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My Great Predecessors #1

Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors, Part 1

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The battle for the World Chess Championship has witnessed numerous titanic struggles which have engaged the interest not only of chess enthusiasts but of the public at large. The chessboard is the ultimate mental battleground and the world champions themselves are supreme intellectual gladiators.

This magnificent compilation of play from the early days of chess forms the basis of the first part of Garry Kasparov's definitive history of the World Chess Championship. Garry Kasparov, who is universally acclaimed as the greatest chessplayer ever, subjects the play of his early predecessors to a rigorous analysis.

This volume features the play of champions Wilhelm Steintz (1886-1894), Emanuel Lasker (1894-1921), Jose Capablanca (1921-1927) and Alexander Alekhine (1927-1935 and 1937-1946).

However, this book more than just a compilation of play of the early greats of chess. Kasparov's biographies of the early champions places them in a fascinating historical, political and cultural context. Kasparov explains how each champion brought his own distinctive style to the chessboard and enriched the theory of the game with new ideas.

1331 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

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About the author

Garry Kasparov

171 books559 followers
Russian (formerly Soviet) chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist, whom many consider the greatest chess player of all time.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
Profile Image for Manny.
Author 46 books16k followers
November 5, 2009
There are some books you love because you feel that the author is taking you into their confidence, and treating you as an equal. Catherine Townsend's Sleeping Around is my favorite kiss-and-tell book. It's just as if she's giving me the latest gossip about her wonderfully disorganized life over a few drinks at the latest trendy bar, asking for my advice about whether she should dump X, who's nothing but trouble but so great in bed, and instead get together with Y, who's not as exciting but a more solid prospect. And I get the same kind of buzz from Winston Churchill's History of the Second World War. He's invited me to dinner again at his club, and over the port he's groaning about how difficult old Joe Stalin used to be, and all the crap he had to put up with. Well exactly! I know just what it's like to be forced to work with impossible people in order to save civilization as we know it from an implacably evil foe. I'm constantly having to deal with that sort of problem.

If you're a chess player, there's a fair chance you'll feel the same way about Garry's magnum opus. We've managed to link up for a quick dinner at the airport while he's on his way from an exhibition match against a top Grandmaster to a high-level meeting with the Russian political opposition, and he's telling me about the Capablanca-Alekhine match back in 1927. There were some moments that so reminded him of one of his own matches. And before I realize it, I'm thinking yes, isn't that exactly what often happens when you play a World Championship chess final, I'm sure similar things have happened to me too. Even his lightning-fast game analysis makes sense, as long as you don't pay too much attention to the details...

____________________________________

Re-reading My Great Predecessors for maybe the fourth time, and again I am blown away. You don't often see someone so utterly in control of his material.

It occurred to me that this book is a kind of glimpse of the post-Singularity world, when the machines will have become smarter than the humans, and we'll finally get clear answers to all sorts of questions that have been discussed for centuries. Of course, that's not possible yet in most subjects, but it is in chess. Kasparov has a complete database of all the important games that have ever been played, with good search software. He has analysis engines that are even stronger than he is, and never get tired or make a careless slip. He has access to an enormous chess library. And then he's one of the two strongest human players of all time, and writes quite well. What a combination.

It's incredible to see him examining classic encounters from the early 20th century. I just read his comments to the last game of the Lasker-Schlechter World Championship match, played in 1910. Lasker was one down; he had to win, and both players' nerves were violin-string tight. Kasparov has been in the same situation himself, so he knows from his own experience what it's like. We get some insightful comments about that. Then we proceed to the game itself. Many great players have looked at it, and Kasparov does a fine job of summing up their opinions; you feel he's chairing a panel discussion of the chess pantheon. Capablanca thought this, Alekhine thought that. We received an excellent suggestion from the floor here - Minev, just an ordinary Grandmaster.

When he arrives at the most complex point of the game, no human can quite cut it any more; but he ran his computer for several hours, and now we finally know the truth. He presents a shortened version of the machine's analysis. It's kind of a humbling experience.

____________________________________

Finished. Cocteau famously joked that Victor Hugo was a madman who believed he was Victor Hugo; he could equally well have said that Garry Kasparov was a madman who believed he was Garry Kasparov. As the book progresses, Kasparov logically traces the relationships between the great players of history, and how each one influenced the others. Steinitz inherited ideas from Philidor; Capablanca from Steinitz; Karpov from Capablanca; Alekhine from Chigorin; Tal from Alekhine.

Every now and then, he says a little about himself. This theme becomes increasingly pronounced as we get closer to the present. He considers that he is primarily an heir to the Chigorin-Alekhine-Tal line (dynamic attacking players), but also to the Philidor-Steinitz-Botvinnik school (the scientific approach) and the Capablanca-Fischer-Karpov line (intuitive positional play).

