This book is the translation into English of the classic book on the 1948 world championship chess tournament. It was written by Paul Keres, perhaps the strongest player ever to win the world championship. The book was widely acclaimed at its publication and is now out of print. It has 541 pages The lowest price as of late December 2024 on the secondary market is $200! Buy my copy and save!

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Wisconsin

World chess championship 1948

Volumes 2, 3 and 4 in the Mission Earth series from the author of the number one best seller battlefield earth

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Black Genesis; the enemy within; an alien affair

Mission Earth 2, 3 and 4

Great historical detective novel. Condition is very good, but Pango doesn’t have a very good category so I have listed it as good. Only defect is some creasing in the spine as shown in the photos. Binding is 100% intact with nomarginalia.

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Bundori

This professionally bound volume of issues seven and eight of the Yugoslav chess anthology covers all of 1969 and includes the 1969 world championships between Spassky and Petrosian, and Gaprindashvili vs Kushnir. See the list of authors for some of the commentators! Several games of Bobby Fischer’s are included, but there are no notes by him. The famous game Saidy-Fischer, where Fischer played a reversed Grand Prix Attack is included. The original colored covers are bound in as shown in the photographs. There is some mild rust staining of the lower edges of the pages, one page with some faint marginalia, and some pencilled notes by the professional binder on 1 page. There was also one blank page with two small white stickers on it. There is sunning of the spine. Please see the photographs. The binding is Library style, but this is NOT  an ex-Library book. The usual combinations and ending sections are included. There are over 500 pages in this book! Overall, I would rate the condition as very good, but Pango does not have such a category, so I have listed it as good.

Covers all of 1969

Chess Informant 7 and 8

Charles A. Gilberg

This book is a reprint of the original edition of the United States chess championship from 1880. It was marred by the first major chess cheating scandal. This volume is beautifully bound in mock leather stamped in gold on the covers and contains 539 pages. It also has all the tournament games, and historical survey of the earlier chest congresses as well as biographical sketches and 128 problems. This is a far superior book to the cheaper Indian reprint paperbacks. 

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

New York, 1880

The Fifth American Chess Congress

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As of mid November 2024, the lowest price for this book from an American seller on the book search engine addall dot com  is $40. Buy my copy and save!
100 typescript pages pages with tables and index. Octavo (8 1/4" x 6 1/4") . British Chess Quarterlies number 7. (Betts: 25-336) First edition. Contains a 6 page general introduction to the tournament , all 196 games without notes and score tables of all USSR Championships. Figurine Algebraic notation. Many of the participants in the championship were household names in the chess world. After drawing his first seven games Stein produced an astonishing burs of 5.5 of 6 to lead after thirteen rounds. Bronstein was recovering while Geller, Spassky and Cholmov continued to hold their high placings. Every half point was vital at this stage. With three rounds to go, the issue was still open. The Eighteenth round produced two vital results: Korchnoi, who had fought his way back among the leaders lost to Taimov and Suetin's game with Stein was a draw. This meant that Cholmov and Spassky lead by 1/2 point from Stein and Bronstein with Suetin and Geller a further 1/2 point behind. Suetin and Geller won and so the final was a tie first through third with Spassky, Cholmov and Stein and fourth through sixth Bronstein Geller and Suetin. A double round play-off for first place resulted in Spassky losing to Stein and a win over Cholmov and Stein became the new Soviet Champion. This book was published in two additions, one a glue bound, and the other a spiral bound. Condition: this glue bound edition has the binding intact, which is unusual for these older books. Date: 1964. British Chess Magazine, Ltd US

BCM Quarterly No. 7

31 USSR Chess championship

See the photos for a detailed description. It contains the games of the 1959 British championship, including the playoff plus other games. publisher: Chess, Sutton Coldfield] Softcover Pb with stiff card covers, 63pp, b/w photos. Good, clean contents. "The one hundred and eighty-seven games of the British Championship tournament, the four games of the Championship play-off, and twelve games from other events" without notes. The top scorers were Golombek, Haygarth and Penrose although Penrose won the Play-Off. Descriptive notation. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
[Norwich, United Kingdom] [Publication Year: 1959] 
The only copy at the book search engine, addall.com, is over $10 plus you’d have to pay shipping from England.

