There is probably no other player who has changed the chess world in so many areas and so radically – like Robert James Fischer, for whom the name Bobby Fischer has become common among chess players worldwide. Of his spectacular successes, his downright declassifying victories against three Soviet grandmasters in the early 1970s are particularly noteworthy – a kind of changing of the guard in the fight for the world title, to which the Soviets had subscribed, so to speak, for more than two decades. This triggered a worldwide chess boom, or more precisely: it triggered a chess boom especially in the western world, because in the Soviet Union with millions of club players such a boom was apparently hardly necessary. Many players of all levels were drawn to the royal game specifically because of the events of that time. Fischer's games are legendary, and since they have of course already been extensively analyzed and commented on in a number of works, the question arises: What is another book supposed to achieve anyway? German grandmaster Karsten Müller has selected what he considers to be Fischer's 60 most instructive games and checked them with various newer engines. Although he noticed numerous errors in the old analyses, Bobby's games still shine in their former glory or even brighter. Since even top programs rarely find errors, every reader can learn more than ever from these games in order to improve their own playing strength in a success-oriented manner. In addition to the numerous photos, it's above all the quotations contained in many games that take the reader back to the 'old days of chess'. Therefore, even younger players can get a good impression of what the chess world was like when, for example, there were still 'adjourned games' and 'sealed moves' – and when no player could dodge the hard analysis work by simply delegating this tedious task to his computer.   222 Seiten, kartoniert, Joachim Beyer Verlag  

In 1929, Malik Mir Sultan Khan (born in 'British India' in 1905) came to England. There, the young man who belonged to the entourage of an Indian diplomat, soon entered the world stage of chess. He earned remarkable tournament successes, and was temporarily one of the ten best players in the world. However, the amazing career ended abruptly in 1933 when Khan returned to his home country. He never played chess on an international level again, and died in 1966. This book traces the exceptional life of this chess master, as far as the narrow sources allow.   Ulrich Geilmann (born in 1963) has already published two chess novels in German. He graduated as an urban planner and works in the public sector. He is an amateur chess player and a member of the Emanuel Lasker Gesellschaft (Emanuel Lasker Society). For a certain period he was the manager of a team which competed in the highest German league (Bundesliga). On the Internet he reports regularly and in a witty narrative style about his various experiences at chess tournaments. 220 Seiten, kartoniert, Joachim Beyer Verlag

Paul Charles Morphy – compared with famous contemporaries like Adolf Anderssen or Howard Staunton – belongs to the ʻenigmaticʼ personalities of chess history. Such a fate remains mostly reserved to those great players whose biography states, sooner or later: showed psychological abnormalities, isolated himself, became moody, a weirdo, a loner ...   In short – he was one of those who nourish and thus keep alive the folklore maintaining thereʼs a fine line between genius and insanity. However, itʼs not the aim of this book to illuminate the more or less obscure areas of Morphyʼs life, as itʼs not a psychological study, but a chess book. Thus, instead of a research of the soul, a search is to be conducted, a search for a reliable answer to the question as to what sort of chess player Morphy was. The author is a chess historian whose main interest has always been this American ʻsuperstarʼ of the 19th century – rightly regarded as one of the ʻuncrowned world championsʼ. He has selected and annotated 100 of Morphyʼs most instructive games and traced his lifeʼs journey in detail – from the discovery of the child prodigy to his early death.  The result is a very vivid insight into a highly interesting part of chess history, which has certainly not deserved to fall into oblivion.   148 Seiten, kartoniert, Joachim Beyer Verlag

"How to Meet Champions and Choose Your Openings" is a chess book you can sit back comfortably in your armchair and just read. Or, when you feel like getting the pieces out of the box and learning from some great games, tactics and strategies-that's all here as well.Nearly everyone with an interest in chess shares the same two questions:What were the great champions like?How can I choose opening moves that give me a good game?Lev Alburt teams up with Chess Journalist Al Lawrence to answer these questions-and to tell the intriguing, inspiring and sometimes downright bizarre behind-the-scenes stories of the chess greats and near-greats, and how, above all else, they were men of their times.   288 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Chess Info & Research

