Courtesy A. Moiseyev

Alex Moiseyev's long-awaited 2nd book, All My Games, is finally available. Many years in the making (his first book was Sixth published in 2006), this new book is packed with an incredible amount of exciting material.

Mr. Moiseyev, as we all know, is a titled Grandmaster who held the title of 3-Move World Champion for many years, and is the currently reigning and nine time 11 Man Ballot World Champion. He embodies the fighting spirit of a true champion, always ready to take on any and all challengers. Yet he is also always ready to lend a helping hand to others and to vigorously promote the game of checkers. And so, it is a thrill and a privilege to review Mr. Moiseyev's latest book.

First, who is the book for? In terms of technical difficulty, it's quite variable, as Alex has indeed very admirably published all his games including those with blunders and those played at less than grandmaster level. Of course there are also all the many games with brilliancies and top level play. So there is something for everyone, from neophyte checkerist to strong grandmaster. And surely everyone will enjoy Mr. Moiseyev's unique and entertaining commentary.

The book contains fascinating biographical and anecdotal material, but its heart consists of games, problems, and annotations.

The first section features selected games and matches, such as Mr. Moiseyev's games with Louis Cowrie, a Covid-era "Zoom" tournament, and several others. These are all well annotated. At the end of the section, Mr. Moiseyev has diagrammed critical positions from many of the games and presented them in somewhat of a checker problem format, with lightly annotated solutions.

The next section comprises, indeed, "all my games" or actually, around half of them, from 1997 through 2013 (the rest of the games are promised for a future sequel). This amounts to a lot of games. They are all unannotated but you can certainly explore them on your own or with a strong computer engine.

However once more at the end of this section Mr. Moiseyev has diagrammed critical positions from many of the games, over 1,300 of them, providing an enormous wealth of additional study material for the aspiring player and challenges for the keen problemist. Solutions again are lightly annotated.

In each section, games are helpfully indexed by year, by player, and by opening. Mr. Moiseyev also provides year by year review and commentary which makes for fascinating reading and documents the progress of his career.

The book concludes with a section in full color, presenting 13 of Mr. Moiseyev's original problem compositions, with detailed solutions.

As we said, there is a lot here and this is a book that anyone with a genuine interest in checkers will wish to have.

The book is about 580 pages in length and is offered in a print on demand case laminate hardcover edition. It is nicely typeset and attractive in appearance. Your editor is pleased to have been able to assist Mr. Moiseyev in helping him through the Ingram-Spark print on demand publication process.

If there is any drawback, it is that the book, being a hardcover with full-color pages, is not inexpensive. But for a book that provides so much information, instruction, and entertainment, one can consider it an investment rather than an expense.

The book is available for order on-line from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and other sources. It is easily located and is highly recommended. Do be patient when you order, as print on demand delivery times can be a bit extended. But it will be well worth the wait.

GM Alex Moiseyev

With Mr. Moiseyev's kind permission we're pleased to present one of his original compositions, The Sandwich.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W6,9,10,K14,18,23,24,27,29,K30:B1,5,8,K11,16,20,21,26,K28

Take your time to savor this one; it's quite tasty. When you're ready, slice your mouse on Read More to see the solution and full set of notes.

Solution

Reprinted with permission from All My Games.

14-17* 5x14 18x9 28x19 10-7*---A 11x2 (or 1x10 first) 17-13* 1x10 9-6 2x9 13x24---B 16-19*---C 23x16---D 8-12 30x23---E 12x26---F 24-28 26-31---G 27-24 20x27 28-32 White Wins.

A---Starting the second part of the introductory combination.

B---Shifting into the ending part of the problem.

C---An excellent defensive resource which now converts the position into a sandwich!

D---24x15? 26-31 Draw.

E---Both sides of the sandwich are cooked; see diagram below. Bon appetit!

BLACK

WHITE
Black to Play, White Wins

B:W16,K23,K24,27,29:B12,20,21

F---12x28 27-24 20x27 23x32 White Wins.

G---26-30 28-32 30-26 27-24 20x27 32x30 White Wins.