Help stamp out ignorance. Send your used books to prison! Send me all kinds of books, not crime stories. I will send them to jail birds. Send chess magazines: “New in Chess”, foreign languages, NOT “Chess Life”. The rate of recidivism of inmates who played chess in prison is 10%. The rate of recidivism of [...]

Book review by James Schroeder The Art of Bisguier Volume Two One Hundred Selected Games 1961 – 2003 © 2008; 267 pp.; figurine algebraic The introduction by Berry is atrocious. He is incredibly egotistic and stupid and not qualified to make any comment about master play, much less grandmaster play. He is especially insulting by [...]

  by James Schroeder My first Brilliancy. Julius Geodman – James Schroeder; Ohio Championship 1949 [Click HERE for game board.] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Qc2? c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. Nf3 Bxc5 8. a3 b6 9. Be2 d5 10. O-O dxc4 11. Bxc4 Bb7 12. b4 [...]

Robert Fischer, March 9, 1943, Chicago, Illinois – January 17, 2008, Reykjavik, Iceland. A tormented genius who won the 1957 US Open, Cleveland, Ohio; USA Championships 1957/58, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1962/63, 1963/64, 1965/66, 1966/67. Won the World Championship Match in 1972 from Boris Spassky: W7 L3 D11. FIDE declared Anatoly Karpov world champion after Fischer [...]

MATHEMATICS AND CHESS Miodrag Petkovic Dover Publications, 1997 Limp cover Reviewed by Dave Davis This is a collection of 110 problems in geometry, algebra, and combinations based on the moves of the chess pieces. The only chess knowledge required is the rules of the game. The amount of mathematical skill needed is considerable. The preface [...]

[This book review was published in the Australian magazine Chess World and is written by Cecil Purdy.] “The Art of Checkmate” by George Renaud. and Victor Kahn, former champions of France, is yet another demonstration of how very suited the French literary tradition is to chess exposition. The close attention to the order and neatness [...]

The Life and Games of Carlos Torre by Gabriel Velasco; Russell Enterprises; published 2000; 301 pp; limp cover; excellent printing and diagrams. More than 103 games in figurine algebraic notation but too many are poorly played and/or horrible exhibition games. Born November 23, 1904 in Merida, Yucatan province, Mexico, his family moved to New Orleans [...]

Counter Gambits by T.D. Harding; Dover © 1979; Price $9.00 What a delight! 220 PACKED pages. Includes 18 page chapter written 2001. Superb format: long-algebraic, bold type for game moves; short-algebraic, light type for analysis. Perfect diagrams. There are three types of gambits by Black: those which are theoretically sound, those which are risky but [...]

Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur by Max Euwe and Walter Meiden Dover price $10. Please order from me – MINIMUM ORDER $20. See Dover list with reviews HERE. Mostly a good book but Euwe made the worst possible mistake, saying 1 PK4 PQ4; 2 PxP PQB3?; 3 PxP NxP is playable, when it is actually [...]

HELP! I have written to every prison in the State of Washington asking if they want any chess sets. A prison official called and said they can use forty sets. The second prison official that called said they can use forty sets. That’s the way it goes. Forty tournament size solid plastic sets and forty [...]