My Great Predecessors is a series of chess books written by former World ChampionGarry Kasparov et al. The five volumes in the My Great Predecessors series are about the players who preceded Kasparov in being official World Champions. The series of books continued with the Modern Chess volumes that covers developments in the 1970s and Kasparov's games with Anatoly Karpov. The series is being extended with three volumes of Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, covering his other games. The books contain historical details, but for the most part the books are made up of annotated games.
Chess journalist Dmitry Plisetsky helped with the books and Kasparov thanks some other chess players in the prefaces of each of the volumes. The books were translated into English by Ken Neat.
Part II covers the fifth through eighth world champions: Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Mikhail Tal. Euwe briefly interrupted the reign of Alekhine, while Smyslov's and Tal's respective interruptions to Botvinnik's long reign were similarly brief.
Part III covers the ninth and tenth champions, Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky. Petrosian ended Botvinnik's reign in 1963. Spassky challenged Petrosian unsuccessfully in 1966, but defeated him in their 1969 rematch.
Part V covers World Championship contender Victor Korchnoi and the twelfth World Champion Anatoly Karpov. Korchnoi and Karpov played three matches in the World Championship, in 1974, 1978, and 1981. The first match was in the Candidates Tournament to determine who would challenge Fischer in 1975. Fischer refused to defend his title, making the 1974 Karpov versus Korchnoi match a de facto World Championship match.
Modern Chess
Modern Chess, part One
The Modern Chess series covers chess opening developments in the 1970s, all of Kasparov's five World Championship matches with Karpov, and his other games with Karpov.
Part Two covers all of the games between Karpov and Kasparov himself through 1985, including their aborted match in 1984 and their 1985 match in which Kasparov became the thirteenth World Champion. Four early games between the two players are included as well as all 48 games of their first match and all 24 games of their second match.
Part Three covers the 1986 match and the 1987 match between Karpov and Kasparov. It includes all 24 games of the 1986 match, all 24 games of the 1987 match, and three games played between the two matches (two were blitz games).
Part Four includes the 24 games of the 1990 match against Karpov and 42 of their other games through 2009.
Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov
Part I: 1973–1985 This volume covers 100 games starting from his early days. It ends with a few of the games from his 1984 match with Karpov (the endings only).
Part II: 1985–1993 This volume covers the period of being the FIDE World Champion. It includes 100 games from matches and tournaments.
Part III: 1993–2005 Covers the period after being FIDE World Champion.
Reception
My Great Predecessors received lavish praise from some reviewers (including Nigel Short),[1] while attracting criticism from others for historical inaccuracies and analysis of games directly copied from unattributed sources. Reviewing My Great Predecessors Part I, chess historian Edward Winter said, "The absence of, even, a basic bibliography is shocking in a work which claims to be 'Garry Kasparov's long-awaited definitive history of the World Chess Championship', and a lackadaisical attitude to basic academic standards and historical facts pervades the book."[2]
International MasterJohn L. Watson said that Predecessors "must be recommended as an ambitious, interesting work by (I believe) the greatest player in history. It clearly delights and inspires some of its readership regardless of its weaknesses, and is a book that most players will want to own, if only for the story-like narration of events and chess developments. For these reasons alone, I would call it a significant book, perhaps even one of this year's best. But for some reason we have been led to believe that Predecessors is a masterpiece, belonging to the class of great books if not transcending them. In reality it is something less grandiose: a valuable book with numerous weak spots."[3]
Reviewing My Great Predecessors Part I, International Master William John Donaldson said the book "represents good value if one lowers one's expectations and views it as a very reasonably priced hardback game collection rather than the definitive historical guide to the early World Champions. It is too bad that Kasparov and Plisetsky didn't hire Winter to fact check the book. It could have been much better and one hopes more care is taken with upcoming volumes."[4]
Through suggestions on the book's website, some of the book's criticisms were addressed in following editions and translations.[citation needed] The books have received several awards from the English Chess Federation, which said: "... Kasparov’s mammoth series has set new standards for writing about chess history."[5]
English Chess Federation Book of the Year Awards
2003: My Great Predecessors, Part I - best book[6]
2004: My Great Predecessors, Part II - runner-up for best book[7]
2005: My Great Predecessors, Part IV - best book[8]
2006: My Great Predecessors, Part V - short list of the best books[9]
2007: Modern Chess, Part One - short list of the best books[10]
Alburt, Lev (April 2009). "The Epic Rivalry: Kasparov Ascends the Throne". Chess Life. 2009 (4): 42–43. Review of Modern Chess, part 2
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A game of chess can end in a draw by agreement. A player may offer a draw at any stage of a game; if the opponent accepts, the game is a draw. In some competitions, draws by agreement are restricted; for example draw offers may be subject to the discretion of the arbiter, or may be forbidden before move 30, or even forbidden altogether. The majority of draws in chess are by agreement.
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The World Chess Championship 1984–1985 was a match between challenger Garry Kasparov and defending champion Anatoly Karpov in Moscow from 10 September 1984 to 15 February 1985 for the World Chess Championship title. After 5 months and 48 games, the match was abandoned in controversial circumstances with Karpov leading 5 wins to 3, and replayed in the World Chess Championship 1985.
The 1975 World Chess Championship was not played due to a dispute over the match format. Champion Bobby Fischer was to play Anatoly Karpov in Manila, commencing June 1, 1975. Fischer refused to play the then-standard "Best of 24 games" match and, after FIDE was unable to work out a compromise, forfeited his title instead. Karpov was named World Champion by default on April 3, 1975.
The 1987 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in Seville from October 12 to December 19, 1987. Before the 24th game, Kasparov was down 12–11, but in the 24th game, Kasparov made a comeback by using the English Opening to win the final game to retain his title.
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