Joel Benjamin is one of the most prominent faces in the history of US chess. At thirteen years of age he broke Bobby Fischers record as the youngest ever national master, and this was followed by countless tournament successes. Perhaps most famously, in 1997 he hit the headlines when he became the chess consultant for IBMs Deep Blue computer, which made history by beating World Champion Garry Kasparov in an epic encounter.   In American Grandmaster, Benjamin takes the reader on a journey through chess adventures spanning more than thirty years. Tracing through his own career, from being a prodigy in the Fischer boom era thorough to an experienced Grandmaster with many titles, Benjamin is in a unique position to highlight the major changes that have occurred both in US and international chess throughout the last four decades.   This book includes: Instructive annotations of his favourite games   Anecdotes and reflections from thirty years of US and worldwide chess events   New perspectives on the legendary Kasparov-Deep Blue match   Insights into how Grandmasters earn their living   A deep look into the current major issues of chess 268 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Everyman

The Russian Boris Spassky was the perfect gentleman. He was a chess genius who became World Champion in 1969. But he was also gracious in defeat after he lost his title to the American Bobby Fischer in 1972 in the Match of the Century. This biography includes fifty of Spassky’s best games, annotated by former Russian champion Alexey Bezgodov, and a biographical sketch of a few dozen pages, written by Dmitry Aleynikov, the Director of the Chess Museum in Moscow. Spassky was born in St. Petersburg in 1937; he moved to France in 1976 and returned to Russia in 2010. On his road to the World Championship, he defeated all his contemporaries convincingly in matches, including Paul Keres, Efim Geller, Mikhail Tal, Bent Larsen and Viktor Korchnoi. He lost his first match for the ultimate title against Tigran Petrosian but won in his second attempt in 1969. With his all-round style, fighting spirit and psychological insights, he could beat anybody anytime and, for example, won at least two games versus six other World Champions: Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov. Alexey Bezgodov is a grandmaster and a former Russian Champion. For New In Chess, he wrote books about World Champion Tigran Petrosian and the chess openings the Caro-Kann and the Tarrasch Defence. Dmitry Aleynikov is the Director of the Chess Museum in Moscow. 284 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag New In Chess

Victor Bologan is not only a strong and creative chess grandmaster, he has also made a career in Moldovan and world chess politics. His strong will and incredible versatility have enabled him to lead a colourful and interesting life. ‘Believe in yourself’ is his motto and it has taken him to places many of us will never see. A sparkling description of the many roads Bologan has travelled lies before you. In this autobiography you will read about the adventures of an enterprising youngster in turbulent Moldova, his collaborations with renowned chess coaches such as Vyacheslav Chebanenko, Zigurds Lanka and Mark Dvoretsky, and his alliances with top players such as Alexander Morozevich, Ruslan Ponomariov, Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov. The book also offers a candid insight into Bologan's activities as Executive Director of the World Chess Federation FIDE and his career in Moldovan national politics. Central to this book, of course, is Bologan's chess career. His most impressive tournament victory was in Dortmund in 2003, where he beat both Vishy Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. But he also won the incredibly strong Aeroflot Open in Moscow in 1995 and twice came first in a personal favourite, the annual Poikovsky tournament. Bologan has extensively annotated 88 of his best and most attractive games. Victor Bologan (1971) is a world-class grandmaster who has won many prestigious tournaments. In 2005 he was ranked 18th in the world. For New In Chess Bologan has written the acclaimed and ground-breaking opening manuals The Chebanenko Slav, The Rossolimo for Club Players, The Powerful Catalan, Bologan's King's Indian, Bologan's Caro-Kann, Bologan's Ruy Lopez for Black and Bologan's Black Weapons in the Open Games. 424 Seiten, katoniert, Verlag New In Chess

For the purpose of writing this book I decided to look at all the games Veselin has played from 1995 until the present, as there were many I didn´t know! I must say that, although seeing great moves from a 2800 player sounds normal, it was impossible not to be astonished by some of his games. Topalov is one of the kings of practical decisions in chess. He regards chess as more a sport than a science. If he thinks an idea will work over the board, the notion of risk is irrelevant to him. He wants to be on the attack and believes an objectively inferior position isn?t necessarily bad if his opponent needs to find several difficult defensive moves. "If that?s the only move for my opponent, let?s enter the line and see if he sees it!" is his philosophy. He never liked peace over the board or routine play. The moments where he has refused to repeat moves or has sacrificed something strictly out of intuition are countless. In short, Topalov´s aim has always been to hit hard and bring his own touch to the game, and I think he has succeeded! 312 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag Thinkers Publishing

