Helgi Olafsson
The Final Years in Iceland, a Saga of Friendship and Lost Illusions
Icelandic chess Grandmaster Helgi Olafsson was 15 year old in 1972, when in a sensational match in his home country Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky for the world chess title. Breathlessly, Helgi had followed the match and attended a number of games in the playing hall in Reykjavik.
When thirty-three years later his childhood hero was arrested in Tokyo, Olafsson became one of the members of the "Committee to Free Bobby Fischer". In 2005 Fischer returned to Iceland, a country he was never to leave again until his death in January 2008, and Olafsson and Fischer became fast friends.
Bobby Fischer Comes Home tells the story of their friendship and paints an intimate portrait of the last years of the man who many see as the greatest chess player that ever lived.
Published 2012, softback, 143 pages.

Related products:

1. BOBBY FISCHER: PROFILE OF A PRODIGY (Ref: d5925)

2. ENDGAME (Ref: c1693)

Enter e-mail address to tell a friend

Valerie Beim
Intuition is by far the vaguest and hardest to grasp subject in chess, and consequently the least studied. Acclaimed author and experienced chess trainer Valeri Beim takes the bull by the horns and shows, with hundreds of well-explained examples:
• When intuition comes into play
• What the functions of intuition are
• Why some players have better intuition than others
• How intuition differs from pattern recognition
• How you can develop your chess intuition
• Why your intuition gets weaker as you grow older.
Valeri Beim deeply analyses and dissects how chess players think and demonstrates that each of us has the power of making intuitive decisions. You will learn how you can train and develop this human gift.
Beim uses plain language and illustrates his findings with sparkling tales about Capablanca, Tal, Fischer, Carlsen, and other greats in chess. With instructive examples of practical play, this is a thought-provoking, yet highly accessible work.
Valeri Beim is a Grandmaster who lives in Austria. He has won numerous tournaments and plays in the Austrian and German leagues. For many years he was the head trainer at the chess school in Odessa, and he was also the trainer of the Israeli Olympiad team.
Published 2012, softback, 268 pages.
View sample pages (pdf)
People who bought this item also bought:

1. STRATEGIC NIMZO-INDIAN: VOLUME 1 (Ref: n1378)

2. MODERN CHESS PREPARATION (Ref: n1377)

Related products:

1. BACK TO BASICS: STRATEGY (Ref: r9049)

2. HOW TO PLAY DYNAMIC CHESS (Ref: g0015)

Enter e-mail address to tell a friend

Raymond Smullyan
This is an unabridged republication of a book originally published in 1979.
Join the master sleuth as he and Dr. Watson examine interrupted chess matches at clubs and country homes, examining the pieces' current positions to identify previous moves.
Rather than predicting the outcome of these games, the Baker Street duo focus on past events, using the same variety of logical reasoning that unlocks the secrets to their ever-popular mysteries.
Holmes instructs Watson (and us) in the intricacies of retrograde analysis in order to deduce on which square the white queen was captured, whether a pawn has been promoted, and which piece has been replaced by a coin.
The mysteries grow increasingly complex, culminating in a double murder perpetrated by the devious Professor Moriarty.
Philosopher and logician Raymond Smullyan brilliantly recaptures the mood of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales. Readers need only a knowledge of how the pieces move; the first puzzles explain all of the concepts that arise later on.
These witty and challenging problems will captivate chess aficionados, puzzle enthusiasts, Sherlock Holmes fans, and everyone who relishes mysteries, crime stories, and tales of detection.
Raymond Smullyan is a mathematician, logician, magician, creator of extraordinary puzzles, philosopher, pianist, and man of many parts.
Published 2012, softback, 184 pages.

