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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Not bad, but when will Judit write her own book?, 4 Jul 2004
I'm sure that all fans of Judit Polgar, like myself, will enjoy this annotated collection of some of her best games. Until we have an autobiography/game collection from Judit herself, we will have to make do with this book.Eighty-nine games are covered although some of them are only excerpts, rather than full games. The author selected the games for their 'artistic and entertainment value' rather than trying to pick the best so they range from one played when she was nine, to her demolition of Karpov at Hoogeveen in 2003. I am not a strong enough player to judge the quality of the annotations, but they are fairly detailed and the author is an International Master. However, anyone hoping for an insight into Judit's thoughts during her games will be disappointed - the author can do no more than speculate like everyone else! The author's writing style is conversational and opinionated. He obviously admires Judit very much but is not afraid of criticising some of her decisions. However, I found some of his comments patronising e.g. mentioning Judit's 'monthly cycle' as a disadvantage is particularly crass. There is also some background on the Polgar family and Hungarian chess, but I found this the least interesting aspect of the book. The author, who helped train both of Judit's sisters (but not Judit!), seems too close to the family to be objective in his comments. My verdict: Five stars for the games, two stars for the author. Come on Judit, we're waiting for you to tell your own story!
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