Chess Books

A superb book, clear, explaining top technics to all.

I recommend it hotly to any Chess player [for you or as a present, you are sure to please], after many years playing chess, for fun and alos in the past in small tournaments, I learned a lot of tricks in ending that are easy to use/remember.

An reference book, very enjoyable.

This book was a gift request from my chess playing son. He loves it. He said it is so far beyond anything he expected.

I have a short attention span and this book gets around that by cramming so much information into every page that I don't have a chance to get bored. I do get bored wading through pulp and fluff looking for something useful. You probably have one or two of those books. Who doesn't?

I'm just an intermediate and I don't think this book is too hard. Jeremy Silman rated it around 1400 and up. I think that's about right.

Dvoretsky has a good sense of humor and his style is, believe it or not, somewhat conversational. The examples are to-the-point and he even covers some basics. The depth is not an all-or-none thing -- you'll get at least something out of the material even if you don't see it from every angle. It's the art of writing for several levels at once.

Good work!

As way of introduction, I am a former USCF master who after many years of inactivity has recently taken a renewed interest in the game and has therefore decided to become acquainted with the current chess literature...which brings us to this highly acclaimed Endgame Manual by Dvoretsky.
You may know that Dvoretsky is a famous trainer of world class grandmasters, and has perfected a system of training by which he claims he can bring a 2200 level player to the level of grandmaster. His series of books are in many ways comparable to the famous "Think Like a Grandmaster" series by Kotov (and all are also highly recommended). So, the target audience for this book is, I would think, like all of Dvoretsky's books, the serious student who has already reached a high standard and is searching for a way to improve his game even further.

So, if you buy this book, and master it, will you also become a master of the endgame? You of course will be well on your way, and that alone is a good reason to add this book to your library, but still there are 2 major problems with it. The first is unfortunate, and somebody who has mastered the endgame would not commit it. Dvoretsky attempts to formulate universally general principals of endgame play, and then ignores the counter-examples that show the exceptions to his rules. This is OK for a general endgame text, but we are training future grandmasters here remember, and the promulgation of erroneous rules is not the way to do it. So, example, consider this (wrong) Dvoretsky rule on page 152 given in the section discussing rook and pawn vs. rook endgames, with the pawn on the fourth rank, and you will understand the problem with his approach:

"It is important to remember that in case of a knight pawn, cutting off the king by two files is not sufficient for a win." -- Dvoretsky

To support this rule, he then gives the standard position, with the black king on e6, black rook on b8, white pawn on b4, white rook on d1, white king on b3...It is very true, the rule applies here, but move the black king to either e7 or e4, and white to play wins. The sad and ironic thing here is that on page 147 Dvoretsky berates Dlugy for missing a draw against Alburt in the USA ch, Los Angeles 1991, because his adjourned position was in fact analyzed in the classic work on rook endings by Levenfish and Smyslov, and which Dlugy had at his disposal. Well, if Dvoretsky would care to obtain a copy of the classic Levenfish and Smyslov himself, turn to page 38 in either the algebraic or descriptive notation versions of the book, he will find the positions with the king on e7 or e4, showing his rule to be wrong. And, having gotten a hold of Levenfish and Smsylov, he should read the last chapter, the conclusion, where he would find:

"The reader who has accompanied us along the difficult path from the simplest of rook endings to the complicated ones involving numerous pawns may be expecting ready-made rules or formulae for the correct treatment of endgames. He will not find them. The solving of even simple rook endings depends on delicate nuances in the position, to elucidate which requires a considerable amount of analytical work" -- Levenfish and Smyslov, "Rook Endings"

That is also the reason the authoritative "Secrets of Rook Endings" by Nunn is 352 pages -- it is impossible to reduce the endgame to simple rules...and leads us to the second problem with the book...402 pages is just not enough to treat the subject of the endgame in an accurate fashion. So, if you are using Dvoretsky as your only source, it would be impossible to not have serious gaps in your endgame knowledge, which I will illustrate again with a Dvoretsky rook and pawn vs. rook ending example. Dvoretsky gives a fundamental position (in his exercise 9/1, page 144) with pawn on the seventh where by an ingenious maneuver, white can win. The position is white pawn on f7, white king on e7, white rook on g1, black king on h8, black rook on c7. Normally, the black king in such positions is on h7, but on h8, a new feature is introduced, the white rook can occupy g6. The solution main line then is: 1.Kf6 Rc6+ 2.Ke5 Rc8 3.Rg6!! Kh7 4.Rc6 Ra8 5.Kf6 with Re6-e8 to follow which wins. So what's the problem? Move the black rook in the initial position from the c-file to the b or a-file, and it's a draw. Dvoretsky does not tell you this. I would think a student reading Dvoretsky's exercise very likely would form the opinion that with black king on h8 white always wins such positions because the g6 square is always available to the white rook, but that is not correct.

(As an aside, in the first example, Nunn gives both the e7 and e4 king positions on page 143 of his book. Karsten Muller in his "Fundamental Chess Endings" does not give the e4 position. Muller may have used computer tablebases to check the accuracy of his work, but one cannot check an omission. Both the e4 and e7 positions must be given because the winning method is different in the two cases. In the second example, Nunn also correctly identifies with the rook on the b or a-file, the position is drawn. Muller does not give the second example.)

So, yes...buy this book by all means, but realize that you will be forced eventually to supplement it with either the books by Nunn, or the maybe a combination of the old Averbakh endgame series, and of course the classic Levenfish and Smyslov, together with the computer tablebases.

I agree with other reviewers - this is probably the one book to get if you are a serious chess player seeking to get the edge in the endgame. It's advanced, so beginners might find Pandolfini's Endgame Course a good introduction. My only gripe, shared by others it appears, is the quality of the printing. The blue sections, which illustrate the essentials, vary from clear to faint. This is obviously deficient quality and needs fixing for the next print run. It's a pity as the book is intended to be studied, immersed in and pondered on.

I recently purchased Part I of "My Great Predecessors" and have found it the most enjoyable chess book I've ever read. I love history and chess, so this book was a good fit for me: the chess games and analysis are interweaved with a historical sketch of what was occuring at the time. I've found it quite fascinating.

BTW..the so-called historical inaccuracies are nits. Did Steinitz met Morphy in the street or at his home? Did Capa die in Olga's arms..or was she outside at the time?
If these are the types of things that keep you up at night with a frown on your face and give you indigestion, you'd better buy a different book. Cheers!