Enter e-mail address to tell a friend

James Magner
No Time for Chess? Is that What's Troubling You, Bunky?
Well, have a seat ... How does one cope with devoting sufficient time to family and career while occasionally trying to fit in the odd game of chess? Is your schedule getting more crowded and accomplishments less satisfying?
Then take a journey with Jim Magner, physician, husband and ... chessplayer.
Dr. Jim went through college and medical school, married and raised a family, and still was able to get in some serious chessplaying. It was not always easy or convenient, but he persevered and fulfilled most of his life's goals, all the while maintaining his sanity and perspective.
He is an average (Class C) player who developed a curious, yet often effective way of dealing with opponents who outranked him, sometime by hundreds of rating points. He shares with the reader his methods and madness, with 31 annotated games dotting his autobiographical narrative.
These games are entertaining and instructive, and often somewhat unusual as they illustrate how one may prey upon human weaknesses. If you enjoy rooting for the underdog, then this is the little chess book for you!
Over the years Dr. Magner also has provided advice about life and career to countless medical students and trainees, and in this heartwarming book, he also shares his tips for success in family, finances and life itself.
Dr. James Magner was born in Quincy, IL and attended the Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago. He is a husband, father, endocrinologist, and Vice President of Clinical Research for a biotechnology company. He lives near New Haven, Connecticut.
Published 2011, softback, 176 pages.
View sample pages (pdf)

Enter e-mail address to tell a friend

Yuri Averbakh
The autobiography of an insider when chess was a vital factor in the USSR
Yuri Averbakh (born 1922) is a distinguished Russian Chess Grandmaster who has enjoyed a long and varied career. He has been a top player, a journalist, an editor, an arbiter, a trainer and a long-time member of the board of the Soviet Chess Federation.
Averbakh won the USSR championship in 1954 and was a leading Soviet Grandmaster for two decades. In this personal memoir he looks back on his days as an active player, but also on his experiences as a quintessential insider when chess was considered a vital ingredient of life in the Soviet Union.
Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes describes the machinations of the notorious 'Sports Committee' and offers surprising personal views on Soviet players like Botvinnik, Smyslov, Kortchnoi, Petrosian, Tal and Spassky.
Averbakh recalls his dealings with Max Euwe and Bobby Fischer, writes touching portraits of some almost-forgotten masters and offers sharp analyses of 20th century chess politics.
A unique, revealing and well-told story, essential reading for everybody interested in the history of chess and the Soviet Union.
Published 2011, softback, 268 pages.
People who bought this item also bought:

1. FIGHTING THE FRENCH: A NEW CONCEPT (Ref: x8283)

2. VIENNA WITH 3.f4 (PC-DVD) (Ref: CBDVG2)

Related products:

1. RUSSIAN SILHOUETTES (NEW ED) (Ref: n1293)

2. SMART CHIP FROM ST PETERSBURG (Ref: n1169)

Enter e-mail address to tell a friend

Harry Benson
Harry Benson's rare, exclusive photos of the elusive and controversial chess genius Bobby Fischer taken during the historic World Chess Championship match in Iceland in 1972 are collected here for the first time, in Bobby Fischer. Benson met Fischer in Argentina, during the qualifiers for the match, and followed him through his training and conditioning in New York, during the many weeks of the match, and was there in the winning moment to document Fischer's historic victory. Fischer was a known recluse, and Benson was one of the very few people he would talk to throughout these defining moments in his life.
The match, known at the time as the "Match of the Century", is now generally considered a battle in the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Benson's intimate access to Fischer was not the easiest of tasks to accomplish. Worried about spies and saboteurs, lacking substantial support from the U.S., and seeking deep mental focus, Fischer prized solitude. In fact, Fischer barred the door even when his mother arrived from America. The intimacy of these photographs is testament to Benson’s photojournalistic prowess.
Filled with idiosyncrasies and a complete loner, Fischer is still revered by chess fans around the world and is considered the greatest chess player of all time. Benson’s photos of Fischer give insight into the private world of the man Benson calls "the most complicated and most fascinating person I have ever photographed." Bobby Fischer is an in-depth look at the champion unlike any the world has ever seen.
Scottish born photojournalist Harry Benson was the most published photographer in LIFE magazine before it closed and continues to photograph for many major magazines.
Published 2011, hardback, 144 pages.
People who bought this item also bought:

1. DECLINING THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT (Ref: p4640)

2. COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE GRIVAS SICILIAN (Ref: g0036)

3. BEATING THE SICILIAN VOL. 1 (PC-DVD) (Ref: CBDBS1)

Related products:

1. ENDGAME (Ref: c1693)

2. BOBBY FISCHER: PROFILE OF A PRODIGY (Ref: d5925)

3. BOBBY FISCHER GOES TO WAR (SOFTBACK) (Ref: f1412)

Enter e-mail address to tell a friend