World of Chess

Most chess books deal with technique or analyses of the world's greatest games. This, on the other hand, is a rare treat: a large-sized "coffee table" book filled with hundreds of color photos and art-work reproductions spanning the history of chess, or at least up to 1975, which is when The World of Chess came out. Written at the height of the game's popularity in the U.S. thanks to Bobby Fischer's dramatic win over Boris Spassky, the book would soon be relegated to discount-bin status when the eccentric champion refused to defend his title, and American interest in chess withered. But for a few years it was all glory, and chess-players were almost up there with sports superstars. (Can you believe that for a brief time chess matches were broadcast on TV, with play-by-play commentary? This book shows pictures of one such event.) The World of Chess starts with the origin and history of the game, from the earliest known days in India, through chess' spread to Europe as eastern (Muslim) culture met west through the Moorish conquest of Spain. There are fascinating anecdotes, such as how early devotees of the game risked their lives. (Chess ran afoul of Muslim authorities because of Islam's prohibition of representational images, and it ran afoul of Western authorities because early on it was a gambling game.) There's a story about how a victory in one chess game led King Ferdinand of Spain to finance Columbus' first voyage, but I rather doubt the tale, because the game that's attached looks too much like a chess problem rather than a plausible position (although stranger things have happened, I guess). The book moves to "modern" chess history--modern being Philidor and beyond. Games were now recorded and studied, theories evolved, romantic speculative sacrafices gave way to quiet positional understanding, and chess became more than a game of fast tactics and quick kills (except in big city parks, where chess hustlers still shake down their victims this way). The book discusses the creation of the "Staunton" design of chessmen (not actually designed by Staunton, by the way) and continues through the 20th century with the Hypermodern Revolution and the rise of the Soviets, and ends with the famous Fischer-Spassky duel in Iceland in 1972. There are also chapters where authors Anthony Saidy and Norman Lessing recount personal stories of their own chessic lives. Saidy (b. 1937) is an International Master; Lessing a top-notch coffeehouse player who once battled, and lost to, then-world champion Alexander Alekhine in an informal game for a ten dollar wager. It was an astronomical amount of money at the height of the Depression. I wonder what his wife said. The only slight flaw in the book is the excessive fawning over Fischer. But Fischer-mania was sweeping the country, so this is not surprising. Since then the former champ's behavior, always prickly, has become even more bizarre, damaging chess in the process, reinforcing the belief that the game is pl

Most chess books deal with technique or analyses of the world's greatest games. This, on the other hand, is a rare treat: a large-sized "coffee table" book filled with hundreds of color photos and art-work reproductions spanning the history of chess, or at least up to 1975, which is when The World of Chess came out. Written at the height of the game's popularity in the U.S. thanks to Bobby Fischer's dramatic win over Boris Spassky, the book would soon be relegated to discount-bin status when the eccentric champion refused to defend his title, and American interest in chess withered. But for a few years it was all glory, and chess-players were almost up there with sports superstars. (Can you believe that for a brief time chess matches were broadcast on TV, with play-by-play commentary? This book shows pictures of one such event.) The World of Chess starts with the origin and history of the game, from the earliest known days in India, through chess' spread to Europe as eastern (Muslim) culture met west through the Moorish conquest of Spain. There are fascinating anecdotes, such as how early devotees of the game risked their lives. (Chess ran afoul of Muslim authorities because of Islam's prohibition of representational images, and it ran afoul of Western authorities because early on it was a gambling game.) There's a story about how a victory in one chess game led King Ferdinand of Spain to finance Columbus' first voyage, but I rather doubt the tale, because the game that's attached looks too much like a chess problem rather than a plausible position (although stranger things have happened, I guess). The book moves to "modern" chess history--modern being Philidor and beyond. Games were now recorded and studied, theories evolved, romantic speculative sacrafices gave way to quiet positional understanding, and chess became more than a game of fast tactics and quick kills (except in big city parks, where chess hustlers still shake down their victims this way). The book discusses the creation of the "Staunton" design of chessmen (not actually designed by Staunton, by the way) and continues through the 20th century with the Hypermodern Revolution and the rise of the Soviets, and ends with the famous Fischer-Spassky duel in Iceland in 1972. There are also chapters where authors Anthony Saidy and Norman Lessing recount personal stories of their own chessic lives. Saidy (b. 1937) is an International Master; Lessing a top-notch coffeehouse player who once battled, and lost to, then-world champion Alexander Alekhine in an informal game for a ten dollar wager. It was an astronomical amount of money at the height of the Depression. I wonder what his wife said. The only slight flaw in the book is the excessive fawning over Fischer. But Fischer-mania was sweeping the country, so this is not surprising. Since then the former champ's behavior, always prickly, has become even more bizarre, damaging chess in the process, reinforcing the belief th