Game Collection Books

It is not really in doubt that Bobby Fischer is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) chess players of all-time. His name is one that it is recognized immediately by almost anyone with even a passing interest in chess. His numerous brilliant games are very well known and have been seen in numerous anthologies.

However, Fischer also played many games that have generally escaped public attention. These include early games before he was well known, simultaneous games, blitz games as well as many classical games that have simply fallen under the radar. There is also a match of ten games played against Svetozar Gligoric in Sveti Stefan before his famous “re-match” with Boris Spassky.

Prolific author Cyrus Lakdawala has tracked down many of these games. They provide fresh material for die hard Fischer fans and provide numerous examples of Fischer’s extraordinary chess talent. Thanks to his remarkable ability to find clear cut plans and strategies in any position, Fischer somehow managed to make chess look easy. This is a very instructive anthology.

Cyrus Lakdawala is an International Master, a former National Open and American Open Champion, and a six-time State Champion. He has been teaching chess for over 40 years, and coaches some of the top junior players in the U.S.

This revised and enlarged special anniversary edition for his 80th birthday includes both volumes with his games with white and black. Korchnoi’s annotations are honest, detailed and very instructive.

„In all of chess history you cannot find another player with this long-lived discipline, vigour, and ferocity… He still wants to play big games with big ideas. He is one of the greatest truth-seekers.“ Garry Kasparov

The strategies of the Norwegian chess grandmaster the Washington Post calls "the Mozart of chess," currently the top ranked player in the world. Now firmly established among the world's elite, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen has been setting records ever since he embarked on his chess career. He became a grandmaster at the age of just 13, and in 2010 he became the youngest player to be ranked No.1 in the world. This book presents detailed annotations to 64 of Carlsen's best games, together with a description of his career. Also examined are the deficiencies from which he suffered as a young player, and how he overcame these on his way to the top.

In 1904, the American chess player Frank James Marshall was at the top of his game. He had won several tournaments in a row, including the prestigious event in Cambridge Springs 1904, ahead of the reigning world champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker.

In the present work, the reader will find:A biographical sketch of Frank J. Marshall

– Opening Analysis of all relevant openings (as they looked in 1904) 

– A selection of thirty-two of his best and most interesting games from the period 1899-1904, all annotated by contemporary players, including many by Marshall himself. 

– All games and analyses have been thoroughly reviewed, updated, and expanded by FIDE master Carsten Hansen.

In 1921, the long-reigning champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker finally accepted the conditions to play a match for the World Chess Championship against the young, Cuban Phenom José Raúl Capablanca. The match took place in Havana and became a rather one-sided affair, with Capablanca with four games before Lasker forfeited the match after just 14 games.

The present book revisits the material and analysis put forward by Capablanca in a 1921 book on the match and includes:

– The analysis by Capablanca has been re-examined, computer-checked, and expanded. 

– Additional game references from contemporary games, with an emphasis on games and variations played by Lasker and Capablanca. 

– In the second part of the book, all other games between Lasker and Capablanca have been included. drawing on the analysis and annotations from the original tournament books. 

– Analysis included by Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, Bohatyrchuk, Sozin, and others. 

– Tournament tables from all tournaments where both Lasker and Capablanca took part, both before and after the 1921 match. 

– Unique material including pictures from some of their encounters and a recounting of a conversation between Capablanca and Rokhlin ahead of Capablanca's game vs Lasker in Moscow, 1936.

FIDE Master Carsten Hansen has carefully re-examined all games and analyses for this expanded and updated edition that should thrill both fans of Capablanca, Lasker, and chess history.

‘Albin Planinc was born in the middle of the Second World War, on 18th April 1944, in the little village of Briše, near the small town of Zagorje ob Savi, approximately 30 kilometers from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. He spent his childhood with his mother Ljudmila (unofficially Milka), a simple, uneducated woman who earned money from various unskilled jobs’.

This fascinating biography of over eighty-five annotated games and stories are being presented by grandmasters Georg Mohr and Adrian Mikhalchishin. It covers Planinc’ entire life and chess career, including his most fascinating games. This fitting tribute of a forgotten chess genius should be found in anyone’s chess library. Thanks to this colorful book Albin Planinc will continue to inspire us all and will keep his spirit alive.

Twenty more years?

Magnus Carlsen has said that he may stay at the top for another 20 years. And who can argue with the World Champion? He's been dominating top-level chess with an iron fist and has rightly highlighted the lack of consistency from his potential rivals.

When Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen burst onto the chess scene, there was no doubt whatsoever about their future destiny: sooner or later they were going to become World Champion. How different is the situation today, when there seems to be no such player.

New In Chess contributing editor Anish Giri presents ten chess players that may challenge Carlsen's hegemony in the years ahead. Or may not. Giri not only shares his insider's knowledge about his colleagues in his lucid and witty notes to their games, he also provides the reader with valuable lessons in all phases of the game.

