Customer Reviews

Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete Games of the American World Chess Champion

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book reads like an Informant issue. I feel I've been misled in what I've read about the book. In a number of different reviews, I heard Muller has pored over nearly 1000 games in extreme depth, and annotated all of them.

There are 735 games, which is significantly less than 1000, as the product information claims. A large number of games have maybe 3 total annotations, and not particularly insightful ones (most of which Fritz could reproduce). A large number of the annotations come without words, only using the standard chess symbols (?, !, !?, ?!, +=, +-, etc.). In this sense, the book reminds me of a large Informant issue, a magazine which I find to be unreadable.

The book's pages are divided into four columns, with a list of game after game, and the meager annotations. Muller gives more coverage to games I'm sure he felt were important, such as the matches with Spassky. Considering Muller's normal style of giving variations for every move ad nauseam in his endgame works, I feel let down.

Overall: 2 of 5. You would probably do better getting Kasparov's volume on Fischer, My 60 Memorable Games, and Gligoric's book on the 1972 match. A disappointing read from a normally wonderful author.

No, I'm not Anthony Saidy, but I am a club player from the Los Angeles area. I grew up inspired by Bobby Fischer. I purchased this text and it has lived up to all it's hype. Well written, several key position diagrams; annotations are concise and thorough. Also, I assume the author checked his lines with the lastest software such as Rybka or Fritz, etc as I've found no errors yet. Other major publications, such "My Great Predecessors" from Kasparov have errors in analysis(so I assume he didn't run all analysis from computers).

I ran into IM Anthony Saidy at the American Open in Los Angeles Nov 2009, and asked him about the book. He was very favorable about the text and said "they annotate every one of his games!" IM Saidy was Fischer's peer and has played him about 6 times and he also has played several world champions. He is a gentleman and scholar, so if he looks upon the book favorably, it must be a gem!

To Great Chess!

This book is a monumental compilation of every match and tournament game that Fischer played. The binding and size make this easy to use and lays open while reading or studying. There are also a number of pictures, many of which I have never seen. And the author provides the crosstables for every match and tournament. I've purchased other books from Russell and they really do a great job.

On the downside, the annotations are minimal and the organization is so jam-packed that it's jumbled. And the pictures are grainy.

All in all, this is a must read for any chess player who values the brilliance of Bobby Fischer. And given the limitations of a book that contains nearly a thousand games, it's quite a wonderful accomplishment.

This is one of the greatest game collections I have ever seen. 736 games annotated by German grandmaster Karsten Muller, dozens of photos (many of which I had never seen before) crosstables, and the list goes on and on.

American grandmaster Larry Evans, who had been one of Fischer's closest friends for most of his career, sets the stage with a nice overview of Fischer in his foreword. Then American grandmaster Andy Soltis takes a look at Fischer's opening repertoire.

The games are presented in figurine algebraic notation. The annotations combine a lot of narrative text with Informant-style symbols. Each tournament or match that Fischer played is introduced by a couple of paragraphs which put that particular event into historical perspective. Why it was important, the significance of Fischer's performance, etc. This is very helpful to the reader and underscores both the dramatic development of Fischer's game as he went from a "B player" to master, to grandmaster and finally world champion. It also "reminds" the reader that these games were not taking place in a vacuum - things were going on in chess and in the world that affected Fischer.

I am aware that one reviewer didn't like the paragraph format of the games. This of course is a matter, to some extent, of taste. But laying them out in column form would have resulted in a book probably 200-300 pages longer, with the same content.

Another reviewer does not like four columns per page. Of course, no one would like that. But there are NOT four columns per page. This is a large format book, 7x10, with TWO columns per page.

A book like this about Bobby Fischer had been long overdue. If you have anything more than a passing interest in chess, this book is a must-buy.

The masterful introduction by Larry Evans provides the Jewel in this Crown of a book. Very well done throughout, with many delightful extras along with brilliant analysis for each game. As a young man back in the early 70s this book brings home many details for me, with the benefits of today's perspective. Unplug your computer, and enjoy some chess!

The definitive volume on one of the (if not the) greatest chess players of all time. There are very few chess books of this caliber. In my career as a chess teacher, player and coach, it ranks up there with Bronstein's Zurich, Varnusz's volume 2 on Emanual Lasker, Tal's Tal-Botvinnik 1960, Nezhmetdinov's Best Games of Chess, and of course the immortal Manual of Chess by Lasker. It should be noted that publisher Russell Enterprises is responsible for 2 out of the 5 listed above, and is now bringing the chess world yet another gem. Karsten Muller's analysis is accurate and insightful, a magnum opus tribute to a chess legend. A Must Have! Bravo!

The best thing about this book is its comprehensiveness. It's got everything. Basically an encyclopedia of Bobby Fisher's games. So if you want the perfect reference book, this is it. But it didn't have the kind of commentary and explanations that I was hoping for.

I am about a year & 4 months younger than Bobby Fischer & remember what it was like to follow the 1972 championship w/Spassky. I've read several books about Bobby & find them enlightening & informative. This book allowed me to replay his moves & see his growth. Very enjoyable to me.

To have all the games in each of his tournament and matches is a gem. A true resource to anyone interested in Fischer or American chess from 1955-1970 in general.

A complete book showing almost all the games played by the legendary and unforgettable world chess champion.