Chess Books Recaptured returns to discuss an excellent game compilation book, The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games by GM John Nunn, GM John Emms, GM Michael Adams, and GM Wesley So. Joining me to discuss the book are cognitive scientist and USCF Master, Dr. Christopher Chabris, and a co-author and editor of the book, FM Graham Burgess. We discuss questions such as “What defines a great chess game?” “How are the best games chosen in this book?” “Why aren't any wins by Nakamura or Aronian in the book?” “What other books attempt to cover the best chess games in history?” It is a fascinating project, and the book is excellent, with an amazing compilation of historic games with instructive, succinct prose and high-level analysis. You can find lots more details, timestamps, links below..

Prior appearances by Dr. Christopher Chabris:

Episode 95 with Christopher Chabris 

Episode 187 with Christopher Chabris 

Book Recap #4: Think Like a Grandmaster by Kotov 

Book Recap #15: Secrets of Practical Chess and Attack the Strongpoint 

Gambit apps on which you can purchase Mammoth for Apple and Google

0:00- Why did Christopher Chabris choose this book to discuss? What is the structure of the book? 

13:00- What other game compilations are comparable?

Mentioned: Kasparov’s My Great Predecessors, Logical Chess Move by Move, The Most Instructive Games of All Time, The Golden Dozen, Understanding Chess Move by Move,100 Best Games of the 20th Century 

20:30- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Aimchess.com. Aimchess collects and analyzes your games and gives you actionable tips based on the data it gathers. Check the site out, and if you choose to subscribe, please use the code Perpetual30 to save 30%. 

21:15- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Better Help. You can see some online reviews here, and if you sign up, use this link to save 10%: https://www.betterhelp.com/chess

22:00- We are joined by the co-author and overseer of The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games, FM Graham Burgess

35:00- How did GM Wesley So and GM Michael Adams get involved in the project? 

43:00- Graham shares some details on the game selection process. 

Mentioned: Kramnik-Kasparov 2000

48:00- Did the authors think of using engines to judge the “quality” of the games? 

Mentioned: Krogius-Stein, Kasparov-Karpov Game 24, 1985

58:00- Perpetual Chess is brought to you in part by Chessable.com. Their new and upcoming courses include GM Simon Williams updating The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, and GM Hans Niemann course on Jobava London. 

59:00- We return to discuss some highlights of the book. 

Mentioned: Gufeld’s Mona Lisa, The Seven Deadly Chess Sins, Boguljubow-Alekhine 1922

1:13:00- Which legendary player is featured the most in the book?

Mentioned: Alekhine’s Gun , Aronian Anand, Rotlewi-Rubinstein, Anand-Adams

1:23:00- Should they have more engine games?

1:26:00- Patreon mailbag question- “What are Dr. Chabris’ recommendations for aging chess players aka “senior sustainers”?

Mentioned: GM Larry Kaufman, Cognitive Chess 

1:31:00-  Patreon mailbag question- “Is there a Mozart effect in chess?”

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