Is there any good book on 19th century chess players? Eventually, I might think
of writing one, but I wonder what is out there.

Jerry Spinrad

Marco wrote (2003-11-25 08:15:13 PST):
Can anyone recommend a good book on the history of
chess?


Miriling wrote (2003-11-27 05:56:40 PST):

If you can get your hands on it, A History of Chess,
written by H.J.R. Murray and originally published by
Oxford University Press in 1913, is a scholarly work.
It was reprinted more than a decade ago by the Benjamin
Press in Northampton, Massachusetts, with an ISBN
number of 0-936-317-01-9.

_
"900 pages of meticulous research, practically
unreadable." - Hartston

Of course, the book does not contain anything that
happened after 1913, and, as I recall, the book does
not get to the time of Staunton until about the last
hundred pages. The book seemed to be primarily
concerned with the origin, propagation, and evolution
of the rules.

_
Miriling wrote (2003-11-27 05:56:40 PST):

After his death in May 1955, A Short History of
Chess was found in manuscript and published by
Oxford University Press in 1963.

_
This was an extremely short book. My guess is that
for most purposes, it would not be worth the trouble
to try to locate it, when one can more easily locate
other books with more extensive coverage of twentieth
century chess.

Jeremy Spinrad wrote (2003-11-28 14:40:53 PST):

Is there any good book on 19th century chess players?

_
Isn't there a book by Bird that talked about that
time period? Also, if I remember correctly, there
was a book with a title that was something like:
Paul Morphy and the Golden Age of Chess.

Most books that I can think of are either more
specific (discussing a specific player) or more
general (discussing the 19th and 20th centuries).

Subject: History of chess

On 29 November 2003 (Louis Blair) replied in
Message-id:

Marco wrote (2003-11-25 08:15:13 PST):
Can anyone recommend a good book on the history of
chess?


Miriling wrote (2003-11-27 05:56:40 PST):

If you can get your hands on it, A History of Chess,
written by H.J.R. Murray and originally published by
Oxford University Press in 1913, is a scholarly work.
It was reprinted more than a decade ago by the Benjamin
Press in Northampton, Massachusetts, with an ISBN
number of 0-936-317-01-9.

_
"900 pages of meticulous research, practically
unreadable." - Hartston

Of course, the book does not contain anything that
happened after 1913, and, as I recall, the book does
not get to the time of Staunton until about the last
hundred pages. The book seemed to be primarily
concerned with the origin, propagation, and evolution
of the rules.

snipped-

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Staunton's name does not appear until page 773 (of the total 900 pages), where
Murray writes, erroneously, I think:

"For actual play, most players would prefer to use the 'Staunton chessmen', the
pattern of which Howard Staunton designed in 1849."

Staunton is again mentioned on pages 885-887, where Murray writes about the
Chess-Player's Handbook, published by Staunton in London in 1847, among other
things

The last two chapters in the book are Philidor and the Modenese Masters
(Chapter XIV) and The Nineteenth Century (Chapter XV), the latter of which
deals with Staunton and Saint-Amant, Anderssen and Morphy, as well as Steinitz
and the Modern School, among other topics.

George Mirijanian

You might want to Read "The Genealogy of Chess" by David Li who discusses the
idea that Chess developed in China and moved into to the West along the Silk
Road.

I checked out Paul Morphy and the golden age of chess some time ago.
It isn't that it was a bad book, it just was not what I was looking
for at all. Instructive games picked by Napier, as I recall, while I
wanted to see a discussion of the history of chess in those days.

The Bird book is useful, and available on-line, if it is what I am
thinking of. It is more like Bird's reminiscences, which are often
interesting, than an attempt to discuss in a general way a period of
chess history.

Jerry Spinrad

(Louis Blair) wrote in message . com...
Jeremy Spinrad wrote (2003-11-28 14:40:53 PST):

Is there any good book on 19th century chess players?

_
Isn't there a book by Bird that talked about that
time period? Also, if I remember correctly, there
was a book with a title that was something like:
Paul Morphy and the Golden Age of Chess.

Most books that I can think of are either more
specific (discussing a specific player) or more
general (discussing the 19th and 20th centuries).

Jeremy Spinrad wrote:
Is there any good book on 19th century chess players? Eventually, I might think
of writing one, but I wonder what is out there.

I think much of that type of material is present in articles in chess periodicals,
typically in the form of personal reminiscences. There are a few by Delannoy in
Brentano's, for instance, and quite a few in early issues of (Deutsche) Schachzeitung
on topics such as 'Cafe Regence as I recall it'.

Otto Koch published a number of mini-biographies in early issues of Deutsche
Wochenschach and there are also other articles on various chess peronalities.
DWs also seems to be a good source for photographs. But it's quite difficult
to find -- going to a good chess library is probably the only way. As far
as I know, it has not been reprinted.

In a few cases with amateur chess players it's possible to find biographies
written by people in their main line of work. In general, though, the main
resource seems to be obituaries. Ken Whyld listed those published in BCM --
it would be very useful to extend that list also to other chess periodicals.

--
Anders Thulin http://www.algonet.se/~ath

Jeremy Spinrad wrote (2003-11-28 14:40:53 PST):
Is there any good book on 19th century chess players?

I wrote (2003-11-29 15:36:57 PST):
Isn't there a book by Bird that talked about that
time period? Also, if I remember correctly, there
was a book with a title that was something like:
Paul Morphy and the Golden Age of Chess.

Most books that I can think of are either more
specific (discussing a specific player) or more
general (discussing the 19th and 20th centuries).


Jerry Spinrad wrote (2003-11-29 21:31:54 PST):

I checked out Paul Morphy and the golden age of
chess some time ago. It isn't that it was a bad
book, it just was not what I was looking for at
all. Instructive games picked by Napier, as I
recall, while I wanted to see a discussion of the
history of chess in those days.

The Bird book is useful, and available on-line,
if it is what I am thinking of. It is more like
Bird's reminiscences, which are often interesting,
than an attempt to discuss in a general way a
period of chess history.

_
I do not know that I can name any book that IS what
Jeremy Spinrad is "looking for", but Sergeant's
A Century of British Chess might be somewhere in
the right ball park.

Almost any general chess history book devotes some
space to the 19th century. (About fifty pages, for
example, in Golombek's book, Chess, A History.)

Of course, books about specific players from that
time (Morphy, Steinitz, Blackburne, Charousek,
Staunton, Chigorin, Zukertort, Tarrasch, De Vere)
may have information about the opponents who were
encountered.

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:15:12 +0000 (UTC), "Marco"
wrote:

A Picture History of Chess by Fred Wilson. Fabulous book if you can
find it.

EZoto

Can anyone recommend a good book on the history of chess?
Thanks,

Marco

Subject: History of chess

On 1 December 2003 EZoto replied in
Message-id: m

A Picture History of Chess by Fred Wilson. Fabulous book if you can
find it.

EZoto


Although "A Picture History of Chess" (edited by Fred Wilson and published by
Dover Publications in 1981) is OK, a person capable of producing a better
pictorial history of chess would be Edward Winter, who has many more photos and
illustrations of chess personalities from the past and present. Winter should
consider putting into book form his massive collection of photos, manuscripts,
etc. I think the book would be a best seller among chess history enthusiasts.

George Mirijanian