The winners of the XII USSR Championship were invited to participate in the 1941 match tournament: I. Bondarevsky, A. Lilienthal, V. Smyslov, P. Keres, I. Boleslavsky and M. Botvinnik. After the participants of the match tournament became known, the tournament program was also determined. Everyone had to play four games with each other — in fact, a small match. Thus, the match tournament consisted of four rounds. Mikhail Moiseevich said that this book is the best thing he has done in the field of chess analysis. Meanwhile, it was created in the most difficult conditions: during the war, during the evacuation. The chess player's family of 6 people lived in the room, and every day, coming home from work, he worked on a table made up of suitcases, believing that in this way he retains his analytical power for future achievements. M.M. often said that real science according to "Parkinson's Law" is done in a barn, and as soon as it appears The doorman in livery at the front door, science ends. Apparently, this also applies to literary and chess work. Another episode related to the book dates back to 1970. A.A.Bykhovsky (at that time the senior coach of the USSR youth national team) led Alexander Belyavsky to Botvinnik. Then M. M. said that Belyavsky was shown to him too late. What do you mean it's late, you asked him again? "17 years is too late, the chess player has already been formed," Mikhail Moiseevich replied. The young man liked it, and Botvinnik gave him this book for careful study. A few months later, she was returned with the words: "I wanted to find at least one error in the analysis, but I didn't find it!"

REPRINT EDITION All games of the match for the world championship with detailed (for 21 games - more than 200 pages!) Comments of the winner. In addition to the 1st edition (Riga, 1961), the reprint contains an annotation, a match progress chart and a debut index. Each game is preceded by a short introduction: Mikhail Tal shares his thoughts that haunted him during the match. A masterpiece created by a brilliant chess player and an excellent journalist.

The promptly published compilation of the 1960 match. All games with notes.

In this book, Mikhail Tal sought to convey the subjective experiences, thoughts, excitements and frustrations of the direct participant in this single combat. Each party is preceded by a small introduction, which tells about the mood before the party, or gives small lyrical digressions - the author shares his thoughts that haunted him during the match. Tal in an expanded form tries to reveal to the reader the process of dialectical development of the chess game, beginning with the debut. The reader will find at the end of the book a small illustrative material: individual parties, most characteristic of a particular system encountered in the match. These games were considered by Tal in the process of preparing for the match, so to speak, lay on his desk.

(there are copies in English and in French). A collection of all games of the match with comments by D. Bronstein.

The winners of the 12th USSR championship were invited to participate in the match tournament of 1941: I. Bondarevsky, A. Lilienthal, V. Smyslov, P. Keres, I. Boleslavsky and M. Botvinnik. After the participants of the match-tournament became known, the tournament program was determined. Each with each had to play four games - in fact, a small match. Thus, the match tournament had to consist of four laps.

The second, significantly expanded edition of the tournament collection is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of one of the most important chess events of the outgoing century - the match tournament for the world championship in 1948. The first edition of the book, in addition to the games brilliantly commented on by P. Keres, includes materials that were not previously published from the heritage of M. Botvinnik: “secret” debut analyzes, chess-psychological portraits of opponents and a diary of the match tournament. In addition, a number of parties of the first Soviet world champion are given with his own. very frank notes made later. The book of two prominent players and analysts - P. Keres and M. Botvinnik, opening the series “Library of Chess Classics”, will undoubtedly be interesting and useful to a wide circle of chess lovers, especially young people seeking to master the classical heritage.

Таллин, 1950 год. Эстонское государственное издательство. Настоящая книга посвящена матч-турниру 1948 года, давшему первого советского чемпиона мира — Михаила Ботвинника. Основное содержание книги — это детальный анализ пятидесяти партий, сыгранных в этом соревновании. Подробные примечания к партиям написаны для самого широкого круга квалифицированных шахматистов, причем особенное внимание обращено на популярность изложения и на выявление в партиях важнейших переломных моментов. Критика допущенных участниками ошибок может показаться местами слишком суровой, однако она является плодом тщательного анализа и должна принести пользу шахматистам, которые захотят сделать нужные им теоретические и практические выводы из партий матч-турнира. При разборе дебютов особое внимание уделено разъяснению основных идей, характеризующих различные системы дебютного развития, что облегчает понимание и последующей фазы партии — мительшпиля. Равным образом и в мительшпиле автор стремился по возможности избегать сухого перечня вариантов, заменяя их разъяснением характерных идей, таящихся в тех или иных позициях, что, несомненно, облегчает усвоение материала и повышает его поучительность. В эндшпилях, правда немногочисленных, правильный, как мне казалось, план игры обычно разъясняется заранее, — до того, как приводится фактическое продолжение в партии, — чтобы дать читателю возможность сравнить события в партии с другими путями, по которым могла или должна была бы развиваться игра.

From Botvinnik to Fisher. In 1946, world champion Alexander Alyokhin passed away undefeated. A difficult question arose: how to determine the new, the sixth chess king? In the end, in 1948, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) hosted a match-tournament of five Grandmasters, in which I also participated. Then Botvinnik won, and within the next quarter of a century only Soviet chess players competed directly for the title of champion. Their hegemony was violated only by Fischer, but not for long ...

Karpov, Kasparov. The third volume of the collection contains games of several matches, in which I happened to participate. I can say that every such match is not an easy test, requiring maximum intensity of spiritual and physical strength. To win the champion, the champion does not always have a purely chess ability, knowledge, memory - the same opponent has the same qualities that won the competition in the series of qualifying competitions. And yet the champion is often the champion ... That's why in the history of chess until recently there were not so many of them - only thirteen. Now the chess world is present at the birth of a new system of competitions for the world championship. It seems that the element of the case will play a significant role in it. This is explained by the increased pace of life, the need to make chess more spectacular for those who do not understand the deep meaning of chess moves. It's a pity if the champions of the future do not become genuine idols for connoisseurs of our wonderful game, to which this informative book is addressed.

From Steinitz to Euwe. In the proposed three-volume book collected and commented on the parties of all matches for the world chess championship, held from 1886 to 1998. In the vast majority of these matches were the battles of real chess titans. Since 1947 the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has started organizing world championships, including qualifying competitions. This strengthened both the prestige of the title and the prestige of FIDE, which managed to authoritatively hold the world championships during half a century. Among the parties represented in this three-volume book, many genuine masterpieces, the study of which will truly delight the connoisseurs of chess art. One can confidently say that this edition gives the most vivid idea of ​​the state of chess art and chess knowledge at different stages of the history of our game during the last century. Such material can not be obsolete, can not be forgotten.