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Rating: 
Summary: Worthwhile collection of Fischer games
Review: GM Andy Soltis is pretty good on game collections mixed with history, and this is no exception. There are some up-to-date insights on many of the famous games as well as some lesser-known gems.The annotations aren't especially deep, but they don't bog down in masses of variations either. Soltis also points out certain "themes" in Fischer's play, e.g. "you've gotta give squares to take squares".
Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile collection of Fischer games
Review: GM Andy Soltis is pretty good on game collections mixed with history, and this is no exception. There are some up-to-date insights on many of the famous games as well as some lesser-known gems. The annotations aren't especially deep, but they don't bog down in masses of variations either. Soltis also points out certain "themes" in Fischer's play, e.g. "you've gotta give squares to take squares".
Rating:
Summary: Algebraic notation
Review: I have a copy of Fischer's 60 Memorable Games that I bought back in 1990, a Faber edition, with a black cover and a photo of Fischer on the cover- but that book is in descriptive notation, while its algebraic conversion by Batsford in the mid 1990's was controversial and is almost impossible to locate a copy.
This Soltis book contains 100 games- it seems to contain most of the 60 games in Fischer's own book, and another 40 games spanning 1967-1972 and two games from the Spassky rematch in 1992. Im too lazy to fish my original Fischer book out of the box that it is stored in my closet, but the first 60 games in the Soltis book ring a bell when I look at the opponents and the years the games where played. The annotations are better than what you get from Keene but arent as deep as Fischer's original analysis. Also there are no games references in the text of the main games like Gligoric uses in his book I Play Against Pieces (Batsford 2002), which keeps things simple. Also the text to the main moves In this Soltis book is listed in columns which makes reading easier but wastes space- so Gligoric's run-on approach to listing the main moves packs more information. So this is merely a collection of 100 moderately annoated games- better than Keene bit not quite as deep as Fischer's own approach. Still, I have been waiting for this book to be released for nearly a year now so the anticipation and suspense are over- uts arrived- Fischer's 100 best games in chronological order and in algebraic notation!
Fischer was a stronger player than Capablanca (Fischer's idol) because Fischer's style was universal, while Capa would always seek to simplify and avoid complications, Fischer would take advantage of sound tactics when necessary- Fischer did whatever it took to win- therefore his style is the most difficult to copy as he is both tactician and stategist, opening and endgame expert- the perfect player.
Rating: 
Summary: I want the truth! :)
Review: I see that this book gets 5 stars. I have read through this book briefly and must say that I want to like this book - I really do, but from the Fischer Interviews found at bobbyfischer.net I must say that I can't trust it's content. Bobby Fischer can't stand Andy Soltis, so why would he write a book about him? Maybe just to make money off of Fischer's good name.
Rating:
Summary: I want the truth! :)
Review: I see that this book gets 5 stars. I have read through this book briefly and must say that I want to like this book - I really do, but from the Fischer Interviews found at bobbyfischer.net I must say that I can't trust it's content. Bobby Fischer can't stand Andy Soltis, so why would he write a book about him? Maybe just to make money off of Fischer's good name.
Rating: 
Summary: Bobby Fischer ... RE-discovered?
Review: It has been over 35 years since Fischer published his "60 Memorable Games," ... not counting Nunn's travesty ... or other poor attempts to revise it. And there has not been a single really good - NEW - book on Fischer in over 15 years! (Most of the better books on Fischer are unfortunately OUT OF PRINT - and nearly impossible to obtain.) The general rumor {in advance} was that Soltis was going to analyze all the same games that Fischer did in his Magnum Opus, and then add 40 more to round things off to an even 100. The first five games in the Fischer book are: vs. Sherwin, (N.J. Open, 1957); vs. Larsen, (Portoroz IZ, 1958); vs. Petrosian, (same tourn); vs. Pilnik, (Mar del Plata, 1959); and vs. Rossetto. (Also Mar del Plata, '59.) The first 5 games in the Soltis book are vs. D. Byrne, (Rosenwald, NY 1956 - The "Game of The Century."); Di Camillo, (NY, 1956); vs. Bernstein, (U.S. Champ, NY; 1957-58); vs. Sherwin, (same); and then the Fischer - Larsen game. So it is obvious this is NOT just Soltis's turn at re-doing the Fischer book. First, Soltis is a well-known chess-player and columnist. He has written many chess books. He has an outstanding reputation in the chess community. My students tell me that he is one of the most accessible and easy to understand authors around today. (The Reinfeld or Chernev of modern times.) The book is thoughtfully crafted; the annotations are (mostly) precise. There are 100 games here that were chosen for their content, and then they were thoroughly annotated. (There are many games the average chess fan will not have seen before.) NO fan of Bobby Fischer (or Soltis) should miss this book. Any aspiring student will certainly learn a lot about the game by a very careful study of the material that is presented here. And there is quite a bit of thoughtful and new biographical material presented here by Soltis. Having said that, I must vent my frustrations about the things that I saw that I did not like. Soltis definitely uses TOO MANY question marks ... often he uses a sledge hammer when a lighter tool would have sufficed. (The "Modern School" of annotating.) Many times, the question marks only raise issues that the author does not even bother to explain. (This can be very frustrating to the student who wants to know why the move was bad.) And how can we measure games that were played nearly 50 years ago by the standards of today's modern opening theory? (I also don't think Soltis uses a computer to analyze chess games.) Soltis also has not spent the time on some of the games that he could. If anyone is curious, see the game Fischer - Portisch, Stockholm Interzonal, 1962. (Game # 28, page # 86.) I think this is one of Fischer's best games, and one of the greatest R+P endings ever played!! (I have been saying this for close to 25 years. A curious person could use any search engine and find my annotations of this game on the Internet.) Soltis comes close to butchering this classic contest. But all hair-splitting aside, this is a very good book about one of the greatest players who ever lived. Just about ANY aspiring chess student will want to add this book to his library. Any student who gets this book ... and applies himself or herself ... will definitely learn (and enjoy!) a great deal about the Royal Game we all love.
