Wider Chess Reading

ACROSS THE BOARD: THE MATHEMATICS OF CHESSBOARD PROBLEMS

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John J Watkins
Across the Board is the definitive work on chessboard problems. It is not simply about chess but the chessboard itself--that simple grid of squares so common to games around the world. And, more importantly, the fascinating mathematics behind it. From the Knight's Tour Problem and Queens Domination to their many variations, John Watkins surveys all the well-known problems in this surprisingly fertile area of recreational mathematics. Can a knight follow a path that covers every square once, ending on the starting square? How many queens are needed so that every square is targeted or occupied by one of the queens?
Each main topic is treated in depth from its historical conception through to its status today. Many beautiful solutions have emerged for basic chessboard problems since mathematicians first began working on them in earnest over three centuries ago, but such problems, including those involving polyominoes, have now been extended to three-dimensional chessboards and even chessboards on unusual surfaces such as toruses (the equivalent of playing chess on a doughnut) and cylinders. Using the highly visual language of graph theory, Watkins gently guides the reader to the forefront of current research in mathematics. By solving some of the many exercises sprinkled throughout, the reader can share fully in the excitement of discovery.
Showing that chess puzzles are the starting point for important mathematical ideas that have resonated for centuries, Across the Board will captivate students and instructors, mathematicians, chess enthusiasts, and puzzle devotees. John J. Watkins is Professor of Mathematics at Colorado College and the co-author of Graph Theory: An Introductory Approach.
pub. 2004, softback, 257 pages.
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THE ART OF LEARNING

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Josh Waitzkin
Josh Waitzkin was catapulted into a media whirlwind as a teenager when his father's book Searching for Bobby Fischer was made into a major motion picture. After battling to ascend to the summit of the chess world for ten years, Waitzkin expanded his horizons, taking on the martial art Tai Chi Chuan and ultimately earning the title of World Champion. How was he able to reach the pinnacle of two disciplines that on the surface seem so different? "I've come to realize that what I am best at is not Tai Chi, and it is not chess," he says. "What I am best at is the art of learning."
In his riveting new book, The Art of Learning, Waitzkin tells his remarkable story of personal achievement and shares the principles of learning and performance that have propelled him to the top - twice.
With a narrative that combines heart-stopping martial arts wars and tense chess face-offs with life lessons that speak to all of us, The Art of Learning takes readers through Waitzkin's unique journey to excellence. He explains in clear detail how a well-thought-out, principled approach to learning is what separates success from failure. Waitzkin believes that achievement, even at the championship level, is a function of a lifestyle that fuels a creative, resilient growth process. Rather than focusing on climactic wins, Waitzkin reveals the inner workings of his everyday method, from systematically triggering intuitive breakthroughs, to honing techniques into states of remarkable potency, to mastering the art of performance psychology.
Through his own example, Waitzkin explains how to embrace defeat and make mistakes work for you. Does your opponent make you angry? Waitzkin describes how to channel emotions into creative fuel. As he explains it, obstacles are not obstacles but challenges to overcome, to spur the growth process by turning weaknesses into strengths. He illustrates the exact routines that he has used in all of his competitions, whether mental or physical, so that you too can achieve your peak performance zone in any competitive or professional circumstance.
In stories ranging from his early years taking on chess hustlers as a seven year old in New York City's Washington Square Park, to dealing with the pressures of having a film made about his life, to International Chess Championships in India, Hungary, and Brazil, to gripping battles against powerhouse fighters in Taiwan in the Push Hands World Championships, The Art of Learning encapsulates an extraordinary competitor's life lessons in a page-turning narrative.
Published 2007, softback, 265 pages.

BATSFORD BOOK OF CHESS RECORDS

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Yakov Damsky
A long-overdue book on the records, from the trivial to the monumental, set in the chess world. From the most unfortunate players in chess history to the longest queen moves, and from the longest tournaments to the record time for thinking about the next move, everything is included in this amusing, entertaining, and often astounding guide. The book is divided into four sections: Games; People; Tournaments, Matches and Events; and Around the Chequered Board, giving the play from some amazing chess record games. Yakov Damsky is a world-renowned chess journalist, chess master and international chess arbiter. He is the author of several chess books and lives in Moscow.
Published 2005, softback, 304 pages.

BLINDFOLD CHESS

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Eliot Hearst and John Knott
History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records, and Important Games
During the 18th century, when Philidor played two blindfold games of chess simultaneously, eyewitnesses were asked to swear affidavits attesting to this remarkable feat. Since then, blindfold chess-the art of playing without sight of the board or pieces-has produced some of the greatest feats of human memory, progressing to the extent that the world record is 45 simultaneous blindfold games.
This work provides the first extensive coverage of blindfold chess from its earliest known instances through the present day. It describes the personalities and achievements of some of blindfold chess’s greatest players - including Paulsen, Morphy, Blackburne, Zukertort, Pillsbury, Reti, Alekhine, Koltanowski, Najdorf and Fine, as well as present-day grandmasters such as Anand, Kramnik and Morozevich, who play in regular tournaments with all players blindfolded. Including some never before published, 444 games scores are presented, peppered with diagrams and annotations. Hints for playing blindfold chess, the benefits of playing blindfold, and a readable summary of psychological research on blindfold chess ability are also included. Appendices offer a chronology of world-record simultaneous blindfold performances since the 18th century, and proposed rules for serious simultaneous blindfold play.
A United States Olympic Chess Team captain in 1962, Eliot Hearst is a U.S. Life Senior Master. A former columnist for Chess Life, he has written extensively about the psychology of sports and games, computer chess, learning, memory and conflict. A distinguished professor emeritus at Indiana University, Hearst currently serves as an adjunct professor of psychology at the University of Arizona. John Knott has written numerous legal articles, has a nonfiction book under way, and is a consultant at the London head office of an international law firm. Each author has had a particular interest in blindfold chess and has studied the subject for more than 30 years.
Published 2009, hardback, 445 pages.

BOBBY FISCHER

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Harry Benson
Harry Benson's rare, exclusive photos of the elusive and controversial chess genius Bobby Fischer taken during the historic World Chess Championship match in Iceland in 1972 are collected here for the first time, in Bobby Fischer. Benson met Fischer in Argentina, during the qualifiers for the match, and followed him through his training and conditioning in New York, during the many weeks of the match, and was there in the winning moment to document Fischer's historic victory. Fischer was a known recluse, and Benson was one of the very few people he would talk to throughout these defining moments in his life.
The match, known at the time as the "Match of the Century", is now generally considered a battle in the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Benson's intimate access to Fischer was not the easiest of tasks to accomplish. Worried about spies and saboteurs, lacking substantial support from the U.S., and seeking deep mental focus, Fischer prized solitude. In fact, Fischer barred the door even when his mother arrived from America. The intimacy of these photographs is testament to Benson’s photojournalistic prowess.
Filled with idiosyncrasies and a complete loner, Fischer is still revered by chess fans around the world and is considered the greatest chess player of all time. Benson’s photos of Fischer give insight into the private world of the man Benson calls "the most complicated and most fascinating person I have ever photographed." Bobby Fischer is an in-depth look at the champion unlike any the world has ever seen.
Scottish born photojournalist Harry Benson was the most published photographer in LIFE magazine before it closed and continues to photograph for many major magazines.
Published 2011, hardback, 144 pages.

