Jon Speelman is one of the strongest players to emerge from the English Chess Explosion (arguably, only Short and now Adams have been more successful against the top competition). He has produced a beautifully written collection of his games quite different in style and presentation from Anand's award winning games collection. However, readers looking for entertaining stories and interesting incidents away from the board will be disappointed. Apart from a humorous description of his childhood (in a section called "Juvenilia"), Speelman's stories are also largely confined to how he prepared for the next game. Once again, that's just fine with me. As the book goes on, his true interest becomes obvious--chess, chess, and more chess--and as I see it, there's not the slightest reason to artificially embellish that. Jon Speelman's Best Games is divided into thematic sections with titles such as "Skirting the Precipice" (for games with surprise moves in shaky situations), and "Blood on the Board" (for what he calls "serious hackery"!).

Throughout, Speelman's annotations are the outstanding and controversial feature of the book. For one thing, his verbal notes are marvelous; Speelman's mastery of the language is evident, and he has a very pleasant sense of humor. In fact, his is probably the most literary style of any modern player's that I am aware of. Still, it's the analytical notes which most distinguish this work. The phrase "imaginatively obsessive" suggests itself. Lengthy, intriguing digressions are the norm, with some of truly heroic proportions. In both games 16 and 31, for example, a single (apparently innocent) move provokes a four-page-long note, and we're talking about small-print, almost word-free analysis here! This same game 31 also contains 2-page and 2.5-page notes for other moves, as Speelman begins to threaten Huebner for the world's championship in this regard. At one point, he promises to be more "relaxed" (and not to exhibit the "oppressive rectitude" of the previous chapter), which comment leads into a game with 9 pages of notes for the first 25 moves! How libertine! But here's the point: his rectitude isn't really oppressive at all: Speelman's analysis is full of zany and imaginative ideas in wonderfully tactical positions, along with some beautifully annotated endgames. This is a book that the reader has to take seriously to truly appreciate (and thus is probably best recommended to players 1900 and above). Fortunately for the lazy, the games themselves are also tremendously entertaining.

Whereas Speelman in his prime has been a less tactical player than, say, Anand, this particular selection of games is a compendium of exciting, double-edged struggles that are more reflective of the madman's style he burst upon the scene with. In the end, this is simply a terrific effort, recommended to any player willing to invest some time in it.

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