Paul Morphy might well be the most brilliant and enigmatic chess champion of all time. He burst onto the scene in 1857 as a 20-year-old and dominated the chess world for two short years, convincingly defeating all the strongest players. After conquering the European chess scene, Morphy was universally recognised as the greatest player of all time. But at the age of 22 he suddenly and permanently retired from serious competition.

In Chess Survivor – The Last of the Greats a chess legend shares his life story and annotates his best games.

Victor Bologan is not only a strong and creative chess grandmaster, he has also made a career in Moldovan and world chess politics. His strong will and incredible versatility have enabled him to lead a colourful and interesting life. ‘Believe in yourself’ is his motto and it has taken him to places many of us will never see.

The Fascinating Chess and Football Careers of Simen Agdestein

Simen Agdestein was awarded the title of chess grandmaster at the age of eighteen, the youngest in the world at the time. Two years later he wrote in his diary that he believed he could become the best in the world.

It is not really in doubt that Bobby Fischer is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) chess players of all-time. His name is one that it is recognized immediately by almost anyone with even a passing interest in chess. His numerous brilliant games are very well known and have been seen in numerous anthologies.

A LIFE DEDICATED TO CHESS AND ITS PLAYERS

This remarkable book is a tribute to a man who is probably the greatest chess coach of all time. Mark Dvoretsky was a fascinating, intelligent, honest, decent, hard-working and good-natured man who dedicated his life to chess and its players.

Boris Spassky is the most underappreciated World Champion in chess history, remembered as the Soviet who lost to Bobby Fischer in 1972. In this two-volume work, biographer extraordinaire Tibor Karolyi puts the focus on Spassky’s brilliant career and life story.

The Dutch Grandmaster Paul van der Sterren was a professional chess player for over twenty years. At the peak of his career, he qualified for the Candidate Matches for the World Championship – and was only four victories away from the World Title. In Mindful Chess, you will get his long and short answer to whether meditation or mindfulness will help your chess.

On 30 April 2023, in Astana, Kazakhstan, Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren sensationally defeated Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in a dramatic battle for the chess crown. Ding Liren not only became the 17th World Chess Champion, but he also won the hearts of chess fans across the globe with his incredible fighting spirit and disarming interviews. At the final press conference, the new champion said the match ‘reflected the deepest of his soul’.

From Bobby Fischer to Ding Liren

Chess players can look ahead, formulate a clear plan, and act accordingly. That's why chess is the perfect learning environment for becoming a strategic expert. But how do you train this? It starts with playing many games and analysing them carefully afterwards.

World Chess Champion Max Euwe, who held the title from 1935-1937, is one of the greatest chess players in history. Much has been written about him, and he authored dozens of books himself. But missing was an outstanding collection of games of this 'efficient, man-eating tiger' as the American grandmaster Reuben Fine once called Euwe.

The Russian Boris Spassky was the perfect gentleman. He was a chess genius who became World Champion in 1969. But he was also gracious in defeat after he lost his title to the American Bobby Fischer in 1972 in the Match of the Century.

Genna Sosonko is widely acclaimed as the most prominent chronicler of a unique era in chess history. In the Soviet Union chess was developed into an ideological weapon that was actively promoted by the country’s leadership during the Cold War. Starting with Mikhail Botvinnik, their best chess players grew into symbols of socialist excellence. Sosonko writes from a privileged dual perspective, combining an insider’s nostalgia with the detachment of a critical observer. He grew up with legendary champions such as Mikhail Tal and Viktor Korchnoi and spent countless hours with most of the other greats and lesser chess mortals he portrays.

Самый юный перворазрядник в СССР, чемпион мира среди юношей, участник турнира претендентов в 19 лет – взлет Бориса Спасского был стремительным. 

Первый капитальный труд, посвящённый Рудольфу Шпильману – одному из сильнейших шахматистов мира первой половины 20-го века. В начале книги даётся биографический очерк, дополненный редкими фотографиями. В основной её части – шахматной, через глубокий анализ более чем 200 партий автор рисует творческий портрет Шпильмана. Подробные комментарии, тематическое разбиение материала делают книгу настоящим учебником шахматной игры. В приложении приведена знаменитая статья Шпильмана «У постели больного королевского гамбита».

Для широкого круга любителей шахмат.

