des prix littéraires, dont notamment le prix  victor Rossel et le prix Médicis. 244 pages

Capablanca's Endgame Technique : The Astonishing Chess Logic of the Third World Champion by Alex Colovic. Although Jose Raul Capablanca was the World Chess Champion a century ago, his games remain among the most interesting to study. The clear logic and simplicity of his moves inspired other great players such as Mikhail Botvinnik and Bobby Fischer. And the clarity of his play will boost the confidence of any chess student. It all seems so easy when you read the explanations, says a student in a comment on Chessable, so much so that you really believe you can play like Capablanca.

Capablanca's most instructive endgames will help you to understand:
    •    The principle of two weaknesses - the art of creating a second weakness, leaving opponents helpless because they cannot deal with both at the same time.
    •    How to convert an advantage in the endgame, not by brute calculation, but by knowing where best to position your pieces.
    •    Sharpen your intuition in double rook endgames and avoid wasting energy calculating everything and making mistakes.
    •    The key concept of prophylaxis when it comes to trading pieces, a remarkable aspect of all Capablanca's games. You will learn when to trade off unnecessary pieces.

Capablanca's Endgame Technique will help you play with precision at all levels of the game, not just in the endgame. It was Capablanca himself who said, 'To improve your game, you must study the endgame before anything else.'
Alex Colovic is a grandmaster from Macedonia who has won 18 national championships and represented his country in three chess Olympiads. He is a prolific chess writer, drawing on his thirty years of experience as a tournament player and chess coach.

Twenty years ago, New In Chess magazine started its own Proust Questionnaire, entitled Just Checking. In this back page column, chess players and personalities named their favourites, preferences, moods, life mottos and whatnot. One of the questions has always been: What was the most exciting chess game you ever saw?

Chess greats such as Anand, Shirov and Ivanchuk (and probably any other top player you can think of), authors and commentators such as Jeremy Silman, Jennifer Shahade, and Tania Sachdev nominated memorable games. This anthology presents the 45 most exciting of these most exciting games.

Besides inevitable ‘usual suspects’ like Kasparov-Topalov (Wijk aan Zee 1999) or the ‘Immortal’ Anderssen-Kieseritzky (London 1851), you’ll be treated to a wide variety of lesser-known gems. You’ll see Ding Liren revelling in an all-out attack, Ivan Saric juggling a knight and five pawns versus two rooks, and Sergei Radchenko chasing the white king all over the board.

Every game is a showcase of the richness and resourcefulness of chess.

Steve Giddins edited this selection, a job he immensely enjoyed: ‘I hope that every reader will find games here which bring a smile to their face and a lift to their heart’. 

The book is in three parts. Part One, besides introducing the book generally, covers the very first moves of the Scandinavian Defense and White’s early deviations. Anyone who plays the Scandinavian will find this section quite helpful. Then Part Two covers Qd6 + g6 systems, while Part Three covers the very different Nf6 system. 176 pages

This book is both test and training. It will not only help you to assess your skill level, but also to identify your strengths and weaknesses in the game of Go. In a total of eight chapters, you are asked to solve the exercises within a given time limit. With the help of the evaluation tables you will be able to determine where you are roughly located within the kyu and dan ranks. In addition to the classification into the rank ranges, your results will reflect in which areas you are particularly strong and where may still be room for improvement. 116 pages

Drôles de dés! Lancez vos cochons et marquez des points avec un double bajoue ou mieux, un groin-groin!