Customer Reviews (8)

Interesting treatment but lacking depth and coordination
First, why you this book might be for you.

The strengths of this book is the approach to studying the play of Fischer.The technique employed in the development of this book is uncommon and very effective to really analyze the characteristics of a personal playing style.The analysis and discussion is ideal for a developing (but not necessarily already strong player) in most cases.The considerations in analyzing Fischer's style could be applied to any chess master that one might study.

Why did the book drop to three stars?

The analysis is general too superficial to provide any real deep insight into the positions.This most likely due to the strength of the author (FIDE approx. 2250).He certainly does a better job at explaining positions than certain GMs that are just "mailing" in their analysis, but doesn't come anywhere near close to the top chess writers such as Beim, Marin and Soltis (and certain others).There are many occurences where games end with the comment "and then it is Fischer's technique".The book is about technique but the author never really "gets" that Fischer's technique and defensive abilities allowed Fischer to make aggressive decisions.Sure, he alluded to this in many sections, but no synthesis was provided to really provide a picture of why Fischer's ability was so dominate in his run against the Soviets.This kind of discussion would have improved the book considerably.Instead, the book is collection of attributes characterizing a playing style with typically four or five examples.My main problem is that most examples and characteristics could be found for most top GMs.The author did very little to contrast the effectiveness Fischer's style against the players of his time or even the players up to the publication date.

In conclusion ...

If you're an aspiring improving player, this book is an interesting and instructive read but do your own homework!Go through a book like Soltis' Fischer Rediscovered and certainly read Bobby Fischer's My Sixty Most Memorable Games.Just ignore the fact that the attributes are highly related and often an item like "timing" cannot be disconnected from all the other characteristics and probably shouldn't be discussed at its own topic.

A Fascinating and Totally Unique Book
If you read and enjoyed "How Karpov Wins" by Mednis, you will fall madly in love with this book.Agur has written an incredibly fascinating book about the chess world's most enigmatic personality.What makes the book so outstanding is the breadth and depth to which Agur has analyzed Fischer's playing style.You can learn things here which you would not understand clearly even after reading Fischer's "Memorable Games".He breaks down Fischer's games according to topics like: Style, Defense, Technique, Clarity, etc.I know of no other book like this at this level of detail and depth.I'm not so sure it will improve your playing strength, but it will give you a perfect scheme for playing 'a la Fischer'
A must for any serious chess lover.

Methodical study of Fischer's play - a new dimension!
While not a grandmaster himself, Elie Agur has obviously made a deep study of Bobby Fischer's games. In this fascinating and highly instructive book, he analyzes the elements of Fischer's style with reference to specific games. As Agur says, "Besides being a study on Fischer, it is a treatise on the middlegame at large". Over 300 diagram positions are taken apart, with a page or more sometimes devoted to a single move, its implications and alternatives.

Topics include pawn structure, piece placement, material, timing, strategy (e.g. plans, seizing the initiative, liquidation, and playing for space), clarity, straightforwardness, alertness, reducing the opponent's options, playing to win, practical chances, tactics, technical aspects and overall vision. Fischer's weaknesses are not allowed to pass unmentioned, either. Agur devotes whole chapters to superficiality, misplaying won positions, and typical blunders and oversights.

You can learn all sorts of fascinating details about the great man and his opponents. For instance, Fischer's decision to play Alekhine's Defence against Ciocaltea in the 1965 Capablance Memorial tournament amazed fans. Agur explains what really happened. Fischer was participating by cable, as the State Department denied him a visa to go to Fidel Castro's Cuba in the aftermath of the 1962 missile crisis. Ciocaltea's first move was received as 1. d4 and so played on the board, and Fischer replied 1...Nf6 as usual. Only when the second move, 2. e5 came through was the mistake discovered. Characteristically, Fischer refused to change his first move and achieved a hard-fought draw after a long struggle against an opponent he would often have expected to beat.

For my money, this is a superb book. If I had to choose between it and any other book on Fischer - even his own "60 Memorable Games" - I think I would have to pick this one. It strikes a perfect balance between quantity and quality. Reading it carefully should increase anyone's playing strength, and is sure to afford hours of pleasure. Just one warning - chess theory has made huge strides since Fischer was playing, so don't take any of the opening analysis on trust without checking in a modern reference book.

Unique amoung chess books
This book delivers as the title says.Discussed are Fischer's decisions across various motifs (pawn structure, piece placement, strategy,...) from a diagrammed position.Much of the book can be read without a board depending on your strength.I think this book is more for advanced players, you just need to know things to get the most out of this book.Really the book is about style -- the style of a genius, so no chess player should be without it.