Юрий Рафаэлович Дохоян (1964-2021) – гроссмейстер, заслуженный тренер России, сеньор-тренер ФИДЕ. Более 10 лет являлся тренером-секундантом Гарри Каспарова, а также тренировал сестер Татьяну и Надежду Косинцевых, Сергея Карякина и Андрея Есипенко, был главным тренером женской и мужской сборных России.

Я играю в шахматы около пятидесяти лет, из них свыше тридцати – на высшем уровне. Наверное, пришло время поделиться самыми памятными встречами. В первый том вошли партии, сыгранные в XX веке» (Б. Гельфанд).

Таль Михаил Нехемьевич (9.11.1936—28.06.1992) восьмой чемпион мира (1960—1961), международный гроссмейстер (1957). Чемпион Латвии 1953, 1965 гг. Чемпион СССР 1957, 1958, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978 гг. 

Judit Polgar is the strongest female chess player of all time. From an early age on the Hungarian prodigy baffled the world with her sensational triumphs. At the age of 15 she beat Bobby Fischer’s record to become the youngest grandmaster in history. During her glorious career, which she ended in 2014, she defeated World Champions Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen.

International Master Tibor Károlyi was Hungarian Champion in 1984 and is renowned as an author and trainer. He won the Guardian Book of the Year prize in 2007 and coached Peter Leko until he became a world class grandmaster.

In this book, the author drives you through the very rich chess career of Jan Timman while interviewing him. This unique concept makes the book easy to read and gives the reader some inside information about what is happening also off the board, things you normally don’t get to know about.

The World Championship match between Fischer and Spassky in Reykjavik 1972 was played at the height of the Cold War. The image of a lone American genius defeating the Soviet machine captivated a worldwide audience unlike anything else in chess history. Exactly fifty years later, Fischer – Spassky 1972 takes a fresh look at both the chess and the human aspects of this monumental match.

Гроссмейстер Алексей Выжманавин (1960-2000) – яркая и трагическая фигура советских/российских шахмат. Тонкий позиционный игрок, любивший при этом импровизировать и блестяще считавший варианты. 

The Chess Adventures of Abhimanyu Mishra Aged 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days.

In this revealing self-portrait of Abhimanyu Mishra, he tells the story of a highly ambitious family project. Supported by his father, mother and sister, Abhi sets out to beat a nineteen-year-old world record. He wants to become the Youngest Chess Grandmaster in the World.

Korchnoi and his Chess Grandchildren features 25 of Viktor Korchnoi’s best games from the latter stages of his glorious career. The latest game is from 2011, when Korchnoi was still potent enough to defeat Fabiano Caruana. 

‘I as though traced the evolution of chess thought and repeated its basic steps in my own development … convinced that any player with high ambition should follow such a path’ ~ Vassily Smyslov, 125 Selected Games (1983)

This book takes the reader on a journey from early 19th century developments in the game up to the present-day. It takes in the revolutionary Wilhelm Steinitz’s early summation and establishment of a firm positional basis for chess and the considerable contributions made by all of the subsequent world champions and certain other great players, including the contemporary computer phenomenon, AlphaZero.

I am convinced that to cultivate the memory of the past and to study the classics is always useful and worthwhile, not least because it enables us to understand and face with greater awareness the facts and the problems of the present time. Much has already been written about the giants who have preceded us, and in particular, the Cuban, José Raúl Capablanca, and the Russo-Frenchman, Alexander Alekhine, but a new approach can surely offer different and interesting perspectives.

Английский гроссмейстер Найджел Шорт (родился 1 июня 1965 г.) – один из самых успешных шахматистов мира в 80-90-е годы XX века. 

The Inside Story of the legendary 1972 Fischer-Spassky World Chess Championship in Reykjavik

Międzynarodowy mistrz Tibor Karolyi i mistrz FIDE Tigran Gyozalyan napisali obszerny, dwutomowy traktat o życiu i grach Tigrana Petrosiana, który był mistrzem świata w latach 1963-1969. Niniejszy Tom I zabiera czytelnika w podróż od dzieciństwa Tigrana, przez lata wojny, sukcesy w krajowych mistrzostwach Gruzji i Armenii, jego wyłonienie się jako elitarny gracz zdobywając mistrzostwo Związku Radzieckiego i złoto olimpijskie, a także zwycięstwo w słynnym Turnieju Kandydatów w 1962 r. Curaçao.

Mikhail Tal is one of the most celebrated World Champions in chess history, who confounded his opponents and dazzled chess fans around the world. Seemingly breaking every rule in the book, yet also breaking records with his accomplishments, Tal truly was The Chess Alchemist.

