Upcoming Chess Books

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

March 3, 2020

Duchamp's Pipe: A Chess Romance: Marcel Duchamp and George Koltanowski

Celia Rabinovitch

Art, chess, and an $87,000 pipe frame an inside look at the relationship between Dadaist artist Marcel Duchamp and chess Grandmaster George Koltanowski.

Spanning three decades, two continents, two world wars, and the international art and chess scenes of the mid twentieth century, Duchamp's Pipe explores the remarkable friendship between art world enfant terrible Marcel Duchamp and blindfold chess champion George Koltanowski. Artist and cultural historian Celia Rabinovitch describes each man's rise to prominence, the chess matches that sparked their relationship, and the recently discovered pipe that Duchamp gave to Koltanowski. This tale of genius and resilience offers fresh insights into the essence of the gift in the bohemian underground. Rabinovitch invites us to discover the chess wizard and a Duchamp slightly off pedestal--and ultimately more human.

Paperback, 256 pages
North Atlantic Books, 2020

The Author: Celia Rabinovitch, an artist, writer, and scholar, weaves the artist's experience into a nuanced understanding of modern art, history, cultural anthropology, and comparative mythology. She has taught at the University of Colorado, California College of the Arts, the San Francisco Art Institute, and Stanford University, and as invited speaker at Cornell University, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, and University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and has been an artist in residence at Syracuse University and the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Duchamp's Pipe is her second book.

Publisher's Blurb - Spanning three decades, two continents, two world wars, and the international art and chess scenes of the mid-twentieth century, Duchamp's Pipe: A Chess Romance: Marcel Duchamp and George Koltanowski explores the remarkable friendship between art world enfant terrible Marcel Duchamp and blindfold chess champion George Koltanowski. Artist and cultural historian Celia Rabinovitch describes each man's rise to prominence, the chess matches that sparked their relationship, and the recently discovered pipe that Duchamp gave to Koltanowski. A pipe now worth $87.000.

This tale of genius and resilience offers fresh insights into the essence of the gift in the bohemian underground. Rabinovitch invites us to discover the chess wizard and a Duchamp slightly off pedestal - and ultimately more human.

This 290-page book is a must-have if you are interested in Duchamp. And it brings to life the story of George Koltanowski, a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937, by playing 34 chess games simultaneously, making headline news around the world. He also set a record in 1960 for playing 56 consecutive blindfold games at ten seconds per move.

____________

A selection of books concerning Duchamp and chess

1 L'opposition et les cases conjuguees sont reconciliees
M Duchamp and V. Halberstadt
L'Echiquier (1932)
112 pages

2 The imagery of chess
Julien Levy Gallery (1944)
4 pages

(Invitation for the opening in the Julien Levy Gallery, George Koltanowski played simultaneously blindfold chess against 5 opponents, Marcel Duchamp was referee}

3 Marcel Duchamp
Robert Level
Neuaufl (1972)
234 pages

4 Sur Marcel Duchamp et la fin de l’art
Jean Clair
Gallimard (2000)
335 pages

5 The chess biography of Marcel Duchamp
Volumes 1-2
Vlastimil Fiala
Moravian Chess (2002-2004)

6 Marcel Duchamp: the art of chess
Francis M. Naumann
Readymade Press (2009)
133 pages

7 Tom Hackney: corresponding squares: painting the chess games of Marcel Duchamp
Bradley Bailey
World Chess Hall of Fame
Francis M. Naumann Fine Art (2016)
44 pages

8 Music and chess: Apollo meets Caissa
Achilleas Zographos
Russell Enterprises (2017)
224 pages

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

January 4, 2020

New in Chess 2020

Four books from this publisher this year

Winning Quickly with 1.b3 and 1…b6

By Ilya Odessky

International Master Ilya Odessky is the world’s leading expert on the 1.b3 and 1…b6 chess opening systems. Despite their apparent calm, these openings are extremely sharp. Now Odessky presents his findings and achievements of recent years. His baffling traps will help you crush your opponents in the opening, with both White and Black. Ilya Odessky will entertain, amuse and surprise you in this highly unusual chess opening book full of ultra-romantic chess.

Publisher: New in Chess, 2020
Format: Paperback, 352 pages
Language: English

The Author: Ilya Odessky is an International Master from Russia, a well-known chess coach and a prolific author. His previous book published by New In Chess was ‘Play 1.b3: The Nimzo-Larsen Attack, a Friend for Life’.