British championship

York Chess Congress 1959

Jerzy Konikowski

Trade Paperback. Very Good. 6" X 8 1/2. 145 Pages Indexed. 
This book covers one of the most aggressive variations for white in the English opening. Black most natural response on move three, Bb4, is an error.  Most of your opponents, however will play this move. Towards the middle of the nineteenth century the move l.c4 first saw the light of tournament practice. It was introduced by a group of British chessplayers captained by Howard Staunton. This may be regarded as the origin of the English Game: one of the most interesting modem openings. In recent times the theory of the English Game has been greatly developed. Particular systems have been scrupulously studied and many new strategies and variations have been created. For this reason it is obvious that a serious study of the entire English Game in one volume is almost impossible. Thus the author has devoted this work entirely to one particular variation, that arising after I.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4. White's last move was probably first used in tournament practice towards the end of the 1920's. The major contribution towards the popularisation of the entire variation, through the creation of ideas and analysis, was given by the two famous players from the former Soviet Union Salo Flohr and Vladas Mikenas who gave the variation its name. In the last few years tournament practice has seen the use of the Flohr-Mikenas system by many notable grandmasters such as Kasparov, Karpov, Spassky, Timman, Yusupov, Hiibner, Seirawan, Miles and many others. 3.e4 represents the beginning of the struggle for the crucial strategical square (d5). Occasionally White threatens to increase (with e4-e5) his spatial advantage. Black needs to take care in his reaction in order to deny his opponent the possibility of achieving a great positional advantage right from the start of the game, e.g. after 3 ... ..Bb4?! or 3 ... d6?! Black finds himself in a negative situation (see Chapter 1). In effect only two plans may be considered practical: the first being 3 ... d5 and with this active move Black attempts to crush his opponent's centre immediately (see Chapters 2-3: A18) and the second being 3 ... c5: Nimzowitsch's idea. Black tries to exploit a temporary weakness of the d4 square and is not afraid of an eventual loss of tempo after 4.eS (see Chapters 4-9: A I 9). In order to create a complete picture of the opening struggle the author has included 180 demonstrative games to be found in the relative chapters.

This book is not currently available nor has it recently been available on eBay. Lowest price on the Book search engine addall dot com is $16.50 as of early November 2024.FIDE master Konikowski is known to be a thorough and detailed annotator.

Flohr-Mikenas System in the English Opening (A18-A19)

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Kasparyan was a strong Soviet chest master who played in several USSR championships. But he is best known for composing beautiful and practical study positions. Many strong grand masters do not study tactics by playing through quiz books, but by trying to solve studies, which are more difficult. They are also much more beautiful. Unlike chess problems which have unrealistic positions, studies are from positions where players which could occur in real games. This book is hard to find for under $40.

The complete studies of Genrikh Kasparyan

John S. Hilbert

Peter P. Lahde

This wonderful book is about the first modern United States chest championship. It has wonderful annotations sourced from many sources. Grandmaster Reuben Fine could only finish third. Indeed Fine never won a US championship despite being one of the strongest players in the world in the late 1930s. Lowest price on eBay as of early November 2024 is $25.

The First Modern United States Chess Championship

New York 1936

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Stephen W. Gordon

I think that this is the only book in English on the strong Brazilian grandmaster. Before he developed myasthenia gravis, he was felt to be likely the successor to Bobby Fischer. This book has 167 pages, and contains 24 heavily annotated games, plus many unannotated games and a 27 page summary of his life and career. It is in English algebraic notation. The author is a strong United States master. Many diagrams, one photograph and one cartoon augment the text. Lowest price on eBay for a lesser copy as of early November 2024 is $12.95. Buy my copy and save.

Henrique Mecking, Latin Chess Genius

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This is the 68th edition of the Yugoslav periodic anthology. Just look at the list of commentators in the photographs! It contains 551 games, 27 combinations, 18 endings, tournament score tables and the 10 best games of the previous volume. This book is in excellent condition but something has been whited out on the title page as shown in the photographs.

