The Big Book Of World Chess Championships

Wilhelm Steinitz, the winner of the first official World Chess Championship in 1886, would have rubbed his eyes in disbelieve if he could have seen how popular chess is today. With millions of players all around the world, live internet transmissions of major and minor competitions, and educational programs in thousands of schools, chess has truly become a global passion. And what would Steinitz, who had financial problems his whole life and died in poverty, have thought of the current world champion, Magnus Carlsen, who became a multi-millionaire in his early twenties just by playing great chess? The history of the World Chess Championship reflects these enormous changes, and Andre Schulz tells the stories of the title fights in fascinating detail: the historical and social backgrounds, the prize money and the rules, the seconds and other helpers, and the psychological wars on and off the board. Relive the magic of Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Tal, Karpov, Kasparov, Bobby Fischer and the others! Andre Schulz has selected one defining game from each championship, and he explains the moves of the Champions in a way that is easily accessible for amateur players. This is a book that no true chess lover wants to miss.

Learn chess from the best by studying the games of the latest world championship! The dramatic 2016 match defied all predictions. A top team of authors explains the strategies. The dramatic 2016 World Championship match in New York City stunned the chess world, as Sergey Karjakin fought champ Magnus Carlsen to a tie until matters had to be settled in a rapid-play shootout. You’ll learn chess tactics and strategies from the best players in the world, as a top team of writers—including a former world champion--explains the moves.

Undoubtedly one of the greatest chess players of all time, Alexander Alekhine's play has influenced generations of players, including that of the current World Champion Gary Kasparov. In 1937 Alekhine faced one of the most difficult matches of his career - to recover the title of World Champion from the Dutchman Max Euwe, to whom he surprisingly lost it two years before. This is Alekhine's own account of that match, with game annotations from both combatants.

Garry Kasparov has dominated the chess world for more than twenty years. His dynamism and preparation have set an example that is followed by most ambitious players. Igor Stohl has selected the best and most instructive games from Kasparov's later years, and annotated them in great detail. The emphasis is on explaining the thoughts behind Kasparov's decisions, and the principles and concepts embodied by his moves. Stohl provides a wealth of fresh insights into these landmark games, together with many new analytical points. This makes the book outstanding study material for all chess enthusiasts. Garry Kasparov was born in 1963, and burst onto the scene in the late 1970s with a series of astonishing results in Soviet and international events. In 1985 he became the youngest world champion in history by defeating Anatoly Karpov in an epic struggle. When he announced his retirement from professional chess twenty years later, he was still world number 1. Kasparov is an internationally renowned figure, famous even among the non-chess-playing public.

The KGB Plays Chess is a unique book. For the first time it opens to us some of the most secret pages of the history of chess. The battles about which you will read in this book are not between chess masters sitting at the chess board, but between the powerful Soviet secret police, known as the KGB, on the one hand, and several brave individuals, on the other. Their names are famous in the chess world: Viktor Kortschnoi, Boris Spasski, Boris Gulko and Garry Kasparov became subjects of constant pressure, blackmail and persecution in the USSR. Their victories at the chess board were achieved despite this victimization. Unlike in other books, this story has two perspectives. The victim and the persecutor, the hunted and the hunter, all describe in their own words the very same events. One side is represented by the famous Russian chess players Viktor Kortschnoi and Boris Gulko. For many years they fought against a powerful system, and at the end they were triumphant. The Soviet Union collapsed and they got what they were fighting for: their freedom. Former KGB Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Popov, who left Russia in 1996 and now lives in Canada, was one of those who had worked all his life for the KGB and was responsible for the sport sector of the USSR. It is only now for the first time that he has decided to tell the reader his story of the KGB�s involvement in Soviet Sports. This is his first book, and it is not only full of sensations, but it also dares to name names of secret KGB agents previously known only as famous chess masters, sportsmen or sport officials. Just a few short years ago a book like this would have been unimaginable. Read this book. It is not only about chess. It is about glorious victory of the great chess masters over the forces of darkness.

Improve your chess by studying the greatest games of all time, from Adolf Anderssen's 'Immortal Game' to Magnus Carlsen's world championship victories, and featuring a foreword by five-times World Champion Vishy Anand. This book is written by an all-star team of authors. Wesley So is the reigning Fischer Random World Champion, the 2017 US Champion and the winner of the 2016 Grand Chess Tour. Michael Adams has been the top British player for the last quarter of a century and was a finalist in the 2004 FIDE World Championship. Graham Burgess is the author of thirty books, a former champion of the Danish region of Funen, and holds the world record for marathon blitz chess playing. John Nunn is a three-time winner of both the World Solving Championship and the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award. John Emms is an experienced chess coach and writer, who finished equal first in the 1997 British Championship and was chess columnist of the Young Telegraph. The 145 greatest chess games of all time, selected, analysed, re-evaluated and explained by a team of British and American experts and illustrated with over 1,100 chess diagrams. Join the authors in studying these games, the cream of two centuries of international chess, and develop your own chess-playing skills - whatever your current standard. Instructive points at the end of each game highlight the lessons to be learned. First published in 1998, a second edition of The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games in 2004 included an additional twelve games. Another new edition in 2010 included a further thirteen games as well as some significant revisions to the analysis and information regarding other games in earlier editions of the book, facilitated by the use of a variety of chess software. This 2021 edition, further updated and expanded, now includes 145 games. The authors have made full use of the new generation of chess analysis engines that apply neural-network based AI.

On September 10, 1984, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov appeared on the stage of the Hall of Columns in Moscow for the first game of their match for the World Chess Championship. The clash between the reigning champion and his brazen young challenger was highly anticipated, but no one could have foreseen what was in store. In the next six years they would play five matches for the highest title and create one of the fiercest rivalries in sports history. The matches lasted a staggering total of 14 months, and the ‘two K’s’ played 5540 moves in 144 games. The first match became front page news worldwide when after five months FIDE President Florencio Campomanes stepped in to stop the match citing exhaustion of both participants. A new match was staged and having learned valuable lessons, 22-year-old Garry Kasparov became the youngest World Chess Champion in history. His win was not only hailed as a triumph of imaginative attacking chess, but also as a political victory. The representative of ‘perestroika’ had beaten the old champion, a symbol of Soviet stagnation. Kasparov defended his title in three more matches, all of them full of drama. Karpov remained a formidable opponent and the overall score was only 73-71 in Kasparov’s favour. In The Longest Game Jan Timman returns to the Kasparov-Karpov matches. He chronicles the many twists and turns of this fascinating saga, including his behind-the scenes impressions, and takes a fresh look at the games.