The chess boom triggered by the 1972 Fischer–Spassky match enthused many talented youngsters, especially in Britain. Boris Spassky became an early casualty of the fallout from the ‘English chess explosion’ when he took on a schoolboy squad over 30 boards in 1979. The event was…
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The Moves That Matter A Chess Grandmaster on the Game of Life Jonathan Rowson 352 pages | hardback | £20.00 London: Bloomsbury, 2019 Sarah Hurst The Moves That Matter is the very personal story of Jonathan Rowson’s search for meaning in life and…
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by Raymondo I have been totally and utterly besieged, inundated, deluged, submerged, flooded, swamped, overwhelmed and snowed under by amazingly fascinating readers’ comments on the fascinatingly amazing game I presented as a tribute in The Times of 25 February, in which I paid homage to…
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‘Najdorf is harping on his constant “bad luck”. . . We are not sharing this impression. We think differently and to better explain the why and wherefore, we cite the insurance companies which have statistics for everything. When a person has an accident and everything…
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CORRESPONDENCE B.H. WOOD, Esq., CHESS. Dear Wood, There is one aspect of Dr. Alekhine’s character which may come as a surprise to chess players generally, for in that respect he has not been very widely advertised, that of kindness and readiness to help. In 1938…
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Louis Paulsen A Chess Biography with 719 Games Hans Renette 448 pages | hardback | 108 illustrations | $75.00 Jefferson: McFarland, 2019 Jonathan Hinton Author Hans Renette has established himself as a leading chess historian with the publication of his immense 2016 biography of…
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‘This book is definitely for chess players who enjoy reading crime—by a chess player who really knows his underworld.’ Jim Phelan (1895–1966) led an eventful life, but what is known of his chess life?
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Second prize Bobby Fischer oven gloves See also Two Brains Women Prefer Bridge
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Playwright Samuel Beckett’s interest in chess is well known, but what did he read about the game? There are several chess books among the 757 works in Beckett’s online library. ‘He also studied the chess columns regularly in Le Monde and spent hours playing chess…
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Chess and Early Cold War Propaganda Chess, like many sports, has been used as a political instrument. Files recently released by the National Archives reveal how the Soviet Union exploited chess for propaganda during the early years of the Cold War (1953–1960). In December 1953,…
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