October 1996 through January 1997

Chess Informant 68

This rare book up till now could only be found from sellers abroad. It has a detailed biography of the German Chessmaster, Diemer who was the cofounder and main proponent of the Blackmar-Diemer gambit. Diemer was a controversial figure because of his Nazi political views and psychological problems. The gambit, 1. d4 d5 2. e4!? is very popular among players with ELO less than 2000, and for good reason, as it often leads to quick and flashy victories. In the United States, chessmasters like Peter Webster and Chuck Diebert have made it their main weapon as white so it is not just for class players. 56 annotated games are included after a 230 page biography. 280 pages in German language, easy to read with the Google translate app. The author Georg Studier is a German chess master who also played the gambit. Chess.com has a good article on Diemer: https://www.chess.com/blog/ThePawnSlayer/the-life-and-games-of-emil-josef-diemer-the-madman-of-chess-part-1

A life for chess in the mirror of his Times

Emil Joseph Diemer

The former world champion annotates 15 games in detail. Botvinnik is known as a very instructive teacher, and his books are chess classics. This book is now uncommon, with no copies available nor recent copy sold on eBay. Lowest price on the Book search engine site addall dot com as of early November 2024 is $14.95. This volume is an excellent condition with the former owner’s signature on the inside front cover.

15 games and their stories

Simon Williams

This is grandmaster Williams first book on the Dutch classical defense. It is his main stay as black against 1. d4. This book is short enough to be actually read and get you started playing it against any White variation. If you are under 1600 ELO, this is the only book you need to play this defense. It is a good weapon in Blitz. Chess as few class players have anything definite prepared. Stronger players will also need a longer book such as Williams‘s sequels, but their length is daunting and they are suitable as a reference work rather than something to get you going. Lowest price on eBay as of early November 2024 is $10.66.

Play the Classical Dutch

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This book contains the complete 120 games of the extremely strong tournament in Hastings 1971-1972. Just look at the list of annotators! Most of the games are annotated in informant style. The tournament was won by Karpov and Korchnoi. Lowest price currently on eBay as of early November 2024 is seven dollars. Buy my copy and save!

The Chess Player No. 134

Hastings 1972

This pamphlet contains the 120 games of the tournament in Las Palmas 1972. It was won by Portisch ahead of Larsen and Smyslov second and third place and Bronstein in fourth. Most of the games are annotated in informant style. It includes the famous victory of Larsen over Smyslov in 77 moves. This game is annotated by Larsen. A lesser copy is the lowest price currently on eBay as of early November 2024 at nearly $15.

The Chess Player No. 143

Las Palmas 1972

This book gives 100 games of the Benko gambit sorted by variation. The games are unannotated, but the chapter headings give some direction and analysis. It was published in 1989, so it gives a little historical background. Play over one game a day and in 100 days you’ll have a feeling for this opening.

Trends Benko Gambit

This book covers the variation 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6. This was Kasparov’s main defense to 1 e4 for many years. The format is deeply annotated games for the first half of the book followed by hundreds of unannotated examples. This book would serve as an introduction to the defense, but not a complete one volume resource. It is in overall excellent condition, but the left rear corner has been bumped as shown in the photos, so downgraded to good.

The Sicilian Scheveningen, 2d revised edition 

This is the autobiography of the outstanding British marathon runner. It is printed on quality glossy paper with many photographs some in color. 166 pages. Large format, 9.5“ x 6.75“. Adcocks held the record for the classic marathon course to Athens for many years. This book is unavailable from a North American seller from British sellers, it would cost over $20 including postage.

The Road to Athens

David Bronstein

Georgy Smolyan

Kenneth P. Neat

Hardcover First Edition 1st English Edn. Hardback, VG. 115pp. Discusses the sport-oriented nature of chess to the detriment of chess as an art form or element of culture, and investigates the psychology and thinking processes involved in chess. Contains little chess analysis. This book is in excellent condition but has a moderate amount of neat marginalia in one chapter as shown in the photos. The lowest price on eBay as of late October 2024 is $15.49. My price lowered due to marginalia.

