MORPHY'S MATCH GAMES
Author: Charles Stanley
Moravian Chess (originally published in 1859)
http://www.moravian-chess.cz
Hardcover
108 pages
Euro 29.00

THE LIFE OF PHILIDOR: Musician and Chess Player
Author: George Allen
Moravian Chess (originally published in 1865)
http://www.moravian-chess.cz
Hardcover
156 pages
Euro 25.00

YEARBOOK OF CHESS 1909
Edited by E.A. Michell
Moravian Chess (originally published in 1909)
http://www.moravian-chess.cz
Hardcover
314 pages
Euro 25.00
[YEARBOOKS TO 1916 also available from Moravian Chess]

Reviewed by Jeremy Silman

Moravian Chess, located in the Czech Republic, puts out quite a few books (in English!) that cover chess history, bios of famous players, or game collections. Lovers of chess history are really into their stuff, and their QUARTERLY FOR CHESS HISTORY series is full of fantastic information.

In this review I'm going to look at three reprints they've done. Though I'm NOT a chess historian (not even close), I DO love chess history. So it's not surprising that all three of these books caught my eye, but one was a disappointment.

Let's start with the dog: MORPHY'S MATCH GAMES. At only 108 pages, 29 Euros seems a steep price for a book that is mainly game scores (which can be found in any good database) with very light notes. The five-page preface (from 1859) is interesting since it shows what people were thinking at that moment in time, but it's not nearly enough to make this book worthwhile to anyone but the most manic collector.

THE LIFE OF PHILIDOR is a completely different animal. I've never read much about the details of Philidor's life, so this pure biography fills a major void in my library. Topics covered (abridged):

Chapter One:
EARLY YEARS MUSIC AND CHESS
Blindfold Chess
Professional Employment
Rousseau

Chapter Two:
PHILIDOR'S RESIDENCE ABROAD
Occasion and Motives
Signorina Lanza
Rotterdam
England
Stamma
Holland
The Analyse
Germany
Musical Studies
Handel

Chapter Three:
PHILIDOR AND THE OPERA-COMIQUE
French Music
Les Bouffons
Blaise Le Savetier
Success
La Comedie-Italienne

Chapter Four:
PHILIDOR IN MIDDLE LIFE
Marriage
Harmonious Contrast
Children
LA Regence
Professional Relations
Honours

Chapter Five:
PHILIDOR AND THE LONDON CHESS-CLUB
A Month's Visit
Habits in London
Salary
Exhibitions
Public Admiration
Occupations At Home
Higher Aspirations
Later Compositions
Mistaken Censure
Vindication

Chapter Six:
FRENCH REVOLUTION -- PHILIDOR'S LAST VISIT TO ENGLAND -- DEATH AND CHARACTER
Golden Age
Reign of Terror
Life in Exile
Last Games and Death
Tributes to His Memory
Charges Examined
Opinion of Von Der Lasa

That's a LOT of fascinating stuff! These areas of exploration should also give you a feel for the richness of Philidor's life and the world/famous individuals that surrounded him at that time.

Apparently the version of English spoken at that time was very different than it is now, or else the author had a strange speech impediment and wasn't able to pronounce words properly. This one sentence gives you an idea as to what you'll encounter as you try and slog through his prose:

"The fame Gluck was the one, who was deftined afterwards to perfect that reform of the ferious opera, in which Philidor's fuccefs had been only partial; Yet fo far was either of thefe great men from any envy or jealoufy of the other, that, upon fome occafion, when Gluck, being obliged to abfent himfelf from Paris, etc."

If you reacted to this by scratching your head and mumbling "What the F?" you would be right! If you add an "s" to an occasionally errant "f", you'll be able to read the text without any trouble at all!

Seriously, Eric (the cunning linguist) Schiller kindly explained: "Ben Franklin and most of our founders also used the 'f', which is actually a stylized 's'. It used to be written that way, but it wasn't exactly 'f', more elongated and italic."

The YEARBOOK OF CHESS 1909 is a joy to read! Where MORPHY'S MATCH GAMES isn't useful at all, and THE LIFE OF PHILIDOR is a fascinating look into the life of a music and chess legend, The YEARBOOK OF CHESS 1909 is pure "walk down memory lane" fun.

The YEARBOOK OF CHESS 1909 covers all major chess events that occurred in 1908. You might wonder, how much chess was happening at that time? Let's take a look:

We start with a General Review of the Year. At twenty-seven pages, this isn't trivial. We are told that 1906 and 1907 had extraordinary tournament activity, but 1908 "will be known as a match-playing year." We learn what tournaments were cancelled, which were held, who was hot, and who was not. My favorite part of this section are the bios of the six Players of the Year (Lasker, Schlechter, Maroczy, Duras, Rubinstein, Atkins). Great reading!

The next section that caught my attention was The Return Match: Janowsky vs. Marshall. Just eight pages, but very much worth looking over.

Other highlights:

* The Cable Match between Great Britain and the United States. I didn't know there was such a match, but after reading the seventeen pages about it, my ignorance is considerably less than it was.

* The Vienna Tournament (won by Duras, Maroczy, and Schlechter). Fifty-one pages of great stuff!

* The Prague Tournament (won by Duras and Schlechter). Thirty-six pages.

* Lasker vs. Tarrasch Match. Twenty-eight pages of gold!

* The Triangular Tournament at Lodz (won by Rubinstein ahead of Marshall and Salve). Ten pages.

* Marshall vs. Mieses Match. Nine pages.

* Crosstables/Scores in the Chief International Tournaments from 1851 to 1909. Thirty-one pages.

* A Selection of Chess Problems. Ten pages.

Finally, a directory of chess clubs in Great Briton! Twenty eye-opening pages! It seems that there were far more clubs in 1908 than there are now!

Though my chess shop doesn't carry these wonderful books, you can order them on-line at: http://www.moravian-chess.cz

Check out the Moravian Chess site!

Books from Moravian Chess that the chess shop on JeremySlman.com DOES carry:

COMPLETE GAMES OF ALEKHINE VOLUME 1 1892-1921

COMPLETE GAMES OF ALEKHINE VOLUME II 1921-1924

These two books on Alekhine are favorites of mine. Aside from all his games, they have stories and very personal information about this chess legend that doesn't appear anywhere else. Each book sells for $39.99

BOTVINNIK'S BEST GAMES VOLUME 1 (1925-41) BY Botvinnik

BOTVINNIK'S BEST GAMES VOLUME 3 BY Botvinnik