Chess with Christiansen’s ‘Storming the Barricades’

This Week’s Winner

Titus Adrian Y. Adorna, 27, graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree, major in Legal Management, from UST. He worked as a corporate planning analyst and researcher. "I wrote this article to share with others what I have been lucky enough to discover: that chess is for everybody and the most fun game in the world." Aside from chess, his hobbies and interests include reading books and magazines, practicing Aikido (he holds a second-degree black belt), playing computer games, taking care of his miniature pinscher, and being a doting uncle to his nephew Rap-rap.

It’s a form of psychological warfare: a battle of intellects, a confrontation of wills, and a clash of egos. Played at the highest levels, it’s the toughest, most brutal form of human combat without any physical bloodshed. It was once the game of kings, and now the king of games. In case you’re wondering what I am talking about, it’s chess. It has been around for centuries and now it’s played by millions the world over. The objective is simple: use your army to checkmate the enemy king to win the game. Sounds easy? Well, think again!

My interest in chess started when I was in grade school. My classmate brought a chess set to school and challenged anybody who wanted to play. I was instantly attracted to the exquisitely designed pieces. The marshalling of an army to defeat the other player using one’s wit and skill made me picture chess as warfare on a chessboard. (Yes, Virginia, it’s a chessboard, not a "checkerboard".) I compared it with boxing and lately, mixed martial arts (MMA). In boxing, the aim is to maim; it’s important to know when to punch and how to duck. In MMA, I figured there’s more to fighting than just throwing a punch or kick; one must be well acquainted with the different styles, techniques, and submission holds to win. The same thing goes in playing chess: knowledge of the different openings, strategies, tactics, and other tricks of the trade are essential to success.

With the help of my eldest sister and two elder brothers, I started to learn how the pieces moved, how castling was done, and the other rules of engagement. Before I knew it, I was hooked – I was caught in Caissa’s spell. To the uninitiated, Caissa is the goddess or muse of chess. It was at this time that I started my first, fumbling steps toward becoming a decent player.

As a self-confessed bookworm and chess enthusiast, I began to search and study chess books with the goal of not only improving my game, but enjoying a good read as well. I devoured anything and everything I could lay my hands on about chess. The only problem I encountered was that in chess, there were more books written about it than on any other sport and not to mention countless magazines, many of which have little or no annotations at all. I knew early on I would be wasting valuable time and money if I got careless. So I decided to stick to a meticulous approach: to study the books that featured the games of world chess champions. After all, I reasoned, if they were world champions, then they must be good.

I scrimped and saved so I could buy these books. Some of them, luckily, I got at bargain prices. Now, I have the likes of Jose Raul Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Bobby Fischer, and Anatoly Karpov in my collection. All of them were of superb quality. But it was an excellently written book of a non-world champion that proved to be a revelation. American Grandmaster Larry Christiansen’s Storming the Barricades became my ultimate guide in the art of attacking chess.

I discovered this book when I purchased the latest edition of Chessmaster, the world’s best-selling chess program on PC. The new features included a totally revised interface, which was now easier to navigate, and an audio-tutorial by Christiansen about attacking chess. After I successfully installed it in my computer, I immediately listened to Christiansen’s commentaries. He selected a number of games, all of which contained liberal doses of different combinations and sacrifices with the art of attack as its main theme. He carefully analyzed each, paying particular attention to where the loser went wrong and how the winner took advantage by means of a timely sacrificial attack.

Also, the showdown between Christiansen and Chessmaster’s predecessor, The 9000 Version, was included. In this fiercely contested, head-to-head match, scheduled for four games, Christiansen surprised himself when he took an early lead with a superb endgame win in the first game. But Chessmaster struck back, won the second and third games for a 2-1 lead. In the final game, Christiansen fought back from an inferior opening and tried his best to win. Alas, it was too late. Chessmaster proved too tough an opponent and he settled for a tense draw that sealed Chessmaster’s victory with a score of 2.5-1.5.

