Mortal Games: The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, August 11, 1993.
Edition: First
Book Condition: New
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 0399138277 / 9780399138270
An inside look at the genius of chess player Garry Kasparov discusses his match against his sworn enemy, Anatoly Karpov, his tireless efforts to bring down Gorbachev, and his chess skills.
From Kirkus Reviews
Colorful combinations by Waitzkin (Searching for Bobby Fisher, 1988) as he castles through the manic world of grandmaster chess. Waitzkin first bumped into Garry Kasparov when the world champ played Waitzkin's 11-year-old son, Josh, and 59 other kids in a simultaneous match in Manhattan. Josh drew the game, earning him and his father entry into Kasparov's circle. The man with the highest ranking in chess history proves to be a high-strung, arrogant loudmouth, eager to promote Russian democracy, denounce Mikhail (``the criminal'') Gorbachev, and ridicule his chess rivals as incompetents. The only opponent to give him serious trouble is Karpov, with whom Kasparov slugs it out through five arduous matches. Waitzkin devotes many chapters to a blow-by-blow account of one of these tournaments, a nail-biting affair that results in victory on the boards for Kasparov but moral triumph for Karpov, once despised as a Soviet pawn but here revealed as a normal bloke, lacking Kasparov's Brobdingnagian ego. As Waitzkin pushes towards the endgame, encountering park-side pawn-pushers, teenage prodigies who eat-sleep-and-breathe chess, and grandmasters who drive at 100 mph and accuse each other of paraphysical dirty tricks, readers may conclude that high-level chess outdoes Hollywood for daffiness. And just when things settle down--Kasparov announces plans to face English grandmaster Nigel Short in championship play this September--along comes Bobby Fischer to upset the apple cart. While suggesting that Fischer is mentally ill, Waitzkin also implies that he remains a chess genius and, in the eyes of the public, Kasparov's real rival. A Fischer-Kasparov Match of the Century? Stay tuned--and hope that Waitzkin is there to cover it. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Item #8157
Price: $34.97
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