H.E. Bird: A Chess Biography with 1,198 Games Hans Renette 608 pages | hardback | 150 illustrations | 1,198 games | $75.00 Jefferson: McFarland, 2016 Adrian Harvey During the period after 1860 three British chess players had a plausible claim to be in…
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‘No one can remember the late Tigran Petrosian’s accepting an unsound sacrifice. It was really a waste of time to throw the gauntlet down before him because he did not possess an ounce of that defiant pride that drives others to refute an opponent’s every…
Read More‘Tigran Petrosian, world champion from 1963 to 1969, was known throughout his tournament career as the most urbane contender ever to reach the game’s summit. Petrosianism came to stand for carefully guarded control of positions, extraordinary flexibility and slipperiness in defense and prudence in…
Read More‘Which player on the international circuit got on more of his colleagues’ nerves than any other? That’s easy − nine out of ten grandmasters would instantly nominate Henrique Mecking, the one-time Brazilian enfant terrible, who retired from active competition some years ago due to…
Read MoreJeremy Silman As a child (in conservative San Diego), I recall thinking about Omar Khayyam’s ‘A jug of wine, a loaf of bread and thou.’ Having never imbibed anything other than milk, I couldn’t quite understand what Omar was trying to say. Now we jump…
Read MoreSamuel Lipschütz: A Life in Chess Stephen Davies 408 pages | hardback | 42 illustrations | 249 games | $65.00 Jefferson: McFarland, 2015 Hans Renette Samuel Lipschütz It does not take much to fire a passion. In his introduction…
Read More‘When David Bronstein offered me a draw after 25 moves of our game in the Alekhine Memorial Tournament in Moscow in 1971. I was quite willing to accept. The position had become a tortuous tangle of backward pawns and weak squares on both sides…
Read MoreIgnaz Kolisch: The Life and Chess Career Fabrizio Zavatarelli 376 pages | hardback | 63 illustrations | 174 diagrams | 324 games | $75.00 Jefferson: McFarland, 2015 Stefan Löffler I can’t think of a chess personality who enjoyed a more adventurous and prosperous…
Read MoreLeonid Stein (1934-1973), who died prematurely on this day 43 years ago, was one of the most dynamic attacking players of his generation. Krogius – Stein Kiev 1960 Black to play Stein – Petrosian Moscow 1961 White to play Gligorić – Stein Lvov 1962…
Read MoreJoseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography 1 Tim Harding 592 pages | hardback | 95 illustrations | 1,186 games | $75.00 Jefferson: McFarland, 2015 Adrian Harvey When Nigel Short defeated Anatoly Karpov in their match in 1992 he surely secured the greatest triumph ever by…
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