Expected May-June of 2020

Hein Donner The Biography

By Alexander Munninghoff

Publisher’s blurb: Hein Donner (1927-1988) was a Dutch Grandmaster and one the greatest writers on chess of all time. He was born into a prominent Calvinistic family of lawyers in The Hague. His father, who had been the Minister of Justice and later became President of the Dutch Supreme Court, detected a keen legal talent in his son. But Hein opted for a bohemian lifestyle as a chess professional and journalist. He scored several excellent tournament victories but never quite fulfilled the promise of his chess talent.

Hein Donner developed from a chess player-writer into a writer-chess player. His provocative writings and his colourful persona made him a national celebrity during the roaring sixties. His book ‘The King’, a fascinating and often hilarious anthology spanning 30 years of chess writing, is a world-wide bestseller and features on many people’s list of favourite chess books.

The author Harry Mulisch, his best friend, immortalized Hein Donner in his magnum opus The Discovery of Heaven. In 2001 the book was adapted for film, with Stephen Fry playing the part that was based on Donner. Included in Hein Donner is the interview in which Harry Mulisch tells about his friendship with Donner.

After suffering a stroke at the age of 56, Donner lived his final years in a nursing home. He continued writing however, typing with one finger, and won one of the Netherlands’ most prestigious literary awards. Alexander Münninghoff has written a captivating biography of a controversial man and the turbulent time and age he lived in.

Publisher: New in Chess, 2020
Format: Paperback, 224 pages
Language: English

The Author: Alexander Münninghoff is an award-winning author from the Netherlands. He wrote the acclaimed biography of the man that was dethroned by Hein Donner as Dutch champion: former World Chess Champion Max Euwe. His memoir ‘The Son and Heir’ with the complex story of the Münninghoff family in the 20th century, is an international bestseller.

Expected May-June 2020

The Best I Saw In Chess

Games, Stories and Instruction from an Alabama Prodigy Who Became U.S. Champion

By Stuart Rachels

Publisher: New in Chess, 2020
Format: Paperback, 372 pages
Language: English

Publisher’s blurb: At the U.S. Championship in 1989, Stuart Rachels seemed bound for the cellar. Ranked last and holding no IM norms, the 20-year-old amateur from Alabama was expected to get waxed by the American top GMs of the day that included Seirawan, Gulko, Dzindzichashvili, deFirmian, Benjamin and Browne.

Instead, Rachels pulled off a gigantic upset and became the youngest U.S. Champion since Bobby Fischer. Three years later he retired from competitive chess, but he never stopped following the game.

In this wide-ranging, elegantly written, and highly personal memoir, Stuart Rachels passes on his knowledge of chess. Included are his duels against legends such as Kasparov, Anand, Spassky, Ivanchuk, Gelfand and Miles, but the heart of the book is the explanation of chess ideas interwoven with his captivating stories.

There are chapters on tactics, endings, blunders, middlegames, cheating incidents, and even on how to combat that rotten opening, the Réti. Rachels offers a complete and entertaining course in chess strategy. At the back are listed 110 principles of play—bits of wisdom that arise naturally in the book’s 24 chapters.

Every chess player will find it difficult to put this sparkling book down. As a bonus, it will make you a better player.

The Author: Stuart Rachels (b. 1969) is an International Master who retired from chess when he was 23. He works as an Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Alabama and has edited new editions of books by his father, the famous philosopher James Rachels.

Expected March-April of 2020

Sultan Khan

The Indian Servant Who Became Chess Champion of the British Empire

By Daniel King

Publisher’s blurb: Hardly anyone paid attention when Sultan Khan arrived in London on April 26, 1929. A humble servant from a village in the Punjab, Khan had little formal education and barely spoke English. He had learned the rules of Western chess only three years earlier, yet within a few months he created a sensation by becoming the British Empire champion.

Sultan Khan was taken to England by Sir Umar Hayat Khan, an Indian nobleman and politician who used his servant’s successes to promote his own interests in the turbulent years before India gained independence.

Sultan Khan remained in Europe for the best part of five years, competing with the leading chess players of the era, including World Champion Alexander Alekhine and former World Champion Jose Raoul Capablanca. His unorthodox style often stunned his opponents, as Daniel King explains in his examination of the key games and tournaments in Khan’s career.

Daniel King has uncovered a wealth of new facts about Khan, as well as dozens of previously unknown games. For the first time he tells the full story of how Khan, a Muslim outsider, was received in Europe, of his successes in the chess world and his return to obscurity after his departure for India in 1933.

Publisher: New in Chess, 2020
Format: Paperback, 372 pages
Language: English

The Author: Daniel King (1963) is an English chess grandmaster, coach, journalist and broadcaster. He has written 16 chess books on topics ranging from opening preparation to the self-tutoring How Good is your Chess? and Test Your Chess.

