Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors, Part 2 (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In Volume 1 of My Great Predecessors I talked about the chess kings of the distant past, about the first four official world champions -..." (more)
Key Phrases: Mikhail Moiseevich, King's Indian, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The battle for the World Chess Championship has witnessed numerous titanic struggles that have engaged the interest not only of chess enthusiasts but of the public at large. The chessboard is the ultimate mental battleground and the world champions themselves are supreme intellectual gladiators.

This magnificent compilation of chess from the mid-20th century forms the basis of the second part of Garry Kasparov's long-awaited definitive history of the World Chess Championship. Garry Kasparov, who is universally acclaimed as the greatest chess player ever, subjects the play of his early predecessors to a rigorous analysis. This volume features the play of champions Max Euwe (1935-1937) Mikhail Botvinnik (1946-1957, 1958-1961 and 1961-1963), Vassily Smyslov (1957-1958) and Mikhail Tal (1960-1961).

However, this book is more than just a compilation of the games of these champions. Kasparov's biographies place them in a fascinating historical, political and cultural context. Kasparov explains how each champion brought his own distinctive style to the chessboard and enriched the theory of the game with new ideas.

From the Back Cover

The battle for the World Chess Championship has witnessed numerous titanic struggles which have engaged the interest not only of chess enthusiasts but of the public at large. The chessboard is the ultimate mental battleground and the world champions themselves are supreme intellectual gladiators.
This magnificent compilation of chess from the mid-20th century forms the basis of the second part of Garry Kasparov's long-awaited definitive history of the World Chess Championship. Garry Kasparov, who is universally acclaimed as the greatest chess player ever, subjects the play of his early predecessors to a rigorous analysis. This volume features the play of champions Max Euwe (1935-1937) Mikhail Botvinnik (1948-1957, 1958-1960 and 1961-1963), Vasily Smyslov (1957-1958) and Mikhail Tal (1960-1961).
However, this book is more than just a compilation of the games of these champions. Kasparov's biographies place them in a fascinating historical, political and cultural context. Kasparov explains how each champion brought his own distinctive style to the chessboard and enriched the theory of the game with new ideas.
Garry Kasparov is generally regarded as the greatest chess player ever. He was the thirteenth world champion, holding the title between 1985 and 2000. His tournament record is second to none, featuring numerous wins in the world's elite events, often by substantial margins. Over the last few years, Kasparv has taken first prize in ten consecutive major international events.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185744342X
• ISBN-13: 978-1857443424
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #447,521 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb value for money, January 28, 2004

By	Abhay Avachat (Cupertino, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A series of books on past world chamipons by Kasparov, is sure to get a lot of attention and it certainly did for the previous volume. There are a lot of reviews available on internet written by more qualified reviewers for both the books. In those reviews you can find a lot of information about the accuracy of historical facts etc. So I would give here just my peronal opinion.

If you have read first volume, then chances are your opinion of this book would be slightly better, but not too different.

The books are not masterpieces, but they are really very good. The paper quality, binding, printing and diagrams are excellent. But what I like most about these books is their exceptional value for money.

There may not be anything new in the material presented here regarding history of chess or the background of a tournament/match. But it's all compiled for you here in a fun-to-read manner.

Maybe there is an error in an annotation. But as a player of average strength, I am not likely to notice it. More importantly to me, the annotations are not superficial, yet most of them are easy to follow. Some of these may be from other sources, but again, I get them compiled for me. Moreover, at many places, Kasparov compares different annotations and provides his evaluations. There are ample diagrams that go with this, and it makes the book a good read for an average player.

There are many insights about how a player contributed to development of chess, e.g. Bronstein's contribution to KID. Kasparov also discusses how a player and his games had an effect on him. It gave the book a personal touch.

On numerous occassions, you get some juicy stuff regarding a game or a particular move. One fabulous example of this is how Botvinnik did not tell Flohr (his second), what move he sealed against Bronstein (the famous 23rd match game) even though Flohr kept on researching a different move till the last moment.

To sum it up. Almost 150 games, presented in a historical context, of 7 exceptionally strong players - with lots of diagrams and friendly annotations, explaining their styles and contributions to chess in general.

I would say, that's value for money.

42 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More of the same - its such a shame., February 18, 2004

By	A.J. Goldsby I "A.J.G." (Pensacola, FL (U.S.A.)) - See all my reviews

(This is my short review, I may post a longer one on my web site.)

I have had this book for over a month now, and I have spent many, many hours reading this book and deeply analyzing the games that are given here. (I should also let you know that I am a chess-master with a fair size library, and that I am fairly well-read when it comes to the stories and the lives of the various World Champions.)

