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Title: Soviet Chess 1917-1991 by Andy Soltis, Andrew Soltis ISBN: 0-7864-0676-3 Publisher: McFarland & Company Pub. Date: November, 1999 Format: Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $55.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: milestone
Comment: Soltis and Mcfarland realized a great work. Soviet chess is an historical topic of absolute interest for chess players and not. Soltis keeps a good balance between historical/anecdotical facts and chess facts. the price is high but correct: hardcover, good paper, many photopgraphs.
Rating: 5
Summary: Well-researched and interesting history of Soviet Chess
Comment: GM Soltis has produced a fine work here, just like his biography of Frank Marshall, as well as his 70s book "The Younger Soviet School of Chess" (more than can be said for his opening books alas). He covers chess in the Soviet Union from the October Revolution to the Union's demise.
Soltis covers the inauspicious beginnings of Soviet chess, largely due to the whims of Krylenko, the much feared Soviet prosecutor. There were bad setbacks at first, particularly the defections of Alekhine and Bogolyubov, the outclassing of the leading Russians (albeit of a pre-revolonary generation) by the best Westerners at the great Moscow 1925 tournament (of course, apart from the soon-to-defect Bogolyubov), to the rise of Botvinnik to world class.
By the end of WW2, Soviet strength had grown enormously, but was almost unknown in the West. The West realized it soon enough with the Soviets' drubbing of the USA team, victors in the four previous Olympiad. Then Botvinnik convincingly captured the World Title, and the Soviets held it ever since apart from the three-year reign of Fischer.
Soltis also covers the horrors of Communist Russia, showing that even chessmasters were not immune from Stalin's paranoia. Even Krylenko met the fate he had handed out to so many others. The "Great Patriotic War" also took a terrible toll, including Iljin Genevsky, and Romanovsky's first wife and all their daughters. Soltis speculates on the effects of the Soviet oppression on the character of many of its grandmasters.
There is a good collection of lightly annotated games, many unknown but still high quality. At the end, there's even a guide to pronouncing Russian names, which may surprise many, but on the ones I've heard pronounced by native Russian speakers, Soltis provides an accurate guide as far as is possible with the Latin alphabet.
Rating: 5
Summary: A fascinating look at chess history
Comment: This book offers a fascinating historical account of chess in the Soviet Union. While it does contain lots of game scores with light annotations by the author, the book is more historical than instructional. The book gives a detailed account of the evolution of Soviet chess from the basement of a small house in Moscow just after the revolution, to a national fascination that would dominate the world scene. All throughout the book there is a strong emphasis on the connection between chess and politics in the USSR. A great read for history buffs.
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Title: Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion: A Biography With 220 Games by Andy Soltis ISBN: 0899508871 Publisher: McFarland & Company Pub. Date: January, 1994 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: Bobby Fischer Rediscovered by Andy Soltis ISBN: 0713488468 Publisher: Batsford Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: I Play Against Pieces by Svetozar Gligoric ISBN: 0713487704 Publisher: Batsford Pub. Date: 30 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Life & Games of Mikhail Tal by Mikhail Tal ISBN: 1857442024 Publisher: Everyman Chess Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors, Part 2 by Garry Kasparov ISBN: 185744342X Publisher: Everyman Chess Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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