Anish Giri (1994) became a Grandmaster at the age of 14.

WINNER of The Guardian 2009 Chess Book of the Year Award 

WINNER of The British Chess Federation 1995 Book of the Year Award

In this modern chess classic David Bronstein, one of the greatest chess artists of all time, shares his insights in his wonderful games – 237 of them played between 1938 and 1996, a career spanning 58 years.

Bronstein was famous for the joy he derived from teaching the game and this spirit permeates his writings. His explanations and analyses are invariably lively and easy to understand for players of all levels who want to improve their chess.

David Bronstein’s achievements and his legendary creativity have ensured him a unique position in chess history. He drew a match for the World Championship, won Soviet Championship twice and took first place in numerous international tournaments.

This revised and expanded edition, published two years after Bronstein passed away, contains a lot of new material and two moving In Memoriams, one by Bronstein’s widow Tatiana Boleslavskaya and one by his co-author and friend Tom Fürstenberg.

Furthermore, 32 pages of unique photographs have been included, as well as extensive new articles by Bronstein himself.

This unconventional book is a fitting homage to one of the eternal chess greats, fascinating and rich in ideas, and written with contagious enthusiasm.

Arne Moll, ChessVibes: 

"Bronstein was not only a fantastic chess player, but also a great chess explicator. The book is full of very useful and instructive explications (..) There's lots of cool new stuff compared to the first edition."

Angus Dunnington, CHESS Magazine: 

“There are many tips for the non-genius and it is a very useful book for those who want to improve.”

IM Malcolm Pein, The Guardian: 

“There are photographs, personal history, anecdotes and advice. Above all it is a wonderful record of Bronstein's great achievements. A splendid addition to any chess library.”

Marshtower Chess Reviews: 

"Those who already own the earlier edition should be pleased by the new edition too. I think there is enough new material to justify an upgrade for one's library."

The Judges of the Guardian 2009 Chess Book of the Year Award: 

"Our book of the year is an unusual, personal, inspirational and endearing work."

IM John Donaldson: 

"This revised and expanded edition (..) contains a lot of new material (..) It belongs in every chessplayer's library"

John Henderson, The Scotsman: 

"Deserves a place on every chess player's bookshelf."

José Raúl Capablanca (1888-1942, World Champion 1921-1927) had a way of posting his pieces on exactly the perfect squares at the perfect time. For his opponents, it almost felt as if Capa’s pieces had a gift for condescension, since they had no need to look for opportunity. Opportunity instead came to them. The position’s optimal plan would magically and instantaneously arrange itself into coherent order within Capa’s chess mind.

Capablanca raised the bar on strategic understanding by at least one full generation. Only a handful of players in chess history were a generation ahead in strategic understanding: Morphy, Steinitz, Capablanca, Fischer, Karpov and Carlsen. The subject of this book and series is the third player on the list. While Capablanca was a player of his time, so advanced were his strategic ideas that he was simultaneously a person of our time as well.

There has never been a chess player who played blemish-free chess, yet some came close. At its best, Capa’s play appears free from obstacles of any kind. To players of that engine-free era, it sometimes felt as if Capablanca played perfect chess. The first time Emanuel Lasker met Capablanca and played blitz against him, he remarked that to his eyes, Capa never appeared to make a mistake.

Beginners often believe that quiet positions and endings are dead, lifeless realms. Play through Capablanca’s games and we see that they teem with life and possibility, since Capa saw hidden meanings in positions where his rivals were blind. He was especially deadly in quiet positions, since he had the unique ability to kill without seeming to strike a blow. By the time his opponents realized the danger, it was often too late to save themselves.

Few of us associate Capablanca with tactics, but maybe we should. He was one of the most tactically aware players of his era, rivaling both Lasker and Alekhine in this metric. Capa’s specialty was short-range combinations, which he almost never missed.

This series will be in three volumes covering the early years, Capa’s prime, and finally the later years. In this book, you will be presented with exercises which you can choose to do or not do. They include: combinations, calculation/visualization, planning and decision-making.

The present volume, number I, contains 156 freshly annotated games and fragments incorporating 168 exercises.

I decided to divide the book into four parts. In the first and the most difficult and time-consuming part of the book you will find my memorable games. I emphasize that these are my most memorable games, not my best games so out of 25 games given here there are a few draws and one loss. If I had decided to collect my best games the selection would have been quite different. It should therefore come as no surprise that as many as seven games with world champions found their way into the book.

The second part consists of my 50 most memorable fragments. There you will see both instructive and curious examples. Here too the selection process was quite strict. While the memorable games cover the period of 1991-2010, the fragments cover the span from 1982 till 2016. And since they cover my early years as well, you will find some of them that did not find their way into databases.

The third part of the book contains my 75 studies, in 50 of which White must draw and in 25 must win. I have many more but except for a couple of examples I decided not to include the most difficult and interesting rook studies in the book. I have to say that composing studies is much more difficult than problems; it’s just a hell of a job.

