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Garry Kasparov On My Great Predecessors, Part 2 Reviewed by David Surratt
This volume focuses on the era represented by the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth World Champions - Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, and Tal. As did Part I, the current volume covers the era represented by the World Champions, not just the champions themselves. "By looking not just at the Champion, but at his contemporaries and challengers, Kasparov grounds each Champion in his natural historical context. He then tries to demonstrate the development of chess thought as represented by the games of all these great players." This is one of the great charms of these books
- their readability as historical novel. I am not a student of chess
history, and I know others who dispute some of the assertions and accounts contained in
this book. If a conclusive history you seek, do your research
carefully. If an entertaining read is what you're after, this book
excels.
Kasparov looks briefly into
Kasparov goes on to discuss each champion's contributions to the development of chess theory, not just his opening contributions, but his impact on the development of chess thought and overall play. And of course, there are the games... No, I am not referring
to the "games" of the Soviet political hierarchy, trying to assure their
favored son won or retained the World Championship, although this too is
revealed quite clearly in more than one part of the book. No, I refer
to the incredible quality of games chosen for inclusion in the book, and for
the depth of annotation to which they are subjected. In addition to
reviewing earlier analyses (including many times, those of the game's
participants) Kasparov subjects each
game and game fragment - 149 in this volume alone - both to his own perceptive chess sight, as well as to
the high-octane power of the latest and greatest chess engines (is it just
me, or has anyone else noticed that in the present volume Kasparov seems
less inclined to credit his silicon partner than in the original volume,
content to assume his readers won't care?).
Without including the Tal,M - Keller,D [D44] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 c6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.a4 Qb6 8.Bxf6
As good as this book is, it is, shall we say, human. For example, game five in the book has the player's colors reversed. Other such minor errors no doubt exist. Some quibbles heard from various reviewers of the original volume, still remain. For example, there is still no bibliography appended. These issues do not detract from the overall impression of the book, still one hopes, as with annotating a game, that the player will learn from these critiques, and not make the same dubious experiments in the next book. In a charming finale to each chapter Kasparov provides quotations from other World Champions about the subject of the current chapter. He deviates from this pattern only for Botvinnik, for whom he writes almost seven pages about their own relationship. I too, will end this review by offering a few tasty morsels to further whet your chessic appetite: Smyslov on Euwe: "From my youth I was familiar with the facets of Euwe's versatile chess activity: his books showed that he was a splendid teacher; the novelties employed in his games and his analyses in chess magazines showed that he was an outstanding theoretician. His aggressive handling of the opening o a realistic positional base, and his unexpected maneuvers, his amazing skill in finding a veiled way out of a difficult position demonstrated the Dutch grandmaster's wonderful tactical gift. Later I was also able to appreciate fully the other fine qualities of the fifth world champion - industriousness, stamina, self-control, and his gentleman-like attitude to his opponents." Kasparov on Botvinnik: "Here is a recognizable portrait of Botvinnik: 'He spoke with an emphasis on the letter "r", in a deep baritone, but very imposingly, in a tone that excluded any argument or opposing point of view. That which Botvinnik said was the truth. Often he did not even speak, but passed sentence.' This sketch by Shamkovich is echoed by Spassky: 'If during a joint analysis he will say: "You, old chap, chose an incorrect plan," don't try to argue with him - he will have uttered the truth in the first instance.' But then Spassky adds: 'For a certain time I was on friendly terms with Botvinnik and I knew that, while outwardly cold, in reality he was a warm and sympathetic person.' But to young chess talents he reached out with all his heart. The wise teacher tried not to oppress us with his authority, and did not impose his style on his pupils - on the contrary, he did everything possible to help us to develop our own capabilities. He did not press, but with his innate pedagogical tact he would suggest the correct direction." Botvinnik on Smyslov: "In the period 1953-58 Smyslov was undoubtedly the strongest tournament fighter. His talent was universal - he could play subtly in the opening, go totally onto the defensive, attack vigorously or manoeuvre coolly. And this is to say nothing of the endgame - here he was in his element. Sometimes he took decisions that were staggering in their depth... The combination of good calculation of variations, boldness, independence and natural health made Smyslov invulnerable at that time." Petrosian on Tal: "A genius in chess is someone who is ahead of his time, but this can be seen only later, by looking back. From this point of view, very few can be called geniuses. Morphy, Steinitz... Perhaps Tal. The Riga grandmaster introduced into chess something that was not fully understood by his contemporaries. Unfortunately, all too soon we gained the opportunity to look back with admiration at the peak of Tal's remarkable play." Surratt on My Great Predecessors, Part 2:
Great book! Buy it. Read it. Keep it.
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