The Fascinating Chess and Football Careers of Simen Agdestein

Simen Agdestein was awarded the title of chess grandmaster at the age of eighteen, the youngest in the world at the time. Two years later he wrote in his diary that he believed he could become the best in the world.

It is not really in doubt that Bobby Fischer is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) chess players of all-time. His name is one that it is recognized immediately by almost anyone with even a passing interest in chess. His numerous brilliant games are very well known and have been seen in numerous anthologies.

Boris Spassky is the most underappreciated World Champion in chess history, remembered as the Soviet who lost to Bobby Fischer in 1972. In this two-volume work, biographer extraordinaire Tibor Karolyi puts the focus on Spassky’s brilliant career and life story.

On 30 April 2023, in Astana, Kazakhstan, Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren sensationally defeated Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in a dramatic battle for the chess crown. Ding Liren not only became the 17th World Chess Champion, but he also won the hearts of chess fans across the globe with his incredible fighting spirit and disarming interviews. At the final press conference, the new champion said the match ‘reflected the deepest of his soul’.

From Bobby Fischer to Ding Liren

Chess players can look ahead, formulate a clear plan, and act accordingly. That's why chess is the perfect learning environment for becoming a strategic expert. But how do you train this? It starts with playing many games and analysing them carefully afterwards.

Lata 1945 - 1968

Viktor Korchnoi (1931 to 2016) was a giant of the chess world with a career embracing seventy years and over 5,000 recorded games. He contested two world championship matches against Anatoly Karpov, coming within a whisker of being crowned World Champion in 1978. He was a world championship candidate, Soviet champion and Olympiad medal-winner on numerous occasions.

World Chess Champion Max Euwe, who held the title from 1935-1937, is one of the greatest chess players in history. Much has been written about him, and he authored dozens of books himself. But missing was an outstanding collection of games of this 'efficient, man-eating tiger' as the American grandmaster Reuben Fine once called Euwe.

Genna Sosonko is widely acclaimed as the most prominent chronicler of a unique era in chess history. In the Soviet Union chess was developed into an ideological weapon that was actively promoted by the country’s leadership during the Cold War. Starting with Mikhail Botvinnik, their best chess players grew into symbols of socialist excellence. Sosonko writes from a privileged dual perspective, combining an insider’s nostalgia with the detachment of a critical observer. He grew up with legendary champions such as Mikhail Tal and Viktor Korchnoi and spent countless hours with most of the other greats and lesser chess mortals he portrays.

Первый капитальный труд, посвящённый Рудольфу Шпильману – одному из сильнейших шахматистов мира первой половины 20-го века. В начале книги даётся биографический очерк, дополненный редкими фотографиями. В основной её части – шахматной, через глубокий анализ более чем 200 партий автор рисует творческий портрет Шпильмана. Подробные комментарии, тематическое разбиение материала делают книгу настоящим учебником шахматной игры. В приложении приведена знаменитая статья Шпильмана «У постели больного королевского гамбита».

Для широкого круга любителей шахмат.

The Growing Pains of a Chess Genius

Spielmann had comments on all the games that he gave the moves for. The treasure of the book is his introductory comments to each game. That was the point of the book. It was not to analyze all the moves or even most. Just where he felt it was worth mentioning.

Юрий Рафаэлович Дохоян (1964-2021) – гроссмейстер, заслуженный тренер России, сеньор-тренер ФИДЕ. Более 10 лет являлся тренером-секундантом Гарри Каспарова, а также тренировал сестер Татьяну и Надежду Косинцевых, Сергея Карякина и Андрея Есипенко, был главным тренером женской и мужской сборных России.

Я играю в шахматы около пятидесяти лет, из них свыше тридцати – на высшем уровне. Наверное, пришло время поделиться самыми памятными встречами. В первый том вошли партии, сыгранные в XX веке» (Б. Гельфанд).

Таль Михаил Нехемьевич (9.11.1936—28.06.1992) восьмой чемпион мира (1960—1961), международный гроссмейстер (1957). Чемпион Латвии 1953, 1965 гг. Чемпион СССР 1957, 1958, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978 гг. 

