Karpov Vs. Korchnoi: World Chess Championship, 1978

by Bent Larsen

Some shelf wear. Pages are clean and binding is tight.

Genres: Chess

Paperback

Published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really is a fun book. I'm an amateur chess player, and while I play often and love the game, I'm admittedly not that great at it (I'm sitting around a 1200 rating). So I read this book for the joy of learning about the historical context, as well as to pursue an interest of gaining some understanding of the world of Chess. It's also fun to just browse through a book that's now quite old. I studied the games a bit throughout, guessing some moves before reading them, looking up openings, etc... but I'm not experienced enough to comment on whether this book is a great resource for learning these days. But it is a super fun read for anyone passionate about chess, regardless of your chess level, and I enjoy Bent's sarcastic writing style a lot.

The games themselves seem a little slow on the surface, but the whole match and it's context is fascinating and invigorating. Karpov, the rising young star of the U.S.S.R., granted the title of World Chess Champion without ever winning a world chess championship match! This was due to Fischer defaulting. Korchnoi, the challenger, a Russian defector from the U.S.S.R. because of Chess shenanigans It's all very high stakes and feels a bit like a geo-political spy story.

In addition to the politics of the match, the players are both very unique in their approach to the game. Karpov seems to play in a slow, methodical and deterministic style, while Korchnoi is a bit more adventurous, enjoying risks and jumping on any vulnerabilities.

The book is written in descriptive notation (1. P-QB4, N-KB3 instead of 1. c4, Nf6) but it's not that hard to understand after reading a couple of games. And the commentary really is hilarious at times. Some example quotes that had me laughing out loud...

"When you see how much enthusiasm many chess players show while working on positions like this, you may get the terrible idea that necrophilia is natural."

"It seems that these two Americans, Stephen Dwyer and Victoria Shepperd, had been teaching Korchnoi meditation. (In my opinion chess masters ought to teach gurus meditation.)"

Overall, this is a great book for the chess nerd or historical buff. I'm sure the chess analysis is great as Bent Larsen really was a talented player, but even beyond the chess analysis its an entertaining read.

[bluetyson]

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