This is Volume One of the five-volume set of My Great Predecessors. I had to do a lot of shopping around to find each volume at a price I could afford, but if you are serious about developing an understanding of chess strategy, this set is an excellent resource. The books cover the history of great chessmasters, detailing many of their games. I don't start at page one and read through them sequentially; rather, I look up a particular strategy and lay out the game on my chessboard to move through it. One game usually leads to another, and I can spend hours going through the volumes this way. [NOTE that this review is authored by my 19-year-old son.]

This collection should be mandatory reading for anyone who takes chess seriously. Homework should be done and to do that... you need look no where else but this series. I am a giant Petrosian fan and I loved the third installment. The Fifth installment, being that I am fascinated by both Korchnoi and Karpov, Was my favorite. The first and second installments were great in view of a history lesson as I have a tendency to lean more towards the defensive masters like Lasker, Capa, and Botvinnik. As for the fourth, and possibly the most controversial of the series, its a must have. The Greatest player that may have ever lived writing about the greatest player that may have ever lived!!! A superb collection!!!

This book is the most enjoyable chess stuff I've ever had. Value of any chess book is primarily based on its precise in analysis and variation calculation. This is the case with the under review book. Moreover, Kasparov has injected his brilliant and scarece ingenuity in the lines of the book!

It's quite difficult to add something new to what has been said before by others. Hence I will not talk about the concrete but more about the 'feeling' I got while reading this book:
This is the very best games collection money can buy!
G. Kasparov clearly shows how chess evolved towards a more and more complex system.
GK suggests a lot of alternative/better moves in his annotations and together with his personal remarks, they are quite enriching for one's chess education. The often heard criticism that some variations contain blunders (?!), is irrelevant and not a drawback at all in my view: every reviewer admitted using fritz or a similar engine to even find those 'mistakes', moreover, can any reviewer boast a career like GK (? - until then they'd better listen and try to understand what GK is talking about in stead of losing themselves in some concrete variation with the help of their electronic friends). Obviously, in a real game you cannot be assisted in such a way; so what's the point if you can't find it yourself...
Also human chess isn't about THE right move (99% of us wins games because the opponent made the last blunder), but about beautiful patterns, unbelievable sacrifices, new ideas, etc. Or at least, that's how I see it. I think GK feels the same way; The game cannot be solved - as evidenced by recent computer WCC tournaments.
The history of the game as a process of calcification of the champion, eventually leading to the loss of the WCC title in favor of the new champion (who brings a new way of thinking to the board), is as simple as it is brilliant. I thank GK for showing this evolution!
So easily Five stars! I'm now finishing volume I and can't wait to start with volume II.
Perhaps one small negative point ... nope can't find one

With a new identity, honour bound Tiger Prince, Jeth, (Djethro-Jason) finds himself at his own mating day with none other than his sweetheart Princess, Martia-Djulia. But what is the problem with that, I hear you ask? Were they not made for each other? Unfortunately, that is the problem as Jeth cannot reveal who he really is as much as he'd love to. When one thing leads to another they both flee their public mating ritual in disgust, only to have their space craft shot down on planet An'Koor. Who would benefit from almost killing them?

Unbeknown to the couple, they are imprisoned on Freighter Island as part of a plan to force them to breed, as they should have done during their mating day. Stranded on this beautiful island with no one else to talk to you'd think it would be easy to woo Martia-Djulia, and believe me, Jeth tries! The pampered princess, however, is having none of what she believes to be an uncouth stranger's advances. She will not take off her designer dress for anyone! Even if it is wet and ruined. And so, their turbulent, but entertaining relationship evolves.

Insufficient Mating Material is a sequel to Forced Mate, and author, Rowena Cherry, cleverly rockets the science fiction and romance sub-genre into the stratosphere, igniting passion, burning desires and explosive family secrets along the way. It's full steam ahead, and quite a bumpy ride for our main characters, where love collides in the most alien of worlds and a plot like this keeps you suspended in time and space. There's absolutely no escape until the final conclusion has been revealed.

A romantic, breathtaking escape from reality, with some hot erotic moments and a fast paced plot. A good example of what can be done with this sub-genre. I loved it!

Sassy Brit
Alternative-Read
October 2007

INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL begins where FORCED MATE ends - with the issue of Djinni's jilted fiancée, Djetthro-Jason. He and Martia-Djulia (Tigger's sister) got it on in the first novel, but he does not know if he loves her and wishes to marry her. Marsh thinks her lover died and is not willing to accept a replacement. Tigger, ever practical, shoots their ship down - forcing them to be marooned together on a well-stocked tropical island.

Meanwhile, someone wants to kill the Princess. Of course, Djetth's grandmother and Marsh's mother have something to say about that. They set out to prove just how dangerous little old ladies can be. The characters all come together in a wonderful climatic scene, where the bad, bad man gets what he deserves.

I loved Forced Mate so wasn't surprised I loved Insufficient Mating Material. The author is witty, tells an intelligent and humorous story that also has an amazing plot running throughout. Many of the characters were remembered, or at least familiar sounding; even so, I made good use of the genealogy chart at the back of the book.

If you've read Forced Mate, you'll recall that the Imperial Family gives new meaning to the term, dysfunctional family. Well, the dysfunction continues, with treason, murder, plots and counterplots aplenty. Briefly, the Tiger Prince's sister, Martia-Djulia, publicly refuses the mate chosen for her. Unrecognizable after his surgery, Djetth is really the man she yearns to have as her mate, but he's honor bound to conceal his identity. Tiger Prince maroons the two on a deserted island until they agree to be mates. Since Djetth believes he's in love with another princess, and Martia-Djulia knows she's in love with the murdered Commander Jason, it takes a while for the two to catch on that they might actually like one another. And then they're attacked.

The romance slowly builds between the two, and the conversations leave you chuckling. The author has people from Earth as characters too, who observe and interpret what they see into Earth lingo which I found hilarious. The plot, the writing, the Tigron Empire, the characters and the romance are well done, well thought out. But it was the romance, the ending that made the book for me. One of the best endings I've read in a long time. A true romance. I highly recommend this book.

Cherry is clearly Brit, and what a delightful find. This book is just so different that catches you off guard. I received it and Forced Mate in a box of books for Christmas (with a note "read it, you will love it"), and thought Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I am not into space/Sci-fi adventures, but after I ran through the books that I wanted, I moved to this. And how wickedly wonderful this book is. I suppose I shall need to rethink my not liking this genre. Cherry has a droll, dead bang humour that had me laughing aloud. Actually, my sides ached from laughing. I think I really needed to go back and read Forced Mate first, but I cannot say how much I enjoyed this very original book. Hoping there shall be more D-books coming?