I think a comment on my review of the first volume is in order here, as it generated a great deal of e-mail - some of which was clearly negative. First, it is just one man's opinion! Secondly, if you check any of the popular web sites like ChessBase, you will find poking holes in the analysis of the first book has become something of a national sport for some people. (In particular, see the series of on-going articles by GM Karsten Mueller.)

When I first received this book, I had anticipated learning a great deal about these players that I did not know. In particular, good books on Euwe's life (in English) are fairly hard to come by. (This volume covers World Champions five through eight, i.e., Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, and Tal.) I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Max Euwe, who was World Champion from 1935 to 1937. I had once read, (in a book by a popular American writer); that "Euwe possessed a rather dry style," and that he was a strategist and a deep thinker. (he was) But here we see a different side of Euwe, he is pictured as a great tactician who was not afraid to enter into complications if the position called for it! (I found the combination against Speyer given on page 15 to be especially pleasing.) Overall, I really enjoyed this chapter ... and the look into the life of a multifaceted man that many call the last amateur World Champion.

I already knew a great deal about Botvinnik, but nonetheless enjoyed the chapter on this player immensely. I did not see a lot of new information ... but the chapter made pleasant reading. A slightly sour note was sounded by the discussion of how Kasparov and Botvinnik had ended their personal relationship. (Botvinnik's version of this tale is completely different than the one offered by Kasparov.)

The chapter on Smyslov was very entertaining and well presented. Truly the story of Smyslov's life has been a search for harmony ... both on and off the chessboard, and his games reflect this quality. The games themselves also make a good vehicle for this player, I doubt the average player will know many of these game prior to acquiring this book.
(They are all very beautiful!)

And finally, we have the chapter on the life of Tal. There is a lot of good and bad in this chapter, I personally (greatly) disagree with Kasparov's statement that Tal's game was about "bluffing" in chess. One cannot become World Champion without being a great player and able to play all phases of the game in at least an adequate manner! In my opinion, Tal returned "dynamics" to chess. With his emphasis on things like a high-intensity struggle, hand-to-hand combat, his willingness to sacrifice at almost any time ... Tal brought these elements back into chess at a time when it needed it the most. (Keres later noted that chess suffered from 'staleness' during this period. He said that it was in danger of dying the death of "the gentleman's draw," and the "win with White - draw with Black" formula. Keres said that Tal's chess was like ... " a breath of fresh air into a stuffy room.")

And now down to brass tacks. (Many of the complaints I had about the first volume will re-surface here.) A friend of mine - who is something of a chess historian - complained about the many errors in the names and the dates in this book. (One Harvard professor has put out a 7-volume set of books on the communist leaders of the {former} USSR. On page 161, Zhdanov should probably be rendered "Zhidanov" in English.)

Again there is a definite lack of focus. (About half the games in the Botvinnik chapter do NOT involve Botvinnik as one of the principle parties!) And the author promised the readers a definitive account, but skirts many of the thornier issues of chess history. For example: the fact that Keres was probably forced to throw games to Botvinnik. (Indeed, after Stalin died, Keres won like five games in a row off Botvinnik!) The authors touch on this, but do not really delve into this matter in any real or meaningful way.

An IM, who was initially very excited about the release of these books, now confides to me that he feels Kasparov had little to do with any of the work done here. A GM told me - on the condition that I did not disclose his name - that he also felt Kasparov did little of the real work involved in this project, and referred to these books as "pot-boilers."

And probably the most important fact of all is the chess contained within this book. The web site of the publisher still promises analysis free of errors, in the introduction here the authors' state: many of these games will be "analyzed anew with the help of a computer." (Page # 05.) Yet the number of errors contained within this book that I have already found are nearly too great to count. (In one case I found the authors concluded that White was better, but missed a simple combination that wins a piece. In another case they conclude the position is "nearly equal," but miss a mate in three moves.)

One concrete example is the game that begins on page # 416. (Tal - Botvinnik, 1st Match Game.) This game is replete with errors, I found a problem with almost every note I looked at in detail!! (More than 20 mistakes tallied so far.)

In closing, I would like to say that these books appear to be well produced, but fall far short of expectations - especially if your name is Garry Kasparov. But on the other hand, any amateur who is looking for a "good read" and some excellent games to look at, might enjoy this book quite a bit. (Just don't check the moves with a strong computer!)

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, November 21, 2005

By	Greg Shahade (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't imagine how anyone could give anything less than 5 stars for these books, when you compare them to the rest of the chess market. This entire series is probably one of the greatest literary works in the history of chess.

Not only are there fantastic games to play through, and an easy way for learning players to grasp the progression of chess from centuries ago to today, but these books also make fantastic reads even if you simply skip over all the annotated games.

People like to criticize things because it makes them feel smart. These books are absolute gold and are so far above any similar work.