num_pages: 0
description: At the U.S. Championship in 1989 Stuart Rachels seemed bound for the cellar. Ranked last and holding no IM norms the 20-year-old amateur from Alabama was expected to get waxed by the American top GMs of the day that included Seirawan Gulko Dzindzichashvili deFirmian Benjamin and Browne. Instead Rachels pulled off a gigantic upset and became the youngest U.S. Champion since Bobby Fischer. Three years later he retired from competitive chess but he never stopped following the game. In this wide-ranging elegantly written and highly personal memoir Stuart Rachels passes on his knowledge of chess. Included are his duels against legends such as Kasparov Anand Spassky Ivanchuk Gelfand and Miles but the heart of the book is the explanation of chess ideas interwoven with his captivating stories. There are chapters on tactics endings blunders middlegames cheating incidents and even on how to combat that rotten opening the Rti. Rachels offers a complete and entertaining course in chess strategy. At the back are listed 110 principles of play--bits of wisdom that arise naturally in the book's 24 chapters. Every chess player will find it difficult to put this sparkling book down. As a bonus it will make you a better player.
language: None
title: The Best I Saw in Chess: Games, Stories and Instruction from an Alabama Prodigy Who Became U.S. Champion
publisher: None