I'm actually surprised that I can recommend (albeit with reservations) Eduard Gufeld's Chess: The Search for the Mona Lisa. Yes, I'll have to eat a little crow here, in view of my earlier negative reviews of his work, and admit that Gufeld offers any reader who is not familiar with the older version of the book (as I wasn't) both entertainment and a great deal of substance. The core of Chess: The Search... is a collection of Gufeld's articles from his early years up to recently. To me, this collection is by far the best work he has done. The book covers his life in chess, one that has spanned several generations and involved some great players. His annotated games include both quick kills and real slugfests; they are rich with tactics and a good number show inventive play by both sides. Gufeld's annotations also include quite a bit of older opening theory, interesting to read about if not terribly relevant today. In general, the notes are thorough, easygoing and instructive. One disclaimer: the reader looking for specific help on the King's Indian or Sicilian Dragon should be warned that many of these games and much of the material here has been published in his books on those subjects.

Finally, there is a great deal of storytelling, some of it anecdotal and some of it inflating Gufeld's own status. Whether one likes this sort of thing is a subjective matter--I guess I'd just say that I found parts quite amusing and other parts off-putting. My guess is that most readers will enjoy the genial tone that pervades the book. I wish that Gufeld had supplied more particulars about the great players of his generation, although that might not have been realistic given the fact that many of these articles were written at the time of his acquaintance with them.

I have a minor complaint and an important one here. Neither will likely prevent you from enjoying the book, but I feel that I should mention them. The minor one is that, once again, there is no mention of the book's original version, My Life in Chess: The Search for La Gioconda (ICE 1994). Taylor Kingston, in a rather critical review in ChessCafe, did the dirty work of comparing the two books closely, concluding that "this is in effect a second edition," and that it is "quite similar." This fact is nowhere revealed, even by the author in the book's preface, despite the proud display of Tal's quote about this "fine collection" at the beginning of the book! Also, I am appalled that Gufeld would criticize the behavior and ethics of other players. In a relatively short time in the U.S., he has been involved in arguments and rude behavior a number of times (apart from the better known stories, his dancing around at the board when Joel Benjamin blundered against him was repulsive to see). I was the personal victim of an attempt to steal a game (that I won against him) by means of a purely dishonest claim, one that he was well aware was not true. Again, this book is definitely worth reading and I think that most players will enjoy it; but such hypocrisy should be noted.