The Kopec / Ftacnik book is subtitled 'Lessons from the Albert Brilliancy Prizes'; the prizes were awarded for games played in each of the U.S. Championships from 1984 to 2003. King's book is a collection of games by the world's greatest players of today. You take the side of the winner and predict all the moves.

See the link box in the upper right corner of this article for links to our reviews of these books. Following are sample positions from each book.

Winning the Won Game

Game 50, Benjamin - Seirawan, was judged by both authors as most brilliant in the collection. (At least we think it's the most brilliant; the explanation of the corresponding table is confusing.) Whether it's the most brilliant or not, it's a pretty combination followed by an instructive endgame.

Joel Benjamin - Yasser Seirawan
Round 10, USA Championship, Seattle, 2000

After 13...a7-a6?

14.Nxe6! 'A forceful stroke, exploiting Black's lag in development'. • 14...fxe6 • 'Black must accept the offering', with a detailed explanation why it must be accepted. The game continued 15.Qxe6+ Rd7 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Rd4!, eventually settling into a technically won Queen and Pawn endgame.

Test Your Chess

The following position is from game 11. 'This moment in a game, when the king is safely castled, and the minor pieces have been developed, is often one of the most difficult.'

Alexander Grischuk - Mikhail Gurevich
French Team Championship, 2003

After 14...Ne7-c6

Here the author gives full credit for Grischuk's move

• 15.Ne1 (5 points, 'begins a pleasing regrouping')

• 15.h4 (4 pts, 'interesting to see how one's opponent reacts')
• 15.Qd3 (4 pts, 'a sensible move; the queen covers key squares')
• 15.Nd2 (3 pts, 'similar to the game, but the knight isn't as well placed')
• 15.Ng5 (2 pts, 'aggressive, but with careful handling shouldn't be dangerous')

We fed the diagrammed position into our computer. After a few minutes reflection, the software came up with many candidate moves and gave equal weight to 15.Qd3, 15.Rc1, and 15.Ra2 as best moves. 15.Ne1 was ranked 5th/6th. Who's right, Daniel King or our computer? Five points if you chose King. No points for any other answer.

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If you are looking for a collection of modern games by strong players, you won't go wrong here. Enjoy the books!