Richard Réti is one of the most fascinating characters in the history of chess. Réti developed theories that were regarded as little less than revolutionary in his era. He asserted that, contrary to classical principles, the centre need not be occupied by pawns. This must have seemed like heresy to the classically-minded grandmasters of his day. This new approach was dubbed “Hypermodern” and led to the development of the Réti Opening (1 Nf3). Réti’s theories have been proved sound and have stood the test of time. Réti scored many fine wins against the great players of his day. Move by Move provides an ideal platform to study chess. By continually challenging the reader to answer probing questions throughout the book, the Move by Move format greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of knowledge. Carefully selected questions and answers are designed to keep you actively involved and allow you to monitor your progress as you learn. This is an excellent way to improve your chess skills and knowledge. 496 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Everyman

Volume 1 of our new trilogy on the perhaps most fascinating chess-player of all time. Dr. Emanuel Lasker, cosmopolitan World chess champion for 27 years, accomplished mathematician, at home in five different countries, author, philosopher, psychologist and expert in all kinds of games, is portrayed in this splendid 464-page volume with hundreds of often rare photographs. Born into poor Polish-German-Jewish circumstances, he lived a life full of struggles. His unprecedented victories stunned the chess world, yet brought him only temporary riches. A beautiful book , with essays by leading experts, about a unique figure, whose intellectual horizon and ambitions went far beyond the 64 squares. 450 Seiten, gebunden, Leinen mit Goldprägung, Verlag Exzelsior

Volume 2 of our new trilogy on the perhaps most fascinating chess-player of all time. Dr. Emanuel Lasker, cosmopolitan World chess champion for 27 years, accomplished mathematician, at home in five different countries, author, philosopher, psychologist and expert in all kinds of games, is portrayed in this splendid 464-page volume with hundreds of often rare photographs. Born into poor Polish-German-Jewish circumstances, he lived a life full of struggles. His unprecedented victories stunned the chess world, yet brought him only temporary riches. A beautiful book , with essays by leading experts, about a unique figure, whose intellectual horizon and ambitions went far beyond the 64 squares. 464 Seiten, gebunden, Leinen mit Goldprägung, Verlag Exzelsior

