What is a chess genius? Well, you could find an argument for a number of different criteria, but one that seems quite feasible is that every World champion was a genius. At least that's the argumentation in the book Sjakkgeniene by Norwegian authors Atle Grønn and Hans Olav Lahlum. I bought this book when I was in Norway over Christmas, and I have enjoyed it very much. For most of you, I guess this review will be of little value, since the book is in Norwegian. But who knows, it might be translated to other languages in the future? We'll see about that, but for those of you that can read Norwegian, I hope you'll enjoy this little bonus review.
The authors have written one chapter about each World champion, in which they provide a biography of the champ as well as a short presentation of the main opponents during their respective time on the throne. The book presents an overview of their lives both in and outside the chess world, and of course quite a bit about their characteristics as chess players and their contributions to chess in general.
One thing that strikes me after reading the book is the long and difficult roads each champion (and other candidates, e.g. Korchnoi) have had in order to get the opportunity to play on the highest stage of chess. It is also interesting how several World champions have prolonged their time on the throne by simply refusing to put their title on the line, or picking and choosing their opponents for the same purpose. In some cases, petty rivalry has prevented the audience from seeing the battles they've longed for. For instance, why was there never a rematch after Alekhine won the crown from Capablanca? And why did Rubinstein never get a shot at the title? The privilege of the World champion has been very strong at times.
As mentioned above, there is very little chess in the book, but at least there is some. In each chapter, there are one or a few diagrams from famous games that each of the champions have played. Some examples are simply breathtaking. For instance this one by Vassily Smyslov.
In this position, Smyslov played the stunning move Rxh3!! I'll leave the complications for you to contemplate. You can also find the full game here.
One thing that I really enjoyed about this book is the numerous anecdotes about the great legends. For instance at one point, Vishy Anand's wife told him that the code to the hotel safe was easy to remember. It was 2706. Vishy found it strange, since 2706 is not a very remarkable rating. His wife then reminded him that this was the date of their wedding. Ouch! Another fun fact is that Mikhail Tal had a university degree in literature, and worked for some time as a high-school teacher. In one of his classes, he saw that some boys were playing chess in secret under the table. He got a glance of the board and saw that it was a mate in four. He continued the lesson without comment. But afterwards, he wrote a note to one of the boys' parents. He remarked upon the fact that their son had missed a forced mate during literature class.
What can you expect from this book?
This is not your typical chess book. It is a one-volume book about all the chess champions to this day. In other words, it follows in the tradition of Kasparov's My great predecessors series, but everything is captured in one volume instead of five. So how is that? Well, it is quite simple. There is very little chess content in the book.The authors have written one chapter about each World champion, in which they provide a biography of the champ as well as a short presentation of the main opponents during their respective time on the throne. The book presents an overview of their lives both in and outside the chess world, and of course quite a bit about their characteristics as chess players and their contributions to chess in general.
One thing that strikes me after reading the book is the long and difficult roads each champion (and other candidates, e.g. Korchnoi) have had in order to get the opportunity to play on the highest stage of chess. It is also interesting how several World champions have prolonged their time on the throne by simply refusing to put their title on the line, or picking and choosing their opponents for the same purpose. In some cases, petty rivalry has prevented the audience from seeing the battles they've longed for. For instance, why was there never a rematch after Alekhine won the crown from Capablanca? And why did Rubinstein never get a shot at the title? The privilege of the World champion has been very strong at times.
As mentioned above, there is very little chess in the book, but at least there is some. In each chapter, there are one or a few diagrams from famous games that each of the champions have played. Some examples are simply breathtaking. For instance this one by Vassily Smyslov.
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| Gerasimov - Smyslov (1935). Black to play. |
One thing that I really enjoyed about this book is the numerous anecdotes about the great legends. For instance at one point, Vishy Anand's wife told him that the code to the hotel safe was easy to remember. It was 2706. Vishy found it strange, since 2706 is not a very remarkable rating. His wife then reminded him that this was the date of their wedding. Ouch! Another fun fact is that Mikhail Tal had a university degree in literature, and worked for some time as a high-school teacher. In one of his classes, he saw that some boys were playing chess in secret under the table. He got a glance of the board and saw that it was a mate in four. He continued the lesson without comment. But afterwards, he wrote a note to one of the boys' parents. He remarked upon the fact that their son had missed a forced mate during literature class.
Who should read this book?
This is a highly enjoyable book. I can warmly recommend it to anyone who is even remotely interested in chess history and the lives of the World champions. It is a pity it is only available in Norwegian. Although one could think that the authors (and reviewer) are biased towards the current champ (because they are all Norwegians), I do think that it is well suited for an international audience. So if you are able to read any of the Scandinavian languages, I strongly recommend that you read this fine book.About this book
| Author: | Grønn and Lahlum |
| Title: | Sjakkgeniene (Eng: "The chess geniuses") |
| Type of book: | Biography |
| Level: | Any |
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