Introduction
Joel Sneed mentions in the introduction that he managed to score 4 out of 5 in his first tournament following their work on the first book. I can imagine! Having a top Grandmaster, the only player ever to hold titles of both Soviet and American Chess Champion, explaining 20 of his games seems like the best possible training. Volume two is the continuation of their lessons. Master and student analyze 30 games in for of conversation, during which Gulko corrects Sneed’s misconceptions and errors, just like a chess coach does during a lesson. Hearing a GM explain their reasoning is incredibly useful. Especially a strong one like Gulko. And having a curious and well spoken player, similar to my own strength on the other end made the reading into an almost personal chess lesson. Joel Sneed was asking all the right questions and making mistakes similar to my own.
Only recently has there been a great attempt at improving Gulko and Sneed’s concept, in Think Like a Super GM by Adams and Hurtado, where Hurtado has given the same positions to twenty or so players of varying rating, giving us an insight into how they think and analyze. Both volumes 1 and 2 of Lessons with a Grandmaster are a conversation with immediate feedback, which makes it, in my opinion, more useful for adult learners than Think like a Super GM. A third volume was published in 2015, Lessons with a Grandmaster 3, titled strategic and tactical ideas in modern chess.
Structure of the book
Lessons with a Grandmaster 2 is divided into 30 games, or 30 lessons. Each game was played by Gulko himself. Just like in the first volume, his opponents aren’t unknown players. He showed games against Shirov, Vaganian, Albert, Portisch, and other members of the chess elite at the time. This is not like Morphy crushing NN players. Since this volume focuses on dynamic play and combinations, Gulko has introduced more exercises for Joel and the readers to solve, and each game comes with several key moments where you have to pause and think for yourself. They are each given a difficulty score (1-6). The first volume had exercise difficulty ranging from 1-5. As Gulko explains, the tactical exercises are more complex, so he added another layer of difficulty.
Each game is a lesson. Gulko explains his reasoning and the moves and ideas, Sneed asks questions, proposes alternatives and shares his ideas, often corrected by Gulko. That gives you a sense of being there with them. As if you were part of their lessons. I think no other book has quite managed to create that feeling.
Quality of Annotations
In short, they are wonderful. 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 2, as well as the first volume, among the best annotated chess books ever written, 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.
When it comes to annotations in chess books, a simple rule applies – the more the better! There’s nothing worse than having “raw” variations without any explanations in a book. The reader wants each move and each idea explained. Lessons with a Grandmaster does that perfectly. There are very few places in which the descriptions and explanations were lacking.
Difficulty and Recommended Rating
Everyone should read Lessons with a Grandmaster 2, 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.
As GM Gulko explains, there are two chess skills. Here’s his exact quote from the introduction:
Book two focuses on the latter skill, making it, perhaps, more difficult than the first volume, which was based on positional concepts. But that may be my bias towards slow positions.
When it comes to difficulty of going through the book, I think anyone above 1400 chess com rapid would find it easy to follow along, which is the case for the first and second volume as well. If they follow the games on a real board, that is.
Conclusion
I don’t really differentiate between the first and second volume of the book. I love them both in the same way, and, even though they focus on different topics in theory, one emphasizes positional, and the other dynamic play, they feel the same. Lessons with a Grandmaster 2 is just a continuation of chess lessons between a GM and his student, a concept I find incredibly useful. If you don’t have access to a chess coach, it will enable you to get 30 lessons with Boris Gulko that feel almost personal.