Judit Polgar is the strongest female chess player of all time. From an early age on the Hungarian prodigy baffled the world with her sensational triumphs. At the age of 15 she beat Bobby Fischer’s record to become the youngest grandmaster in history. During her glorious career, which she ended in 2014, she defeated World Champions Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen.

Stories and Games of the Oldest Chess Tournament in the World

No other chess tournament has such a long and rich history as the annual gathering 'in between the years' at the English seaside resort of Hastings. Countless chess players, professionals, and amateurs alike have celebrated Christmas and welcomed the New Year in Hastings while battling it out on the chessboard.

The rivalry between William Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort, the world's strongest chess players in the late nineteenth century, became so fierce that it was named The Ink War. They fought their battle on the chessboard and in various chess magazines and columns. 

The World Championship match between Fischer and Spassky in Reykjavik 1972 was played at the height of the Cold War. The image of a lone American genius defeating the Soviet machine captivated a worldwide audience unlike anything else in chess history. Exactly fifty years later, Fischer – Spassky 1972 takes a fresh look at both the chess and the human aspects of this monumental match.

Гроссмейстер Алексей Выжманавин (1960-2000) – яркая и трагическая фигура советских/российских шахмат. Тонкий позиционный игрок, любивший при этом импровизировать и блестяще считавший варианты. 

Twenty years ago New in Chess magazine introduced a back page column in which a chess personality is asked to name their favourite items in many areas: food, drink, films, art, music, etc. One of the questions has always been: What is the most exciting game of chess you ever saw?

Tigran Petrosian, the ninth world chess champion, was one of the deepest thinkers the chess world has ever seen. His handling of complex positions was legendary.

With his rare strategic feeling and exceptional vision, Petrosian gradually became one of the top exponents of the art of the exchange sacrifice, and perhaps the leading protagonist for the positional exchange sacrifice.

The Chess Adventures of Abhimanyu Mishra Aged 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days.

In this revealing self-portrait of Abhimanyu Mishra, he tells the story of a highly ambitious family project. Supported by his father, mother and sister, Abhi sets out to beat a nineteen-year-old world record. He wants to become the Youngest Chess Grandmaster in the World.

Korchnoi and his Chess Grandchildren features 25 of Viktor Korchnoi’s best games from the latter stages of his glorious career. The latest game is from 2011, when Korchnoi was still potent enough to defeat Fabiano Caruana. 

Масштабный проект известного шахматного историка и писателя Сергея Воронкова — это попытка понять, что же скрывается под легендарным брендом «советская шахматная школа». В чемпионатах СССР принимали участие все лучшие шахматисты страны, включая восемь чемпионов мира! Вот почему по этим турнирам, как по годичным кольцам на срезах деревьев, можно проследить всю историю развития советских шахмат.

Find your role model. This book contains games from every single female World Champion, as well as young up and comers, top seasoned professionals, streamers, and even a section at Beth Harmon from the recent famed Queen’s Gambit hit show. This book is not just for girls and women, however. Any chess player can learn from these games and discover female chess history, both from the famous players in the past right up to the present day.

‘I as though traced the evolution of chess thought and repeated its basic steps in my own development … convinced that any player with high ambition should follow such a path’ ~ Vassily Smyslov, 125 Selected Games (1983)

This book takes the reader on a journey from early 19th century developments in the game up to the present-day. It takes in the revolutionary Wilhelm Steinitz’s early summation and establishment of a firm positional basis for chess and the considerable contributions made by all of the subsequent world champions and certain other great players, including the contemporary computer phenomenon, AlphaZero.

I am convinced that to cultivate the memory of the past and to study the classics is always useful and worthwhile, not least because it enables us to understand and face with greater awareness the facts and the problems of the present time. Much has already been written about the giants who have preceded us, and in particular, the Cuban, José Raúl Capablanca, and the Russo-Frenchman, Alexander Alekhine, but a new approach can surely offer different and interesting perspectives.

Английский гроссмейстер Найджел Шорт (родился 1 июня 1965 г.) – один из самых успешных шахматистов мира в 80-90-е годы XX века. 

