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Free Downloadable Chess eBooks The eBooks on this page are either in the public domain or are copywrited by Chessville and/or the author(s). Most are in PDF format; get a free PDF reader (if you don't already have one) here.
eBooks
Canadian Chess Problems 206 Chess Puzzles, taken from actual games as well as compositions. Originally published in 1890, now reproduced in electronic form and converted to algebraic notation by Anders Thulin. Solutions starting on page 59 of 63 pages. This program is in the public domain. 102 kb Zipped file in PDF format
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Chess History
and Reminiscences Free eBook: Chess History and Reminiscences, by H. E. Bird. containing this electronic version produced by Stephen D. Leary. [top]
English Chess
Problems Free eBook: English Chess Problems, Edited by James Pierce and W. Timbrell Pierce, originally published in 1876, now reproduced in electronic form and converted to algebraic notation by Anders Thulin. This program is in the public domain. [top]
Smith-Morra Gambit Part 1 - Containing the first five articles in Albert's series on this fascinating response to the Sicilian Defense. This 283 kb zipped pdf file is a special edition, created just for Chessville!
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Chess Strategy, 2nd Edition
(1915) Free eBook: This classic of chess literature, now converted to eBook format by Project Gutenberg. This work is in the public domain. And now José Garcia has added diagrams! Download the original file from Project Gutenberg, or download José's effort, your choice, and as always - 100% free! Original 180 kb zipped file with diagrams: 1.37 MB zipped file [top]
75 Chess Problems Free eBook: this electronic version of John Thursby's 1883 work, now in the public domain, has been converted to algebraic notation. All problems have been computer checked.
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700 Chess Problems Free eBook: 700 Chess Problems Selected From the Compositions of Mrs. W.J. Baird. Originally published in 1902, now reproduced in electronic form and converted to algebraic notation by Anders Thulin. All problems have been computer checked. This program is in the public domain. In zipped pdf format.
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Problem Solving
Tourney (1888) Free eBook: Problem Solving Tourney (1888) 78kb zipped pdf file. 100 mate-in-two problems, converted to algebraic notation and pdf format by Anders Thulin, following the original published in 1888 by C.F. Stubbs.
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Chess And Checkers : The Chess section includes: The Rules of the Game, Elementary Tactics, General Principles of Chess Strategy, Illustrative Games, and Problems. This classic work was first published in 1918. This file is in the public domain. [top]
200 Chess Problems Originally published in 1866, this public domain collection of 200 chess problems, has been computer checked and converted to algebraic by Anders Thulin. Many of these problems were prize winners in various composition competitions. [top]
777 Chess Miniatures in Three This public domain collection of chess problems, has been computer checked and converted to algebraic by Anders Thulin. [top] Crumbs From the Chess-Board This public domain download, first published in 1890, has been converted to electronic format with algebraic notation by Anders Thulin. Problems have been computer checked and errata noted. [top] Globe Problem and Solution This public domain download, first published in 1888, has been converted to electronic format with algebraic notation by Anders Thulin. Problems start on page 13. [top]
Maelzel's Chess-Player Poe's account of The Turk, during it's exhibition by Johan Maelzel, and Poe's theories and beliefs about The Turk's inner workings. This zipped text file is in the public domain. [top]
The Balogh Counter Gambit Erik Jensen compiled Keith Hayward's 5-part article on the Balogh Counter Gambit in to a ChessBase file. "How good is the Balogh Counter Gambit? Certainly high risk, but I do think it is sound in the hands of an adventurous and creative player. I think BCG works great with speed chess, and good for an occasional over-the-board game. From there the issue is how much risk is one willing to take on to win. Regardless, the fun factor will always be high with the Balogh Counter Gambit! - Good Chess!! Keith" [top] The Tactical Grob Erik Jensen has produced an eBook free for all to download, this time from the legendary Claude Bloodgood (1924-2001, see Neil Brennen's piece in the 2 September 2001 issue of Chess Correspondence News - page 21 for more about this chess legend). "Grob's Attack is a basic gambit unlike anything else in modern chess theory. Every basic concept of development and piece placement must be discarded once 1.g4 has been played..." [top]
The Chessmen of Mars This famous story from the pen of one of early science-fiction's all-time great authors, is now available as a free downloadable eBook. This Project Gutenberg Etext is in the Public Domain. [top]
The Blue Book of Chess Originally copyrighted in 1870,
this is a new revised edition, apparently from 1910, except for the
addition of pgn records of the games (!) An opening survey, also
including a section on endings, and another section with a dozen
problems for solving.
