A great tournament deserves a great book. That's what grandmaster Miguel Najdorf produced in his account of one of the greatest and most important chess events of all time, the1953 Zurich Candidates Tournament , in which 15 of the world's top players battled for the right to challenge the world champion, Mikhail Botvinnik.

After two months and 210 games, many of which rank among the best ever played, Russian grandmaster Vassily Smyslov finally came out at the head of a star-studded field that included Sam Reshevsky, Paul Keres, David Bronstein, Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller, Alexander Kotov, Mark Taimanov, Yuri Averbakh, Isaac Boleslavsky, Laszlo Szabo, Svetozar Gligoric, Max Euwe, Gideon Stahlberg, and Najdorf himself.

This is the first English edition of this classic work, until now available only in its original Spanish. It includes all 210 games with Najdorf's full extensive notes, plus all the original introductory material, biographical sketches of the players, round-by-round accounts of the action, closing summary, and a survey of the tournament's impact on opening theory.

Additionally this edition has many more diagrams and photos, an introduction by Yuri Averbakh (one of the last surviving participants) and a foreword by Andy Soltis.

Najdorf produced much more than a collection of games. This is a rich, vivid, firsthand account of an historic event by a direct participant, written in a style at once colorful, eloquent and erudite.

Najdorf was not only one of the greatest players of all time, but a fine writer who knew how to combine education and entertainment. All chessplayers, whether serious or casual, will find themselves both interested and instructed, and history buffs will learn much here that cannot be found anywhere else.

Content:
005 Introduction

007 Foreword

010 Translator’s Preface

011 From the Publisher

012 Author’s Foreword

014 Preface

018 The Players

042 Crosstables

044 Round 1

055 Round 2

063 Round 3

073 Round 4

083 Round 5

095 Round 6

107 Round 7

116 Round 8

124 Round 9

137 Round 10

148 Round 11

161 Round 12

171 Round 13

182 Round 14

191 Round 15

204 Round 16

219 Round 17

231 Round 18

243 Round 19

255 Round 20

267 Round 21

277 Round 22

292 Round 23

303 Round 24

313 Round 25

324 Round 26

334 Round 27

344 Round 28

353 Round 29

361 Round 30

369 The Tournament in Review

374 Theoretical Survey

388 Opening Index by Name

389 Opening Index by ECO Code

391 Player Index