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Joseph Henry Blackburne

Author : Tim Harding

Publisher : McFarland

Page : 589 pages

File Size : 31,18 MB

Release : 2015-08-13

Category : Games & Activities

ISBN : 1476620288

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Book Description

During a career spanning more than 50 years, J.H. Blackburne (1841-1924) won the British Chess Championship and several international tournaments, at his peak becoming one of the world's top three chess masters. A professional player who derived his livelihood from annual tours of chess clubs in England and other countries, entertaining and teaching amateur players, he astonished his contemporaries by the ease with which he played the game without sight of the chessboard. At 21, he set a world record for such exhibitions, competing against 12 club players simultaneously, and he continued to perform "blindfold" into his sixties. This first comprehensive biography of Britain's greatest chess player of the 19th and early 20th centuries presents more than 1,000 of Blackburne's games chronologically, including all his surviving games from serious competition, annotated in varying detail. Many are masterpieces containing beautiful combinations and instructive endgame play. Blackburne's unusual family and social background are fully explored.





Eminent Victorian Chess Players

Author : Tim Harding

Publisher : McFarland

Page : 407 pages

File Size : 36,16 MB

Release : 2012-04-26

Category : Games & Activities

ISBN : 0786465689

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Book Description

This book portrays British chess life in the nineteenth century through biographical studies of ten players who shaped the modern game. From Captain Evans, inventor of the famous gambit, to Isidor Gunsberg, England's first challenger for the world championship, personal narratives are blended with game annotations to reassess players' achievements and character. The author has combined deep reading in primary sources with genealogical research to reveal new facts and correct previous misunderstandings. Major chapters on Howard Staunton and William Steinitz, in particular, highlight the tensions between Englishmen and immigrants, amateurs and professionals. The contrasting long careers of Henry Bird and Joseph Blackburne provide a thread of continuity. The lives of several other important figures in Victorian chess are also presented. More than 160 games (with diagrams), several annotated in detail, and 50 photographs and line drawings are included. Appendices provide career records for all ten; there are extensive notes, a bibliography and indexes.



Vera Menchik

Author : Robert B. Tanner

Publisher : McFarland

Page : 327 pages

File Size : 28,89 MB

Release : 2016-09-18

Category : Games & Activities

ISBN : 1476624984

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Book Description

Not only was Vera Menchik the first woman in the history of chess to compete on an equal basis with the top male players, she absolutely dominated women's chess during the last 17 years of her life. Hers was a fascinating career as an independent professional in an era where this was rare for women in any endeavor. In this book her games are brought to life utilizing her own annotations, as well as the notes of her contemporaries including Capablanca, Alekhine, Fine and others. All of her known games, as well as samples of her writings on the subject of chess are included. Beyond the technical aspect of her games, a brief biography and eulogies by her friends and colleagues reveal her life as a player and as a human being. Included are her comparisons of Russia where she was born and England where she resided as an adult, her philosophy of life, as well as her perspectives on chess in England and during World War II. Above all, a view is provided of the life of the chess professional during the golden age of Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, and Euwe.



Soviet Chess 1917-1991

Author : Andrew Soltis

Publisher : McFarland

Page : 479 pages

File Size : 43,58 MB

Release : 2016-04-07

Category : Games & Activities

ISBN : 1476611238

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Book Description

This large and magnificent work of art is both an interpretive history of Soviet chess from the Bolshevik Revolution to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 and a record of the most interesting games played. The text traces the phenomenal growth of chess from the Revolutionary days to the devastations of World War II, and then from the Golden Age of Soviet-dominated chess in the 1950s to the challenge of Bobby Fischer and the quest to find his Soviet match. Included are 249 games, each with a diagram; most are annotated and many have never before been published outside the Soviet Union. The text is augmented by photographs and includes 63 tournament and match scoretables. Also included are a bibliography, an appendix of records achieved in Soviet national championships, two indexes of openings, and an index of players and opponents.



H.E. Bird

Author : Hans Renette

Publisher : McFarland

Page : 608 pages

File Size : 31,5 MB

Release : 2016-10-07

Category : Biography & Autobiography

ISBN : 0786475781

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Book Description

No chess player of the 19th century had a longer, more varied career than Henry Edward Bird (1829-1908). After pursuing a civil career for years his love for chess prevailed. He belonged to the top level of British players for decades but he really shone at Simpson's Divan. Bird's accessibility, fierce attacking style and contempt for draws made him a people's favorite but his proud and touchy character led him into disputes with his colleagues. A very strong and widely known player, he fell into oblivion after his death. This comprehensive first biography of Bird provides a detailed account of his personal life and a deeply researched coverage of his feats at the chess board. Almost 1,200 games are included, hundreds of them published here for the first time. Nearly 450 games--many of them thrilling all-out fights--are presented with a mix of contemporary and modern annotations.



Steinitz in London

Author : Tim Harding

Publisher : McFarland

Page : 422 pages

File Size : 11,97 MB

Release : 2020-09-10

Category : Games & Activities

ISBN : 1476669538

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Book Description

Drawing on new research, this biography of William Steinitz (1836-1900), the first World Chess Champion, covers his early life and career, with a fully-sourced collection of his known games until he left London in 1882. A portrait of mid-Victorian British chess is provided, including a history of the famous Simpson's Divan. Born to a poor Jewish family in Prague, Steinitz studied in Vienna, where his career really began, before moving to London in 1862, bent on conquering the chess world. During the next 20 years, he became its strongest and most innovative player, as well as an influential writer on the game. A foreigner with a quarrelsome nature, he suffered mockery and discrimination from British amateur players and journalists, which eventually drove him to immigrate to America. The final chapters cover his subsequent visits to England and the last three tournaments he played there.



500 Master Games of Chess

Author : Dr. S. Tartakower

Publisher : Courier Corporation

Page : 706 pages

File Size : 12,87 MB

Release : 2012-04-30

Category : Games & Activities

ISBN : 0486138135

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Book Description

Vast collection of great chess games from 1798 through 1938, with much hard-to-find material. Fully annotated, arranged by opening for easier study. 150 years of master play!



My Chess Career

Author : José Raúl Capablanca

Publisher :

Page : 214 pages

File Size : 33,41 MB

Release : 1920

Category : Chess

ISBN :

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Book Description



Blindfold Chess

Author : Eliot Hearst

Publisher : McFarland

Page : 445 pages

File Size : 40,90 MB

Release : 2009-04-03

Category : Games & Activities

ISBN : 0786452927

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Book Description

For centuries, blindfold chess--the art of playing without sight of the board or pieces--has produced some of the greatest feats of human memory, progressing to the extent that the world record in 2009 was 45 [and is now 46] simultaneous blindfold games. This work describes the personalities and achievements of some of blindfold chess's greatest players--including Philidor, Morphy, Blackburne, Zukertort, Pillsbury, Reti, Alekhine, Koltanowski, Najdorf and Fine, as well as present-day grandmasters such as Anand and Kramnik. Including some never before published, 444 games scores are presented, peppered with diagrams and annotations. Hints for playing blindfold, and its practical value, are also included.