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Psychology of the Chess Player Paperback – February 1, 1967

by Reuben Fine (Author)

6 customer reviews

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Just what is the special ability that sets great chess players apart from other men has long been a topic of intense speculation. Unfortunately, very little scientific work has been clone on the question. The major stumbling block has been that psychologists who have worked on the question, like Binet. have not been first-rank chess players and so have not had direct access to the mental processes involved in grandmaster chess. On the other hand, chess players are not usually first-rate psychologists. There is one important exception to this rule-a man who has produced a remarkable book in this area. This is Dr. Reuben Fine, one of the great chess players of this century (he has played on equal terms with Botvinnik, Reshevsky, Smyslov, and others) and a qualified psychoanalyst. Dr. Fine has called upon his own understanding of chess processes and his unrivaled contacts in the chess world in this attempt to analyze both the game of chess itself and its peculiar appeals, particularly to male players as opposed to females, to isolate its inner meaning, and to categorize and understand the special combination of characteristics that make tip a chess champion. Some of the great players studied here, such as Lasker, Capablanca, and Botvinnik, Dr. Fine has known, both in terms of chess and as personalities. He discusses other great players of the past, Staunton, Andersen, Morphy, as their personalities are revealed in books, articles, and legends that have grown up about them. The result is an unexpected synthesis, far from a simplistic answer to the basic question, which describes what these men did and did not have in common. All in all. Dr. Fine's searching analyses make an absorbing book-brilliantly written, sometimes controversial, always stimulating.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Reuben Fine (born October 11, 1914 - died March 26, 1993) was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mid 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist and author of books on both chess and psychology. Fine won five medals (four gold) in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S. Open Chess Championship all seven times he entered (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941). He was the author of several chess books that are still popular today, including important books on the chess endgame, opening, and middlegame. He earned a bachelor's degree from the City College of New York in 1932. After World War II, he earned his doctorate in psychology, and wrote many successful books in that field as well. Although he was regarded as a serious contender for the World Chess Championship, he declined his invitation to participate in the six-player 1948 match-tournament to determine the World Champion.

Reuben Fine (born October 11, 1914 – died March 26, 1993) was a chess grandmaster and one of the strongest chess players in the world. He tied with Paul Keres for first in the great tournament of AVRO 1938, the strongest chess tournament ever played and a tournament that was supposed to determine a challenger for the World Chess Championship. However, World War II intervened. Fine is rated as the number one player in the world on the Chessmetrics rating list for October 1940. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Paperback: 74 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications Inc. (February 1, 1967)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0486215512
ISBN-13: 978-0486215518
Package Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 6 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,330,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3743 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Creativity & Genius
- #8400 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Chess
- #13043 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Psychoanalysis

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lady

One Star

December 24, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

stupid, dated

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Jon in Florida

Incredibly funny book (by accident)

March 12, 2007

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Anyone who finds "psycho-babble" amusing will be laughing their head off while reading this book.

Examples :

From page 12 : (the King) "stands for the boy's penis in the phallic stage, and hence re-arouses the castration anxiety characteristic of that period."

From page 25 : The libidinal conflicts gratified in chess center around those common to all men at the anal-phallic levels of development, particularly aggression, narcissism and the attitude towards the penis."

I know this book is meant to be serious, but it is incredibly funny.

7 people found this helpful

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K Scheffler

Some interesting and sometimes peculiar insights

July 1, 2004

Format: Paperback

This 70 pg. book was originally published in 1956 in the journal Psychoanalysis as "Psychoanalytic Observations on Chess and Chess Masters". As one can derive from this title, the author has attempted to present us with a deeper understanding of certain chess masters using psychoanalysis, and in the process comes up with some interesting but also peculiar (in my opinion, at least) insights.
In particular, Fine discusses the following players: Staunton, Anderssen, Morphy, Steinetz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, and Botvinnik. For someone not familiar with the personalities of these exceptional players, Fine's anecdotal accounts of their personalities and eccentricities is quite facinating. What kind of made me leary was the general remarks that the author makes in regards to chess and chess players, and how in particular he seems to sexualize the purpose of chess.
For instance, on page 22 he states: "The profuse phallic symbolism of chess provides some fantasy gratification of the homosexual wish, particularly the desire for mutual masterbation. This is, of course, completely repressed. Checkmate may be seen as rendering the father impotent, again part of the homosexual complex."
Oh, really? And here I thoight that chess was a game, to be played for fun and enjoyment, or in some cases competatively. I can't quite remember ever feeling that it was the expression of a "desire for mutual masterbation"--well, how could I, because I can't, since I'm repressing it. Well, that's just pure bunk, in my opinion. Fortunately, this book isn't entirely like this, so it does have its merits, but it clearly isn't must-read chess literature.

17 people found this helpful

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David De Sousa

An Interesting and Controversial Reading

August 9, 2006

Format: Paperback

Dr. Reuben Fine attempts to analyze both the game of chess itself and its peculiar appeal s, particularly to male players as opposed to females, trying to isolate its inner meaning, and to categorize and understand the special combination of characteristics that make up aches champion. Among the chess players studied by the author are Lasker, Capablanca and Botvinnik.

All in all, the analysis made by the author about the psychological characteristics of a chess player makes an absorbing, interesting, and unusual reading that could be consider both stimulating and controversial for us: the chess lovers.

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February 27, 2014

Format: Paperback

I know it was written 60 some years ago, but still, the ideas that the author puts out are almost entirely sexist or related to pedophilia/oedipus complex. Lastly, the studies cited are often shaky at best.

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January 9, 2008

Format: Paperback

A pity Reuben Fine did not stay in chess and instead wasted his life on outdated Freudian psychology. His intellect was wasted!

3 people found this helpful

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