All 14 champions of the world from Wilhelm Steinitz to Vladimir Kramnik. About their life and creativity, competitions with their participation, about their contribution to chess art and rivals. The best games, combinations, endings. Archival materials and numerous photographs. Personal impressions of the authors about the matches for the world championship and meetings with the champions. The authors are well-known chess historians and writers.

Petrov Alexander Dmitrievich (1.2.1794, p. Biserovo Pskov Gubernia, 10.4.1867, Warsaw), the first Russian chess master, chess. theoretician and composer, founder of the first chess club in Russia (Petersburg Society of Chess Game Makers). The writer. State Councillor. In 1804-1840 he lived in St. Petersburg, from 1840 - in Warsaw. He played chess at the age of 7. In 1809 he won a match at one of the best peterbes. chess players A. Kopyev. For half a century he was the strongest chess player in Russia. He won in the matches of K. Janisch in the 1840s. (with a handicap), S. Urusova - 3: 1 (1853) and 13: 7 (1859), I. Shumova - 4: 2 (1862). Bright master combinational style.

The book is devoted to the life and work of the second world champion Emanuel Lasker, who occupied the chess throne for a record time of 27 years. Philosopher by reason and mathematician by education, Lasker became an outstanding chess professional at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and knew no equal in tournament and match battles. He was called a king and a wizard, a sage and a hypnotist. Unique in achievements, unsolved by contemporaries, mysterious for posterity ... In his monograph the famous Russian chess historians Isaak and Vladimir Linder depart from the generally accepted stereotypes, attempting to cover the main cause of Lasker's sporting and creative longevity in a new light. You will find in the book the 100 best, detailed commented games and endings of the great chess player, as well as 50 photo-illustrations, some of which are published for the first time.

Of all the questions of interest to the chess world, perhaps the most important is the question of the title of world champion,,, Х wrote to H.R. Capablanca in 1937. Today, when humankind entered the third millennium, the justice of these words has become even more obvious. Chess & mdash; one of the phenomena of civilization, and the title of world champion is surrounded by a halo of reverence for the great possibilities of the human mind. This is confirmed by the example of 14 geniuses who ascended the chess throne. Publisher & laquo; Astrel & raquo; continues to release a new series of & mdash; & nbsp; “The Encyclopedia of Chess Olympus”, dedicated to the life and work of all world chess champions: from Steinitz before Kramnik. Authors & mdash; famous Russian writers and historians of chess Isaac and Vladimir Lindera. Emanuel Lasker (1868 & 1941) & mdash; great chess wrestler, & nbsp; thinker, researcher. He possessed gigantic practical strength, 27 years (!) Holding the title of the first chess player of the planet. And then he retained his potential for a long time, winning or becoming the winner of the largest international tournaments at the age of 54 (Moravská Ostrava, 1923), 55 (New York, 1924), 56 (Moscow, 1925), and even 66 years (Moscow, 1935)! For the philosopher and mathematics doctor Lasker, chess and life & nbsp; were inseparable. In the chess struggle, he saw a model of human life.

Among chess players who have contributed to the development of the Russian chess school, grandmaster Vladimir Alekseevich Alatortsev (1909 - 1987) occupies a prominent place. In the 30s and 40s he was one of the strongest chess players in the country, a major chess theorist. During the Great Patriotic War, he proved himself as an outstanding organizer of chess life. At the turn of the 50-60s, he was the president of the USSR Chess Federation. He is known as a scientist who for many years headed the country's first chess laboratory at the TsNIIFC. The great friendship connected V. Alatortsev with G. Vishnevskaya, M. Rostropovich, I. Rukavishnikov, P. Anokhin, N. Pavlovsky, A. Senkov and with many other famous scientists and artists and literature workers. On the life and multifaceted activities of V.A. Alatortsev in documentary and artistic form is told by Russian historians of chess and literature Vladimir and Isaac Linder. The third part of the book presents the 50 best games of Alatortsev.

Dear reader! In your hands is a collection of the most expensive and memorable works of the author & ndash; both written long ago, and lying in the archive for several decades, and born in recent years. My attempts at writing in a variety of literary genres, including poetry, have always amazed and delighted dad & ndash; chess historian Isaac Linder. Strict adherent of chess `` classicism '' and historical realism boldly co-authored a freethinker and, as critics from his beloved 19th century would say, a scribbler. And I must say, 'docking' was successful. I began to write history stories, not without pleasure, and he began to indulge in elegant artistic digressions. For more than a quarter of a century we have perfectly understood and complemented each other & hellip; This book is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the passionate propagandist of chess culture, chess encyclopedist, writer and sage Isaac Maksovich Linder, she & ndash; gratitude and bow to his blessed memory. Among her heroes & ndash; people who, by the will of fate, have linked their lives with Chess. Photos of Boris Dolmatovsky, Alexander Kantorovich, Nikolai Zhuravka, from the archives of the State Public Library for Science and Technology, Irina Alatortseva, Lyudmila Belavenets, Sergey Voronkov, Andrey Elkov, Isaac and Vladimir Linderov.

