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Fred Reinfeld
When he died in 1964, I read his obituary in the July issue of Chess Review. Fifty years later, my strongest memory of that piece is of Jack Straley Battell, the Postal Games Editor of CR, counting the author cards in the library card index.
Chess Review Obituary of Fred Reinfeld
From CR July 1964 pp 193-4
Fred Reinfeld
1910 – 1964
On May 29, Fred Reinfeld, a former Executive Editor of CHESS REVIEW died.
It is some years since Fred worked actively in these offices, and his work has proliferated into many fields. So we are happy to accept an obituary offered by one of his many publishers, David A. Boehm of the Sterling Publishing Company:
“Fred Reinfeld began to write in 1932 on chess and not only produced a great many books on chess but between 1950 and 1964 also became an expert on numismatics and wrote 14 books on coin collecting, all of which were extremely successful. He became the author of five popular science books on such subjects as geology, medicine and atomics and electronics, all chosen for listing by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“Besides this, he wrote historical works and biographies, of which The Great Dissenters won a Thomas Alva Edison Foundation Award in 1959. In his ‘spare time,’ he participated in book discussions and gave talks on coins. To foster a love for chess among young people, he was always available for simultaneous exhibitions at local schools and was among the most popular visitors on these occasions.
“He wrote articles for the World Book Encyclopedia and was author of a chess program in the form of a teaching machine for Encyclopedia Britannica. He was also a consultant for the Random House American College Dictionary.
“Because of his phenomenal memory and writing ability, Reinfeld was able to write most of his manuscripts directly from rough notes instead of having to prepare a preliminary draft, and his editors seldom revised more than a few words.”
Far from being a pedant, Fred was at his liveliest in the thick of things and of people. In that, the picture of him conducting the radio match between the USA and Yugoslavia in 1950 is typical. Yet, one and together, his memory and his writing ability were almost incredible. Often, when the writer studied a position and Fred happened in, he would call off the players, the tournament, the round number and the outcome at a glance – and discuss the merits of the play. And, just a couple of weeks before Fred died, Len Lyons’ column named him the most prolific of living authors, not of chess authors, but of all authors.
Of Fred’s great output, the writer feels a few words need to be said. The New York Times in a moderately generous obituary said he wrote “more than 100 books.” This writer counted more than 250 titles under Reinfeld which curiosity prompted him to count them in the catalog of the Brooklyn Public Library in the ‘40s: these were all chess books and ones which, Fred said, brought him very little return.
Those books served, however, at a time when there were few books to do so, to make chess intelligible to the average player and the beginner. And, from the ‘40s on, Fred pushed vigorously in this direction, and he was superbly competent in explaining elementary points to the novice. In short, Fred did a great deal toward making chess popular. He wrote these books for a profitable market, the beginner, but he gave the beginner tools by which to learn and thus to like chess.
Nor were all Fred’s books elementary ones. His book on Keres, to cite one, is a very fine one, and his books in collaboration with Irving Chernev, Winning Chess and The Fireside Book of Chess, are each the finest of their types.
As a player, Fred “retired” early. Before he did, however, he had amply made his mark. He became national collegiate champion in 1929 and, two years later, at 21, he won the New York State title. He won the state championship again in 1933 and, in 1935, the championship of the Marshall Chess Club and, in 1942, he tied with Sidney Bernstein for the title of the Manhattan Chess Club.
He was also highly regarded as a teacher of chess at New York University.
For those who knew him at CHESS REVIEW, Fred had a warm heart and a delightfully roguish sense of humor. A young assistant eyed him inquisitively when he was visiting the writer and accosted him as he was leaving: “You’re Reuben Fine?” Fred pursed his lips, rolled his eyes, then “First guess!” he replied as in pleased surprise and strode jauntily off.
Fred’s favorite game is the following – at least, he published it the most of all his games.
U.S. Championship Preliminaries 1940
Queen’s Gambit Accepted
Reinfeld, Fred – Battell, J.S.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 c5 5.Bxc4 cxd4 6.exd4 Qc7 7.Qb3 Be6 8.Bxe6 Qxc1+ 9.Ke2 Qxh1 10.Bxf7+ Kd8 11.Qxb7 Qc1 12.Qxa8 Qxb2+ 13.Nbd2 Ne4 14.Qxe4 Qxa1 15.Qd5+ Kc7 16.Qc5+ Kd8 17.Be6 1-0
JACK STRALEY BATTELL
See also:
http://www.chess.com/blog/billwall/fred-reinfeld
and for Reinfeld’s non-chess books:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/reinfeld.html
Comments
- A Fred Reinfeld chess book is like a dear old friend.
- Fred never did get much respect, but in the '40s he was definitely among the top ten in the country. And while his books aren't necessarily all classics, he did bring more Americans into chess competition than anyone else except Bobby Fischer.
It is hard to conceive of in these days of instant information and so many chess books you can spend your whole income, but in the '50s and '60s chess books just weren't available. USCF didn't offer much, and most people had never heard of it anyway. Bookstores rarely had any chess books beyond the most basic beginner tomes. But when they did, it was Reinfeld.
Most of his books went quickly into affordable paperback form, which back then meant a quarter or fifty cents at most. Young players like myself, hungry to get better but without a clue how (tournaments were even rarer than books back then, and finding your local chess club, if any, was a true challenge most abandoned in frustration) gobbled them up.
