On his entertaining blog, IM Sagar Shah gives an in-depth review of Mating the Castled King by Danny Gormally, and discusses how he used the book to help prepare for the recent Indian National Team championships in Goa.
“So is going through this book going to help you to become a better player? Of course! My personal experience is that your mind will start seeing patterns much faster.
When I went to Goa, I setup my chess board on a table in my room. I kept the book of Mating the castled King next to it. Whenever I had some time, I would open a random page and setup a position from the book and solve it. After solving the position, I would just make a note with a tick mark that I had solved the position. Add a star or two next to the problem if I really liked it. In this way, I was solving almost 5-10 positions everyday. This helped me to stay in excellent tactical shape and I was able to remain unbeaten in the tournament. I continued working with the book even after the tournament and I am happy to say that I have completed the 160 positions.
Final words: A unique book which not only helps you to get acquainted with mating patterns against a castled king but also helps you to improve your art of calculation thanks to the excellent quality of analysis.”
The full review is available here.
Sagar’s enthusiasm and love for the game is inspiring – nice review! Hope to pick up the Gormally book soon.
Ditto Sagar’s enthusiasm – love this guy.
This is a good book, just got it.
@ John Shaw
In your book 1.e4 Caro K and minor lines.
Without giving too much away, against the Petroff, will you be recommending 5.Nc3, 5.d4 or a line to avoid the Petroff?