Excellent book to synthesize elements of chess
This book will change the way you approach chess regardless of your playing level. As noted by previous readers, Elie Agur has done a nice job of systematically analyzing Fischer's approach to chess into clear parts (e.g., pawn structures, traps, typical manuevores) clearly for the reader to grasp. The usefulness of this catagorization goes beyond having to fill up a content page. What has not been said is that reading this book actually helps you to integrate almost all the chess concepts you learnt (e.g., tactics, positional chess, etc.) but never know how to go about applying them.

For the more advanced player, I would recommend you taking a look at how Agur, given a chess position with a variety of candidate moves, manage to compare and contrast Fischer's style with other schools of playing chess (e.g., Karpov and Capablanca). This is interesting in itself as this is one clear evidence of chess style at work, and that no particular style is necessarily the best (although Fischer's style has been known to be the most accurate and straightforward in selection of candidate moves). ... Read more

Product Description
This book gives a first hand look at the games of the man recognized as the greatest chess player of all time.Bobby Fischer's genius and uncompromising attitude raised the entire world's consciousness of chess and paved the way for multi-million dollar chess prize funds. This is the most complete collection of Fischer's games ever compiled. 1043 listings, 972 games total, with an opening analysis, algebraic notation, and an interesting section on Bobby Fischer's 100 most notable games.Contains complete crosstables and results of tournaments in which Fischer played. Indexed by opponents, openings, endings and ECO codes. All you ever need to know about Bobby Fischer's games is right here! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

King Bobby
An excellent source for the complete games of the best.My only complaint is the binding.After a couple of times playing through games pages just
started to separate from the binding.Every time I open the book more of the pages fall outExcellent content....cheaply made.

At least a book contains all the Fischer's games!!!
I think for such a great player ( or greatest ) as Fischer, his complete collection of games should be published. Unfortunately for the time being , no one had done this job. Fischer's " my 60 memorable games" covers only games up to 1967. Wade's book only a collection and with a few games annotated and also has been out of print. Soltis book only covers 100 games, so for the time being this is only choice. I hope in the future someone can do the job produce and annatate all the games of Bobby Fischer!!! But for the time being what we can do is to buy this book, and play through and help with a computer to appreciate Fischer's games!!!

Fabulous
This book is the sine qua non of chesws understanding.The complete games of the strongest player of all time--who can fail to benefit?

The Creator of Fischer Random.
Get this book, and improve your Chess but in the vision of Bobby Fischer; Old Chess is dead. This individual has created Fischer Random, a new way of playing Chess. I think Chess fans should write to amazon.com and request that this game be sold on here (referring to Fischer Random). I am not joking here but Fischer Random's format is really different but very interesting. Peter Leko from Europe is the first person to win in Fischer Random Chess.
I recommend this book to you.

The book is good
Ok,
In your chess life ,you should have a book with games collections from at least a grandmaster.
Bobby Fischer is not just a GM but a world champion too.

The book contents more than 1000 unannotated games.That means full games with no comments.There will be so re-view of moves here and there.

Now,
How to use the book?

You can play the games and identify the plan that Bobby used.
There are openings index,endgames index,name of players,so on makes the book a good one.

From what Jeremy Silman wrote in his book I recommend that you can play the first 4-6 moves and than try to figure out the moves made by Bobby.

Well,nowadays,with the advance technology,you can find annotated games in the net and view it in your computer.A good web-page is G.Ossimitz Chess Page...

So,you can buy the book and feel no regret. ... Read more

Product Description
Excerpts from the book Chess Exam: You vs. Bobby Fischer: Matches Against Chess Legends: Play the Match, Rate Yourself, Improve Your Game! (Chess Exams) (Paperback), ISBN 978-0975476109, MSRP $21.95. E-book has approximately 40 out of the total 192 pages that are in the orriginal book. Including the Preface, Comments before Taking Exam, and the entire Match 1 with questions, detailed answers and score-to-rating conversion.

From the orriginal book's press-release (Dec 2009):

Best-selling and award-winning author Igor Khmelnitsky gathers examples from Bobby Fischer's games that are educational and entertaining, and can be studied without a board. In each of the examples the readers will take the seat of Fischer's opponent and be asked to come up with an assessment and a move. Based on their response they are assigned points towards their rating evaluation and a game score towards their “match.” Once finished, the readers will learn how well they have done in the “match,” have an estimate of their rating, and know what they need to work on to improve their game.

