Masterpieces and Dramas of the Soviet Championships: Volume II (1938-1947)

Like vol 1,.this is another masterwork.

If you love chess, and chess history, these are quality books.

Here is just one important fact from this book--When Botvinnik came in 6th place in the 1940 Soviet Absolute Chess Championship and two others were tied for first, instead of having the promised playoff of the two the Soviets waited a few weeks and then declared that there would be a 6 player Round Robin playoff to ensure the 'Real Champion'. In other words, 6th place Botvinnik had the authorities fix it so he could play mini matches of 4 games against each opponent ensuring that he stood way much better odds of wining thatn in a regular tournament as he was always superior in his home work of finding the right way to play against the others and that is exactly what happened. All the important games have good analysis and comments also. This verifys Fischer's claim that the Russians were cheaters in Chess even before Fischer played them!!