New Chess Book Featuring Games Played on Chess.com

As you can probably guess from the title, Chess Beatdowns isn’t your typical games collection book, many of which resemble nothing more than a vast data dump of line after line of moves. Instead, this book treats the chess world to something that it rarely experiences: a great chess read. Unlike typical chess literature, it’s fun, lively and entertaining. Indeed, Chess Beatdowns pulls no punches in describing the checkmates, multi-move rampages, meltdowns, knockout blows and dumpster fires that occur throughout. Perhaps the best way to sum up the book is that it’s like a cross between Cobra Kai and Chernev’s Logical Chess. Augmenting the overall reading experience is the fact that the chessboard diagrams are amongst the most visually sharp you’ll ever see in a chess book, as the images have been taken directly from the Chess.com website.

The book is a curated collection of 50 games (in chronological order, over an 8-year timespan) that were played by Honeybadger22 versus competitors from 34 different countries on Chess.com. Unlike other games collection chess books that provide a narrative review of every single move played, only those most relevant moves that decided the games’ outcomes are discussed. Although this book is not an authoritative ‘how to’ manual on chess, that’s not to say valuable tactical and strategical lessons can’t be learned.

Seizing upon the opponent’s error in judgement and making them pay the price is one of the more enjoyable aspects of chess, and conveying that thrill to the reader is exactly what this book delivers. Each game is named, and with titles like Absolutely Brutal, Killing Spree, and Death Row, you get the picture.

Purists might take issue with the way in which the opponents are called out for poor moves. Too bad for them, because that’s exactly what makes Chess Beatdowns such a trailblazer of a chess book. Tennis players at Wimbledon were at one time required to wear all-white attire; times change.

The games might not be master-strength, but the writing style certainly is. In fact, this book has garnered seven Grandmaster recommendations that adorn the back cover. One of those grandmasters, Ilya Smirin, is the author of the highly-acclaimed Kings Indian Warfare, and has played former World Champions Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand. Another, Yaroslav Zherebukh, is currently the 15^th ranked player in America.

If you’re looking for a fun chess read while picking up some strategical and tactical insights, Chess Beatdowns is the answer. To find out more about Chess Beatdowns and to order your copy, click here.