Karl Marx Plays Chess and Other Reports on the World's Oldest Game

While there are a vast number of chess books to learn the art of playing, this particular book contains very little to improve your chess directly,Rather, it is a wonderful collection of anecdotes on the game itself, and the giant and not-so-giant figures who've been part of the chess through the years.Filled with dozens of Soltis' articles from a US Chess magazine (Chess Life?). It's just a joy to read with or without the aid of a board.Extremely highly recommended.

The material in this book is compiled from Soltis' "Chess to Enjoy" column in _Chess Life_. The chapters are a lively mixture of anecdote and analysis, and should entertain anyone with any level of interest in chess.Soltis knows his chess history, and tells some neat stories, such as the history of Capablanca's Composition. This is a problem composed by Capablanca in 1908, in which flaws were found after his death. The problem itself is fascinating, but Soltis makes a good story of the ups and downs of the subsequent analysis, and points out that chess fame still awaits anyone who can save the composition.Soltis is also good with anecdote and wit; my favourite section perhaps being the very tongue-in-cheek instructions on how to annotate a master game, e.g. suggesting safe adjectives: "positions are 'difficult,' 'winning,' 'critical,' 'hopeless,' or--the safest dodge of all--'shown in the diagram.'"Very entertaining; recommended.