Khmelnitsky, who also wrote the 2005 Book-of-the-Year (Chess Journalists of America) title, Chess Exam and Training Guide: Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve, and its 2007 companion, Chess Exam and Training Guide: Tactics, feels that the new book offers several exciting new twists while keeping the familiar testing format which became very popular with his readers.

In this new book, the readers will discover:
· 60 diagrams with multiple-choice questions of varied complexity,
· comprehensive answers with diagrams to make reviewing easier,
· distributions of answers and other statistical reports by rating,
· ratings assigned overall and by 13 distinct categories,
· bonus material: warm-up, tie-breaker, tips and training suggestions, and more….

Practical and enjoyable, charged throughout with Igor Khmelnitsky’s inimitable style that resembles a personal conversation, Chess Exam - Matches against Chess Legends: You vs. Fischer puts fun, originality and challenge back into chess training.

International master Igor Khmelnitsky, winner of numerous chess tournaments in US and abroad, advocates an active learning approach. He says: “From my personal experience as top-ranked player (formerly top 14 in US) and an experienced coach, the best way to learn things is by doing them.” All three of his Chess Exam books fully utilize this approach.According to Khmelnitsky, the readers are encouraged “to study each diagram thoroughly, then compare their answer and thoughts with the detailed answer provided in the book, and then practice the position against a friend or a computer.”

Chess is a fun and exciting game and Khmelnitsky’s objective is to make chess training a fun process. The new match format enables even novices to experience a competitive nature of chess. More experienced players will get their ranking and identity their weak areas while doing fun exercises. Hence the players of all levels will enjoy this new book!

International Master John Donaldson:
According to the noted chess historian Edward Winter there are over 90 books written on Bobby Fischer. They cover his career from all angles - some emphasizing the biographical others sticking to the games he played - so the prospects of writing something new original might seem slim, but Igor Khmelnitsky has succeeded with his new book You vs. Bobby Fischer. Aimed at all levels from near beginner to Master this work offers the reader a wonderful opportunity to become better acquainted with Fischer's games while also training. The student is offered sixty
exercises to solve with detailed explanations and grading scales to evaluate one's success.Highly Recommended!

International Master Greg Shahade: A great balance between chess instruction and entertainment! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

There is no better book on Fisher Chess and the 1970's chess
This book is hands down the best, most accurate and most balanced account of one of the pivotal points in the Cold War and modern chess.It does an amazing job of putting you right there with the players, the media, and the spectators.You feel as if you are transported back to the Cold War '70s.It is also presents the brilliant and odd sides of Fischer in a very balanced way.While there is enough chess to make the chess player happy, the bigger story is the battle of two men, like two countries and the idiosyncracies of both - particularly Fischer.It also does a fantastic job of explaining to you how Fischer absolutely dominated the other chess grand masters to get there - beating them 6-0 to lead up to Spassky.Unprecedented.He dominated chess more than Gretsky dominated hockey or Jordan dominated basketball.This is one of the most prized books in my library.Bob from Denver

A Good Overview yet Very Outdated Analysis
The match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky was unquestionably the highlight of chess history. To chess enthusiasts, there have been many memorable events since, yet no other occurrence in chess has ever garnered the interest of the public at large the way the Fischer/Spassky match did. The Match of the Century covers the events leading up to this match, the difficulties that almost caused this event to never occur, and explains each game of the event with full analysis.

The eccentricities of Bobby Fischer proved to be both intriguing and frustrating. Fischer nearly brought this match to its end numerous times based on seemingly ridiculous demands; yet there is alwasy the looming possibility that Fischer's actions just may have been principled as oppose to absurd. No one may never know if his actions prior to the match were indeed genius or nonsensical, but this book you give you enough insight to form your own conclusions.

The Match of the Century is adequate and does cover the events and issues behind the match well; however, it is outdated and there are better accounts available. Having been written very near to the event back in the early 70s, the book lacks the lengthy reflection we now have available from years of top GMs assessing the games and the impact of Fischer's win. If you seek to mainly get an idea of what happened, this book is sufficient; however if you really want to understand the events and mindset at the time and gain the best analysis of the games possible, I suggest finding more recent accounts of this famous match.

Phenomenal Chess Book!
This book was great.The author does a great job talking about the FIDE in the first half of the book, just to inform you about the technicalities of playing in a World Championship match.The author talks about "The War of Nerves" theory, the somewhate eccentric Bobby Fischer, but at the same time, the outstanding play of him also.Part two of the book is absolutely great.It is a game-by-game analysis, showing other possible moves, a full rundown of the game, move by move, and what I enjoyed, the final position of the pieces.That truely gives you a chance to "get inside" the mind of these great chess players.If you are interested in chess, or want to get interested in chess, read this book!

