Masters of the Chessboard

by Richard Réti and M. A. Reti, Richard ; Schwendemann

Book Overview

R (c)ti's "Other" Classic Ask most chessplayers about the works by Richard R (c)ti, and most will quickly reply Modern Ideas in Chess. His Masters of the Chessboard will be a distant second and that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486233847
• ISBN13: 9780486233840
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 436 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Descriptive notation in 2008

This review is just to highlight to potential purchasers that the 2008 Ishi Press reprint is still in descriptive notation. This is not what I expected, so I hope others will buy (or not) better informed. The book is worth five stars on its merits though, although I don't have time for a proper review.

Grab this book if you can find it!

This is a chess book that every collector should own as part of their chess library. It is one of the all-time classics. It was published by Dover and runs 436 pages in Descriptive notation. (If this book was ever republished in algebraic notation I would rate it 7 stars!!).It basically contains a sampling of master games from many of the greatest masters of all-time; Anderssen, Morphy, Steinitz, Tarrasch, Lasker, Schlechter, Pillsbury, Maroczy, Marshall, Rubenstein, Spielmann, Nimzowitsch, Vidmar, Tartakower, Capablanca, Bogoljubow, Alekhine, Grunfeld, Euwe, Saemisch, Colle, and Torre.Each chapter focuses on a different master in the order described above. There is a biographical sketch of each master at the beginning of each chapter as well. It focuses on a particular masters achievements and some of the unique ideas and methods that master brought to the game.There are a total of 70 very well annotated games.This book is not only a great games collection, but a virtual textbook on how to play the game. It thoroughly discussed many different opening systems, middle game strategies, and endgame topics. One thing I noticed was how many combinations originating from these games are used in so many tactics books such as 1001 winning chess combinations, or combination challenge. I have used those training books in the past - and now I know that they come from real games and who played them!This book has become very hard to find. My advice is this - if you can find this book in a used book store somewhere, don't hesitate. Grab the book, pay for it and get out of there fast before someone else finds the book. You will not regret buying this book.I rated it "only" 4 stars for a couple of reasons - 1)it is in descriptive notation (this book makes it worthwhile learning DN if you don't already know it) 2)Reti died before all of the chapters could be finished. Some of the later chapters in the book are not as thorough and interesting as the earlier ones. Some of the biographical details are left out.Even with the limitations mentioned above, there are few chess books as fun and instructive. Based upon the level of annotations in this book, players rated between 1,100 - 1,600 USCF would probably benefit the most. Players outside of that rating range would still enjoy playing over the games, but would not gain as much insight from the notes.

Chess, for the love of it

This book is Reti's masterpiece and I consider it one of the finest chess books ever written. Reti died, in 1929 at the age of forty, just before its publication. In it he chronicles the development of chess with sketches of the game's greatest practicioners. In doing so, he analyzes some games played by these masters. The analysis has imperfections by today's computer aided standards, but this is not primarily an instructional book. Rather it is a work of literature wherein a great mind shares his love of chess with beautiful prose. Those seeking instruction of high quality from a contermporary of Reti might consider Grandmaster Aron Nimzovitch's "My System". It is entertaining and a classic on positional chess. And it is written in a lively and unique style.

Learn chess by watching theory develop

This is one of the most interesting training books on chess I've read. This books walks you through a history of chess theory from the mid 1850's to the late 1920's, teaching you the ideas while having you go through a selection of games explaining them. Almost all of the games are fantastic and the ideas are timeless. Reti is probably the greatest chess annotator of all time. This makes for a truly great 2nd book on chess (about the level of "My System") for the desciplined reader. It can be too easy in the book however to miss subtle points that the games bring out, and since Reti died while writing it the book never reaches the climax. A strong recommendation for a classic

Maybe 10 stars!

This book should not be out of print! Find a copy somehow, someway. This is Reti's magnum opus which has found its way onto nearly every master's "desert island" short-list. Reti analylizes the development of chess from the middle of the 19th century (Anderssen, Morphy & Steinitz) through his own time (tragically, Reti died at 40 in 1929). Using particularly instructive games, he shows each of the great player's contributions to chess theory and gives the reader an insight into their style of play. The book is a huge 435 pages (in my Dover edition) and comprises 70 often deeply annotated games. As befits its date of publication, it is written in English Descriptive Notation. The quality of printing is rather poor -- many of the diagrams are dark and difficult to make out at a glance. There are also numerous translation errors as well. The German chess term for the Exchange (winning a Rook for Bishop or Knight) is Die Qualitat (umlaut over the a). In MOTCB,! the exchange is referred to as "the quality" on several occasions, a literal translation that does not make any chess sense. Despite these problems, this is a keeper. Buy it. Study it. Reread it every few years as your chess skills improve and wonder at everything you didn't really understand the first time through. It's that good.