A winning streak in chess, says Cyrus Lakdawala, is a lot more than just the sum of its games. In this book he examines what it means when everything clicks, when champions become unstoppable and demolish opponents.
What does it mean to be "in the zone"? What causes these sweeps, what sparks them and what keeps them going? And why did they come to an end?
Lakdawala takes you on a trip through chess history looking at peak performances of some of the greatest players who ever lived: Morphy, Steinitz, Pillsbury, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Fischer, Tal, Kasparov, Karpov, Caruana and Carlsen. They all had very different playing styles, yet at a certain point in their rich careers they all entered the zone and simply wiped out the best players in the world.
In the Zone explains the games of the greatest players during their greatest triumphs. As you study and enjoy these immortal performances you will improve your ability to overpower your opponents. You will understand how great moves originate and you will be inspired to become more productive and creative. In the Zone may bring you closer to that special place yourself: the zone.
Content:
Chapter 1 A God among Mortals:
Paul Morphy, First American Chess Congress 1857
Chapter 2 The Great Un-Romantic and the Birth of Strategic/Defensive Chess:
William Steinitz´s 7-0 Match Victory over Joseph Henry Blackburne
Chapter 3 An Unlikely Potential Challenger:
Harry Nelson Pillsbury´s Unexpected Win at Hastings 1895
Chapter 4 The Ultimate Survivor:
Emanuel Lasker, New York 1924
Chapter 5 The Great Minimalist:
José Raúl Capablanca, New York 1927
Chapter 6 Thunderbolts and Lightning, Very, Very Frightening:
Alexander Alekhine, Bled 1931
Chapter 7 Inexorable Logic:
Botvinnik´s win of the The Hague/Moscow World Championship Match Tournament of 1948
Chapter 8 A Working Class Hero is Something to Be:
Fischer´s 11-0 Sweep of the 1963/64 U.S. Championship
Chapter 9 Enchantment versus Science:
Mikhail Tal, Riga Interzonal 1979
Chapter 10 Hammer of the Gods:
Garry Kasparov´s Victory at Tilburg 1989
Chapter 11 The Soft-Spoken Champion:
Anatoly Karpov in Linares 1994
Chapter 12 The Other Botvinnik:
Fabiano Caruana, Sinquefield Cup 2014
Chapter 13 Altered Reality:
Magnus Carlsen at the Grenke Chess Classic 2019
Index of players
Bibliography
