Encyclopedia of Chess Miniatures

Šahovski Informator is the long-time publisher of Chess Informant, Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, Encyclopedia of Chess Endings, and many other references loved by chess players worldwide for over half a century.

Encyclopedia of Chess Miniatures (ECM) is one of those “other” reference titles.

I’ll be upfront: at 50 USD one can say ECM is not essential, because it isn’t.

But many of my readers should buy it anyway!

• It’s a sturdily-bound, hardcover book.
• At 560 pages, it contains 1636 complete games and fragments.
• The entries are sorted by ECO code.
• The annotations are to the point, and contain all the important information in typical Informant-style symbology.
• An index of players is included in the back.

Warning: this collection is not for beginners! I would say 1700, minimum.

The target audience is advanced players and coaches. There is a lot of gold to be mined here! In particular, the sorting by ECO code is very helpful for experienced students of the game.

Read ECM for opening prep, read it for lesson prep, and read it for pleasure.

Often, collectors find chess books lying around their home and wonder: “Ugh, why did I spend money on that one?” Or, at least I do!

Years from now, when this attractive hardcover volume catches your eye, it will bring a smile to your face.

I promise: you won’t regret buying Encyclopedia of Chess Miniatures — even if you could comb through the databases and put together a similar collection yourself. How many hours would that take you?

My copy of ECM is still as pristine as the day it arrived at my home years ago. Think of ECM as an investment you will get excellent use from for many, many years. Then 50 bucks is a small price to pay.