THE QUICKEST CHESS VICTORIES OF ALL TIME: An Encyclopedia of Chess Opening Disasters From 1575 to the Present Day

Author: Graham Burgess

224 pages

Cadogan Chess (1998)

Reviewed by Donald K. McKim

Chess players at all levels will benefit from this book. Here is a fine collection of more than two thousand games won in thirteen moves or fewer and arranged according to openings. FIDE Master Burgess compactly annotates these little gems, clearly exposing the pitfalls and traps in chess openings. The result is a comprehensive guide to sharpen recognition of when an opponent goes wrong and to enable one to take advantage of tactical and strategic miscues to move in to victory.

Here is the theory behind this approach. Burgess asserts that, “Experts agree that a major factor in successful chess-playing is the ability to recognize patterns.” This helps one both to analyze a position, but also to suggest ideas that have not crossed the opponent’s mind. On the other side of the board, one may wander into a blunder because an important pattern is not recognized. So, says Burgess, “the conclusion must be that increasing the number of patterns you recognize will mean an increase in your chess-playing ability.”

The value of his book is, then, to be a resource for combinations that can emerge from hundreds of traps and patterns as well to expose the patterns of blunders. One learns from the mistakes of others in order to avoid them one’s self.

The six chapters cover numerous openings. These are: Flank Openings, Miscellaneous Queen’s Pawn Openings, Semi-Open Games, Open Games, Queen Gambit and Queen’s Pawn Game, and Indian Defenses. A helpful Index of Variations concludes the book. The arrangement of openings roughly follows the order of the ECO codes.

The author suggests that the book is useful in several ways. If you study the games for the openings you play, you can avoid the pitfalls while trying to steer your opponent into them. This kind of study provides a sense for the main tactics involved in your openings.

Second, one can study the openings related to the openings one uses in order to gain a wider vision of the tactical themes that relate to the early stages of a game and which may also be adaptable for the types of positions you encounter.

Third, one can use this book for enjoyment. One may be amused at the blunders one encounters – even from grandmasters. Burgess says that, “After a bad loss, you may also find some solace in the fact that others, including strong grandmasters, have suffered even worse misfortunes.”