After a one month hiatus, Chess Books Recaptured returns to discuss another classic chess book- GM Alexei Shirov’s Fire on Board. This 1997 game collection book shows the games of one of the world’s best attacking players at the peak of his powers. Joining me to discuss the book is Mitchell Fabian. Mitch is a 26 year old dad, actuary and avid chess student who suggested this book because he felt that it helped his chess tremendously. In addition to many wild slugfest games and creative ideas, the book covers an interesting time in chess history, when the World Championship Title was disputed by different organizations. We cover all of this in a fun conversation about a challenging, but informative book. More details and timestamps below:
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0:00- We welcome Mitch Fabian to the show and he discusses why he chose Shirov’s Fire on Board.
Mentioned: IM Kostya Kavutskiiy
6:00- For what rating is Fire on Board best suited?
Mentioned: Seirawan’s Play Winning Chess
12:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you by Chessable.com, the premier chess education website. Check out their latest offerings here: New Chess Courses Online - For All Levels - Chessable.com
13:00- Patreon mailbag question: Any hot takes on the Shirov-Kasparov World Championship match that was supposed to take place in the late 1990's but never did?
Mentioned: Fire on Board 2, Luis Rentero Suarez
24:00- Back to the book! We discuss the book’s structure and share some quotes from a great foreword by GM Jon Speelman
Mentioned: Topalov-Shirov 2004 with 47… Bh3!!!
36:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess’ algorithm reviews your games and gives you actionable advice of how to improve your game. Check it out for free and if you choose to subscribe you can use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%.
37:00- We share a few of things that struck us about Fire on Board
Mentioned: Attack with Mikhail Tal, Episode 273 with GM Johan Hellsten, GM Vasilios Kotronios, Lifetime Repertoires: Jan Gustaffson 1. E4 e5 , Everyman Chess “E Book” of Fire on Board
48:00- Should we be concerned about some errors in the book that modern engines identify?
Mentioned: GM Samuel Sevian, Shirov-Kramnik 1994
51:00- Mitch and I share a few other things we like about Fire on the Board.
Mentioned: Book Recap #1- The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, Chess Structures by GM Mauricio Flores Rios
1:04:00- We wrap the book discussion before segueing to some adult improvement discussion with Mitch. In Mitch’s honor I will be making a modest donation to The US Chess School.
1:05:00- Mitch is quite an accomplished adult improver so before we wrap up he shares some improvement recs.
Mentioned: Chess Dojo Discord, GM Eugene Perelshteyn
1:16:00- Thanks so much to Mitch for joining us! Here is where you can find him: