In Magnus Wins With Black Grandmaster Zenon Franco deeply analyses 30
of Magnus Carlsen's most instructive games where he wins with the black
pieces. This book is written in "move by move" style, a good training
tool containing exercises and tests. This format is a great platform for
studying chess, improving both skills and knowledge, as the reader is
continually challenged to find the best moves and the author provides
answers to probing questions throughout. It is the second of two volumes
written by Franco for Elk and Ruby Publishing House on the games of
Magnus Carlsen. His first volume Magnus Wins With White has proved to
be an international best seller.
The main difference between these games and those in the previous book
is that fewer of them are attacking games than when Carlsen plays White.
This should not come as a surprise, because White has more chances to
dictate the game scenario. Nevertheless, there are still some examples
in this volume where Carlsen wins by attack. Another important
difference is that there are more endings in this volume, which is also
understandable.
What remains unchanged is that the fights are always intense. Carlsen
never stops trying to win the game, no matter if, objectively, his
chances are small. There are several examples where, at some point, his
opponents collapse, unable to withstand the tension that Carlsen
maintains in the game.
Most of the games are taken from Magnus's recent career, including one
from 2020 and six from 2019. His opponents are nearly all
super-grandmasters, and they include former world champions Viswanathan
Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, as well as Fabiano Caruana, Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave, Alexei Shirov, Levon Aronian, Ding Liren, Ian
Nepomniachtchi, and Anish Giri.