After I finished the tutorial, I decided to buy the book. Storming the Barricades, a semi-autobiographical work, confirmed the conclusions I made from a careful and deep study of his tutorials. I concluded that the attacker must have an attitude.

"He never fears or avoids complications, welcomes imbalance, and is ever-alert for opportunities and automatically searches for combinations and tactics," Christiansen said. "He may gaze across the board but his eyes tend to rest on the area around the enemy king. In difficult positions, the attacking player craves activity and is willing to part with material to launch counter-attacks. He doesn’t go down quietly."

It was the very same sentiments I had in mind.

What I truly liked was Christiansen’s approach on how to learn and master the art of attack. It gave me invaluable insights on how the thought process went inside a grandmaster’s head. I was amazed at the blinding speed by which these grandmasters calculated and sifted through the variations with computer-like precision and at the same time amused at the blunders they made which were surprisingly human. Christiansen shared with his readers how his style evolved, the important events that helped shape his style, and more important, the mistakes he made along the way in becoming one of the world’s best tactical players. This was a refreshing change from the egomania that ran rampant in grandmaster-level chess. For instance, the books I collected that featured the games from world champions contained none of their losses. Christiansen included not only his wins so the reader can emulate his strengths as a player, but his losses as well, so the reader can learn from his bitter and painful experiences. He scrupulously explained why some attacks succeed and others failed, which I can easily identify with because I have found myself similarly situated in some of my games.

He capped the book with a selection of his favorite attacking games of the 1990s. It was a golden era for chess; a decade when attack flourished and many up-and-coming players entered the scene. The creative attacking schemes conceived and the mental fireworks that exploded in these games dazzled me. I loved Garry Kasparov’s scintillating victory over Veselin Topalov, perhaps the finest attacking game in Kasparov’s career which Christiansen ranked as No. 1 on his list for it was in many ways akin to the "Immortal Game" that Adolf Anderssen won against Lionel Kieseritsky in London in 1851. This alone was worth the price of the book.

I also got to know Christiansen better. He has solid credentials; he was a seasoned campaigner in the international chess circuit, a three-time US champion, a veteran of the several Olympiads, and winner of more than 20 international tournaments. Like his idol, the late Latvian and former world champion Mikhail Tal, he was one of the few players who went from national master to grandmaster, by passing the intermediate title of international master.

Christiansen clearly captures the drama and tension behind a chess game. Unlike other authors who perfunctorily present chess as though it was a math equation that can be easily solved by means of a formula, Christiansen gives the reader a dose of reality: the ups and downs, advantages lost and gained, dynamic imbalances, and titanic struggles between two protagonists. Further, his passion for chess is celebrated on every page. It’s his art and he loved chess, just as Mozart loved music and Van Gogh loved painting.

And unlike other classical chess books that use jargon and flowery prose to explain a point, Christiansen’s crystal-clear annotations and excellent use of the English language make him the best teacher there is in the art of attack. I say kudos to a native English speaker who knows how to use the language!

I often regarded myself as a counter-puncher, contented to beat my opponent with sound positional play and reliable endgame technique I learned from my first chess book, a selection of games from the Cuban "Chess Machine" Jose Raul Capablanca. But with Christiansen’s book, I greatly improved my attacking skills and took more chances. Now, I combine memory, logic, and reason with a dash of intuition and inspiration. I’ve become a more confident and well-rounded player.

"Chess is life," Bobby Fischer once said.

The lessons I learned from chess and in this book helped made me the person I am today. I realized that using clear and simple English is a must regardless of one’s profession. The value of discipline and patience was instilled in me and I used it in my studies and activities throughout high school, college, and eventually in my work. Since then, I have learned to prepare myself well before engaging in any activity because if I’m prepared, I have won half the battle. In making decisions, I take calculated risks, trusting my intuition, gut feeling, and hunches. I know it seems inexplicable but, trust me, it works.

Whenever my friends ask me, "What book on chess can I read to help me improve?"

I thank Larry Christiansen for giving me the answer.