Product Description
Chapters: Japanese Chess Players, Hikaru Nakamura, Shinsaku Uesugi, Joël Lautier, Yoshiharu Habu, Miyoko Watai. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 30. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Hikaru Nakamura, ( Nakamura Hikaru, born December 9, 1987 in Hirakata) is an American chess Grandmaster (GM), highest-ranked American in the world, and two-time United States Chess Champion. Nakamura was born in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, to a Japanese father and an American mother. At the age of two, he moved with his parents to the United States. He began playing chess prior to the age of five and was coached by his Sri Lankan stepfather, FIDE Master and chess author Sunil Weeramantry. At age 10 years and 79 days, Nakamura achieved the title of chess master from the United States Chess Federation (USCF), becoming the youngest American ever to earn the title and breaking the record previously set by Vinay Bhat; Nakamura's record stood until 2008 when Nicholas Nip achieved master at the age of 9 years and 11 months. In 1999, Nakamura won the Laura Aspis Prize, given annually to the top USCF rated player under the age of 13. In 2003, at age 15 years and 79 days, Nakamura solidified his reputation as a chess prodigy, becoming the youngest American to earn the grandmaster title, breaking by three months the record of Bobby Fischer. This record has since been broken by Fabiano Caruana and Ray Robson. Nakamura is generally regarded as an aggressive player who is reluctant to draw games early, having once said in an interview that "there is no point of taking draws". He prefers instead to exploit all prospective winning chances, giving him a style of play described by the U.S. Chess Federation as marked by "astonishing creativity...relentless determination... of unexpected moves and a will to win". Fo...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=588176 ... Read more

Product Description
Chess in the Fast Lane! Can anyone play a decent game of chess in one minute? Surprisingly, the answer is Yes as this unique book reveals. Bullet chess, where each player has one minute for the entire game, has attracted thousands of followers since it was popularized on the internet a decade ago. In this book the authors discuss the relationship between the position on the board and time on the clock, the techniques and dangers of pre-moving, bullet openings, the importance of the initiative and consistent strategy, and how endings are different in bullet chess. The authors also explore the psychology of bullet chess and the most common causes of tactical oversights and blunders. The many examples illustrate the principles of bullet chess and how they may even apply to blitz chess and time scrambles in standard chess. Most of all, bullet chess is shown to be entertaining and addictive, and not at all as random as it first appears. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Very Entertaining (and Helpful!)
The authors, U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura and Canadian Master Bruce Harper, have written a very entertaining book. It is both a serious treatise on one of the most exciting and popular forms of chess played today, while at the same time laced with humor.

Even if you don't play Bullet/Speed chess on the net, you will enjoy this book.

Parker

Bullet:one minute to chekmate
Nakamura wrote the book as if he were talking to you. It is very Nakamura and if you love him as much as I do, you'll love the book because it is pure Hikaru.

disappointing
I bought this book thinking it would be Nakamura's thoughts on how to play bullet chess. I did not pay attention to the note that it has two authors GM Nakamura and FM Bruce Harper. Mr . Harper , in the introduction says "he was a late-comer to bullet" and "a novice bullet player ".So what did the "novice" write and what did "Nakamura" write? Unlike most co-authored books they don't tell you who wrote what but it is easy to guess who is the main author.

OK Maybe it features Nakamura's games . Well, in the introduction it says "Former Canadian Junior Champion Tyler Johnson contributed many of the games" but they have protected the anonymity of the players and only give the players ratings on ICC. I was surprised at this as many players on ICC have public handles and don't seek anonymity so the only way to find Nakamura's games is to find "where one player's rating is over 2800,it is one of the authors." So how many of the games have a player rated over 2800? I counted 16 games or game fragments where one players rating was over 2800 out of 147 games or game fragments ,roughly 11%.
There were 35 games where BOTH players are rated under 2000 on icc.37 games where only one of the players is rated under 2000! roughly 50% of the games or game fragments concern games where one or more of the player's are under 2000. If Nakamura wrote most of the book does this make any sense? Has he not got games of his own that he could show?
In the chapter on Bullet openings there was 26 games (big emphasis on 1.h4 or 1...h4) . There was only one game where a player's rating is over 2800. There were 10 games where both players ratings were 2000 or lower! One game out of 26 that's probably Nakamuras?

Having said all that it is a sensible enough book on bullet . Its main advice is to win on time, Use pre-move it explains how , play unexpected moves, play on in drawn positions and other very reasonable advice. ... Read more