You are here: http://freeshell.de/~dunne/review.Tarrasch.Dreihundert_Schachpartien.html
Go to: index | contact | blog | RSS
Dreihundert Schachpartien. Dr. S. Tarrasch. Edition Olms. 1981. Nachdruck der dritten Auflage, Gouda 1925.
The subtitle of this work is "ein Lehrbuch für geübte Spieler" — a textbook for experienced players. It is that indeed, one of the best of its kind, and the one from which several generations of masters learned their trade. Its most oustanding attribute is its realism. For example, the trouble with Réti's Masters of the Chessboard is that in his concern to be didactic, Réti often ignores other possibilities in the game at hand. This is notable for example in Steinitz v. Blackburne, London 1876 (p. 37), where a key exchange in the centre passes with no discussion of the alternatives (Black is by no means compelled to take on d4). Thus the narrative of the game seems to follow a single, inevitable course; when in fact it could have gone quite differently. Tarrasch, on the other hand, presents his games in more realistic fashion. There is always a struggle, even if the opponent plays weak moves. Réti's book does have the advantage of presenting the ideas systematically, clearly and simply, so might be better for learning them for the first time; but Tarrasch's book is much better for learning how those ideas are realised in actual play.
an excellent review by John Watson is online at Jeremy Silman's chess book review site.
This page was brought to you by ksh,
vi,
m4,
sed &
make.
Last changed: Sun Mar 3 11:49:39 CET 2019