White to move only his King
From the preface to this edition: The following work is designed for those who are
learning the noble game of Chess. Many persons have been
confused and discouraged at the very outset of the study by the great
variety and the delicate distinctions of the openings: and this has
constituted a fault in many otherwise excellent manuals for the
learner...The reader will find the combined genius and skill of the
old heroes like Philidor, Morphy, Staunton, Anderssen, Harrwitz,
Evans, Montgomery and Cochrane, together with such recent masters as
Lasker, Steinitz, Schlechter, Pillsbury, Marshall, Tarrasch, Janowsky,
Tchigorin, and many other players of world−wide celebrity.
Chess In Iceland and Icelandic Literature
Download this 17.4 MB zipped PDF file
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The Works of Damiano, Ruy-Lopez, Translated and arranged by J.H. Sarratt, including "remarks, observations, and copious notes, on the games. Containing also several original games and situations by the Editor. To which are added, The Elements of the Art of Playing without seeing the Board." The latter "Chiefly taken from Damiano's scarce and valuable treatise.." First printed in London in April 1813, this work is now in the Public Domain. Download this 5.1 MB zipped PDF file
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The Works of Gíanutío, and First published at London, 1817. According to Wikipedia, Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg wrote his book on chess, Chess or the King's Game, under the pseudonym Gustavus Selenus. Gianutio, meanwhile, is known for a pair of lines in the King's Gambit, the Gianutio Countergambit – C34 – 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 f5, and the Lopez-Gianutio Countergambit – C33 – 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 f5. This work is now in the Public Domain, we make it available in zipped PDF format. Download this 2.9 MB zipped PDF file
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The Modern Chess Instructor Originally published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York & London, in 1889. The World Champion included essays on the principles of the game, 'Chess as a Training of the Mind and How to Improve', and his annotations of a match between himself and Tschigorin played at Havana in early 1889, along with analysis of a half-dozen openings and beginner instruction. This work is now in the Public Domain; we make it available in zipped PDF format. Download this 9.3 MB zipped PDF file
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The Two-Move Chess Problem Originally published in London, 1890. "Strictly, a Chess Problem may be defined as a proposition requiring the discovery of some concealed chess truth..." This title is divided into the following sections: The Old Masters (and this back in 1890!), Classes of Problems, Definitions, Beauty or Merit of Solution, Construction, Difficulty of Solution, and Selected Problems. This work is now in the Public Domain; we make it available in zipped PDF format. Download this 3.8 MB zipped PDF file
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The Hastings Chess Tournament 1895 With annotations by Pillsbury, Lasker, Tarrasch, Steinitz, Schiffers, Teichmann, Bardeleban, Blackburne, Gunsberg, Tinsley, Mason, and Albin. Also includes biographical sketches of the masters. Originally published in 1896 by G.P. Putnam's Sons. This book is now in the Public Domain. Download this 6.8 MB zipped PDF file
[top] The Manual of Chess by Charles Kenny "Contains the Elementary Principles of the Game; Illustrated with Numerous Diagrams, Recent Games, and Original Problems." Originally published in New York, 1864, this book is now in the public domain. Download this 2.2 MB Zipped PDF file
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Chess Openings 185 pages, includes biographical sketch of the author - Frank J. Marshall. Plus: Benjamin Franklin's The Morals of Chess, 42 openings examined, 32 fully annotated games of Marshall's against the greatest players of his time, including Lasker, Pillsbury, Schlechter, Teichmann, Janowski, etc. Published by British Chess Magazine, 1904. This book is now in the public domain.
Download this 2.7 MB zipped PFD file
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The Major Tactics of Chess © 1898 Franklin K. Young. Published by Little, Brown, and Company, Boston 1919. "This, the second volume of the Chess Strategetics series, may not improperly be termed a book of chess tricks. Its purpose is to elucidate those processes upon which every ruse, trick, artifice, and stratagem known in chess-play, is founded..." This work is now in the Public Domain. Download this 7.4 MB zipped PDF file
[top] The History of Chessby Duncan Forbes 380 pages, first published in London, 1860. "If we calmly inquire into such plain facts as come within our reach, setting aside all foolish prejudices and partialities, we shall find that the history of chess naturally falls into three distinct periods. The first is that of the ancient Hindu game, called Chaturanga..." This work is now in the Public Domain. Download this 10.3 MB zipped PDF file
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The Fifth American Chess Congress "Containing a full report of the proceedings of the convention of chess players, held in New York, in the year 1880; together with an account of the preceding chess congresses, held in the United States, and biographical sketches of noted early chess players." This book is now in the public domain.
