Book Review: Instructive Chess Miniatures by Alper Efe Ataman

Inspirational Chess Snacks

A “chess miniature” refers to, usually, a game which lasts no more than 25 moves, and that’s the definition that Ataman goes with here. This book contains 53 such game scores, a few fragments, plus some more supplementary games which are referred to in the analysis of the main games.

I don’t have much to say about this book in particular, except that I consider it almost a must-read for possibly any amateur player. The analysis is short and to-the-point. Ataman isn’t here to get in the deep historical weeds of these games (most of which have been analyzed to death and included in many “best games” collections). The main idea behind the selection and the analysis is to be instructive. Aptly-named, Instructive Chess Miniatures is more “show” than “tell”, which means you can play through the games at a relatively quick pace, thanks to the light annotation style.

There are many classics in here, from the Evergreen Game to So’s trouncing of Kasparov in St. Louis 2016. We also find such classics as Nimzowitsch’s Immortal Zugzwang Game, Fischer’s shocking rook move against Benko, and Judit’s smashing of Costa with the Black pieces in an anti-Benoni. The openings themselves are analyzed lightly, but many games here are of model-game quality, and therefore you may find a couple hero games to include in your own collection of inspirations depending on what openings you play.

I chose to read this book mostly out of the desire to read through some games for enjoyment’s sake, and I’m glad I did so. My original reason to pick this up was by the recommendation of FM Carsten Hansen on an episode of Perpetual Chess Podcast a few years ago, and I finally had the impetus to pull the trigger — I am sorry to report that I’ve been struggling through Keres’s book on the 1948 World Chess Championship, and needed a pick-me-up. What I got to enjoy through a couple week’s study was inspiring game after inspiring game that I feel gave me a little bit more pep in my own OTB tournament play as I studied my way through.

Right now Instructive Chess Miniatures can be had for less than 11 bucks in physical form on Amazon, or $10 for the Kindle version (check Gambit Publication’s page for other options). That’s a smokin’ deal for some very memorable games that are short enough to memorize by heart and will undoubtedly teach the attentive reader what kind of chess can be played, with a little help from imperfect human opposition. Plus it’s like eating candy — these games are effortlessly entertaining; you won’t be disappointed.

5/5

P.S. The aforementioned episode of Perpetual Chess Podcast, by the way, comes with many book recommendations you the reader may also find yourself interested in.