English Chess Forum

A mix of old and new and a shout-out to Josh. Where is he now?
https://www.youtube.com/live/E_LgdxP-be ... Qk9e2nMbhR
James

I have all those, Barden and Heidenfeld is IMO the best of that lot but 'Slain Kings' by Abram Yakovlevich Roizman (again IMO) is tops. I think that may be because I have to stop and try to figure what the comments are and I seem to absorb the game more. I spent more time on it! Some I've seen before but quite a lot were new to me.
A neat small hardback that fits in your back jean pocket.

Another book I don't have ..

I enjoy Peter Clarke's 1963 collection 100 Soviet Miniatures. The Sicilian comes in for a good kicking!

I was told that Peter's Soviet Miniatures was a poor seller. PHC himself added that he was going to write one on American Miniatures but just never got round to it. Paul is correct of course it is still quite a book.
James

Yes! Soviet Miniatures an old friend. Another one I kept back when I sold my collection (approx 400 books) back in the mid 90's. The other two Clarke's (Tal and Petrosian) also stayed at home.
Thanks to charity and junk shops that collection has built up again.
Had a niggle there was something else but Chernev's 1,000 popped into my head. (a good book for dipping in and out of but missing an opening and players index.)
Is Soviet Miniatures not made of Peter Clarke's mid 50's articles for BCM, Maybe that put people off buying it as all the subscribers already had the games.

A member at chessgames.com a has gathered all the 'Soviet Miniatures' PHC used onto one page. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessco ... id=1039988

Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 18, 2026 11:24 am

A member at chessgames.com a has gathered all the 'Soviet Miniatures' PHC used onto one page

There's some really mad stuff in there.

This one in the Polish (1. b4) for example
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1250823

The collection of games rather disproves the theory that players from the Soviet Union were all trained in relentless positional play in the manner of Botvinnik.

I can see why it wasn't a big seller. He avoids the big names in Soviet chess. Stein and Tolush are probably the two best known names in the collection. Hence fans of Spassky, Keres, Tal, Bronstein etc would pass it by. However the games are great and the arrangement instructive. What impresses me is the breadth of the tournaments that Clarke consulted: Semi-finals Trud Club Championship 1962, Championship of White Russia 1955. These can't have been general reading amongst the average British chess player of the time.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 18, 2026 11:30 am

The collection of games rather disproves the theory that players from the Soviet Union were all trained in relentless positional play in the manner of Botvinnik.

I thought the profusion of 6.Bg5 Najdorfs gave the lie to that.