bookReviews80

Few books are likely to attract more attention in the next few months than Garry Kasparov's latest effort Garry Kasparov on Fischer: My Great Predecessors Part IV ( Everyman 2004, www.everymanchess.com, 496 pages, figurine notation, hardback, $35). First off, despite the title, this book is not only about Bobby. Another name for this volume could be Best of the West as it also covers the careers of Sammy Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf and Bent Larsen with lesser treatment of Reuben Fine. Those familiar with the first three volumes might wonder why Reshevsky is in this volume and not earlier ones which would be a better chronological match. The answer, as far as I can tell, from reading various articles on the Internet, is that Reshevsky was not originally intended to take a large section. As events developed the possibility to give him a more comprehensive treatment became available and the reader of Garry Kasparov on Fischer: My Great Predecessors Part IV gets not only a book on Bobby Fischer but also a smaller one on Reshevsky, close to 100 pages. This is a welcome development as there really isn't an up-to-date Reshevsky collection out there, Steven Gordon's massive McFarland book is more of a compilation and Reshevsky's Games of Chess ends in 1946. Reading about the meeting of Reshevsky and Kasparov at Palma de Mallorca 1989 reminded me of Kasparov's encounter with GM Arthur Dake at the US Open in 1991 where Garry very visibly expressed his pleasure at getting to talk with someone who had hung out with Alekhine. Kasparov reminds the reader that Reshevsky played 11 World Champions, missing only Steinitz and Garry himself. This lack of a head to head encounter may have caused Kasparov to underestimate perhaps Reshevsky's greatest asset, his tremendous competitive drive. Having played Reshevsky three times, the last when he was close to 80 I got to experience first hand the fire that roared within, and that long, long after his best competitive days were over. Developing as a player in New York during the Depression Reshevsky was noted for his "sharp elbows" and would do what it took to win. The section on Sammy benefits from the contributions of Hanon Russell, who befriended Reshevsky late in his life.

While Reshevsky gets excellent treatment in this book, another American player does not. When I think of a Baseball Hall of Famer to compare Reuben Fine with, Sandy Koufax comes immediately to mind. Neither had long careers but while they shined, they shined most brightly. Fine's play in the second half of the 1930s was exceptional and Kasparov points out he had an amazing record against World Champions: Lasker (+1), Capablanca, (=5), Alekhine (+3, -2, =4), Euwe (+2, -2, =3) and Botvinnik ((+1,=2). Whenever the records of Reshevsky and Fine are compared supporters of the former always trot out the tired joke. " How many US Championship did Fine win"? The answer is of course zero. The question is never raised how many did he play in? Four, with three seconds and one shared third. Nor is the fact that Fine finished ahead of Reshevsky in the Western Chess Championships of 1932 and 1933 which were de-facto US Championships, while Marshall was sitting on the throne, ever mentioned. Still Fine supporters must acknowledge that Reshevsky had a slight lifetime edge. In 19 tournament games the score was Reshevsky 4 wins, Fine 1 (at AVRO where he split with Sammy) and 14 draws (most hard fights).

The other two players to get an in-depth look in this book besides Fischer (Lilienthal gets a quick peek) are Miguel Najdorf and Bent Larsen who get respectively roughly 25 and 50 pages devoted to them. Both players have other books on their careers, but Kasparov's books fills in some gaps. Larsen's Best Games, for example, stops in 1969. It's curious he has never come out with an updated version.

The real reason most players will buy this is to see what Garry has to say about a fellow competitor for the title of The Greatest Player of all Time. Judging from the comments of people who have bought this and posted feedback on the USCF website Garry has not been an impartial reviewer. Or are the readers Fischer fans?

It's an interesting book. But it's obvious that Kasparov regards Fischer as inferior to him by just reading along through Kasparov's annotations. Tons of self glorification by the author. A match in their prime is the only way to tell, but it's not going to happen. Buy the book. It's an interesting read nevertheless.

Obviously postcommunist player as Kasparov tried to glorify Karpov, whom he beat, and tried to diminish true chess genius of Fischer; book full of pretentious assumptions and false conclusions. The only advantage Karpov and later Kasparov would have over Fischer were bunch of coaches, helpers, seconds, experts, etc., and of course computers. Clean chess genius - that's Fischer not both Ks.

I have to agree with the 2 reviewers above (Rick & Ariel). This book is about Kasparov glorifying Karpov which obviously made him look superior since he defeated Karpov. The book is highly recommended though, full of great analysis (aided by chess playing programs, of course).

Bobby gets the lion's share of the book, close to 300 pages. It's hard to come up with major new evaluations of Fischer's games after they have been so carefully examined, especially by Mark Dvoretsky and Robert Huebner who are quoted extensively. Much is made of Fischer's love of the old-timers but curiously in game 83, the exhibition game Fischer-Andersson, Siegen 1970, the idea of Kh1, Rg1, g4 is praised (G.K -. Fischer's rare independent opening/middlegame invention!) while an earlier Fischer game versus Soruco (Havana 1966) is given as the origin for the idea. Andrew Soltis, writing in the introduction to Morphy Chess Masterpieces (Macmillian 1974) points out Bobby almost certainly was influenced by the game Paulsen-Morphy, New York 1857, where Black played ...Kh8, ...Rg8 and ...g5. The pawn structure is different but the similarity is there. Incidentally Morphy and Paulsen were playing each other blindfold and Morphy was playing other blindfold games at the same time. Who says the old-timers didn't know a thing or two about positional chess!

Kasparov often gives you his take on Fischer's motivations which you can take or leave. One example is Bobby's 1964 exhibition tour around North America. Garry writes: But Fischer engaged not only in self-improvement. For two years he declined invitations to international tournaments, but traveled a great deal around American towns giving lectures and simultaneous displays. It is unlikely that he did this for profit - chess lectures and simuls were not a very lucrative business at that time.

Garry then goes on to speculate that what really drove Bobby to make the tour was a strong urge to promote chess in the United States. This may be partly true but what Garry fails to realize is that when Bobby began the tour in the first half of 1964 he was only 20 and did need the money. He received the unheard of amount of $250 per lecture/exhibition and with over 40 stops he brought in over $10,000 with expenses covered for four months work. First prize in the 1964 Interzonal was $250! Doing the tour was good for Bobby and American chess. Many attested to his skill as an excellent lecturer.

Like the earlier volumes the production values of this book are first rate with a sturdy binding and a clear two column layout. Unlike earlier volumes there is a bibliography. Kasparov thanks several others for there assistance in the preparation of the volume. Excepting Hanon Russell and Mark Dvoretsky it's not clear exactly who is responsible for what. This book represents represents good value with 500 pages of top level chess for $35.