Expected March-April of this year

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

January 2, 2020

Chess and the Law

Chess and the Law: An Anthology of Anecdotes and Analogies

By Andrew J. Field

Publisher: Law & Chess Press, Sept. 1, 2019
Format: Paperback, 279 Pages
ISBN-10: 0578553864
ISBN-13: 978-0578553863

Publisher’s Blurb

Chess and the Law selectively surveys the many interesting and unusual ways that the game of chess has intersected with the practice of law in the United States. Written in an engaging narrative style, there are four types of entries: (1) accounts of chess-related crimes, lawsuits, and agency actions; (2) anecdotes about attorney- and judge-players of note; (3) comments on law journal articles that use chess as an analogy; and (4) chess-themed quotes and quips from judicial opinions. These pieces are interspersed, and loosely woven together in chapters, in a browsable book that is both informative and entertaining. Chess and the Law is filled with true crime, chess history, and legal history. It is also a valuable desk reference for judges and attorneys in search of elegant chess quotes for their legal writing. Chess and the Law is many things, blended together in a book that quickly transforms from anthology to page-turner.

From the Back Cover

"Andrew J. Field's book is a great read. It is very educational and entertaining at the same time. Its numerous anecdotes, short stories, and personal portraits, at the intersection of law and chess, allow one to read the whole book at once (it's hard to stop), or easily break it up into short reading parts.

Above all, the book shows the connection between these seemingly disparate areas of intellectual and practical pursuits: there is a gamesmanship quality to both areas. It was long overdue for someone to write this kind of book and Field has completely succeeded. Chess fans, legal eagles, and many others who purchase this are in for a treat."

Professor Mark Kende
James Madison Chair in Constitutional Law
Director, Drake University Constitutional Law Center
USCF Class A-level chess player (former Expert)

About the Author

Skidmore College, B.A. in Philosophy, with honors, 1986
Vermont Law School, J.D., Magna Cum Laude, 1989
Law Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Denver, 1989-90
Deputy District Attorney, Arapahoe County, Colorado, 1991-94
Law Clerk, Idaho Supreme Court, Boise, 1994-95
Staff Attorney, Criminal Appeals, Colorado Court of Appeals, 1995-2011
Staff Attorney, Criminal Jury Instructions, Colorado Supreme Court, 2011-15
Admitted to practice in Colorado (inactive status) and Massachusetts (retired status).

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

December 10, 2019

Vlastimil Hort’s Meine Schachgeschichten

Meine Schachgeschichten (My Chess Stories)

Vlastimil Hort
Hard Cover, 180 pages
Nava, 2019
In German

The announcement of the publication was today in Chessbase from which most of this material is taken. Please read this article!

https://en.chessbase.com/post/vlasti...-chess-stories

The author:

Vlastimil Hort was born in 1944, during WW II, in Kladno, which at that time was in Czechoslovakia and is now part of the Czech Republic. Hort started his tournament career at the age of 16, and for more than half a century he has been a keen observer of his fellow players.

At his peak Hort was one of the world's best players. In 1967 he narrowly missed to qualify for the Candidates Matches and in 1970 he was part of the "World's" team in the famous "USSR vs The Rest of the World" match in Belgrade. In 1977-78 Hort played in the Candidate Matches but narrowly lost against Spassky in the quarterfinals. In the crucial game of the match Hort had a winning position but forgot to press the clock and lost on time.

In 1979 emigrated from Czechoslovakia to West Germany, where he soon started a career as extremely popular chess commentator on TV. His Czech accent, his stories, and his wit became legendary and today Hort is still a popular guest at chess tournaments and simuls.

The book:

The reader meets three great players of the 1920s: Capablanca, Bogolyubov and Alekhine. Hort also introduces us to Moshe Czerniak, who is less known today, and Tibor Kendelényi, who is almost completely forgotten. But Vlastimil Hort tells us about them — two fascinating and interesting personalities!

Hort leads us to many places and back in time and tells us stories about chess players. Why did David Bronstein not win a single game at a simul against 35 opponents that he gave in 1946 in Czechoslovakia? And why did Hort fall from his chair while playing Keres in 1961? What role did a ventilator play in the ill-fated match between Bobby Fischer and Samuel Reshevsky in 1961? Why was Mikhail Tal directed to his hotel room again after having played the opening move in his game against Hort in Moscow 1963?

Hort's chess stories are inspiring, charming, and Hort tells them in a unique way that is both relaxed and elegant.

____________

The text is in German and there is no knowing when an English translation will appear, if ever.