So, to sum up, he sees himself as the end-product of 1500 years of chess development, where all the bloodlines come together. The Kwisatz Haderach of chess, as Frank Herbert might have put it. Isn't that breathtakingly arrogant? But the truly incredible thing is that he might be right. Just imagine being able to feel that way about yourself.
Profile Image for Serge Pierro.
Author 1 book49 followers
May 9, 2018
While I had heard good things about this series, I was totally unprepared for what was to come. Garry Kasparov provides biographical accounts of the first four Chess World Champions - Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca and Alehkine, covering their personal lives and their games. Having one of the greatest players of all-time break down the games, opening analysis and theoretical tendencies of former greats is quite illuminating. This is a must read series for anyone who has a serious interest in chess. Watch as Kasparov analyses the Reti opening as originally played by Reti himself. Find out how the Rubinstein variation came into tournament play. Just an incredible source of chess knowledge! So far the second volume is even more impressive, as Kasparov has personal knowledge of some of the players... but we'll save that for the next review...
Profile Image for Gabriel Schoenfeld.
Author 6 books2 followers
September 4, 2013
Before Garry Kasparov ended his playing career in 2005 to battle for democracy in Russia, he was rightly considered to be the greatest grandmaster of all time. But here and in the other books in this series, he humbles himself charmingly before giants such as world champions Wilhelm Steinitz and José Raúl Capablanca. In this comprehensive study of grandmaster play -- from the Italian school of the 16th century to our current postmodern synthesis -- Kasparov aims to connect his forebears' playing style with "the values of the society in which they lived and worked" and the "geopolitical reality" of their respective eras. The result is a work of unparalleled depth, spirit and ambition -- it already stretches into five volumes, and more Kasparov masterworks are on the way.
Profile Image for Piet.
584 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2020
A thorough attempt to give an idea what the founding fathers of chess were like.
Steinitz the stubborn perseverer, Lasker the versatile creator, Capablanca, the prodigy who did not need to work, and Aljechin the boundlessly aggressive and sacrificing hero with an undestructible conceit of being invincible.
Kasparov gives the players ample room for their analyses however faulty they may have been.
This makes the book somewhat more voluminous than necessary and it does not always help to get to the bottom of the truth of the games.
That having said it remains an admirable piece of work and a worthy tribute to the great players of the past.
Profile Image for F. Dum.
67 reviews24 followers
October 16, 2025
I'm kinda split about this one.

On the one hand, this book (and its follow-ups) are a unique compendium of chess games throughout history, written by one of the all-time greats of chess. Kasparov not only provides extensive annotations (on some crucial positions, his analysis spans several pages), but he also provides the historical context for the games and its greatest practitioners, which makes them come alive. I don't know any other book that does this, and for that alone, it really is a must have for everyone who loves chess and also likes to read about its historical evolution.

However, it does have quite a few flaws, and one of them is big enough to have me dock one star. The big one is that while this book does give loads of historical information, Kasparov unfortunately didn't care much to check any of his facts. Chess "history" is notorious for really being just a collection of unfounded popular myths that have frequently been debunked as romanticized embellishments and complete fabrications, and these books didn't make it any better, on the contrary. Kasparov also doesn't give ANY sources whatsoever. So, as a historical work, this is essentially useless, if not worse.

The fact that his analyses were made before computer became the chess monsters of today and are often horribly wrong is of course pretty forgivable. Also you'll have to get used to his writing style, it's pretty weird and kinda funny, although by now I did get used to it and at least you can't say it's boring or dry. If anything, it's a little overenthusiastic -- Kasparov clearly loves this game. If only he'd love historical accuracy half as much...

So yeah, despite its shortcomings, I think this is something any chess lover should have in his library, just for the wealth of information, even if lots of it is, as one of my favourite grandmasters would say, "frankly, ridiculous" (go Ben!).
558 reviews11 followers
April 30, 2025
A classic. I started reading this many years ago but abandoned it when it got to Tarrasch. Tracing chess development throughout the ages by studying the canon of best chess players. Kasparov certainly knew his classic games and chess history! Excellent exercise to be able to read game notation without a board, too, since often it is 10-20 moves before the next diagram shows up. Well written with a hint of cocky arrogance in finding lines that the old masters couldn't find (well, he's Kasparov after all). I used to think Morphy and Capablanca are the only ones worth studying, but now I can see that I've underestimated many of them! Even Steinitz's play is very modern in many aspects. The one that made the deepest impression on me is Alekhine. What a player and what vision. He often keep all his pieces, started an attack, and around move 20 the game is decided with a sudden blow that came out of nowhere.
119 reviews2 followers
September 7, 2024
I'm not a chess guy, so I skipped most of the annotations, I was in it mostly for the story. The history of chess is fascinating and there seems to be so many human lessons to be learned through the game. This is not my area of depth, so I can be wrong, but I found this book to be a masterpiece, the writing is just so strong, which I find surprising as it is coming from this neurological madman in Kasparov. You could spend a thousand hours in this book, to quote Francis Bacon - "Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested.".
Profile Image for Vijay.
12 reviews1 follower
October 30, 2019
One of the best books you'll ever come across in chess. Every ardent student of the game must read the books in this series. Kasparov, first, gives some background on the personality and playing style of these legendary players and then goes on to analyse their games. It feels like he is talking to this reader with the same zeal and enthusiasm which he used to display during his games. The in-depth analysis can be a bit much for people so try to do it in fragments
Profile Image for Huertomuro.
246 reviews6 followers
April 14, 2022
Obra imprescindible de la historia del ajedrez. Nos permite conocer las características psicológicas de cada uno de los campeones del mundo y sus contribuciones a la evolución del ajedrez. En este volumen se analiza a: Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca y Alexander Alekhine.
Profile Image for Luke.
20 reviews7 followers
August 8, 2022
Nifty analysis and the thoughts outside of chess specifically are pretty interesting but also a lil silly lol
Profile Image for Κώστας.
200 reviews43 followers
July 28, 2023
Φυσικά θα αναφερθώ στην Ελληνική έκδοση "οι μεγάλοι προκάτοχοί μου".
Ο Κασπάροβ παιδεύτηκε πολλά χρόνια για να δημιουργήσει αυτό το εξαιρετικό πόνημα που όμοιό του δεν υπάρχει, τουλάχιστον στη δική μας γλώσσα.

