8 results for "History"

Logical chess: move by move : every move explained

Chernev, Irving
Learn the secrets behind some of the most classic moves in chess in this timeless best seller. In this refreshed version of a much loved classic, Irving Chernev explains 33 complete games in detail, telling the reader the reason for every single move. Playing through these games and explanations gives a real insight into the power of the pieces and how to post them most effectively. Chernev thoughtfully explains the decision-making process and contextual meaning behind each move as it's made. This makes it easy to follow along and reap the rewards of his wisdom, assimilating what makes a bad move, a good move, or a winning move. Whether you've been playing chess for years or you've recently been introduced to the game through its newfound resurgence in popularity through chess clubs and popular media, this book can help you learn how to strengthen your abilities through the power of positional play, and how to appreciate the consequences of actions made or not made on the board, with this enduring bestseller from one of history's most highly regarded chess writers, passed down from generation to generation of players as one of the greatest chess texts of all time.
Batsford 2026-06-30 256 pages

Your Move What Board Games Teach Us about Life

Jonathan Kay,Joan Moriarity
The great board game revolution is here-- What do these games tell us about our society, our relationships, and ourselves? "Games, Jonathan Kay and Joan Moriarity show in this lively and insightful book, are not just fun and games: they allow us to explore the complexities of the world, from evolution to war to climate." - STEVEN PINKER, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress "Kay and Moriarity are both skilled writers and elucidators, and their voices are distinct enough to provide the book with a pleasing yin and yang. It's a far more perceptive and intriguing book than it appears at first blush, particularly for those readers who have never thought of games as an artistic medium - at least not one that comments on society." - KIRKUS REVIEWS Board games are among our most ancient and beloved art forms. During the rise of digital media, they fell from prominence for a decade or two but today they are in a new golden age. They're ingeniously designed, beautiful to look at, and exhilarating to play. Games are reclaiming their place in our culture, as entertainment, social activity, and intellectual workout equipment. Alone among all art forms, games require their audience (called "players") to participate. If nobody's playing, there is no game. As a result, games can tell far more about us than our TV shows, movies or music ever could. How does The Game of Life illustrate our changing attitudes about virtue? How does a World War II conflict simulation game explain the shortcomings of a failed novelist? Each chapter of Your Move examines one game, and what it reveals about our culture, history, society, and relationships. The book's two co-authors bring the perspectives of a writer who plays, and a player who writes. Before Jonathan Kay began his distinguished career as an author and commentator, he had a passion for games, and in recent years he has rediscovered them. Meanwhile, Joan Moriarity's career has been spent designing, developing, distributing, art directing, recommending and teaching board games and, recently, writing about them for a wider audience. With its short, punchy essays, and beautiful photographs of the games themselves, every chapter will be a worthwhile read in itself, and the book overall will leave you inspired to discover the truths of your own inner and outer world through play -- whether you're a seasoned veteran or a total newcomer.
Sutherland House Incorporated 2019-09-11 180 pages

Garry Kasparov on Modern Chess, Part 1 Revolution in the 70s

Garry Kasparov
This book is the first in a brand new series that follows on from My Great Predecessors and sees chess legend Garry Kasparov reflecting on a pivotal time in chess history. Bobby Fischer's spurt towards the chess summit (1970-1972) marked the approach of a new era affecting all aspects of the game and opening theory in particular. Fischer demonstrated the need for deep preparation with both colours, expanded the range of openings knowledge, and laid the foundations for present-day professional chess. The leader of the new generation, Anatoly Karpov, fully reaped the benefits of the Fischer revolution by mastering the lessons of his great predecessor. Of the players of the older generation, only Victor Korchnoi was able to achieve such a high level of professionalism. Alas, Fischer then left the chess stage. However, the tectonic shifts he had brought about led to the beginning of a genuine revolution in opening theory and a revolution that overturned traditional impressions about many typical positions. Between 1972 and 1975 alone, progress in the field of opening theory was more significant than in the entire preceding decade! Under Fischer's influence chess was radically regenerated, a process which then continued to accelerate. As a result, from the 1972 Fischer-Spassky world championship match to 1984 and the Kasparov-Karpov matches, the overall picture of chess openings changed almost beyond recognition. This fascinating book tells the story of this opening revolution. This story is told not only with the insight of Garry Kasparov, but also as seen through the eyes of the leading players who were at the forefront of the development of chess theory during those key years. The reader will witness at first hand how rapidly and inexorably chess development approached the coming computer era.
Everyman Chess 2007-02 418 pages

A World Champion's Guide to Chess Step-By-Step Instructions for Winning Chess the Polgar Way!