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Chess in the Eighties

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70+[2 ad] pages with photographs and tables. Duodecimo (6 3/4" x 5") bound in original publisher's stapled wrappers. Chess Player's Series number 103. (Lusis: 1527) First edition. The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900. Through 1938, the tournaments were organized by the Western Chess Association and its successor, the American Chess Federation (1934–1938). The United States Chess Federation (USCF) has run the tournament since 1939. The seventieth edition of this tournament attracted 197 participants and was held in Lincoln, Nebraska August 10th through the 23rd. The tournament was hard fought and the first time the Open brought up the problem of a three way tie for first place. Pal Benko, Arthur Bisguier and Milan Vukcevic each had a score of 9.5/12. Benko was the first of equals as he had defeated two of his chief rivals, Vukcevic and Byrne and was awarded the first place trophy. The three winner evenly divided $2800 of the first three prizes. There was also a tie for third place with Robert Byrne, William Martz and Robert Gauntt. The tournament book lists all the players as well as the ranking cross-table of all the players. In addition there are photographs and game scores of the critical games. Also a cross table of the US speed championship. English descriptive notation. No notes to the games. Lowest price from an American seller on the Book search engine. Addall dot com as of late October 2024 is $25.

Chessplayer No. 103

70th Annual United States Chess Championship 1969

Covers are soiled, but this appears worse in the photos because of lighting than in real life. Small tape reinforcement to lower spine. Internally, the book is in excellent condition. It contains the games of the very strong 36th Soviet championship in Moscow 1969. Tal could only place 15th! See the tournament cross table in the photographs. The book contains detailed round introductions based on Soviet sources, with some game analysis. A few games are annotated in detail, particularlyTamanov’s brilliancy versus Lutikov. Photos, many diagrams, and openings survey.
Lowest price on eBay as of late October 2024 is $23.97.


Chessplayer No. 100

37th USSR Championship

This book covers the rare defense to the Royal Lopez with‘s 3…Bb4!?  It is a variation your opponent has almost certainly never seen this before. Great for a weapon in blitz. It has detailed analysis with text in German, which is easy to follow using the Google translate app. originally published at £7.50, I paid $13 for this,  now you can get a bargain!

Browse by categories

Paul Keres

World chess championship 1948

L Ron Hubbard

Mission Earth 2, 3 and 4

Laura Joh Rowland

Bundori

Matanović, Petrosian, Larsen, Keres, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Geller et al

Chess Informant 7 and 8

Charles A. Gilberg

The Fifth American Chess Congress

BCM

31 USSR Chess championship

Barry Wood

York Chess Congress 1959

Jerzy Konikowski

Flohr-Mikenas System in the English Opening (A18-A19)

Kasparyan, Roycroft

The complete studies of Genrikh Kasparyan

John S. Hilbert; Peter P. Lahde

New York 1936

Stephen W. Gordon

Henrique Mecking, Latin Chess Genius

Kasparov, Karpov, J. Polgar, Kramnik, Anand, Shirov, Matanovic et al

Chess Informant 68

Georg Studier

Emil Joseph Diemer

Mikhail Botvinnik

15 games and their stories

Simon Williams

Play the Classical Dutch

Karpov, Korchnoi, Najdorf,Andersson, Unzicker, Mecking,Blackstock et al

Hastings 1972

Benko, Portisch, Bronstein, Smyslov, Andersson, Gheorghiu, Larsen, Botterill et al

Las Palmas 1972

Byron Jacobs

Trends Benko Gambit

Andrew Soltis

The Sicilian Scheveningen, 2d revised edition

Bill Adcocks and Trevor Frecknall

The Road to Athens

David Bronstein; Georgy Smolyan; Kenneth P. Neat

Chess in the Eighties

Jack Spence

70th Annual United States Chess Championship 1969

Bernard Cafferty, M H Horton

37th USSR Championship

Bernhard Lach

Die ALAPIN- Variante in der Spanischen Eröffnung

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