Η εξέλιξη της σκακιστικής σκέψης κατά τους τρεις περασμένους αιώνες αποτυπώνεται εδώ σε αυτό το πολύτομο(5 τόμοι, δυστυχώς μόνο 2 μεταφρασμένοι στα Ελληνικά)και πολύτιμο έργο. Μια πολύ φροντισμένη έκδοση, συγχαρητήρια στις εκδόσεις ΚΕΔΡΟΣ.

Όπως σημειώνει και ο ίδιος ο Κασπάροβ, πρόκειται για την "κατάδειξη της συνεχούς εξελικτικής πορείας του παιχνιδιού μέσα από την σκακιστική πρακτική των παγκόσμιων πρωταθλητών, καθότι αυτή η επίλεκτη ομάδα των υπέρλαμπρων άστρων (μόνο 14 σε 117 χρόνια!) έχει προσφέρει την μεγαλύτερη δυνατή υπηρεσία στο σκάκι. Για να κερδίσουν τον ύψιστο τίτλο έπρεπε να υπερνικήσουν τους πρώτους από τους καλύτερους, να ανκαλύψουν δηλαδή κάτι καινούργιο και να αιφνιδιάσουν τους εξαιρετικά έμπειρους και ταλαντούχους αντιπάλους τους".

Αλλά δεν περιορίζεται μονάχα στις παρτίδες των πρωταθλητών. Έχει βιογραφικά στοιχεία, λεπτομέρειες και παραλειπόμενα από τις συναντήσεις των τιτάνων. Όλα αυτά εμπλουτισμένα από τα προσωπικά σχόλια του μακροβιότερου παγκόσμιου πρωταθλητή. Η τρομερά μεγάλη του εμπειρία στο αγωνιστικό σκάκι σε συνδυασμό με τα καλύτερα σκακιστικά προγράμματα υπολογιστών εκεινης της εποχής, κάνουν το βιβλίο αξεπέραστο ακόμα και στις μέρες μας, 10 χρόνια και πλέον μετά από την αρχική του έκδοση.
Τα παραπάνω τα βεβαιώνω προσωπικά έπειτα από την εκτεταμένη χρήση του βιβλίου και αναλύοντας τις παρτίδες με τη βοήθεια του πιο εξελιγμένου software του 2013 (Deep Rybka 4,Fritz 12,Houdini 3 Pro).

Αυτός ο πρώτος τόμος περιλαμβάνει εκτός από τους ανεπίσημους παγκόσμιους πρωταθλητές (Άντερσεν ,Μόρφυ και προγενέστερους) τους επίσημους 4 πρώτους ήτοι τους
Wilhelm Steinitz (1886-1894), Emanuel Lasker (1894-1921), Jose Capablanca (1921-1927) and Alexander Alekhine (1927-1935 and 1937-1946).

Ως τώρα έχω ήδη πολλά βιβλία για το σκάκι, τόσο θεματικά(ανοιγμάτων)όσο και θεωρητικά αλλά και ολοκληρωμένων παρτίδων. Ελληνικά αλλά και ξενόγλωσσα.
Το βιβλίο αυτό όμως,χωρίς καμμία υπερβολή, αποτελεί την ΒΙΒΛΟ, την ΑΓΙΑ ΓΡΑΦΗ για το ΣΚΑΚΙ.
Συγχρόνως είναι ένα ανεξάντλητο εργαλείο που ικανοποιεί τους παίκτες (& τους χομπίστες) όλων των κατηγοριών.



Profile Image for Justin.
282 reviews19 followers
January 20, 2013
In this massive study of the fourteen chess Grand Masters who preceded him, Kasparov takes on the role of a latter-day Suetonius, doing for chess biography what Bobby Fischer had done for the autobiography in "My Sixty Memorable Games".

Kasparov skillfully blends the technical analysis sought after by serious players with critical analysis of the psychology and personalities of these esteemed subjects.

It can make for tedious reading if digested whole, but there is simply nothing else like it in existence.
Profile Image for Bhakta Kishor.
286 reviews45 followers
July 26, 2020
On a personal note, I read this volume in Russian, and to me this made for a much more pleasant experience, as while the translation in the English editions (which is all I have for the previous two volumes) is usually good, small imperfections still make me wish for seeing Kasparov’s original Russian text.

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