Like the first book in the series, "Forced Mate" this is a Space Opera romantic comedy.

I thought "Forced Mate" was a serious contender for the description of being the silliest book I have ever read, but it was also quite entertaining and did make me laugh. "Insufficient Mating Material" is almost as silly but even funnier. It takes the mickey out of everything from Science Fiction, through Romance, Espionage, and the Freemasons, to the Royal Lifesaving Association.

The basis for the story is that our galaxy contains two major powers, both led by the last surviving members of a superhuman race called "Great Djinn." The first is the Empire of the "Communicating words" under god-Emperor Djerrold Vulcan V and his son, Crown Prince Tarrant-Aragon, the Tiger prince. (Think Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader without the helmet.)

The other power in the galaxy is the "Saurian Knights" who were described in the first book as a cross between the United Nations, N.A.T.O, and the Freemasons. This point is further elaborated in this book: a Saurian ambassador tells an earth-human who uses the name Grevious that

"The Saurian organisation is like a combination of your N.A.T.O, U.N, the Freemasons, the International Red Cross, and Amnesty International, with a few James Bond types on the side. We think of ourselves as the good guys."

The leader of the Saurians is the "Saurian Dragon" whose identity is a closely guarded secret but he is in fact closely related to the imperial family. A Djinn family tree on page 323 at the end of the book explains the complex family relationships within the Imperial Dynasty and the Saurian leadership, and the author has throughtfully included an asterisk in the text whenever the reader might wish to refer to it.

At the start of the previous book, the wicked Tiger prince Tarrant Aragon abducted from Cambridge on Earth a young woman called Djinna-Vera or "Jinny," who was pretending to be a normal human undergraduate but was actually half-Djinn and a member of the Saurian Knights. Needing a Djinn or at least half-Djinn woman to sire an heir, Tarrant Arragon was plotting to woo and marry Jinny. Meanwhile, the Saurians had their own plots to overthrow Tarrant Aragon - which went disastrously, embarrassingly, and amusingly wrong ...

During the course of the embarrassing chaos in the first book, a trap laid by the Saurians for Tarrant Aragon actually catches their own principal undercover agent, Djethro Jason, who was working underground as "Commander Jason" in the Imperial Palace. A bottle with the scent of a Djinn female (think Mickey Finn) which was intended to make the Tiger Prince disgrace himself instead causes Djethro Jason to mate with the Tiger prince's sister, Princess Martia Djulia.

Both parties thoroughly enjoy the mating, and Martia Djulia asks her brother if she can have "Commander Jason" for her husband. Tarrant Aragon is quite willing to go along with this, but there is a serious snag: the Emperor and public opinion believe, with good reason, that "Commander Jason" was implicated in a plot against the Imperial Family, and if the Emperor finds out that that "Commander Jason" by whatever name is still alive, the condition will be very temporary.

As a result of major surgery following some serious injuries, however, Jason's appearance has changed. So Tarrant Aragon announces that "Jason" died of his injuries, brings him back under his real name of Djethro-Jason and betrothes him to a furious Martia Djulia - who has no idea that her fiancee is actually the man she really wants ....

And that is only the start of another round of romance, plots, treason, and mistaken identity ...

I didn't think that Rowena Cherry was going to be able to keep this story going for the length of one book, let alone two, without it collapsing under the weight of contradictions and silliness, but like the fiurst, this does manage to stagger to an amusing conclusion.

Don't touch this if you are either PC or prudish, it's fairly raunchy and very politically incorrect. Nor if you want your reading to be serious or worthy. But if you want to read something ridiculous, light hearted, and mildly amusing, you may well enjoy "Forced Mate" and "Insufficient Mating Material."

In my early years of playing and studying chess, Alekhine's games made the most impression on me (let me say first I didn't study more modern masters after Botvinnik in those years because I read materials which were dated years ago so it excluded Fischer, Kasparov, etc.) I heard that some players including Kasparov also remarked that. If you think of chess as an art, Alekhine's games certainly have quite distinct qualities which I try to describe.
Alekhine's games possess qualities which someone may find very attractive (myself in early years) but another one may find it heavy (like Fischer; although Fischer did made some positive comments on Alekhine's chess). I like to compare Alekhine's art to that of Beethoven while Capablanca's to Mozart's). Alekhine in his early years did not possess the positional mastery which is necessary to propel a player to the top rank, but he did have combination gift which makes his games fascinating. This reason (there is also psychological block which Reuben Fine pointed out)explains why Lasker and Capa were superior than him in his early years. Later Alekhine developed his positional mastery and he's a well-rounded player with a rare ability to produce beautiful games. At his peak, he is distinguished even among world champions.
The decision to buy this book may depend on your taste and your stage of development. Some masters' games are complicated and beginners may find them a bit difficult to understand without annotation. In my opinion, beginners will benefit from studying Morphy's games and learn the importance of development and how to play in open positions. Capablanca's games are also very good to beginners. His games improve my playing with positional understanding. Besides, I believe that one can imitate Capa's playing style with no risk. The same is true for investors to imitate Warren Buffett's investment style (but there's no gaurantee that you can achieve the same results as Buffett). But you can hardly imitate Alekhine's style as it's risky to try to imitate George Soros's investment style.
In conclusion, I think you will not regret buying Alekhine's games but it's possible (depend on your taste) that you will like other masters. At the same time, some will find great inspirations from his games. One of Alekhine's greatest games, Reti-Alekhine 1923 (if i'm not mistaken) is truly spectacular, a rare beauty. I wonder if a very strong computer program (perhaps even stronger than Alekhine) can produce this game.

This book (originally published in two volumes, covering 1908-1923 and 1924-1937) has some great faults. Yes, Alekhine's analysis is sometimes unobjective. Yes, he sometimes (though rarely) presented as the actual gamescore a faster win that, in fact, he had only found in a post-mortem analysis. And, yes, of course, his opening ideas and opinions are outdated.

That said, this book (these books?) are still, justifiably, considered a classic. The real reason has nothing to do with Alekhine's outdated opening analysis or his creation of a quicker win in the endgame after the fact. It is Alekhine's analysis of the MIDDLEGAME, of attack, defense, and counterattack--the very meat of the game--that makes this book great.

