The writings of Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik (1911 – 1995) are legendary. And Botvinnik’s legacy is deeply imprinted in the DNA of every grandmaster today, says Andy Soltis in his foreword to this book. ‘The Patriarch’ took professionalism in chess to a new level and was the first to emphasize preparation: what a player does before a game plays an enormous, if not decisive, role in what happens during a game. In this book, Botvinnik writes the story of the three clashes with his compatriot Vasily Smyslov, matches full of tension between two virtually equal opponents, and his match with Tigran Petrosian, which marks the end of an era: the mighty Botvinnik lost his world title fifteen years after he conquered the highest crown for the first time. The first part of this book gives Botvinnik’s view of three World Championship matches and how he prepared for them. The matches were as great a clash of personalities as in any world championship, as much as Karpov versus Kasparov. While Botvinnik played the role of a stern father, Smyslov was like the smiling, easy-going uncle. Botvinnik was proud of what he called his ‘hard character’. Smyslov seemed to get along with everyone. His attitude was to try to do his best and let fate decide. The last part of the book is the gripping account of a heroic battle. The ageing Botvinnik desperately tries to bounce back after his Armenian opponent Tigran Petrosian has taken an early lead, but ultimately, The Patriarch fails. Mikhail Botvinnik, one of the greatest chess players of all time, analyses many of the games, reveals his match strategy and comments on the strategic choices of his opponent. This important historical document also features annotations and writings by Smyslov, Petrosian and other top grandmasters, the games of a secret training match by Botvinnik and Botvinnik’s legendary notebooks, including the final one containing his preparation for a match with Bobby Fischer in 1969 – a match that was never to be.

World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik writes the story of the 1963 match in which he lost his title to fellow Russian Tigran Petrosian. Botvinnik, one of the greatest chess players of all time, analyses the games, reveals his match strategy and comments on the strategic choices of his opponent. Botvinnik's revealing essay: ?Why In lost the match? is counterbalanced by Petrosian's analysis of his win, which is also included in this important historical document. A fascinating and highly instructive report.

This book contains 71 deeply annotated chess victories of Tigran Petrosian (World Champion from 1963 to 1969) against the leading players of his day, some of which are in print for the first time. The authors' authoritative but accessible language makes it a good read for the amateur as well as a cast-iron network of interlocking variations to satisfy the professionals. Petrosian was underrated as world champion in his day (many of his achievements were drowned out by the furore surrounding Bobby Fischer) but he is now being critically reappraised – Garry Kasparov paid fulsome tribute to him at a recent London lecture. This insightful book aims to restore him to his rightful position in the pantheon of chess greats.

The 1951 match for the World Chess Championship was exceptionally hard fought. Each player won 5 games and the remaining 14 games were drawn. The match ended in a 12-12 tie and, under the rules, the champion, Botvinnik, retained his title. A new appendix has been added to the end of this book with all the games converted to Algebraic notation and the concluded diagram for each game. Rumors that have persisted that Bronstein was forced to resign that match by some higher political authority resulted in a book and a movie that depicted the supposed event. The book and movie is "From Russia with Love" by Ian Fleming. It is part of the long running James Bond Agent 007 Series. Kronsteen, unlike the real life David Bronstein, is given the assignment of planning the murder of James Bond, who has been giving the Soviets trouble for a long time. This ultimately leads to the death of Kronsteen in the movie, unlike Bronstein who obeyed the order and thus was allowed to live to a ripe old age. According to the plan worked out by Kronsteen, a beautiful Russian girl would be sent as a lure to James Bond. While this plot line may seem ridiculous, it was not entirely untrue. The Soviets did in reality use beautiful women as bait to entrap Americans, as was the case of a real spy the Russians sent to us recently, Anna Chapman.

Only the very best dared to play for a win against Tigran Petrosian. The 9th World Champion was extremely difficult to beat because his defensive techniques were virtually unmatched. In the rare case that someone managed to bring him into difficulties they ran a serious risk of having to face a vicious counterattack. Former Russian Champion Alexei Bezgodov explains to a wide range of players how they can employ the skills of ‘the Tiger'. How to deal with pressure, how to anticipate threats or march you King out of danger even if it feels you are entering a minefield. That you should not hesitate to give up an exchange or spoil your own pawn structure if the position calls for it. How to find unlikely decoys and start a counterattack. This book aims to help amateur players improve the standard of their defensive play. In many training programs a serious analysis of the art of defense is lacking. That explains why most club players are much better at attacking than at coping with adversity and difficult positions. ‘Defend Like Petrosian' points the way to creative solutions and will help you save lots of points.

