“The Secret Ingredient” wins the Averbakh-Boleslavsky Award 2021
The Yuri Averbakh/Isaac Boleslavsky Award for the best book published in 2021 goes to “The Secret Ingredient”, co-authored by Jan Markos and David Navara and published by Quality Chess. The runners-up were “Miguel Najdorf – ‘El Viejo’ – Life, Games & Stories”, by Zenón Franco and Zeev Zohar, and “Forgotten Genius – The Life and Games of Grandmaster Albin Planinc”, both published by Thinkers Publishing. The jury was composed of three renowned Grandmasters: Antoaneta Stefanova, Thomas Luther, and Boris Gelfand. Luther shared the following comments on each book: “The search for ‘The Secret Ingredient’ to success, both in life and chess, is what this great book tries to answer. Following the advice given in this book will make each player stronger and each coach more focused on the tasks and challenges we face in life. ‘Forgotten Genius’ is a very touching book about the life and chess of Albin Planinc. Facing many difficulties in life myself, I could feel the struggle Albin Planinc endured. It is wonderful to highlight this book about overcoming challenges and learn from it about the constant and never-ending fear of losing the most important fight in life. ‘El Viejo’, a biography about the life of Miguel Najdorf, is a must-read for everybody who loves chess. While Najdorfs successful chess career and his games are very impressive by themselves, the book is a great reminder of the horrible crimes humankind faced in World War II. Reading about how Miguel Najdorf lost all his family members left me speechless and full of sadness. The book is a necessary historical document about the horrors of evil and war.” There are also three special mentions: “A Knight Without a Castle: A Story of Resilience and Hope”, by Robert Katende, gets the one to the most inspiring story. “Chess & Brain. Art and Science”, by Adolivio Capece, Razvan Sandru, Stefano Salis, and Zachary Mainen, gets the special mention to the best book for chess as art & science. And the special mention to the best instructional/educational books goes to “Los Colores del Ajedrez” (“The colours of chess”) by Jose Antonio Coleto. About the winner, “The Secret Ingredient” The Secret Ingredient is a grandmaster guide to maximizing your chess results, focusing on key elements of practical play which have received little to no attention in previous chess literature. How exactly can we best make use of computers? What’s the ideal, step-by-step way to prepare against a specific opponent? How can we optimize our time management at the board? And what’s the one key skill that separates the best players from those who have yet to reach their full potential? GM Jan Markos sheds (pictured below) light on these topics and many more, helped by the world-class insights of his good friend GM David Navara (pictured above). About the authors: Jan Markos is a Slovakian trainer and Grandmaster. His previous book, “Under the Surface”, was the English Chess Federation’s 2018 Book of the Year. David Navara is a ten-time Czech Champion and world-class Grandmaster. He is noted for combining fighting spirit with outstanding sportsmanship. “The Secret Ingredient”, by Quality Chess 2021
FIDE November 2022 rating list published
The top places in the overall and women’s lists were mainly affected by the European Club Cup 2022 and the U.S. Championship, with just minor changes occurring in the top 10. The winner of the U.S. Championship, Fabiano Caruana, picked up just 3 rating points, but it was enough to climb two positions up in the top-10 Open. The silver winner Ray Robson (pictured below) gained 12 rating points and cleared the 2700 barrier for the first time in his career. Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club, Bryan Adams The primary rating beneficiary of this tournament is, however, Awonder Liang. Still outside the top 100 Open, the youngster picked 22 points and moved to 14th position in the top 100 Juniors. Biggest gains in top 100 Open and Women Beydullayeva, Govhar WGM AZE 2387 (+31) Wagner, Dinara WGM GER 2420 (+30) Milliet, Sophie IM FRA 2388 (+25) Amin, Bassem GM EGY 2685 (+18) Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi GM IND 2724 (+14) Osmak, Yuliia IM UKR 2442 (+14) Anton Guijarro, David GM ESP 2668 (+13) Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra IM POL 2402 (+13) Robson, Ray GM USA 2702 (+12) Narayanan.S.L GM IND 2673 (+10) Photo: Przemek Nikiel Govhar Beydullayeva (pictured above) deservedly won this nomination following her excellent performance at World Junior Championship (Girls U20), where she took the title. This result catapulted her from 98th straight to 62nd position in the top 100 women. Diana Wagner earned impressive 30 points in October after putting up a strong showing in the Frauen Bundesliga and the Women’s European Club Cup. Yuliia Osmak and Aleksandra Maltsevskaya also did well in both competitions and picked up 14 and 13 points, respectively. Both Wagner and Maltsevskaya crossed the 2400 mark. Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni The #1 African player Bassem Amin (pictured above) shone in the most important team competition in October, the European Club Cup, where he netted 18 points and got closer to the 2700 mark. The same applies to Vidit Gujrathi and David Anton, who earned 13 and 12 points, respectively, in this event. Sophie Millet also picked some points at European Club Cup but, more importantly, put up a strong performance at the 5th International Festival in Perpignan to gain 20 rating points and make a huge jump in the top 100 women.