This final volume of the Lasker trilogy covers the later part of his life from 1914 onwards and his manifolds ambitions and writings in chess and science. The biographical compass by Richard Forster shows the ups and downs of the world champion during World War I, his loss of the world championship, the subsequent economic crisis in Germany, the raise of the Nazis, and Lasker’s escape, illustrated with dozens of private documents and letters. Sergey Voronkov paints a detailed picture of Lasker’s fantastic tournament successes in Russia between 1896 and 1936 as well as the frightening circumstances of Lasker and his wife’s life in Soviet Russia in the mid-1930s. Jan Sprenger, Marco Baldauf, Ulrich Sieg, and Fernand Gobet share illuminating thoughts on Lasker’s endeavors as a (Jewish) intellectual in the post-war era, his scientific ambitions as a philosopher as well as his late unpublished work on psychology, which is discussed here for the first time ever. Egbert Meissenburg and Richard Forster follow with a meticulous overview of Lasker’s rich oeuvre as a writer on chess and other games, mathematics, philosophy, and much else, with translation into more than twenty languages. Herbert Bastian analyzes in detail Lasker’s impact as a chess writer and teacher, while Mihail Marin provides fresh insights into Lasker’s best games and spectacular success in his sixties, when in Moscow 1935 he still kept up with the world’s best. CONTENTS A Biographical Compass, Part III, by Richard Forster  Lasker and Russia by Sergey Voronkov  Lasker, The Philosopher by Jan Sprenger & Marco Baldauf  Lasker and Judaism by Ulrich Sieg  The Psychology of Games by Fernand Gobet  Emanuel Lasker’s Chess Columns by Richard Forster  Bibliography of Lasker’s Writings by Egbert Meissenburg  Lasker as a Chess Teacher by Herbert Bastian  An Impressive Coda by Mihail Marin   AUTHORS Marco Baldauf , born 1990, works as a policy advisor in Berlin. From 2010 to 2019, he studied physics and philosophy in Munich and Berlin. He holds the grandmaster title in chess, authored several DVDs on chess strategy, and plays in the German Bundesliga for Schachfreunde Berlin. Herbert Bastian , born 1952, is a retired teacher of mathematics and physics in Saarbrücken. He holds the International Master title and is a certified trainer of the German chess federation. From 2011 to 2017 he presided over the federation and from 2014 to 2018 he was a vice president of the world chess federation (F.I.D.E.). He is the author of a chess course (4 vols.) and numerous chess articles. In 2021, he co-organized the online conference on chess history in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the French chess federation. After a painstaking study of the “Chapais manuscript,” he identified Gaspard Monge as the likely author and documented his findings in Geheimnisse des Schachmanuskripts von Chapais (2022). Dr. Richard Forster , born 1975, lives in Winterthur. He is an international chess master with a doctorate in computational linguistics and works as a consultant in data engineering. He has authored several chess books, including Amos Burn (2004) and The Zurich Chess Club (2009/2011). He was one of the editors of Emanuel Lasker-Denker, Weltenbürger, Schachweltmeister (2009) and is the technical editor of the present series. He has represented Switzerland in six Chess Olympiads. Dr. Fernand Gobet , born 1962, is Professorial Research Fellow in the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics. His main research interests are the psychology of expertise, the acquisition of language, computational modeling, and scientific discovery. He is the main architect behind the CHREST project (Chunk Hierarchy and REtrieval STructures), a cognitive architecture based on the idea of chunking. He has authored and co-authored over 300 publications, including ten books. His latest books are Understanding Expertise: A Multi-disciplinary Approach (2015) and The Psychology of Chess (2018). He is an international chess master and represented Switzerland in three Chess Olympiads. Mihail Marin , born 1965, is a chess grandmaster living in Bucharest. He is a three-time champion of Romania and has represented his country in a dozen Chess Olympiads. He has made himself a name as an author of well-received opening books as well as numerous treatises on games of past, including Secrets of Chess Defence (2003), Learn from the Legends (2004; 3rd ed. 2015), Secrets of Attacking Chess (2005), Old Wine in New Bottles (2019), Learn from Bent Larsen (2022), and Vladimir Simagin (2022). Egbert Meissenburg , born 1937, a retired attorney and notary public, is a chess researcher in Seevetal. For nearly sixty years, since 1962, he has been engaged as an author, editor, and publisher of chess history and chess bibliography. Numbers 17 and 19 of his series “Schach-Forschungen” (Chess Research) were Emanuel Lasker als Philosoph and Emanuel Lasker: Zur Würdigung eines Schach-Weltmeisters (both 2000). Dr. Ulrich Sieg , born 1960, is Professor of Modern History at Marburg University. His publications include Jüdische Intellektuelle im Ersten Weltkrieg (2001), Deutschlands Prophet (2007, English translation 2013), Die Macht des Willens (2019), and, most recently, Vom Ressentiment zum Fanatismus (2022), a study of modern anti-Semitism. With Michael Dreyer he edited Emanuel Lasker-Schach, Philosophie, Wissenschaft (2001). He has played chess for the Lübecker Schachverein since 1972 and is a F.I.D.E. master. Dr. Jan Sprenger , born 1982, is Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of Turin in Italy. He studied mathematics and philosophy in Bonn and gained his PhD in philosophy in 2008. He recently published the research monograph Bayesian Philosophy of Science (with Stephan Hartmann, 2019). Currently, he conducts a project on scientific objectivity. He holds the grandmaster title in chess, is a prize-winning composer of endgame studies, and regularly contributes tournament reports and general chess-related essays to the German magazine Schach. Sergey Voronkov , born 1954, lives in Moscow. Chess historian, journalist, and writer. Over 100 publications on the history of chess in Russia, including ten books, notably David Janowski (1987, with Dmitry Plisetsky), David protiv Goliath (2002, with David Bronstein; in English as Secret Notes, 2007), Russians protiv Fischera (2004, with Dmitry Plisetsky; English editions 1994 and 2005; Italian edition 2003), Fyodor Bogatyrchuk: Doctor Zhivago sovetskikh shakhmat (2013, two volumes), Shedevry i dramy chempionatov SSSR (2007, 2019: a three-volume series on the masterpieces and dramas of the Soviet championships; English translations of volume I and II in 2020 and 2021), and Russky Sphinx (2021, a biography of Alexander Alekhine). 480 Seiten, gebunden, Leinen mit Goldprägung, Verlag Exzelsior

