The thrust of the book is that you can use such straightforward rules to cope with and take control of almost any real-world situation, from choosing how to invest your money, to picking a spouse, to deciding what to order from a restaurant menu.
A Conversation with Stuart Rojstaczer
The author of The Mathematician’s Shiva talks about his inspirations, how he came to fiction writing from a background in science, about the appeal of stories about academic life, about the autobiographical elements of the book, about the balance between comedy and tragedy, his characters, history and memory, and lots more.
A review of Faber & Faber Poetry Diary 2015
The book is a nice, pocket-book friendly hardcover, with thick, high quality pages, and an elastic to mark the week. The book has a week to a view, with enough room to record (in small writing) activities and appointments for each day (though not enough to write a poem, should you be sufficiently inspired – you’ll need another notebook for that). Each week there is a new poem, starting with Simon Armitage’s “Poetry”, and finishing with Stevie Smith’s “Not Waving Drowning”. The diary also features full colour images of book covers and a Faber poetry chronology.
A review of The 3…Qd8 Scandinavian: Simple and Strong by Daniel Lowinger
Daniel Lowinger makes a good case for an intriguing line of the Scandinavian (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8), a favourite of GMs Josif Dorfman, Nikola Djukic and David Garcia. He argues that White’s knight is, or may easily become, misplaced on c3 and will probably have to move later. Therefore the loss of time involved in retreating the queen to its original square will be recuperated.
Chess Training for Post-Beginners A Basic Course in Positional Understanding by Yaroslav Srokovski
Twelve chapters, each devoted to a particular positional element: the open file, strong and weak squares, the passed pawn, good knight versus bad bishop (and vice versa), etc. A few classic examples, naturally, but modern games predominate. Yaroslav Srokovski’s annotations are instructive, not least because they are refreshingly objective for textbooks of this sort.
A review of Mikhail Botvinnik The Life and Games of a World Chess Champion by Andrew Soltis
We learn many things about him that we did not know but might well have guessed. For example, that he did his own ironing and was a demon declutterer. He had no qualms about throwing things away if he hadn’t used them for a period of years, reasoning that he didn’t really need them. ‘He couldn’t abide disorder,’ says his daughter. ‘His home had to be clean and everything in its place.’
A review of The Benko Gambit: Move by Move by Junior Tay
The Benko Gambit gives Black early pressure on the queenside and an initiative that often persists well into the endgame, a practical advantage being that Black’s position is generally easier to play. On the whole, the investment of a pawn represents good value.
A review of 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate by Fred Reinfeld and Bruce Alberston
Fred Reinfeld’s venerable book, consisting of 1001 checkmate puzzles arranged by theme, has been edited and recast into algebraic notation by Bruce Albertson. Themes include the queen sacrifice, discovered check and double check, and pawn promotion; and only the last chapter, a collection of composed problems, seems out of place. What you have got otherwise are positions taken from actual games that are of, at most, a medium level of difficulty.
A review of Mortal Bonds by Michael Sears
It is a satisfying thriller with a diverse range of well-drawn characters, not least the Kid, Stafford’s autistic son. There are surprises right up to the end, the prose crisp and effective throughout. You learn something about finance along the way. And altogether it feels fresh and cliche-free.
An interview with Jennifer N Martin
