Perceptive coverage of all 210 games from the legendary tournament, which featured Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Petrosian, and 11 others, including the author. Suitable for players at all levels. Algebraic notation. 352 diagrams.

One of the greatest books ever written about a world championship match. In 1960 Mikhail Botvinnik was the pillar of "scientific " chess and the ironwilled champion of the world. The young attacking genius Mihail Tal, the "Wizard of Riga," put the magic back into the game by defeating Botvinnik with spectacular tactics in one of the most dramatic and celebrated world championship matches of all time. This is Tal's own classic work on the contest. In it he sets the stage and explains every one of the 21 games, telling both the on- and off-the-board story of this tatanic clash of styles and thought. Take a trip with the Magician from Riga as he invites you to share his thoughts and feelings as he does battle for the world title. "Mikhail Tal's splendid account of his world championship match victory is one of the masterpieces of the golden age of annotation - before insights and feelings and flashes of genius were reduced to mere moves and Informant symbols. This is simply the best book written about a world championship match by a contestant. That shouldn't be a surprise because Tal was the finest writer to become world champion." - From the Foreword by International Grandmaster Andy Soltis

World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik writes the story of his three clashes for the world title with fellow Russian Vasily Smyslov. Botvinnik, one of the greatest chess players of all time, analyses all the games, reveals his match strategy, and comments on the strategic choices of his opponent. Not only an important historical document on the pinnacle of chess of the mid-20th century, but also a fascinating and highly instructive report.

When Mikhail Botvinnik lost the world championship in 1960 to the dazzling attacking player from Riga, Mikhail Tal, there seemed little chance of him regaining his title. Yet in the Return Match a year later, with a surprising demonstration of aggressive chess, Botvinnik completely outplayed his young opponent and ran out the easy winner. All 21 games of the match are deeply annotated.

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.

First published in Russian in 2014 and written by Genna Sosonko - widely recognized as the number one writer on the history of Soviet chess - this is a truly unique book about the life and destiny of the great chess player David Bronstein (1924-2006). Emerging from a challenging background - he narrowly escaped the holocaust in WWII, during which he starved, and his father spent seven years in a gulag - Bronstein faced Botvinnik in the world championship match in 1951 and nearly defeated him. But this 'nearly' inflicted a wound on David so deep that it would not heal for the rest of his life. Sosonko knew Bronstein well. Their conversations - many of which have made it into this book - not only portray the thoughts and character of one of history's most original grandmasters but also take us back to a time unlike any other in world history. This is not a biography in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, Sosonko's fascinating book asks eternal questions which don't have neat and simple answers. With a foreword to the English edition by Garry Kasparov.

The Life & Games of the Seventh World Chess Champion Vasily Smyslov, the seventh world champion, had a long and illustrious chess career. He played close to 3,000 tournament games over seven decades, from the time of Lasker and Capablanca to the days of Anand and Carlsen. From 1948 to 1958, Smyslov participated in four world championships, becoming world champion in 1957. Smyslov continued playing at the highest level for many years and made a stunning comeback in the early 1980s, making it to the finals of the candidates’ cycle. Only the indomitable energy of 20-year-old Garry Kasparov stopped Smyslov from qualifying for another world championship match at the ripe old age of 63! In this first volume of a multi-volume set, Russian FIDE master Andrey Terekhov traces the development of young Vasily from his formative years and becoming the youngest grandmaster in the Soviet Union to finishing second in the world championship match tournament. With access to rare Soviet-era archival material and invaluable family archives, the author complements his account of Smyslov’s growth into an elite player with dozens of fascinating photographs, many never seen before, as well as 49 deeply annotated games. German grandmaster Karsten Müller’s special look at Smyslov’s endgames rounds out this fascinating first volume. [This book] is an extremely well-researched look at his life and games, a very welcome addition to the body of work about Smyslov... – from the Foreword by Peter Svidler