Lessons from My Games: A Passion for Chess [Paperback]

Reuben Fine (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dover Pubns (March 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486244296
• ISBN-13: 978-0486244297
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,048,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They played chess before 1985!, January 27, 2004

By 

Neil M. Sullivan (Montreal, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lessons from My Games: A Passion for Chess (Paperback)

This collection of 50 of Reuben Fine's games was among the earliest ones that I read. It is also among the few titles that I have read from cover to cover.

For those who don't know, Fine was one of the world's best in his day and a serious championship contender. His record includes a tie for 3rd at Nottingham 1936 and for first at Avro 1938. He has wins against many of the greats.

Fine's annotations are the type that I prefer; no long paragraphs of dense variations. Instead, he nicely mixes moves and text to illustrate his points. As well, each game is introduced by a short anecdote or a description of the circumstances. It adds a human touch missing from many other best game collections.

Along with battles featuring his American contemparies, Fine also shows his talents versus the likes of Alekhine, Capablance, Flohr, Botvinnik and Lasker.

I would heartily recommend this book for players rated from 1200 to 2000.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars world class, NY chessplayer, Reshevsky rival,quit in his 20's, gave up world title chance due to Soviet cheating, September 2, 2005

By 

mojojojo50 "mojojojo50" (duluth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lessons from My Games: A Passion for Chess (Paperback)

Yes, before Fischer, Reuben Fine in 1948 gave up chess claiming Soviet match fixing (more truthful he had to make a living --even Reshevsky worked full-time as a CPA). In the 1930's Fine left NY for the European chess circut and was reckoned to be world number 1 or 2 in 1940. His book is a pleasure to read; 50 annotated games against world class GM's and solid masters. The notes are easy to follow (except they are in descriptive). Every game starts with a well written description of the opponent/the tournament/life on the chess circut/background stuff. Game notes are adequate, in the style of the era.

Fine was considered to be a technician - skilled at highly accurate play, a good eye for opponents weaknesses an efficient ability to hold a long-term positional intiative, adept at king attacks, an endgame specialist (he wrote Basic Chess Endings - the all-time endgame encyclopedic classic over one summer!) knowledgable openings (he wrote Modern Chess Openings over another summer!!) and a good calculater of variations. Given the chance (meaning no WWII) he might have become world champion. My only complaint about this book is that it was written 10 years after his retirement and the notes to this book do not have the depth found in Great Moments in Modern Chess (his best book - where he really gets into detail how players think during the game, opening theory, deep analysis from 1848).

Lessons from My Games is one of the best chess biographies, the game collection is good (excellent price) and a good study book for learning technique if you are 1600 or above.

5.0 out of 5 stars Personal account and great games., September 5, 2011

By 

Bryan Castro (Williamsville, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Passion for Chess: Lessons from My Games (Paperback)

This is a little gem of a book. The introduction is a very interesting biography of Reuben Fine's chess career. Before each game, he also gives an account of what was happening in his life and his thoughts, which in some cases are quite frank. For example, in the introduction, he talks about his deep study of Lasker, Alekhine, and Capablanca, and comes to the conclusion that Alekhine's play was creative but had a certain unsoundness that was absent from Capablanca's play. Interestingly, he also mentions how he could hold his own against Alekhine in rapid play, but Capa would mercilessly beat him. He also has some interesting insights into the life of a professional chess player in America at the time, which was very difficult. There are many more stories, which all give a insider look at high level chess in the 40's and 50's.

This gives a backdrop to the games themselves. As he says in his own words, his style is one of precision, whether this leads to sharp tactical play or positional squeezing of his opponent, it is precision in his position that he sought. He gives short concise annotations, which allow you to follow the game without being bogged down with endless analysis, but enough to follow some of the more subtle moments of the game. Reuben Fine was one of the top players in the world of his generation, and he held his own against some more well known chess legends, including world champions Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, and Euwe.

In conclusion, this book is both entertaining and instructive. His frank discussion of chess politics, other masters, and his own development as a chess player make this one to check out.