BOBBY FISCHER COMES HOME

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Helgi Olafsson
The Final Years in Iceland, a Saga of Friendship and Lost Illusions
Icelandic chess Grandmaster Helgi Olafsson was 15 year old in 1972, when in a sensational match in his home country Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky for the world chess title. Breathlessly, Helgi had followed the match and attended a number of games in the playing hall in Reykjavik.
When thirty-three years later his childhood hero was arrested in Tokyo, Olafsson became one of the members of the "Committee to Free Bobby Fischer". In 2005 Fischer returned to Iceland, a country he was never to leave again until his death in January 2008, and Olafsson and Fischer became fast friends.
Bobby Fischer Comes Home tells the story of their friendship and paints an intimate portrait of the last years of the man who many see as the greatest chess player that ever lived.
Published 2012, softback, 143 pages.

BOBBY FISCHER GOES TO WAR (HARDBACK)

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'It's really the free world against the lying, cheating, hypocritical Russians ..' Bobby Fischer.
David Edmonds & John Eidinow
Since 1948, the USSR had dominated the World Chess Championships - evidence, Moscow claimed, of the superiority of the Soviet system. But then came Bobby Fischer.
Only a dysfunctional genius such as Fischer was equipped to take on the Soviet machine. His every waking hour was devoted to the game. He had steamrollered all opposition to reach the championship final. When he became increasingly volatile, Henry Kissinger phoned him, urging Fischer to fight for his country.
Against him was Boris Spassky: complex, sensitive, the most un-Soviet of champions. As the authors reveal, when Spassky began to lose, the KGB decided to step in.
Drawing upon unpublished Soviet and US records, this is a fascinating story of history, politics and chess. And at its core it is a human tragedy, a story of brilliance and triumph, hubris and despair. The authors tell, for the first time, the true story of the personalities and politics involved in the Fischer-Spassky match.
David Edmonds and John Eidinow are award winning BBC journalists whose first book "Wittgenstein's Poker" was highly acclaimed and shortlisted for the Guardian First Book award.
Published 2004, hardback, 320 pages.

BOBBY FISCHER GOES TO WAR (SOFTBACK)

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"Outstanding .. The definitive account of this historic struggle" Nigel Short.
David Edmonds & John Eidinow
Since 1948, the USSR had dominated the World Chess Championships - evidence, Moscow claimed, of the superiority of the Soviet system. But then came Bobby Fischer.
Only a dysfunctional genius such as Fischer was equipped to take on the Soviet machine. His every waking hour was devoted to the game. He had steamrollered all opposition to reach the championship final. When he became increasingly volatile, Henry Kissinger phoned him, urging Fischer to fight for his country.
Against him was Spassky: complex, sensitive, the most un-Soviet of champions. As the authors reveal, when Spassky began to lose, the KGB decided to step in.
Drawing upon unpublished Soviet and US records, this is a fascinating story of history, politics and chess. And at its core it is a human tragedy, a story of brilliance and triumph, hubris and despair.
David Edmonds and John Eidinow are award winning BBC journalists whose first book "Wittgenstein's Poker" was highly acclaimed. Here, drawing on unpublished U.S. and Russian documents, the authors tell, for the first time, the true story of the personalities and politics involved in the Fischer-Spassky match.
Published 2004, softback, 314 pages.

BULLET CHESS

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Hikaru Nakamura & Bruce Harper
Bullet Chess is internet chess played with one to three minutes on the clock. The strategy and tactics required to succeed are entirely different to those needed in "slow" chess. In this book US Grandmaster and leading speed chess player Hikaru Nakamura, together with Canadian IM Bruce Harper, shows how to maximise your success at Bullet Chess. Using illustrative games and positions the authors discuss topics such as time, bullet openings, pre-moving, the initiative, tactics, bullet endings and mental errors. They also explore the psychological side of Bullet Chess explaining the most common causes of blunders. Many Bullet Chess techniques can be applied to blitz finishes and time scrambles in ordinary chess.
Hikaru Makamura is an American Grandmaster and winner of the 2005 and 2009 US Chess championships. Bruce Harper is a Canadian Master and author of the three volume series on Grandmaster Duncan Suttles.
Published 2009, softback, 247 pages.

CARL HAFFNER'S LOVE OF THE DRAW

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Thomas Glavinic
A novel based around the Lasker-Schlechter World Championship match of 1910, so nearly won by Schlechter, in which the fictional Carl Haffner takes the Schlechter role. The book revolves around the psychological duel between two such differing personalities and the crises in Haffner's own childhood, for which the match seems to become a metaphor.
pub. 1999, softback, 182 pages.

CENTRE-STAGE AND BEHIND THE SCENES

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Yuri Averbakh
The autobiography of an insider when chess was a vital factor in the USSR
Yuri Averbakh (born 1922) is a distinguished Russian Chess Grandmaster who has enjoyed a long and varied career. He has been a top player, a journalist, an editor, an arbiter, a trainer and a long-time member of the board of the Soviet Chess Federation.
Averbakh won the USSR championship in 1954 and was a leading Soviet Grandmaster for two decades. In this personal memoir he looks back on his days as an active player, but also on his experiences as a quintessential insider when chess was considered a vital ingredient of life in the Soviet Union.
Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes describes the machinations of the notorious 'Sports Committee' and offers surprising personal views on Soviet players like Botvinnik, Smyslov, Kortchnoi, Petrosian, Tal and Spassky.
Averbakh recalls his dealings with Max Euwe and Bobby Fischer, writes touching portraits of some almost-forgotten masters and offers sharp analyses of 20th century chess politics.
A unique, revealing and well-told story, essential reading for everybody interested in the history of chess and the Soviet Union.
Published 2011, softback, 268 pages.

CHESS BITCH: WOMEN IN THE ULTIMATE INTELLECTUAL SPORT

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Jennifer Shahade
Chess Bitch, written by the 2002 and 2004 U.S. Woman’s Chess Champion, is an racy, anecdotal account of how today’s young female chess players are knocking down the doors to this traditionally male game, infiltrating the male-owned sporting subculture of international chess, and giving the phrase "play like a girl" a whole new meaning.
Through interviews with and observation of the young globetrotting women players who challenge male domination, Chess Bitch is an eye-opening expose of the world of women's chess and shines a harsh light on the game’s gender bias. Shahade begins by profiling the lives of great women players from history, starting with Vera Menchik, who defeated male professionals with incredible frequency and became the first woman’s World Champion in 1927. She then investigates the women’s chess dynasties in Georgia and China. She interviews the famous Polgar sisters, who refused to play in separate women's tournaments. She details her own chess adventures: traveling to tournaments from Reykjavik to Istanbul. Shahade introduces us to such lesser-known chess personalities as the flamboyant Zambian player Linda Nangwale, the transgendered Texan Angela Alston and the European female chess players who hop from one country to another, playing chess by day and partying long into the night. For those who think of chess as two people sitting quietly across a table, Shahade paints a colourful world that most chess fans never knew existed. Includes photographs throughout, a glossary, games appendix, bibliography and index
Published 2005, hardback, 320 pages.

CHESS BITS AND OBITS

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C J S Purdy, M Goldstein & J Hammond
This book contains Purdy's articles on the history of chess, Hammond's articles on the evolution of chess theory and obituraries plus annotated games of fourteen great chess masters. Includes 67 annotated games in total. The articles here are taken from Purdy's magazine, titled Chess Review, Check and Chess World at various different times. CJS Purdy was a renowned chess teacher and writer as well as being 1st World Correspondence Chess Champion.
Published 2006, softback, 256 pages.