When he died in 1964, I read his obituary in the July issue of Chess Review. Fifty years later, my strongest memory of that piece is of Jack Straley Battell, the Postal Games Editor of CR, counting the author cards in the library card index.
Chess Review Obituary of Fred Reinfeld
From CR July 1964 pp 193-4
Fred Reinfeld
1910 – 1964
On May 29, Fred Reinfeld, a former Executive Editor of CHESS REVIEW died.
It is some years since Fred worked actively in these offices, and his work has proliferated into many fields. So we are happy to accept an obituary offered by one of his many publishers, David A. Boehm of the Sterling Publishing Company:
“Fred Reinfeld began to write in 1932 on chess and not only produced a great many books on chess but between 1950 and 1964 also became an expert on numismatics and wrote 14 books on coin collecting, all of which were extremely successful. He became the author of five popular science books on such subjects as geology, medicine and atomics and electronics, all chosen for listing by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“Besides this, he wrote historical works and biographies, of which The Great Dissenters won a Thomas Alva Edison Foundation Award in 1959. In his ‘spare time,’ he participated in book discussions and gave talks on coins. To foster a love for chess among young people, he was always available for simultaneous exhibitions at local schools and was among the most popular visitors on these occasions.
“He wrote articles for the World Book Encyclopedia and was author of a chess program in the form of a teaching machine for Encyclopedia Britannica. He was also a consultant for the Random House American College Dictionary.
“Because of his phenomenal memory and writing ability, Reinfeld was able to write most of his manuscripts directly from rough notes instead of having to prepare a preliminary draft, and his editors seldom revised more than a few words.”
Far from being a pedant, Fred was at his liveliest in the thick of things and of people. In that, the picture of him conducting the radio match between the USA and Yugoslavia in 1950 is typical. Yet, one and together, his memory and his writing ability were almost incredible. Often, when the writer studied a position and Fred happened in, he would call off the players, the tournament, the round number and the outcome at a glance – and discuss the merits of the play. And, just a couple of weeks before Fred died, Len Lyons’ column named him the most prolific of living authors, not of chess authors, but of all authors.
Of Fred’s great output, the writer feels a few words need to be said. The New York Times in a moderately generous obituary said he wrote “more than 100 books.” This writer counted more than 250 titles under Reinfeld which curiosity prompted him to count them in the catalog of the Brooklyn Public Library in the ‘40s: these were all chess books and ones which, Fred said, brought him very little return.
Those books served, however, at a time when there were few books to do so, to make chess intelligible to the average player and the beginner. And, from the ‘40s on, Fred pushed vigorously in this direction, and he was superbly competent in explaining elementary points to the novice. In short, Fred did a great deal toward making chess popular. He wrote these books for a profitable market, the beginner, but he gave the beginner tools by which to learn and thus to like chess.
Nor were all Fred’s books elementary ones. His book on Keres, to cite one, is a very fine one, and his books in collaboration with Irving Chernev, Winning Chess and The Fireside Book of Chess, are each the finest of their types.
As a player, Fred “retired” early. Before he did, however, he had amply made his mark. He became national collegiate champion in 1929 and, two years later, at 21, he won the New York State title. He won the state championship again in 1933 and, in 1935, the championship of the Marshall Chess Club and, in 1942, he tied with Sidney Bernstein for the title of the Manhattan Chess Club.
He was also highly regarded as a teacher of chess at New York University.
For those who knew him at CHESS REVIEW, Fred had a warm heart and a delightfully roguish sense of humor. A young assistant eyed him inquisitively when he was visiting the writer and accosted him as he was leaving: “You’re Reuben Fine?” Fred pursed his lips, rolled his eyes, then “First guess!” he replied as in pleased surprise and strode jauntily off.
Fred’s favorite game is the following – at least, he published it the most of all his games.
U.S. Championship Preliminaries 1940
Queen’s Gambit Accepted
Reinfeld, Fred – Battell, J.S.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 c5 5.Bxc4 cxd4 6.exd4 Qc7 7.Qb3 Be6 8.Bxe6 Qxc1+ 9.Ke2 Qxh1 10.Bxf7+ Kd8 11.Qxb7 Qc1 12.Qxa8 Qxb2+ 13.Nbd2 Ne4 14.Qxe4 Qxa1 15.Qd5+ Kc7 16.Qc5+ Kd8 17.Be6 1-0
JACK STRALEY BATTELL
See also:
http://www.chess.com/blog/billwall/fred-reinfeld
and for Reinfeld’s non-chess books:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/reinfeld.html
Comments
- A Fred Reinfeld chess book is like a dear old friend.
- Fred never did get much respect, but in the '40s he was definitely among the top ten in the country. And while his books aren't necessarily all classics, he did bring more Americans into chess competition than anyone else except Bobby Fischer.
It is hard to conceive of in these days of instant information and so many chess books you can spend your whole income, but in the '50s and '60s chess books just weren't available. USCF didn't offer much, and most people had never heard of it anyway. Bookstores rarely had any chess books beyond the most basic beginner tomes. But when they did, it was Reinfeld.
Most of his books went quickly into affordable paperback form, which back then meant a quarter or fifty cents at most. Young players like myself, hungry to get better but without a clue how (tournaments were even rarer than books back then, and finding your local chess club, if any, was a true challenge most abandoned in frustration) gobbled them up.
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