And finally, the fourth, my favorite part of the book, featuring my 150 best chess problems. I should talk about this in greater detail: I was 12 when I composed my first problem. It was later published in the article by the famous composer and study-maker Alexander Sarychev, whom I had had the great fortune to meet. Yet, despite this positive experience at a young age, it was only much later that I composed a significant number of problems.

And so, I hope that in each of the 300 snippets presented in the book, be it games, fragments, studies or problems, the reader will find something worthwhile. At least, the author really strove for that.

WINNER of the English Chess Federation 2008 Book of the Year Award! 

"One of the most original and interesting books to have won the Book of the Year Award." 

SHORTLISTED for The Guardian 2008 Book of the Year Award

SHORTLISTED for the ChessCafe 2007 Book of the Year Award

Part 1: Overthrow of a Colossus: London 2000, Part 2: Photo Finish in Brissago: 2004, Part 3: Big Brother in Chess City: Elista 2006

An extraordinary account of the main battles in the life of Vladimir Kramnik, a World Champion and a Samurai, in Bareev’s words.

From London to Elista gives a fascinating look behind the scenes of top-level chess. It provides superb analysis of all the games by Bareev, but it does much more.

In Socrates-style dialogues, Bareev and co-author Ilya Levitov reveal everything about the preparation, the progress and the aftermath, about the secret strategy and the brutal stress of the three battles.

This rich book is indispensable for anyone who wants to know what makes top grandmasters tick. It is written from the horse’s mouth, and it is full of honesty, irony, history, wit, anger, wisdom, and even poetry. With many photographs.

Evgeny Bareev is one of the world’s strongest grandmasters today. He was Kramnik’s second during the matches against Kasparov in 2000 and against Leko in 2004, and was in close contact with the Kramnik team during the scandal-plagued match with Topalov in Elista. Ilya Levitov has been an ardent chess amateur all his life. He is a close friend of Vladimir Kramnik and Evgeny Bareev.

Former Dutch Champion IM Gert Ligterink, de Volkskrant: 

"A terrific read."

ChessVibes: 

"Simply breathtaking."

British Chess Magazine: 

"Absolutely riveting."

John Watson, The Week In Chess: 

"This is simply one of the very best books of the decade. Certainly in the genre of matches and tournaments, there's no contest."

Bob Long, Chessco: 

"It's insider stuff. It's history. It's anecdotes. It's real. It's terrific."

Johan Hut, Schakers.info: 

"A monumental book."

ChessCafe: 

"A backstage pass to the inner sanctum of world championship contenders."

Elburg Chess Reviews: 

"I can assure you that this is one of those books that you cannot put down."

Cor Jansen, PZC: 

"For those interested in chess technique there are brilliant analyses. Lovers of intrigue and tall stories have a lot to enjoy. But the psychology of power play is not forgotten, either."

GM Peter Heine Nielsen, Skakbladet: 

"A fascinating read. A close-up by Bareev, who gives an exciting, detailed but also critical report of the matches."

Delaware Chess Newsletter: 

"A BIG chess book and a lot of fun."

Schach Magazine: 

"One is astonished how often Kramnik 'reads' the minds of his opponents (..) Many things that were inexplicable untill now can be understood because of this book."

The 1962 Candidates’ Tournament in Curaçao was one of the fiercest chess battles of all time. At the height of the Cold War, eight players contested the right to challenge World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik. The format of the tournament was a gruelling quadruple round-robin. Twenty-eight games were to be played on the tropical island, in a contest that lasted two months. 

The air trembled with drama and intrigue. One of the favourites, the brilliant Mikhail Tal,was taken to hospital after 21 rounds and had to withdraw. Three other players from the Soviet Union, Keres, Petrosian, and Geller, were making suspiciously short draws when playing each other. The two American players came to blows over the services of the second they were supposed to share.

Bella Kortchnoi, whose husband took an early lead in the tournament, was a puppet in the hands of the scheming Rona Petrosian, the wife of the later winner. And one of the favourites was a lanky 19-year-old boy from Brooklyn, Bobby Fischer, who openly accused the Soviets of collusion and was later proven right.

In the end, Tigran Petrosian was the winner and went on to become the new World Champion the following year. But such was the impact of Fischer’s accusations that this was the last time such a battle was organised. Henceforth the challenger to the highest crown was determined in a series of matches. Curaçao 1962 was the last Candidates’ Tournament until the concept was restored only in modern times.

In Curaçao 1962, Jan Timman returns to this clash of giants and takes a fresh look at the games. Timman describes the course of the tournament and annotates the most important games (including 16 of Fischer’s!) in his usual lucid and instructive style. Curaçao 1962 revives a tradition of great tournament books, such as Alekhine’s New York 1927 and Bronstein’s Zurich 1953.

Shortlisted for the British Chess Federation 2005 Book of the Year Award.