Fire on Board: Shirov's Best Games

This book is a class act from its title to its indexes. This is the best book of 1997, and it deserves the highest praise.

The book is a delightful blend of exciting chess and honest annotations with an interesting sprinkling of endgames and discussion of a favorite chess opening (the Botvinnik Variation of the Semi-Slav). It also contains a variety of useful indexes and introductions.

Alexei Shirov is an exciting young player who has, for a number of years, been among the top ten players in the world. His style is reminiscent of his Latvian countryman Tal, and he has done a lot of important theoretical work on some of the sharpest openings and systems, including the Botvinnik Variation of the Semi-Slav, the King's Indian, and the Sicilian.

The 82 games chosen (plus another 16 in the chapter on the Botvinnik variation) are exciting struggles that depict chess as a fight.

Some of Shirov's ideas are the brilliant kind that remind you of Alekhine and Tal in their prime. When faced with that kind of luminance, one can only sit back, awe-struck, and admire the view.