Customer Reviews

Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Irving Chernev is without a doubt the best chess author in my opinion. He generates genuine chess interest in his readers and his passion for the game is clearly seen when reading over his annotations.

This book, of course, is a book on twelve grandmasters and 9 games of theirs each, respectively. Since the book was written some time ago, the selection of chess greats excludes those of the modern era(Karpov and Kasparov for sure), although Fischer is included. That isn't to say that the selection is bad or that the games aren't instructive and great.

The grandmasters are presented chapter by chapter according to their rating among the top 12(according to Chernev). Each grandmaster is preseneted with a quality biography about the man, and then follows with nine gems(many against other GM's, not just NN{no name} victories).

The games themselves are of a very high caliber, and my limited analysis with Deep Fritz 8 shows that for the most part Chernev's annotation is right on. You have to remember that he wrote this book long before the Fritz age.

The book itself is quite large, but thin, which allows it to be held open very easily and makes the book that much more accessible.

Since the book is a Chernev, and it's old, it's written in descriptive notation. I've covered my feelings on this in other reviews, but to sum it up: Descriptive Notation is NOT a deal breaker. It's extremely easy to learn, and many of the best(and cheapest!) chess books are written in it. Don't let that keep you from owning this classic.

I would suggest anyone about to buy this book to read Chernev's two other classics first(Logical Chess, and Most Instructional Games, in that order). The difficulty level of the book is probably on par with his Most Instructional Games book, so if you enjoyed and got something out of that book, you should have a great time with this one.

Being a "best of" book, the 115 games here are easy to find elsewhere. For example, all 10 of Alekhine's section are in 'Alekhine's Best Games', and only 4 of Capablanca's were not in 'Capablanca's Best Games' (and 3 of those are in 'The Unknown Capablanca'). And of course, there is some overlap with 'The Mammoth Book of The Greatest Games of Chess' and other such books.

So if you already have several collections, you probably do not need this book.

If you don't (yet) own several collections, then you would be happier with something else by Chernev. Beginners can learn much from 'Logical Chess Move By Move', and intermediate players would find more value in 'Most Instructive Chess Games of All Time'. The games in 'Twelve' can be quite subtle in their exactness, which is not very instructive.

Still, this is easily a 5-star book. So who would enjoy it? If you're interested in the question, "Who's the best player ever?", then you'll enjoy going through this collection of 12 of the top candidates.

Read in that frame of mind, this book is a joy, a sort of Tournament of the Century. If only it were a Top 20, instead of a Top 12! Missing are Reshevsky, Keres, Fine, Euwe, Reti, Steinitz, Anderssen, Morphy, and of course anybody after the publication date of the book.

[By the way, the break-down of games by each player provided by another reviewer only accounts for wins.]

Players(their games) ; Nimzowitsch(9) , Rubinstein(9) , Bronstein(9) , Spassky(9) , Smyslov(9) , Tal(9) , Petrosian(9) , Botvinnik(9) , Fischer(9) , Lasker(9) , Alekhine(10) , Capablanca(15)

I hope this helps.

This book is an exceptional value. Irving Chernev is a great author for developing chess players rated between 1000 - 1800 USCF. He has an infectious love of the game, and the ability to write in a way that is very understandable to players below the expert/master level. He typically uses just the right blend of verbal explanation and actual move order variations. (Some books just recite a catalogue of possible variations - this is worthless to developing players).

This is an awesome collection of some of the greatest games ever contested on the chess board. The notes are good, and very easy to follow. The large size of the book is a plus - it will lay open next to your chess board, making study very easy.

As with all Dover books, the price can not be beat. If this book were to be re-print and re-published today, using algebraic notation, I would imagine that the price would approximately double (like many other books we have seen).

If you are looking for some excellent,inexpensive study material, or want a collection of master games for entertainment, this book is a great place to start.

P.S. Several years ago, a master at our club (Seattle Chess Club) was being interviewed for a magazine article after winning the Seattle Chess Club Championship. He was asked to name his favorite chess books. This book (under the title then of "The Golden Dozen") was the first one he named.

The Only negative feedback regarding this book would be the fact that it is written in descriptive notation. This may be more of a problem for younger readers, as most of the "over 35" crowd is probably comfortable with either notation.