As a master of the complicated attack, of turning nebulous strategic advantages into concrete winning variations, Alekhine had seldom, if ever, been equalled. Choosing a game at random (Game 62, Tarrasch-Alekhin, Pstyan 1922) and skipping over the opening variations, Alekhine notes, inter alia:

1. Move 14: White is already strategically lost because he "ceded the center to his opponent in exchange for a pawn of little value".

2. Moves 18-24: After launching an attack to take advantage of this, Alekhine notes in detail the only correct tactical way to carry on the attack, praising White for defending very well (incidentally, praise for his opponent's moves--and criticism of his own--are quite common in Alekhine's analysis, contrary to the usual claim that he despised his rivals.)

3. Move 28: How he prepared a bishop sacrifice to break down white's final defense and mate.

It is probably true that, in top-flight games among the world's top 20 grandmasters, such games are impossible today, due to improvement in defensive technique that would not allow Black to achieve this kind of strategic advantage in the first place, or perhaps find resources to defend once the mating attack is launched.

But for anybody is not one of those top 10 (or perhaps 100) players, knowing how to conduct an attack in the middlegame once you have a strategic advantage is the single most important subject to learn, as this is how most games are decided; and here, Alekhine is unrivaled. Even if one (unfairly) ignores *all* of Alekhine's opening analysis as outdated and *all* of his endgame analysis as invented, what is left is an absolute gem.

The only reason I rated this book a 3 is because I only understood a little from the annotations as well as his games. I can see that the games are powerful, but I can't use them to my advantage, or use the sight-of-alekhine in my games.

I have purchased this book in hopes that I would become stronger very quickly. I was dissilusioned by the idea that buying a book by one of the greatest (if not best) chessmasters would make me a master myself in no time at all! I was very wrong.
For those people who are rated 1500 or below, save your money. Save the 10 dollars for a book you can actualy understand. "Art of Attack" is what im readin so far, and so far so good.

SUMMARY: Good price, but is over most people's head.
Only buy if your rated higher than 1600, and have a willingness and the pateince to learn.

As others have mentioned, Alekhine's analysis is highly unobjective. He often neglects to mention defensive oversights by his opponents in order to make a dubious attack seem like a forced win. Furthermore, his opening analysis is incredibly weak in this book. Many of the lines he criticises harshly are now considered the "book." It almost seems that the more rudely he treats a line, the more respect that line currently receives.

But the most appalling thing of all is that a good number of games have been doctored or made up out of whole cloth. Just a few of the most egregious examples:
Volume 1 --
(1) On page 69, he discusses a game he played as White in Moscow 1915 which ended with 5 queens on the board. In fact, his opponent Grigoriev had White, and the game provided never happened (White played 11.O-O-O, not 11.NPxP). The line he cites as the game actually come from an analysis of the game.
(2) On page 79, he changes the ending of the game. The game proceeded 36....QN5 not 36....BR5!
(3) On page 84, he claims Mieses resigned. In fact the game went on an additional 15 moves.
(4) On page 107, he changes the move order to highlight some analysis.
(5) On page 109, he claims he played 27.QK3! In fact, he played a weaker move and the game dragged on 21 more moves.
(6) On page 240, he cites a game Alekhine-Tenner 1907 which never took place.
Volume 2 --
(7) On page 250, he changes the ending of the game. He had played the weaker 22....PxB not 22....QxB leading to mate.

Utterly disgraceful.

I am working throught this book presently. I have had it since '95 and each time I come back to it I am more blown away by how great it is. The only negative--and it has nothing to do with the quality of the book--is that there aren't a lot of Sicilians and King's Indians, so we don't really know how the great man would have dealt with those. This book represents one of the best values on the market, at 500-some pages at around ten bucks. If you don't have this book, you cannot be said to have a chess library.

I purchased this book more as a way to confront the French with White. As I began to read through the book I started to change my notions of the French and picked it up as one of my main weapons against 1.e4. In fact I routinely get 1.d4 players to play the French as well(1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5).

This book not only gives you more lines than a beginner will ever use but gives you an osmosis like feel for the themes of the French.

I particularly liked the Classical section which was added for this addition.

Buy this book!

The Rubinstein should have been included in this book, because 3.Nc3/Nd2 3..dxe4 will indeed reduce your workload when studying the French opening.

This is a good book for the reasons other reviewers have given, but there is one major deficiency.

Watson gives almost no coverage to 1.e4 e6 2.c4.

This is a very dangerous and complicated opening. If you are unprepared for it, ( and Watson will not prepare you for it )you will have your head handed to you, right in the opening.

The reason it is so dangerous, is as follows :

1) 2..c5 is good, but that means you must learn the Sicilian. So why take the time to learn the French on top of that?

2) 2..c6 gives you a bad, passive Caro-Kann where you have already committed to a premature e6.

3) 2..b6 is the English Defense, regarded as second-rate.

4) 2..e5 and you have lost a tempo compared to 1.e4 e5 2.c4, which can only be bad for Black.

To stay French, you must play 2..d5. This is not bad for Black, but it is
very sharp with plenty of diverse variations and requires plenty of study- and Watson won't help you at all.

In the past, I never purchased this book because it lacked coverage of the Classical Variation (which I play), and beat readers over the head with the Winawer. I would have given previous editions 3 stars because of that fact alone.

However, Watson completes his ever-popular work with the Classical, and of course updates the other parts as well. He includes a lot of sidelines that are normally left out of monographs, and this is appreciated.

The most complete coverage of the French Defense you will find anywhere. NOW it truly is the Francophile's bible.

I need to make one thing clear. Some people think the French is a positional opening that leads to long boring endgames. Well they are all wrong! The French is one of the most agressive counter-attacking opening in all of chess. After reading this book I have slashed people rated hundreds of points higher than me. There is absolutely nothing white can do to stop your counter play. In the Advance Variation you will demolish white's center. Also it is an exremely psychological opening. Many people think the French is for cowards that are afraid to get into the sicilian. So White trys to over-due himself. This fails. They think 1...e6 is a little sissy move, but little does white know that he has to suffer through massive counter attacks. Usually involving a sacrifice on f3...which leads me to say this: You better be ready to sacrifce material to get an attack on the king or get over-whelming counter play. In countless of lines black does the exchange sacrifice to get an edge. No one has beaten me with 1 e4 yet. I almost beg my opponent to play 1 e4 because he will get slaughtered. White truly under estimates the power of the French and that's exactly what I want him to think. Let white think the French is crap and then show him the light by obliterating him into peices.
This is the book to get to cover all of your French needs. It contains everything said above even the exchange sacrifices.

