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The Chess Kings - Volume One

319 Seiten, kartoniert, Trafford, 1. Auflage 2006

7,50 €
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About the Author
by National Master Robert M. Snyder
Calvin Olson is a highly respected historian and teacher. He learned to play chess in 1958 at the age of 12 and went on to become a USCF Chess Expert and Correspondence Chess Master. He received a B.A. degree in Art History from Cal State University at Fullerton in 1983 and went on to do post-graduate studies.
He has written articles for School Mates and Gambit, and he was editor of the scholastic newsletter The Orange Knight. Cal also does work as a freelance proofreader and editor and has proofread several books for the chess books diof Random House publishers. He has taught chess at a number of Chess for Juniors National Chess Camps.
Cal has spent many years studying chess history and has read over 3,000 books that he collected over the past 40 years in pursuit of his favorite hobby. This work reflects his years of intensive study on the history of the Royal Game.

Preface
Many authors have used the preface as an apologia; I decided to continue this longtradition. Writing a history, as opposed to a chronicle, involves interpreting the significance of events. For a chronicler the four W's of Who, What, When, and Where are of supreme importance; they form the factual basis for the question that is most important to the historian - Why? In attempting to answer this question historians are bound by their perspectives. Their interpretations are based on the available information and the times in which they live. Hence, my ideas will be subjected to the scrutiny and criticism of other scholars and expanded upon with further information. I hope this will lead to greater understanding and promote further research into the history of this fascinating game.
I first conceived the idea of writing this history in 1969 and developed an outline in 1972, but at that time I felt I did not possess sufficient knowledge of the history and theory of the game to attempt such an undertaking. After almost thirty years of study - and reading books that contained numerous errors and myths that were due to poor scholarship, inadequate research, or just plain ignorance - I asked myself a question: 'Who is best qualified to write a history of the noble game?' My massive ego quickly supplied the answer. I began intensive research and writing in September of 1996 and this work is the result.
I confine myself primarily to the history of the game since the 18th century because the work of the great chess scholar Harold James Ruthven Murray (1868-1955) adequately covers the origins and earlier history of chess as well as many regional variants. Mention is made of some researches since his time. The paucity of truly scholarly works in the 20th century (offhand I can only think of Murray's History of Chess, Sergeant's Century of British Chess, Eales' Chess: The History of a Game, Winter's Capablanca, Gaige's publications, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Chess Games) gave the impetus for my researches. I hope it will serve others and inspire them to similar efforts.
The bane of history writers has always been run-on sentences combined with a tendency to become pedantic. I have tried to avoid these twin evils but only the reader will be able to tell if I have succeeded. I try to keep in mind that I am telling a factual story and the narrative must be clear and make sense. At times I have digressed from a strict chronological path; I hope the reader will bear with me.
Another evil for historians of the World Chess Championship is what can aptly be called the "cult of personality" approach. Works using this method generally divide their periods into The Age of Morphy, The Age of Steinitz, The Age of Lasker, etc. ad nauseam. The implication in this approach is that the great champions are inherently superior and all contemporaries are merely props for the stage of their greatness. The fallacy of this assumption is clearly shown whenever two great champions are contemporaries and still in their prime as players. Such was the case with Capablanca and Alekhine when Alekhine gained the title and managed to avoid a rematch with his rival. Only twice in the history of the championship could it reasonably be argued that a champion was clearly superior to all opposition: Morphy (from 1858-60) and Fischer (from 1970-72) overwhelmed their opponents by astounding margins to become champion. In both cases the superiority was of short duration and it will never be known if they could have sustained such superiority because they quit playing at the height of their ability. Some writers have claimed this distinction for Philidor, but he did not travel to engage the Modenese masters of Italy in combat. Then again, neither did they attempt to gain a match with him. In my approach I have tried to achieve balance by giving the champions their due, while presenting them in relation to their times and contemporaries.
There is frequent speculation about whether players such as Morphy and Fischer were still the "greatest" during their lifetime. I would state that all conjectures about the abilities of players who no longer play are fruitless speculations. The only certain statement that can be made is that they are no longer active.
The World Championship provides the organizing basis of this history, but since nothing exists in isolation, I have had to deal with the developments of chess knowledge and the social/political climates as they affect chess and its play. Only within this contest can we understand who is considered the champion and why. Prior to the creation of an official title the idea of the greatest player, or champion, was sometimes a matter of consensus in the chess world.
