Book Reviews

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Gladiatoren Ante Portas

by Volker-Michael Anton and Fritz Baumbach

Introduction

This is a delightful book, co-authored by GMs Volker-Michael Anton and Dr Fritz Baumbach of Germany. Many of our readers will remember that Volker-M qualified for his GM title in the Scottish Centenary Tournament 1984-88, and Dr Fritz of course was the XI ICCF World Champion 1988-90.

The book has as good a pedigree as the authors, being the tournament record for the Hans-Werner von Massow (ICCF President 1960-87) Memorial Invitation. The event coincided with the 50th Jubilee celebrations of the BdF, the German CC Federation. At the time (1996-2001), this was the strongest-ever CC event, featuring World Champions Umansky (1996) and Timmerman (2001), plus 6 other ex-champions.

Contents

The first thing to notice is the superb production quality of the book - it is hardback (15.5 x 21.5mm), stitch bound, and uses heavier weight reflective paper to give a beautiful look and feel. The black and white layout is sharp throughout.

There are 240 pages containing 105 very high-class games, with 285 diagrams. The book opens with an introduction by Alan Borwell, then ICCF President, a short biography of Hans-Werner von Massow, and a prologue of the event.

Each of the 15 gladiators is profiled with his photograph, family details and chess career. Then we are into the games, studded with GM brilliancies, but also showing that 'to err is human' applies to top-flight players also.

The games are interspersed with nice anecdotes and cartoons. For example, the authors pose (and answer) questions like 'what has the fable of the fox and the raven to do with chess?', 'why must you be careful with computer help?', 'why do new queens not always bring luck?', and 'what was an ex-champion looking for in a rural shop?', thus adding colour to the serious business of making moves. A full event cross-table completes the games, and the book concludes with BdF President Fritz Baumbach's presentation speech to the tiebreak winner Volker-Michael Anton, an extended profile of the victor, and player and opening indices.

German Notation

Games in the book are in German algebraic, so you need to know the letters for the pieces as follows:

König (K)	King	King (K)
Dame (D)	Lady	Queen (Q)
Turm (T)	Tower	Rook (R)
Läufer (L)	Runner	Bishop (B)
Springer (S)	Jumper	Knight (N)
Bauer (b)	Peasant	Pawn (p)

German Commentary

As befits the tournament, the authors, and the biggest CC nation, the book is written in German. This might prove daunting for UK residents, who are notoriously bad at languages, but help is at hand!

Rather than thumb through your phrase book or dictionary, I suggest you try Alta Vista's Babel Fish website and there you will be able to get approximate translations to and from English into all the major world languages.

To illustrate the point, I've given the original German comment followed by the Babel Fish translation in the sample game below. It's very literal and not good English, but it makes enough sense for you to fully enjoy the game.

Sample Game

Here is the game between the world champions at the start and end of the tournament.

Conclusion

It took me a while to review this book, but it was worth the wait. Its historical significance makes it a collector's item, but it is also great entertainment for any CC player.

If you can overcome your apprehension about the language, the book will please in all respects. Note that you can opt to take the games CD along with the book, which has the twin advantages of adding some top-class games to your database, and making the copy and paste operation into Babel Fish much easier!!

The superior production quality means that the cover price of 13.80 euros, plus 4.50 euros p&p, is a steal - where else can you get hardback for under £12?! . The accompanying CD database optionally costs a further 5.90 euros.

Further details may be obtained from the special website: Anton-Baumbach through which you can order and pay. If you prefer, payment may be made via Paypal

Finally, thanks to Volker-M for his prompt assistance in sending my review copy. He has fond memories of his participation in our Centenary Tournament, and extends good wishes to all his Scottish friends! On behalf of them, congratulations to you and Fritz (the player, not the computer...) for producing a really excellent publication!