Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games: Improve Your Chess by Studying the Greatest Games of All time, from Adolf Anderssen's 'Immortal' Game to Kramnik Versus Kasparov 2000 [Paperback]

Graham Burgess (Author), Dr. John Nunn (Author), John Emms (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2004

This new and expanded edition of The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games contains the 112 greatest chess games of all time—selected, analyzed, re-evaluated and explained by a team of experts and illustrated with more than 900 diagrams. Among the highlights are Kasparov vs. Topalov; Kasparov vs. Wijk aan Zee; the super-computer Deep Blue’s historic first win over Kasparov; Boris Spassky’s “James Bond” Mating Combination; and Bobby Fischer’s “Game of the Century.” Study these games and learn about defense and counterattack, logical opening play, endgame strategy, psychological warfare, and how great players think.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Graham Burgess has been a World Chess Federation (FIDE) Master since the age of 20. He lives in Bristol, England.

Dr. John Nunn was among the world’s leading grandmasters for nearly twenty years, winning four gold medals in chess Olympiads and finishing sixth overall in the World Cup in 1989. He lives in Chertsey, Surrey, England.

John Emms is one of England’s strongest grandmasters, and an experienced trainer and editor. He lives in Tonbridge, Kent, England.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; Revised edition (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786714115
• ISBN-13: 978-0786714117
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #889,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

228 of 234 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learn Chess from Complete Instructive Games, September 14, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games: Improve Your Chess by Studying the Greatest Games of All time, from Adolf Anderssen's 'Immortal' Game to Kramnik Versus Kasparov 2000 (Paperback)

Going over games that are well analyzed is a good way to learn all parts of chess (openings, middle games and endgames all with all the tactics, traps and positional play involved). Although this is not a book that uses analysis of every move, which is my favorite type of book (such as "Logical Chess" or "Unbeatable Chess Lessons"), the games contain enough analysis at important points to make it a worthwhile book. My only real complaint is that the book is made really cheaply with cheap paper and a very tight binding that forces you to really press to keep it open. This is a book deserving a better quality production. The contents are very good (4 stars) the paper and tight binding is rather poor (2 stars).

95 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great cross-section (1834-1997) of the finest games ever, October 6, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games (Paperback)

This is the "games collection" that I have been waiting years to find! It is a book of 100 chronologically-ordered, heavily annotated chess games, which the three authors decided upon through some sort of weighted voting system, in which Graham Burgess annotated 50, John Nunn 25, and John Emms 25. It is not a "mammoth"-sized book; it is about the size of a typical bestseller paperback, though somewhat wider. To give you an idea of where the historical concentration of games occurs, Game 1 is from 1834, Game 25 is from 1926, Game 50 is from 1963, Game 75 is from 1981, and Game 100 is from 1997. The most heavily-represented players are Mikhail Tal (11 games), Bobby Fischer (9), Garry Kasparov (8), Anatoly Karpov (8), Jose Capablanca (6), Emanuel Lasker (6), and Boris Spassky (6). I would have expected to see more games from Paul Morphy (0 games!), Adolph Anderssen (2), Harry Pillsbury (2), Tigran Petrosian (2), Wilhelm Steinitz (3), and Alexander Alekhine (4). From those lists, you can probably infer that the book is somewhat skewed toward the modern games. On the other hand, there are only three Karpov-Kasparov games, which surprised me. There is a lot of analysis in the games, with plenty of biographical descriptions and "color". Despite the fact that three different authors did the annotating, there is a very "uniform" feel to the games; it doesn't read like it's three disjointed authors. Maybe that's because three people did the analyzing and one person did the writing.

My favorite historical collection of annotated games was always Tartakower & du Mont's famous collection of 500 games, plus a supplemental book of 100 more games, but those left off at around 1950. For a long time those two books were my chess Bible, and so I knew hardly anything about players like Tal, Fischer, Karpov, and Kasparov, let alone the less famous players who still had played some amazing games in modern times.

Sure, there are several modern collections of games (especially "Winning Chess Brilliancies" by Yasser Seirawan, "Modern Chess Brilliancies" by Larry Evans, and "The Art of Chess Analysis", by Jan Timman), and plenty of collections of best games of individual players, from Paul Morphy to Alexei Shirov. However, I hadn't yet found an individual book that gave you this kind of in-depth perspective across chess history into modern times. This book ranges from the famous 1834 McDonnell-de la Bourdonnais 62nd match game with the three black pawns side by side on the seventh rank, all the way through to games of the last couple of years, like Viswanathan Anand's great attacking games against Anatoly Karpov in 1996 and Joel Lautier in 1997. I think that there is real value, both entertaining and instructive, in seeing comments from the same authors on such a wide chronological range of games.

Furthermore, it is very rare to see such modern analysis of older games. Few books released these days seem to cover any games before the 1960's. Often there seems to have been very little added to some of the analysis that was "state-of-the-art" sixty years ago. Most exceptions seem to be connected with John Nunn, like the several algebraic reprints of "Best Game" collections which he has touched up and footnoted, in addition to the new material which he added on to the end of Max Euwe's "The Development of Chess Style." I liked this book best, however, because it covers such a wide range of players, games, and eras.

I am very grateful that there are chess writers out there willing to re-examine older games in a modern light, not stopping after pointing out where opening theory has evolved beyond that game, but also continuing on with new analysis of the middle game and end game positions that occurred (or could have) in the game. My greatest chess interest lies in viewing how chess mastery has evolved over the decades, and this book does a better job than any other single book of illustrating that evolution. My only quibble, and it is a small one, is that I would have liked to have seen more older games. I was surprised to find no games at all by Paul Morphy, but Macon Shibut's "Paul Morphy and the Evolution of Chess Style" is a fantastic modern book which covers many of Morphy's games, and so I, in possession of both books, am happy. I only wish that the authors of "The Mammoth Book of the World's Best Chess Games" had done 500 games rather than 100. Maybe we'll see a sequel! In any event, at less than a dime per game for classic games with lots of interesting annotations, this particular book is a great deal. Some of the notes and variations may go beyond beginning players, but it's fun anyway to play over the games and read what experts have to say about them, even if you don't follow all of the conclusions. So I would really recommend this book to anyone with much of an interest in chess history.

81 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Analyzed Games Old and New "want to improve your chess will be good for you!", November 19, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games: Improve Your Chess by Studying the Greatest Games of All time, from Adolf Anderssen's 'Immortal' Game to Kramnik Versus Kasparov 2000 (Paperback)

This book contains selected games. Both of the masters of new, old all great which will help your ability to checkmate! One Hundred and Twelve games analyzed games study, alone or with your best buddy. The analysis though not real deep makes is light enough for your mind to keep. Want deeper analysis using games get books by Nunn (Understanding Chess) or by Snyder ("Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors"). They are move by move both fun and the the analysis more tighter. These days when it comes to books with games and good analysis you have many to choose so start reading them all it's no time to snooze.

Now down to real business! "The Mammoth Book" contains a wide variety of games over a long time span by many strong players. The analysis ranging from light to moderate in depth is for an intermediate level to stronger player level. This is not a down to basics level book. I was disapointed only in that the book was made out of really cheap paper and is hard to keep open when using (why four instead of five stars). True, I prefer the "every move commented on approach" used by Chernev, Nunn and Snyder, but "the Mammoth book" is still excellent.