I would like to make my second book review on an interesting book, written by a not so famous chess player: Timothy Taylor. The author is not as well-known as Vladimir Kramnik or Garry Kasparov, but the book he wrote is worth looking at. He shows "real" pawn sacrifices and explains how to come up with one in our games. By "real" sacrifices, he refers to Rudolf Spielmann's book: The Art of Sacrifice in Chess, in which Spielmann defined 2 categories of sacrifices. The real ones are those that can't be calculated to the very end.
“What interests me,” as Taylor wrote, “are the courageous, imaginative sacrifices that involve risk and have no clear result. This, to me, is really
playing chess!” He provides sixty-seven complete
games with an interesting method of analysis to help chess players understand under which circumstances sacrifices can be successfully achieved. In fact, Taylor examines them from three different perspectives:
“Favourable Omens” – the factors that suggest a possible pawn
sacrifice.
“Mr. Fritz” – whether computer analysis agrees with the sacrifice.
“Author” – whether Taylor agrees with the sacrifice. (Perhaps
surprisingly, he does not always agree that the sacrifices he
presents were the proper course of action.)
Those real sacrifices are one of the rare things computers can't fully understand. With this in mind, a player can crush well-prepared opponents using one of those. In my opinion, chess softwares have been killing chess or tearing it's soul apart, making 99% of chessplayers consider using their silicone friend rather than their brain! This book helps leading a player's mind into an unfamiliar territory: taking risks. I truly believe that taking risks is one of the best ways to enjoy the game and win beautiful games, so I definitely recommand this book to anyone who wishes to enjoy the game even more!
