Kasparov Versus Anand: The Inside Story of the 1995 Chess Championship Match [Paperback]

Patrick Wolff (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: H3 Inc (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888281030
• ISBN-13: 978-1888281033
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,198,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent coverage of the match from an inside source., November 27, 2002

By 

Bryan Castro (Williamsville, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kasparov Versus Anand: The Inside Story of the 1995 Chess Championship Match (Paperback)

Patrick Wolff has provided a personal an comprehensive view of the World Championship match between Kasparov and Vishy Anand. His position as one of Vishy Anand's seconds allows him to provide inside information on the interesting event of a championship chess match.

Wolff provides a background of the match, including how it was planned, including political and financial issues which arose before the match. He gives a biography of each player including an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses (as many as a World Champion and challenger would have) as players, illustrating these with an annotated game by each.

One of the most interesting parts for me was his description of Anand's preparation for the match. From the selection of his team of master players to help him to the sessions of training, study, and analysis the team did, it was a very in depth look at how world-class players prepare for such an event. Wolff talked not only about the science of chess, but the psychology behind playing in a chess match against the champ and how this affected selection of openings and variations.

Then we move onto the match itself. After a brief but good introduction to the game--which included how Anand was feeling or what the general match strategy was, Wolff presents some of the most detailed analysis I have seen. Sometimes, the variations and analysis for a single move will cover a page or more. In a couple games, Wolff does not give much analysis, noting that some of the analysis is not "public domain" yet as they have not been played in a game and it was privileged information from Anand's preparation for the match. Nonetheless, the amount and depth of analysis is incredible. That being said, some of this is not for the beginning player. As an intermediate player, I still find much of it over my head. However, Wolff provides enough "text" (actually, he provides plenty) to keep me informed at the level I can understand until my own knowledge of the game increases and I can fully appreciate his detailed analysis.

Some people may be put off by this much analysis, but it helped me to appreciate the depth of understanding these two players possess. And for strong players (stronger than myself), I can imagine that this depth would be inspiring in their own efforts to understand chess.

For experienced and advanced players, enjoy and learn from the analysis! I would not recommend this as an instructional book for beginners, but it was not meant to be such. Instead, this is a very detailed and comprehensive look at this World Championship match.