One of last year's most interesting books was Batsford's I PLAY AGAINST PIECES by Svetozar Gligoric, the great Yugoslavian grandmaster. This is a chess autobiography taken from a 1981 Russian version and updated in 1989 in Serbo-Croat. The latter version had 120 games while this new translation and update has 130 games spanning from 1939 all the way through 2001. Thus Gligoric's games cover 60+ years and include encounters with many well-known names over several generations. Oddly enough, the games are organized by openings, and ordering by date played is used only within an opening section. A unique approach, as far as I know, and one which emphasizes conceptual links over chronological/biographical progression. Obviously the player interested in theory will be happy with this decision, others perhaps less so. The book concludes with a section on Gligoric's theoretical contributions to the openings. Most of these are older -- the important ones, anyway -- but it's interesting to see games included since the last edition in a number of d-pawn openings such as the Nimzo-Indian, Catalan, and Slav Defence. In general, Gligoric has tended to make rather technical improvements, often deep into the opening, rather than radical conceptual ones. An exception to this has been the King's Indian, where several of his ideas have fundamentally changed the opening.

It's strange to admit it, but having grown up while Gligoric was a major figure of the chess world -- certainly one of the very top non-Soviet payers and a prolific journalist as well -- I had somehow already begun to forget about him. There are so many top players now whose games and tournaments are constantly before one, that the older stars tend to fade from ones’ consciousness. I would be surprised if most younger up-and-coming masters, especially in a country like the U.S., are remotely aware of his games and contributions. So it's a boon to have this permanent record in English if only as a reminder and for the historical record. In my opinion there are many other prominent older players that deserve a similar treatment; just for example, I would love to see books on the lives of Najdorf and Larsen, to name two more Western greats.

I do have to admit, as others have noted, that Gligoric's book is almost completely about chess and all too short on biographical material, discussions with and about other great players, and insider portrayals of events. In six pages called “Age Makes it Time to Talk: A Chess Autobiography”, there are only the sketchiest descriptions of real life events, e.g., a few sentences about being a partisan during World War II (with no context) and an excruciatingly brief and formal description of his wife, who apparently did little of interest during their 47-year-long marriage. The rest is a catalogue of chess tournaments, results, and a few awards. Imagine the stories he could have told about his great contemporaries (all of whom he beat and usually more than once); these are sadly lacking. Thus, as with so many chess autobiographies, we see very little about the man away from the board and learn little about the history of the game and its players.

Gligoric was the champion of Yugoslavia many times, a participant in seven Interzonals, and a Candidate for the world championship three times. His style, as he himself states from time to time, is a classical one, with an emphasis on space and centralization. In the opening phase he was a specialist, using 1.e4 in his youth but very seldom straying from 1.d4 thereafter (using mostly the same variations). He played mostly 1.e4 e5 as Black, with some Sicilians, and the King's Indian versus 1.d4 throughout the peak years of his career. The latter he credits with sharpening his repertoire and opening up his game to a modern and more dynamic style of play. Nevertheless, the book contains far more games of the technical variety than most collections, and can be used as a general study guide for the treatment of middlegames arising from those openings as well as a balanced presentation of other phases of the game. Gligoric is famous for his play on the White side of the Nimzo-Indian, Benoni, and Gruenfeld. With all of his innovations, it's interesting that (as he points out) he did not introduce (and seldom played) the so-called “Gligoric Variation” of the Orthodox King's Indian (with 7.Be3 instead of 7.0-0).

I have played over quite a few of the games in this book and found them enjoyable and often challenging. They include a few miniatures, many protracted middlegame struggles, and some very interesting endgames. His notes tend to have few lengthy variations (by recent standards, anyway; the analysis was fairly dense for the time in which he wrote), with unexceptional but sufficient verbal guidance. Only occasionally does he go off into a deeper discussion of the nature of a position. It is a conservative approach which is redeemed by truly excellent and instructive games. I would therefore recommend I PLAY AGAINST PIECES very much for the chess content, but not for the historical material. Surely all collectors will want a copy. I'm glad that I have mine.

For Silman’s review of this same book, click HERE. For Donaldson’s review of this book, click HERE

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