3847. ---- HISTORY OF CHESS - Some Recommended Books: ***** THIS SECTION UPDATED 21 MAR 08 *****
Home page: www.chessbooks.co.uk Tony Peterson, 11 Westbury Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 4DW, UK. Tel: 01702 462757. email: tony@chessbooks.co.uk £0.00194. Eales (R.): Chess. The History of a Game.
Batsford 1985. 1st Edn.VG,d/w. 240pp. A seriously researched, but also readable, history. Includes signed compliments slip from the author. £15.003216. Garzón (José A.): The Return of Francesch Vicent. The History of the Birth and Expansion of Modern Chess.
Valencia, 2005. New large hardback. 495pp, illustrations. Garzón, of Valencia, succeeded with a remarkable chess historical coup as he was able to trace the apparently lost incunabulum of Francesch Vicent in an Italian manuscript - his "Libre dels jochs partitis dels scachs en nombre de 100" which was published in 1495 in Valencia. José’s latest work on the birth and the expansion of modern chess is connected with this and further find(s), and contains reproductions from the original manuscript, the 100 problems, a comparison with Damiano and other manuscripts etc. A monumental work. £40.002466. Gizycki (J.): A History of Chess.
Abbey Library, 1972. 8 x 11in. 375pp., many illustrations, including colour plates. G,d/w (top edge a bit creased). First published in Polish in 1960. For this English edition B.H.Wood has added a new chapter on Anglo-Saxon aspects of the game and thoroughly revised the original text. Includes sections on chess and art, in poetry & prose, mathematics, famous people who played chess etc..This 1972 edition is much superior to the 1977 reprint, the paper being of better, whiter quality, and the coloured plates being mounted. The d/w is also different. £28.009. Golombek (H.): A History of Chess.
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1976. 1st Edn. Large format, G,d/w. 256pp., numerous illustrations, some coloured. £8.002685. Hagedorn (R.K.): Benjamin Franklin and Chess in Early America. A Review of the Literature.
University of Philadelphia Press, 1958. 1st Edn. Paper somewhat yellowed as usual o/w G,d/w (slightly torn on edges). pp92, plates. Details 60 works printed in America from 1802 to 1859, Franklin's "Morals of Chess", with commentary and essay on Franklin. A scarce and useful reference work. £45.0012. Hartston (W.R.): The Kings of Chess. A History of Chess Traced through the Lives of its Greatest Players.
Pavilion, 1985. 4to, p/b. VG. 192pp., well illustrated with photos and old historical prints and pictures, a few famous games annotated. (A.) £12.003299. Hilbert (J.): Essays in American Chess History.
Caissa, US 2002. 1st Edn. F. 359pp., illus. A collection of 30 pieces by one of America¹s most highly acclaimed chess historians, containing over 300 chess games, many not available before, including long-forgotten ones by the likes of Steinitz, Pillsbury, Lasker, and Capablanca. Chapters literally run the gamut from humor to murder. Detailed coverage of long-forgotten events include the Franklin Chess Club Championship of 1897-98, the Washington Chess Divan Championship for 1942 (won by Reuben Fine), and Atlantic City 1921. Essays on correspondence chess, as well as chapters on players such as Mackenzie, Capablanca, Whitaker, and others are included. Twenty-four photographs and line drawings. A treasure trove for chess history buffs. (A.) £25.002004. Lasa (T.von der): Zur Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels.
Leipzig 1897. (Facsimile Reprint 1984.) VG. pp viii,269. His most important book, still perhaps the clearest account of the game's development in Europe from medieval times. (Oxford Companion.) £35.001595. Murray (H.J.R.): A History of Chess.
A new reprint (2002) of the 1913 first edition. Hardback. F,d/w. 900pp. 18 plates. The largest and most famous history of chess, mainly concerned with the evolution of modern chess from oriental origins up to the early 18th century. £35.00436. Murray (H.J.R.): A Short History of Chess.
Oxford UP 1963. 1st Edn. VG,d/w. 138pp. A new and original brief history of the game up to 1866, brought up to 1962 by B.Goulding Brown and Golombek. £25.00365. Richards (D.J.): Soviet Chess.
OUP 1965. 1st Edn. Pencil notes in margins o/w G. 201pp. A serious work on the history of Soviet chess from 1917, and on the Soviet School of Chess - practice, preparation, literature etc.. £20.00671. Silbermann (Dr.J.) & W.Unzicker.: Geschichte des Schachs mit ausgewahlten und kommentierten Partien von Andre Philidor bis Bobby Fischer.
Bertelsmann 1975. 1st Edn. VG, d/w. 368pp., portraits, some 60 annotated games. A good history of chess, including biographies of leading players, anecdotes, literature etc.. £15.00