This is a book of essays about outstanding Soviet chess players - Mikhail Tal, Vasily Smyslov, Viktor Korchny, Lev Polugaevsky, Vladimir Simagin, Vyacheslav Ragozin and world champions Tigran Petrosyan and Nona Gaprindashvili. Creating creative portraits of chess players, the author shows the features of their character, style, reveals the complex and fascinating psychology of chess wrestling. The book tells about the largest events in the struggle for the chess crown in recent years and is designed for the widest reader.