With his recent performance at the Corus Chess Tournament 2010 in Wijk aan Zee, were he finished third, Alexei Shirov showed us once again that he is one of the world's leading players.

Fire on Board is a collection of Shirov's best games unravelled and explained by the man himself.

Part I:  1979 - 1996 In this collection of his best games, Grandmaster Alexei Shirov shows why he is widely regarded as one of the most aggressive and inventive players of the modern era. It contains a delightful selection of his favourite games, each of which is explained in detail, together with sections on tactical highlights and endgames.

Special attention is devoted to the super-sharp Botvinnik variation, which Shirov has used to remarkable effect against the world's leading players.

Part II:  1997 - 2004 Alexei Shirov has dazzled and inspired a generation of chess fans with his unique brand of attacking chess. The Grandmaster, originally from Riga, Latvia, is widely regarded as one of the most aggressive and inventive chess players of the modern era, an argument backed up by his wealth of amazing games, rich in tactical fireworks and extraordinary moves.

Fire on Board begins where the best-selling first edition left off in 1996. Shirov traces his progress at the top of the chess world since that year and presents a delightful collection of his favourite games, all explained in great detail to the reader.

Since becoming a Grandmaster in 1990, Alexei Shirov has firmly established himself amongst the world's leading players and has a string of tournament victories to his name.

Highlights of his career so far include a runners-up spot in the 2000 FIDE World Championship, plus an impressive match victory over the BGN World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. 

More recently, Shirov came outright first in the 2004 Sarajevo super-GM tournament, his winning margin over his nearest rival being an emphatic 1 1/2 points. In 2009 Shirov won the 5th edition of the M-Tel Masters in Sofia by beating Magnus Carlsen in the last round.