Overview

Larry Kaufman can safely be called an exceptional chess grandmaster. Larry Kaufman started out as a prodigy, however not in chess but as a whizz kid in science and math. He excels at shogi (Japanese chess) and Go, and is also a world-famous computer programmer and a highly successful option trader. Remarkably, as a chess player he only peaked at the weirdly late age of fifty. Yet his victories in the chess arena are considerable. Over a career span of nearly sixty years Kaufman won the state championships of Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, Virginia, D.C. and Pennsylvania. He was an American Open Champion and won the U.S. Senior Championship as well as the World Senior Championship. Never a great chess player himself (his words), he met or played chess greats such as Bobby Fischer, Bent Larsen, Walter Browne, Boris Spassky, Viktor Kortchnoi and many others. He worked as a second to legendary grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili, and coached three talented youngsters to become International Master, one of them his son Raymond. This engrossing memoir is rife with stories and anecdotes about dozens of famous and not-so-famous chess players. In one of the most remarkable chapters Larry Kaufman reveals that the American woman chess player that inspired Walter Tevis to create the Beth Harmon character of Netflixs The Queens Gambit fame, is his former girlfriend. You will learn about neural networks, material values and how being a chess master helps when trading options. And find lots of memorable but little-known annotated games.

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9789056919337

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Reviews

A fascinating story that links his chess games, personal experiences (including his role as a real figure portrayed in the movie The Queen's Gambit) and the development of chess engines in one single thread. Importantly, the author explains an often unappreciated contribution of chess engines to human chess praxis, the use of dynamic ways to play the game away from crude materialistic considerations. Chess Boards Options is a well written book by a qualified and knowledgable author that reaches an audience beyond the spheres of chess.--Miguel Ararat ""Florida Chess Quarterly"" I found this book a riveting read, especially parts 4 and 5, but then it covers a number of topics which are of particular interest to me. If the topics appeal to you too, or if you have a general love of chess culture, I'd give it a very strong recommendation. Fascinating, well written and, as usual with New in Chess, well produced.--Richard James ""British Chess News"" I really enjoyed reading Kaufman's latest book. Stories are the fabric of our lives and Kaufman's rich experience provides him with a lot of material. He writes like a man who has nothing left to prove, unpretentious. He is just sharing his wisdom and most memorable moments of his life. In the book, you can also read how the absence of one or both queens influences the value of the pieces. In Chapter 29, 'What is a won game?' Kaufman writes about the value of time and space in chess. As an example, in a match between top-level chess engines, Black is lost after 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 Nb8. It highlights the importance (especially for black!) to develop your pieces efficiently in the opening. I found this to be a very pleasant book to read. It is as if Kaufman is just telling you about what he experienced and learned in life. The style is light and non-technical. This makes it suitable for a wide audience.--Han Schut, National Master ""Chess.com"" State Champion at various times of Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, Larry Kaufman is these days largely known for his work on the Komodo engine. Less well known to European readers may be his background not just in computer science and programming, but finance and maths. He is also a formidable Go and shoji player and has now put pen to paper about his fascinating life. Kaufman reveals all about his relationship with Diana Lanni, said to be Walter Tevis's inspiration for Beth Harman, his games and meetings with a number of chess greats, including Fischer and Larsen, and what it was like to work for Roman Dzindzichashvili.-- ""CHESS Magazine"" The book is organized broadly in chronological order. The first thirteen chapters describe encounters with great players such as Gligoric and Kortchnoi (Kaufman gave Viktor a quick lesson to teach him the moves of shoji!). After a couple of chapters on his business career and adventures in shoji and other games, there are five chapters of his own memorable games and those of his best students (including his son Raymond!), and the last eleven chapters have an engine chess theme, including related topics such as making Armageddon fair and reforming chess to make it less drawish. I found the book very interesting to read.--Matthew Sadler ""New in Chess Magazine"" The American grandmaster is considered to be chess royalty. He has met and played against numerous elite players and knows the USA chess scene inside and out. The tabloid newspapers all picked up one chapter where Kaufman puts forward a convincing argument that the novelist Walter Nevis could have inspired to write about the character Beth Harmon due to his ex-girlfriend Diana Lanni. You get the chance to find out what he is thinking across a broad range of chess topics from coaching to opening analysis. Even his casual line The King's Indian was a major top level defense, now it's rarely seen. I think this is primarily a result of the engines loving space is a perceptive insight. He certainly has a point and his chapter on material values is another chance to stop and think about a topic that needs more discussion. There are plenty of black and white photos to help bring the topics to life. A chess treat for connoisseurs of the game.--Gary Lane, International Master ""ECF Newsletter""