Went through over 50 other chess books before opening this one, and it's so good, I bought every other volume Seirawan has written. Wish the binding were softer so that the book would hold itself open, and Microsoft Press left out two pages of the intro! but it's a necessary part of any good chess library.

This book, when I first acquired it, was a dream come true. I remember reading "Chess, beginner to expert" by Larry Evens, my first chess book. I'll never forget his chapter at the end, where he annoted every single move, in profound depth, of a game, letting me truly "understand" what goes through the mind of a person playing a proper chess game. My ability improved more from that than anything before or since. I dreamed of an entire book with many such games.

I have never seen a more comprehensive and instructive game collection book. Having read it about 7 years ago, It is one of the few ever that I still remember specific moves and techniques from. I still, till this day, remember playing to exploit the weak square on d6 that he explained to me from the white side of the Sicilian from this book. Instead of annoying, endless, and frankly, very tiring variations and lines, you truly understand the reasoning, and the ideas, behind every move that is played. It is tangible knowledge that stays with you, and is of great utility. Many books make you tired, and uninterested. This one stays interesting all the way through, while you learn.

John Nunn's comparable book, understanding chess, move by move was okay, but not near as instructive or in depth, I do not think.

This book is a masterpiece.

This is one of the best chess books I've seen. Winning strategies and ideas are presented in the context of real grandmaster games, and are explained move by move. You can read this book reasonably well even if you don't have a chess board at hand (although of course that helps a lot).

When it comes to books that cover BRILLIANT GAMES(usually short games), OPENING TRAPS and sacrifices, then I can spend all day going over them!!! Not all the games in "Winning Chess Brilliancies" are short, or involve opening traps. They often are deeper ideas where some deep idea that is well thought out is used. I like the selection of games here!

This is book #4 of Seirawan's great 'PLay Winning Chess' series. This book is loaded with some great games which are all nicely annotated by the 'Yaz.' This work can be enjoyed by all though but it really fits in nicely since those who have read books #1,2,& 3 can truely see if they have absorbed the info in Yaz's prior works.

It's a really interesting book, full of details and easy to read.
The cover describes Fisher as a lone hero, but inside the description of the two competitors is much more balanced.
Probably it could include some more details about the chess games: even if I'm not an expert, I was forced to find elsewhere the moves of the games which were described as particularly good or bad.

I first noticed this book on a stand at a bookstore because of its bright red cover. When I walked up to the stand and read the title I was surprised and excited to see that the book was about the famous Fischer-Spassky chess match held in Reykjavik, Iceland in the summer of 1972. I lived in New York City and was 14 years old then and I didn't know who Bobby Fischer was, neither did I know anything about chess, which goes for everyone I knew at the time also. I was aware of a cold war between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R though. The hype in the media is what got me and my friends interested in the match and chess, especially since Bobby Fischer was a New Yorker from Brooklyn. Before the Fischer-Spassky match I didn't know anyone that played chess except the elderly men I would see playing chess on stone tables in the neighborhood park. The serious expressions on the elderly men's faces as they played made me think chess was a boring game that lacked any fun. But, the same way that Tiger Woods got younger people and minorities interested in golf so did the match with Fischer and Spassky got me and some of my friends to learn to play chess and a good thing that was because it was a long, hot, boring summer and learning chess along with the Fischer and Spassky match kept us out of mischief.
I had often wondered how this historic chess match came to be played in Iceland of all places and this book tells you how that happened along with the whirlwind of behind the scenes preparations, accommodations, negotiations and drama regarding Fischer's demands and the demands of other parties involved with this match. I felt sorry for the Icelandic people because the Fischer-Spassky match disrupted their obscure peaceful lives but they adapted gracefully.
Even though this book is mostly about the people, events and issues surrounding the famous chess match it also provides some general background information about Fischer, Spassky and the chess world leading up to the match. There is more information concerning the Russian side than Fischer's side but that's only because Russian chess was a well-organized government funded sport that involved several committees, trainers, doctors and other Russian chess grandmasters. Bobby Fischer on the other hand was a loner who took up chess at the age of six and got deeply and passionately involved with the game and who mostly studied and taught himself chess. At a young age Bobby set the chess world championship title as his goal and he relentlessly pursued the title with intensity. Besides Bobby's passion and talent for chess I don't believe Bobby's life was interesting or special in any way. In fact, he grew up relatively poor with no father and dropped out of school to devote as much time as possible to the pursuit of excellence in chess. This is a guy that always carried a pocket chess set with him and he would pull it out anywhere and anytime he was bored or uninterested with his surroundings. One of Bobby's famous quotes is "Chess is life" at least chess was Bobby's life.
The Russians knew years before the famous match that they would have to contend with Bobby Fischer for the world chess championship title and when he finally did achieve the right to challenge the Russians for the chess championship at the relatively young age of 29 he had become a juggernaut, mowing down all of the grandmasters in the candidates round, a feat without precedence in the history of chess
Were the Russians concerned? You better believe it. But, since Fischer had never defeated Spassky in the past Spassky wasn't that concerned and that was part of his undoing. As we all know Bobby Fischer won the match convincingly and the repercussions were felt everywhere because the media had hyped this event as an east vs. west cold war showdown. The Soviet chess machine was dethroned and shaken to it's foundation, Bobby Fischer went from unknown to an instant heroe and international superstar celebrity overnight in a way that hadn't been seen since unknown pilot Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic ocean from New York to Paris non-stop to win the Ortieg prize in May 1927. The big difference is that Lindbergh basked in his new found celebrity status and prospered well and went on to promote aviation for many years. Bobby Fischer disappeared and forfeited his title to Karpov in 1975 when he refused to defend his title because the FIDE agreed to only 178 of his 179 demands thus adding more mystery and confusion to the enigma that was Bobby Fischer. Some people say Bobby didn't defend his title because he was afraid of losing, I don't believe that for a minute because as I wrote before Bobby had become a juggernaut and was in his chess playing prime. I will add another Fischer quote "The Russians have held my title for ten years and they're going to be in for it when I win the Championship. They're going to have to wait and play under my conditions." Besides Bobby's intense animosity towards the Soviet commies, and his desire to be in control due to his distrust of chess organizers, Bobby knew that the Russians were masters at drawing games and the one demand that the FIDE would not agree to was for draws not to count for half a point that way there would be more pressure to win a game than draw a game also Bobby believed it would truly decide the superior player and matches wouldn't last as long due to more decisive games and fewer draws. The FIDE thought the opposite way; they believed that with draws not being awarded half a point could cause matches to last indefinitely. I believe Bobby was right, thus Bobby's attempt to change some tournament and match game rules for the better was negated and he truly withdrew from chess competition.
No one in history has done more for chess than Bobby Fischer. Even today using Bobby Fischer's name will sell books, DVD's and magazines. For the first time since the Fischer-Spassky match people were able to make a living from chess because of its increased popularity. It took someone like Bobby Fischer with his antics, demands, brashness and genius to get the chess world noticed in this country. Bobby Fischer was the perfect person to take on the Soviet chess machine because he was totally unpredictable. Even the Russian psychologists after studying the profile they had on him came to the conclusion that he was a psychopath.
How do you play against a psychopath? to quote Spassky, "When you play Bobby, it isn't a matter of win or lose, it's a matter of if you survive" Spassky claims it took him a year to recover from the match with Fischer.
The losers to Bobby's withdrawing from chess competition is all of us who enjoy playing and love the game of chess because one can only imagine the wonderful games and brilliancies he would've performed had he continued to engage in chess competitions. Thus, when Bobby stopped playing chess, I stopped playing chess also but, I started to have another interest and my new interest was girls. Since no girls played chess and no girls were interested in chess and no girls were interested in guys that played chess, I stopped playing chess completely until I bought and read this book two years ago and started to take up the game of chess again and it was such a joy to relive the summer of 72 again. Thank you Bobby Fischer, you are the immortal king of the immortal game. RIP

