Pandemic Shark – A Journey Through the World of Chess Improvement

GM Danny Gormally is the author of 6 chess books. I have found all of them to be entertaining and often instructive. Probably the most infamous is 2016’s Insanity, Passion and Addiction – A Year Inside the Chess World. As the title suggests, it’s a frank and candid look at the life of a lower-level chess professional In this book, Mr. Gormally talks a lot about the effect of covid on the chess world as he knows it. The title phrase Pandemic Shark refers to junior players who used their time away from OTB play to drastically improve their play while maintaining drastically low ratings as their playing strength increased by leaps and bounds. The book presents 57 games and 9 test positions. The games are a mix of casual and serious with the author’s own play featuring in about a third. I found his teaching contests with students and friends to be the most instructive. He presents nuggets of knowledge that highlight the differences between a GM’s way of seeing the board as compared to that of weaker players. There are also serious contests between top players. These are chosen to illustrate is chosen themes. There’s also a chapter on the scaled back 2021 British Championship; his prep and approach. There is an attempt to show all the book’s games as belonging to unified themes. This is only partially successful and the book comes across as somewhat disjointed. Nevertheless, there is undeniable instruction and entertainment value to be had. The author is most effective when presenting opinions and candour over strict analysis. His position of being far above amateur players while simultaneously way below the chess elite qualifies him to comment on the strengths, weaknesses and challenges of playing at his level. This isn’t the first book to reach for to improve your play. Nevertheless, it has a great deal of instructional value. It also offers honest entertainment in a well-written manner. There are few GMs who write this honestly and well.