CORRESPONDENCE CHESS IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND
Author: Tim Harding
McFarland & Company, Inc. (2011)
439 pages
$39.95

Reviewed by John Donaldson

Those with an interest in the history of correspondence chess couldn’t ask for a nicer present than Tim Harding’s CORRESPONDENCE CHESS IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND, 1824-1987. This mammoth work is exhaustively researched and traces the history of British and Irish chess from it beginning right up until the Internet age.

This reviewer particularly enjoyed the chapter “Becoming World Champions” which deals with the Ninth Correspondence Chess Olympiad (1982-87) in which Great Britain, led by Jonathan Penrose, broke the perennial Soviet grip on first place. The material on Penrose, one of the few to obtain GM status over the board and in correspondence chess, was fascinating as was the section on the late Simon Webb who was an exceptional talent at this form of the game.

Highly Recommended