Max Euwe's Best Games

World chess champion Max Euwe, who held the title between 1935 and 1937, is one of the best chess players in history. Much has been written about him, and he himself is the author of dozens of books. But an outstanding collection of games from this 'efficient man-eating tiger' as American chess master William Ewart Napier once called Euwe was missing.

Max Euwe's best games it fills this void. And it could not have been written by anyone other than Euwe's successor in Dutch chess: Jan Timman, finalist for World Champion and possibly one of the leading chess analysts of our time.

This book offers eighty of Max Euwe's games commented on with great clarity, from the twenties, when he made his way to the top of the world, to the seventies, when he was still a force to be reckoned with. It's amazing how high level of play Euwe was for over fifty years and how attractive his attacking style was.

Timman made many discoveries in Euwe's best and most famous games, but he has also unearthed several lesser-known geniuses. Some interesting paradoxes are addressed throughout the play. For example, although he was an amateur most of his life, Euwe was better versed in opening theory than most of his high-level opponents. Although he was not the favorite, he beat the mighty Alexander Alekhine in an epic World Championship in 1935. At 52, he could still beat top players like Geller and Najdorf with a fantastic attacking play at the Zurich Candidates Tournament. And when he was over seventy, he was still very dangerous to the new Dutch generation that was coming.

This collection of games by an often underrated World Champion, analyzed by grandmaster Jan Timman, is a must for anyone interested in World Championship chess.

Jan Timman, finalist of the World Chess Championship, is the author of many best-selling chess books. Timman's Titans won the 2017 ECF Book of the Year award, and his most recent books, The Longest Game, Timman's Triumphs and The Unstoppable American, have been highly acclaimed.