Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions [Hardcover]

Pal Benko (Author), Jeremy Silman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2004

Grandmaster Pal Benko is a chess legend: A challenger for the World Championship, an innovator of many modern opening systems, a problem composer par excellence, and a father figure to his close friend Bobby Fischer, Benko has played and defeated most of the top players of the last fifty years. This biography is a celebration of a great man's creative legacy. Its amazing collection of 138 deeply annotated games which have been carefully prepared to be entertaining, enlightening, and instructive is brought to life by Benko's memoirs of his early years in war-torn Hungary, a world of poverty, chaos, pain, and ultimately, personal triumph. His insights into famous grandmasters transform legends into real people with substance and personality, and his reminiscences of famous tournaments take us on a journey through chess history unlike anything that's been published before. Interviews with note players offer insights into Benko's nature. A massive survey of Benko's openings (by John Watson) shows us the scope of Benko's theoretical contributions to the game. Photos abound, and 300 of Benko's chess compositions allow lovers of the game to become intimately acquainted with a strikingly beautiful aspect of chess that most have overlooked. This highly entertaining and instructive book gives competitors who wish to improve their playing strength a dynamic, fun way to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Grandmaster Pal Benko is a chess legend: A challenger for the World Championship, an innovator of many modern opening systems, a problem composer par excellence, and a father figure to his close friend Bobby Fischer, Benko has played and defeated most of the top players of the last fifty yers.

PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS is a celebration of a great man's creative legacy. Its amazing collection of 138 deeply annotated games which have been carefully prepared to be entertaining, enlightening, and instructive is brought to life by Benko's memoirs of his early years in war-torn Hungary, a world of poverty, chaos, pain, and ultimately, personal triumph. His insights into famous grandmasters transform legends into real people with substance and personality, and his reminiscences of famous tournaments take us on a journey through chess history unlike anything that's been published before.

Interviews with note players offer insights into Benko's nature. A massive survey of Benko's openings (by John Watson) shows us the scope of Benko's theoretical contributions to the game. Photos abound, and 300 of Benko's chess compositions allow lovers of the game to become intimately acquainted with a strikingly beautiful aspect of chess that most have overlooked.

This highly entertaining and instructive book gives competitors who wish to improve their playing strength a dynamic, fun way to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

About the Author

Pal Benko is a Grandmaster, A former World Championship Candidate, a winner of innumerable international competitions, the author of hundreds of articles and several chess books. The most dominating open tournament player in American history, Benko's name is entwined in virtually every modern area of chess mythology and chess theory. Jeremy Silman is an International Master and a world-class teacher, writer, and player who has won the American Open, the National Open, and the US Open. Considered by many to be the game's pre-eminent instructive writer, he is the author of over thirty-six highly popular books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 688 pages
• Publisher: Siles Press (February 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890085081
• ISBN-13: 978-1890085087
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,377,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best game collection to date, April 20, 2004

By 

"aamchandler" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions (Hardcover)

First of all this book is over 600 pages! I haven't seen a chess book this big that wasn't in several volumes. I've read several game collections and this is by far the most informative. I just got this book and am very impressed with how thorough each game is analyzed. Everything is laid out well and the games are easy to find. There is a lot of prose used to comment on the games, which is typical for Silman. The authors discuss the plans that each player is employing and they do a good job of telling you why they did or didn't choose a variation when complications arise. And there are tons of compositions...hard compositions. Pal Benko's life is also very interesting. It is interspersed throughout the games, which lightens up the density of the material. These games are very intense so it's good to get a little back story of what was going on in those times. He went through great hardship to get where he is today, and is still arm wrestling strongly!!! I am very happy I bought this book and am sure it will give me much pleasure for years to come.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Chess co-authorship *should* be done., August 13, 2007

By 

Avital Pilpel "classics_lover" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions (Hardcover)

Oh no--three authors! (GM Benko, IM Silman, and IM Watson). This usually means, in chess circles, that the "big name" Grandmaster (Benko) donated nothing more than his name (and perhaps his notes), and let the co-authors do all the real work.

Fortunately, in this case, this suspicion is unfounded. Each author contributed what he is best at: Benko contributed over 130 deeply-annotated games--including a whole section on the development of the Benko gambit--and 300(!) engames and studies. Silman added long and very interesting interviews, as well as "milking" Benko for information about his life and views of other leading players, resulting in almost 100 pages of candid interviews, as well as (in the "games" section) Benko's recollections of his life and his opinions of numerous famous players. Finally Watson (an opening expert) gives us over 100 pages analyzing Benko's significant contributions to opening theory.

No stops were pulled in the production department. A huge, large-format hardback of over 650 pages, it contains, apart from all of the above, many high-quality, rarely-seen photographs of Benko himself and his other chess masters. This is how a chess autobiography should be written.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Analysis than Biography, February 13, 2006

By 

David Hood (Wesley Chapel, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions (Hardcover)

My only problem with this splendid volume is that there is really very little biography included. The biography is broken up by 130 well-annotated games, resulting in less than 1/4 of the book being pure biography. We also have an entirely superfluous interview section.

The book itself is a wonderful oversized hardcover edition that will hold up to repeated readings and playing through of the chess games. This is a volume that will last generations.

After the biography we have both a 3rd party survey of Benko's openings from both sides, and a selection of his problems, mate in x, helpmate, selfmate and endgame studies.

This all adds up to a complete view of Benko the chess player. I was hoping for a bit more of Benko the person.

Still, it ranks with Tal's autobiography in the annals of chess biography.