He has annotated these games in detail from a modern perspective, explaining the useful lessons that can be drawn from them, while avoiding the harmful dogma or unrealistic depictions of 'grand plans' that characterized many older works of this type. Throughout, the emphasis is on identifying helpful 'mini-rules' - nuggets of understanding that are of genuine use when facing a resourceful opponent across the board.

Topics include:

• Attacking the King

• Defence

• Piece Power

• Endgame Themes

Each game is followed by a recap of the main lessons to be learned. As with his previous and highly successful book How to Build Your Chess Opening Repertoire, Giddins writes in an accessible, down-to-earth style that appeals to club players seeking to improve their understanding of practical chess. His knowledge of Russian-Ianguage chess literature has enabled him to find many top-quality examples that have not appeared in previous western literature.

List of Content

005 Symbols

005 Acknowledgements

006 Introduction

008 1 Attacking the King

009 1: Averbakh - Sarvarov, USSR Team Ch 1959

011 2: Geller - Kotov, USSR Ch 1955

014 3: J. Polgar - Mamedyarov, Bled Ol. 2002

017 2 Defence

018 4: Padevsky - Kholmov, Dresden 1956

021 5: Maroczy - Helling, Dresden 1936

023 6: Tal - Spassky, Cand. (11), Tbilisi 1965

026 7: Lasker - Duz-Khotimirsky, Moscow 1925

029 3 Piece Power

030 8: Makogonov - Keres, Leningrad-Moscow 1939

032 9: Gligoric - Larsen, Manila 1973

034 10: Romanovsky - Smorodsky, USSR Ch 1924

036 11: Hutchings - Keene, Woolacombe 1973

039 12: Andersson - Van der Wiel, Wijk aan Zee 1983

042 13: Miles - Smyslov, Dortmund 1986

045 14: Hort - Petrosian, European Team Ch 1970

048 15: Kostro - Simagin. Varna 1966

051 16: Short - Timman, Tilburg 1991

055 17: Dragomaretsky - Kalinin, Moscow Ch 1995

058 4 Pawn-Structure

059 18: Smyslov - Karpov, USSR Ch 1971

062 19: Najdorf - Kotov, Mar del Plata 1957

065 20: Karpov - Spassky, Montreal 1979

068 21: Gligoric - Keres, USSR-Yugoslavia 1958

071 22: Sokolsky - Botvinnik, Leningrad 1938

073 23: Euwe - Reshevsky, Cand., Zürich 1953

075 24: Larsen - Radulov, Interzonal, Leningrad 1973

077 25: Speelman - Agdestein, Hostings 1991/2

080 26: Furman - Lilienthal, USSR Ch 1949

083 27: Reshevsky - Fine, AVRO tournament 1938

086 28: Gligoric - Szabo, Helsinki Ol. 1952

089 29: Smyslov - Denker, USSR-USA radio 1946

092 30: Matulovic - Fischer, Vinkovci 1968

095 31: Filip - Szabo, Bucharesi 1953

097 32: Portisch - Kasparov, Skelleftea 1989

100 33: Portisch - Radulov, Budapest 1969

103 34: Hodgson - Short, British Ch 1987

106 35: Golombek - Fuderer, Zonal, Munich 1954

108 36: Shamkovich - Nezhmetdinov, USSR Ch 1961

111 37: Flohr - Suetin, USSR Ch 1950

114 38: Epishin - Polugaevsky, Tüburg 1993

116 39: Levenfish - Lisitsyn, Moscow 1935

119 40: Dragomaretsky - D. Maximov, Moscow 2005

122 41: Uhlmann - Bönsch, Halle 1976

125 42: Alatortsev - Khavin, Moscow 1949

128 5 Endgame Themes

129 43: Euwe - Van Doesburgh, Dutch Ch 1938

133 44: Schlechter - Rubinstein, San Sebastian 1912

136 45: Timman - Ree, Amsterdam 1984

139 46: Yanofsky - Pinkus, Ventnor City 1942

143 47: Piater - Botvinnik, Moscow 1947

146 48: Ribli - Grünfeld, Interzonal, Riga 1979

150 49: Gulko - Kremenietsky, Moscow Ch 1983

154 50: Ciocaltea - Unzicker, Moscow 1956

158 Index of Players

159 Index of Openings

Introduction:

One of the first chess books I ever acquired was Irving Chernev's The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played. This collection of striking positional games proved to be not only a great source of pleasure, but also an excellent initiation into many of the basic elements of positional play. Unfortunately, the book was published in 1966 and although it is still available and remains in many ways a valuable piece of work, it does now appear rather dated. Its descriptive notation has been entirely superseded, while over the past 40 years, chess itself has moved on in many respects. For example, openings such as the Sicilian and King's Indian Defence are barely represented at all in Chemev's book, with the result that some of the most common and important modern-day pawn-structures are not covered. Furthermore, since the latest game Chernev gives was played in 1961, several generations of top-class players since that date are absent.

For these reasons, the idea was born to produce a 21st-century version of Chernev's concept. In putting this book together, I have followed a number of principles:

1) In all cases, I have sought to locate games which are particularly clear and didactic examples of the theme concerned. In some cases, this has led to me choosing games that are older than some of those used by Chemev, but the majority are more modern.

2) I have tried wherever possible to choose games that are not particularly well-known or widely published. As a result, although many of the world Champions and great masters are repre­sented here, it is generally not by one of their most widely-known games.

3) In seeking to achieve point 2 above, I have also included a number of games by lesser-known players. These tend in the main to be Soviet players, which reflects not only the dominance of the Soviet school during much of the 20th Century, but also my own particular interest, since I have lived in Russia for several years and have an extensive acquaintance with Russian chess literature. I hope that as a by-product of this book, readers to whom such names as Makogonov, Romanovsky, Simagin and others are not well-known, will be sufficiently impressed by the games given here to seek out more examples of the play of these splendidly talented masters.

4) I have also tried to be a little more systematic than was Chemev in presenting different aspects of chess. As a result, the games are grouped into chapters dealing with different topics, each of which has an introduction explaining the main points about the topic concerned. This should help readers who wish to use the book to study a particular subject. I have also endeavoured to cover as wide a range of subjects as possible within the space available, including both middlegame and endgame themes.

5) In annotating the games, I have concentrated on verbal explanations, and have kept concrete tactical variations down to the minimum that is necessary to make sense of the games. This has been done in the hope of attaining maximum clarity in presenting the positional concepts themselves, without obscuring the message or confusing the reader with long variations. Fortunately, one of the benefits of living in these silicon-enhanced times is that those readers who wish to delve more deeply into concrete tactical variations can, if they wish, use a chess program to assist them in this process.

For maximum instructional benefit, I would recommend that readers follow the advice of such luminaries as Nimzowitsch and Purdy, and cover the moves up with a card, trying to work out each move as if playing the game themselves. However, those of you who lack either the time or the incentive to do this should still be able to learn a good deal from simply playing the games over and reading the annotations. Most of all, however, I hope that you will all enjoy seeing these beautiful games. If you derive half as much pleasure from reading the book as I have from writing it, my work will not have been in vain.

Steve Giddins

Rochester, UK

2005