repertoire that is woderful for the average player to emulate. I have over 500 chess books, and this and its sequel, "Chess in the Fast Lane" have emerged over time as two of my favorite games-collection books. They are very worth having, especially for the cheap used price you can find. I will not part with my copies. In fact, I have this book in my briefcase with me at work today!

A wonderful and unique chess journey through Michael Adams career, as told by his father, with all the games annotated by Michael. Many of his first competitive games are here, and you see him make typical mistakes that we all make, when he was 8 and 9 years old. Then you see him improve steadily. It is a marvelous thing to see this type of progression in a book. Most game collections by GMS just have them destroying other GMs. This is the only book I can think of that shows a GMs early games, played when he was a mere mortal. This is not ony very instructive, but somewhere in the book is the transition in play from an intermediate club player to a GM. The lessons are there for you to absorb. It is a beautifully written and annotated book. I think it belongs on everyone's shelf, and that it, along with its sequel, Chess in the Fast Lane, have been seriously overlooked by the masses of chess players. Because of this, you can get each of them cheap used, and I suggest that you snatch them up while this book can still be found. Adams comes across very much as a normal guy, and this book, in addition to its inherent strengths, also gives hope to the aspiring player that with hard work, he can improve! Highly recommended.

On paper, a chess bio of a grandmaster authored by the grandmaster's father with the grandmaster's help has all the sad rings of a "puff piece" about it. This book avoids falling into this trap through a simple, unadorned style that makes us feel as though Michael Adams is a person who became a grandmaster, rather than some monolithic genius of chess above common humanity. The book uses games and brief discussion to take us from Adams' childhood early folly at the game up until he breaks through into the GM ranks. We get a sense of prodigy, hard work, and of a supportive dad. Is there much more we need from this type of book?