Book Review: Fighting Chess With Hikaru Nakamura
Fighting Chess With Hikaru Nakamura is the second book in the "Fighting Chess" series, the first being Fighting Chess With Magnus Carlsen. The book includes interviews with Hikaru Nakamura as well as Second Kris Littlejohn and is equipped with Nakamura's full repertoire with the King's Indian Defense. The book is wrapped around the 2011 Wik An Zee Super Tournament which Nakamura won, and after each game comes tons of reading material, games, and lessons related to that one game. It is a very instructive book but the KID repertoire part may not be as useful. The book is 10 chapters and costs $29.95 USD.
This book is the first book solely about Nakamura, and follows his journey from accompanying his stepfather and brother to chess tournaments to his fantastic result at the 2011 Wik An Zee. The book has 47 carefully chosen games with many little lessons and interviews along the way. The book also dedicates a whole chapter to Nakamura's best games which are actually spectacular games.
Both the interviews give you a big perspective on Nakamura's tournament experiences as a chess player. The interview with Kris Littlejohn reveals how the untitled player can possibly support and second a player with Nakamura's caliber. It also shows how useful Littlejohn has been- in many instances the only games Nakamura lost in a tournament were where he refused to play Littlejohn's opening choices. The interview with Nakamura focuses on how he still managed to climb to the top with his older brother always a step ahead of him and the little support he received from the community. (Compared to how Russian players receive government support.) He also says something quite peculiar to say in a book- he says that books have ceased to have practical value!
Another book Nakamura lovers might want to read is Nakamura's book: "Bullet Chess: One Minute To Mate" which focuses on, as you can guess, Nakamura's great skill at bullet chess! This book "Fighting Chess With Hikaru Nakamura" is a great book much like it's predecessor, and I definitely recommend this book. Thanks for reading this book review!
