Customer Reviews

Mikhail Tal's Best Games of Chess (Hardinge Simpole Chess Classics S.)

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this book covers mikhail tals career up to the match in 1960 against botvinnik when he became world champion. there are wins in it against botvinnik smyslov fischer and keres-the notes are very full and read really well-the author has carefully researched russian sources and if tal misses a trick clarke spots it. the games- being tals- are mainly very brilliant-he was the supreme magician of the chess board and liable to crush even the greatest of opponents with his amazing tactics. the print is very clear and the diagrams are well chosen -in fact this is one of the books i wd definitely take with me on a desert island.

A great book - I really liked it. These books publsihed by Hardinge and Simpole on how the great chess players Tal, Botvinnik etc. rose to take the chess crown, are wonderful for understanding the various tactics of the masters of chess. What makes it more interesting is the preface and foreword which provide great background info., bringing the games to life.

Mikhail Tal took the chess world by storm when he blasted a path through the titans of the global chess board - Fischer, Smyslov, Keres, Petrosian - and seized the crown of the mighty Botvinnik. Tal sacrificed as if there were no tomorrow and the very greatest were humbled and smashed by his whirlwind tactics. In this book British chess master Peter Clarke takes the Tal story up to his victory in the 1960 world championship, a victory which seemed to herald the death of strategy and the triumph of tactics on the chess board.
Peter Clarke won numerous silver medals in the British Championships, he represented England in the World Championship cycle and he played top board for England in the Chess Olympiad at Havana 1966. He is a fluent Russian reader and his notes access the very best of contemporary Soviet commentary.