Chessboard Knit Cap

The Interzonal tournaments, played at Leningrad and Petropolis (Brazil), in preparation for the 1975 World Chess Championship, exemplified all that is best in contemporary chess. From over 300 games - with their fighting spirit, inspired technique and flashes of brilliance - there amerged the Soviet Grandmasters Karpov, Korchnoi, Pulaayevsky, the American Robert Byrne, the Brazilian Mecking and he Hungarian Portisch, to join ex-world champions Spassky and Petrosian for Fischer's world title.

In addition to covering all of the games in both tournaments (and in the play-off in Portoroz), this book includes annotations by over 20 to-level grandmasters, including Korchnoi, Karpov, Meckling, Pulagayevsky, Hubner, Larsen, Taimanov, Bronstein, Keres and Smyslov. Complete with 269 diagrams and 35 photographs this is an outstanding tournament book of timeless value.

In 1938, a major controversy existing in the international chess world. Alexander Alekhine had recently regained the title of World Champion by convincingly defeating Max Euwe in a rematch for the title. The question remained as to which grandmaster should have the privilege of challenging Alekhine for the next title match. Various players citing excellent results in recent tournaments made claim to be the next challenger. But who was the second best player in the world?

In order to help settle this dispute, a Dutch radio company, Allgemeese Vereningun Radio-Omroep (A.V.R.0.) organized a tournament exclusively of the eight strongest players in the world at the time, with the belief that the winner of the tournament, if not Alekhine himself, would earn the right to the next World Chess Championship.

This book describes, in detail, that tournament, the circumstances that lead up to it, the participants and their games, as well as the results of the legendary, but under-appreciated tournament.