03 April 2007

Dvoretsky & Yusupov

I bought a used copy of 'Training for the Tournament Player' by Mark Dvoretsky & Artur Yusupov. It's the third book I have by the two authors and the fourth by Dvoretsky. I started to wonder how many Dvoretsky books there are and came up with the following list...

• Secrets of Chess Training (Batsford 1991)
• Secrets of Chess Tactics (Batsford 1992)

Dvoretsky & Yusupov's Chess School:-
• Training for the Tournament Player (no.1, Batsford 1993)
• Opening Preparation (no.2, Batsford 1994)
• Technique for the Tournament Player (no.3, Batsford 1995)
• Positional Play (no.4, Batsford 1996)
• Attack and Defence (no.5, Batsford 1998)

School of Chess Excellence:-
• Endgame Analysis (no.1, Olms 2002)
• Tactical Play (no.2, Olms 2002)
• Strategic Play (no.3, Olms 2002)
• Opening Developments (no.4, Olms 2003)

• Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (Russell Enterprises 2006)

...Note the two series. There appears to be another series of reprints in the works...

School of Future Chess Champions:-
• Secrets of Chess Training (2007)

...Are these books all original or is there substantial reuse of material?

***

2007-04-23: The 'Book Review' feature at Chesscafe.com, dated 18 April, was a piece called 'The Instructor's Secrets' by Akram Shahata, who reviewed 'Secrets of Chess Training, School of Future Champions 1', Mark Dvoretsky & Artur Yusupov, 2006 Edition Olms.

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Mark Dvorestsky, together with Artur Yusupov, published a series of chess books on various aspects of his training techniques. His first book, 'Secrets of Chess Training', discussed the methods of analyzing endgame positions and adjourned games. This book was reprinted by Edition Olms under the more appropriate title 'School of Chess Excellence I: Endgame Analysis', a review of which can be found in the ChessCafe.com Archives. The book we have before us is an updated edition of 'Training for the Tournament Player'. It features two new articles and many additional exercises.

If I understand this correctly, 'Secrets of Chess Training' (Batsford 1991) was reissued as 'Endgame Analysis' (Olms 2002). 'Training for the Tournament Player' (Batsford 1993) was reissued as 'Secrets of Chess Training' (Olms 2006). Clear?

The review continued with this bit of pedantry: 'Of course, the authors need no introduction...'. Of course, this assumes that the reader is among the 1% (or 5% or 10%, pick a number) of chess players who know something about Dvoretsky and Yusupov. For the rest of the world, chess players included, their names are as familiar as that of Akram Shahata.