Essential Sosonko: Collected Portraits and Tales of a Bygone Chess Era

by Genna Sosonko

Genna Sosonko is widely acclaimed as the most prominent chronicler of a unique era in chess history. In the Soviet Union chess was developed into an ideological weapon that was actively promoted by the country’s leadership during the Cold War. Starting with Mikhail Botvinnik, their best chess players grew into symbols of socialist excellence. Sosonko writes from a privileged dual perspective, combining an insider’s nostalgia with the detachment of a critical observer. He grew up with legendary champions such as Mikhail Tal and Viktor Korchnoi and spent countless hours with most of the other greats and lesser chess mortals he portrays. Sosonko was born in Leningrad, where he lived for 29 years and worked as a chess coach. After emigrating to the Netherlands, he became a world-class chess grandmaster, participating in the strongest competitions around the globe. In the late 1980s he began to write about the champions he knew and their remarkable lives in New In Chess Magazine. First, he wrote primarily about Soviet players and personalities, and later, he also began to portray other chess celebrities with whom he had crossed paths. They all vividly come to life as the reader is transported to their time and world. Once you’ve read Sosonko, you will feel you know Capablanca, Max Euwe and Tony Miles. And you will never forget Sergey Nikolaev. This monumental book is a collection of the portraits and profiles Genna Sosonko wrote for New in Chess magazine. The stories have been published in his Russian Silhouettes, The Reliable Past, Smart Chip From St. Petersburg and The World Champion I Knew. They are supplemented with further writings on legends such as David Bronstein, Garry Kasparov and Boris Spassky. They paint an enthralling and unforgettable picture of a largely vanished age and, indirectly, a portrait of one of the greatest writers on the world of chess. Garry Kasparov wrote the Foreword.

Genres: Chess

840 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2023

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tο «The Essential Sosonko» του Genna Sosonko προσφέρει μια πολύπλευρη απεικόνιση της σκακιστικής κουλτούρας κατά τη σοβιετική εποχή και μετά. Το κείμενο περιγράφει βιογραφικά στοιχεία και προσωπικές αναμνήσεις διακεκριμένων σκακιστών, υπογραμμίζοντας τις μοναδικές προσωπικότητές τους και τις προκλήσεις που αντιμετώπιζαν, ιδιαίτερα εντός του πολιτικού πλαισίου της Σοβιετικής Ένωσης. Συζητούνται οι επιρροές των πολιτικών συστημάτων και των κοινωνικών πιέσεων στο παιχνίδι και τη ζωή των παικτών, όπως φαίνεται από τα εσωτερικά έγγραφα της KGB που αφορούν το σκάκι και τις διαφορές μεταξύ Δυτικής και Σοβιετικής σκακιστικής φιλοσοφίας. Επιπλέον, το κείμενο αγγίζει πιο γενικά θέματα, όπως η επίδραση της τεχνολογίας στο σκάκι, οι τελετουργίες των παικτών, και η βαθύτερη ψυχολογική επίδραση της ήττας στο παιχνίδι.