Best books by / about Karpov

[Nick Burrows]

Hi.

I was showing a friend my chess book collection yesterday and I realised I have no books specifically by / about Karpov.

Can anyone recommend what they think are the best books by / about Karpov?

http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 1326478338

[Nick Ivell]

Ah, Karpov. What a wonderful player. I could talk about him all day.

I have the Markland. I find the long algebraic irritating - give me descriptive any day. Where Markland is strong is in describing how disconcerting it was to play the young Karpov. He gives their excellent game from Hastings 71-72. Yes, Karpov played the white side of a Winawer! We forget that the young Karpov was a brilliant tactician, happy to play the white side of a Keres attack for example...

Many of us tried to copy Karpov's style when Fischer receded into the shadows. It was a doomed endeavour. Most of us have only a fraction of his intuition. In that respect Fischer was a better role model for me. I think a lot of us lost our way in trying to play like Karpov.

[Matt Mackenzie]

For various reasons, Tolya got rather a bad press in his prime. Good to see that he has become more appreciated since then

[Paul McKeown]

I read "Anatoly Karpov: Chess is My Life" 1 November 1979 Pergamon Press, ISBN-10: 0080231195, ISBN-13: 978-0080231198

I have to say my memory of Karpov's "Chess is My Life" is that it was a poor, rather egotistical, effort. And given that Korchnoi had written a short autobiography of the same title not long before, it came across as an exercise in politics, score-settling and one-upmanship.

[John McKenna]

Paul hasn't lost his cold-warrior's mental headgear and must have relished the demise of Karpov and the rise of Kasparov (the true successor to Fischer in Paul's mind?)
Karpov's Chess Is My Life may - in comparison to that of Victor the Vanquished - be a "poor, rather egotistical, effort". For a different effort read Karpov's Learn From Your Defeats (Batsford 1985). To pre-empt Paul - it's a short book, not theoretically or ideologically heavy, covering his defeats and revenge victories during 1975-84.

[Paul McKeown]

No, wrong, John, do love your stereotyping. The truth is I loved Karpov's limpid play when he was at his best. As for "Learn from your defeats", you might have noticed Nick Burrows link above. One of the contributors to Chess Publishing wrote:

I can recommend the WORST Karpov book written by Karpov: How to Learn from your Defeats. It's a collection of games Karpov lost, coupled with a win against the same opponent. The notes are sparse to the point of frustration, and Karpov's comments are usually something to the effect of, "I was goofing off in this game, but I got him good in the next one". (Ok, not quite that belligerent, but close!)

I reproduce here so as not to slow you down in your knee jerking.

As for "Kasparov the true successor to Fischer in Paul's mind", quite comical really. Karpov was miles ahead of everyone else, so the reality is that Kasparov was the true successor to Karpov and Karpov to Fischer.

You should put away the ideological red mist sometimes, probably asking a bit much, though, for someone prepared to compare the North Korea state favourably with South Korea!

[John McKenna]

A 3-minute response time - SAC would not find that acceptable. (But, was that only a drill.) At least get it below the promised 2-minute warning. INCOMING!!?

[John McKenna]

Medic! I'm hit. I liked the book though, Paul, it was just about right for my small-minded, low-down chess level. (That's pre-emptive defensive self-deprecation.)

[John McKenna]

Ah, the old North/South battlegounds, those are other fields. As there is not much chance of us meeting at the chessboard (you a non-com, me a squaddy) should we start a war-gaming thematic thread and refight the old contests like armchair generals? Best of three - we can start with the Korean Conflict, then the American Civil War and end with the Battle of the Boyne. Which side do you prefer in each case - please reply to my adjutant. I take it yours is Colonel Blimp?

[Paul McKeown]

Anyway, back to books on Karpov, please.

[John McKenna]

Agreed. Please excuse my last post for being something of a sideswipe and not really being on topic.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I read "Anatoly Karpov: Chess is My Life" 1 November 1979 Pergamon Press, ISBN-10: 0080231195, ISBN-13: 978-0080231198

I have to say my memory of Karpov's "Chess is My Life" is that it was a poor, rather egotistical, effort. And given that Korchnoi had written a short autobiography of the same title not long before, it came across as an exercise in politics, score-settling and one-upmanship.

Have to agree, really (though some nice chess, obviously)

Some of it (maybe written by the late Alexander Roshal rather than AK himself) came across as straightforward pro-Soviet boilerplate - and might have contributed just a bit to Karpov's poor reputation I then referred to above. Certainly after the notorious 1984/85 "termination" the amount of anti-Karpov bile spilled out (encouraged by certain people, of course) was pretty shocking

[Ian Kingston]

Karpov wrote a series of books on openings: The Open Game in Action, The Semi-Open Game in Action, The Closed Openings in Action and The Semi-Closed Openings in Action ....

I was going to mention these. From memory - I stupidly got rid of my copies - these give a really good snapshot of the important games in world chess in the late 1980s. Certainly a lot of Karpov of games. I seem to remember a lot of copies of Open Games in Action available at the second hand book stall in foyer at the London Chess Classic last year.

That said, I find it hard to believe that Karpov had much to do with the writing of these books. I'm somewhat sceptical of some of the others listed in this thread too.

A reasonable suspicion. Evgeny Gik had a big hand in the '... in Action' series. There is plenty of Karpov in there though.

[JustinHorton]

Not long ago I reviewed a book allegedly co-written by Karpov and it would surprise me if he wrote any more than the foreword of the book and his signature on a contract.

[Colin Patterson]

I enjoyed Hartston's compact bio of Karpov in 'Kings Of Chess'. Hartston is always in his element when spouting on about parapsychology and the Ananda-Marga sect. Something to do with his general interest in psychology I expect.

'Kings of Chess' gives an excellent overview of all the champions and their contemporaries (up to Kasparov) and often sells cheaply on eBay.