Rating: 
Summary: A GOOD BOOK - A VARIETY OF COMPELLING REASONS TO BUY IT!
Review: Well, chess cannot be learned from only one book and of course this book assumes a lot of stuff about the player who wants to learn defence - I think that a player who wants to study this book must be decently strong (USCF 1400) and must know what the general types of defensive schemes are (prophylactic defence, counterattacking defence, complication creation etc.). They are explained in the book, but I've always wondered how much experience I bring to the table when reading these books and how a lesser player would view them.The most compelling reason to buy this book is the annotation of games by two of the most underrepresented World Champions in today's chess scene in terms of annotated game collections - Lasker and Petrosian. While this is not a best games collection or the collection of thier most brilliant games (though this is almost the case with respect to Petrosian's defensive efforts), there is some great annotations with some original analysis to be found in this book on some famous games. Another great reason to buy this book is that is gives a good sense of chess history by using encounters between world champions and candidates for thier thrones, the few exceptions being referenced analysis. It also discusses the evolution of the theory of defence and try to analyze this evolution scientifically. The third reason, and a personal favorite, is the approach to teaching defence. Rather than cataloguing defensive maneuvers, an approach which has its merits, but has been done in a couple of famous past books both named "The Art of Defence", this book tries to look at whole games and the switch in thought process required as the game progresses. The author tries to look at the psychological aspects of defence as well as the flow and objective nature of the game. In my opinion, whether he is right is not as important as whether he is helpful and I think he is probably both in many cases when judging games on the basis of analysis and his knowlege of the players. THe mindset of the defender is well described in this book. A very instructive book - it is the kind of book that makes chess worth studying becos you get entertained on all the levels that make chess not just a game, but a lifestyle.
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