Max Euwe's Best Games

World Chess Champion Max Euwe, who held the title from 1935-1937, is one of the greatest chess players in history. Much has been written about him, and he authored dozens of books himself. But missing was an outstanding collection of games of this efficient, man-eating tiger as the American grandmaster Reuben Fine once called Euwe.

Max Euwes Best Games fills this gap. And it couldnt have been written by anyone else than Euwes successor in Dutch chess – Jan Timman, World Champion finalist and arguably one of the leading chess analysts of our time.

This book offers eighty of Max Euwes games annotated with great clarity, starting in his early twenties when he worked his way to the world top, up until his late seventies when he was still a force to be reckoned with. It is incredible how high Euwes level of play was for over fifty years – and how attractive his attacking style was.

Timman made many discoveries in Euwes best and most famous games but has also unearthed several lesser-known brilliancies. Some interesting paradoxes are addressed along the line. For example, although he was an amateur almost his entire life, Euwe was better versed in opening theory than most of his top-level opponents. Although he was the underdog, he beat the mighty Alexander Alekhine in an epic World Championship Match in 1935. At 52, he could still beat top players like Geller and Najdorf with fantastic attacking play in the Zürich Candidates Tournament. And when he was over seventy, he was still highly dangerous for the new upcoming Dutch generation.

This game collection of an often underrated World Champion, analysed by top grandmaster Jan Timman, is a must-have for anyone interested in World Championship chess.