The best games by the greatest player of the modern era Garry Kasparov dominated the chess world for more than twenty years, and is without doubt the greatest modern player. His dynamic understanding of chess and his deep preparation have had a dramatic impact on the way chess is played, and set an example that is nowadays followed by most ambitious young players. Those who wish to emulate Kasparov’s success study his methods and above all his games. In this book, the first of a major two-part project, award-winning chess writer Igor Stohl has selected 74 of Kasparov’s best and most instructive games, and annotated them in detail. The emphasis is on explaining the thought behind Kasparov’s decisions, and the principles and concepts embodied by his moves. Stohl has drawn upon a wide variety of sources, including Kasparov’s own annotations, and provided a wealth of fresh insights into these landmark games, together with many new analytical points. Garry Kasparov was born in 1963, and burst onto the scene in the late 1970s with a series of astonishing results in Soviet and international events. In 1985 he became the youngest world champion in history by defeating Anatoly Karpov in an epic struggle. Twenty years later he was still world number 1, and remains an internationally renowned figure, famous even among the non-chess-playing public following high-profile events such as his matches against IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer, and the Kasparov vs World game in 1999. 74 of Kasparov’s greatest games from 1973 to 1993, annotated in detail, including: Kasparov - Polugaevsky , USSR Ch., Tbilisi 1978 Kasparov - Petrosian , Bugojno 1982 Korchnoi - Kasparov , Olympiad, Lucerne 1982 Kasparov - Tal , USSR Team Ch., Moscow 1983 Kasparov - Portisch , Niksic 1983 Karpov - Kasparov , World Ch. match (game 16), Moscow 1985 Kasparov - Karpov , World Ch. match (game 24), Seville 1987 Kasparov - Ivanchuk , USSR Ch., Moscow 1988 Kasparov - Salov , World Cup, Barcelona 1989 Kasparov - Anand , Tilburg 1991 Shirov - Kasparov , Dortmund 1992 Short - Kasparov , PCA World Ch. match (game 8), London 1993 Igor Stohl is a well-known grandmaster from Slovakia. He plays in several national leagues and is a noted opening theoretician. His thorough annotations frequently appear in Ceskoslovensky Sach , Informator and ChessBase Magazine . His previous book for Gambit, Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces , won the United States Chess Federation Cramer Award for Best Book. "[Stohl] often improves on Kasparov's past comments. It is one of this year's best books, and it could be a great help to Kasparov in preparation of his own works about his career." - GM Lubomir Kavalek, Washington Post "Stohl is an excellent annotator, and the games which he has included are both instructive and engaging, as are his comments. Indeed I would be surprised if any player below grandmaster level could work through this book and not emerge as a stronger and more versatile player." - IM Eddie Dearing, Weekend Chess "The renowned Slovakian author won the United States Chess Federation Cramer Award for Best Book when his earlier Instructive Modern Chess Masterpieces was rightly judged to be of outstanding quality. Well, Stohl's superb new work is every bit as good" - GM Paul Motwani, The Scotsman "undoubtedly many years in the making. ... The result is a tremendous book that should inspire chessplayers everywhere." - IM John Donaldson, USA Team Captain