Product Description

This book by International Grand Master Yasser Seirawan provides a move-by-move account of the best chess games of the last 25 years, played by the world's foremost chess competitors. With an authoritative voice that is by turns poetic and analytical, Seirawan serves as host of a fascinating excursion of the most brilliant chess game, providing highlights into and explanations of each and every move.

Seirawan begins each game with a description of the historical atmosphere of the chess world --and sometimes the world at large--at the time the game was played. When he delves into the game itself, he starts with the reasoning behind the opening moves. From there he provides both a play-by-play description of the game and an analytical commentary, all the while examining the moves in terms of place development and possible tactical and strategic opportunities. Along the way, a handful of the players are profiled in biographies.

In Winning Chess Brilliancies readers will get a taste of the most dazzling chess combinations devious strategies, and downright cruel blows as world champions risk it all! This book is truly a celebration of the sport of chess.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #118686 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781857443479
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Seirawan does more than present 12 of the most brilliant grandmaster games of the past 25 years. His lively move-by-move analysis delves into the minds of many of chess's greatest players, explaining the reasoning (or errors) behind each. Readers with a grasp of chess basics, tactics, and strategies (covered in the first three books of Seirawan's four-book series) will come away with an appreciation of the subtleties of grandmaster play and the inspiration to stretch their skills and understanding to higher levels. Have another chess player nearby when you read it--you'll want to play afterwards.

From the Back Cover
This book by International Grand Master Yasser Seirawan provides a move-by-move account of the best chess games of the last 25 years, played by the world's foremost chess competitors. With an authoritative voice that is by turns poetic and analytical, Seirawan serves as host of a fascinating excursion of the most brilliant chess games, providing insights into and explanations of each and every move.
Seirawan begins each game with a description of the historical atmosphere of the chess world - and sometimes the world at large - at the time the game was played. When he delves into the game itself, he starts with the reasoning behind the opening moves. From there he provides both a play-by-play description of the game and an analytical commentary, all the while examining the moves in terms of piece development and possible tactical and strategic opportunities. Along the way, a handful of the players are profiled in biographies.
In Winning Chess Brilliancies you'll get a taste of the most dazzling chess combinations devious strategies, and downright cruel blows as world champions risk it all! This book is truly a celebration of the sport of chess.

About the Author
Yasser Seirawan is the highest-rated American chess professional on the Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) rating ladder and the first American to vie for the World Championship title since Bobby Fischer. He is a three-time U.S Champion, the 1989 Western Hemisphere Champion and an eight-time member of the U.S chess Olympiad team. Currently one of the worlds top-ranked chess players, he is one of only a handful of players to have defeated world champions Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov in tournament play.

Customer Reviews

My favorite book by Yasser Seirawan
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!

Great book for a wide range of readers
In this enthralling book, Seirwan describes 12 recent games, all between GrandMasters. Normally, I would not recommend a modern master's game collection to beginners. The moves are just too counter-intuitive to be instructive. However, Seirawan does an incredibly brilliant job of explaining, in words, the ideas behind the openings, the strategies in the middlegames, and the traps and tactics throughout.

The biggest oversight of this book is the absence of a listing of the games. (The table of contents is useless, although the extensive index may have some value.) So here are the games. You could print this out and paste it over the table of contents:

Game 1 (Making History) *
Fischer v. Spassky
1972 World Championship (6) - Reykjavik
Queen's Gambit Declined
1-0

Game 2 (Slaying the Dragon) *
Karpov v. Korchnoi
1974 FIDE Candidates Final (2)
Sicilian Dragon
1-0

Game 3 (Sparkling Originality) *
Ljubojevic v. Andersson
1976 Hoovgoven Tournament - Wijk ann Zee
Sicilian Defense, Scheveningen Variation
1-0

Game 4 (Time-Trouble Misery)
Korchnoi v. Karpov
1976 FIDE Championship (17) - Baguio City
Nimzo-Indian Defense
0-1

Game 5 (A Sunny Moment)
Seirawan v. Karpov
1982 Phillips and Drew (game 11)
Queen Gambit Declined, Tartakower-Makogonov-Bondarevsky Var.
1-0

Game 6 (Olympian Effort)
Korchnoi v. Kasparov
1982 Lucerne Chess Olympiad
Modern Benoni A64
0-1

Game 7 (Experienced Hands)
Smyslov v. Ribli
1983 London (match 5)
QGD Tarrasch Defense D42
1-0

Game 8 (Supreme Effort) *
Beliavsky v. Nunn
1985 Hoovgoven - Wijk aan Zee
King's Indian Defense, Saemisch Var. E81
0-1

Game 9 (Moscow Miracle) *
Karpov v. Kasparov
1985 (game 16) - Moscow
Sicilian Defense B44
0-1

Game 10 ('A la Morphy)
Seirawan v. Timman
1990 KRO, Hilversum (game 5)
1-0

Game 11 (Lightning and Thunder)
Kasparov v. Karpov
1990 FIDE Championship (20) - Lyon
Ruy Lopez Zaitsev C92
1-0

Game 12 (A Rapid Coup)*
Ivanchuk v. Yusupov
1991 FIDE Sime-Finals Match (9) - Brussels
King's Indian Defense, Fianchetto Var. E67
0-1

(* Indicates a game which also appears in The Mammoth Book of the World's (100) Greatest Chess Games, just to show what other GMs think of these "brilliancies". That book is for more advanced players, over 1600 USCF I think. Of course, Game 11 is deeply annotated in Seirawan's Five Crowns match book.)

In the postscript, Seirawan mentions that he'd actually annotated 6 more games but had no room for them. That's very disappointing, as this style of explanation mixed with annotation is rare and valuable. The move-by-move analysis is at a level about mid-way (maybe 1350 USCF) between Chernev's Logical Chess and Nunn's Understanding Chess. But if you have already passed the 1400 USCF level (and do not own the Mammoth games collection) add this to your library. The sometimes deep variations, including analysis from named grandmasters, would satisfy a much stronger player. And a weaker player, down to about 1200, would enjoy reading the text of this book if he ignored all the variations.

All in all, easily one of the top 10 chess books in print. Thank goodness it's back in print!

In a class of its own...
This is a book for a serious chess player. The only book I can think of that even belongs on the same shelf as this book is, "The Art of Chess Analysis," by GM Jan Timman. This book is surely destined to become a classic. I don't care if you are 600 or 6000, you'll learn something from this book. Beautifully written. A+