Chess Highlights of the 20th Century (Greatest Chess Games)

The Best Chess 1900-99 in Historical ContextAll analysis rechecked and revised for this new 2024 edition using powerful modern NNUE-based engines.New Kindle feature: every diagram is also a link to a lichess analysis board!“Even in writing an eminently accessible, popular book, Burgess has still bothered to put a great deal of effort into details which correct the historical record. Burgess’s selection of games and key positions is just superb, and can hardly fail to delight even jaded fans. The goal of the book is to delight the reader with a journey through our chess past and with a host of fun and intriguing games ... [it] succeeds in that regard” - IM John Watson, The Week in Chess"This new edition is a substantial revision of the original published in 2000, with 70 additional pages. ... [an] excellent Christmas present for the chess player in the family." - IM John Donaldson (USA Team Captain), Mechanics’ Institute Chess Room NewsletterLike the rest of the world, the game of chess changed enormously during the 20th century. This book surveys these developments by focusing on the top events, greatest achievements and most brilliant games, year-by-year.In the early part of the century, the Hypermoderns revolutionized opening play, with their new understanding of the centre. The inter-war years were dominated by the great champions Capablanca and Alekhine. After 1945, the Soviets used dynamic ideas and a professional approach to gain world supremacy. They also turned chess from a game of gentlemen into a game for the masses.The Soviet hegemony was broken by Bobby Fischer, whose successes sparked a chess renaissance in the West, and motivated a whole generation of chess-players. As the century closed, the rise of computers provided grandmasters with a new tool, but some believed the machines cast a shadow over the whole future of the game.The story of chess in the 20th century offers a microcosm in which developments in the wider world are reflected. This instructive and engaging book places the chess material in its historical context with a review of the main stories of each year away from the chessboard. It will delight all those with an interest in chess and its players, whether they are seeking to improve their game, gain a better understanding of our chess heritage, or simply looking for entertainment.The 20th century’s finest games and combinationsPhotographs of the greatest playersTraces the development of chess ideasFeatures play by Capablanca, Alekhine, Tal, Fischer, Kasparov and many othersGreatly expanded content with additional analysis and commentaryNew 21st century insights into famous games, and hundreds of extra diagramsGraham Burgess holds the world record for marathon blitz chess-playing. He is a highly versatile chess writer, whose books range from general guides to high-level theoretical manuals and a series of three best-selling books on openings for kids and club players. His Mammoth Book of Chess won the 1997 British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award, while Nunn’s Chess Openings, to which he contributed, is among the most respected one-volume opening encyclopaedias.“the historical aspects are well handled.” - GM Jonathan Levitt, Club Kasparov“A sense of glorious nostalgia descends when you crack open the latest offering from Gambit Publications ... this is a trip down memory lane like no other” - Cecil Rosner, Winnipeg Free Press“Each year ... two or three of the most interesting chess encounters set alongside the world news of the time. Putting them in context showed a lot of these games in a new light.” - GM Luke McShane, Sunday Express“A wonderful book to dip into ... the icing on the cake was the marvelous collection of photographs” - Alan Sutton, En Passant Read more