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

December 5, 2019

McFarland Books for 2020

When I was a young chessplayer, there were a number of reprinted books by James Mason and Eugene Znosko-Borovsky available. I had no idea what there credentials were and, quite honestly, my chess studies were no great help in telling me either.

James Mason was an Irish-born chess player, journalist and writer, who became one of the world’s best half-dozen players in the 1880s.

Mason wrote several books on chess, the most popular being The Principles of Chess in Theory and Practice (1894), The Art of Chess (1895), Chess Openings (1897) and Social Chess (1900). (Wikipedia)

Eugene Znosko-Borovsky was born in Saint Petersburg and settled in Paris in 1920 and lived his life there.

The reprints that I spoke of at the top of Znosko-Borovsky were How Not to Play Chess, Dover 1961, How to Play The Chess Openings, Dover 1971, The Art of Chess Combination, Dover 1977 and The Middle Game in Chess, Dover 1980. The first edition of these books was in the 1930s.

These two authors are as worthy of a biography as many others. However, will the public buy them?

McFarland publishes reference library-grade chess books on rather esoteric subjects. At present, there is no book about Znosko-Borovsky, but I am sure that one day it will come.

There is one destined to appear under the McFarland imprint on James Mason:

James Mason in America
The Early Chess Career, 1867-1878

By Joost van Winsen

Softcover, 384 pages
43 photos, 232 diagrams, appendix, bibliography, indexes
McFarland, 2019

Author

Journalist Joost van Winsen lives in the Netherlands. He has previously written about American chess history of the Nineteenth century, and has contributed articles to ChessCafe.com and ChessArcheology.com.

Publisher’s Blurb:

Few men are prominent chess players as well as esteemed chess writers. James Mason, in his lifetime, had the reputation of being both. This book chronicles Mason’s early career in the United States, providing many details on his writings and annotations for The Spirit of the Times and The American Chess Journal, his participation in the Café Europa and Café International tournaments, his win in 1876’s Fourth American Chess Congress, and his matches against chess greats like George H. Mackenzie, Eugene Delmar, Dión M. Martínez, Edward Alberoni, and Henry E. Bird. Mason’s efforts to establish an American Chess Association and to arrange an international centennial congress in 1876 are also explored. In addition to the general index, the work also includes indexes of games, annotators, and openings.

_________

Chess Rivals of the 19^th Century

By Tony Cullen

Softcover
40 photos, diagrams, 300 annotated games, bibliography, indexes
McFarland, 2010

Author

Tony Cullen played chess for the strong London Central YMCA Chess Club and organized tours playing team matches against strong opposition in various European cities. He lives in London.

Publisher’s Blurb:

Many historical chess books focus on individual 19th century masters and tournaments yet little is written covering the full scope of competitive chess through the era. This volume provides a comprehensive overview, with 300 annotated games analyzed by the players and checked by powerful chess engines.

Players such as Max Lange and Cochrane, known to the chess public only by the name given to a fierce attack or gambit, are brought to life. Fifty masters are each given their own chapter, with brief biographies, results and anecdotes and an endgame section for most chapters.

_________

Steinitz in London
A Chess Biography with 623 Games

By Tim Harding

Library Binding
70 photos, ca. 623 games, appendices, notes, bibliography, indexes
McFarland, 2020

Author

Tim Harding played for Ireland at the 1984 FIDE chess olympiad in Thessaloniki. He is a FIDE Candidate Master and a Senior International Master of correspondence chess. A well-known writer on many aspects of chess, Tim is a former editor of Chess Mail magazine and for almost 20 years he contributed monthly articles in “The Kibitzer” series at www.chesscafe.com. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Publisher’s Blurb:

Drawing on new research, this first biography of William Steinitz (1836–1900), the first World Chess Champion, covers his early life and career, with a fully-sourced collection of his known games until he left London in 1882. A portrait of mid-Victorian British chess is provided, including a history of the famous Simpson’s Divan.

Born to a poor Jewish family in Prague, Steinitz studied in Vienna, where his career really began, before moving to London in 1862, bent on conquering the chess world. During the next 20 years, he became its strongest and most innovative player, as well as an influential writer on the game. A foreigner with a quarrelsome nature, he suffered mockery and discrimination from British amateur players and journalists, which eventual drove him to immigrate to America. The final chapters cover his subsequent visits to England and the last three tournaments he played there.

___________

Probably these books are not for everyone. Still, I applaud the fact that historical research is being done and published.

Note: Bobby Fischer – The Final Years by G. Sverrisson is now out in Europe but has not yet reached North America. See post #42 in this thread.

