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[what is this?]

81a ZOOM 001 SUBMODELS A-H Together with Steffen Zeuthen, the late Bent Larsen authored this enterprising book, which adopts an academic approach to an opening system which can be played with both colors.ZOOM 001: Zero hour for operative opening models The so-called ZOOM 001 model, is the grunfeld defense, played with either color, no matter what the opponent attempts to play. Surprisingly, this turns out to be entirely viable and often transposes into many other openings. The book begins with an introduction that reads like the back of a Dr. Bronner’s soap bottle. “The basic theme is: Pressure against d4! Please do not forget that!” The first few pages are bullet points- all of which begin with “ZOOM 001 is…” For instance: “ZOOM 001 is a minimax system- once you have grasped the basic ideas your chess becomes powerful, logical, coherent, flexible, dynamic, – well, funny.” “ZOOM 001 is a masterfile for thinking. ZOOM 001 is pattern-recognition.” Then we are told that “Chess is by nature a game built on communication – a language marked by aggression – a discussion.” The book argues that the basic structures of the Caro Kann, Scandinavian, Alekhine’s defense, and French defense all overlap in the ZOOM 001 system. “And in the Alekhine defense you will find many of the Grunfeld ideas repeated. It is rather interesting to know that the Grunfeld Indian Defense was born in the 20′s – and so was Alekhine’s defense! – and both GMs were very pleased playing each other’s defense!! A provocative defense – interchangeable ideas – A LANGUAGE – a way of thinking, a powerful way of discussing!!!” That’s not a typo, it’s a triple exclam. The whole book reads like something hastily written by someone high on stimulants. It’s perhaps the most hilariously bombastic text I have ever read that manages to actually make some coherent points here and there. It breaks up the opening “patterns” into 8 “sub-models,” lettered A-H, and offers a massive game collection ordered accordingly, with the first half being ZOOM 001 with black and second half ZOOM 001 with white. By choosing this approach, the authors hope to leave behind previous opening names which seek to hide the fact that many identical positions appear in the ECO under different codes, and instead focus simply on recurring patterns and themes. There is no question that the half of the book dedicated to the Grunfeld with black is an interesting, if out-dated game collection. Nor is there any doubt that the simple 1.d4, 2.Nf3, 3.g3 opening is entirely playable. But I have to say, if the Grunfeld has the reputation of being a fighting defense, full of vigor, piece activity, and interesting counter-attacking lines- than the same system with white seems a bit stilted, a little less dynamic. In any case, Larsen loved to play stilted systems with white- such as his 1.b3/english/reti/KIA systems, so it comes as no surprise to see his name on the cover of a book that advocates such a solid if simple setup for white. Honestly, I have to say the book is a fantastic game collection and I would recommend picking up a copy if you find one somewhere that isn’t insanely overpriced. http://brooklyn64.com/2011/zoom-001... = = = All A/ model games: Game Collection: Zoom A/a ; Game Collection: Zoom A/b ; Game Collection: Zoom A/c ; Game Collection: Zoom A/d ; Game Collection: Zoom A/e ; Game Collection: Zoom A/f ; Game Collection: Zoom B/a ; Game Collection: Zoom B/b ; Game Collection: Zoom C ; Game Collection: Zoom D Alekhine Four Pawns ; Game Collection: Zoom D Alekhine Modern ; Game Collection: Zoom D Scandinavian Grusian Missing games: A/a 013 - Rashkovsky-Tukmakov, USSR Ch. 1974 (21, 1/2) A/c 068 - Kuzmin-Uhlmann, Zinnowitz 1971, (55, 1/2) A/d 087 - Donner-Uhlmann, Capa Memorial, 1973 (25,0-1) A/d 088 - Forintos-Jansa, Vrnjaka Banja, 1973 (42, 1-0) D/- 201 - Westerinnen-Hort, Leningrad, 1967 (33, 0-1) D/- 205 - Matanovic-Gipslis, YUG vs USSR, 1972 (19, 1/2) D/- 208 - Gheorghiu-Jansa, Harrachov, 1967 (51, 1-0) 181 games, 1966-1977 Andrew Soltis: What it takes to become a Chess M Games from the book "What it takes to become a Chess Master" 12 games, 1968-2010 Art of Attack in Chess Vladamir Vukovic & Chess I am slowly creating this collection as I read it with page numbers associated with the recent Nunn Algebraic edition . The current collections on this book in Chessgames.com are missing a handful of games. I am sending in games complete scores for publication as I find them. I am currently reading this book and invite others to join along. http://takchess.blogspot.com/2007/1... I also added games from VV book "Chess Sacrifices" I find myself often looking at Timothy Glenn Forney's collection's so I put a link here for my easy access. Timothy Glenn Forney's Game Collections also patzer2 & notyeta gm have attacks ranked by theme for future studies patzer2's Game Collections notyetagm's Game Collections Some Alekhine and Kasp tactical games Game Collection: Thunderstorms from a Blue Sky 83 games, 1843-2005 Chess Tactics, by GM Drazen Marovic Games from his book, Chess Tactics, Zagreb 1984 10 games, 1859-1882 How to Calculate Chess Tactics - Valeri Beim 17 games, 1867-2005 Mikhail Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy Games from Mikail Shereshvsky's book. English translation, Basic principles of endgame play. Everyman chess,Reprinted 1985,1999,2004 