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Book Review: A Book of Chess

A Book of Chess. C. H. O'D. Alexander. Hutchinson. 1973.

The book is in five sections: "the nature of chess", "the history and development of chess", "chess for blood", "chess for fun", and "the iconography of chess".

The heart of the book is in section three, with three chapters on "a day in the life of an Olympiad", "the tournament circuit" and "profile of a grandmaster". The contemporary chess world he presents here has now all but vanished. The last chaper in this section, based on an interview with Bent Larsen, is particularly interesting.

An amusing error is the caption to the photograph on page 60. It reads "Dr Emanuel Lasker in March, 1921". Ironically, the picture is really of one Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch! It is a detail from a photograph taken in 1908 when the rivalry of these two players was at its height ("to you Herr Doktor, I have only these words to say: check and mate!" is purported to be Dr. Tarrasch's brusque riposte to an attempted reconciliation shortly before the beginning of their match for the World Championship in that year). Dr. Lasker does indeed appear in the full, obviously staged, photograph, seated to the side of the board and contemplating the position with a rather languid air somewhat at odds with Dr. Tarrasch's intentness.

Alexander writes well, though little of what he has to say is original. All in all: a superior coffee-table book.


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