Customer Reviews

Fischer, Kasparov and the Others

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"Fischer, Kasparov, and the others" is a substantial revision of Don Schultz is earlier book "CHESSDON". It is a collection of anecdotes, stories, and reports from the battlefields of chess politics. Whether you are familiar with the Machiavellian plots of the international chess world, or have no idea just how down and dirty those battles can be, you'll find this book provides a great and entertaining education. These are the recollections of Don Schultz, former president of United States Chess Federation and a major figure at times in the World Chess Federation. The political nature of the book is made clear by the list of endorsements on the back cover. Most people have never heard of the majority of them, unless you happen to be involved in the international struggle for the future of the chess world, or the American slice of it..
It is entirely fitting that the first chapter of the book is titled "The Manipulators". Even the world's best chessplayers are often mere pawns on the board of the politicians. The current president of the World Chess Federation is the President of the Republic of Kalmykia, and his predecessor was a close pal of the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Schultz has plenty to say about many of these colorful figures. I will leave it to others to critique the historical facts of the book. The author and I have been on opposite sides in some of these battles, and on the same side in others. Well, you know, in chess sometimes you play with the white pieces and sometimes you play with the black pieces! I was present at some of these events and my recollection does sometimes vary from the views presented by "chessdon" (as the author is known online), but one nice thing about the chess world is that many avenues of communication are possible so that all perspectives can be considered. Definitive history, perhaps not, but essential reading, absolutely!

This book goes behind the scenes of the professional and amateur world of organized chess. It is very entertaining because not many people (even die hard chess players themselves) have experiences of this nature in the realm of chess politics. The man has done it all and it was fun to read about his spectacular path! Mr. Schultz' love for chess is clear and his accounts of his chess past are entertaining. He tells of the good and he tells of the bad and a lot of humorous little anecdotes in between. If you play chess with any seriousness, this book is certainly an educational tool in terms of understanding how the big organizations like FIDE and USCF operate. However, this book is very suitable for non-chessplayers as well in that there is no actual chess positions or analysis. It is a story of a man's chess life and political career and I found it to be well done.