The bookstore Hugendubel, which hosted the book signing, could hardly have expected this kind of a storm. "I am not a chess player," said the store chief Caroline Landesvatter, " and we could not have anticipated such a large number of fans. It is deeply impressive to see how much admiration the fans have for this great chess genius. Unfortunately many were disappointed because we were completely sold out after an hour. The publisher, Manfred Olms, has promised to get us a fresh supply during the coming week." Over 300 copies were signed in this one session, impressive for one of the smaller cities in Germany.

The crowd pushing forward to get their copies of the book signed

Garry Kasparov at work. On the right the publisher of the German edition, Manfred Olms, wondering why he hadn't shipped a few hundred more copies.

Many fans had stocked up with multiple copies of the book

"Is that really him?" The youngest of the fans are clearly fascinated by the man

A visit by GM Karsten Müller, who is contributes to our "Predecessor" web site

Many fans got their copies meticulously personalised

Signing T-shirts after the books had run out

A happy fan with signed treasures

Chatting with Caroline Landesvatter, the head of the bookstore that hosted the signing