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

November 7, 2019

Bobby Fischer - The Final Years: A Personal Memoir

Author: Gardar Sverrisson
Edition: Hardcover
Publication date: November 5, 2019
Number of pages: 224
ISBN: 9789935211811

Details

This extraordinary book describes the last years of the great legend and World Chess Champion, Bobby Fischer. It is written by his close friend and confidant, the Icelandic author Gardar Sverrisson who was instrumental in procuring Fischer asylum in Iceland in 2004. For the remaining years of his life, Fischer resided in Reykjavik. He was in daily contact with Sverrisson who gradually became the only friend he would trust.

Here the real story of Fischer's final years is told for the first time. Beautifully written, the book gives a unique insight into Fischer's personality. We encounter a passionate and complex man, a sincere and generous friend, a bookworm and a nature lover, who is both contemplative and witty when reflecting on his turbulent life, his controversial principles, exceptional career and many historic chess champions.

'A vivid portrait of what Bobby was really like, a man who has long been a mystery to the world', Frederic Friedel, chessbase.com

__________

Recall that there is another final days book by an Icelandic author:

Bobby Fischer Comes Home: The Final Years in Iceland

Author: Helgi Olafsson
Publisher: New In Chess
Publication Date: 2012
Paperback, 143 pages
ISBN: 9789056913816

Details

Helgi Olafsson was fifteen years old when in 1972 Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky to become World Chess Champion. Breathlessly, young Helgi followed the Match of the Century and even attended a number of games in Reykjavik’s Laugardalshöll.

Little could Olafsson suspect then that 33 years on, having become a chess grandmaster himself, he would be a member of the committee that successfully worked to free Fischer from a Japanese detention centre.

On March 24, 2005 Bobby Fischer returned to the country where he had achieved his greatest triumph. He was never to leave again until his tragic death on January 17, 2008.

Olafsson first met his childhood hero shortly after his return. In the following years, the two spent countless hours together. They made trips, went to restaurants, watched movies, played games, spoke on the phone almost every day, had fun and quarrelled.

Bobby Fischer Comes Home tells the story of a unique friendship and paints an intimate and revealing picture of the last years of the man who many see as the greatest chess player that ever lived.

With a foreword by World Champion Viswanathan Anand.

Helgi Olafsson (1956) is a chess grandmaster from Iceland. He won the national championship six times and travelled the world as a chess pro. Today he is Iceland’s national chess coach and writes a chess column for Morgunbladid, the country’s number one newspaper.

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

November 6, 2019

These two new books by Canadian authors:

Opening Repertoire: The Ruy Lopez

Publishing: November 2019 Europe, January 2020 US

978178195414, 288 Pages.

The Ruy Lopez is perhaps the most classical of all chess openings. It dates back to the 16th century and has featured in the opening repertoire of every modern world champion. It is a highly flexible variation: Bobby Fischer used it to create numerous powerful strategic masterpieces. In the hands of Anatoly Karpov it led to many of his trademark positional squeezes, whereas Garry Kasparov often used it as a springboard for his typically powerful attacks.

Opening Repertoire: The Ruy Lopez is a modern examination of this perennial favourite. Joshua Doknjas has put together a repertoire for White based firmly around contemporary trends in the Lopez. He examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans.

A complete repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez.
A question and answer approach provides an excellent study method.

Author

Joshua Doknjas is a FIDE Master from Canada who has enjoyed success competing internationally. He has won seven national titles for his age and tied for 1st in the 2019 U18 North American Youth Chess Championship. This is his second book for Everyman Chess.

_________

Opening Repertoire: The Modern Benoni

Paperback edition publishing: February 2020 Europe, April 2020 US

9781781945261, 336 Pages

The Modern Benoni is just about the most aggressive method that Black can choose to counter White’s 1 d4. In the main line variations Black allows White to have a preponderance of central pawns which, traditionally, grants the first player the advantage. However, in return, Black gains the opportunity for tremendously dynamic counterplay. This places White and under immediate pressure as any inaccurate moves can prove to be disastrous.

In this book, FIDE Master John Doknjas examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans. With thorough variations and explanations on pawn structures and piece placement, this book provides insight for both strong masters and less experienced players alike. The format is ideal for the chessplayer keen to improve their game. While reading you are continually challenged to answer probing questions – a method that greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of chess knowledge.


Author

John Doknjas is a FIDE Master, who has finished first in the Under 18 2017 Canadian Youth Chess Championships. He has won several strong tournaments in British Columbia, Canada, including the Grand Pacific Open. John is a chess teacher with over five years of experience, and has annotated games for distinguished national chess publications. He is co-author of the highly respected Opening Repertoire: the Najdorf Sicilian.

