Devoted to Chess: The Creative Heritage of Yuri Razuvaev

by Boris Postovsky (Commentaries by), Vladimir Kramnik (Foreword by)

Overview

Yuri Razuvaev (1945-2012) was an outstanding Russian chess player. He had a refined positional style and for many years he was one of the leading Grandmasters in the Soviet Union. He particularly excelled in team competitions; in fact he never lost a game when playing for a team. He also was a first-rate chess author and opening theoretician, always open to new ideas. But it was as a trainer that Razuvaev was truly world-class. The long list of prominent players he worked with includes Karpov, Kramnik, Gelfand, Lautier, Fressinet, Salov, Tomashevsky, Topalov and Alexandra Kosteniuk. Both Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana had sessions with Yura, as his friends called him. It was his exceptional feeling for chess, his understanding of weaknesses and strong points in someone’s play, that made working with Razuvaev a privilege. Moreover, spending time with him was a joy because he was intelligent, cultured and witty. In this book dozens of chess players and contemporaries share anecdotes and insights into chess that Razuvaev gave them. Devoted to Chess also presents Razuvaev’s best games, accessibly analysed by himself and others. His finest articles and speeches on a wide variety of subjects conclude the book. “Studying the creative heritage of Yuri Razuvaev will bring you great benefits”, writes Vladimir Kramnik in his foreword.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789056918224
Publisher:	New in Chess
Publication date:	05/15/2019
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	1,133,327
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Boris Postovsky was born in 1937 in Moscow. He won the Soviet championship in correspondence chess and was an important arbiter, teacher and trainer. He coached the Russian national team to Gold in four Olympiads. In 2001 Postovsky decided to emigrate to the US, where he trained the American national team. Yuri Razuvaev (1945-2012) was an important Grandmaster, chess author and trainer of countless elite chess players. Vladimir Kramnik was born in 1975 and was World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2007.

Table of Contents

Preface - From the compiler 7

Foreword - Memories of a chess academic 9

'Memories' authors in alphabetical order 16

Chapter 1 Memories of Razuvaev's contemporaries - I 17

Garry Kasparov 17

Anatoly Karpov 19

Boris Spassky 20

Veselin Topalov 22

Viswanathan Anand 23

Magnus Carlsen 23

Boris Postovsky 23

Chapter 2 Selected games 43

1962-1973 - the early years 43

1975-1978 - grandmaster 73

1979-1982 - international successes 102

1983-1986 - expert in many areas 138

1987-1995 - always easy and clean 168

Chapter 3 Memories of Razuvaev's contemporaries - II 191

Evgeny Tomashevsky 191

Boris Gulko 199

Boris Gelfand 201

Lyudmila Belavenets 202

Vladimir Tukmakov 202

Irina Levitina 204

Grigory Kaidanov 206

Michal Krasenkow 207

Evgeny Bareev 208

Joel Lautier 209

Michele Godena 213

Alexandra Kosteniuk 215

Chapter 4 Articles and interviews (by and with Yuri Razuvaev) 217

Confessions of a grandmaster 217

My Gambit 218

The Four Knights Opening 234

The gambit syndrome 252

A game of ghosts 258

You are right, Monsieur De la Bourdonnais!! 267

In the best traditions of the Soviet school of chess 276

A lesson with Yuri Razuvaev 283

A sharp turn 293

Extreme 299

The Botvinnik System 311

'How to develop your intellect' 315

'I am with Tal, we all developed from Botvinnik' 325

Chapter 5 Memories of Razuvaev's contemporaries - III 331

Igor Zaitsev 331

Alexander Nikitin 332

Albert Kapengut 332

Alexander Shashin 335

Boris Zlotnik 337

Lev Khariton 337

Sergey Yanovsky 339

Ilya Odessky 340

Sergey Shipov 350

Adrian Mikhalchishin 350

Index of openings 355

Index of names 356

Index of annotators to games 362

Bibliography 363

Acknowledgments 365

Editorial Reviews

"A welcome tribute to an influential grandmaster. I think that ambitious players can learn so much from his forward-thinking approach to the game."

Chess Moves Magazine - Gary Lane

"This book is especially suited for young, ambitious players looking to increase their chess culture and go over well-annotated games. Devoted to Chess is worth every minute you put into reading it."

Florida Chess Magazine - Miguel Ararat

"In this book we learn that Razuvaev was present when 10-year old Garry Kasparov took his exam for entrance to the Botvinnik Chess School in 1973! What makes the book such a treasure for me is the addition of many reminiscences of Razuvaev by players from all over the world who had spent time with him. This book allows the reader to go behind the curtain and into this brilliant, creative mind. Pick it up and be inspired!"

American Chess Magazine - Carsten Hansen