Writing about Miguel Najdorf is one of my greatest pleasures as a chess journalist and writer. Having known him is a privilege of which I quickly became aware, along with Sergio Giardelli, who had more dealings with him than I did. A few years ago we agreed that both of us could say “I knew Mozart”, not the real Mozart, of course, but referring to someone who reached the highest point of the discipline he embraced. Najdorf did so with the utmost passion. I never felt able to call him “el Viejo” (literally “The old man”), as everyone, himself included, called him; I think it sounded disrespectful to me because of my Guarani roots, although obviously no disrespect was implied. The first time I heard of him was through the magazine “Ajedrez”, and later through the occasional annotations of my mentor Bernardo Wexler, who had a high regard for Don Miguel’s chess strength. I remember that in the 1970 Siegen Olympiad, where Najdorf played on the top board, and once again had to face the best players in the world, Wexler said, “If Najdorf wants it so, nobody can beat him, but he will want to win, and then he might lose; but if he plays for a draw, nobody can beat him”. At that time I was unaware of the strength of the masters. The first time I went to the Club Argentino de Ajedrez (Argentine Chess Club) I watched several masters playing blitz games (or “ping-pong” games, as they used to say over there) and for me they were all very good, of similar strength. When I asked him who was the best, Wexler did not hesitate: “Najdorf, Najdorf.” On another occasion Wexler mentioned one of Najdorf’s characteristic traits: his extreme competitiveness. He recalled that when he was eighteen he had once shared first place with Najdorf himself. Wexler was then only a second-category player and he was on cloud nine. Najdorf wanted to play a tie-break, which Wexler declined to do, explaining that he was very excited, quite unable to play, but Najdorf insisted over and over again, said he would give him the entire first prize if he played, etc. He insisted so much that he persuaded Wexler to play and Najdorf won the tie-break. Not until many years later did Wexler manage to get over it. If we are completely honest, this aspect of Najdorf’s personality made him unpopular, but this is only one aspect of his personality. In his book Chess Duels Seirawan speaks aff ectionately and admiringly about Garry Kasparov, explaining that there are “two Garrys, the Good and the Bad”, and that “if there is one person in the whole world I would want to represent chess and to speak to a sponsor, it is the Good Garry. He is witty, charming, erudite…”, while “the Bad Garry can be surly, angry and rude, making the most committed sponsor put his checkbook away and run for the nearest exit.” This description of Kasparov reminds me a little of Najdorf, not exactly, but in Don Miguel there were also two personalities. One was Najdorf the competitor; as Oscar Panno commented, “when he was competing, the others were not rivals or adversaries, they were enemies, and he treated them as such.” On the other hand, in his personality away from the board, in other words most of the time, Najdorf was pleasant, amusing, enthusiastic, interested in everything, with his strengths and weaknesses, like everyone else, but, as I was able to confi rm on many occasions, basically a very good-hearted person. Liliana Najdorf, one of his daughters and author of the book “Najdorf × Najdorf”, described him like this: “to say he was larger than life strikes me as an understatement. I look for synonyms that will help me to defi ne him and in those words I find him: passionate, disproportionate, ostentatious, gigantic, extraordinary, overwhelming, marvellous. Wise”. Just as accurate is the image that Ricardo Calvo once gave of Don Miguel in the Spanish magazine “Jaque”: “Najdorf is not someone who passes unnoticed… He has a kind of strength, or energy, or vitality, call it what you will, which draws you, attracts attention, complicates or simplifies matters, (as a rule, it seems to me he complicates things), and like a whirlwind stirs up even the seemingly most structured of quiet backwaters of the spirit, of anyone who through good luck or misfortune has burst into his field of activity… He is forever faithful to his own truth: that vital enthusiasm which he appears to draw from the most primitive layers of his being, which penetrates it and which, passing through him, destabilizes anyone who accompanies him… He is neither good nor bad, that’s just the way he is…” In any case, as I write this book I am reminded of something Jorge Amado said, as reported to me by Jaime Sunye; when Amado was criticised for saying good things about a friend (whose ideas were completely opposed to his own), Amado said something like “I speak about what is good about him, let others speak about what is bad.” Oscar Panno said that Najdorf reminded him of Don Quixote, in the part of the book where he tells Sancho Panza, “Wherever I am, that is where the head of the table is going to be.” Najdorf himself commented in a book that he had begun to write, “You can’t win unless you are a bit conceited. So the reader must forgive me if I sometimes seem to be something of an egomaniac”. And yes he was. He could grow suddenly angry, and just as rapidly calm down. He quite often sang his own praises. He could be argumentative, an interfering busybody, etc., whatever we might choose to say, but he was also capable of apologising and he was the greatest populariser of chess in Argentina. Not only from his column in the “Clarín” newpaper, as his friend Luis Scalise recalls. In every town he visited in inland Argentina, even the smallest, if he saw that there was no club, in his farewell speeches he never failed to make a request to the authorities: “Mr Mayor, please, how is it that a town like this does not have a chess club…?”; that was one of his ever-present requirements. He successfully overcame the most terrible setbacks, as few are capable of doing, and as regards his meddlesome nature, on the great majority of occasions it was because he wanted to help, according to his way of seeing things, of course. I had the great good fortune to get to know him, fi rst through magazines and books, later by watching him play and later still by playing against him and being his frequent sparring partner in the marathon blitz sessions which were always a part of his life. How could anyone not remember Najdorf’s sayings, repeated again and again, as entertaining as the first time he said them: “I had a ve-e-ery wise aunt, who used to say, better a pawn up than a pawn down”, laughing. “There are two ways of winning at chess, when you play well and your opponent plays badly, or when you play badly and your opponent plays worse”. “First the idea, then the move!”, etc., etc. We shall summarise nothing less than seventy years of Don Miguel’s chessplaying life , and we shall take a brief look back at the history of chess in Argentina, sometimes seen through Don Miguel’s eyes, thanks to his own writings. All of this, and his games, will be discussed in the book. Najdorf was the most important Argentinean chessplayer and he was an exceptional person; I feel privileged to have known him and to have spent time with him. 720 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Thinkers Publishing

