Mikhail Tal, the 'magician from Riga' was the greatest attacking World Champion of them all, and this enchanting autobiography chronicles his extraordinary career with charm and humor.

    José Raúl Capablanca (1888–1942) had no need for isolated artistic theory or compositions — he composed and created chess art as he played. All of his genius — intuitive, tactical, strategic, logical — all of his art shines clearest in his endings, as he himself was proud to declare, advising others to study them carefully. "In order to improve your game," he said, "you must study the endgame before anything else; for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame."The best way to follow Capablanca's advice is through this — the only book devoted to his great endings, 60 complete games emphasizing the grand finale but annotated throughout.Irving Chernev communicates in his notes the mystery and wonder as well as the delight in discovering again and again the original, fertile mind of chess's greatest born player. "Virtuoso," "exquisite," "profound," "inspired," "elegant," and "fiendish ingenuity" describe match and tournament games and endings against Alekhine, Steiner, Marshall, Nimzowitsch, Lasker, Réti, and others, the best in the contemporary chess world. Capablanca's eleventh game in the 1901 Cuban championship (which he won, aged 12) "surpasses any accomplishment by such other prodigies as Morphy, Reshevsky, and Fischer." From age 12 through the last game in the book (nearly four decades later against Reshevsky at Nottingham, 1936), Capablanca fashions endgames in tense tournament atmosphere that seem like delicate, precise instruments dreamt at leisure.Here then is the essence of Capablanca, analyzed for the instruction of players and the pleasure of chess connoisseurs. Included are indexes of openings, themes in the endings, and opponents, as well as a bibliography and record of tournament and match play. Capablanca: for players, the epitome of the endgame; for readers, a classic chess study.

    Ambitious players wanting a practical guide to the middle game will find that Ludek Pachman's great trilogy, which is completed with this volume, stands in a class of its own. In each of these books the need for understanding is emphasized: there are too many variations for any memory to store. The player must understand the basic principles involved and the typical positions or maneuvers that can arise. Ludek Pachman's examples will augment his experience and should facilitate finer judgments as to the types of position to aim for, how to plan for them and in the allocation of priorities. But games also need to be viewed as an entity, and for this reason the author has concentrated on teaching by means of whole games. Ludek Pachman, the West German and former Czechoslovak Grandmaster, has taken part in international chess since 1945. The present work is a substantial revision of a series of books that first appeared in Czech. It has been translated from the German by the English International Master, John Littlewood.

    Recommended by chess coaches the world over, it presents a wide range of specific chess positions and asks the reader to find the next move or series of moves that lead to checkmate -- with two diagrams per page and the answers spelled out underneath.The beauty of Simple Checkmates is that it turns learning into a game. It's fun, it's fascinating, it's fundamental -- an invaluable tool for anyone who wants not only to play chess, but to win at chess. With more than 430 diagrams in all, this book is certain to take you -- or your children -- to a whole new level op play.

    Twenty years' research and practice produce a wealth of thought-provoking and hitherto unpublished material on the nature and development of high-level talent: Just what constitutes an "exceptional performance" at the chessboard? Can you really profit from chess lessons? What is the lifetime pattern of Grandmaster development? Where are the masters born? Does your child have master potential? The step-by-step rating system exposition should enable any reader to become an expert on it. For some it may suggest fresh approaches to performance measurement and handicapping in bowling, bridge, golf and elsewhere. 43 charts, diagrams and maps supplement the text. How and why are chessmasters statistically remarkable? How much will your rating rise if you work with the devotion of a Steinitz? At what age should study begin? What toll does age take, and when does it begin? Development of the performance data, covering hundreds of years and thousands of players, has revealed a fresh and exciting version of chess history. One of the many tables identifies 500 all-time chess greatpersonal data and top lifetime performance ratings. Just what does government assistance do for chess? What is the Soviet secret? What can we learn from the Icelanders? Why did the small city of Plovdiv produce three Grandmasters in only ten years? Who are the untitled dead? Did Euwe take the championship from Alekhine on a fluke? How would Fischer fare against Morphy in a ten-wins match? 1t was inevitable that this fascinating story be written, ' asserts FIDE President Max Euwe, who introduces the book and recognizes the major part played by ratings in today's burgeoning international activity. Although this is the definitive ratings work, with statistics alone sufficient to place it in every reference library, it was written by a gentle scientist for pleasurable reading -for the enjoyment of the truths, the questions, and the opportunities it reveals.