Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113889 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 496 pages

From the Back Cover
This book brings together the two greatest names in the history of chess. The author, Garry Kasparov, is the world number one and, by common consent, the greatest player ever. The subject of the book, Bobby Fischer, is the only American to have become world champion and is probably the greatest natural talent the world has ever seen.

In the period between 1955 and 1972 Fischer, more or less single-handedly, took on the might of the Soviet Chess Empire and won. During this time Fischer scored astonishing successes, the likes of which had not been seen before. These included 11/11 in the 1963/64 U.S. Championship and match victories (en route to the World Championship) by the score of 6-0 against two of the strongest players in the world, Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen. The climax of Fischer's campaign was his unforgettable match win in Reykjavik in 1972 against Boris Spassky.

Fischer is almost equally well-known for his temperamental behavior away from the board. He made extreme demands of all those around him including tournament organizers. When these demands were not met he often refused to play. The 1972 match against Spassky required the intervention of no less than Henry Kissinger to smooth things over. In 1975, when he was due to defend his title against Anatoly Karpov, Fischer was completely unable to agree terms with FIDE (the World Chess Federation) and was defaulted. After this he more or less gave up chess, playing only once, a "return" match against Spassky in 1992.

In this book, a must for all serious chess players, Kasparov deeply analyzes deeply Fischer's greatest games and assesses the legacy of this great American genius. Also under the microscope are the games of the other great Western players of Fischer's era - Samuel Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf and Bent Larsen.

About the Author
Garry Kasparov is generally regarded as the greatest chess player ever. He was the thirteenth World Champion, holding the title between 1985 and 2000. His tournament record is second to none, featuring numerous wins in the world's major events, often by substantial margins. Over the last few years he has taken first prize in ten consecutive major international events.

Customer Reviews

Kasparov is just a lot of talk !
Plain & simple, Kasparov has super computers doing all the work on finding Fischer mistakes in this book. Computers are the steroids of chess. Todays players cannot be judged equally because of this. Fischer, and prior chess masters, had only their minds and that is why they will continue to be known as the greatest natural players of all time.

good analysis but not really objective
Garry Kasparov put an enormous work on this volume with some high-class analysis. I guess I am not the only one that went directly to the Fischer-chapter! It becomes clear that Kasparov admires Fischer but by reasons of his own vanity he shows a rather critical approach. This is especially more obvious when compared with the volume on Karpov. Karpov is presented as an incredible genius and Kasparov suggests that he could have beaten Fischer. Whether this is so, can be doubted but we shall never know. Subconciously Kasparov sees himself as the truely biggest genius of them all, since he managed to beat Karpov!
Kasparovs opinion that Fischer plays uncertain in unclear positions and has a rather poor intuition can be questioned. Perfect play doesn't exist and there are many examples of Fischer playing brilliantly in unclear positions. Apparently Kasparov is influenced very much by the old soviet anti-Fischer attitude. It looks as if Kasparov is looking for points to criticize Fischer, what he doesn't do with Karpov.
Kasparovs comments on Fischer personal life are interesting but rather one-sided. It is true that Fischer had a very difficult childhood but it is also true that the soviet chess players - during the Cold War! - did everything in their powers to destabilize Fischer. Fischer was an easy target: he was alone, preoccupied with chess and limited defense mechanisms. To compete adult grandmasters who represent communist views on life, must gave added to Fischer paranoic tendencies. In this sence, it is surprising that Kasparov defend Fischer fight for better playing conditions but doesn't defend him at the end of the Reshevsky match. Here the young Fischer was confronted with a different playing schedule because the sponsor wanted to visit her husband's concert, Fischer lost and was condemmed by everyone while his behaviour is quite understandable. It would have been good if Kasparov would have defended Fischer on this occasion. How would he have reacted himself when this would have happened to him? He hardly pays any attention to Fischers behaviour towards the other chess players, which was highly appreciated by his colleagues.
Also Kasparovs statement that Fischer won in 1971-1972 because his opponents collapsed psychologically, can be doubted. He suggests that Fischer would not have been succesfull if his opponents would have stayed stable. This is an underestimation of Fischers power. Fischer devoted himself completely to playing chess, knew how to play against different opponents and put all his energy in to it. In this sence Kasparov is right. Maybe the truth is simpler: Confronted with such a powerful opponent and a few losses, Fischers opponents lost their self confidence. Well, of course... He tried to win, but so did his opponents, who were excellently prepared by the Soviet chess school themselves. It seems to me that Kasparovs attitude towards Fischer is infuened by the fact that Kasparov, brilliant as he was himself, never was able to achieve the superiority that Fischer achieved in his top years. When you read the book with this in mind, you will have a wonderful time with this interesting book that I myself enjoy very much too! (and my apologies to Reshevsky, Najdorf and Larsen.. I didn't study them yet...)

Excellent five-volume set
This is Volume Four 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.]