Customer Reviews

The Oxford Companion to Chess

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I don't believe the reader from Athens, GA that said this book helped his game. DON'T buy this book if you are looking for a book that will improve your game. (Its highly doubtful that you would improve much even after HOURS or even DAYS of reading this book.)

This book is a REFERENCE book only!! And it is a true jewel. I have both the '92 edition (In Hard-back), and the 96 editon. (A gift from one of my students that left the area. Obviously I would not buy the book, if I already owned a copy - I am not rich ... yet!) I can not help but believe that this book was the result of YEARS of work by the author(s).

Want to know what a chess "Automaton" is? Do you know what "The Bavarian Variation" is? What the "Noteboom" variation is? When a player lived? What was "Player X's" greatest tournament triumph? What happenned in "Cambridge Springs, 1904." ?? You will find the answer to all these questions, plus much more, in this book. Plus many nice photo's too.

For the chess lover who wants a good reference to look up virtually anything about chess. Or just the player who would enjoy hours of reading and learning about their great game. And for the real chess benefactors: Buy one and give it to the local library!! Get it today!! You'll thank me tomorrow!

Spanning centuries and tracing it's origins to the dawn of civilization, Chess is one of the greatest and most storied games. Developing from both the East and the West into the most mentally challenging sport, "The Oxford Companion to Chess" informs and illustrates adequately the rich and colorful history of the game of kings. In well-written articles, this companion features the various facets of the complex game. The great players, the numerous openings and their variations, and many topics in relation to the game are represented, including illustrations and b & w photographs to complement the text. One could come across the controversial and brilliant career of Bobby Fischer and in the turn of pages read about Computers and Chess. One glances though "gamesmanship", defined by it's inventor Stephen Potter as the "art of winning games without actually cheating", or "mansuba", an Arabic term for a composed middlegame or endgame position which serves as a form of instruction or solving. And the beginner could finally learn what in heaven's name that "en passant" means.

Some entries are a bit short, where a more comprehensive description of the particular subject would have helped. The British authors could barely restrain their pro-Anglo anti-American bias, and their contribution to the literature on Morphy and Staunton does neither man credit, and poorly to the writers. The limiting comments on the former and the patronising attitude towards the latter are criminal untruths which the novice could take for granted, which is a shame as Morphy is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, and Staunton did his utmost to avoid playing him.

Also, the jumbling in one close pack of each player's career record makes for a weary read, like reading paragraphs of mathematical computations without having to solve them. The authors should have blended them with the tale in the text.

Truly serving as it's title shows, "The Oxford Companion to Chess" is a good reference and guide for both veteran and beginner alike in exploring Caissa.

There are many chess encyclopedias. Most, however, suffer from three faults, to a greater or lesser degree: (1) many omissions (especially of problemists' terms); (2) inexact definitions of chess terms; (3) dishing out old, stale fables -- indeed, libels (such as the claims that Morphy had a fetish for women's shoes, that alekhine was a "sadist", etc.) -- as if they were fact.

All these faults are corrected here, in the Ocford Companion to Chess (OCTC). The authors are very careful to include practically all chess terms, and are especially careful to include all important problemists' terms (excluding, so far as I can tell, only names of themes that are nothing more than a slight variations on a basic idea -- the basic theme itself always has an entry). The definitions are exact; for example, "resignation" is not lazily defined as "giving up a lost game": it is noted that occassionally, "masters resign in drawn, or won, positions". Above all, the biographies of vitually all important players (up to the time of publication -- you won't find an entry for Magnus Carlsen...) are treated factually and with respect, avoiding both unfounded smearing of the chess world's designated "villans" (Alekhine, Staunton) or hero worship of its "heroes" (Morphy, Capablanca).

This is not to say that the book is "revisionst" for revisionism's sake, trying to make villans into heros and vice versa. It does not, for example, belittle Capablanca's chess genius or ignores Alekhine's cooperation with the Nazis. But in fairness to Alekhine, the companion -- after outlining the details of Alekhine's cooperation with the Nazis -- also notes that, such issues aside, Alekhine played in 44 strong tournaments since gaining his master's title, winning or sharing first in 25 of them. In fairness to Capablanca, the companion, after taking note of the long period when "he was considered practically invincible", adds that he failed in two tournaments when returning to chess after a three-year hiatus.

So much for avoiding faults found in other books. But that is not all. The OCTC has many independent merits. Above all, it is a treasure trove of reliable information about the game of chess in general, and of its lesser-known cousins (chess variants, problemists, postal chess, endgame studies, fairy chess...) in particuar. Even seasoned chess enthusiasts are bound to find much in this book they have not heard of before. For example, few people -- to pick a few entries at random -- know how the camel (a fairy piece) moves, what the Dombrovskis theme is, or any biographical details about Pirc (apart from him being the inventor of the Pirc defense: quick, what was his first name?).

If you don't know the answer to all, or any, of these, you will like this book. There is a lot in there for all who are interested in chess.

A very interesting volume containing everything about chess you can imagine from biographies of great players, to named main lines and variations, chess terminology, history, openings, trivia, and more. It contains a number of diagrams, photos, illustrations and drawings. I bought a used 2nd edition published in 1992 because that was the only reasonably priced copy available at Amazon. I wish Oxford would publish an updated third edition. Yes, the information may all be available on line, but you have to hunt for it. I like this book because I can underline and make marginal comments, etc. A good source of a lot of varied information about chess in one handy volume.

This is a really great book, although it probably can only be appreciated by a chess player. There are a few books about chess that can be read as history or biography, this is NOT one of those. It is an encyclopedia of everything chess. Neither is it a chess tutor to make you a master player, but it will increase your enjoyment of the game. I keep my copy handy in my office. I have read it cover to cover and have read some of the entries many times. I believe that it is also scarce and often bringing a premium price, so I suggest that you get a copy if you can.

This is a great reference book for looking up chess terms. Did you think that "Skittles" was the same as blitz chess in that a clock is used for example? (I did when I was reading Fischer's annotations in My 60 memorable games!) Your wrong! Skittles is "casual or friendly game or games played fast and without a clock". The book is also very strong on player biographies showing photos and key games.

This book really helped me in my chess-playing. As the review above says, it describes many many different words, terms, etc. It explains everything from the rules to what a zugzwang is (i wish this had a spell-checker). Best book on chess ever! (p.s. the '92 edition isn't a lot worse than this '96 edition)