Patzer's review

Let me tell you a secret. There is no such thing as 'the best chess books'. It all depends on the preferences and expectations of the reader and of course the work s/he puts in when working with the book. So just because someone else claims that a certain book belongs in the 'best books of all time' category, it does not necessarily mean that it is a book that you will appreciate. This little intro may have given away the content of this review, but that's ok. Secrets of practical chess is an example of a book that has gotten a lot of praise on a more than one occasion. So let's dig in and see what the fuss is all about. What can you expect from this book? Secrets of practical chess has seemingly been well received in the chess world. Overall, the opinions are very positive. John Watson gave it a very positive review , and Jacob Aagaard has listed it among the top 10 books of the 20th century . It is also mentioned in another list of 'best' books ....

A while back, I set myself a challenge to memorize all the 16 undisputed world champions along with the matches they played. During this process I became aware of the long periods that some champions reigned. This fact alone made me realize that Botvinnik was one of the great champs, but I knew next to nothing about him. Curious to learn more, I decided to pick up the definitive (?) book on the world champions - My great presecessors by Garry Kasparov. What can you expect from this book? This is a book that will be different thing to different readers. It gives an account of the lives and games of past world champions along with the events that took place in (and outside) the chess world at the time. Some will be in it for the chess; others for the history. My great predecessors is a massive work of chess literature. It is a five-volume series that covers a more than a hundred years of chess history. Since I was curious about Botvinnik, I picked up vol 2. I have not read the o...