Oops! I Resigned Again

 GM Ian Rogers new book "Oops! I Resigned Again!" is out, just in time for Xmas. Looking at games where players didn't need to resign, but did, the book mixes a puzzle format with entertaining stories behind each position. 

Each chapter (of 5 positions each) is based around a theme, including "Oops! I thought pawn endings were easy!" or "Oops! You played like a World Champion!". In position shows an incorrect resignation, either in the diagram, or after a few moves, and then the reader is asked to identify the correct continuation. While I found the first few answer quite quickly, I did notice they got harder the further I went through the book.

What makes this book truly good value is the stories behind each game. Rogers usually gives a short description of the hapless 'victim' before describing the circumstances behind the game. Some games involve the battle for first place in an event (truly heartbreaking!) or the decisive game in a team tournament (hurting or delighting more than one player!). For Australian readers, Ian has drawn on a number of local games, both very well known (eg Stzern - Lundquist), and very obscure (the Melbourne interschool competition gets a run). There are also plenty of examples from the very top of the tree (Carlsen and Capablanca feature twice), including a number of games that Ian either witnessed or played!

The book is available from Australian Chess Enterprises for $29.95 (for Australian buyers), and is available online (for overseas purchasers) 

(*I was sent a review copy of this book *)