NAJDORF: LIFE AND GAMES

Authors: Lissowski, Mikhalchishin, and Najdorf

Batsford (2005)

256 pages

$21.95

Reviewed by John Watson

NAJDORF: LIFE AND GAMES (click to see Silman’s review of this book) is a noteworthy book by Lissowski, Mikhalchishin and Najdorf himself. It will bring back a lot of memories, at least for those of us who have been in the chess world for a couple of decades or more. The book is a translation; it doesn’t indicate from what language (Polish?). Najdorf’s daughter Liliana had already written a book, NAJDORF ON NAJDORF, from which some material was drawn, and the first lengthy section (fifty-three pages) by Tomsz Lissowski is an account of Najdorf’s life, initially split between his childhood and chess. Najdorf’s adventures begin with his fortuitous absence from Poland when the Nazis and Soviets invaded in 1939. He was playing in Buenos Aires at the time, settled in Argentina and for a brief while played chess for a pittance. Unfortunately, Lissowski condenses into one paragraph Najdorf’s move into the life insurance business, and we hear almost nothing more about the life-long career that supported him as a chessplayer.

After that there’s limited biographical material apart from chess tournaments, results, and the events surrounding them. Najdorf was a great personality, raconteur, and emotional character, so the descriptions of him are entertaining enough. In the field of chess game collections anything along these lines is a real positive. Still, the usual goings and comings from and to tournaments wears thin. The best part of the book consists of the exciting games, mostly dynamic contests that make for good reading. Many are annotated by Najdorf himself, some by or in conjunction with other players and commentators, many by Mikhalchisin.

Najdorf was one of the world’s best players for many years, particularly in the 1940s and well into the 1950s. The authors make the familiar claim that Najdorf should have been invited to the 1948 World Championship Tournament, based upon his score against Botvinnik. That kind of reasoning is silly, of course, and might lead to a championship tournament between practically anybody. In fact, Najdorf was a notch below the very elite, but in his career beat almost every (or every?) World Champion from Euwe to Fischer at least once, as well as most leading players.

The book ends with a brief endgame section and a Postscript, the latter with stories and even games from a 1996 Reunion tournament. This is a fine book that is well worth reading, although you may be disappointed with the lost opportunity to concentrate upon the human side of this legendary personality.

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