In my review of Heidenfeld's Draw! I lightly mentioned how used bookstores can offer a treasure trove of chess deals. One of my favorite "blast from the past" buys is Pachman's Decisive Games In Chess History.

As was the case of pre-90's books, you usually got over 200 pages of highly interesting material for half the price of a modern 107 pager. In this case, the 259 pages are filled with small-typed delights that will keep you happy for months.

What I like the most about this book is the drama that Pachman brings to each and every game. First he tells you what was happening in the tournament or match, then he fills you in on the main players, their history, and what was at stake for all concerned; this leads to a tension-filled situation where one player or another had to win in a key situation.

The mixture of these components brings remarkable dividends: a fun and energetic lesson in chess history, an appreciation of the achievements of the past masters, a game by game introduction that serves as an emotional roller-coaster ride (this gets you primed and ready for the game in question), a great game with good notes, and finally the tournament cross-table itself is presented so you can see how the game's players did in the event as a whole.

This wonderful book presents fifty different events (not counting the thirteen examples in the introduction), and each event has one or even several games (or game fragments) that add life and tension to the clash (or the clashes) of wills being discussed.

Decisive Games in Chess History by Pachman is one of those books that is perfect to take on trips or read without a chessboard. Yes, you'll want your set when you actually look at the games, but hours can be spent just staring at the buildups, the cross-tables, and the historical meanderings.

If you see this at a used bookstore, grab it quickly and pay any reasonable price that's asked. In the end, you'll realize that you got more than you money's worth. As far as chess books go, that's almost as rare as bigfoot appearing in a Los Angeles shopping mall.

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