Modern Ideas in Chess [Paperback]

Richard Reti (Author), John Hart (Translator), Harry Golombek (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Richard Reti was a formidable over the board grandmaster as shown by his victories at the splendid tournaments of Kaschau 1918, Gothenburg 1920 and Teplitz Schonau 1922. His victims included Capablanca, Alekhine and Nimzowitsch, while his elegant destruction of Bogolyubov deservedly won the beauty prize at New York 1924.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

One of the top players in the world during the 1910s and 1920s, Reti began his career as a fiercely combinative classical player, favoring openings such as the King's Gambit (1. e4 e5 2. f4). However, after the end of the First World War, his playing style underwent a radical change, and he became one of the principal proponents of hypermodernism, along with Aron Nimzowitsch and others. His writings have also become "classics" in the chess world. Modern Ideas in Chess (1923) and Masters of the Chess Board (1933) are still studied today. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Hardinge Simpole Limited (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843820153
• ISBN-13: 978-1843820154
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #430,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure classic, February 17, 2004

By 

Arye Mirovski (Haifa Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modern Ideas in Chess (Paperback)

"Modern ideas in Chess" is a very short book - too short, I think, but I include it in my "Best Chess books" list. Far from being just a technical or tactical book (you have hundreds like these), it demonstrates the changing concepts of chess. As I see it, it's one of the most important books for advanced players (only!!) who want to understand the development of the game from the mid. 19th century to the early 20th. century. Why did Capablanca ignored Morphy's move in a certain position? How did Dr. Lasker (probably the best chess player ever) succeed to hold the world champion title for more than 20 years? What ideas came with the "Hyper modern" masters, like Nimzovich, Alekhine, Breyer and Reti himself? What was the typical American style, that Reti observed? These questions and much more are answered in the book. I repeat myself and warn that the book is only for advanced, who's libraries are full of theory and technical books of the game, and want to learn more about the history of the chess thought.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Synopsis, July 9, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: Modern Ideas in Chess (Paperback)

Richard Reti - one of the leaders of the hypermodern school of chess which rose to prominence in the 1920's - was a formidable over the board grandmaster as shown by his victories at the splendid tournaments of Kaschau 1918, Gothenburg 1920 and Teplitz Schonau 1922. His victims included Capablanca, Alekhine and Nimzowitsch, while his elegant destruction of Bogolyubov deservedly won the beauty prize at New York 1924. Reti was an adept at blindfold chess in which he rivalled Alekhine in the number and strength of his opposition,a lucidly brilliant composer of endgame studies but above all an artist fascinated by the creative forces and energies lying beneath the surface of the chessboard battle. Golombek wrote " Reti became a great and vital writer on the game --for the first time in the history of books on chess a writer capable of a genuine historical survey of the evolution of chess ideas and also of a colourful and poetic picture of the state of contemporary chess had made his appearance." As Reti himself wrote "in the idea of chess and the development of the chess mind we have a picture of the intellectual struggle of mankind."