CHESS CHILD

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Gary Robson
The subject of Chess Child, Ray Robson, is the youngest grandmaster to ever represent the United States. In addition to beating Bobby Fischer's record as youngest grandmaster, Ray Robson is also the youngest recipient of the prestigious Samford Chess Fellowship, the youngest member of a US team in world team competition, and the youngest player to ever qualify for the US Chess Championship. Chess Child describes the development of Ray Robson from three-year-old chess player to 14-year-old grandmaster. More than just a biography, the book tells the story of a father and his struggle to adapt to meet the changing needs of his child.
Dr. Gary Robson started his career in education as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines. Between 1987 and 1996, he taught K-12 students and trained teachers in Asia and Micronesia. Since 1996, Dr. Robson has worked in various educational settings within the United States. Although his area of expertise is ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), he has worked with a variety of students and has taught multiple subjects in a number of settings. Chess Child is his first book.
Published 2010, softback, 285 pages.
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CHESS COLUMNS: A LIST

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Ken Whyld
This book is a list, in alphabetical order, of all the serial publications which have, either currently or at some time in the past, contained a chess column. Dates and columnists are provided as well as an alphabetical index of columnists. Worldwide coverage.
Published 2002, hardback, 587 pages.

CHESS FACTS & FABLES

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Edward Winter
Chess Facts and Fables is in the same vein as the author's previous books such as Kings, Commoners & Knaves and Chess Omnibus. The material is drawn from his Chess Notes column and aims at separating fact from fiction in chess literature as well as investigating chess mysteries and hoaxes and offering a wealth of interesting positions, photographs, anecdotes and observations that will fascinate those with an interest in the history of chess. 7 chapters: Positions, Games, Miscellaneous, Biography, Gaffes, Mysteries, Quotes. Edward Winter is a well known chess author and historian with a liking for thoroughness and accuracy.
Published 2006, softback, 392 pages.

CHESS FOR ZEBRAS

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Jonathan Rowson
Jonathan Rowson, author of the highly acclaimed Seven Deadly Chess Sins, investigates three questions important to all chess-players:
1) Why is it so difficult, especially for adult players, to improve?
2) What kinds of mental attitudes are needed to find good moves in different phases of the game?
3) Is White's alleged first-move advantage a myth, and does it make a difference whether you are playing Black or White?
In a strikingly original work, Rowson makes use of his academic background in philosophy and psychology to answer these questions in an entertaining and instructive way. This book assists all players in their efforts to improve, and provides fresh insights into the opening and early middlegame.
Rowson presents many new ideas on how Black should best combat White's early initiative, and make use of the extra information that he gains as a result of moving second. For instance, he shows that in some cases a situation he calls 'Zugzwang Lite' can arise, where White finds himself lacking any constructive moves. He also takes a close look at the theories of two players who, in differing styles, have specialized in championing Black's cause: Mihai Suba and Andras Adorjan. Readers are also equipped with a 'mental toolkit' that will enable them to handle many typical over-the-board situations with greater success, and avoid a variety of psychological pitfalls. Fans of Rowson's earlier books and other writings will enjoy this new work.
Published 2005, softback, 255 pages.

CHESS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

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Graham Burgess
A year by year account of the events and personalities which shaped chess in the last century. Burgess presents excerpts from the finest games, together with "Chess News in Brief" and "World News in Brief" for each year. Also included are photographs of the world’s top players from Lasker to Khalifman. Among the events covered here are the rise of hypermodernism, Soviet post-war domination, the phenomenon of Fischer and the rise of computers. An entertaining and well produced record of the first century of professional chess.
pub 2000, hardback, 208 pages.

CHESS JUGGLER

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James Magner
No Time for Chess? Is that What's Troubling You, Bunky?
Well, have a seat ... How does one cope with devoting sufficient time to family and career while occasionally trying to fit in the odd game of chess? Is your schedule getting more crowded and accomplishments less satisfying?
Then take a journey with Jim Magner, physician, husband and ... chessplayer.
Dr. Jim went through college and medical school, married and raised a family, and still was able to get in some serious chessplaying. It was not always easy or convenient, but he persevered and fulfilled most of his life's goals, all the while maintaining his sanity and perspective.
He is an average (Class C) player who developed a curious, yet often effective way of dealing with opponents who outranked him, sometime by hundreds of rating points. He shares with the reader his methods and madness, with 31 annotated games dotting his autobiographical narrative.
These games are entertaining and instructive, and often somewhat unusual as they illustrate how one may prey upon human weaknesses. If you enjoy rooting for the underdog, then this is the little chess book for you!
Over the years Dr. Magner also has provided advice about life and career to countless medical students and trainees, and in this heartwarming book, he also shares his tips for success in family, finances and life itself.
Dr. James Magner was born in Quincy, IL and attended the Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago. He is a husband, father, endocrinologist, and Vice President of Clinical Research for a biotechnology company. He lives near New Haven, Connecticut.
Published 2011, softback, 176 pages.
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CHESS LISTS (2nd ed)

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Andrew Soltis
The best, the worst, the shortest, the oddest, the longest, the most deceitful, the most memorable, the most brilliant, the dumbest of players - games, matches, tournaments, books, ideas, etc. The lists are replete with background detail and exact facts - this second edition of Soltis’s classic 1984 book is altogether an essential part of any chess collection and a browser’s delight. The new edition contains 25 percent more lists, games, diagrams and annotations. The majority of lists from the first edition have been updated or expanded .. or both.
Published 2002, softback, 255 pages.

CHESS METAPHORS

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Diego Rasskin Gutman
Artificial Intelligence and the Human Mind
When we play the ancient and noble game of chess, we grapple with ideas about honesty, deceitfulness, bravery, fear, aggression, beauty, and creativity, which echo (or allow us to depart from) the attitudes we take in our daily lives. Chess is an activity in which we deploy almost all our available cognitive resources; therefore, it makes an ideal laboratory for investigation into the workings of the mind. Indeed, research into artificial intelligence (AI) has used chess as a model for intelligent behavior since the 1950s. In Chess Metaphors, Diego Rasskin-Gutman explores fundamental questions about memory, thought, emotion, consciousness, and other cognitive processes through the game of chess, using the moves of thirty-two pieces over sixty-four squares to map the structural and functional organization of the brain.
Rasskin-Gutman focuses on the cognitive task of problem solving, exploring it from the perspectives of both biology and AI. He examines concept after concept, move after move, delving into the varied mental mechanisms and the cognitive processes underlying the actions of playing chess. Bringing the game of chess into a larger framework, he analyzes its collateral influences that spread along the frontiers of games, art, and science. Finally, he investigates AI's effort to program a computer that could beat a flesh-and-blood grandmaster (and win a world chess championship) and how the results fall short when compared to the truly creative nature of the human mind.
About the Author
Diego Rasskin-Gutman is Ramón y Cajal Research Associate and Head of the Theoretical Biology Research Group at the Institute Cavanilles for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Spain. He is the coeditor (with Werner Callebaut) of Modularity: Understanding the Development and Evolution of Natural Complex Systems (MIT Press, 2009).
Published 2009, hardback, 225 pages.
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CHESS MYSTERIES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

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Raymond Smullyan
This is an unabridged republication of a book originally published in 1979.
Join the master sleuth as he and Dr. Watson examine interrupted chess matches at clubs and country homes, examining the pieces' current positions to identify previous moves.
Rather than predicting the outcome of these games, the Baker Street duo focus on past events, using the same variety of logical reasoning that unlocks the secrets to their ever-popular mysteries.
Holmes instructs Watson (and us) in the intricacies of retrograde analysis in order to deduce on which square the white queen was captured, whether a pawn has been promoted, and which piece has been replaced by a coin.
The mysteries grow increasingly complex, culminating in a double murder perpetrated by the devious Professor Moriarty.
Philosopher and logician Raymond Smullyan brilliantly recaptures the mood of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales. Readers need only a knowledge of how the pieces move; the first puzzles explain all of the concepts that arise later on.
These witty and challenging problems will captivate chess aficionados, puzzle enthusiasts, Sherlock Holmes fans, and everyone who relishes mysteries, crime stories, and tales of detection.
Raymond Smullyan is a mathematician, logician, magician, creator of extraordinary puzzles, philosopher, pianist, and man of many parts.
Published 2012, softback, 184 pages.

