Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov collection: Part 1 - 3 (3 books)

Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov collection: Part 1 - 3 (3 books)

Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov is a major three-volume series. This series will be unique by the fact that it will record the greatest chess battles played by the greatest chessplayer of all-time. The series in itself is a continuation of Kasparov's mammoth history of chess, comprising My Great Predecessors and Modern Chess. Kasparov's historical volumes have received great critical and public acclaim for their rigorous analysis and comprehensive detail regarding the developments in chess that occurred both on and off the board.

Part 1 continues in this vein with Kasparov scrutinising his most fascinating encounters from the period 1973-1985 whilst also charting his development away from the board. This period opens with the emergence of a major new chess star from Baku and ends with Kasparov’s first clash with reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov – a mammoth encounter that stretched out over six months. It had been known in Russia for some time that Kasparov had an extraordinary talent but the first time that this talent was unleashed on the western world was in 1979. The Russian Chess Federation had received an invitation for a player to participate in a tournament at Banja Luka and, under the impression that this was a junior event, sent along the fifteen year old Kasparov. Far from being a junior tournament, Banja Luka was actually a major international event featuring numerous world class grandmasters.  Undeterred Kasparov stormed to first place, scoring 11½/15 and finishing two points clear of the field. Over the next decade this 'broad daylight' between Kasparov and the rest of the field was to become a familiar sight in the world’s leading tournaments.

Part 2 focuses on the period from 1985-1993 which witnessed two further matches against Karpov as well as Kasparov's first title clash with a "non-Karpov" opponent when he successfully defended his title against Nigel Short in London in 1993. Kasparov also emphasized his superiority over his opponents with spectacular results in both individual and team events. Kasparov won the board gold medal in three Olympiads (Dubai 1986, Thessaloniki 1988 and Manila 1992). The late 1980s also saw the emergence of the World Cup series which Kasparov utterly dominated, finishing either clear first or equal first at Belfort 1988 (111/2/15), Reykjavik 1988 (11/17), Barcelona 1989 (11/16) and Skelleftea 1989 (91/2/15). Other major tournament victories include Brussels 1987 (81/2/11), Amsterdam 1988 (9/12), Tilburg 1989 (12/14), Belgrade 1989 (91/2/11) and Linares 1990 (8/11). In this period Kasparov emphasized his huge superiority over his rivals. Despite generally adopting an uncompromising, double-edged attacking style he almost never lost.

Part 3 is the final volume in a major three-volume series made unique by the fact that it records the greatest chess battles played by arguably the greatest chessplayer of all-time. This third volume focuses on the final 12 years of Kasparov’s career up until his retirement from full-time chess in 2005. This period witnessed three further World Championship matches: wins against Short (London 1993) and Anand (New York 1995) before the loss against Kramnik (London 2000) which finally ended Kasparov’s 15-year tenure as world champion. This period also saw Kasparov achieve a colossal 2851 rating (1999), a record which stood until 2013.