  Efim Geller (1925-1998) was one of the giants of Soviet chess. Over his lifetime he beat the World Champions more often than he lost, and had healthy plus scores over Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Botvinnik among others. So he deserves the nickname of The Nemesis. Geller never became World Champion but he won everything else – two Soviet titles, seven Olympiad team gold medals and three Olympiad golds for individual performance are just a few of his accomplishments. Geller crowned his long career by becoming World Senior Champion in 1992. Geller was also noted for his ability to share his wisdom – he coached World Champions Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov. In The Nemesis, Geller annotates over 130 of his greatest games with wit and insight. 480 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag Quality Chess

‘Fischer gets up, tall, overweight, and slightly clumsy. He tries to fulfil the duties of the host and shakes hands, but his nervously darting eyes betray his unease with the situation. This is not a man accustomed to receiving visitors.’   Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam’s encounter with the reclusive American world champion in war-torn Yugoslavia, is the apotheosis of a unique collection of interviews with chess legends and stars that was first published in 1993.   Why did Garry Kasparov think Bobby Fischer was an alien? How many stamps does Anatoly Karpov have? Was it really Caruso who appeared in Vassily Smyslov’s dream to teach him how to sing?   Brimming with anecdotes and revealing insights these interviews bring together champions past and present. From Botvinnik, Najdorf, Portisch and Spassky to modern stars like Anand, Kramnik, and Judit Polgar.   Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam is editor-in-chief of New In Chess, the chess magazine with readers in 116 countries. He is the author of Linares! and The Day Kasparov Quit.   286 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag New In Chess

What goes on in some of the sharpest minds on earth?Ten years after his bestselling "Finding Bobby Fischer", Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam has collected a new series of intimate portraits of the top grandmasters of chess. Ten Geuzendam wins the confidence of Garry Kasparov, Miguel Najdorf, Vishy Anand, Judit Polgar, David Bronstein, Hikaru Nakamura and many others.He meets the living legends of chess in Buenos Aires and Istanbul, Moscow and New York. Vladimir Kramnik explains how the Czech ice hockey team inspired him to beat Kasparov, while Henrique Mecking reveals that Jesus helps him to find the correct move.Anyone attracted by the mystique of the royal game will love the behind-the-scenes stories about the masters’ struggle to win, their fear of losing, and the striking difference between the European and the American chess scene. Centre stage is occupied by the great Garry Kasparov, who topped the world rankings for more than 20 years, a feat unparalleled in any sport. Kasparov’s dramatic retirement from professional chess marks the end of an epoch. An epoch which The Day Kasparov Quit evokes in fascinating detail.   344 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag New In Chess

