American Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan is a two-time World Championship Candidate, a four-time U.S. Champion, winner of the 1979 World Junior Championship, the publisher of Inside Chess and the author of the acclaimed books FIVE CROWNS and NO REGRETS. One could add that Yasser is among the best commentators on the game and one of its ablest ambassadors. Despite these many accomplishments, at the end of the day he may be best remembered for his new book, CHESS DUELS: MY GAMES WITH THE WORLD CHAMPIONS.
This reviewer first met Yasser while playing with him (and future IM Eric Tangborn) in the 1974 Washington Junior Closed. Later I had the privilege as serving as his second on several occasions. We worked in close quarters during the life of Inside Chess for over a decade. I thought I knew everything about the man and what he was capable of. Not quite!
CHESS DUELS: MY GAMES WITH THE WORLD CHAMPIONS is clearly Yasser’s best work and a book that will be remembered for a long time for several reasons. One is the games, which feature all of his battles with the World Champions from Smyslov to Kasparov (he did not play Botvinnik or Fischer). This means the losses as well as the wins are included, which is definitely not standard practice. The games are well annotated with lots of explanatory prose that is quite instructive. Concrete variations are given but only when needed making the annotations accessible to a wide range of playing levels.
The games are worth the price of admission alone but, if I had to bet, most readers will find Yasser’s reminiscences of two decades as a top professional to be even more entertaining. A master storyteller, Yasser’s remembrances and anecdotes about the World Champions (including Bobby Fischer) are enhanced by his self-deprecating sense of humor that allows him to laugh along with his readers at some of the funny things that happen. A warning – make sure that you or your partner stay at the table at all times while playing bridge with Yasser and Larry Christansen!
CHESS DUELS: MY GAMES WITH THE WORLD CHAMPIONS is wonderful for the first-rate annotated games and collection of stories about the World Champions, but there is a third part to the book that is also important. Grandmaster Seirawan was never a chess player who confined himself only to playing the game. A board member of the Grandmaster Association, one of the most important chess organizations of the 1980s, Yasser gives an insider’s view of its doings and ultimate demise. He also has plenty to say about the aborted Karpov-Kasparov match, FIDE, the USCF and the Professional Chess Players Association. Many of these events discussed happened long ago but are still quite relevant to the present. To understand why the top levels of chess are so dysfunctional today it’s essential to understand and remember the past. Yasser is an excellent guide and his recounting of these events is marked throughout by a sense of fairness that is rare.
Few chess books can be recommended without reservation for all lovers of the game. CHESS DUELS: MY GAMES WITH THE WORLD CHAMPIONS is one of them.
Highly Recommended
Click to buy (or get more information about) both the signed: CHESS DUELS (signed)
