Korchnoi's annotations are honest, detailed, and instructive. This volume gives his best games as Black, with which he has always excelled as a determinded defender, ready, when the opportunity presents itself, to switch to counterattack. The author pays particular attention to the psychological role of the defender, which helps to explain why, throughout his career, he has won as many games with Black as he has with White. The British Chess Magazine: "The First volume of this two-volume work was reviewed in BCM, July 2001 and it is fair to describe it as a rave review. Since then, Volume one has gone on to pick up the British Chess Federation's prestigious Book of the Year award. Korchnoi has been around for ever and played and beaten everyone, from the stars of the 1950s through to players who are on the verge of being stars of the coming decades of the 21st century. He makes no claim for genius, though if that appellation were bestowed for hard work and tenacity, he would surely line up alongside the Fischers and Kasparovs ... Korchnoi is not quite the same sort player with Black as he is with White. He stresses the he is rather old-fashioned about his black opening strategy, not being a regular exponent of the King's Indian or the Pirc or other 'nihilistic' ways of playing with Black; though there are notable examples of this approach, such as a win against Fischer from Curaçao 1962 ... Of course it's a superb book. No more need be said in its praise. Just sit back and enjoy Korchnoi's annotation ..."