Paul Morphy might well be the most brilliant and enigmatic chess champion of all time. He burst onto the scene in 1857 as a 20-year-old and dominated the chess world for two short years, convincingly defeating all the strongest players. After conquering the European chess scene, Morphy was universally recognised as the greatest player of all time. But at the age of 22 he suddenly and permanently retired from serious competition. Morphy's greatness shone so brightly that 75 years later he was still considered the greatest by world champions Lasker and Capablanca. He is still revered for his brilliant combinations and other contributions to chess. Bobby Fischer called him 'perhaps the most accurate player who ever lived'. Garry Kasparov regarded him as 'the prototype of the strong 20th century grandmaster' and 'the forefather of modern chess'. There are many important biographies and game collections about Morphy. Award-winning chess author Charles Hertan brings us something new - a comprehensive modern biography that delves deep into his fascinating history, unearthing new information about Morphy's origins, intertwined with an in-depth exploration of Morphy's games, often overturning over 160 years of previous analysis. Hertan uses his experience as a professional psychotherapist to shed new light on Morphy's tragic mental deterioration. The author also examines the state of chess before Morphy, wading into the current debate about the role of the great masters Howard Staunton and Adolf Anderssen in chess history, and whether Morphy's time should rightly be called the 'Romantic Era'. The Real Paul Morphy brings you everything you need to know about Paul Morphy's life, chess and legacy in a single volume. Charles Hertan is a FIDE master from Massachusetts with several decades of experience as a chess coach. He is the author of the award-winning Forcing Chess Moves and the bestselling Power Chess for Kids series.384 Seiten, Hardcover, Verlag New in Chess

Mária Ivánka, the world-renowned many-times champion, was a star in Hungarian womens chess for two decades. She twice beat the active World Champion, Nona Gaprindashvili. Mária was one of the few players who often caused trouble for the Soviet womens chess elite. In her book she journeys back in time recalling some of the milestones of her career. The fairytale-sounding title refers to the trophy she won a couple of times in Holland, and also to the constant silver medals of the Hungarian womens team at the Olympics. This is not a traditional chess book, although it does contain about 100 crucial games of grandmasters from Chess Olympiads, world and national championships, and other tournaments. Even though Silver Queen is an autobiography it is also a review of the last 40 years of international chess. It contains interesting stories and views on cultural differences between Europe and the United States, the unbelievable pressure and uplifting moments of Chess Olympiads, differences between male and female chess, fights behind the scenes, and lots more...312 Seiten,gebunden, Eigenverlag

This work was originally envisioned as a single-volume collection of my most memorable games, annotated by me, à la Bobby Fischer´s My 60 Memorable Games. However the more I delved into the past, the more things started to rise up from the recesses of my memory, which, along with deeper analysis and more detailed introductions to the games, made it more like an anthology of chess stories. Thankfully, my gracious editors decided to split the work into two volumes.  What you are going to find in this first volume is a selection of my most memorable battles on the chessboard during the first of two different periods. It covers the time from my arrival in the USA as an up-and-coming young talent in early 1989, acquiring the freedom to play in any open tournament in the world and quickly gaining precious experience to grow into a challenger for the World Championship in 1996. This period ended with my early retirement from the game to pursue other goals in life.  The second volume will cover my experiences after returning to the professional chess arena in 2004, having completed my college and higher education, with the goal of fighting for the world title again. I came very close to achieving this; winning the World Cup in 2007 placed me amongst the top three players in the world. Such a successful return from retirement had never been attempted or achieved before in chess history.  I have included just a couple of games aft er 2013 since I felt that they were important to show the reader how, despite the ever-changing nature of chess, some aspects of it remain eternal.   440 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Thinkers Publishing

This is the second volume of my memorable games collection. Here you will find games that I played after my return to chess back in 2004. It had been eight years since my last tournament, and so much had changed for me. I had entered my first marriage and just graduated from Touro Law Center with an eye on my favorite subject, Intellectual Property, and on another new development at the time called cyber law, which dealt with issues related to the internet and international jurisdiction.At the same time it represented an opportunity for me to return to something that I had devoted so much time and energy to, the game of chess. For the first time in my life I was free to pursue directions of my own choosing.The decision was a difficult one, but finally I decided to return to chess, feeling that I could somehow positively influence both FIDE and the chess world in general. They were still split and had different world champions, the FIDE one, and the PCA one, which was the more prestigious of the two. The PCA World Champion was Mr. Kramnik, who had succeeded Mr. Kasparov as World Champion in the long line of world championship matches.Clearly there were some triumphs and failures during this period of my chess career, but ultimately I feel that I have left a certain mark on the generation from which the world's current top players have emerged.  454 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag Thinkers Publishing