Download this
11.9 MB zipped PFD file
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Download this 5.6 MB zipped PDF file
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Anderssen, Kieseritzky, Staunton, Bird, Löwenthal, Horwitz, Jaenisch, etc.,
what more needs to be said about the famous 1851 London tournament, the
first international chess tournament in the history of the modern game?
Originally published in London, 1873, this book is now in the public domain.
Download this 12.0 MB zipped PDF file
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Originally published in Boston in 1898, this book is now in the Public
Domain. Young is known for his ego and hyperbole, which are on display
in this short snippet from the introduction: "In this volume is presented
a complete system of chess-play. This system is deduced from the play
of the greater Masters; and those processes by which they gained their
renown are herein formulated and put into language for the first time.
The principles which govern these processes are simple and clearly stated.
These comprehend every situation possible on the chess-board..."
Download this 12.6 MB zipped PDF file
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Download this 13.8 MB zipped PDF file
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Wikipedia reports that "François-André Danican Philidor (September 7,
1726 - August 31, 1795) was a French chess player and composer. He was
regarded as the best single chess player of his age (see any of the
References), although the title of World Chess Champion was not yet in
existence. Philidor's book Analyse du jeu des Échecs was considered a
standard chess manual for at least a century. He is referred to here as
André Danican Philidor, the name commonly used during his lifetime..."
This book, originally published in Boston in 1805, is now in the public
domain.
Download this 6.2 MB zipped PDF file
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The Chess Euclid; A Collection of Two Josef Kling (March 19, 1811 – December 1, 1876) was a German chess master and chess composer. In 1851 he wrote Chess Studies with Bernhard Horwitz (Wikipedia). Kling, along with Horwitz, also edited the magazine Chess Player from 1851-3. Published in London in 1849, this book is now in the Public Domain. Download this 8.9 MB zipped PDF file
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A Selection of Games At Chess,
Actually A Selection of Games At Chess, Actually Played by Philidor and His Contemporaries. Now First Published from the Original Manuscripts with Notes and Additions by George Walker, (English chess master and writer, born March 1803 – died April 1879). Published at London in 1835 by Sherwood, Gilbert & Piper, it includes an Appendix: On the Pawn and Three Moves, and The Game of the Pawns. This book is now in the Public Domain. download this 2.1 MB zipped PDF file
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The Chess Congress of 1862 Published in London, 1889, this book is now in the Public Domain. The Chess Congress held in London, featured such stars of the chess firmament as Steinitz, Anderssen, Paulsen, Owen, Blackburne, Barnes, McDonell, Löwenthal, etc. Plus a huge (400+ entries) problem composition contest. Download this 18.0 MB zipped PDF file
[top] Analysis of the Game of Chess by François-André Danican Philidor "A new edition, improved and greatly enlarged, to which is added several [games] played by the author blindfold, against three adversaries." Originally published in London in 1790, this book is now in the Public Domain. Philidor (1726 - 1795) was probably the best player of his time, the unofficial World Chess Champion. This book, Analyse du jeu des Échecs, was a standard chess manual for more than a hundred years. Download this 8.4 MB zipped PDF file
[top] Giochino Greco On the Game of Chess To Which Are Added, Numerous Remarks, Critical and Explanatory, by William Lewis Gioachino Greco (1600 ~ 1634) was an Italian chess player and author. He recorded some of the first chess games ever recorded. As one of the players during the age of the "Romantic" era, he studied the Giuoco Piano (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4), and published his analysis in the form of short games around 1625. In 1665, after his death, the manuscripts were published in London. Greco paved the way for many of the attacking legends of the Romantic era, such as Adolf Anderssen, Paul Morphy, and François Philidor. Originally published at London in 1819, this book is now in the Public Domain. Download this 8.8 MB zipped PDF file
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"A Magazine devoted to the cultivation of the game of chess; containing Game & Problems by the First Masters; with a variety of articles, original and selected, on the subject of chess." Printed in London, 1868; now in the Public Domain. This compilation includes such articles as, e.g., Brevity and Brilliancy; Chess In Hades; Conrad Bayer, the celebrated Chess Problem Composer; Mated at Last; and games by the likes of Anderssen, Zukertort, Steinitz, Philidor, Staunton, and many others. Download this 10.8 MB zipped PDF file
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"A Magazine devoted to the cultivation of the game of chess; containing Game & Problems by the First Masters; with a variety of articles, original and selected, on the subject of chess." Printed in London, 1869; now in the Public Domain, includes articles, problems, correspondence, gossip, etc; and games by the likes of Anderssen, Zukertort, Bird, Blackburn, Burns, Steinitz, Paulson, and many others. Download this 15.8 MB zipped PDF file
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Souvenir of the Bristol Chess Club
Originally published at London in 1845, this book is now in the public
domain. A collection of lightly-annotated games amongst club members,
and between club members and other notable chess players.
