|
Favorite Chess Books
By Glen Hart
Chess is a game with a rich and almost
inexhaustable body of literature that includes wonderful
works that document its rich history, offer instruction
and guidance in all phases of the game for novice,
intermediate and grandmaster alike, or simply provide
wonderful hours of entertainment. Choosing a short
list of favorite books from among this trove is, at
the end of the day, a futile task. Be that as it may,
I will offer a list of some of the books that I have
enjoyed most. I won't call it a desert island list
- probably best to take a laptop, given the sheer volume
that can be put on board, and provided there is electricity
on that island - but these are volumes that I have
found particularly enlightening or immensely enjoyable
(or both!) I hope you agree.
 |
Seven
Chess Prodigies by
John W. Collins
When I first learned how to play
chess during the excitement surrounding the 1972
Fischer - Spassky match I came across John
W. Collins' "My
Seven Chess Prodigies," the
wonderful account of his work with Bobby Fischer,
Robert and Donald Byrne, William Lombardy, et.
al. A very inspirational book.
|
 |
The
Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev
Two of
my favorite instructional game collections are
Irving Chernev's "The
Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played" (recommended
to me by our own Scott Massey!) and Michael Stean's "Simple
Chess" (which presents examples illustrating
how to exploit weak pawns, outposts, open files,
etc.). How is it that volumes like these can
make the game seem so simple and intuitive, yet
it is still so difficult when facing opponents
over the board? (Another note here, these volumes
are both published by Dover Publications, New
York, a publisher who, hands down, provides the
best value in chess publishing.) |
 |
The
Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Ken Whyld
My favorite
one-volume work on the game is "The
Oxford Companion to Chess," Second Edition,
by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld. Alphabetical
entries on vitually every aspect of the game
- players and other historical figures, openings,
famous events and dates, nomenclature and much
more. |
 |
A Picture History of Chess
by Fred Wilson
I think that among bibliophiles,
one never really loses the fascination for the
simple picture book, though maybe when we are
adults we graduate to the coffee table volume.
I offer two works that fit this genre. "La
Part Du Jeu," compiled by the journalist
Sabine Kaufmann (Editions Furor, Geneva), a collection
of wonderful black and white photos of top grandmasters
at work, taken at various tournaments throughout
Europe over about a decade from the mid-1980's
through the mid-1990's. Don't let the fact that
the accompanying text is in French deter you
enjoying this work. I have searched for English
translations to many of the short texts in the
book (insights into play and chess and human
nature) - by such authors as the sociologist
Johan Huizinga, Leon Tolstoy, Stefan Zweig and
Roger Caillois. The second work is Fred
Wilson's "A
Picture History of Chess." A more general
and historical look at chess in general and master
chess since the 1800's. With text and captions
in English! |
 |
The
King: Chess Pieces by J. H. Donner
Perhaps the single most entertaining
work that I have read on the game is the collection
compiled by the publisher New In Chess of the
best newspaper articles written by the Dutch
chess journalist and grandmaster Jan Hein Donner
entitled "The
King: Chess Pieces" (reviewed
at ChessCafe).
Agree or disagree with Donner, his writings on
the game are witty, funny, irreverant, opinionated.
Take this volume along with "The
Complete Chess Addict" by Mike Fox and Richard
James (Faber and Faber) for hours of pure entertainment. |
 |
The
100 Best Chess Games of the 20th Century by Andy Soltis
I would be
remiss if I didn't include at least one volume
by the publisher McFarland & Co.,
a small publisher of high quality scholarly works
in a variety of disciplines including chess.
Andrew Soltis' "The
100 Best Chess Games" is an example of the
great work done by this publishing house. |
 |
Anthology
of Chess Combinations by Chess Informant
I really enjoy books of chess
combinations and there are many good examples.
My favorite is probably Chess
Informant's (Belgrade) "Anthology
of Chess Combinations" which is a collection
of perhaps the best and most difficult examples.
The only drawback is that they are classified
by piece and as such - at least when you look
at the text edition - the first move of the combination
usually suggests itself pretty readily. The solution?
Purchase the e-book edition, which can be perused
in training mode. Quite a nice work to have on
your computer. As a matter of fact, couple this
anthology with the electronic editions of the
Chess Informant volumes (1 - 92 to date) for
a really terrific collection of works for your
computer that you can play over anytime with
the nice chess reader software interface that
they provide. |
 |
Chess
Olympiads by Sports
Verlag
Back to the print world - and other foreign
languages! Among tournament books the Sport Verlag
(Berlin) works on the chess
Olympiads, though
in German, are perhaps the finest tournament
books produced. Not for the games necessarily
- although there are many good games - but for
the sheer quality of the books themselves including
many photos, diagrams, crosstables and features.
Worth learning a little German to enjoy. Another
great tournament book (this one in Dutch) is
the New In Chess 60 year anniversary work on
the strong, traditional Hoogovens tournament
in the Netherlands entitled "60
jaar Hoogovens Schaaktoernooi: 1938 - 1998."
|
 |
My 60 Memorable Games by
Bobby Fischer
And finally, a memory of the time
when I learned the game in my youth, and a memory
of Bobby Fischer when he wrote about chess, his
work "My
Sixty Memorable Games," originally
published by Simon and Schuster. I didn't necessarily
understand the depth of the games, but I was
enthralled. |
Updated 05.05.2005 |
Contact Michael
Goeller
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|