3/7/2005
I ordered the "My life for Chess Vol. 1" DVD by
Viktor Kortchnoi from Chessbase. It arrived a few a days later. Which is
excellent for overseas mail. It cost 21 dollars. It runs about 3.5 hours long.
It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s great to see one of my chess
heroes on video speaking about his career. I grew up during Kortchnoi’s
fight for the world championship. This is the first time I ever heard him
speak. He was the inspiration
for the White Knight True Grit Award.
Victor talks about his chess career that has spanned 6 generations.
He played Levenfish to Magnus Carlsen. He talks about the various players
he's met over the years. He discusses why he defected from the Soviet
Union. He talks about meeting Bobby Fischer. He speaks about his
relationship with his sometime ally Garry Kasparov. The initial 30-minute
interview is worth the price of admission.
You will find out who his chess hero is.
He speaks about the various players who worked with him and who
were his students. He goes over various games from his incredible carrier.
He goes over the his first game that got noticed by top soviet players. He
reminisces about each game and gives you his thoughts at the time the
moves were played.
He recites little anecdotes about the time period as
well. He goes over his great games against Smyslov, Tal, Geller, and
Karpov. As you watch Kortchnoi analyze you see his fighting spirit. He is
a very animated, entertaining storyteller.
He goes over the peak periods of Botvinnik, Tal, Spassky, Kortchnoi,
Karpov, and Kasparov. It’s worth every penny. I
wish he had talked more about his matches with Karpov. I have the 2nd
volume and will review it soon. I give it 4.5 out 5 stars.
I hope ChessBase does more of these DVD's. The old guard is
leaving. I would like to hear from Spassky, Larsen and Fischer.
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