Sofia Polgar's new book is instructive and informative. It is also generously illustrated, with acrylic on canvas paintings by the author. It is published by Russell Enterprises, and makes for an ideal Christmas gift. We have known Sofia since she was a very young girl, and tell you about that in part two of our review 0150 which also includes some of the paintings from the book.
Occasionally you come across a must-have chess book – here's one that we discovered that makes for an ideal 2023 Christmas present. It is written (and illustrated, with acrylic on canvas paintings!) by the Sofia Polgar, the "middle sister" who in 1989 scored 8½ points out of 9 in a GM tournament with a performance rating of 2930 performance. Sofia's book, published by Russell Enterprises, was our pleasure to review.
Outstanding: John Donaldson s Bobby Fischer and His World chessbase.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chessbase.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Korchnoi: A Chess Multibiography with 207 Games, McFarland 2020
Tigran Petrosian (born on 17 June 1929 in Tbilisi), Viktor Korchnoi (born on 23 March 1931 in Leningrad), Mikhail Tal (born on 9 November 1936 in Riga) and Boris Spassky (born on 30 January 1937 in Leningrad) are among the most important chess players of the 20th century. Three of them were world champions, while Viktor Korchnoi came close twice. The four were born between 1929 and 1937; they were rivals, friends, enemies and companions and had a decisive influence on chess in the second half of the century.
In his fascinating multi-biography, Andrew Soltis tells the story of these four top players, their development, their rise to the top, their setbacks and crises, their rivalry and friendship from 1929 until 1972, when Spassky lost the World Championship title in Reykjavik and, for the first time since 1948, the world champion was not a Soviet player.