The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories [Paperback]

Arnold Denker (Author), Larry Parr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 20, 2003

This Damon Runyan-like work will be around well into the Twenty-first Century to inform future chess generations about such greats as Bobby Fischer and world champion Gary Kasparov as well as the "guys and dolls" of the New York chess scene during the fabled Golden Era of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet there is plenty of hard chess in this big book - over 300 games and positions, many never before published, and which contain interesting opening ideas that have either been forgotten or neglected in the manuals.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Grandmaster Arnold Denker was known as the e Grand Old Man of American Chess though you could never let this active 81-year-old hear you say that! In this memoir, GM Denker - who was U.S. Chess Champion from 1944 to 1946 – skillfully intertwines with his own life the stories of great chess men who he knew and loved. Denker, who is renowned as chess raconteur, was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of fame in 1993. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: Hardinge Simpole Limited (June 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843820803
• ISBN-13: 978-1843820802
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,836,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Boswell of American chess, May 23, 2008

By 

S. Rice (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories (Paperback)

The term "must read" is overused in book blurbs but this book is a must read for anyone who loves chess and is interested in its history, especially in its golden age of the 1930s and 1940s. Denker chronicles the doings and depicts the quirks and mannerisms of giants like Alexander Alehkine, Max Euwe, Isaac Kashdan, Fred Reinfeld, Reuben Fine, Sammy Reshevsky, and--of course--himself (but in a thoroughly self-effacing manner). Denker knew them all and they knew him. With selected games highlighting the Boswellian depiction of some of caissa's most colorful personalities, Denker's narrative earns its place in a patzer's library both as a biography and as a game collection. Reading about life at the Manhattan Chess Club in the early 20th century can only make a reader nostalgic for a time before data bases and the need to memorize hundreds and thousands of openings. I own over three hundred chess books but if I had to narrow my collection down to only five or six, this would make the cut.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and informative, June 28, 2005

By 

Eric A. Schiller "www.ericschiller.com" (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories (Paperback)

The chess community is full of fascinating stories and anecdotes and every once in a while we are treated to entertaining and informative compilations of adventures on and off the chessboard. This year we have been treated to two exceptional volumes. The first, "The Bobby Fischer I knew and other stories" by Arnold Denker and Larry Parr contains over 300 pages of stories, photos and games from the American chess scene. The book contains a tremendous amount of material that I'm sure you've never seen anywhere else.

The most difficult aspect of putting together such a book is to avoid the all too frequent concentration on stories about people who really haven't had any impact on the game, but simply happened to have been around the chess scene for a long time. It isn't easy to diligently select only material that really is of some interest to the majority of readers. Legendary American Grandmaster Arnold Denker, who lived one of the longest and most productive chess lives, and former Chess Life editor Larry Parr have done a magnificent job of presenting fascinating material and unknown games that are entertaining and instructive. I wish they had been presented in algebraic notation, but that's the only small flaw I can find in this book, reprinted by the firm of Hardinge Simpole, whose mission is to " rescue from oblivion any worthwhile publication by the pen of an acknowledged master of chess writing"

I can't even begin to list the varied contents of this wonderful book, but if you have any interest in the American chess world, go out and buy it. It will give you countless hours of entertainment and you'll learn about many fascinating figures, both famous and obscure, and how they have enriched our chess history. Many of the games in this book are not in databases and I hope that they will eventually be entered into our collective chess encyclopedia. As for the stories, each and every one of them is worth telling, and you'll likely be able to use them to entertain people even if they aren't chessplayers.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Synopsis, July 8, 2007

By 

Hugh Davies "Teenage Chess Prodigy" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories (Paperback)

This Damon Runyon-like work will be around well into the Twenty-first Century to inform future chess generations about such greats as Bobby Fischer and world champion Gary Kasparov as well as the "guys and dolls" of the New York chess scene during the fabled Golden Era of the 1930s and 1940s. In the Introduction, five-time U.S. Champion Larry Evans writes that the authors capture "some of the most raucous and colorful figures in 20th Century chess" with a "Dickensian precision." Yet there is plenty of hard chess in this big book - over 300 games and positions, many never before published, and which contain interesting opening ideas that have either been forgotten or neglected in the manuals.
Grandmaster Arnold Denker is known as the Grand Old Man of American Chess. In this memoir, GM Denker - who was U.S. chess champion from 1944 to 1946 - skillfully intertwines with his own life the stories of great chess men whom he knew and loved. Denker, who is renowned as a chess raconteur, was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1993. His co-author is Larry Parr, a former Editor of Chess Life (1984-1988). Mr Parr has received more individual awards for excellence from the Chess Journalists of America than any other chess writer.