If Bobby Fischer's name is affiliated with a book, it comes to reason that there is some amount of weirdness forthcoming. I am not referring to the chess books Fischer wrote, as those are guidelines to chess perfection. This refers to any discussion of his life, which this book does. The world's greatest chess player, Fischer, has lived his personal life much less logically than his life is an eight by eight square cell.

To help the nonchess reader sort out the menagerie, authors David Edmonds and John Eidinow provide a "Dramatis Personae," listing 21 Americans, 24 Soviets, six Icelanders, four match officials, and six sundry others, explaining their relationship to the Reykjavik, Iceland chess match. They also include a short glossary to educate us in the vocabulary of competitive chess.

The book begins with a vital quote by Boris Spassky, "When you play Bobby, it is not a question of whether you win or lose. It is a question of whether you survive. This sets the tone for all that follows.

Edmonds and Eidinow lay out the social mire Fischer was growing up in, and his quick rise to chess dominance.

In 1954, when Fischer was 11, he was attending matches and doing well enough but not at his later prodigy level. In that year, as he is quoted, he "just got good." Modern chess history, or at least for one its most colorful characters, begins then.

1972: Boris Spassky was the champ. He deserved to be there. Bobby Fischer was the contender. He deserved to have the opportunity. Between these two men stood a world of complex politics, money, national pride, idiosyncrasies, and suitors to the game. Reykjavik, Iceland was the location of what has become one of the most legendary chess matches ever, between Spassky and Fischer.

Early on during Fischer's career, he had the same impact Michael Jordan would later enjoy later enjoy as professional basketball player. "Fischer-fear" was the description of some players' psychosomatic illnesses from Fischer's intimidation. Opponents would make mistakes as a result. Fischer had the bravado of Muhammad Ali, but none of his class. He would take this personality and boorish demands to the match.

Boris Spassky is painted differently. A product of the Soviet support system, he became professional about the game. Affable and popular, an opposite to in every way to Fischer, he still had what Fischer lacked -- the title "World Champion."

The bulk of the book moves on from biography and personality profiles. It follows the path the chess culture -- all chaotic in its apparent systemic approach. Going from the need to compete to the actual match turned through every convoluted corner, with Kissinger's involvement, the FBI, the KGB, and as much intrigue as a James Bond movie.

The travails of the match are outlined as needed (but not heavily), highlighting the most interesting parts and never boring nonchess players. The psychology of the players and chess players in general is discussed, as is the history of modern champions, providing a field for tension and a framework for the match.

This was in the midst of the Cold War, and the Soviets -- not just Spassky, owned the chess champ title. Nixon was president. Fischer, the bombastic, arrogant American who hated Russia, had a knack for successfully risking it all on the board by knowing the principles of chess as a sublime art form. Spassky, the methodical Russian, against Fischer, became a symbol of the Cold war itself. The image of the match was only half of the matter. Neither man was the caricature the press saw them as, but such are the stories of legend.

I fully recommend "Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time," (title from the hardback edition) by David Edmonds and John Eidinow. Oh, and if you somehow missed the big news back in 1972, Fischer won the match.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This is the 2nd book I read by these 2 prize-winning journalists and authors and I praise this work once again as a brilliant tour of famous chess match between Spassky and Fischer!
The book has multiple focuses. While the matches themselves are not described in stark detail, the atmosphere around is. Included in this are brief biographies of these 2 chess superstars, pre-match and post-match reactions as well as its influence and possible involvement in the Cold War.

In it, one discovers the passive, gentle and cordial personality of Spassky - a gentlemanly figure, in contrast to a demanding, bad-boy personality, yet a prodigy, of Bobby Fischer. The book recounts all the relevant events prior to this championship in Iceland in 1972, as well as reactions to it afterward. While there is some allusion to the matches themselves, as well as precise moves and brief analysis, the book in no way targets chess players as their primary readers. The book is targeted for anyone interested in history, particularly one having to do with chess and Cold War.

The book is a real page turner and hard to put down. The style has a fast pace to it, yet thorough enough to capture even minute details. Overall, a great read for anyone and I highly recommend it!

I was pretty excited about buying this book, because who wouldn't want a book about how one man stood up to a Superpower at the height of the Cold War and won?

