Viktor Kortchnoi My Life for Chess Vol. 1
Viktor Kortchnoi is doubtlessly one of the most electrifying personalities of the chess world. Still playing successful and attractive chess, the 73-year-old former double world championship finalist is also famous for his candid language. Kortchnoi was never one for mincing his words. Now you can experience this chess legend “live”: with the new ChessBase DVDs “My Life for Chess”, Kortchnoi has created a vivid memorial to himself and his great chess career. In Volume 1, he presents eight of his most brilliant effort from the years 1949-1979, among them games against Smyslov, Geller, Tal, Huebner and Karpov. In each case Kortchnoi describes in detail the story around the game, never beating around the bush, sometimes harshly criticizing his opponents, but also lavishing praise on them when this is warranted. A highlight is the game against Karpov from the match for the world championship in Baguio 1978. All in all, “My Life for Chess Vol. 1” offers more than three hours of first-class chess training, plus an extensive interview. A must-have for every chess fan!
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Kortchnoi My Life for Chess Vol. 2
Volume 2 features about four hours of “Kortchnoi live”. The great chess legend portraits the second part of his eventful career, presenting among other things his games against Kasparov (1986), Spassky (1989) and Short (1990) in his typical gripping style. Embedded in the game commentaries are many details of Kortchnoi’s biography. For instance, before commenting his game against Spassky, the veteran speaks extensively about his personal relationship towards the ex-world champion. Throughout these lectures you can feel Kortchnoi’s ever-enduring love for chess. Whenever the great master gets to the heart of an opening (King’s Indian, English and French) or shows an astonishing move, one can see the joy sparkling from his eyes. No wonder – hardly any other chess genius has lived chess as intensively as “Viktor the Terrible”.
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John Donaldson: Two Masters from Seattle
With his books “Elmars Zemgalis” (GM without a Title) and “Olaf Ulvestad” (An American Original), America’s International Master John Donaldson brought the lives of two masters from his home town Seattle close to broad readership. Now, both books have been captured in full on this CD, with additional content. Both players had a strong ties to Europe. Born in Latvia, Zemgalis lived in Germany after World War II and celebrated his greatest triumphs there, before he emigrated to the USA in 1952. Ulvestad was American by birth, yet this ancestors originated from Norway. His remarkable appearance on the chess scene was at the legendary match Soviet Union – USA in Moscow in 1946. Ulvestad’s authentic report on this event is included on the CD. Later, he also was to live in Europe for many years.
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Paul Morphy – Genius and Myth
The history of chess knows many peculiar stories, however, none of them was so spectacular like the comet-like rise of Paul Morphy. Within only two years of active play, the American defeated the strongest players of his time and gained the title of the inofficial world champion. His retirement at the top of his glory, some circumstances in his life which never got quite clarified as well as his tragic end made him a legendary figure through and through. The ChessBase CD features an extensive biography and a special tactics database. Moreover, there are expert analyses of Morphy’s playing style by GMs Karten Müller and Rainer Knaak, dealing with the interesting question: “How was Morphy superior to this contemporaries?”
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World champion William Steinitz
There have been 14 official world champions in the history of chess within a period of more than 100 years. It started with William Steinitz, who won against Zuckerort in 1886 and then held the highest title in chess until 1894. Furthermore, Steinitz enjoyed (and still enjoys) the reputation as the founder of the general positional school, the basic principals of which have not lost their unrestricted validity until today. Applying them, Steinitz was far superior to his contemporaries in practical play.
Thorsten Heedt’s biography features a comprehensive portrait of the first world champion. An important part are of course the stations of his life – Prague, Vienna, London and finally (Philadelphia as well as New York) are the places where Steinitz settled down.

Naturally, also his 5 matches for the world championship are duly covered. Short texts about “appearance and constitution” as well as “character and manners” complete the picture of the first world champion.

World Champion Fischer
All world champions take up an important place in history of chess, but hardly any has achieved such popularity outside the chess scene as Robert Fischer. In his heyday he did an incredibly amount for chess. His masterpiece, of course, are the many brilliant games. Dr. Robert Hübner has thoroughly examined Fischer’s biggest and best known publication, “My Sixty Memorable Games”. This ChessBase monography includes reports on Fischer’s most important chess matches, including contemporary material.
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World Champion Michail Tal
The meteoric tempo the young Tal took the world top by storm with at the end of the 50ies and seized the world champion’s title from Botvinnik in 1960, is already sufficient to grant him a special place in the world of chess. But more than this, it was the art of his attacking play which conquered the hearts of the chess fans all over the world. Despite his short reign on the throne, Tal thus already became a legend during his lifetime. Johannes Sondermann, author of the biographic part of the CD, has made an objective portrait of the world champion's character. During his extensive research, he also interviewed Tal's widow and so reveals a lot about the "private" Tal as well.

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WORLD CHAMPION EMANUEL LASKER
Emanuel Lasker became world champion in 1894 and kept this title until 1921. These almost incredible 27 years on the throne are more than enough to yield Lasker a very special place in the history of chess. However, Lasker's fantastic series of tournament successes which - like Kasparov's record of success today - didn't come to an end when he lost the title of the world champion, emphasize his extraordinary position in the chess world even more. Lasker's style wasn't understood by his contemporaries, and prejudice and misjudgement on his play persist until this day. That's why the ChessBase biography above all takes a very close look at Lasker's chess.
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WORLD CHAMPION ALEKHINE
Alexander Alekhine dominated the chess scene from 1927 until his death in the year of 1946. Historical picture documents and more than 2000 Alekhine games make the great master come back to life. For the ambitious learner, the CD features two training databases. In topical videos, contempory grandmasters tell us which of Alekhine´s qualities they appreciate most. And Gary Kasparov, the world's strongest chess player of our times, says: "My idol in chess is Alexander Alekhine. His chess style corresponds best to the way I want to play chess" The CD-Rom contains one of the most comprehensive collections of Alekhine games (total over 1,700, a majority with analysis). Hübner has critically examined the written works of Alekhine, especially his analysis. The CD also contains historical documents and pictures, as well as video interviews with top players (Kramnik, Shirov, Gelfand) on Alekhine. Dr Hübner’s articles. Available in the following languages: English and German.