Партии, биография, фото, статистика. Василий Васильевич Смыслов (р. 1921) стал в 36 лет седьмым в истории шахмат чемпионом мира (1957-58). Шесть предыдущих шахматных королей брали заветный рубеж с первой попытки. А те, кто не смог осилить действующего чемпиона, в дальнейшем, как правило, не проявляли своих амбиций, оставаясь в роли "великих неудачников". Вопреки сложившейся традиции, Смыслов первым вошел в одну реку дважды и сумел повторить звездный путь. Когда он, наконец, завоевал титул сильнейшего шахматиста планеты, создалось впечатление, что это тот самый "корабль", у которого нет уязвимых мест, напротив, все говорило о его "комфортабельности и благоустроенности". Увы, на каждый шахматный "титаник" находится рано или поздно свой шахматный "айсберг". Им стал для Смыслова тот, которого он еще недавно так блестяще победил, - Ботвинник. Уже через 12 месяцев Василий Смыслов стал экс-чемпионом мира. Но "калиф на год" оставался грозным шахматным бойцом еще долгие и долгие годы. Еще одним способом его самовыражения стала музыка. Красивый баритон, как и шахматный талант, унаследовал он от отца. Не случайно он повторял: "Чемпионами не становятся, а рождаются!". Внешне он не производит впечатление опасного бойца - типичный скромный интеллигент, с неторопливой походкой и загадочной улыбкой. Это для непосвященных, а вот для шахматного фантазера Д. Бронштейна образ Смыслова порой ассоциировался с поступью медведя, напролом бредущего по шахматным дебрям, и горе тому, кто нечаянно попадется на его дороге!

Party, biography, photos, statistics. Mikhail Botvinnik (1911 - 1995) - man-era! He was born under the last Russian emperor Nicholas II, and died under the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin. He received instructions from the second world champion Emanuel Lasker and gave lessons to the fourteenth champion Vladimir Kramnik himself. While studying at school, he did not know the slide rule, and at a respectable age he played chess with a computer. Botvinnik was not yet 25 years old when he became one of the living symbols of a great power and remained it for the next 60 years. His remarkably solid nature was mixed up with a mixture of communist education, the Spartan regime and an innate sense of intelligence. He was one in two persons - the Champion and the Scientist. Doctor of chess and grandmaster of electrical engineering. The main advantages of Botvinnik - iron will, a scientific approach, a clear vision of the goal. Botvinnik accumulated the best features of the Soviet chess school. And at the same time, this school embodied many of the priorities it proclaimed. Botvinnik devoted thirty years of his life to the creation of an “artificial intelligence” - a chess program, not only a “master playing by virtue”, but also “thinking like him.” "Pioneer" was his pride, and his pain, and his "blue bird". Botvinnik's multivolume legacy is a classic of world chess, his life is an example of disinterested service to chess art.

The Astrel publishing house continues to release a new series - Encyclopedia of Chess Olympus, dedicated to the life and work of all world chess champions from Steinitz to Kramnik. The authors are famous Russian writers and historians of chess Isaac and Vladimir Lindera. Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhin (1892–1946) is the 4th world chess champion (1927–35, 1937–1946). Among the greatest chess players of all time, Alexander Alekhin is distinguished by the scale of his creative heritage and the aesthetic appeal of the game. From 1908 to the last years of his life, he participated in 94 tournaments, in 64 of them came out the winner and in 12 occupied second places. He played 26 matches (including 5 in the world championship) and was the only chess champion in history who died undefeated. Alekhin influenced the chess life of dozens of countries and peoples due to his vivid performances in tournaments, matches, touring tours, as well as literary works.

Parties, biography, photo, statistics ... Robert James Fisher (born 1943) - 1st world chess champion (1972-75). His life is a challenge to society, traditions, conventions. Professional to the marrow of bones, he always wanted the cause of his life - a chess game - the society appreciated. Making high demands on himself, he believed that he had the right to present them to the conditions of chess creativity. In the era of "total" football he demonstrated real total chess - hard pressing all over the board, not a second of respite, constant threats, buildup of pressure, power in every plan, every maneuver, every holo! His aggressiveness and pressure crushed and demoralized the will of those not accustomed to similar competition of competitors.

Parties, biography. photo, statistics. Series: Encyclopedia of Chess Olympus The name of Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900), the first world chess champion, creator of the positional game doctrine, was deduced in gold letters on the tables of the world chess history. For 64 years of irrepressible, eternally bubbling life Steinitz symbolically filled all 64 cells of the chess planet. He showed himself to be a great and uncompromising fighter, a true chess artist, a philosopher and a converter. For two decades (1866-1886) Steinitz was considered the king of chess in Europe, and then he was worthy of an official world title for eight years (1886-1894).

Party, biography, photos, statistics. Mikhail Tal, the eighth world chess champion. A short, fragile youth with big black eyes, a phenomenal memory and unique intuition proved to the chess world that 2x2 = 5 (!). A genius of attacks and combinations, he always acted in accordance with S. Tartakower's postulate - “sacrifice in order not to become a victim!”. For Tal, chess matter in battles is nothing, beauty is everything! He melted the "chess Antarctica", took millions of fans into voluntary chess captivity. In the life of Tal, there was no everyday life, the game of chess for him has always been a holiday. Truly the gigantic strength of the spirit again and again prevailed over the hardships of the flesh. He did not think about the future, giving joy to his contemporaries, and his descendants left his creativity - an imperishable bible of chess combinations.