_________

The book published earlier this year is

Opening Repertoire: The Sicilian Najdorf

John Doknjas and Joshua Doknjas

9781781944837, 352 Pages

The three are Everyman Chess Books and further details can be had at:

https://everymanchess.com/products/o...82d915fe&_ss=r

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

November 4, 2019

Title: The Moves that Matter: A Chess Grandmaster on the Game of Life

Author: Jonathan Rowson

Published: November 14, 2019

Hardback, 352 pages

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

ISBN:

9781526603845

There is also a paperback edition

Publisher’s Blurb

A powerfully unconventional and mind-expanding book ... A generous, nuanced and witty meditation on confronting the challenges life throws at us all' Oliver Burkeman, author of The Antidote

Refined and perfected throughout human history, chess has long been a touchstone for shrewd tacticians and master strategists. But enfolded within this ancient game can be found a singularly resonant metaphor for the challenges, thrills and setbacks that fill our lives with meaning and complexity.

Jonathan Rowson's competitive success as a Grandmaster and his work as a philosopher of public policy have given him a unique perspective on why the great game is more important than ever for understanding the conflicts and uncertainties of the modern world. In sixty-four witty and addictive vignettes, Rowson takes us on a tour of life where everything is at play – an exhilarating journey from the aesthetics of cyborgs to the psychology of gang violence, the joys of parenting to the ultimate endgame of death. Chess emerges as a rich and endlessly evocative way of thinking about the desires that shape the world around us.

The Moves That Matter celebrates the redeeming power of intense concentration, while offering a humane and compassionate account of our interdependence and need for community. Jonathan Rowson reveals, one move at a time, what it means to love, think or care deeply in the intricate game of life.

Reviews

“At a time when we urgently need new ways to think about the challenge of creating a meaningful life – far more than we need conventional self-help advice – Jonathan Rowson has written a powerfully unconventional and mind-expanding book ... A generous, nuanced and witty meditation on confronting the challenges life throws at us all” – Oliver Burkeman, author of 'The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking'

“Terrific … What a beautiful, thoughtful work. I see thinking in a fresh light. I see my own life in a fresh light as well” – David Bodanis, author of 'Einstein's Greatest Mistake' and 'E=MC2'

“A remarkable, highly original and personal book, unlike anything else you have ever read, packed with wisdom about life. You need to know next to nothing about chess to enjoy it and to want to keep coming back for more” – Iain McGilchrist, author of 'The Master and his Emissary'

“Rowson's is an unusual, important voice and perspective on our times: a humane thinker deeply interested in the implications of technology; an expert constantly probing at the limits of expertise ... A wise, surprising and uplifting book” – Tom Chatfield, author of 'Critical Thinking'

_________

(Wikipedia) - Jonathan Rowson (born 18 April 1977) is an Applied Philosopher, former Scottish chess grandmaster, and author. He is a three-time Scottish Chess Champion and the No. 1 ranked Scottish player as of October 2017. As Director of the Social Brain Centre at the United Kingdom's Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), he authored numerous research reports on behavior change, climate change, and spirituality.

He has written three books on the game:

Understanding the Grunfeld (1998). Gambit Publications. ISBN 1-901983-09-9;
The Seven Deadly Chess Sins (2000). Gambit Publications. ISBN 1-901983-36-6;
Chess for Zebras (2005). Gambit Publications. ISBN 1-901983-85-4.

He also won the 2000 Canadian Open Chess Championship in Edmonton (with Joel Benjamin and Kevin Spraggett)

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

November 4, 2019

Title: The Anand Files

Author: Abeln, Michiel

Publisher: Quality Chess

Publication: November 20, 2019

Pages: 360 pages with 100+ colour photos

The Anand Files offers a detailed insight into the strategies Viswanathan Anand used to win three World Championship matches in a row. It takes the reader behind the scenes to show the inner workings of Team Anand, including pre-game planning and preparing opening novelties, some of which have yet to be used. Meticulously researched over several years, during which the author conducted numerous interviews with members of Team Anand, this book follows Anand and his team of seconds for his dramatic matches against Kramnik, Topalov and Gelfand. The reader will gain a deep understanding of how top chess players work on their game and deal with the stress of elite competition. Over a hundred colour photographs illustrate the story. Further information about the book is available at qualitychess.co.uk

Michiel Abeln is a FIDE Master from the Netherlands with extensive experience as a chess trainer and as a leadership coach in the corporate world.