But then, when you get into it, the book becomes more of a breakdown of the Fischer/Spassky match, only one written for non-chess players. Apparently most all of the story comes from interviews and the recollections and memos of the participants

The problem with that is that they couldn't get an interview with Fischer, and the book shows it. In terms of pages, "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" is 40% about Spassky, 20% about chess, 30% about the reporters or other GMs at the match or whatever, and maybe 10% about Bobby Fischer. Which would be fine if it wasn't put out there as a book about Bobby Fischer, but it was and its not that at all

Written by 2 co-authors and apparently not edited at all, the book meanders from place to place and anecdote to anecdote, and the last 100 pages are intolerably slow. They cover the post-mortem of the match; what went wrong and where the participants ended up. The main problem with that, again, is maybe 10 of those 100 pages are about Fischer. I mean, its really great to know that some Soviet minister of whatever retired and had a good life, but to my mind the book is crippled by long detours into side characters' lives, and I think the authors only indulged in those detours because they had next to no information about Bobby, so they had to talk about something to run up the page count

The first half of the book is interesting and relatively fast-paced, and actually does illuminate the Spassky/Fischer match, even if it doesn't offer any actual insights into Bobby Fischer, beyond what some people who met him once or twice think of him. The second half is just a re-hash of things already stated, and a "where are they now?" type piece on each of the officials of the various organizations who put the match together

So to sum up: this book is basically just a story about that historic match up, and its more told from Spassky's side than anyone else's. If that's what you want, great. Here it is. If you wanted a book about Bobby Fischer, about any part of his life other than those few months in Iceland, you won't find it here. If you wanted his insight into the matches, or analysis of the matches, that's not here either

Also, you should be warned that the story is told about 75% from the Soviet side of things, so there are alot of Russian names and governmental titles. That might bother some readers; I found it difficult after awhile to differentiate between the various Russian officials, especially since some are referred to by nicknames at one point, then by their given names, then by title, etc.

Hope that helps you make an informed decision on whether or not to buy the book

I think this book is one of the best books for beginner to novice players, or with a rating up to 1600-1700. This book is NOT kid friendly though. I use the games in it to teach classes, but I would never recommend a child buys it. It is great for adults, however keep in mind it uses the old fashion descriptive notation. I wish there were more books out like this. Most books show games between two grandmasters, but it is very useful to watch the way a Master beats a weak player. A 1600 player will learn how a Master easily disposes of 1600 players.

This is a very popular book and a very well written, as is everything my Max Euwe. The average rating I'm giving is based on its impact on my chess playing, which was minimal.

It falls into the category of "Move by move" chess books, and is every bit a well written at Logical Chess. It differs, however, by always have one player rated significantly lower than the other, and points out the ways to exploit poor play.

The problem I have with the book is the same problem I have the Logical Chess, Move by Move. They introduce concepts as they appear in the game, give a brief explanation of the theory behind it, then move on.

For example, at the beginning of each chapter in CM vs CA, Euwe list about 6 concepts that will pop up in the game. At the appropriate point, he will spend a few paragraphs explaining why, for instance, white's bishop is more powerful than black's because of the current pawn structure, then he moves on. The game ends, the next one begins, and the ideas listed are all different. There might be another game in the book that describes good bishops vs bad bishops, but that might be the only time you got to see it. (I don't have the book with me now, so this bishop example might not be perfectly accurate.) Strategic ideas seem to come and go without giving the reader any firm grasp on the concept.

At the level that I am (approx. 1400), I knew the basic ideas for all these strategic elements, I just didn't know how to implement them in my games. This book didn't help me do that. I suppose that were you not familiar with chess strategy, this book would be helpful. With a 314 page book that covers openings, strategy, and endgames, you can't expect anything to be covered very thoroughly.

Again, the book is very well written and deserves the high marks it gets. It just didn't help me very much. I'm 25% through Modern Chess Strategy by Pachman and it has already done so much more for me than CM vs CA.

The book "Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur" is one of the best books I have read on the subject of learning to play chess. The senior author, Max Euwe, was not only a World Champion but was also a scholar and prolific author. He writes very well and with great authority. He, and his coauthor, Walter Meiden show the reader step-by-step the many mistakes amateur players make and the way master players recognize and respond to those mistakes. The book begins with analyses of games in which the amateur player is very weak, moves through games with stronger amateurs, and ends with games against expert or near expert players. Throughout the book the authors show the reader how the amateurs' mistakes were exploited by the master player. This is a very instructive book.

A caveat is in order here: I have read only seven (for-beginners) books.

However, I feel like my "chess muscles" have developed since I started reading this book.

At first, I found it hard to read (at 300+ pages). Then I decided to take it slow, around five pages daily, to derive maximum value. On certain days, I got carried away and covered as many as 15 pages, which took me and my Pocketgrandmaster about two hours.

Why is this the best chess book I have read so far? I found it filled with nuggets of chessic wisdom. Although I would expect that some of his analysis could now be questioned (given the evolution of chess theory since the publication date and the availability of powerful chess softwares), I think that there is still much to be learned from this book.

This is one of the best game collection books for a lower rated chess player. Typical types of mistakes made by weaker players are taken advantage of by stonger players (masters). This is a good way to learn what not to do and how to take advantage of typical mistakes made by the opponents you are likely to play. This is very good instruction by using games (also falling into this catagory are "Unbeatable Chess Lessons" and "Logical Chess" - also recommended reading!). There are some mistakes and typos, but not a lot. And it is not in algebraic chess notation. For these two reasons I give it four instead of five stars.

Unless, you have time to set up a board and mimic the countless moves, or you have an out standing memory, this book is hard to follw. The parts that I am able to read is pretty good good ideas, but mostly massive chess notation. It says 900 diagrams but with each one is 50 moves to get to the postion and 50 after the picture to get the logic of the position. I guess if you are a master it would make sense. Defininatly not for beginers or even intermediate players I would say.

This is sort of a buffet of a chess book. There's a little of everything, and not a lot of depth in anything, but what's there is fun, though in some spots Burgess seems to be writing for everybody: there are arcane references to past games, players and techniques; there are "tests" of considerable difficulty and some of incredible ease. There's a section on how to play chess, so apparently he wants notices to pick up this book too. There are sections that address simple questions like "If I just started playing, is there any chance I can ever become a master?" which again leads one to believe the book is aimed at novices. But then a few pages later there will be position analyses with many variations and sub-variations that make my head spin (and I am an Expert-level player) plus some solutions I flat-out do not get. I wonder who the intended audience is for this book.

Most puzzling, though, is the section on computer chess. I guess this made sense when he wrote it back in 1996-97...but now the chapters read as a relic, albeit an often amusing one. He talks about the latest in computers and computer chess: 486s and Pentium IIs, and Fritz 3 and 4! (We're up to Fritz 8 now, if you're counting.) He shows strategies to defeat computers that any recent program will mow down. He gives URLs to chess sites and publishers, most of which no longer work. He gives Telnet addresses! It's kind of like using a telephone directory from 1966 to find somebody today.