I encountered other problems in the matter of games by the great players. Frequently, especially prior to the 20th century, games would have incomplete or incorrect attributions as to player, venue, and date. Further, the games may have been incorrectly copied or subsequently altered by well meaning editors in the rush to publish a book of games. An even more serious problem existed in the intentional falsification of games. Spurious games attributed to famous people were published as being authentic. In this matter I was forced to consult, whenever possible, the original publication of the game score and check for misprints to achieve accuracy in the games. This will continue to be a concern for the compilers of databases of chess games as well as for the chess historian.
There is also a problem concerning the use of aphorisms, anecdotes, and hearsay about the game and its players. In this I have taken a conservative course. Although much of what is known about players stems from comments related by those who knew them, the historian must be judicious in accepting the reliability of second-hand accounts. Many writers have indiscriminately used such comments when relating incidents in the lives of players or their "wise" sayings. Many times I have seen the same anecdote or aphorism applied to different persons. Hearsay has its place but must be applied judiciously. There are chess authors that have applied these methods to create historical "facts" rather than relate incidents as interpreted by observers; they have frequently copied from each other and subsequently changed the information. I use these methods only when it illumines an important point or gives insight into the character of an individual. And I attempt to find and use reliable authority when doing so. Chess history is fascinating enough without having to invent episodes.
In researching this book I felt that the search for truth in chess history is much like the search in modern physics for the "Grand Unification" that unites weak forces, strong forces, electromagnetic forces, and gravitational forces. Just when it seems that the goal is within our grasp it eludes us. Problems always arise, and our approach to truth must be based upon the facts. When writing chess history - like any history - it must be based on a sound foundation, and this means starting with the record of what happened. Piling conjecture upon conjecture would leave a foundation built like a house of cards. Only interpretation based on actual events will give a solid basis for speculation that can withstand assaults and provide for intelligent argument.
A further difficulty in writing a history such as this is in trying to make it appealing to chess players of differing levels of knowledge and skill as well as to non-chess players. For the avid player I have given some discussion of the openings used as well as reference to specific games. This can be ignored by those not interested in such information. Those not familiar with algebraic chess notation can consult the short description prior to the games in this book. The games, with comments, assume little knowledge beyond the rules of the game on the part of the reader. Technical terms are italicized when they are first used in the text and can be found in the Glossary of Chess Terms. Finally, the somewhat annotated bibliography, with prefatory recommendations, is meant to provide a list of works consulted in the writing of this history and a list of works for the aspiring historian of chess to consult. This can be the starting point for a more detailed study of the periods covered.
To a great extent this work is both a history and a bibliography; this is necessary because of a comparative lack of decent bibliographies relating to the history of the game. The earlier great bibliographies/histories were in German: Antonius van der Linde (1833-97) produced his two-volume Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspieh (History and literature of Chess) in 1874 and von der Lasa's Zur Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels (On the History and Literature of Chess) appeared in 1897. In the intervening century there have been few bibliographies, but there has been a proliferation of books on the game. I do not presume to have created a complete bibliography. The literature of the game is now so vast that such a compilation would take years of effort and the majority of cites would be instructional works. I limit myself to books bearing on the history of the game and confine myself mainly to the major works in English and German. Many of the finest works in other languages have been translated into English. Fortunately, my own personal library contained the majority of the works cited. The remainder I was able to find in the library at The Mechanic's Institute in San Francisco and the library of my friend Monte E. Crane who provided me with pertinent information about various topics and valuable criticism that helped me in my work.
9 December 2005
Weitere Informationen
EAN 9781412039079
Gewicht 520 g
Hersteller Trafford
Breite 17,5 cm
Höhe 22,7 cm
Medium Buch
Erscheinungsjahr 2006
Autor Calvin Olson
Sprache Englisch
Auflage 1
ISBN-10 141203907X
ISBN-13 9781412039079
Seiten 319
Einband kartoniert
005 Preface
008 List of Abbreviations
009 Acknowledgments
013 1. Beginnings
022 2. The Aristocratic Pastime
030 3. The Rise of Professionalism
053 4. The Popularization of Chess and the Rise of Position Play
072 5. The Era of Technique
099 6. The Revolution in Theory and Practice
141 Appendix A: list of World Chess Champions
143 Appendix B: list of Major Chess Tournaments and Their Winners to 1940
147 Appendix C: list of Women World Champions before 1940
148 Appendix D: list of World Team Events to 1940 (Chess Olympiads)
149 Appendix E: Chess and Psychology
155 Bibliography
185 Algebraic Notation
186 Games
301 Glossary of Chess Terms
314 Games Index (Vol. 1)
315 Index (Vol. 1)