Download this 2.3 MB zipped PDF file
[top] First published at London, 1875, this book is now in the Public Domain. Includes 100 selected compositions, as well as the openings of the author's day, including both stalwarts of today's repertoires as well as enough 'under-the-radar' openings to help the enthusiastic opening specialist surprise with rarely seen lines from yesteryear. Download this 9.4 MB zipped PDF file
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British Chess Magazine 1903
Originally published in London, we offer it as a (very large!) zipped
PDF file. This book is now in the Public Domain.
Download this 24.5 MB zipped PDF file
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The Book of the Sixth American Chess Congress
490 pages in a zipped PDF file. This is copy 405 of 500, issued to
Peter G. Toepfer of Milwaukee. Originally published at New York in 1891,
this book is now in the Public Domain. The Sixth American Chess
Congress, a double round-robin, included: =1/2 Tschigorin, Weiss (29/38); 3
Gunsberg (28.5); 4 Blackburne (27); 5 Burn (26); 6 Lipschutz (25.5); 7 Mason
(22.5); Showalter, Pollock, Bird, etc.
Download this 15 MB zipped PDF file
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Download this 25.9 MB zipped PDF file
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American Chess Nuts 627 pages of chess problems, studies and compositions. "The most appropriate prelude to an opening of the NUTS, seems to be an account of how these leaves have grown and borne their fruit. In February, 1859, the writer received a very interesting anonymous letter, calculated to excite the desire of becoming better acquainted with its author. "I do not know," said the unknown, "whether you are a collector of Chess Curiosities. I hope you are not. And yet, I inconsistently enclose title and specimen pages of a Chess book that was neither printed nor published, and of which the only copy is to be found in my Chess library..." From Mr. Henry's memoranda, it appears that—" The first American problem was published in the Spirit of the Times, March 1, 1845,—a Self-Mate in four moves, by C. H. S. [Stanley,] who was originally an Englishman...The first Chess diagram printed in America, setting forth a four-move mate by Mr. J. Knous, was given as No. 15 of the Spirit, then in its second year—previous to which time problems were verbally written out..." First published in New York, 1868, we offer it as a zipped PDF file. This book is now in the Public Domain. Download this 25.9 MB zipped PDF file
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The Art of Chess
Download this 12.9 MB zipped PDF file
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The Book of the London Lasker, Janowski, Maroczy, Pillsbury, Schlecter, Blackburne, Tchigorin, Showalter, Mason, Steinitz, Marshall, Mieses, Bird, Teichmann, etc. Published in London in 1900, this book - one of just 500 copies printed - is now in the Public Domain. Download this 6.4 MB zipped PDF file
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This
edition, originally published on London in 1890 and featuring an
alphabetical list of all the principal openings by R.F. Green, is now in the
Public Domain. Harry Golombek wrote about Staunton, "He achieved
fame by winning a celebrated match against the French champion St Amant,
gave his name to a set of chessmen that has become standard, edited the
first English chess magazine and by his originality and enthusiasm brought
about the first International Chess Tournament. This remarkable man was
Howard Staunton, the only British chess master of whom it could be said that
at one time he was the world's leading player." Wikipedia says "His
chess articles and books were widely read and encouraged the development of
chess in the United Kingdom, and his Chess-Player's Handbook (1847) was a
reference for decades."