Kasparow to wieloletni lider światowych szachów, autor wielu bestsellerów. Pięciotomowe wydanie „Moi wielcy poprzednicy” zostało stworzone przez niego we współpracy ze słynnym dziennikarzem szachowym i mistrzem Dmitrijem Plisieckim.

Tom piąty poświęcony jest mistrzowi świata Karpowowi i jego historycznemu rywalowi Korcznojowi, ich dramatycznym walkom o koronę szachową.

Album zawiera wiele kolorowych zdjęć.

W stulecie Jurija Lwowicza Awerbacha Rosyjska Federacja Szachowa wydała album ze zdjęciami z życia najstarszego arcymistrza świata. Album odzwierciedla długie i różnorodne szachowe życie jednego z najsłynniejszych sowieckich arcymistrzów, który ustanowił rekord długowieczności w kohorcie szachowych zawodowców.

Książka międzynarodowego arcymistrza Aleksandra Konstantinopolskiego, trenera Davida Bronsteina w meczu o mistrzostwo świata w 1951 roku, poświęcona jest pracy oryginalnego szachisty i słynnego teoretyka szachów Wsiewołoda Rausera, którego osiągnięcia analityczne utorowały drogę do systemów otwierania, które są nadal aktualne .

Oprócz wybranych gier – niektórych z nich nie ma w bazach danych – książka, pierwsza o Wsiewołodzie Rauzerze, zawiera dodatkowe materiały.

Dla szerokiego grona szachistów

Tal Michaił Nechemiewicz (9.11.1936-28.06.1992) ósmy mistrz świata (1960-1961), arcymistrz międzynarodowy (1957). Champion Łotwy 1953, 1965 Mistrz ZSRR 1957, 1958, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978 Ośmiokrotny zwycięzca Światowych Olimpiad Szachowych w drużynie ZSRR, sześciokrotny mistrz Europy i trzykrotny mistrz świata wśród uczniów w imprezie drużynowej.

Jak odnieść sukces? Jak przetrwać w świecie tajnego zamieszania i podstępnych intryg? Jak nie zatracić się, łącząc przez długi czas wcielenia wielkiego sportowca, męża stanu, światowej sławy filatelisty, prezesa Fundacji Pokoju, deputowanego Dumy Państwowej i szefa ogromnej liczby klubów i szkół szachowych? Dowiesz się o tym i nie tylko z ekscytującej autobiografii dwunastego mistrza świata w szachach.

Siódmy mistrz świata Wasilij Wasiljewicz Smysłow przeżył długie i pełne wrażeń życie. Zagrał około 3000 gier turniejowych przez siedem dekad i udało się uchwycić zarówno erę Laskera i Capablanki, jak i czasy Ananda i Carlsena. 

Robert James Fischer is one of the greatest and most celebrated players in chess history. Exactly fifty years since the American won the right to challenge Boris Spassky for the World Championship crown, Tibor Karolyi documents Fischer’s unique journey from precocious youngster to the chess icon who obliterated Taimanov and Larsen before convincingly beating Petrosian on The Road to Reykjavik.

Rashid Nezhmetdinov (1912-1974) played fearless attacking chess. With his dazzling style, the Soviet master already was a legend during his lifetime, but international fame largely eluded him. Only once did he get permission to show his exceptional talent in a tournament abroad.

В своей новой книге гроссмейстер Зенон Франко глубоко анализирует 30 поучительных побед Яна Непомнящего и большое число фрагментов, в том числе из турнира претендентов (Екатеринбург 2020-2021). Книга не перегружена вариантами, акцент – на подробных объяснениях в формате «ход за ходом», что создает идеальную платформу для изучения шахмат. В «опорных» точках каждой партии читателю предлагаются тестовые вопросы, что помогает и практическому изучению ключевых приемов шахматной игры, и надежному усвоению обретаемых знаний. Вопросы и ответы вовлекают читателя в процесс обучения и помогают ему отслеживать рост своей шахматной силы.

This fascinating biography of over eighty-five annotated games and stories are being presented by grandmasters Georg Mohr and Adrian Mikhalchishin. It covers Planinc’ entire life and chess career, including his most fascinating games. This fitting tribute of a forgotten chess genius should be found in anyone’s chess library. Thanks to this colorful book Albin Planinc will continue to inspire us all and will keep his spirit alive.