McFarland Chess Reference Books

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  • McFarland Chess Reference Books

    McFarland Chess Reference Books

    July 12, 2017

    Chess book collectors and writers and historians of the game are aware of the publisher McFarland. The House was founded in 1979 and is based in Jefferson, North Carolina. Usually there is a run of about 600 copies per book.

    http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/search...d=Start+Search

    Its most outstanding chess books are:

    Alexander Alekhine’s Chess Games, 1902-1946
    Reuben Fine (1929-1951)
    Chess Results (series) 1747-1980
    Samuel Reshevsky
    Isaac Kashdan, American Chess Grandmaster
    William Steinitz, Chess Champion
    Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion
    Chess Lists, 2d ed.
    Aron Nimzowitsch 1886-1924
    Chess Personalia

    And one that Hans Jung would say should be at the top of the list

    Blindfold Chess

    Most of the books have library binding and are big heavy tomes.

    They also have a number of obscure titles such as:

    Albert Beauregard Hodges, Samuel Lipschutz, Emil Kemeny, The Tragic Life and Short Chess Career of James A. Leonard, Walter Penn Shipley etc.

    Something for everyone, I suppose.

    Tim Harding, chess historian and correspondence chess player, has authored Eminent Victorian Chess Players, Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland (1824-1987) and Joseph Henry Blackburn.

    This from Chess Mail

    Tim Harding has delivered, on the last day of June, the manuscript of his next book, British Chess Literature to 1914: A Handbook for Historians, to the publishers, McFarland. Here is a briefing about what the book contains.

    A huge amount was published about chess in the United Kingdom before the First World War. In this book, the first of its kind, the author combines new information about the early history of the game with valuable advice for researchers into chess history. The book greatly develops the bibliographical material which was available on this website for the last few years.

    The chapters about books and specialist magazines trace how the growing popularity of chess in Victorian Britain was reflected in an increasingly competitive market of publications aimed at the whole spectrum of players from beginner to expert. In some cases the author traces the further development of chess literature well into the twentieth century.

    The chapter on The Chess Player's Chronicle, for example, begins by examining in detail that magazine's little-known precursor, The British Miscellany. Special attention is also paid to lesser-known episodes in the history of that magazine, such as the Third Series and the little-known late years that ended with The Chess Chronicle in 1901 and 1902. The chapter about other chess magazines mentions several short-lived ones that the author has seen, and examines in some detail the question of who edited the early volumes of The Chess Player's Magazine, as previous writers have mostly got this wrong.

    Other topics covered include the leading chess libraries and the use of digitized chess texts and research on the Web. Further appendices include corrections and supplements to standard works of reference on chess. For example, there are corrections to The Oxford Companion to Chess and several additions and amendments to the birth and death details of players in Gaige's standard work Chess Personalia.

    Special attention is devoted to the chess columns that appeared in newspapers (both national and provincial) and in magazines of various kinds from 1813 onwards. These articles, which usually appeared weekly, provide a wealth of information on early chess, much of which is not to be found elsewhere.

    A major feature is an annotated bibliographical appendix listing all known British and Irish chess columns published up to the First World War. This includes many additions and corrections to the late Ken Whyld's book Chess Columns: A List.

    Tony Gillam (of The Chess Player) was of great assistance in this part of the work.

    McFarland have already assigned the book an ISBN number, 978-1-4766-6839-0

    http://www.chessmail.com/research/Ch...-handbook.html
    _______

    I wouldn’t expect the above to be published until spring of next year, at the very least.

    I have often wished for a similar book devoted to Canadian chess history and literature.
    _______

    At the present site there are 67 books in stock or promised. This one is intriguing:

    Chess International Titleholders, 1950-2016 by Gino Di Felice (available Fall 2017)

    The International Chess Federation or FIDE (from the French Fédération Internationale des Échecs) was founded in Paris in 1924 but only from 1950 began to award international titles. This book lists more than 18,000 players who received titles from 1950 through 2016. Entries include (where available) the player’s full name, federation, date of birth, place of birth, date of death, place of death, title and year of award and peak rating (month and year), with references provided.

    _______

    As always, I recommend you buy books mentioned from Larry’s Strategy Games and Accessories

  • #2
    Re: McFarland Chess Reference Books

    Another favorite of mine (which was given to me as a gift - the best kind) - is the interesting story of George Leonard - who? - who's who of American chess.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: McFarland Chess Reference Books

      McFarland Chess Reference Books

      July 13, 2017

      The Tragic Life and Short Chess Career of James A. Leonard, 1841–1862

      by John S. Hilbert

      The Civil War affected the entire American landscape in ways not always fully considered. It determined the political future of a nation—but also its scientific and cultural development. The war cost America many of its best and brightest in every realm. James A. Leonard was one such loss: a brilliant up-and-coming chess player in 1861–62 before he made the decision to serve his country during wartime.

      Born November 6, 1841, Leonard was the son of a poor Irish immigrant—but even a poor child could play the game of kings. He grew up in a time when interest in chess was experiencing a revival, and contemporaries such as Paul Morphy, Eugene Delmar and Leonard’s mentor Philip Richardson captured much interest. Leonard defeated a number of the country’s best players and was widely viewed as the “New Morphy.”

