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Chessville
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Kelly's Quotes Chess Books Anthologized by Kelly Atkins It is with books as with men - a very small number play a great part; the rest are lost in the multitude. – Voltaire But the present type of book – one intended for players who are beyond the beginning stage - is much more difficult to write. How does one select the subject matter?! What A needs to know is familiar to B and of no interest to C. Looking at earlier books is of no great help. Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals does not indicate any awareness of the problems involved. He does not bother, for example, to explain the moves of the pieces, the nature of checkmate, the details of the chess notation! Yet his book devotes three pages to an ending which has occurred only once, to my knowledge, in the whole history of master play. Again, eight pages are spent on the mate with bishop and knight and the win with queen against rook – although most of us play chess for a whole lifetime without once encountering these problems! In Lasker's Manual of Chess we find the same lack of selectivity. The book is long, and demands considerable reading time. It contains pages and pages of abstruse philosophical thinking, which is interesting but of no use to a beginner. There are many composed endings which are artistic but of no practical value; yet Lasker gives slight attention to the endings that actually occur in real games; and he (intentionally!) skimps the openings rather badly. – Fred Reinfeld A book that moved me up a level. It was clear that no matter how much Chernev tried to break down every move, at the end of the day some guy made a mistake, the other guy punished it, and the only way that happens is tactically. That’s what chess is. Chess is tactics. – Mig Greengard (on Chernev’s Logical Chess Move By Move) A classic is a book, which people praise and don't read. – Mark Twain A Chilean human rights lawyer arrested by the Pinochet regime was allowed to take three books with him to prison. He chose the Bible, Plato's Dialogues and the thickest chess book on his shelf. "I didn't know if I'd be in for a week or a lifetime, so I looked for things that would last.” – Charles Krauthammer It seems to me that little effort is exerted as a rule (by most writers) to make the study of a chess book an interesting and pleasant occupation. – Fred Reinfeld Quick: name a chess writer. I am willing to bet a dollar to a dime that you named Fred Reinfeld. Reinfeld was inspired principally by chess players. Reinfeld was responsible for introducing Keres, Tarrasch, Nimzowitsch, and, to some extent, Emanuel Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine to the modern American chess fan. He popularized chess by popularizing chess masters. Reinfeld gave us heroes and taught us to love them, so we appreciate chess all the more. – Burt Hochberg In his early works Reinfeld attempted to add to chess knowledge, but soon realized that he could make a better career by writing for the larger market created by weaker players. His readers liked his clear style, and his publishers liked his reliability. – David Hooper and Ken Whyld Chess is a mental sport, but there are 1,000 chess books that teach you what you should know for every one that concentrates on showing you an effective way to think. – Dan Heisman Whenever my wife complains about my chess book addiction, I threaten to take up golf! – J. D. Marino
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