CHESS PERSONALIA

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Jeremy Gaige
First published in 1987 to overwhelming international acclaim, Jeremy Gaige's Chess Personalia has been called "one of the most useful chess books ever published" (Edward Winter in New in Chess). The book is an invaluable resource for researchers and enthusiasts, and original copies are highly sought after by chess collectors. Long out of print, the original work is available here for the first time in a softcover format.
This biobibliography contains around 14,000 worldwide entries, each entry offering full name, date and place of birth and death, FIDE title, country of citizenship and citations to mentions in the world’s media. Variants in names are cross-referenced. Those knowledgeable in the chess world will recognize the author's name and be completely assured as to the comprehensiveness, accuracy, lack of bias, and sedulous research this extraordinary reference work represents.
Jeremy Gaige, well-known chess archivist and journalist, follows his profession in Philadelphia. His reference books have become standards for chess historians and journalists all over the world.
Published 1987, softback, 527 pages.

CHESS PSYCHOLOGY

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Angus Dunnington
Why do so many chess players only draw winning positions, or lose drawing ones? Why do many continually slip into time trouble, despite vowing after every game to move more quickly? How can a player perform like a Grandmaster on one day and a complete novice the next? What’s the best way to beat a lower rated player and what gives you the best chance against a higher rated one? In this book International Master Angus Dunnington answers these questions and more as he takes a fresh look at the value of studying psychology in chess. Read this practical guide, eliminate your mistakes, punish your opponents’ and improve your results! Dunnington considers the various psychological factors that affect your chess performance and illustrates his theories with practical examples of these.
Published 2003, softback, 128 pages.

CHESS READER VOL. I-VI

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Ken Whyld (Ed)
Chess Reader was a magazine devoted to publishing reviews of new chess books. It appeared in 6 volumes between 1955 and 1963 and this book is a facsimile reprint of these volumes. The reviews are all by noted bibliophile Ken Whyld who died in 2003. Since the originals are completely unobtainable this reprint fills a gap in the collectors market.
Published 2004, hardback, 458 pages.

CHESS WORDS OF WISDOM

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Mike Henebry
Chess Words of Wisdom is made up of the crucial information mined from over 400 chess books (plus hundreds of magazine articles, videos, DVDs, websites and various other sources) all condensed into this remarkably complete, and one-of-a-kind, chess book.
Chess Words of Wisdom quotes, paraphrases and summarizes the teaching of hundreds of experts, masters, IMs, GMs and even a few scientists, scholars and generals.Essentially, all of the wisdom from these important sources is in this one book!
Chess Words of Wisdom is a digest of hundreds of years of chess knowledge from the greatest chess minds in history. This is must-know information for the well-schooled chess player of all levels (from beginner to master).
Chess Words of Wisdom is unique in that it is all text. There are no diagrams or analysis at all in the book.There is not one single game in the entire book! Instead, the book is jam-packed with essential knowledge...in plain English.
If you want to learn, if you want to thoroughly understand chess, Chess Words of Wisdom is for you. Chess Words of Wisdom is about "understanding" chess.
There are no frills, cartoons, or nonsense of any kind in it...just intense, cover-to-cover, concentrated chess information in the form of verbal explanation.
This is an ideal textbook for chess teachers, coaches, trainers and all serious students of the game. It is for players of all strengths who are enthusiastic about understanding and mastering the game of chess.
Published 2010, softback, 548 pages.
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CLASSIFIED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHESS VARIANTS

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D B Pritchard
This is a new, expanded edition of the original Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants, published in 1994. For this edition over 200 new games have been added, and everything has been classified by type. The material for the book had been prepared by David Pritchard and, following his death in 2005, the text was completed and edited by John Beasley.
The book contains descriptions of over 1,600 games, both contemporary and historical. Some use an ordinary board and men; some use larger or smaller boards with additional pieces; some use hexagonal boards, circular boards, cylindrical and spherical boards, and boards of other shapes; some use boards in three and even more dimensions; some make use of cards or dice; some are for partnership and team play, or for several players each playing for himself. It represents the life's work of the leading expert in the field, and no book remotely similar to it is in existence.
David Brine Pritchard was a chess writer and indoor game consultant, and Britain's and probably the world's leading expert on variant and unorthodox forms of chess. He was the editor of Games and Puzzles from 1972 to 1981, and was a games director of the Mind Sports Olympiad. John Beasley is the current editor of the magazine Variant Chess, and author of several books on mathematical games and on chess problems and endgame studies.
Published 2007, hardback, 382 pages.
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COUNTERPLAY

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Robert Desjarlais
"Chess gets a hold of some people, like a virus or a drug," writes Robert Desjarlais in this absorbing book. Drawing on his lifelong fascination with the game, Desjarlais guides readers into the world of twenty-first-century chess to help us understand its unique pleasures and challenges, and to advance a new "anthropology of passion." Immersing us directly in chess's intricate culture, he interweaves small dramas, closely observed details, illuminating insights, colourful anecdotes, and unforgettable biographical sketches to elucidate the game and to reveal what goes on in the minds of experienced players when they face off over the board. Counterplay offers a compelling take on the intrigues of chess and shows how themes of play, beauty, competition, addiction, fanciful cognition, and intersubjective engagement shape the lives of those who take up this most captivating of games.
Robert Desjarlais is Professor of Anthropology at Sarah Lawrence College.
Published 2011, hardback, 251 pages.
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THE CURSE OF KIRSAN

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Sarah Hurst
Journalist Sarah Hurst spent seven years pursuing interviews with figures from the world of chess, both amateur and professional. Many of these interviews are reproduced here together with historical articles on players past showing how they tried to adapt to the life of a chess professional, often living on the fringes of society. Professional players crave money and respectability which, in Hurst's opinion, is why Kirzan Ilyumzhinov, with his millions of dollars, has been able to impress as a chess benefactor whilst simultaneously being a repressive dictator. Hurst unsuccessfully tried to organise a boycott of the 33rd Olympiad in Kalmykia after the m urder of a newspaper editor there. This book is not all about Kirzan, in fact only one chapter is devoted to him, but it is a collections of interviews and observations which shed light on the politics and mechanics of chess past and present. Most of these articles appeared in Chess magazine in the 1990s.
Published 2002, softback, 285 pages.

THE DAY KASPAROV QUIT: AND OTHER CHESS INTERVIEWS

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Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam
What goes on in some of the sharpest minds on earth? Ten years after his bestselling Finding Bobby Fischer Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam has collected a new series of intimate portraits of the top grandmasters of chess.Ten Geuzendam wins the confidence of Garry Kasparov, Miguel Najdorf, Vladimir Kramnik, Henrique Mecking, Vishy Anand, Judit Polgar, David Bronstein, Hikaru Nakamura and many others. He meets the living legends of chess in Buenos Aires and Istanbul, Moscow and New York. Vladimir Kramnik explains how the Czech ice hockey team inspired him to beat Kasparov, while Henrique Mecking reveals that Jesus helps him to find the correct move. Anyone attracted by the mystique of the royal game will love the behind-the-scenes stories about the masters’ struggle to win, their fear of losing, and the striking difference between the European and the American chess scene. Centre stage is occupied by the great Garry Kasparov, who topped the world rankings for more than 20 years, a feat unparalleled in any sport. Kasparov’s dramatic retirement from professional chess marks the end of an epoch which The Day Kasparov Quit evokes in fascinating detail.
Published 2006, softback, 344 pages.

