Larry Kaufman’s memoir, subtitled “A Memoir of Players, Games and Engines.” Published by New in Chess in 2021. Paperback, 224 pages.
Twenty-seven chapters in five parts. The first is a set of portraits of the twentieth-century players he knew, among them Fischer, Larsen, Gligoric, Kortchnoi, Browne, Spassky and Kasparov, along with a chapter on finding the real-life model for Beth Harmon. The second turns to his non-chess career in financial options and to shogi. The third covers his own games, the Baltimore versus Cuba match, three World Senior titles and the students he coached to the IM title. The fourth is on computer chess, fifty-four years of it, including the 2020 state of man versus machine and the arrival of NNUE. The last takes up ratings, openings and material values.
Best for: readers interested in the human and computer sides of the game together. Any level.