Boris Spassky is the most underappreciated World Champion in chess history, remembered as the Soviet who lost to Bobby Fischer in 1972. In this two-volume work, biographer extraordinaire Tibor Karolyi puts the focus on Spassky’s brilliant career and life story. Born in 1937, Spassky barely escaped with his life when evacuating from the Siege of Leningrad as a young boy. This book tells the story of how that boy subsequently learned to play chess and rose through the Soviet ranks to become the strongest player in the world in the late 1960s. International Master Tibor Karolyi is a renowned author and trainer from Hungary. His biographical works for Quality Chess have received glowing praise from readers and reviewers. “It feels a little bit like overdoing things to give 5 stars to a set of three books [about Tal], but if any Best Games collection has ever deserved it, then this one has! Don’t waste any time: get down to the bookshop and enjoy!” GM Matthew Sadler, New in Chess   “Karolyi spent several years studying his protagonist. He delivers a fascinating account of Karpov’s skills.” GM Lubomir Kavalek 344 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag Quality Chess

Robert James Fischer is one of the greatest and most celebrated players in chess history. Exactly fifty years since the American won the right to challenge Boris Spassky for the World Championship crown, Tibor Karolyi documents Fischer’s unique journey from precocious youngster to the chess icon who obliterated Taimanov and Larsen before convincingly beating Petrosian on The Road to Reykjavik. The second volume, Fischer – Spassky 1972, is devoted to the Reykjavik match which captivated the entire world. International Master Tibor Karolyi is a former Hungarian Champion who is renowned as both an author and a trainer. His previous biographical works for Quality Chess received glowing praise from chess readers and reviewers. 432 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag Quality Chess

The secrets of Magnus Carlsen’s endgame technique Magnus Carlsen’s brilliant endgame play has been one of the key reasons for his success. At the age of 13 the Norwegian became the youngest grandmaster in the world, at 19 the youngest number one in the FIDE world rankings, and at 22 the second youngest World Champion in history.With his fine technique, great inventiveness and iron determination Magnus has won countless endgame positions in which almost everyone else would have settled for a draw. He also has saved endgames that seemed impossible to hold.International Master Tibor Karolyi has studied Carlsen’s career and has selected more than 90 of his best endgames for this book. He reviews them in chronological order to show how Magnus developed his skills. His technique and his choices are explained in a manner that is easy to understand for club players.Endgame Virtuoso Magnus Carlsen is a highly instructive, inspiring and entertaining book. It will help you to appreciate Magnus’ endgame magic and shows you how to become a better endgame player yourself. 267 Seiten, kartoniert, Verlag New in Chess

Free Interactive eBook included! As an introductory offer, the eBook is included when you buy the paperback or hardcover edition. Offer valid until April 30. Hardly anyone paid attention when Sultan Khan arrived in London on April 26, 1929. A humble servant from a village in the Punjab, Khan had little formal education and barely spoke English. He had learned the rules of Western chess only three years earlier, yet within a few months he created a sensation by becoming the British Empire champion.  Sultan Khan was taken to England by Sir Umar Hayat Khan, an Indian nobleman and politician who used his servant’s successes to promote his own interests in the turbulent years before India gained independence. Sultan Khan remained in Europe for the best part of five years, competing with the leading chess players of the era, including World Champion Alexander Alekhine and former World Champion Jose Raoul Capablanca. His unorthodox style often stunned his opponents, as Daniel King explains in his examination of the key games and tournaments in Khan’s career. Daniel King has uncovered a wealth of new facts about Khan, as well as dozens of previously unknown games. For the first time he tells the full story of how Khan, a Muslim outsider, was received in Europe, of his successes in the chess world and his return to obscurity after his departure for India in 1933. Daniel King (1963) is an English chess grandmaster, coach, journalist and broadcaster. He has written 16 chess books on topics ranging from opening preparation to the self-tutoring How Good is your Chess? and How to Win at Chess. 384 Seiten, gebunden, Verlag New in Chess