Book excerpt: Mihail Marin examines and explains the contribution from the chess legends who influenced him strongly in his own development. This personal and sympathetic journey into the best chess of yesterday is guaranteed to help the readers in their games. As we all know: those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The chapters in this book discuss: Rubinstein's excellent rook endgame technique; Alekhine's expertise with the heavy pieces; Botvinnik's ability for deep analysis; Tal's handling of heavy pieces vs. minor pieces; Petrosian's positional exchange sacrifices; Fischer's strength with the king's bishop; Karpov's handling of bishops of opposite colour; Korchnoi the rebel.