      This biography discusses what is known of Leonard’s life but concentrates primarily on his talent and his sadly shortened career. Game scores and diagrams from 96 games are included, with details of place, date and opponents.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: McFarland Chess Reference Books

        McFarland Chess Reference Books

        June 13, 2018

        The titles of books that will available later this year have been released on the publisher’s site:

        https://mcfarlandbooks.com/?s=chess&...t_type=product

        They are mainly for the lover of chess history.


        1. Fred Reinfeld: A Chess Biography by Alex Dunne

        The author is the United States Chess Federation correspondence chess director, author of more than a dozen chess books and frequent contributor to Chess Life. He is a FIDE Master, Life Master and ICCF Correspondence Chess Master. He lives in Sayre, Pennsylvania.

        2. Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Korchnoi: A Chess Multibiography with 206 Games by Andrew Soltis

        This book describes the intense rivalry—and collaboration—of the four players who created the golden era when USSR chess players dominated the world. More than 200 annotated games are included, along with personal details—many for the first time in English.

        Mikhail Tal, the roguish, doomed Latvian who changed the way chess players think about attack and sacrifice; Tigran Petrosian, the brilliant, henpecked Armenian whose wife drove him to become the world’s best player; Boris Spassky, the prodigy who survived near-starvation and later bouts of melancholia to succeed Petrosian—but is best remembered for losing to Bobby Fischer; and “Evil” Viktor Korchnoi, whose mixture of genius and jealousy helped him eventually surpass his three rivals (but fate denied him the title they achieved: world champion).

        3. Reuben Fine: A Comprehensive Record of an American Chess Career, 1929-1951 by Aidan Woodger

        American Grandmaster Reuben Fine grew up in the East Bronx in an impoverished Russian-Jewish family, learning to play chess from an uncle at the age of eight. During his high school years, his stake winnings and coins earned from playing at a Coney Island concession helped support his family. After graduating from college, he decided to become a professional player. Though his active international career was brief, his accomplishment and talent are unmistakably significant.

        This comprehensive collection of 659 of Reuben Fine’s tournament and match games is presented chronologically, in context, and with annotations from contemporary sources. More than 180 other games and game fragments (rapid transit, correspondence, exhibition, blitz, and others) are also included. The work also includes a biography of Fine, and notes aspects of his career that merit further study: his contribution to endgame and middlegame theory, his methods and style of play, and his exhibition play. Fine’s career results, brief biographical data about his opponents, a comprehensive bibliography that includes his contributions to journals, and indexes of players and of openings complete the work.

        This is a reissue of the original edition, first published in 2004

        4. Kurt Richter: A Chess Biography with 360 Games by Alan McGowan

        German master Kurt Richter (1900–1969) made significant contributions to the chess world as a player, and as an editor and author. Unassuming in real life, Richter was a fearsome opponent who expressed himself mainly through his over-the-board results, as well as through his chess journalism and literary output. He was responsible for several innovative openings, some of which gained renewed status in later years.

        This overview of his life and games sheds light on a player who should be better known, with much never-before-seen material. Examples of his entertaining writings on chess are included, some featuring his fictitious student opponent, Dr. Zabel. A wide selection of games illustrates the surprising combinations and brilliant style of play that earned him the title “The Executioner of Berlin.”

        Alan McGowan has been associated with Cathcart Chess Club in Glasgow, Scotland and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chess Club in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He has helped edit Scottish Chess and Chess Canada Échecs and is the historian for Chess Scotland. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario.

        5. Louis Paulsen: A Chess Biography with 670 Games by Hans Renette

        Louis Paulsen (1833–1891) was one of the 19th century’s strongest chess players and a world record holder in blindfold chess. He maintained an unbeaten record in matches, created several opening systems and was an originator of the positional approach to the game. This extensive biography—the first in English—explores Paulsen’s life and career and includes 670 of his games, presented here with both contemporary and modern comments.

        Historian Hans Renette is FIDE master in chess (with 2 IM norms). He lives in Bierbeek, Belgium.

        6. Neumann, Hirschfeld and Suhle: 19thCentury Berlin Chess Biographies with 711 Games by Hans Renette and Fabrizio Zavatarelli

        Around 1860 a wave of talented youth intensified the Berlin chess scene. Within a short time Berthold Suhle, Philipp Hirschfeld and Gustav Neumann ranked among the best players in the world. After a few years, Suhle went on to become an authority in ancient Greek, and Hirschfeld proved a successful businessman (while remaining a sparring partner of Johannes Hermann Zukertort). Neumann retained a fascination for the game and grew into one of the world’s strongest players.

        Despite their achievements little has been known about their lives and games. Drawing on a range of sources, the authors fill this gap, providing games with both old and new analyses. An introductory chapter on Berlin chess before 1860 and an appendix on Bernhard von Guretzky-Cornitz complete the book.

        Historian Hans Renette is FIDE master in chess (with 2 IM norms). He lives in Bierbeek, Belgium.
        Fabrizio Zavatarelli is a teacher of applied mathematics and the author of several articles concerning chess history. He lives in Milan, Italy.
        _________

        All the blurbs above are from the McFarland website.

        These books are expensive. If you were to buy them all the total would come to 370 USD or 480 CAD and the shipping costs would be steep.

        What I find interesting is the rise of the multibiographies. If you’ve got books on Tal, Spassky, Petrosian and Korchnoi – you might not want another on the four together. On the other hand, I know that I have nothing on my shelves about Neumann, Hirschfeld and Suhle.

        I look forward to the book on Fred Reinfeld most of all.

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