The Inside Story of the legendary 1972 Fischer-Spassky World Chess Championship in Reykjavik

Międzynarodowy mistrz Tibor Karolyi i mistrz FIDE Tigran Gyozalyan napisali obszerny, dwutomowy traktat o życiu i grach Tigrana Petrosiana, który był mistrzem świata w latach 1963-1969. Niniejszy Tom I zabiera czytelnika w podróż od dzieciństwa Tigrana, przez lata wojny, sukcesy w krajowych mistrzostwach Gruzji i Armenii, jego wyłonienie się jako elitarny gracz zdobywając mistrzostwo Związku Radzieckiego i złoto olimpijskie, a także zwycięstwo w słynnym Turnieju Kandydatów w 1962 r. Curaçao.

With contributions by Vasyl Ivanchuk, Ruslan Ponomariov, Mariya and Anna Muzychuk and many, many others

Kasparow to wieloletni lider światowych szachów, autor wielu bestsellerów. Pięciotomowe wydanie „Moi wielcy poprzednicy” zostało stworzone przez niego we współpracy ze słynnym dziennikarzem szachowym i mistrzem Dmitrijem Plisieckim.

Tom piąty poświęcony jest mistrzowi świata Karpowowi i jego historycznemu rywalowi Korcznojowi, ich dramatycznym walkom o koronę szachową.

Książka międzynarodowego arcymistrza Aleksandra Konstantinopolskiego, trenera Davida Bronsteina w meczu o mistrzostwo świata w 1951 roku, poświęcona jest pracy oryginalnego szachisty i słynnego teoretyka szachów Wsiewołoda Rausera, którego osiągnięcia analityczne utorowały drogę do systemów otwierania, które są nadal aktualne .

Oprócz wybranych gier – niektórych z nich nie ma w bazach danych – książka, pierwsza o Wsiewołodzie Rauzerze, zawiera dodatkowe materiały.

Dla szerokiego grona szachistów

Tal Michaił Nechemiewicz (9.11.1936-28.06.1992) ósmy mistrz świata (1960-1961), arcymistrz międzynarodowy (1957). Champion Łotwy 1953, 1965 Mistrz ZSRR 1957, 1958, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978 Ośmiokrotny zwycięzca Światowych Olimpiad Szachowych w drużynie ZSRR, sześciokrotny mistrz Europy i trzykrotny mistrz świata wśród uczniów w imprezie drużynowej.

Siódmy mistrz świata Wasilij Wasiljewicz Smysłow przeżył długie i pełne wrażeń życie. Zagrał około 3000 gier turniejowych przez siedem dekad i udało się uchwycić zarówno erę Laskera i Capablanki, jak i czasy Ananda i Carlsena. 

Tak jak to miało miejsce w pierwszej części, biografie dwudziestu mistrzów Polski z lat 1979-2021 są napisane chronologicznie według daty zdobycia najcenniejszego przez nich tytułu w kraju. 

Think Like a Super-GM is a unique collaboration combining the chess insights of an elite grandmaster with a scientific investigation into thinking at the chess board.

New In Chess Yearbook, which appears four times a year, contains the latest news in chess openings. Each issue brings you dozens of new ideas on the cutting edge of modern chess opening theory. Have a look at what this issue has to offer.

Robert James Fischer is one of the greatest and most celebrated players in chess history. Exactly fifty years since the American won the right to challenge Boris Spassky for the World Championship crown, Tibor Karolyi documents Fischer’s unique journey from precocious youngster to the chess icon who obliterated Taimanov and Larsen before convincingly beating Petrosian on The Road to Reykjavik.

For nearly fifty years grandmasters and amateurs alike have been making their annual pilgrimage to the World Open. Legendary organizer Bill Goichberg created the model of this iconic event in American chess: large entry fees, large prizes, and no-frills. Every year around the 4th of July, Philadelphia is the scene of countless epic battles at the board.

Rashid Nezhmetdinov (1912-1974) played fearless attacking chess. With his dazzling style, the Soviet master already was a legend during his lifetime, but international fame largely eluded him. Only once did he get permission to show his exceptional talent in a tournament abroad.