The Patriarch of Soviet Chess From the mid-1930s to the early 1960s, one man towered above all other chessplayers. That was the sixth world chess champion, Mikhail Botvinnik. His calm, deep analytical approach, supplemented by careful attention to his mental and physical conditioning served him well throughout his career. Now, in the sixth volume of the World Chess Champions Series by Isaak and Vladimir Linder, you will learn all about the chess advances and achievements of the Patriarch of Soviet chess, about his life and scholarly pursuit, and his contributions to the various phases of the game – opening, middlegame and endgame. Botvinnik was no less influential when he assumed the role of teacher. Graduates of his school included such powerful players as Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Sergei Tiviakov and Alexei Shirov. This book presents almost 150 of Botvinnik’s best games and endings, with fresh annotations by German grandmaster Karsten Müller, along with crosstables and many archival photographs. We invite you on journey to explore the life and games of one of the greatest and most influential world champions ever.

He describes and analyses, in depth, his most memorable encounters-both famous victories and painful defeats, against the best chess players of the last 50 years. --

Welcome to Tiger’s Den! Tigran Petrosian, the ninth world chess champion, was one of the deepest thinkers the chess world has ever seen. His handling of complex strategic positions was legendary. Now, for the first time, Russian international master Igor Yanvarjov has put together a superb collection of virtually all the known games played by Petrosian – with both colors – in the King’s Indian Defense and other closely related Indian structures. The author’s objective was, first of all, to reveal the richness of Petrosian’s chess world and to follow the strategic development of the King’s Indian Defense through the prism of Petrosian’s creative work. He does this with the presentation of almost 300 deeply annotated, complete games. Contents include: Preface by Levon Aronian; Foreword by Igor Zaitsev; The Classical Variation; The Sämisch System ; The Fianchetto Variation; The Benoni; Other Systems; Portrait of a Chess Player; Lessons from Petrosian; The Problem of the Exchange; “Furman’s Bishop”; “Pawns are the soul of chess”; Playing by Analogy; Maneuvering Battle; Experiments; Realist or Romantic?; The King’s Indian with Colors – and Flanks – Reversed; Appendix; Index of Tabiyas; ECO/Opening/Tabiya Indexes. This splendid collection of annotated games will not only have enormous appeal to King’s Indian aficionados, but to all chessplayers who wish to expand their understanding of the strategic concepts underpinning the royal game as a whole.

The games of Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion from 1948 to 1963, have been studied by players around the world for decades. But little has been written about Botvinnik himself. This book explores his unusual dual career--as a highly regarded scientist as well as the first truly professional chess player--as well as his complex relations with Soviet leaders, including Josef Stalin, his bitter rivalries, and his doomed effort to create the perfect chess-playing computer program. The book has more than 85 games, 127 diagrams, twelve photographs, a chronology of his life and career, a bibliography, an index of openings, an index of opponents, and a general index.

Viktor Moskalenko is one of the leading chess instructors of our time. Not only has he coached Masters and Grandmasters, including Ukrainian star Vasily Ivanchuk, he has also taught hundreds of classes for amateurs and his best-selling books have inspired thousands of ambitious club players all over the world. Moskalenko’s previous and highly popular chess opening books were mainly written for the Black pieces. Now he presents an extremely powerful set of lines for White. The guiding principle of his 1.d4 repertoire is: be bold and put pressure on your opponent as early as possible. Moskalenko does not shower you with long computer-generated variations but has a keen eye for the essence of positions. His talent to find new resources in well-known lines results in a host of novelties, daring recommendations and cunning tricks. When you play his lines and follow his recommendations you will frequently surprise your opponent and build up positions full of swing. Studying An Attacking Repertoire for White with 1.d4 is a delight because this is a typical Moskalenko book: practical, accessible, original and inspiring.