Introduction
The first volume of Lessons with a Grandmaster was either the first or the second chess book I ever read (I keep forgetting whether it may have been Think like a Grandmaster by Kotov – I must have read them at the same time partially). It was 2016, I had just started playing chess and I was blown away.
At that point, and for several years afterwards, I didn’t have a coach. This series, as I would later find out, once I began working with a coach consistently, has managed to come very close to that.
The only difference between this volume and the first two is the structure of the material. It’s divided into themes such as “The Advantage of the Two Bishops”, “Piece Coordination”, and “Struggle in the Center”, as opposed to the previous two which were each focused on one specific area or style of chess; positional and dynamic, but were divided into separate instructive games.
The third volume combines what the first two had covered, so it may be slightly more advanced, as its purpose is to explain middlegames on a higher level, combining static and dynamic features of a position. It also covers chess psychology, which the authors have devoted an entire separate book to a few years after finishing Lessons with a Grandmaster, titled Analyzing the Chess Mind.
I didn’t read the third volume up until recently, so my memory of it is more vivid and less quaint compared to the first two, which I’d read when I was just starting out. I did, however, go through the third volume as an already (somewhat) experienced chess player and chess reader, so it made a totally different impact on me.
I feel like all three books in the series are equally valuable, very similar, and I think it wouldn’t have hurt if they had published several additional volumes. The more the better since each is like having 20 or so free lessons with a coach. And not just any coach, GM Boris Gulko is the only person ever to win both the USSR and the US Chess Championships, he had a positive (!) score against Kasparov, with three wins, four draws and a single loss, and has played and beaten almost every elite chess player from the second half of the 20th century.
Structure of the Book
Lessons with a Grandmaster 3, titled “Strategic and Tactical Ideas in Modern Chess” is divided into 11 chapters, ranging from simple concepts, such as piece coordination, to more complex ones, like Sicilian and Catalan structures. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction to the topic, and is followed by annotated games, or a single game.
The games are the essence of Lessons with a Grandmaster 3, as was the case with the first two volumes, and each is accompanied by a lesson-like conversation between the two authors. Each game comes with several critical positions in the form of exercises for the reader (and Joel Sneed, the student) to solve.
The games shown in the book were played by GM Gulko himself, and most were against elite players at the time, like Shabalov, Kholmov, Geller or Gurevich.
Quality of Annotations
Remarkably instructive and full of instructive advice given by GM Gulko. Just imagine having access to a Grandmaster’s thoughts about his own game, about his reasoning, his fears, his planning, and the way he’d approached each problem position. There’s always a difference in the quality of annotations when strong players annotate their own games and when someone does it for them. No one can go as deep into a position if they haven’t played it themselves.
What makes Lessons with a Grandmaster 3, as well as the first two volumes, among the best annotated chess books in recent history, in my opinion, is that the annotations are almost a chess lesson transcribed into a book. Not only do you get to hear a Grandmaster analyze, but you also have access to Joel Sneed’s thoughts, questions, and, often, flaws in thinking, adding massive value and depth to the book. Joel is about my strength, and it’s very comforting to see someone make the same mistakes you would, and very instructive to hear a Grandmaster correct them. That’s what you get from the annotations, and that’s priceless.
Difficulty
The exercises in the book are graded from 1 to 6, same as in the second volume. I found even the ones marked 6 relatively easy to solve, although I had been setting them over a board and trying to have a serious training session. I wasn’t just reading.
I think everyone should read Lessons with a Grandmaster 3, and everyone, except for top Grandmasters, would surely benefit from it in some way. If I had to recommend a perfect rating range for reading it, I would say 1600-2000 FIDE. Players in that range are strong enough to understand the concepts on a basic level, and yet very weak compared to GM Gulko, explaining them.
Conclusion
I loved the first two books, and volume 3 was no exception. Just more of the same brilliant instructive advice and conversations between a coach and his student. If you’re an improving player, if you’re ambitious, and, especially if you can’t afford or organize structured lessons with a coach consistently, use Lessons with a Grandmaster instead. It comes very close to actually having a lesson with a grandmaster.
