Customer Reviews

Bobby Fischer's games of chess

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This book contains 34 games, 15 won by Fischer, 17 draws, and two losses. All of the games are presented in English Descriptive Notation. The first 13 games are Fischer's games from the 1957-58 US Championship. Fischer won this tournament with eight wins, five draws, and no losses, and thus became chess champion of the United States when he was only 14 years old. All of these games are presented with notes by Fischer.

The 14th game in the book is the Gruenfeld Defense that Fischer won as Black against Donald Byrne in the Rosenwald Tournament of 1956. This is the best game ever won by a 13-year-old chessplayer. It is presented here with notes by Fischer and John Collins.

The last 20 games in the book are Fischer's 20 games from the Portoroz Interzonal of 1958. Fischer scored six wins, 12 draws, and two losses in this tournament, and thus gained the title of International Grandmaster when he was only 15 years old. These 20 games are presented without notes.

Fischer acknowledged having help from John Collins in writing this book. (The only book ever written entirely by Bobby Fischer is _I Was Tortured In The Pasadena Jailhouse_)

Sam Sloan may be the sleaziest chess writer of all time. He would probably take that as a compliment, since he has boasted in print about having sex with child prostitutes in Thailand.

Nevertheless, nobody else has gone to the trouble of reprinting this little book. Fischer's analysis is hardly in-depth, but it does give some insight into the development of a young chess genius.

The book is pretty outrageously priced, considering the minimal content. Nothing in it is likely to make you a better player. Maybe if it goes out of print, it'll become a collectors' item.

For a few dollars more you can get Karsten Mueller's book that has all of Fischer's games. That way you'll be supporting a real chess player, not just some pervert.

I looked for several years on ebay to get a copy. This was impossible mainly because of high prices. Now I am happy to get this reprint.
But the book is only valuable for collectors, because the 15 year old Bobby was not able to write an outstanding book so far.