If you are someone who is into math and science, then you might like The Rating of Chessplayers: Past and Present, by Prof Arpad Elo. It was first published in 1978, so some of the historical data presented is terribly dated. But if you like statistics, like I do, you will enjoy the discussion on how the Elo Rating system was developed, and some of the assumptions behind it.
Persona Non Grata sounds fascinating. I have Raymond Keene's The World Chess Championship: Korchnoi vs. Karpov - The Inside Story of the Match. Keene was Korchnoi's second during the 1977-1978 cycle.
In 1974, Korchnoi had been annoyed by the favoritism shown by the Soviet Chess Federation to their up and coming winderkind, Anatoly Karpov. As Keene wrote, "Korchnoi found it almost impossible to find grandmaterly assistance and was constantly subjected to threats and harassment." And this was before he defecteds to the West!
After Korchnoi requested political asylum from the Durtch, in 1976, the Soviets demanded that Korchnoi (who, as the runner-up in the previous cycle, was entitled to an automatic berth in the next Candidates Cycle) be expelled from competition!! FIDE President and former World Champion Max Euwe denied the Soviet demands and Korchnoi began his path back toward the title during 1977-1978.
He was paired with former World Champion Tigran Petrosian in the first round match, and defeated him 6 1/2 to 5 1/2 (best of 12). This was a grudge match in which Petrosian did not shake Korchnoi's hand, look at Korchnoi, or speak to Korchnoi. Draws were offered through the match arbiter.
In the semi-finals Korchnoi was paired against two-time USSR Champion Lev Polugaevsky, and defeated him 8 1/2 to 4 1/2 (best of 16). Korchnoi had defeated Polugaevsky in the previous cycle as well. It tooks days of negotiation, but the Soviet authorities allowed Polugaevsky to shake Korchnoi's hand prior to each game, though Korchnoi was not allowed to play under any national flag! Keene counter-offered that Korchnoi be allowed to play under the "Skull & Crossbones" flag! Ha!
In the final match, Korchnoi was paired against his old nemisis, Boris Spassky. It must have been a nightmare for the Soviet chess heirarchy. Korchnoi was viewed as an outright traitor, and Spassky, who had lost the crown in 1972 to Fischer, had left the USSR for France in 1976. Both Korchnoi and Spassky represented real threats to the World Championship that Karpov had not won over the board.
Korchnoi talk is always welcome, JamieDelarosa!
The Soviets built a political system around elementary school behavior.
Most interesting = The Oxford Companion To Chess, I've spent hundreds of hours thumbing through it and refer to it all the time.
Korchnoi talk is always welcome, JamieDelarosa!
The Soviets built a political system around elementary school behavior.
Korchnoi may be the best player in his time never to have been the champion of the world ... but that is fodder for a different topic!
Most interesting = The Oxford Companion To Chess, I've spent hundreds of hours thumbing through it and refer to it all the time.
Very well. On this topic, I am with Dodger111.
The most useful chess books in my library have been the following:
Korchnoi talk is always welcome, JamieDelarosa!
The Soviets built a political system around elementary school behavior.
Korchnoi may be the best player in his time never to have been the champion of the world ... but that is fodder for a different topic!
I wouldn't fault you on that choice. Though my personal preference would be Bronstein as he tied Botvinick in the WCC match. That's just an opinion though... Bronstein is a favorite of mine :)
Bronstein is a good choice too. His book about the Zurich Candidates Tournament is considered a classic (mentioned above). I have the 1978 hardback edition in English, edited by Burt Hochberg, translation by Oscar Freedman, with an introduction by Dr. Max Euwe.
Some people think it is a mere tournament book. Not so! It is graduate class in how to play chess.
The most interesting book in my collection (not based on content) is a copy of Chess by R.F. Green, which I found at a used bookstore for $25.00, and it is dated from 1890. I haven't read it, so I don't know what the content is like, but oh well. It's a chess book that will soon be 125 years old!
The most interesting book in my collection (not based on content) is a copy of Chess by R.F. Green, which I found at a used bookstore for $25.00, and it is dated from 1890. I haven't read it, so I don't know what the content is like, but oh well. It's a chess book that will soon be 125 years old!
One of the most famous chess primers of all time! It was in print for over 70 years through various editions. If you have a first edition, you have quite a find.
Korchnoi talk is always welcome, JamieDelarosa!
The Soviets built a political system around elementary school behavior.
Korchnoi may be the best player in his time never to have been the champion of the world ... but that is fodder for a different topic!
I wouldn't fault you on that choice. Though my personal preference would be Bronstein as he tied Botvinick in the WCC match. That's just an opinion though... Bronstein is a favorite of mine :)
Well since we are goinng down that road :-) Let me chime in with my personal favorite for not winning the world title...Sammy Reshevsky
Soviet Middlegame Technique
The Middle Game in Chess
100 Endgames You Must Know: Vital Lessons for Every Chess Player Improved and Expanded
Chess Endgame Training
The 100 Endgames one is great but I feel that Nunn's Understanding Chess Endings does a better job than even it. It isn't easy to out-author Nunn.
Sorry bro but i don't own a library
Sorry bro but i don't own a library
With online databases and digital opening books, libraries of printed chess literature will become less and less common. Still, there are some collections of games, instructional manuals, etc., that have not entered the digital age.
Some of my books had not been looked at in decades and were languishing in boxes in my garage. It is time they get used! Knowledge unused is wasted and eventually forgotten.
Thanks for chiming into my topic, sis.
My very first chess book, that I got when I was about 12 years old (7th grade?), was Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. I must have worn it out or given it away, because I could not find it when I unpacked my other books.
As I recall, it was a paperback that was printed in such a way that you had to flip it over to get the answers.
Yes, I fully agree with Dodger111 (post 24) and GhostofMaroczy (post26) about "The Oxford Companion To Chess", 2nd edition, 1996, 486 pages but want to mention another very good chess reference book now : "The Even More Complete Chess Addict" by Mike Fox and Richard James, 2nd edition, 1993, 393 pages.
As an Emanuel Lasker fan I like J. Hannak's "Biography..." and "Das Schachgenie Lasker" by Isaak and Wladimir Linder; also "Why Lasker Matters" by Andrew Soltis ! Great books !
Playboy Mag
Yes, JamieDelarosa, post 35, libraries have less books than in the ol'days, I remember going to the library for end game books, when my club-game was adjourned for a week...
I even helped closing down the small library we had in our chess club, some 20 years ago...
But there still are lots of books on chess, for everybody, on each subject, new and old (also second hand-) ones, see www.schaakboek.nl
Korchnoi talk is always welcome, JamieDelarosa!
The Soviets built a political system around elementary school behavior.
Korchnoi may be the best player in his time never to have been the champion of the world ... but that is fodder for a different topic!
I wouldn't fault you on that choice. Though my personal preference would be Bronstein as he tied Botvinick in the WCC match. That's just an opinion though... Bronstein is a favorite of mine :)
What about Keres or Rubinstein?
Where are getting a little bit of "topic drift," but yes, Keres would be right up there as one who "coulda, woulda, shoulda," but for bad timing.
Rubenstein? Not sure. How young was he when he started having mental problems?
Ooooo, first edition of M60MG!
My is the fourth printing. And the dust cover is in pretty bad shape.