But Fischer is not the only subject. The 1950's were a golden time for American chess. The Byrne brothers, William Lombardy, Raymond Weinstein, Edmar Mednis, Arthur Bisquier, Larry Evans. . . the list of strong players coming up with Bobby goes on and on. The Unknown Bobby Fischer examines some of these players and lesser-known stars of the day including Charles Kalme, Larry Remlinger, Anthony Saidy and Abe Turner along with outrageous organizers like the legendary E. Forry Laucks of the Log Cabin Chess Club.
John Donaldson's earlier book, A Legend on the Road (ICE 1994), looked at Bobby's 1964 Transcontinental Exhibition tour in great depth. That 124-page book prompted a flood of letters from readers. Now International Master Donaldson and co-author IM Eric Tangborn offer the reader more than 40 pages of new material on the 1964 tour, including seventeen recently rediscovered games from Bobby's exhibition in Wichita.
All told, The Unknown Bobby Fischer offers the reader 87 games, many heavily annotated. Thirty-seven of the games have never been published or have appeared only in periodicals or tournament bulletins!
The book concludes with rare interviews and an in-depth look at the large body of literature on Bobby. The authors list their top ten favorite books on Fischer in English and offer the reader an extensive bibliography for further research. Useful player and opening indexes round out this book designed for both die-hard Fischer fans and those interested in an overview of a rich period of American chess history.
