This is the book that every chess master and grandmaster has read and studied and every aspiring chess master should be reading. The author, a World Chess Champion, clearly explains the most complex and difficult concepts. Grandmaster Reuben Fine wrote that Alekhine's collection of best games was one of the three most beautiful that he knew. World Champion Garry Kasparov wrote, "Alexander Alekhine is the first luminary among the others who are still having the greatest influence on me. I like his universality, his approach to the game, his chess ideas. I am sure that the future belongs to Alekhine chess." Bobby Fischer wrote, "He had great imagination. He could see more deeply into a situation than any other player in chess history. It was in the most complicated positions that Alekhine found his grandest concepts." Chess Journalist Jerry Hanken writes, "The study of this book added 300 points to my rating and made me a master."
In 1927, Alekhine became World Chess Champion by defeating Capablanca in a match. He lost the world title to Euwe in 1935 but won it back in 1937. He held the title of World Chess Champion from then until his death in 1946.