Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #138196 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 480 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781857444049
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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About the Author

Customer Reviews

Kasparov tackles Korchnoi and Karpov
The fifth in Kasparov's series on the world champions (and their greatest rivals) focuses on Anatoly Karpov, Kasparov's immediate predecessor and greatest rival, and Karpov's own bete noire, the great defector, Viktor Korchnoi.

Korchnoi and Karpov pose interesting challenges compared to Bobby Fischer, the main subject of Vol. 4 in the series. For starters, each has played well over 3,000 "official" games, compared to fewer than 800 for Fischer! Second, they are probably of less interest to Western readers than Fischer. But that is the readers' loss, for both are fascinating characters, as well as great chessplayers. Their world championship match in 1978 in Baguio, the Phillipines, was surely one of the bitterest, as well as most bizarre, encounters in the history of chess. Moreoever, in contrast to Fischer, who took long absences from competition and stopped playing altogether at the age of 29, both have maintained their strong play over decades.

Kasparov seems to have done a competent job showing the competitions and controversies of both men, including the manuverings that led FIDE to strip Fischer of the title and award it to Karpov, Korchnoi's 1976 defection and the subsequent "boycott" of him by the Soviet players, Karpov and Korchnoi's emergence as the leading players after Fischer's disappearance, and the eclipse of the former champion, Boris Spassky.

But the critical aspect of a book like this is the annotations. As with Vol. 4, I think the verdict is that they are excellent, with some reservations. Looking at the annotations for one of Karpov's famous wins, Karpov-Timman, Montreal 1979, I think some of the criticisms that have been made of earlier volumes still hold good -- he (or his assistant Plisetsky) relies heavily on earlier analysis by Dvoretsky and Karpov, adding what looks like a lot of Fritz-analysis to the opening. (That said, it's a great game, and Dvoretsky's and Karpov's comments are fascinating.) Turning to the analysis of some of the games from the Karpov-Spassky match in 1974, however, Kasparov's hand is much more apparent. The analysis of Game 3 -- Karpov's first victory after an opening-game defeat -- is tremendous, not just in terms of variations but in the first-rate explanation of both sides' strategic plans. I hope the rest of the analysis in the book is more like Karpov-Spassky than Karpov-Timman, but either way I am very glad to have the book.

A review of the book *AFTER* it's been released!
Let me start with the obvious question: Should I buy this book.

YES!

Here's why:

Kasparov has written a series that will keep any chess player busy for years. Yes, he made numerous errors, especially in the earlier volumes. However, he has been learning how to write as he has continued through the other volumes. He has listened to, and responded appropriately to criticisms (especially by including non-Russian predecessors in volume IV).

Volume V is factually much more accurate than any of its predecessors in part because Kasparov was alive and analysing these games as they occurred. The level of his analysis is mind-boggling, and yet he still manages to make the notations readable. Once again, he has used computers to double-check his work, and once again, he has freely used many other people's analysis (usually without crediting them). However, this is clearly Kasaparov's book, and perhaps the single best chess book ever published.

I am sure that players will find errors in this book, but that is the nature of chess and of chess books. Instead of berating the author for his oversights, I plan on having fun seeing if I can spot even one! It may take me a few years, because there is so much meat to it.

There was a review written on March 12, before the book was published, which is basically a re-hash of the old criticisms of previous volumes. I don't think the old criticisms are fair for this new volume. If the previous reviewer has specific examples of sloppiness or careless analysis, I'd like to see them. But let me repeat, I consider this the best chess book ever written.

Brilliant & Enjoyable
Reviewing Karpov's life and skills from Kasparov's point of view is the most attractive experience that I've had among all massive chess books that have been studied. It's been very enjoyable.