It's only 30 kilometers from the village of Zagainovo, Dalmatovsky district, to the city of Shadrinsk. In a family of a farm foreman Pyotr Ivanovich Maksimovskikh a son Alexander was born. Ten years later, in the family of the Shadrinsk worker Sergei Spiridonovich Balashov a son Yuri was born. And fate arranged that fellow countrymen-neighbors would glorify the Trans-Ural region in the field of chess art. Alexander became a master of sports in chess composition, a world champion in the team competition, and Yuri rose to the ranks of the world's leading grandmasters. Talent and hard work, modesty and kindness — these excellent qualities are equally inherent in both Alexander Maksimovskikh and Yuri Balashov. This book introduces the samples of their chess creativity and their search for the elusive chess truth.
