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Bronstein's Odyssey From 1976-1989 David Bronstein's participation in tournaments abroad and at home were very limited by the chess officials in the USSR, due to his refusal to sign a political letter condemning Viktor Korchnoi. Nonetheless, included in the beginning of this collection are games from this period. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, he was again able to accept invitations to various events abroad. With this new lease on chess-life, Bronstein participated in tournaments from Israel to England to Spain and many places between. Bronstein himself writes in Secret Notes that during this time he no longer had the endurance nor the focus to realize successfully all of his remarkable creations at the board. Yet even in his 60's and 70's he was able to give us a few more gems. What is striking about the games is his still fertile imagination, combinative talent, and free-thinking in the opening, notably a few TNs in the beginning phases of the game. Of course, long past doing any particular work at chess theory, these ideas were OTB concoctions. Enjoy! The man was a genius, and I have benefited from his playful attitude and willingness to explore even more than from studying his remarkable combinations. I hope you do too. 43 games, 1977-1997 Bronstein's Remarkable Draws and Losses Narrow escapes, missed opportunities and fantastic conceptions from Bronstein's imaginative improvisation. Interesting moves are given in regular notation. Possible improvements are written inside <> brackets. 92 games, 1944-1996 Cunning Devik Bronstein's chess, at its best, had some interesting characteristics 1.Flexibility of thought, often straight from the opening, and often at the board 2.Dynamic, flexible positions with many potential branches, though with classical rather than hypermodern leanings. 3.High priority to king safety 4.Very willing to part with material for an intuitive attack 5.A nose for the opponent's King Another overall strength in his chess is the ability to transform from closed to open positions quickly and seamlessly, from a Petrosian crouch to a Tal explosion in the space of a few moves. Bronstein was able to blend his open game prowess with the stiff centers seen in the KID, French Winawer and Dutch defenses. Finally, Bronstein was able to change many positions into one where a king's bishop fianchetto works. He certainly wasn't a slave to it, but it is remarkable how often he was able to get "his" kind of game quite often. 18 games, 1947-1975 Imagination in Chess How to Think Creatively and Avoid Foolish Mistakes by Gaprindashvili The puzzles in this book are not only very difficult to solve, but also hard to find, as some names have alternate spellings to the ones in the database. In addition there are many instructive example which do not come from gameplay. Finally there is a pithy introduction to each section suggesting ways to think about a position. I personally found them interesting and helpful. 30 games, 1967-1992 Mixed Bag Interesting ideas and positions 46 games, 1911-2013 Seirawan's Excellent Games Mostly positional gems, an occasional crush, and the rare tactical explosions from one of the best American players of his generation. An excellent person, too, from most accounts, I would like to acknowledge his chess expertise with this collection 83 games, 1975-2011 Suba's Dynamic Chess Strategy Plus Games from the excellent book on modern chess sport and art. After game 36, I have added more games that demonstrate his practice of dynamic potential. 41 games, 1974-2011 The Rep I play my lines, that are no worse than equality and lead to interesting play. With White: 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 <..dxc4 3.e4> 3.Na3 or 3.a3 followed by g3 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 aiming for a Botvinnik System (BS) type play 1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 with many closed or delayed-Alapin possibilities, though I avoid the fianchetto and Rossolimo and go for my own lines. Bishop is usually sitting on e2 eventually, but the Botvinnik-System is also a mainstay. I also will assay 1.c4, aiming for BS play. I enjoy playing around the d4 weakness, or deadening it with an opponent's pawn. Finally, if I ever play d4, I aim toward a Stonewall ala Rubinstein/Yusupov. With Black: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5 3.d5 Franco-Benoni (with mixed feelings) 1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bb4+ with different responses to c3, Nd2 and Bd2. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5 3.c3 d5 with potential French Advanced and Sicilian Alapin lines. 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ accelerated Bogo 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 Dutch, usually the Alekhine variation, with an early ..Ne4 and ..Bf6, deciding on the queenside pawns and pieces later. The Black rep avoids many, many lines, keeping my work to a minimum. When playing less seriously, I will play the Rat defense with the bishop of g7 and knight on d7. Finally, I play around occasionally with the c6-d6 front and decide from there. 33 games, 1878-2013