Chess Books – Five Best, According to Schoenfeld.

These chess books make all the right moves, says Gabriel Schoenfeld
WSJ – March 22, 2008; Page W10

1. My 60 Memorable Games
By Bobby Fischer
Simon & Schuster, 1969

The great chess books are great less for their prose style than for their insight into the application of highly controlled violence. “My 60 Memorable Games” was written while Bobby Fischer was still on his steep ascent to the world-champion title — and long before the slide into madness that ended with his death in January. He recounts his eviscerations of some of the most brilliant minds of the mid-20th century. But Fischer was never content with victory alone; he aimed to inflict agony on his opponents — in his own words, “I like the moment when I break a man’s ego.” Where did such ferocity come from? Fischer, who never knew his own father, once explained that “children who grow up without a parent become wolves.”

2. Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors
By Garry Kasparov
Everyman, 2003-06

Before Garry Kasparov ended his playing career in 2005 to battle for democracy in Russia, he was rightly considered to be the greatest grandmaster of all time. But here he humbles himself charmingly before giants such as world champions Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900) and José Raúl Capablanca (1888-1942). In this comprehensive study of grandmaster play — from the “Italian school” of the 16th century to our current postmodern synthesis — Kasparov aims to connect his forebears’ playing style with “the values of the society in which they lived and worked” and the “geopolitical reality” of their respective eras. The result is a work of unparalleled depth, spirit and ambition — it already stretches into five volumes, and a sixth is on the way.

3. Tal-Botvinnik, 1960
By Mikhail Tal
Russell Enterprises, 1970

How exactly do grandmasters think? Mikhail Tal’s account of his struggle for the world championship title nearly a half-century ago is not merely an analysis of 21 thrilling games. It is an intimate view of the chessboard fantasies of a supreme tactical genius. Tal (1936-92) was pitted against Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-95), the world’s foremost “scientific” player, the defending title-holder and the dean of the Soviet school of chess. In the resulting clash of styles, Tal prevailed by a convincing margin. His victory was a vindication of unfettered imagination and a demonstration that chess can be scientific only in the way that Soviet socialism was scientific, which is to say not at all.

4. My System
By Aron Nimzowitsch
1925

Aron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) described “My System” as a “chess manual” based “on entirely new principles.” His idea that pawn masses at the center of the board might be a liability — vulnerable to attack from the flanks — was revolutionary, toppling verities and generating fierce resistance. “The reward for my new ideas consisted of abuse,” he wrote bitterly, “or at best systematic silence.” Today, nearly a century later, he would delight to know that his “hypermodern” approach is widely accepted. But if Nimzowitsch’s “My System” aimed at rationalizing chess, as the title suggests, its premise was supremely romantic: “For me,” he wrote in a characteristic passage, “the passed pawn possesses a soul, just like a human being; it has unrecognized desires which slumber deep inside it and it has fears, the very existence of which it can but scarcely divine.”

5. Lasker’s Manual of Chess
By Emanuel Lasker
Dutton, 1927

The German mathematician Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941) wrote in his “Manual of Chess” that the game “would be laughable, were it not so serious.” After decades of studying philosophy, he came to believe that truth could be found only in mathematics and chess. Of the contest of wills between two players manipulating 32 wooden pieces on 64 squares, he wrote: “Lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of a lie; the merciless fact, culminating in a checkmate, contradicts the hypocrite.” Lasker, a close friend of Albert Einstein’s, won the world championship in 1894 and held the title for 27 years, the longest reign so far.

Mr. Schoenfeld, the senior editor of Commentary, is a chess columnist for the New York Sun.

100 Chess Book Reviews by Blue Devil Knight – Part 5.

BDK’s excellent youtube series describing his library of chess books continues.

Previous Book Review Videos -

Part 1.

Part 2

Part 3.

Part 4. 

Check out his blog – Confessions of a Chess Novice.

Book Promo for “The Immortal Game” by David Shenk.

A book promo by Doubledaypublishing.

100 Chess Book Reviews by Blue Devil Knight – Part 4.

BDK’s youtube series describing his library of chess books continues.

Previous Book Review Videos -

Part 1.

Part 2

Part 3.

Check out his blog – Confessions of a Chess Novice.

100 Chess Book Reviews by Blue Devil Knight – Part 3.

BDK’s youtube series describing his library of chess books continues.

Previous Book Review Videos -

Part 1. Part 2.

Check out his blog – Confessions of a Chess Novice.

100 Chess Book Reviews by Blue Devil Knight – Part 2.

BDK’s youtube series describing his library of chess books continues. Here’s part 1.

Check out his blog – Confessions of a Chess Novice.

100 Chess Book Reviews by Blue Devil Knight – Part 1.

Blue Devil Knight has undertaken a huge project – a multi part youtube video review of 100 of his chess books. Here is his first installment. I’ll embed them here at Pawned! as he makes them available, and give a link out to his posts on his blog. I’m looking forward to seeing these – thanks, BDK !

BDK’s blog post.

The Love of the Game.

Chess player calculates how to share his love of the game.

By Vince Pierri, Chicago Daily Herald

There’s a section at Libertyville’s Cook Memorial Library called the “Quiet Area,” but it’s not completely silent.

The tapping of computer keys; a student ripping paper from a notebook; a middle-aged woman zipping her parka. Typical sounds.

But an odd noise, the clicking of plastic against plastic, comes from one of the tables. The delicate pounding of chess pieces as they conquer each other on a green-and-white board.

It’s a frigid night in February. As freezing rain pelts the windows, two men are locked in a silent, but intense, competition.

Their body language is aggressive. Leaning forward, arms pressed hard against the table, their eyes scan left then right, up then down, contemplating the next move.

Rob Krause comes here every Thursday night. The 33-year-old from Buffalo Grove sets up his board and waits for opponents.

He’s been coming weekly for the past five years, a member of the Renaissance Knights Chess organization; Krause spends the better part of his days promoting the ancient game.

He loves chess and wants others to love it too.

Krause gives lessons to kids in the Chicago Public Schools, adults with disabilities and home-school groups. He’s also a chess coach at Stevenson High School. They were state champs this year.

Slanomir Borkowski, a mechanical engineer from Mundelein, is the challenger tonight.

Plotting, planning, and second-guessing, Borkowski’s thumb is pressed against his temple. Death is in the air, and he knows it.

Krause’s moves are unexpectedly swift now. His black bishop streaks diagonally and flattens Borkowski’s white knight. Krause scoops it up placing it among his other captives.

“I like playing fast,” Krause says. “It’s like a choreographed dance.”

There’s no smug pleasure in vanquishing an opponent. Krause is way past that.

“Chess is a playhouse for philosophy,” he said. “You make judgment calls and learn the value of sacrifice. It’s a beautiful game.”

Read Story in it’s entirety here.

What’s in Your Chess Bookshelf?

Here is a youtube video post from Whatheup2 where he gives a short description of his collection of chess books. I have a few of these, but my collection is quite a bit different than his. What’s on your bookshelf?

Book Trailer – The Pawn, by Steven James

I recently received Steven James’ The Pawn as a birthday present from my nieces. I’m only several pages into it, but so far it’s a pretty gripping story. I’ll post a review of it soon.

Meanwhile, have a peek at the publisher’s book trailer below. You might also want to have a look at Steven James’ web site. And here is his Blog.