Combine a great player capable of exciting
games with an interesting discussion of his
life and times, mix in solid annotations that
both analyze and teach, and you have an excellent
book; that is exactly what this biography delivers.
The subject of the book, Leonid Stein, a three-time
Soviet champion, had his career cut short by
his untimely death from a heart attack at the
age of 38. Coupled with his failure to advance
in the world championships during his time,
and it is understandable why many Western players
are less familiar with him than Soviet compatriots
like Keres, Polugaevsky, Bronstein, Tal, Petrosian,
and Spassky.
Thinkers' Press has always been willing to
write books on slightly less mainstream topics,
and they should be applauded for that approach.
It provides welcome exposure to topics and players
that otherwise do not get their due. In this
book, it is helpful that both authors were contemporaries
of and knew Stein. This helps make the biographical
section of the book more interesting, and the
annotations also suggest that the authors have
a familiarity with the subject that goes beyond
that found in many other biographies.
The authors include a lot of nice touches,
and they start from the book's first pages.
The book kicks off with "a few words on
grandmaster Stein" by former world champion
Anatoly Karpov. These two pages indicate the
stature and respect that Soviet chess players
had for Stein. Throughout the book, there would
be many examples of players extolling Stein's
fighting spirit and remarkable talent.
After Karpov, the authors provide an additional
two-page introduction. This is followed by 82
pages of text that start from Stein's early
years and follow his career all the way to his
death. These sections include a lot of interesting
and amusing stories and anecdotes, as well as
a number of pictures and some additional games
without notes. One of my few criticisms of the
book is that the annotated games and endgames,
which occupy the second section of the book,
were not blended into the text. I personally
find that this helps "tell the story"
of the various tournaments and matches under
discussion. I found it cumbersome to flip back
and forth between the next and the games section
to find the games from the period under discussion.
The authors make a lot of Stein's aggressive
methods of play, and the subtitle "Master
of Risk Strategy" runs through much of
the discussion within the notes to the games.
The second section, covering 150 pages, provides
detailed annotations of 61 complete games and
10 endgames. The annotations give a good sense
of Stein the player, and the games themselves
are well chosen generally high-level affairs.
They include wins over the likes of Petrosian,
Geller, Spassky, Tal, Portisch, Gligoric, Larsen,
Uhlmann, Byrne, Mecking, Averbakh, Keres, Polugaevsky,
Smyslov, and Bronstein.
The book concludes with an openings index,
a player's index, a compilation of Stein's tournament
and match results, and a listing of books and
articles on Stein. All together, these make
for a very nice volume. The book's font, layout,
diagrams, and printing are all well done, and
the book opens and lies pretty flat, which is
nice for both reading and going through the
games. I did detect a few more typos than I
expected to find, but they don't cause major
problems (i.e., it's not like moves are missing
from games, more often a stray symbol here or
there or a diagram with three black rooks and
no black king).
In the end, though, this is a well-crafted
book. There is a nice blend of text and games,
and the annotations also balance analysis with
explanation while providing further insight
into a player for whom many have little understanding.
The book expands the body of chess knowledge,
and that makes it a commendable effort.