A personal experience
This book was written by a panel of experts and afficianados -- ranging from music and news editors to chess grandmasters. It follows the most highly publicized chess match ever played. Expert analysis of each game is combined with personal and historical context.

The title of my reviewrefers to the fact that I was in Iceland with my father (Richard J Roberts)and the others as we watched the matches, and was somewhat privy to much ofthe the behind-the-scenes reporting (as privy as a 10 year old could be). ... Read more

Product Description
Everything you always wanted to know about world chess champion Bobby Fischer, complete with easily accessible examples of his chess playing style, in one compact and very readable volume. His youth in Brooklyn, his astonishing career, his many conflicts, his girlfriends and his tragic death in exile in Iceland in 2008: it is all there. You don?t need to be an accomplished chess player to be thrilled by the triumph and the tragedy of this lone genius. ... Read more

Product Description
Ten of the world's strongest chess players competed in the strongest chess tournament ever held in the US. All ten of the players have provided annotations to their games. Every one of the 90 games in the tournament is annotated. All the games have been converted to modern Algebraic Notation with diagrams. The games are annotated by Jan H. Donner, Robert Fischer, Borislav Ivkov, Bent Larsen, Miguel Najdorf, Tigran Petrosian, Lajos Portisch, Samuel Reshevsky, Boris Spassky, and Wolfgang Unzicker. Introduction by Gregor Piatigorsky. Edited by Isaac Kashdan with a new foreword by Sam Sloan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nice tournament book
This book is merely a copy of the descriptive notation book originally by Dover with the addition of a rather long introductory chapter about the life of Mrs. Piatigorsky (she organized/paid for the tournament) and a chapter at the end of the book with all the games in algebraic notation without annotations.
The main body of the book in descriptive notation has games usually with analysis by both players.With all of the players being quite strong (Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, Larsen etc) this is quite interesting. ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The World Chess Championship 1972 was a match between challenger Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union for the World Chess Championship. The match took place in the Laugardalshöll arena in Reykjavík, Iceland and has been dubbed the Match of the Century. Fischer became the first American to be the official World Champion since Steinitz, the first Champion, became a naturalized American citizen in 1888. Fischer's win also ended 24 years of Soviet domination of the World Championship. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Searching for Bobby Fischer. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 25. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Searching for Bobby Fischer is a 1993 film based on the life of prodigy chess player Joshua Waitzkin, played by Max Pomeranc. Adapted from the book of the same name by Joshua's father Fred, the film was written and directed by Steven Zaillian. In the United Kingdom the film was released under the title Innocent Moves. In this film, Josh Waitzkin's family discovers that he possesses a gift for chess and they seek to nurture it. They hire a strict instructor, Bruce Pandolfini (played by Ben Kingsley) who aims to teach the boy to be as aggressive as Bobby Fischer. The title of the film is a metaphor about the character's quest to adopt the ideal of Fischer and his determination to win at any price. The main conflict in the film arises when Josh refuses to adopt Fischer's misanthropic frame of reference. Josh then goes on to win on his own terms with the kind of gracious sportsmanship that Fischer rejects. Some famous chess players have brief cameos in the film: Anjelina Belakovskaia, Joel Benjamin, Roman Dzindzichashvili, Kamran Shirazi, along with the real Joshua Waitzkin, Bruce Pandolfini, and Vincent Livermore. Chess master Asa Hoffman is played by Austin Pendleton; the real Hoffman did not like the way he was portrayed (his dialogue is taken almost verbatim from the nonfiction book, but the manner in which he delivers his line is different). Chess expert Poe McClinton, still a park regular, is seen throughout the film. Pal Benko was supposed to be in the film, but his part was cut out. Waitzkin's real mother and sister also have cameos in the film. The Russian player in the park, played by Vasek Simek, who holds up the sign "For $5 a photo or a game with the man who beat Ta...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=573912 ... Read more

Product Description
Reuben Fine was both one of the world's strongest grandmasters of chess and one of the world's leading authorities on psychoanalysis.In this book, he combines the two disciplines. This Fischer-Spassky book is really three books in one: An analysis of the games (straight chess analysis, with no psychology), a psychoanalytic study of the two players in the match, especially of Fischer whom Fine had met many times when Fischer was a boy, and a correction of the historical record from 1938 to 1948, because it was during this period that little chess was played because of World War II, and the controversies associated with the deaths of the World Champion and several other top grandmasters, during which time Fine himself had a claim on being called the World Chess Champion. ... Read more