Soviet Championships, vol. 2 (1938-1947) Add to Watch List Watching View Watchlist >

Sergey Voronkov: Materpieces and Dramas of the Soviet Championships, volume 2 (1938-1947). 

The second part of Sergey Voronkov’s three-volume treatise continues from where Volume I left off. It covers the eleventh to fifteenth Soviet championships, the 1941 match tournament for the title of Soviet Absolute Champion, and the main events in the country’s chess history between these tournaments. Themes include the downfall of Nikolai Krylenko, the persecution and disappearance of Soviet chess players during the purges, and the experience of chess players in World War Two. The atmosphere of the time is captured in contemporary accounts and memoirs of key players and cultural figures.

We see Botvinnik and Keres established as leading challengers for Alekhine’s throne, with plans being made to arrange a title match. We encounter for the first time and witness the rise of great Soviet players such as Smyslov, Bronstein and Boleslavsky, and enjoy the games of many other stars including Flohr, Lilienthal, Bondarevsky, Kotov and Tolush.

This volume contains 84 games and fragments mostly annotated by the players themselves and their peers, and subjected to recent computer analysis. It is illustrated with around 250 photos and cartoons from the period, the main sources being Russian chess magazines and tournament bulletins.

15.5 x 23.5 cm paperback. Elk and Ruby, Canterbury 2021. 524 pages. Condition: brand new. Weight 807 g.

"Masterpieces and Dramas of the Soviet Championships, Volume II (1938-1947) by Sergey Voronkov is a real 5 star book! The period before and during the Second World War is obviously both a horrific and horrifically fascinating period of European history. This book gives an amazing insight into how Russian chess players and players from surrounding regions coped with the profound effects of the war - effects that obviously had a huge general impact, but also often reached deep into their personal lives and professions." - Grandmaster Matthew Sadler, New In Chess magazine, January 2022

https://elkandruby.com/books/masterpieces-and-dramas-of-the-soviet-championships-volume-ii-1938-1947-paperback/

Seller (291)