Customer Reviews

Chess and Chess Masters (Hardinge Simpole Chess Classics S.)

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this book is in descriptive notation and it was written half a century ago by a swedish grandmaster who was a candidate for the world championship.the names are well chosen-alekhine capablanca nimzowitsch botvinnik reshevsky-all players the author knew and often played against.

the writer has been very well served by his translator grandmaster harry golombek probably the greatest stylist ever to write chess notes in english. the sketches are sometimes moving and poignant but always dramatic. the personalities really come to life.

the games are also a joy to play over and i like the notes which are literary gems in themselves. if you liked tartakower and dumonts 500 master games of chess you wil also want to read this book.

Written by a Swedish Grandmaster and translated with authoritative fluency, 'Chess and Chess Masters' by Gideon Strahlberg and Harry Golombek respectively, is a confident and interesting account of the great chess players which Strahlberg himself encountered and met. With a chapter on all the greats; Capablanca, Euwe, Botvinnik, Alekhine and Spielmann to name but a few, no chess library would be complete without it.

Gideon Stahlberg was a Swedish Grandmaster who rocketed to fame when he won matches against Spielmann and Nimzowitsch in the early 1930s. Stahlberg went on to compete in the two World Championship Candidates Tournaments of 1950 and 1953. He was chief umpire for many World Championship matches in Moscow during the period of soviet hegemony. Those who knew him found him a witty companion who enjoyed good living and was also an expert bridge-player. His best chess games are marked by extreme elegance, as is his prose style. Chess and Chess Masters is a first hand account of the strengths and weaknesses, of the genius and foibles, of the world's elite, written by a man who met and played them all. This remarkable book is graced by the most elegant prose, courtesy of Stahlberg, improved, if anything, by Harry Golombek's superb translation. The book, full of telling and memorable phrases, consists of a series of brilliantly executed thumbnail sketches of such towering figures as Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Petrosian, Nimzowitsch and Keres, along with beautifully annotated examples of their play.