From the Foreword by Viswanathan Anand:

“I love this book. The level of detail is fabulous, and as I read it I felt I was reliving the entire five-year period during which these three matches happened... This is the definitive book on those three matches.”

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-78483-067-0

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

September 30, 2019

Three books to discuss today.

Vishy Anand was giving an interview after his play in Round 8 of the Isle of Man Swiss. And Fiona Steil-Antoni mentioned that he had a book coming out.

I have been unable to find it on amazon.com but did on amazon.in, which says it is to be published in India on December 11 and can be yours for 479 rupees on preorder. I make this to be about 9 CAD.

Title: Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life

Authors: Viswanathan Anand and Susan Ninan

Hardcover, 312 pages
Publisher: Hachette India
Language: English

· ISBN-10: 9351951502

· ISBN-13: 978-9351951506

Product description

About the Authors

Viswanathan Anand, known fondly as Vishy, is one of the most prominent names in chess. Over the three decades since he turned Grandmaster, he has won five world championship titles among innumerable other tournament and has continued to push past barriers to remain among the world's top chess players. His achievements have helped inspire a generation of chess players in India. Vishy is an astronomy buff, and an avid reader on math, economics and current affairs. He loves to travel, particularly on wildlife safaris. He supports many charitable causes, chief among them being that of children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disabilities.

Susan Ninan is a sports writer with ESPN and is based in Bengaluru. She has previously worked with Times of India and has covered major sporting events like the Commonwealth Games and the World Chess Championships. When she's not writing on sport or travelling to find a story worth writing, she loves sniffing around bookstores and going backpacking, or at best making plans for the latter.

No product description beyond this but I believe that the text is anecdotal with no games. More later.
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The next book is in Slovak but it is loaded with photos and drawings and in a limited edition. Collectors and Reti aficionados will lick their lips over this one.

Author: Solga, Oliver

Title: Richard Reti. Sachovy genius (pre-order, expected in October-November 2019)

Expected in October-November 2019. (Richard Reti. Chess genius). A biographical book about Richard Reti (1889 Pezinok, today's Slovakia - 1929 Prague) is devoted to his entire life from birth to his premature death in 1929. The publication, printed on high-quality heavy paper (weighs 1,050 grams), contains a lot of information that is published for the first time. The book is accompanied by 43 high-quality photographs and 12 drawings, many of which come from the archives of several museums and private collections. The book is without games. Detailed bibliography at the end. Oliver Solga (b. 1954, Figure 8), an artist and art historian, was the Mayor of Réti's native Pezinok for many years. He has written several publications related to the region, such as the book Jan Kupecky - Life and Work (2016) on a prominent Baroque painter, which was awarded by the Egon Erwin Kisch International Main Prize for non-fiction literature in 2017. 8 images

Place of publication: Pezinok
Publisher: Malokarpatske muzeum v Pezinku
Year of publication: 2019
Edition: 1st edition
Pages: many photos and illustrations, 188p. 1,050 grams
Binding: Hardcover
Language: Slovak
Diagrams: many
Book size: 4to (25-33 cm)
Copies published: 1,000 copies
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Author: Levenfish, Grigory

Title: Soviet Outcast. The Life and Games of Grigory Levenfish(pre-order, expected in October-November 2019)

Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (1889 Piotrkow - 1961 Moscow), spent most of his life in St. Petersburg, where he won the city championship already in 1909. One of the best Soviet players between the wars, 2x USSR champion, offensive style player and excellent tactician.
The first 200 pages bring a translation of Levenfish's autobiographical book Izbrannye partii i vospominania (1967) with 79 annotated games, the remaining about 100 pages contain Levenfish's annotated games from various sources, 30-page afterword by Aagaard, career record, crosstables, indexes. The book title points out that Levenfish was ignored by the Soviet regime, he was the only Soviet GM of his generation who was denied a stipend and was banned from playing abroad. But he never complained about his terms. He was an important theoretician and author of about 10 books, the most famous of which is Ladeynye okonchania (1957, with Smyslov)

Place of publication: Glasgow
Publisher: Quality Chess
Year of publication: 2019
Edition: 1st edition
Pages: 304 pages
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English + Figurine notation
Diagrams: many
Book size: Large 8vo (23-25 cm)

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

September 30, 2019

I have just come upon this book today, which seems like it could be interesting.

The Method of Preparing for Competition

By Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (Author) and

Victor Ciobanu (Translator)

Paperback, 98 pages

Publisher – Independently published on August 17, 2019

Language – English

Publisher’s Blurb:

The collection includes materials illustrating the preparation method of Mikhail Botvinnik for competitions.

Chapters “Botvinnik's notebooks” are published for the first time.

