The official Chess Championship of the World was inaugurated with the 1948 tournament. Between then and the 1972 victory of Bobby Fischer, there have been ten matches between champion and challenger, involving only seven players - Botvinnik, Bronstein, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Fischer. Of these, all but Bronstein have won the championship. Svetozar Gligoric, the world-famous Yugoslav international grandmaster, has known all these champions for many years, and it is from firsthand experience that he reveals the clash of their contrasting temperaments and techniques in each encounter. From his shrewd observation and analysis, Bovinnik emerges as the technical perfectionist whereas Bronstein is seen as a master of psychology, and Smyslov as the most assured player. Tal displayed youthful brilliance and imagination while Petrosian triumphed through his positional masterpieces until he was overcome by Boris Spassky, who in turn yielded to the newest champion, Bobby Fischer. For the first time, the full match scores of every series have been collected into this single volume. Clearly presented in descriptive notation with diagrams of the critical match positions and with succinct annotations, organized and edited by the international master R. G. Wade, complete with indexes of players and variations, this record of the postwar world championship matches is an invaluable work of reference as well as a brilliant and intimate portrait of the champions. The World Chess Championship contains the full match scores of every series, diagrams of the critical match positions, annotations, indexes of players and variations, as well as brilliant and intimate portraits of the champions.