Rating: 
Summary: A mutilated and suppressed masterpiece.
Review: Readers should be aware that there have been several editions of this book. In its original form, in descriptive notation and with Fischer's own annotations, it was very well received indeed, earning high praise from many top players and chess writers. It was also voted the best chess book in any category by the readers of the British Chess Magazine, and I'm sure by others. Unfortunately, when it was later re-edited and issued in an algebraic edition, something happened to Fischer's original annotations. The editors apparently 'revised' them, and the effect was - as Fischer vehemently complained in a recent radio interview - to make him look like "a patzer." He claims that the new annotations are riddled with errors and could never have come from his hand. Since 'My 60 Memorable Games' is as about important to students of chess as Shakespeare's plays are to students of literature, it would be nice to be able to tell readers to avoid the mutilated algebraic edition and to make sure they get a reprint of the earlier and untampered-with edition of the book. Unhappily neither edition appears to be available. Both have been allowed to go out of print and remain out of print. One is left wondering just who is keeping this masterpiece off the market. And why...?
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Chess Book Ever Written
Review: Robert James Fischer is probably the greatest player of all time, his only rival being Kasparov (or perhaps Capablanca or Alekhine depending upon one's criteria). It is, therefore, only reasonable that a selection of his best games should rank as one of the greatest chess books. However, this work is more than a mere game collection: In it we have a chance to see a true genuis (IQ 187) at work. I am, hence, willing to say that it is the greatest chess book. The annotations are simply flawless, but this flawlessness is not their most impressive quality. One begins to feel, as perhaps one does only in two other works (The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal and Paul Keres' The Quest for Perfection) that he is actually in the mind of a great player. I specifically remember being struck by his annotations to his game against Robert Byrne, quite possibly the greatest game ever played. I actually began to feel my understanding of chess expand as I studied Fishcer's ideas at the board; going over this game for the first time, I found that his commentary made this almost incomprehensible game seem simple. This book offers the rare opportunity to enter a great player's mind (in my view, the greatest) and make your own ever so slightly more like his. I would also suggest My Best Games of Chess by Alexander Alekhine.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Chess Books of All Time
Review: This is the first non-beginners' chess book I ever read. Since it was the only chess book I had at the time, I read it over and over until I inadvertently memorized most of it. I can't say that it's the best chess book ever written. There are a few I like better, but this book was the right one for me at the time (1972).
I was a terrible player when I first read this book. Eventually I went on to become a pretty good one. I don't know how much credit Fischer gets. He probably would have told me to get a real job, but I loved the game no matter how awful I was. I had the Descriptive Notation version in 1972. Sometime I lost it, but a few years ago, I managed to get a copy of it in hardback at a used bookstore for a couple of bucks. No, I am not offering it for sale.
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