DEVIOUS CHESS

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Amatzia Avni
Are you tired of playing routine chess, slavishly following the same positional and tactical ideas and ending up in dull, balanced positions most of the time? Then consider trying "devious chess". It means heading for complex, risky, materially unbalanced positions and playing moves which are not obvious, are impudent and often unsound. The real point is that you know that your moves and ideas may be suspect but, as long as they're double-edged and insanely complicated, you just don't care. You're playing for beauty and enjoyment. It was good enough for Mikhail Tal, Frank Marshall, Tony Miles, David Bronstein and a host of others and this book will give you an insight into what's required. Author and chess psychologist Amatzia Avni uses numerous examples from Grandmaster and Master play to show you how to steer your game into uncharted territory, make peculiar moves and raise the tension, and your opponents blood pressure, to boiling point. You're never going to be World Champion so why not enjoy yourself instead? The author is an Israeli Master and author of numerous books on the psychology of chess.
Published 2006, softback, 144 pages.

ENDGAME

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Frank Brady
Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness
Endgame is acclaimed biographer Frank Brady's decades-in-the-making tracing of the meteoric ascent - and confounding descent - of enigmatic genius Bobby Fischer. Only Brady, who met Fischer when the prodigy was only 10 and shared with him some of his most dramatic triumphs, could have written this book, which has much to say about the nature of American celebrity and the distorting effects of fame. Drawing from Fischer family archives, recently released FBI files, and Bobby’s own emails, this account is unique in that it describes Fischer’s entire life - an odyssey that took the Brooklyn-raised chess champion from an impoverished childhood to the covers of Time, Life and Newsweek to recognition as "the most famous man in the world" to notorious recluse.
Frank Brady is internationally recognized as the person most knowledgeable about the life and career of Bobby Fischer. Brady is the author of numerous critically acclaimed biographies, including Citizen Welles; Onassis: An Extravagant Life; and Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy (the first edition of which appeared in the mid-1960s and focuses on the young Bobby). Until recently, Brady was the Chairman of the Communications Department at St. John's University, and he remains a full professor there. He is also the President of the Marshall Chess Club and was the founding editor of Chess Life.
Published 2011, hardback, 413 pages.
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ENGAGING PIECES

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Howard Goldowsky
Engaging Pieces contains interviews with some of the most fascinating and controversial people in the chess world such as Mig Greengard, Jennifer Shahade, David Shenk and Hikaru Nakamura amongst others. It also contains a selection of chess short-fiction stories and a chapter of opinion pieces about issues in the chess world.
Highlights include:
Michael de la Maza explaining the importance of chess tactics and how he improved his USCF rating from Class-D to Expert in two years.
Jen Shahade talks about her book, Chess Bitch, and the controversial topic of women’s chess.
Hikaru Nakamura confides what it’s like to be a teenage chess star.
Mig Greengard, arguably the world’s most charismatic chess journalist, waxes philosophic on everything from the immaturity of professional chess players to promoting chess as a sport.
Hydra’s programmers, designers of the world’s best chess computer, explain the computer science behind their monster.
pub. 2007, softback, 248 pages.

ENIGMA OF CHESS INTUITION

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Valerie Beim
Intuition is by far the vaguest and hardest to grasp subject in chess, and consequently the least studied. Acclaimed author and experienced chess trainer Valeri Beim takes the bull by the horns and shows, with hundreds of well-explained examples:
• When intuition comes into play
• What the functions of intuition are
• Why some players have better intuition than others
• How intuition differs from pattern recognition
• How you can develop your chess intuition
• Why your intuition gets weaker as you grow older.
Valeri Beim deeply analyses and dissects how chess players think and demonstrates that each of us has the power of making intuitive decisions. You will learn how you can train and develop this human gift.
Beim uses plain language and illustrates his findings with sparkling tales about Capablanca, Tal, Fischer, Carlsen, and other greats in chess. With instructive examples of practical play, this is a thought-provoking, yet highly accessible work.
Valeri Beim is a Grandmaster who lives in Austria. He has won numerous tournaments and plays in the Austrian and German leagues. For many years he was the head trainer at the chess school in Odessa, and he was also the trainer of the Israeli Olympiad team.
Published 2012, softback, 268 pages.
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GENIUS AND MISERY OF CHESS

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Zhivko Kaikamjozov
This collection of pen portraits of some of the chess world's most brilliant and tragic figures reveals their remarkable achievements, often gained in the face of hardship and poverty. Each chapter has a short biography, capturing the essence of the person's life and chess playing career, and a sample game showing their style of play. There are descriptions of de la Bourdonnais, Gunsberg, De Vere, Neumann, Petrov, Fischer, Mecking, Carlsen and many more - over 45 players in all. Zhivko Kaikamjozov is a Bulgarian chess master, coach, arbiter and author of 33 books on the game.
Published 2008, softback, 224 pages.

GENIUS IN THE BACKGROUND

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Tibor Karolyi & Nick Aplin
Genius in the Background introduces brilliant chess that will be unfamiliar to even well-read chessplayers. Twelve chess stars are profiled with examples of their greatest achievements, but these stars are not famous - they are geniuses who stay in the background. For example, Pervakov and Afek are not household names but they compose chess studies and puzzles of such elegance and cleverness that they deserve to be famous. Top players such as Garry Kasparov and Veselin Topalov may be famous names to chess fans, but they did not become World Champions without great help - two of their coaches are profiled in this book and provide insights into the education of a chess champion. A broad range of chess is covered by the twelve profiles - from openings to endgames, puzzles to training. The common thread is beauty and brilliance that deserves to be better known.
Tibor Karolyi is an International Master of chess from Budapest, Hungary. He was Hungarian Chess Champion in 1984 and is also an award-winning author and renowned chess coach. One of his previous books won the Guardian’s chess Book of the Year prize in 2007. Karolyi coached Peter Leko, a former World Championship challenger, during Leko’s teenage years when in the space of four years Leko improved from promising junior to grandmaster. Nick Aplin is a university professor and respected chess author from Singapore.
Published 2009, softback, 382 pages.

GRANDMASTER'S MIND

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Amatzia Avni
Psychologist and FIDE Master Amatzia Avni is interested in how top players assess positions and how they come up with moves and plans. Here he interviews twelve leading players, including Lev Psakhis, Boris Gelfand and Ilya Smirin, taking them through their most instructive games and asking them to relate the thought processes which occurred during play. In this way the reader gains an insight into what criteria these players take into account when deciding on a move and the factors which influence their decisions. Avni also presents the players with unfamiliar positions and asks them to explain their reactions on encountering these these situations. Again their thought processes are revealed to the reader. In the second part of the book Avni summarises what has been learnt from the players comments, drawing his own conclusions and making recommendations on the subjects of problem solving, planning and thinking which can be used by players of all levels to improve their own game. Author Amatzia Avni is a FIDE Master and author of several chess books on patterns of thinking in chess.
Published 2004, softback, 176 pages.

HOOKED ON CHESS

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Bill Hook
Instead of being sent off to World War II in 1943, Bill Hook ended up in hospital for 15 months with tuberculosis. It was here that the 18 year old learned to play chess. Upon his release Hook headed for New York's legendary chess club "Fisher's" where, for the next 25 years, he witnessed a motly crowd of hustlers, amateurs and celebrities such as Marcel Duchamp and Stanley Kubrick. With a keen eye for detail Bill Hook portrays these lesser chess gods and more famous champions such as Miguel Najdorf and Bobby Fischer.
After he had a second home built in the British Virgin Islands, Hook began to represent them at chess and has played in a record 14 Chess Olympiads. Drawing from his deep well of memories Bill Hook describes, in vivid detail, his life, with chess, gambling and painting, as well as the many fascinating personalities he has met along the way. Published 2008, softback, 191 pages.
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HOW LIFE IMITATES CHESS

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Garry Kasparov
Former World Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov shares the powerful secrets of strategy he has learned from dominating the world's most intellectually challenging game for two decades - lessons about mastering the strategic and emotional skills to navigate life's toughest challenges and maximise success no matter how tough the competition. Drawing on a wealth of revealing and instructive stories, not only from his finest games, but also from a wide-ranging and perceptive knowledge of current affairs, Kasparov reveals the strategic ways of thinking that always give a player - in life as in chess - the edge. With a raconteur's engaging charm, a great chess strategist takes us inside a brilliant strategic mind. As Sun Tzu distilled the secrets of the art of war and Machiavelli unveiled the lessons to be learned from courtly intrigue, Garry Kasparov - a player whose record is likely never to be rivalled - reveals how and why the game of chess is a fitting and powerful teacher, of how to be prepared for, and how to win in, even the most competitive situations.
Published 2008, softback, 271 pages.

HOW TO USE COMPUTERS TO IMPROVE YOUR CHESS

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Christian Kongsted
Do you understand how to gain the maximum benefit from working with your computer? This book aims to explain the way chess computers "think" and, consequently, to help you understand their strengths and weaknesses and the best way of using them to improve your game. In Part One "How the Computer Works" Christian Kongsted looks inside the machine, explaining how it calculates, what it's blind spots are and how to beat it using anti-computer strategies. He uses examples from computer play to illustrate his points. Part Two "Improving with the Computer" shows how to use computer databases and playing programs to best effect with advice on analysis, learning openings and constructing opening trees & tactical and endgame training. Overall this book offers a practical insight into the nature of chess computers and how to use them to your own advantage. The author is a Danish journalist and strong correspondence player.
Published 2003, softback, 192 pages.
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HUMAN COMEDY OF CHESS

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Hans Ree
A brilliant collection of articles and reflections on the characters and politics of modern day chess. Ree is an articulate writer, as well as a Grandmaster, who has met personally with most of the people he describes, warts and all, here. Chapters on World Champions, Politics, History and Matches (including an excellent account of Short-Kasparov 1993) are all equally absorbing and pull no punches.
pub. 1999, softback, algebraic, 340 pages.

THE IMMORTAL GAME

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David Shenk
This entertaining history of chess is written in the style of a novel and picks out some of the most important and dramatic facts, events and personalities connected with the game of chess. From it's beginnings in the royal courts of India and Persia through Mediaeval times to today's professional, computer dominated era, chess has captivated and fascinated many people, players and non players alike. It has been used as a political tool, a moral guide, a means of artistic expression and, of course, a competitive sport and money making opportunity. The story of chess and it's influence on human culture and on certain famous individuals is told here, interspersed with the moves from and story of the Immortal Game played between Anderssen and Kieseritsky in 1851. David Shenk is the author of Data Smog, and The Forgetting. He has written for Harper's, Wired, Salon, The New Republic, the Washington Post, The New Yorker, and the New York Times Magazine.
Published 2006, softback, 344 pages.

J H DONNER - THE KING

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Tim Krabbe & Max Pam (Editors)
J.H.Donner (1927 - 1988) was a Dutch Grandmaster and one of the greatest writers about chess of all time. He was a chess reporter and a chess columnist, as well as an annotator of the game. Above all he was a witty and unpredictable commentator of everything and everybody, both inside and outside the chess world. The King spans a writing career of more than thirty years during which Donner slowly developed from chess player-writer into writer-chess player.
Donner's favourite themes are: Bobby Fischer, the blunder, chess as a game of luck, why women can't play chess, madness, and poor Lodewijk Prins, his rival for the Dutch National Championship for many years, who, according to Donner, "couldn't tell a bishop from a knight." The King is a book full of insults and ironies, but Donner wouldn't be Donner without a considerable amount of self-mockery.
About this edition:
In 1997 a part of this book (about two-thirds) was published in English, in a limited de luxe hardcover edition of only 750 copies (also titled 'The King'). It was a great hit with the few people who managed to obtain a copy. With this new edition, the unabridged English edition of this classic is published for the first time.
2nd edition, Published 2008, softback, 391 pages.

JOYS OF CHESS

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Christian Hesse
This is the ultimate book for lovers of chess. The Joys of Chess is an unforgettable intellectual expedition to the remotest corners of the Royal Game. En route, intriguing thought experiments, strange insights and hilarious jokes will offer vistas you have never seen before. The beauty, the battle, the culture, the fun, the art and the heroism of chess are the main themes of this fascinating and often surprising journey.
From the foreword by World Champion Vishy Anand:
This book bridges the gap between the world of chess and the rest of the world and makes numerous connections such as to literature, arts, philosophy, mathematics, physics and other areas. It is a rich compendium of spectacular highlights and defining moments from chess history: fantastic moves, beautiful combinations, historical blunders, captivating stories, and all this embedded into a plentitude of quick-witted ideas and contemplations as food for thought.
Your private guide is Christian Hesse, a Harvard-trained professor of Mathematics and an avid chess player. Chess and literature are his main hobbies, and he also likes fitness and boxing. His heroes are the ones who fall to the bottom and rise again, fall and rise again. Hesse has written a sparkling book that will give you many hours of intense joy.

Der Standard, Vienna:
"One of the most ingenious and enjoyable books ever written on chess."

Vladimir Kramnik, 14th World Chess Champion:
"A wealth of magnificent examples"

Europa Rochade Magazine:
"A fascinating collection of ideas, positions and curiosities."

Published 2011, softback, 432 pages.
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THE KGB PLAYS CHESS

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Boris Gulko
The KGB Plays Chess reveals the role that the Soviet Union's security agency played in the world of Soviet and international chess. Partly written by former KGB lieutentant colonel Vladimir Popov, it tells the story of how pressure was applied to non-conformist Grandmasters Victor Korchnoi, Boris Gulko, Boris Spassky and Garry Kasparov and of the involvement of the KGB in Soviet sports.
The book is written from two perspectives: that of the hunter and the hunted. Vladimir Popov tells of the KGBs machinations to "safeguard" the Soviet Union's pre-eminence in the chess world whilst Boris Gulko explains what it meant to be on the receiving end as a "refusenik" in a country where the state was all powerful.
Former KGB Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Popov, who left Russia in 1996 and now lives in Canada, was one of those who had worked all his life for the KGB and was responsible for the sport sector of the USSR.
It is only now for the first time that he has decided to tell the reader his story of the KGB's involvement in Soviet Sports. This is his first book, and it is not only full of sensations, but it also dares to name names of secret KGB agents previously known only as famous chess masters, sportsmen or sport officials.
Published 2010, softback, 176 pages.

KING'S GAMBIT

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Paul Hoffman
As a child, Paul Hoffman lost himself in chess. The award-winning author of the international bestseller The Man Who Loved Only Numbers played to escape the dissolution of his parents' marriage, happily passing weekends with his brilliant bohemian father in New York's Greenwich Village, the epicenter of American chess. But he soon learned that such single-minded focus came at a steep price, as the pressure of competition drove him to the edge of madness.
As an adolescent, Hoffman loved the artistic purity of the game - and the euphoria he felt after a hard-fought victory - but he was disturbed by the ugly brutality and deceptive impulses that tournament chess invariably brought out in his opponents and in himself. Plagued by strange dreams in which attractive women moved like knights and sinister men like bishops, he finally gave up the game entirely in college, for the next twenty-five years.
In King's Gambit, Hoffman interweaves gripping tales from the history of the game and revealing portraits of contemporary chess geniuses into the emotionally charged story of his own recent attempt to get back into tournament chess as an adult - this time without losing his mind or his humanity. All the while, he grapples with the bizarre, confusing legacy of his own father, who haunts Hoffman's game and life.
Published 2007, hardback, 433 pages.

KINGS OF NEW YORK

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Michael Weinreb
The Edward R Murrow School is located in Brooklyn, New York. An unconventional group of kids at an unconventional school located in the heart of the most unconventional city in America is making headlines, with a chess club. Murrow has one of the most successful youth chess teams in history. But what transforms a bunch of underprivileged children into the best chess players in the USA? Is it the school, the coach, hot-house tuition, or just sheer genius kids? Michael Weinreb was determined to find out. So he spent a year with the team, following them from cash games in Washington Square Park to state tournaments, from meeting President Bush in the White House to the national championships, discovering what makes them so special. Meet Sal Bercys, Lithuanian self-proclaimed 'stupid, lazy genius'; Oscar Santana, Puerto Rican aspiring card shark; Alex Lenderman, barely five feet tall, painfully shy and the second-highest-rated fifteen-year-old chess player in the United States; and, coach Eliot Weiss - a former semi-pro ice-hockey player turned maths teacher. They're a cross-section of New York: immigrants, natives, rich, poor, black, white, show-offs and shrinking violets, kids who couldn't be more different except when it comes to one thing - chess. "The Kings of New York" is the story of how a group of kids battle their differences to come together as a team, and how they face their victories and defeats. It's a story of growing up, of the joys and pains, hopes and disappointments of adolescence. Above all, it's the story of a handful of gifted misfits searching for the silence and order and strange beauty that can be found within those sixty-four squares on a chess board.
Published 2007, softback, 288 pages.

LINARES! LINARES!

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Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam
Every year some of the world's best chess players gather in Linares for the now famous tournament. Journalist Dirk ten Geuzendam describes the atmosphere, the players and the experience of Linares which compels him to return year after year. This is an excellent pen portrait of the personalities and emotions involved in a top class tournament. The author is editor of New in Chess magazine.
Published 2001, softback, 126 pages.

MAMMOTH BOOK OF CHESS

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Graham Burgess
A comprehensive guide to the game which offers something for players of all standards. A knowledge of how to play chess and chess notation is assumed.
Features include:
* Entirely new and expanded sections on online chess, computers and openings.
* A complete guide to all the main openings.
* Basic checkmates, more complicated combinations, examples of middlegame play, endgames explained.
* Hundreds of test positions for players of all standards
* Courses in tactics and attacking strategy and analysis of some of the greatest games ever played.
* Information and advice on club, national, and international tournaments.
* Glossary of terminology. Practical advice and information for further study.

Packed with practical advice this is one of the best value chess books ever written!
Graham Burgess is a FIDE Master He has written more than twenty highly acclaimed books on chess.
New edition 2009, softback, 570 pages.

NEW IN CHESS: THE FIRST 25 YEARS

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Steve Giddins (Ed)
This collection of articles, tournament reports and great games is taken from New in Chess Magazines published between 1984 and 2009. It covers many of the greatest chess stories of this period such as Fischer's final days, the death of Tal, Kasparov's domination and retirement, Karpov's Linares 1994 triumph and the rise of Kramnik and Anand. With tournament reports, interviews, historical articles and more this book offers something for every chess lover.
Published 2009, softback, 398 pages.

PAUL MORPHY: THE PRIDE AND SORROW OF CHESS

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David Lawson
The definitive biography of the world's greatest chess player!
Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess is the only full-length biography of Paul Morphy, the chess prodigy who launched United States participation in international chess and is still acknowledged by some as the greatest American chess player of all time.
But Morphy was more than a player. He was a shy, retiring lawyer who had been taught that such games were no way to make a living. The strain of his fame and the pull of his domineering family led Morphy to set another precedent: chess madness.
Morphy's mental descent after retiring from chess became a part of his lore, made all the more magnanimous by a spate of twentieth-century examples.
The Pride and Sorrow of Chess tells the full known story of the life of Paul Morphy, from his privileged upbringing in New Orleans to his dominance of the chess world, to the later tragedy of his demise.
This new edition of David Lawson's seminal work, still the principal source for all Morphy biographical presentations, also includes new biographical material about the biographer himself, telling the story of the author, his opus, and the previously unknown life that brought him to the research.
Thomas Aiello is an assistant professor of history at Valdosta State University. He has edited this updated edition of Lawson's 1976 original. Many errors from the original have been corrected in accordance with the author's wishes. The sixty games featured in part two of the original are not included in this edition.
Published 2010, softback, 426 pages.

PLAY LIKE A GIRL!

Ref: m7703

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Jennifer Shahade
Play Like A Girl!, the first book of its kind, is a collection of tactical positions from the world's best women chessplayers. Profiled players range from Hungary's Judit Polgar, the best woman chessplayer in history, to Abby Marshall, the teenager who became the first American girl to win the Denker High School Tournament of Champions.
Each player has their own chapter, associated with a particular tactical idea, featuring around 20-30 puzzle positions based on the same theme. Each chapter also includes a photo and brief biography of the player together with an explanation of their tactical theme.
Chess lovers of all levels can enjoy the puzzles, as the difficulty goes all the way from one-move killer blows to deep, complex combinations. The crushing tactics in this book show that "playing like a girl" is something to aspire to!
When you purchase Play Like a Girl!, you're also helping charity. All author royalties go to the Tucson-based non-profit organization, 9Queens. The book is edited by two-time U.S. Women's Champion Jennifer Shahade, a co-founder of 9Queens.
Published 2011, hardback, 100 pages.

THE RELIABLE PAST

Ref: n1114

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Gennady Sosonko
The Reliable Past is the eagerly awaited sequel to Russian Silhouettes, Genna Sosonko's marvellous collection of portraits from the golden age of Soviet chess. Combining an insider's nostalgia with the detachment of a critical observer, Sosonko, who left Leningrad to settle in Holland in 1972, described champions and other key figures of Soviet chess from a privileged dual perspective. In this new book, the author again shows himself a unique chronicler of a time when chess occupied a unique position in his native country; but he also wanders across it's borders with his memories of Dutch World Champion Max Euwe and a touching tribute to the first ever British grandmaster, Tony Miles. There are also reminiscences of Viktor Korchnoi, Salo Flohr, Edward Gufeld, Viktor Baturinsky and others.
From the preface by Garry Kasparov: "The reader is presented with a gallery of wonderful pen-portraits that radiate the author's love and devotion to chess, and with a due measure of objectivity and detachment. Look, it says - this is the chess world and its heroes, with all their virtues and defects!"
Published 2003, softback, 205 pages

RUSSIAN SILHOUETTES (NEW ED)

Ref: n1293

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Genna Sosonko
Gennady Sosonko lived the first twenty nine years of his life as a trainer of Soviet players in St Petersburg. He later moved to the Netherlands and followed a career as a leading chess Grandmaster. In this book he reminisces about the great players he knew and coached during his time in the Soviet Union writing about many episodes and incidents which offer unique insights into the personalities and lives of these greats. Sosonko has created marvellous pen portraits of Tal, Botvinnik, Vitolins, Zak, Geller, Furman and others. As he says "Each time after one of those, whom this book is about, passed away I wanted to read about them .. What I myself knew. More than this - what only I knew. Hence this book." A fascinating and enjoyable read.
Published 2009, softback, 224 pages.

SHALL WE PLAY FISCHERANDOM CHESS?

Ref: b8764

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Svetozar Gligoric
Fischerandom chess, the invention of Bobby Fischer, is a bold attempt to nullify the effect of computer-aided opening preparation, which plays such a large part in today's grandmaster level game. Each sides pieces undergo and identical, random shuffle on the back rank just before the game begins. This results in a possible 960 different starting positions and the players don't know which they will get until they are ready to play. Supporters of Fischerandom chess contend that, by this means, opening preparation is negated and the better player on the day wins. In this book Gligoric discusses the problems of modern day chess, with quotes from leading players, the history of shuffle chess and the birth of Fischerandom chess. He lists the rules for the new game and shows Fischerandom in action in the recent GM tournaments at Frankfurt and Mainz. The future of chess??
Published 2002, softback, 144 pages.

SMART CHIP FROM ST PETERSBURG

Ref: n1169

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Gennady Sosonko
Sosonko continues his collection of chess portraits of the great players from the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. Much of his writing is based on personal reminiscences taken from his years in Leningrad and, in more recent times, Holland. This volume includes pieces on Genrikh (Chip) Chepukaitis, Ratmir Holmov, Ludek Pachman and Jan Hein Donner amongst writings on many other aspects of the chess world. In many ways this series contains Sosonko's memoirs, recounting his life's experience in chess, the people he has known and events which he has witnessed during his life as a Grandmaster. His previous books, Russian Silhouettes and The Reliable Past have become best-sellers and this work continues in the same vein. Author Genna Sosonko lived the first 29 years of his life in Leningrad. He emigrated to Holland in 1972.
Published 2006, softback, 197 pages.

SOFT PAWN

Ref: p4145

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William Hartston
A book no chessplayer should be without, including as it does, An Astrological Guide, The Chess Bluffer's Manual, Etiquette for Chessplayers and the Chess Capability Inventory as well as stories and a play! Do you know the correct form of clothing to don for each stage of the game or how to offer a draw when playing against a reigning monarch? If not then read this, the complete antidote to hardcore chess theory!
Published 1995, softback, 94 pages.

SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR CHESS PARENTS

Ref: p4340

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Tanya Jones
Do you have a child who is interested in chess, but you’re not sure how to help? In Survival Guide for Chess Parents, Tanya Jones concentrates on the numerous aspects of being a ‘chess parent’ and answers the many questions facing those with chess-playing children. She writes from experience since she has accompanied her own son Gawain at many tournaments on his way to becoming a British Junior Champion. Issues as diverse as ‘How can I help in the very early stages?’, ‘How do I find suitable clubs and tournaments?’, ‘Should I watch when he or she is playing?’ and ‘How do I find a good chess coach?’ are discussed at length. Jones also tackles aspects such as chess and education, weekend and rapidplay events, plus the ever-increasing role of computers and the Internet. Whether your child is just starting out in the game or is a budding prodigy, this book will be a useful guide. Includes 25 of Gawain's most memorable games with his own annotations
Published 2004, softback, 174 pages.

THOMAS FRERE AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF CHESS

Ref: x2327

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Martin Frere Hillyer
The 19th century in America saw the evolution of a leisure society. Enjoying numerous technological advances, people had free time to indulge in a variety of pursuits. An assortment of board games flooded American homes. By the middle of the century, chess had surpassed all other games with its popularity. The author of three important chess texts, Thomas Frere was instrumental in the growth of chess as a significant American pastime.
This work provides an historical and chronological look at the 19th century development of chess through the writings of Thomas Frere. His books, letters, chess columns and scrapbooks chronicles the ways chess evolved over the greater part of the 1800s, and illuminates important players of the time and their games. The main text is divided into four sections covering 1827-1900. The first section looks at the early years as chess moved from private to public venues, discussing the establishment of formal chess clubs such as Frere's 1856 Brooklyn Chess Club. The second section deals with the First American Chess Congress and the advent of Paul Morphy to the world of chess. The third section focuses on Frere's part in the first formal world chess championship, a role thoroughly documented in Frere's letters. The fourth section examines the last decade of the 1800s and the steps that led chess into the 20th century. Martin Frere Hillyer is a descendant of Thomas Frere. He lives in Ohio.
Published 2007, hardback, 223 pages.

THREE DAYS WITH BOBBY FISCHER

Ref: c2309

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Lev Alburt & Al Lawrence
An entertaining read comprising a series of articles (only the first is about Fischer) which first appeared on the internet. These are written mostly by the authors but also include contributions from Boris Spassky and Josif Dorfman. All aspects of chess are featured, including memories of great players, chess instruction, opening theory & new ideas for rapid improvement. The book includes many photographs and ten pages of colour photographic prints. An ideal present for any chess enthusiast!
Published 2003, softback, 285 pages.

TREASURE CHESS

Ref: n2204

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Bruce Pandolfini
Treasure Chess is an entertaining and instructive collection of anecdotes about famous players and games, puzzles and brain teasers, tips and tricks and quotes, jokes and other writings on chess. A fascinating compendium compiled by chess coach and author Bruce Pandolfini.
Published 2007, hardback, 273 pages.

TURK (THE), CHESS AUTOMATON

Ref: x0778

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Gerald M Levitt
A richly detailed and illustrated account of the 18th century chess playing "machine" which was, in reality, operated by a succession of human players. This fact was, amazingly, kept hidden for decades in spite of the operative having to play chess, move the complex machinery and sit in a hot, confined space for hours. This book contains extensive analysis of the hidden operation of the Turk as well as detailed discussion of the surrounding literature. Many Turk games are included along with other games known to have been played elsewhere by the Turk's operators. A superbly researched and produced book.
Published 2000, hardback, 258 pages.

WHITE KING AND RED QUEEN

Ref: a4609

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Daniel Johnson
The Cold War was enacted in multiple arenas: military coalitions, espionage, industrial and technological developments, an arms race, many proxy wars - and chess. Those 64 squares may seem an unlikely battleground, but chess, adopted by the Communist regime in Russia as a symbol of Soviet power, played an enormous role in this psychological war. Throughout the duration of the hostilities, international chess contests reflected the shifting balance of power between the two factions. From the 1945 radio match in which the Soviet Union crushed the US, to the Fischer-Spassky game of 1972 that shattered three decades of Soviet chess-hegemony, such legendary showdowns illuminate the story of how the West triumphed over Communism. This unique and original history reveals chess as the perfect metaphor for political and military confrontation. Daniel Johnson, a chess prodigy himself and a scholar of post-war history, is the perfect guide to this strange and remarkable period, when chess matches, for a brief, golden time, were front-page news, and captured the world's imagination.
Published 2007, hardback, 383 pages.

WISEST THINGS EVER SAID ABOUT CHESS

Ref: b8800

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Andrew Soltis
"Help your pieces to help you", "The best opening is the opening your opponent doesn't know", "There are 'good' bad bishops and 'bad' good bishops." This fascinating book contains 288 powerful strategic insights, culled from three centuries of great players. Each of these invaluable maxims is illustrated with an example from master play, making the book a useful repository of chess concepts for both players and teachers alike. These snippets of wisdom are arranged into themed chapters such as: Calculation, Intuition, Strategy, Position Evaluation, Openings, Sacrifices, Attitude, Endgames, Mistakes, Studying, Time Management and Tournament Tactics. This is a great book to dip in and out of - every page contains a nugget of wisdom that will help you hone your own chess skills and win your next game. Andrew Soltis is an American Grandmaster, journalist and author of numerous successful books on chess strategy and thinking.
Published 2008, softback, 304 pages.

YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION

Ref: b5093

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Michael Chabon
"Nine months Landsman’s been flopping at the Hotel Zamenhof without any of his fellow residents managing to get themselves murdered. Now somebody has put a bullet in the brain of the occupant of 208, a yid who was calling himself Emanuel Lasker."
In this alternative history detective story, a temporary settlement for Jewish refugees was established in Sitka, Alaska in 1941 and the fledgling state of Israel was destroyed in 1948. The novel is set in Sitka and features homicide detective Meyer Landsman. An unfinished chess game is an integral part of the murder investigation, and an obsession with chess is also crucial to Landsman’s family history.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union won a number of science fiction awards including the Nebula Award for Best Novel. Michael Chabon is a Pullitzer Prize winning author of several best-selling novels.
Published 2008, softback, 414pp
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