Author: Kasparov, Garry Kimovich (1963- ); Jonathan Simon Speelman and Robert Graham Wade signed by all authors
Year: 1995
Publisher: B T Batsford
Place: London
Description:
viii+312 pages with diagrams, photographs, tables, drawing and map. Octavo (8 /2" x 5 3/4") bound in original publisher's pictorial wrappers. Signed. First edition.
Garry Kasparov is one of the most exciting players of all time, combining the will to win of Fischer with the tactical genius of Alekhine. His five epic matches with Karpov, during which he gained and successfully defended the world title, enthralled the chess world. Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov.[5] He held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organization, the Professional Chess Association.[6] In 1997 he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, when he lost to the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicized match. He continued to hold the "Classical" World Chess Championship until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. In spite of losing the title, he continued winning tournaments and was the world's highest-rated player when he retired from professional chess in 2005. From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world No. 1 for 225 out of 228 months. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. Kasparov also holds records for consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).
Jonathan Speelman is an English Grandmaster chess player, mathematician and chess writer. A winner of the British Chess Championship in 1978, 1985 and 1986, Speelman has been a regular member of the English team for the Chess Olympiad, an international biennial chess tournament organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. He has written a number of books on chess, including several on the endgame, among them Analysing the Endgame (1981), Endgame Preparation (1981) and Batsford Chess Endings (co-author, 1993).
Robert Graham Wade was a New Zealand and British chess player, writer, arbiter, coach, and promoter. He was New Zealand champion three times, British champion twice, and played in seven Chess Olympiads and one Interzonal tournament. Wade held the titles of International Master and International Arbiter. Wade earned the title of International Arbiter in 1958, and made much of his living from directing events. He defeated tournament winner Viktor Korchnoi at Buenos Aires 1960 in a tough game that went through a Queen and Rook middle game to a queen endgame to a final king and pawn endgame. In addition to staying active on the international circuit, Wade served as chess editor with the respected Batsford publishers in the 1960s and 1970s. He eventually retired to make way for Raymond Keene. He managed the Batsford Chess Library after this. Well respected as a chess coach and author, Wade helped Bobby Fischer prepare for his 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky by collating a special file of Spassky's games. He was awarded an OBE for services to chess in 1979. He was made an 'Honorary Member' of FIDE, the World Chess Federation. He declined to "trade in" his International Master title for that of honorary Grandmaster, considering his title, awarded in the days before title inflation, far more valuable.
Condition:
Signed by all three authors on title page. Corners bumped, slight crease to cover else a very good copy.
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