This book (256 pages) has just appeared. Having been invite to contribute a Foreword, I can hardly write an independent review of it, so perhaps it is best if I just reproduce my foreword.
[foreword starts]
Antichess (Losing Chess, Giveaway Chess), in which capturing is compulsory and you try to give away
all your men, has been a favourite chess relaxation ever since its first recorded appearance in 1876. Most
of us play it solely for fun, a purpose to which it is admirably suited, but it has also inspired theoretical
research both by humans and by computers, and the endgame phase in particular yields positions of
remarkable elegance and beauty.
It has featured from time to time in articles in mainstream chess magazines, but full-length books
have been rare. The first to appear was Giveaway chess: a complete analysis by Michael Muff, undated
but on internal evidence written around 1993-94. I don't know if it was formally published, but copies
were certainly printed for private circulation. Unfortunately he believed that 1 e3 b5 led to a win for
Black, and he mistakenly thought he had proved this. Next was Fabrice Liardet, who posted an excellent
all-round account in French on his web site www.pion.ch. Again, I don't think there has been a formal
printed edition, but at the time of writing it is still there and I hope that some way will be found of
preserving it. And there was a lovely little book Schlagabtausch im Räuberschach by Ralf Binnewirtz,
published in 2000 and containing most of the endgame studies and problems produced up to that time.
But there has been no comprehensive account in English, and Vladica Andrejić, although himself a
Serb, has been to the trouble of writing one. Vladica is a strong player who has come to the fore in
recent years, and he is admirably equipped for the job. His book covers all aspects of the game: history,
middlegame tactics and strategy, the endgame (both positions which occur regularly as the final stages
of play and further positions which explore the elegance and subtlety of the game), and above all the
analysis of openings. I wish it well.
[foreword ends]
The book is published by Šahovski informator in Beograd, ISBN 978-86-7297-096-8. I don't have a UK price and cannot comment on its availability through UK bookshops, but an e-mail address sales@sahovski.com is given and a copy sent to myself appears to have arrived within two days.
JDB, December 2018.