A highly original chess player and an entertaining writer, it is not surprising that this is an enjoyable compilation of Tony Miles' work. While most of the book's contents have appeared in print elsewhere, International Master Geoff Lawton has done a fine job of seamlessly weaving together various discussions of the life and times of a world class tournament chess player.

As the first English grandmaster, Miles was a trailblazer in his country's move back to the top of international chess. His play was dynamic and enigmatic, and it is unfortunate that he battled health issues most of his adult life. His untimely death in 2001 at the age of 46 was a sad day for the entire chess world. 

As with many top players, Miles supplemented his chess income by writing for various publications. Excepts from these articles form the bulk of the book, although there is a fair amount of additional material to round out the discussion of Miles' life. 

The book starts with a brief introduction that explains the layout of the material, and this acts as the glue that binds the book's contents. There is also a two-page forward by Leonard Barden that discusses Miles contribution to English chess, including his race with Raymond Keene to be the first English grandmaster (and win a 5,000 pound prize) and his later battles with the Soviet chess establishment. It concludes with a mostly chronological eleven-page discussion of Miles' life. While this mostly focuses on his chess career, it also involves some mention of his personal life, including his childhood, education, and two marriages. Interestingly, there is only brief mention of his health problems, including the diabetes that ultimately contributed to his death.

The next 200 plus pages are devoted to Miles' games and writings. They run the gamut of his career - from efforts when he was 12 years old to those from 2001, his final year.  The games are generally interesting and sometimes fascinating, and Miles' personality comes through in his writing. The game annotations are not super deep (in the Hubner sense of the word, anyway), but Miles' comments do a great job of explaining what was happening in the game both from a chess and a psychological sense. The notes often explore as much what the author was feeling as thinking. In this respect, they are a great insight into the psyche of a top tournament player.

Miles was a colorful player and chess personality, and his career included several notable achievements - and controversies. The author covers these in a frank but light manner; while Miles obviously cared deeply about chess and sought to play at its highest level, you get the sense that he also thought others took themselves (if not the game) a bit too seriously.

Miles provides extensive coverage to a couple of his better known exploits - his win over world champion Karpov in the European Team Championships on the black side of a game that started 1.e4 a6, and his tie for first at the Tilburg Interpolis 1985 while playing most of the games laying on his stomach. In the former case, Miles expresses surprise at Karpov's reportedly being insulted by his choice of first move. In the latter, he provides a lengthy report on a tournament that was both a great professional success (shared first with Hubner and Korchnoi in a field that also contained Ljubojevic, Polugayevsky, Romanishin, Timman, and Dzindzihashvili) and painful (physically and psychologically) experience. 

While the discussions of chess both over and away from the board are interesting, the games themselves make this an important book. Miles at his best could play with the very best in the world; here you'll find wins over the likes of World Champions (or candidates) Geller, Gligoric, Karpov, Korchnoi, Polugaevsky, Portisch, Smyslov, Spassky, Tal, and Timman.

The book concludes with some touching, heartfelt tributes by those who knew him well. These are reminiscences, reviews, and discussions of his general play and opening repertoire. They provide a fitting conclusion to an excellent book. 

Batsford has provided a very nice product, with good, clean print and diagrams and a book with a hefty feel. The extra touches include an index of openings, index of opponents, and detailed tournament, match and England national team record. The compiler has also done a nice job of rounding out Miles' material with information that fills in the blanks on his career.

It is true that this volume is somewhat short on personal information about Miles away from the chessboard. I suppose this is understandable, given the short time since his passing. While the future may provide an opportunity to shed more light on the man, this is an excellent first glimpse of a person who was at the forefront of the English chess renaissance. 

In conclusion, this is a well-conceived tribute to an important chess contemporary. Tony Miles added much to the international chess scene, both as a player and writer. His creativity has enriched the game, and his wit and chess wisdom shine through in this book.

Click to see reviews on this book by Saidy, Donaldson, and Watson.

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