But despite all the apparent griping, the book is useful, but more as a quick reference, or entertaining page-turner than as a serious study. If you really want to improve your game and you're an intermediate-level player, I recommend, for starters, Silman's "How To Reassess Your Chess," and "The Amateur's Mind," Nimzovichs "My System" and Pachman's "Modern Chess Strategy." You will have a strong foundation. (Heck, if I reread them, I'd have a stronger foundation.) This book also had some glaring typos. Some were just grammatical ("Fischer took on the hole Russian chess team" or something like that) but there are at least two moves in games I've caught that are wrong, ie, impossible from the diagrammed position. Both times I went to a computer database to find the game and see the correct move.

Still, I find most chess books to be fun at the very least, so I gave it four stars. (I'll rarely give less than that to any chess book so long as it wasn't written by Eric Schiller.) If you can get this title for cheap, it is a reasonably good book, but more as a supplement. It's not comprehensive, it's not up-to-date and it certainly won't teach a beginner very much. Seirawan's series on strategy, tactics, brilliancies, etc., from Microsoft Press is much better at that.

I think Mr Burgess has done a great job by doing this book a very readable and it's a small inexpensive paperback, so I like to have it when travelling. It's suitable, in my opinion, for 'intermediate' beginners, having nice exercises: mates in two, combinations etc.(although I think they are a little bit too difficult in comparison to mate exercises. but they are taken from real matches, and could anybody say finding combinations with no refute is easy?!). this books contains a lot of opening info with traps and strategic play examples. Besides there is coverage of chess-related topics which you could probably not find in most of books.

Get the book, you'll love it.

The 1st edition has been reprinted in hardcover and is now called "Chess" by Graham Burgess. As chess instruction books go, this is average at best, but it is a good value for the money. However, it is not so good for beginners.

The best thing about the book are the descriptions of plans for various openings, and typical traps. So this is a very good book for trying new openings.

The 2nd edition has more current info on computers, but that section is really unnecessary anyway.

The rest of the book has decent material, enough to last you quite awhile, but nothing that will give you any epiphanies.

By the way, the companion (still out-of-print as of October 2003) games collection, Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games, is a truly excellent book for intermediate players.

For the price this is an excellent introduction to Chess. Its not for absolute beginners, you should have read at least one other book on beginners Chess (Chess for Dummies is a good one) but its not for "intermediate" players or advanced players only either. If you know enough of the basics (basic endgames, algebraic notation, etc), you will get a lot out of this book. I love the puzzles, they really make you think and it feels great to get a particularly hard one right. This book will make you a better chess player, if your just starting out (with the caveat above) or have been playing awhile. I would recommend this book for beginners and intermediate players. Advanced players might like this in their library, if only to loan out to friends that are trying to get up to speed. Buy it, at this price you won't be disappointed!

This is a massive work containing 500 complete master games played mostly during the 1800s on up to the 1930s.

Strong Points:

1. The games are played by strong players (masters).
2. The most important and most interesting games games prior to about 1940 were selected.
3. The games in the book are arranged by type of openining (if you want to focus on openings in a certain area, this is easy to do).
4. Lot of games for the money - 500!

Weak Points:

1. Not in Algebraic Notation.
2. No games after the 1930s (not up to date openings).
3. There are some errors in the analysis.
4. There is is typically not much depth to the analysis - it is very light at points.

I consider the stronger points to be more important though. This is a book belonging in every serious players chess library. If you are looking for games with more and deeper analysis I would recommend first and formost "Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors" and "More Unbeatable Chess for Juniors" by Snyder, and secondly (only for experienced players) "Understanding Chess" by Nunn.

Exhaustive and brilliant, "500 Master Games of Chess" is a landmark in Chess literature and is recognized as a classic among fans and practitioners of the game. First published in 1952, this Dover edition is an unaltered and unabridged reissue published in 1975. The book is divided into three sections: Open Games, Semi-Open Games, and Closed Games, the games being classified under the openings they were played in. International Grandmaster Saviely Tartakower and Chess editor and author J. du Mont have compiled some of the best games ever played in the game, the choices covering the 1600's to the 1930's. Here, one can enjoy and learn from the vast breadth of talent presented: Alekhine, Morphy, Capablanca, Lasker, Steinitz, and many others are well represented offering many facets of the sport at it's very best. Masterpieces fill the pages: Anderssen-Kieseritzky (London, 1851), the "Immortal Game"; Paulsen-Morphy (New York, 1857); Rotlewi-Rubinstein (Lodz, 1907); Alekhine-Book (Margate, 1938); and games from the dawn of Chess as we know it: Greco-N. (1622-1634); Bruhl-Philidor (London, 1787); Bowdler-Conway (London, 1788); and representative selections from historic matches ranging from the landmark la Bourdonnais-McDonnell clash to Alekhine-Euwe. The book is lavishly illustrated with diagrams and each important game is given extensive analysis by the editors. There are also games played by the masters at odds, blindfold, and simultaneous which are nicely included as an appendix.

I had the good fortune to come across a copy many years ago when I was first getting seriously into Chess and my wrinkled and browning possession has been with me ever since. Every serious player or lover of the game should have this treasure-trove in his library.

500 MASTER GAMES OF CHESS contains a fantastic collection of lightly annotated games. The games are arranged by opening making it easy for you to concentrate on games using openings you are interested in studying.
The games are all older and the book are not in Algebraic Notation. Though, with this in mind this book is a must for any series student wanting access to some of the most theoretically important games over a wide period of chess history.

I believe I have heard more people choose this book as the chess book they would prefer to get stuck with on a desert island than any other. Next to David Bronstein's book on Zurich 1953, I'd pick this one.

About the only "negatives" in this book are the same ones most people under the age of 50 complain about: 1) Descriptive notation. I figure it's worth it to spend 20 minutes learning DN, rather than look for an algebraic version at double the price. 2) Tartakover was unable to access a 21st-Century computer and come up with a ton of analysis, which would, of course, have lengthened the book by about 1,000 pages and tripled the price.

If you can put up with those problems, you should find this book and probably 50 other Dover chess books worth your while.

I haven't gone through all 500 games but that is my goal. The thing about game collections is not to see what mistakes a chess computer can find. But, what you can find while going through each game. That is what makes you a better player. Now, there is not a lot of annotations or long variations given in the games, which I like, but other may not like. The games are catagorized by opening which makes it easy for reference. If you want more modern game collections or game collections with high caliber players, which this book does have, then try Garry Kasparov's My Predeccessor's.