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CHESS LISTS (Second Edition)
Author: Andy Soltis
McFarland & Company (2002)
248 pages
$30.00
Reviewed by Donald K. McKim
Not everyone likes books of lists. Unless the topics are riveting, a
compilation of number after number of pieces of data can make a volume
seem like a phonebook.
Those who enjoy chess and have an eye toward "the best, the worst, the
shortest, the oddest, the longest, the most deceitful, the most
memorable, the most brilliant, the dumbest -- of players, games,
matches, tournaments, books idea, etc." will find this book a treasury
for contemplation.
This edition expands Soltis' 1984 volume by twenty-five percent. More
lists, games, diagrams, and annotations are added, with updates of
materials from the earlier book. The chapter titles give some
indication of what's in the book: How We Play the Game; The Best (and
Some Worst); Masters at Play; Fakes, Myths and Real Jobs; Life, Death
and the World Championship; The Great, the Most and the Tragic;
Openings and Endings and What's in Between; Last Words.
Among the most interesting entries (in my view): Nineteen Master Games
with Illegal Moves; Eleven Long "Thinks" (Bogolyubov once took two
hours on one move!); Eleven Costliest Blunders; Five Chess Myths
(including "Capablanca, 'the 12-year-old Champion of Cuba'" and
"Marshall and the Gold Coins"); The Odd Deaths of Nine Masters; Ten
Mispronounced Names (Alekhine pronounced his name "Ahl-YEH-keen");
Seventeen Nicknames (Josephn Blackburne was called "The Black Death");
The Greatest King Pawn Players of All Time (as selected by Lubosh
Kavalek who said that Morphy is tops); The Nine Greatest Engame Players
(as selected by Pal Benko who named Rubenstein the best, "especially
his play in rook endgames"); and The Twelve Finest Chess Books (as
selected by Irving Chernev who lists the top three as Alekhine's MY
BEST GAMES OF CHESS 1908-1923, Reti's MASTERS OF THE CHESSBOARD, and
Fischer's, MY 60 MEMORABLE GAMES).
An Index of Openings for the games presented and a General Index enhance this book's easy use.
A book like this is fun to read for the interesting facts and also for
the perceptions of the writer in making value judgments -- those not
grounded in empirical facts or statistics. The odd "tidbits" and the
dimensions of chess life beyond the chessboard provide illuminating
glimpses into the human elements that make both chessplaying and
chessplayers so intriguing!
Click to buy (or get more information about) CHESS LISTS.
Click to buy (or get more information about) MASTERS OF THE CHESS BOARD (Author: Reti, Price: $29.95)
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