Correspondence Chess in America by Bryce D. Avery covers much more than the title implies. Yes, this book does examine pretty much everything under the sun in the world of US correspondence chess, but it also touches on a lot of American chess history from Hermann Helms founding of the American Chess Bulletin to I.A. Horowitz and Isaac Kashdan and the early years of Chess Review, to the eventual merger of Chess Review and Chess Life . Many names familiar to over the board players, like current USCF Policy Board Member Helen Warren, former P.B. members Jim Eade and Frank Camaratta, as well as noted Portland chess critic and publisher James Schroeder (at one time the CCLA's editor), can be found.

This book is principally a history of the Correspondence Chess League of America, which was founded in 1917. Bryce is the League's historian and his enthusiasm for the subject shows. He covers the ups and downs of the CCLA throughout its history with a very detailed eye. Annotated games are interspersed throughout. Victor Palciauskas and Hans Berliner, America's two World Correspondence Champions, both merit individual chapters. The piece by the late Reg Gillman, entitled The Russian System, is a sad and hilarious look at the sort of subterfuge that used to exist in the world of international correspondence chess, where the number of moves played could be glacially slow with the wrong opponent.

Correspondence Chess in America is not for the average chessplayer, but is recommended to those who have a keen interest in the history of chess by mail in this country.

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