Jan Timman is one of the greatest chess players never to win the world title. For many years ‘the Best of the West' belonged to the chess elite, collecting some splendid super tournament victories. Three times Timman was a Candidate for the World Championship and his peak in the world rankings was second place, in 1982. For this definitive collection, Timman has revisited his career and subjected his finest efforts to fresh analysis supported by modern technology. The result is startling and fascinating. From the games that he chose for his Timman's Selected Games (1994, also published as Chess the Adventurous Way), only 10(!) made the cut. Some games that he had been proud of turned out to be flawed, others that he remembered as messy were actually well played. Timman's Triumphs includes wins against greats such as Karpov, Kasparov, Kortchnoi, Smyslov, Tal, Spassky, Bronstein, Larsen and Topalov. The annotations are in the author's trademark lucid style, that happy mix of colourful background information and sharp, crystal-clear explanations. Once again Jan Timman shows that he is not only one of the best players the game has seen, but also as one of the best analysts and writers.

"Initially things looked gloomy for Bobby Fischer. Because he had refused to participate in the 1969 US Championship, he had missed his chance to qualify for the 1970 Interzonal Tournament in Palma de Mallorca. Only when another American, Pal Benko, withdrew in his favour, and after the officials were willing to bend the rules, could Bobby enter the contest. And begin his phenomenal run that would end with the Match of the Century in Reykjavik against World Champion Boris Spassky. ... Jan Timman chronicles the full story of Fischer's sensational run and takes a fresh look at the games. The annotations are in the author's trademark lucid style, that happy mix of colourful background information and sharp, crystal-clear explanations."--Back cover.

The Stories and the Games: Alekhine – Euwe – Botvinnik – Smyslov – Tal - Petrosian – Spassky – Fischer - Karpov – Kasparov For many years Jan Timman was one of the best chess players in the world. He combined his brilliant successes on the board with a passion for writing and meticulously analysing his own games and those of his rivals. Three times he was a World Championship Candidate and in 1993 he played in the final of the FIDE World Championship. In this fascinating book, Jan Timman portrays ten World Chess Champions that played an important role in his life and career. Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) he never met, but the story of how in Lisbon he bought one of the last chess sets belonging to the fourth World Champion is one of many highlights in this book. Timman has a keen eye for detail and a fabulous memory, and he visibly enjoys sharing his insider views, including many revelations about the great champions. Timman’s Titans not only presents a personal view of these chess giants, but is also an evocation of countless fascinating episodes in chess history. Each portrait is completed by a rich selection of illustrative games, annotated in the author’s trademark lucid style. Always to the point, sharp and with crystal-clear explanations, Timman shows the highs and lows from the games of the champions, including the most memorable games he himself played against them.

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, 22yearold 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 7371 in Kasparov’s favour. In The Longest Game Jan Timman returns to the KasparovKarpov matches. He chronicles the many twists and turns of this fascinating saga, including his behindthe scenes impressions, and takes a fresh look at the games.

Garry Kasparov was the highest-rated chess player in the world for over twenty years and is widely considered the greatest player that ever lived. In How Life Imitates Chess Kasparov distills the lessons he learned over a lifetime as a Grandmaster to offer a primer on successful decision-making: how to evaluate opportunities, anticipate the future, devise winning strategies. He relates in a lively, original way all the fundamentals, from the nuts and bolts of strategy, evaluation, and preparation to the subtler, more human arts of developing a personal style and using memory, intuition, imagination and even fantasy. Kasparov takes us through the great matches of his career, including legendary duels against both man (Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov) and machine (IBM chess supercomputer Deep Blue), enhancing the lessons of his many experiences with examples from politics, literature, sports and military history. With candor, wisdom, and humor, Kasparov recounts his victories and his blunders, both from his years as a world-class competitor as well as his new life as a political leader in Russia. An inspiring book that combines unique strategic insight with personal memoir, How Life Imitates Chess is a glimpse inside the mind of one of today's greatest and most innovative thinkers.

Combining beauty and practicality, the endgame study is one of the subtle wonders of the Royal Game. Training with studies is a vital part of improving your endgame technique: it develops your general understanding, your calculation skills and your resourcefulness. But endgame studies, with their elements of artistry, science and hidden beauty, are at the same time highly entertaining. Jan Timman is one of the few famous chess players who also have a distinguished career as a study composer. In The Art of the Endgame Timman has collected a magnificent selection of studies, relating how they have inspired him, and presents his own best material. This is a labor of love which is not only a must-read for specialists and a source of joy, but also a practical tool for club players who want to deepen their understanding of the endgame.

Giving mate is the ultimate goal of every chess player. Finding that all-decisive combination is immensely satisfying. But how are you supposed to spot a checkmate when you are sitting at the board with the clock ticking? In this guide International Master Vladimir Barsky teaches the method created by his mentor Viktor Khenkin (1923-2010). It’s based on an ingenious classification of the most frequently occurring mating schemes. A wide range of chess players will find it an extremely useful tool to recognize mating patterns and calculate the often narrow path to the kill. All the 1,000 examples (850 of them in exercise format) that Barsky presents are from games played in 21st century. He has carefully selected the most instructive combinations and lucidly explains the typical techniques to corner your opponent’s king. More often than you would expect, positions that look innocent at first sight, turn out to contain a mating pattern. This is not just another book full of chess puzzles. It’s a brilliantly organized course that has proven to be effective. Finding mate isn’t rocket science, but you need to know what to look for. Vladimir Barsky teaches you exactly that.

Jan Timman is one of the world's most imaginative and uncompromising players. His fighting style has provided the chess public with dozens of beautiful games. This fully-annotated selection of eighty of Timman's best games since 1983, includes victorie

Mikhail Botvinnik was the ultimate boy scout of chess - always prepared! Indeed, his advance preparation for his key matches was feared by the greatest. It even involved the radio blaring while he was playing training games as well as having nicotine-puffing opponents blow smoke in his eyes during practice games, in order to acclimatise himself for the real thing. Of course, this was before the days of modern political correctness when smoking in public is regarded by the powersthat- be as a heinous crime and is, unlike licking the highway clean with your tongue, now generally banned by law on health and safety grounds. Botvinnik's training games were a well guarded secret only shared by a few trusty colleagues, such as the Grandmasters Ragozin, Averbakh and Furman. The Soviet state was a monument to paranoia at the best of times, but suspicion multiplied when world titles hinged on secrecy, and these games have lain hidden for decades after they were played. Botvinnik was World Champion three times, from 1948- 1957, 1958 -1960 and 1961 -1963. His final championship victory against Tal in the 1961 revenge match counts as one of the highest scoring rating performances in the history of chess. It was of course based on the most meticulous preparation, not least in the psychological sphere of seeking to find and play positions which were not to Tal's taste. Grandmaster Jan Timman is one of the most popular and colourful players on the modern scene. A finalist in the FIDE-World Chess Federation-World Chess Championship in 1993, Timman has been the second dominating force in Dutch chess after world champion Dr Max Euwe. Here Timman presents every Botvinnik training game which could be found and subjects the most important to typically close analytical and explanatory scrutiny.