Modern Ideas in Chess [Paperback]

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

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2009

Modern Ideas in Chess is one of the Great Classics of chess literature. Originally published in German in 1923 as Die neuen Ideen im Schachspiel, it created an immediate sensation. This was a period of the emergence of new theories and new ways of thinking about chess. The great opening systems that are standard today were just in the process of being invented and had not yet been named. Openings such as the King's Indian Defense, the Queen's Indian Defense, the Nimzo-Indian Defense and the Gruenfeld Indian Defense were called “Irregular Openings” or had not yet been played. Richard Réti was the leader of what was known as the “Hyper-Modern School of Chess”. Their main idea was not to try to dominate the center as the classical way of playing required. Rather, allow the opponent to take the center and then chip away and undermine his center from the flanks until it collapses and falls. This was the strategy that Bobby Fischer later used in many of his games which propelled him to the World Chess Championship. Best of all, Richard Réti was an entertaining writer. This book is a good read even for those who are not interested in applying these theories to tournament chess.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Reti was clearly one of the top players in the world, defeating at least once almost every leading player of his era. He defeated Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Rubinstein, Bogoljubov and Tartakower. The only top player he never defeated was Emanuel Lasker. Among his noteworthy accomplishments, he won the most famous game ever played between two grandmasters. He also created the most famous and most instructive endgame study ever created. He also defeated Capablanca in a game that was the Great Cuban's first loss in more than eight years. He created new opening systems, including the Réti Opening.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Ishi Press (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4871878244
• ISBN-13: 978-4871878241
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 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: #4,311,351 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."