The 100 Best Chess Games Of The 20th Century, Ranked

How does one determine the ?best? chess games? Like some art lovers, chess fans claim that they know a good game when they see it, and that they know better from good. But how is ?best? articulated? This book uses five criteria: the overall aesthetics (clever and relentless are insufficient qualities); the originality (e.g., not yet another white knight sacrifice in a Sicilian); the level of opposition (the loser played very well); the soundness (i.e., are the moves refutable with perfect play?), accuracy (few of the moves are second-best), and difficulty (the winner overcame major obstacles) of the game; and finally the overall breadth and depth (one wants a series of sparkling ideas, with no dry patches). The 100 best games were taken from an initial field of about 7,000 played from 1900 through 1999 that had already gained some attention in magazines, books and periodicals. Includes 335 diagrams, an index of players and an index of openings by ECO codes.