Book excerpt: In this remarkable book, Soviet grandmaster Lyev Polugayevsky, one of the world's leading players over the past two decades, describes his highly personal approach to chess, which is based on meticulous Practice. In the opening he is constantly striving to surprise his opponents, and this has led to his developing one of the sharpest lines in the Sicilian Defense. which has rightly become known as the Polugaevsky Variation. Here we can share the author's joys and disappointments as he attempts over a period of many years to uphold his brain-child against attempts to: bury it. The author then delves into the technique of analyzing adjourned positions, illustrating this by several fascinating. and at times fantastic, examples from his own games. The final chapter describes how he prepares. both technically and psychologically, for decisive encounters where everything is at stake. He illustrates this with games against many leading grandmasters, including seven World Champions.