Customer Reviews

Tony Miles: 'It's Only Me': England's First Chess Grandmaster (Batsford Chess Books)

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Tony Miles was (he died a few years ago) a magnificent player and among the strongest players in the world between 1980 and 1990. Although he was best remembered for his swift victories using the black side of the Sicilian dragon at the beginning of his career, he was in fact a player with a liking for strategic games and queenless middlegames; he was overshadowed in England
by the rather less interesting (but extremely strong) player known as Nigel Short who was also his "bęte noire" together with Tolya Karpov (i.e. most difficult opponent); a crushing match defeat against Garry Kasparov was also instrumental in leading him to a severe nervous breakdown which seriously impaired his chess level; the book tells the story of this well loved player through his most devoted friends; it gives us the chance to meet a very witty and entertaining player who fell prey to the pettyness and low tactics of some other English players much less talented in chess but surely much better connected to the then reigning powers in chess.