Susan Polgar,Paul Truong
The best-selling A World Champion's Guide to Chess is available again!! Winning Chess the Polgar Way! In A World Champion's Guide to Chess, Women's World Champion Susan Polgar's exclusive training methods will have you playing winning chess! Topics include Chess Essentials, Tactics, Strategy, Pattern Recognition, Endgames, Chess Etiquette, Advice for Parents & Coaches and much more! SUSAN POLGAR is a winner of four Women's World Championships and the top-ranked woman chess player in the United States. She became the #1 woman player in the world at 15 and remained in the top 3 for over 20 years. In 2013, she received the U.S. Coach of the Year Award and the following year, she was named the Chess Trainer of the Year by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). She thus became the first person in history to be accorded both honors. Under her guidance, SPICE chess teams at both Texas Tech University and Webster University have won a combined five consecutive National Division I Collegiate Chess Championships. PAUL TRUONG is winner of eleven national titles, a prolific chess trainer, and award-winning chess author. He was also captain and manager of the historic 2004 US Women's Olympiad team which won two gold and two silver medals, as well as the coach of the five-time national champion SPICE chess teams.
Russell Enterprises, Incorporated 2015-11-19 384 pages

First Book of Chess

I. A. Horowitz,Fred Reinfeld
This book holds the distinction and is famous for being the first chess book Bobby Fischer ever read. As Bobby himself tells the story, when he was 6 years old, one day his sister Joan brought home a plastic chess set she had bought in the market and they learned how to play by reading the instructions on the box. Later, when Bobby had developed an interest in the game, Joan brought home a book appropriately entitled "First Book of Chess." It was then a new book, just out. As they say, the rest is history. We will not guarantee that you will become the World Chess Champion if you read this book. We will not even double your money back if you do not become World Chess Champion. However, we will guarantee that you cannot go wrong if you start chess with this book.
Ishi Press International 2001-12 134 pages

Curious Chess Facts

Irving Chernev
Curious Chess Facts is Irving Chernev's first book. Published in 1937, it is his famous collection of chess anecdotes. The facts in this book are so famous that they have become part of chess lore, repeated thousands of times, published in countless books and magazine articles by many different authors, such that it is almost forgotten that this book is the original published source. Here are some examples: At a dinner somebody gave a toast to the World Chess Champion. Both Steinitz and Zukertort stood up. (They played a match to determine the real world champion. Steinitz won the match but Zukertort had finished three points ahead of him in London 1883.) This is Curious Chess Fact Number 197 in this book. One that I use that often helps me remember chess history is that Steinitz was World Champion for 28 years. His record was not quite equaled by Lasker who was world champion for 27 years. This is Curious Chess Fact Number 21. Since I remember that Lasker lost the world title to Capablanca in a match in 1921, I can calculate back to determine the year in which Lasker won the world championship by defeating Steinitz in a match. Then, going back another 28 years I can calculate the year that Steinitz defeated Adolf Anderssen who some consider to have been the first world chess champion. Another example is that Marshall won a famous game by a queen sacrifice that was so brilliant that the spectators showered the board with gold pieces. This is Curious Chess Fact Number 9. The moves of the game itself with the spectacular queen sacrifice are to be found in almost every anthology of famous chess games. The story that the spectators showered the board with gold pieces is always included with the moves. The list goes on any on. There are so many of them that you just have to read this book to see and recall them.
Ishi Press International 2013-03 84 pages

Capablanca's Hundred Best Games of Chess

HARRY. GOLOMBEK GOLEMBEK (HARRY.),Julius Du Mont
Jose Raoul Capablanca is widely regarded as the strongest chess player who ever lived prior to Bobby Fischer. The authoritative work, "The Rating of Chess Players Past and Present" by Arpad Elo, inventor of the modern rating system, ISBN 0923891277, rates Capablanca as 2725, higher than any other player in history prior to Fischer. The great thing about Capablanca's style of play is he tended to play simple, direct moves, moves that even an amateur player can find over the board. Jos Ra l Capablanca y Graupera was the third World Champion, reigning from 1921 until 1927. Renowned for the simplicity of his play, his legendary endgame prowess, accuracy, and the speed of his play, he earned the nickname of the "Human Chess Machine". Jose Raul Capablanca (Havana, November 19, 1888 - New York, March 8, 1942) was a Cuban chess player, world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. Capablanca's ideas are still relevant on the world stage of chess. His images are a powerful aid to the student board secrets. Jose Raoul Capablanca one of the outstanding players of all time became world's chess champion in 1921 when he defeated Lasker by 4 to 0. During his lifetime he held all the world's major records. In twenty five years of tournament play he lost less than twenty-five games, while between 1916 and 1924 he lost not a single one.
Ishi Press International 2015-11-17 344 pages

Practical Chess Openings

Reuben Fine
Practical Chess Openings is a basic openings book covering all the major openings, in alphabetical order. At the beginning of each section is a general description of the opening and its history, including the names of famous players who played it. The opening lines are in Descriptive Notation and are arranged in columns from the most popular to the least popular. Nowadays chess grandmasters do not study opening books. Instead they work with computer databases with millions of games in them, and then run them through chess analysis programs like Fritz, Houdini and Rybka, searching for new ideas and for flaws in their rival grandmaster's analysis. Amateur chess players cannot compete against this. We must just play for the enjoyment of the game without any hope of ever making grandmaster status. Having a book with the latest most up to date lines is of no added value. A serviceable, shorter and highly readable book like Fine's “Practical Chess Openings” is just as good and perhaps even better than a new book crammed with all the latest stuff.
Ishi Press International 2013 488 pages