The battle for the World Chess Championship has witnessed numerous titanic struggles which have engaged the interest not only of the chess enthusiasts but also of the public at large. The chessboard is the ultimate mental battleground and the world champions themselves are supreme intellectual gladiators.

This magnificent compilation of play from the 1960s through to the 1970s forms the basis of the third part of Garry Kasparov's long-awaited definitive history of the World Chess Championship. Garry Kasparov, who is universally acclaimed as the greatest chess player ever, subjects the play from this era to a rigorous analysis--the examination being enhanced by the use of the latest chess software. This volume features the play of champions Tigran Petrosian (1963-1969) and Boris Spassky (1969-1972).

However, this book is more than just a compilation of play from the greats of this era. Kasparov's biographies of these champions place them in a fascinating historical, political, and cultural context. Kasparov explains how each champion brought his own distinctive style to the chessboard and enriched the theory of the game with new ideas.