Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953

How nice it is to sit down and go over a well played game with good anotations that go beyond things like: 18.Kxe7+ Kd2 19.Re5! Nxe5?! +- and where the author doesn't explain what's going on... Bronstein is an excellent writer that did more than to keep a record of a tournament with soul-less annotations and without realizing it compiled a book that shows how difficult is the game of chess when the level is high. In these games we see more than a textbook exploitation of a good knight against a bad bishop or games where one of the players was highly cooperative with his/her counterpart allowing him/her to demonstrate a win by simple means. What we see here are games where ideas in the opening clash and where important material in the middlegame is reviewed. This book is a classic and it is by far one of the best games compilation in the market. I strongly recommend playing solitaire with these games and enjoy the game of chess with it.

This book is one of those books that is used by good players as the definition of a good chess book. It is universally considered one of the classics in chess literature. "My System" by Nimzowitsch is often thought to be the best/most influential instructional book, but I know that this book was certainly more helpful to me. It has many insights into the middlegame, and the conflicting plans and maneuvers of the opposing players. Also, it is about one of the strongest tournaments ever held, so the creativity of the players is at a maximum.Bronstein's comments are very interesting, and I found this book a pleasure to read. Some books are like an asignment when you read them -- you have to make yourself read it to get through it. Not so with this book. I always wanted to go over one more game before stopping. Here is an example quote:"So there exists a different concept of opening strategy, which may briefly be summarized as follows: that it is not necessary to make the very best moves -- only good ones.This was the creative attitude of Lasker and Capablanca, for example, and it is Smyslov's too. The advantage of the opening, in this case, is understood to be the right to choose a system of development more suited to the White player's taste, and which gives him the greatest possible liberty to express his creative ability." [from the comments to the 172nd game]I would say that a reader should have some elementary chess knowledge before tackling this book, such as: knowing to develop as quickly as possible in the opening, knowing a few basic endgames, etc. However, you don't have to be much past beginner for this book to be helpful and enjoyable. And I would say anyone, no matter how high rated, could enjoy this book if they hadn't read it before. The games are extremely high quality, and that alone would make for a good base, but there are also some very interesting complex variations in places. But the variations are never the focus, and the annotations in words abound, making it highly readable for lower rated players.I probably improved about 200 points within a year after getting this book, and much of that was due to this book, I'm sure. It belongs in every chess player's library.

And fun too!For anyone rated 1600+ this will be one of the most instructive books you will find. Bronstein uses the games of the tournament as a basis for a textbook on the middlegame. Some games get extensive notes, some light. It just depends on what ideas he finds in the game that are worth expounding! The annotations are always heavy on the idea and goals of the moves. Plus there are a lot of interesting games, with all the top players of the 50s (except Botvinnik): Smyslov (overpowereing here), Keres, Geller, Petrosian, Ktovo, Bronstein, Reshevsky.Cheap too!

This book is about the best tournament of all time (in my opinion). It teaches players how to use their pieces, how to sacrifice to gain initiative, and many more things. It has some fascinating and beautiful positions I have ever seen. The author, David Bronstein, has made it clear what each player is trying to accomplish without doing in depth variation calculating. If you enjoy reading about chess history and how the chess world was shaped, or even just have a passion for great chess games, this would be a great book to read.

The other reviews on this page don't say much about this book becos its place in chess literature as a classic is indisputable. So I'll try to say something about what makes it so great so that chess players who do not know a lot about the history of the game will appreciate its value.The tournament that is annotated is the Zurich 1953 Candidates tournament, the tournament whose winnner would challenge the World Champion for the title. The author of the book is Bronstein, who was among the 3 players who tied for second and is generally acknowledged as one of the most creative and invnetive players in ches history(he was the previous challenger for the World Championship and drew with the Champion under highly controversial circumstances).So what do we have in this book and what about it's material makes it so valuable? The first thing is that while the reality of chess is in the variations, the grandmaster author (Bronstein) focuses in the ideas and the schematic thinking necessary to guide the player thru analyzing variations and understanding the position.In addition, the quality of play is quite high and Bronstein also discusses the real time events that guide play such as the mindset of the players and the time they had to make moves. When one looks at a gamescore, these are not evident and understanding chess in the practical light is very important for the learning player, who might not understand the nuances of chess as a sport.Finally, many of the games are played with similar openings so this is a way to learn opening themes and pawn structure play without buying 10 books. IT is not cutting edge theory, but the schematic thinking and understanding the reasons why the GMs play the way they do will do more for your chess than any opening book with symbolic evaluations. In addition, the subtleties of certain positions are explained by Bronstein to show why this method of play is not as strong as another method of play seen in another game.Factor in the fact that this is a cheap book for one in Algebraic notation and you see that there is little to complain about. Enjoy if you buy!