Rating:
Summary: Bobby Fischer ... RE-discovered?
Review: It has been over 35 years since Fischer published his "60 Memorable Games," ... not counting Nunn's travesty ... or other poor attempts to revise it. And there has not been a single really good - NEW - book on Fischer in over 15 years! (Most of the better books on Fischer are unfortunately OUT OF PRINT - and nearly impossible to obtain.) The general rumor {in advance} was that Soltis was going to analyze all the same games that Fischer did in his Magnum Opus, and then add 40 more to round things off to an even 100. The first five games in the Fischer book are: vs. Sherwin, (N.J. Open, 1957); vs. Larsen, (Portoroz IZ, 1958); vs. Petrosian, (same tourn); vs. Pilnik, (Mar del Plata, 1959); and vs. Rossetto. (Also Mar del Plata, '59.) The first 5 games in the Soltis book are vs. D. Byrne, (Rosenwald, NY 1956 - The "Game of The Century."); Di Camillo, (NY, 1956); vs. Bernstein, (U.S. Champ, NY; 1957-58); vs. Sherwin, (same); and then the Fischer - Larsen game. So it is obvious this is NOT just Soltis's turn at re-doing the Fischer book. First, Soltis is a well-known chess-player and columnist. He has written many chess books. He has an outstanding reputation in the chess community. My students tell me that he is one of the most accessible and easy to understand authors around today. (The Reinfeld or Chernev of modern times.) The book is thoughtfully crafted; the annotations are (mostly) precise. There are 100 games here that were chosen for their content, and then they were thoroughly annotated. (There are many games the average chess fan will not have seen before.) NO fan of Bobby Fischer (or Soltis) should miss this book. Any aspiring student will certainly learn a lot about the game by a very careful study of the material that is presented here. And there is quite a bit of thoughtful and new biographical material presented here by Soltis. Having said that, I must vent my frustrations about the things that I saw that I did not like. Soltis definitely uses TOO MANY question marks ... often he uses a sledge hammer when a lighter tool would have sufficed. (The "Modern School" of annotating.) Many times, the question marks only raise issues that the author does not even bother to explain. (This can be very frustrating to the student who wants to know why the move was bad.) And how can we measure games that were played nearly 50 years ago by the standards of today's modern opening theory? (I also don't think Soltis uses a computer to analyze chess games.) Soltis also has not spent the time on some of the games that he could. If anyone is curious, see the game Fischer - Portisch, Stockholm Interzonal, 1962. (Game # 28, page # 86.) I think this is one of Fischer's best games, and one of the greatest R+P endings ever played!! (I have been saying this for close to 25 years. A curious person could use any search engine and find my annotations of this game on the Internet.) Soltis comes close to butchering this classic contest. But all hair-splitting aside, this is a very good book about one of the greatest players who ever lived. Just about ANY aspiring chess student will want to add this book to his library. Any student who gets this book ... and applies himself or herself ... will definitely learn (and enjoy!) a great deal about the Royal Game we all love.
Rating:
Summary: A retrospective collection of Fischer's best games
Review: This is a collection of 100 of 11th World Champion Bobby Fischer's best games, selected and annotated by GM Andy Soltis. Unlike Fischer's 'My 60 Memorable Games', which only covered his games from 1957-67, this collection includes games from his entire career, from 'the Game of the Century' D.Byrne-Fischer 1956 to the 1992 return match with Spassky. Of Soltis' 100 chosen games, only 28 are from 'My 60 Memorable Games', and about 1/3 of the games are from the period after 'My 60 Memorable Games' ends. The games are in algebraic notation and in chronological order, and every game is preceded by a short introduction that sets the scene with informative details and summaries of Fischer's career at that time. The annotations are instructive and entertaining without attempting to be exhaustive. Soltis strikes a nice balance, using enough short variations and verbal explanations to keep the logical flow of the game understandable to the casual reader, while supplying deeper analysis (often credited to other sources) to critical positions for the serious student. Soltis has interesting takes on Fischer's style and the recurring themes in his games. Fischer's classical style can be seen as a reaction to the Soviet initiative-driven style of play, which was itself a reaction to the material-based, endgame-driven style of the Capablanca era. And Fischer's tendency to grab material is compared with Tal's risky sacrificial play: just as annotators loved to try to find refutations of Tal's 'lucky' play, they also tried to find wins for Fischer's opponents to punish his 'greedy' play. This is an excellent book that any player unfamiliar with Fischer's games will definitely want to study. Even experienced Fischer fans will find some new insights here.
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