This is a training manual that is designed for young chess players, coaches, a wide range of chess lovers. This publication includes materials related to various periods of creativity of M. M. Botvinnik. But all these articles are devoted to the famous Botvinnik method. The collection opens with a fundamental article of 1939. The art of preparing for the competition was distinctive a feature of the first Soviet world chess champion. You can find out the secret of the Soviet school of chess. Botvinnik used what he regarded as the first version of his method of preparing for a contest but fell two games behind by the end of the first six, played in Moscow. Botvinnik's example and teaching established the modern approach to preparing for competitive chess: regular but moderate physical exercise; analysing very thoroughly a relatively narrow repertoire of openings; annotating one's own games, those of past great players and those of competitors; publishing one's annotations so that others can point out any errors; studying strong opponents to discover their strengths and weaknesses; ruthless objectivity about one's own strengths and weaknesses.

Botvinnik also played many short training matches against strong grandmasters including Salo Flohr, Yuri Averbakh, Viacheslav Ragozin, and Semion Furman – in noisy or smoky rooms if he thought he would have to face such conditions in actual competition. Botvinnik founded his own school within the Soviet coaching system, and its graduates include world champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, and Vladimir Kramnik, and other top-class players such as Alexei Shirov, Vladimir Akopian and Jaan Ehlvest.

From the Back Cover

My old teacher Mikhail Botvinnik was the true king of the Rematch. He came back to beat both: Smyslov who was 10 years younger and Tal who was 25 years younger! By strictly observing Botvinnik's rule regarding the thorough analysis of one's own games, with the years, I have come to realize that this provides the foundation for the continuous development of chess mastery. - Garry Kasparov

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There is both a paperback and Kindle edition of this book. Suddenly popping up like this, unheralded, I see it as a curiosity. Perhaps a curiosity worth adding to your chess library because, if a well-known publisher doesn’t pick it up, it will soon be gone forever. The price is reasonable.

[Emil Smilovici]

The Nikolai Rezvov book sounds like a great read. Can you imagine being a survivor of all that.

Yes, it is a nice little book including 100 interesting studies plus a 25 page (small format) introduction with the story of his life.
Diagrams are very clear with the solution always following on the turn of the page.
I received it as a birthday present :)

A good review can be seen at amazon.com

[Hans Jung]

The Nikolai Rezvov book sounds like a great read. Can you imagine being a survivor of all that.

[Hans Jung]

I can vouch for the James Leonard book. Great book and bonus was he was a great blindfold talent who died in the Civil War. Double bonus is the book was given to me.

[Wayne Komer]

Upcoming Chess Books

September 10, 2019

John, those are genuine titles of genuine books. The Zavatarelli book was just published and as I was reading about it, I had the whimsical idea of putting it with two other depressing titles.

These are the descriptions, if anyone seriously wants to buy them:

Author: Zavatarelli, Fabrizio
Title: The Gloomy Fate and Romantic Chess of Arthur Towle Marriott

Biography and 156 annotated games of A. T. Marriott with comments mostly from contemporary sources. Indexes of players and openings, career record. Arthur Towle Marriott, 1859-1884, was strong chess player from Nottingham. Fabrizio Zavatarelli is a well-known chess historian, his works are mainly devoted to the 19th century. He wrote the books Ignaz Kolisch: The Life and Chess Career, Serafino Dubois and (with Hans Renette) Neumann, Hirschfeld and Suhle. 2 pictures. Edition Forgotten Chess Players' Career no.1/2019.

Author: Tkachenko, Sergei
Title: Nikolai Rezvov, from Child Burglar to Grandmaster

Rezvov lived a long and tragic life: it was at the age of nearly 90 that he was awarded the titles of Ukrainian chess composition grandmaster and FIDE chess composition international master, and his love of chess kept him going through life as a child laborer, WWII solder, prisoner of war and later prisoner in the Soviet Union. His compositions appeared in leading chess magazines such as Chess in the USSR, 64 – Chess Review and The Problemist, and he won many prizes. Several of these compositions were produced jointly with Sergei Tkachenko. The readers will find these studies and problems highly educational, illustrating many theoretical and combinational ideas that can be used in the readers’ own games. Some of them are simply breathtaking in their beauty and originality.

Author: Hilbert, John S.
Title: The Tragic Life and Short Chess Career of James A. Leonard 1841-1862

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.

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I have a weakness for attractive chess book titles. I have bought The Fighting Fajarowicz and The Double Queen’s Gambit (openings) on name alone. Similarly, Chess Chimes from Prague and Running the Gauntlet (problems).