However, due to the incredible value that this book provides I am still awarding it with a full five stars.

This book is simply superb. It contains 115 masterpieces of chess strategy and tactics played by 12 of the strongest chessplayers of all time. Some of the names include, Capablanca, Fischer, Alekhine, Spassky, and Tal. Chernev's comments give you easy and thoughtful insight into the strategical ideas that lead to victory. In no time you'll be using these strategies (opening, middlegame, and endgame) in your own games, which will lead to many victories against strong (+1800 USCF) opponents. Also, this book has large pages, and clear print free of errors. It is easy to work through this book, in fact, much easier than just about every other chess book. This book proves that it can easy and fun to learn the ideas of the best players ever. Get it whatever strength you may be, and you'll be amazed by how much better you become.

I read this book when it was titled "The Golden Dozen". Chernev picked some very fine games from the 12 greatest players up to his time, i.e. pre-Karpov.

The vast majority of club players couldn't fail to learn much from studying these games. Chernev's enthusiasm is catching, and he provides good guidance without swamping the reader with forests of variations.

Chernev profiles the twelve players (along with dozens of their best games) and writes in such a loving, warm style that one wants to re-play the games by these world renowned champions. If you're looking for entertainment (and painless lessons) this is your book. Chernev makes you want to improve and maybe that's the biggest lesson of all.

Maybe Irving Chernev's Best Book

If you can get it, I promise you that you will not be sorry. A real masterpiece. For people who love the game AND players who are looking to improve ... Chernev was one of the greatest chess writers of all time!

Don't even think of going through all the games. I did, and my rating jumped 300 points. See, the problem is, when you actually play through the games, you learn all sorts of things, like Strategy and Tactics. Awful stuff really. I can't imagine a single person who wouldn't improve their chess with this book. Send me your copy, I'll take care of it promptly! :)

Chernev's books are entertaining and well-prepared. Each book has a clear topic, Ex: "Logical Chess...", "Golden Dozen..." (now Twelve Great Chess Players), "Most Instructive..." (I failed to see the logical order of this book, however it's very educational to me). Chernev picked HIS twelve favorite chess masters and their masterpieces to compile this book. When we see the twelfth great is Nimzovich, we know this book is at a very high level. This book was written before Fischer became the World Champion; therefore other great players after him would not have a spot in this "platoon". (Sorry, Karpov, Kasparov, Anand.) I am surprised not to see some of brilliant players like Tarrasch, Schlechter, Reti and Keres in the book. Of course then we have to make the list of top 50. Even in the list of 50 best players of NBA and NFL, we could see some of our favorites omitted. The book biography shows how many collections Chernev had to sort through to pick his favorite games. Even so, the best game of Fischer and entire of his 11-0 "clean-sweep" of '64 tournament is not mentioned, not a single-one. Chernev's explanation often took the viewpoint of the victor. There are a few games not understandable (by me). In game 56, all Petrosian's pieces except the Queen are on the back rank, I wonder whether Pilnik could lose if he didn't make mistake by being overly aggressive. In the famous game 88 between Lasker and Capa, how could Lasker's Knights over power Capa's Bishops? Very strange. In the game 104, again Bernstein was trying too hard to win a Pawn from Capa, and then fell victim to a vulnerable back rank. And in the game 109, Chernev praised Capa's 10th move (un-developing the QB and locking it out for the next many moves) enthusiacally both in this book and in "The Most Instructive..." I don't understand it. Capa had 2 isolated and doubled Pawns on the Q-side. To compensate for this, Capa had two open files for his Rooks. With a packed center, I guessed Janowsky could play conservatively (of course, it's "un-sportmanship" for the player with the white pieces) and hold a draw. I tend to agree with GM Yermo in "The Road to Chess Improvement" that Janowsky eagerly played for the win and over-extended his position.
Anyway, Chernev cared very much about his books, and always made his books entertaining. Each player in this book had about 10 of his (where are the famous female champions?) typical games. It's good to have a collection for many famous players in one place, so we can compare their styles to others and through the time by themselves. The stories in the player introduction and game introduction are valuable and instructive.