42 games, 1902-1980 Paul Morphy Conquered the World "I consider Mr. Morphy the finest chess player who ever existed. He is far superior to any now living, and would doubtless have beaten Labourdonnais himself. In all his games with me, he has not only played, in every instance, the exact move, but the most exact. He never makes a mistake; but, if his adversary commits the slightest error, he is lost." Adolf Anderssen, quoted by Frederick Edge in 1859 "Morphy will not let me." former unofficial world champion Adolf Anderssen, when asked why he did not play as brilliantly as usual against Paul Morphy. "Paul Morphy was the greatest chess player that ever lived...no one ever was so far superior to the players of his time" Dr. Emanuel Lasker, Lasker's Chess Magazine of January 1905, p.127 "In Paul Morphy the spirit of La Bourdonnais had arisen anew, only more vigorous, firmer, prouder... Morphy discovered that the brilliant move of the master is essentially conditional not on a sudden and inexplicable realisation, but on the placing of the pieces on the board. He introduced the rule: brilliant moves and deep winning manoeuvres are possible only in those positions where the opponent can be opposed with an abundance of active energy... From the very first moves Morphy aimed to disclose the internal energy located in his pieces. It was suddenly revealed that they possess far greater dynamism than the opponent's forces." Emanuel Lasker "Morphy's principal strength does not rest upon his power of combination but in his position play and his general style....Beginning with la Bourdonnais to the present, and including Lasker, we find that the greatest stylist has been Morphy. Whence the reason, although it might not be the only one, why he is generally considered the greatest of all." José Raúl Capablanca, in Pablo Morphy by V. F. Coria and L. Palau. "...Morphy, the master of all phases of the game, stronger than any of his opponents, even the strongest of them..." Alexander Alekhine, in Shakmatny Vestnik, January 15, 1914 "To this day Morphy is an unsurpassed master of the open games. Just how great was his significance is evident from the fact that after Morphy nothing substantially new has been created in this field. Every player- from beginner to master- should in this praxis return again and again to the games of the American genius." Mikhail Botvinnik "A popularly held theory about Paul Morphy is that if he returned to the chess world today and played our best contemporary players, he would come out the loser. Nothing is further from the truth. In a set match, Morphy would beat anybody alive today... Morphy was perhaps the most accurate chess player who ever lived. He had complete sight of the board and never blundered, in spite of the fact that he played quite rapidly, rarely taking more than five minutes to decide a move. Perhaps his only weakness was in closed games like the Dutch Defense. But even then, he was usually victorious because of his resourcefulness." Bobby Fischer "Morphy, I think everyone agrees, was probably the greatest genius of them all." Bobby Fischer, 1992 "We also remember the brilliant flight of the American super-genius Paul Morphy, who in a couple of years (1857-59) conquered both the New and the Old Worlds. He revealed a thunderous blend of pragmatism, aggression and accurate calculation to the world -- qualities that enabled America to accomplish a powerful spurt in the second half of the 19th century." Garry Kasparov (2003). On My Great Predecessors. Gloucester Publishers plc. Vol. 1, p. 6. "What was the secret of Morphy's invincibility? I think it was a combination of a unique natural talent and brilliant erudition. His play was the next, more mature stage in the development of chess. Morphy had a well-developed 'feeling for position', and therefore he can be confidently regarded as the 'first swallow' - the prototype of the strong 20th century grandmaster." Garry Kasparov (2003). On My Great Predecessors. Gloucester Publishers plc. Vol. 1, p. 43. 125 games, 1834-1998 Secrets of Positional Chess- Drazen Marovic 50 games, 1885-2001 The Hedgehog by Mihai Suba Suba, Mihai. The Hedgehog. Batsford, 2003. *One game missing from this collection, game 45, Georgiev-Suba, 0-1, 1986 from the Dubai Olympiad, is incomplete and therefore not available in this database. 99 games, 1925-1999 the most instructive classic games The most instructive classics! 93 games, 1749-2000 WCC Index [Zurich 1953] These are the games in order according to David Bronstein's excellent book, "Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953." He participated in the tournament with the strongest in the world at that time as a Candidates match to determine the challenger for then world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. The complete list of participants in addition to Bronstein include: Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Petrosian, Geller, Najdorf, Kotov, Taimanov, Averbakh, Boleslavsky, Szabo, Gligoric, Euwe, and Ståhlberg. A treasury of games, as Bronstein (and two of his fellow players who also compiled books) well knew, which are as interesting to read about as to play through. While specific games may have excerpts from Bronstein's book quoted, this list is meant as recommendation to purchase and read through this book yourself, and to give easy reference for people playing through the games. 210 games, 1953