A fascinating story that links his chess games, personal experiences (including his role as a real figure portrayed in the movie The Queen's Gambit) and the development of chess engines in one single thread. Importantly, the author explains an often unappreciated contribution of chess engines to human chess praxis, the use of dynamic ways to play the game away from crude materialistic considerations. Chess Boards Options is a well written book by a qualified and knowledgable author that reaches an audience beyond the spheres of chess.--Miguel Ararat Florida Chess Quarterly I found this book a riveting read, especially parts 4 and 5, but then it covers a number of topics which are of particular interest to me. If the topics appeal to you too, or if you have a general love of chess culture, I'd give it a very strong recommendation. Fascinating, well written and, as usual with New in Chess, well produced.--Richard James British Chess News I really enjoyed reading Kaufman's latest book. Stories are the fabric of our lives and Kaufman's rich experience provides him with a lot of material. He writes like a man who has nothing left to prove, unpretentious. He is just sharing his wisdom and most memorable moments of his life. In the book, you can also read how the absence of one or both queens influences the value of the pieces. In Chapter 29, 'What is a won game?' Kaufman writes about the value of time and space in chess. As an example, in a match between top-level chess engines, Black is lost after 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 Nb8. It highlights the importance (especially for black!) to develop your pieces efficiently in the opening. I found this to be a very pleasant book to read. It is as if Kaufman is just telling you about what he experienced and learned in life. The style is light and non-technical. This makes it suitable for a wide audience.--Han Schut, National Master Chess.com State Champion at various times of Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, Larry Kaufman is these days largely known for his work on the Komodo engine. Less well known to European readers may be his background not just in computer science and programming, but finance and maths. He is also a formidable Go and shoji player and has now put pen to paper about his fascinating life. Kaufman reveals all about his relationship with Diana Lanni, said to be Walter Tevis's inspiration for Beth Harman, his games and meetings with a number of chess greats, including Fischer and Larsen, and what it was like to work for Roman Dzindzichashvili.-- CHESS Magazine The book is organized broadly in chronological order. The first thirteen chapters describe encounters with great players such as Gligoric and Kortchnoi (Kaufman gave Viktor a quick lesson to teach him the moves of shoji!). After a couple of chapters on his business career and adventures in shoji and other games, there are five chapters of his own memorable games and those of his best students (including his son Raymond!), and the last eleven chapters have an engine chess theme, including related topics such as making Armageddon fair and reforming chess to make it less drawish. I found the book very interesting to read.--Matthew Sadler New in Chess Magazine The American grandmaster is considered to be chess royalty. He has met and played against numerous elite players and knows the USA chess scene inside and out. The tabloid newspapers all picked up one chapter where Kaufman puts forward a convincing argument that the novelist Walter Nevis could have inspired to write about the character Beth Harmon due to his ex-girlfriend Diana Lanni. You get the chance to find out what he is thinking across a broad range of chess topics from coaching to opening analysis. Even his casual line The King's Indian was a major top level defense, now it's rarely seen. I think this is primarily a result of the engines loving space is a perceptive insight. He certainly has a point and his chapter on material values is another chance to stop and think about a topic that needs more discussion. There are plenty of black and white photos to help bring the topics to life. A chess treat for connoisseurs of the game.--Gary Lane, International Master ECF Newsletter

Author Information

Larry Kaufman is an American Grandmaster. He has been involved in computer chess since 1967, when he worked on MacHack, the first computer that competed in tournaments with human players. More recently he has been working on the programs Rybka and Komodo.

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