Garry Kasparov's five-volume book "My Great Predecessors" has no analogues in chess literature: the 13th world champion talks about the fate and work of twelve previous champions and their rivals, about a century and a half of struggle for world championship. Examining famous games under the microscope of powerful computer programs, the author changes many previous assessments and, in essence, sums up the development of chess in the 20th century. The first volume is dedicated to the "uncrowned kings" of the past and the first four official world champions - Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine.