Karlsbad 1907

DonMcKim

Jun 1, 2022, 4:43 AM | 8

International Master, Jeremy Silman, in reviewing this book, wrote that “Karlsbad 1907 is one of the best (if not THE best) tournament books ever written” (https://www.jeremysilman.com/book-review/karlsbad-1907/). Karlsbad 1907 was the first of four tournaments held in this German spa city: 1907, 1911, 1923 and 1929. The English translation of the tournament book appeared on the hundredth anniversary of the summer 1907, using the book produced annotated by George Marco and Carl Schlechter. Among the top players of the world, only Emanuel Lasker and Siegbert Tarrasch were absent. Younger players mixed with established players to produce this strong event.

The book is George Marco and Carl Schlechter, Karlsbad 1907 International Chess Tournament, trans. Robert Sherwood, ed. Dale Brandreth, Analysis checked by Robert Sherwood and Rybka appeared in a Caissa Editions (Yorklyn, Del.) in 2007, on the hundredth anniversary of the tournament. This is a superb edition in every way. On the two annotators, Brandreth wrote that “Among the cognoscenti of chess tournament literature, both the book and the tournament itself have long been recognized as superlative. George Marco is famous for his witty, humorous style and for the depth and ingenuity of his annotations, while Carl Schlechter is renowned for his great strength as a player and for his hard work as a meticulous commentator” (i). The 210 games of the tournament are amply annotated and translator Robert Sherwood used the computer program Rybka to check much of the analysis. He also added additional comments and corrections, while including extra diagrams as well.