Curious Chess Facts is Irving Chernev's first book. Published in 1937, it is his famous collection of chess anecdotes. The facts in this book are so famous that they have become part of chess lore, repeated thousands of times, published in countless books and magazine articles by many different authors, such that it is almost forgotten that this book is the original published source. Here are some examples: At a dinner somebody gave a toast to the World Chess Champion. Both Steinitz and Zukertort stood up. (They played a match to determine the real world champion. Steinitz won the match but Zukertort had finished three points ahead of him in London 1883.) This is Curious Chess Fact Number 197 in this book. One that I use that often helps me remember chess history is that Steinitz was World Champion for 28 years. His record was not quite equaled by Lasker who was world champion for 27 years. This is Curious Chess Fact Number 21. Since I remember that Lasker lost the world title to Capablanca in a match in 1921, I can calculate back to determine the year in which Lasker won the world championship by defeating Steinitz in a match. Then, going back another 28 years I can calculate the year that Steinitz defeated Adolf Anderssen who some consider to have been the first world chess champion. Another example is that Marshall won a famous game by a queen sacrifice that was so brilliant that the spectators showered the board with gold pieces. This is Curious Chess Fact Number 9. The moves of the game itself with the spectacular queen sacrifice are to be found in almost every anthology of famous chess games. The story that the spectators showered the board with gold pieces is always included with the moves. The list goes on any on. There are so many of them that you just have to read this book to see and recall them.

The KGB Plays Chess is a unique book. For the first time it opens to us some of the most secret pages of the history of chess. The battles about which you will read in this book are not between chess masters sitting at the chess board, but between the powerful Soviet secret police, known as the KGB, on the one hand, and several brave individuals, on the other. Their names are famous in the chess world: Viktor Kortschnoi, Boris Spasski, Boris Gulko and Garry Kasparov became subjects of constant pressure, blackmail and persecution in the USSR. Their victories at the chess board were achieved despite this victimization. Unlike in other books, this story has two perspectives. The victim and the persecutor, the hunted and the hunter, all describe in their own words the very same events. One side is represented by the famous Russian chess players Viktor Kortschnoi and Boris Gulko. For many years they fought against a powerful system, and at the end they were triumphant. The Soviet Union collapsed and they got what they were fighting for: their freedom. Former KGB Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Popov, who left Russia in 1996 and now lives in Canada, was one of those who had worked all his life for the KGB and was responsible for the sport sector of the USSR. It is only now for the first time that he has decided to tell the reader his story of the KGB�s involvement in Soviet Sports. This is his first book, and it is not only full of sensations, but it also dares to name names of secret KGB agents previously known only as famous chess masters, sportsmen or sport officials. Just a few short years ago a book like this would have been unimaginable. Read this book. It is not only about chess. It is about glorious victory of the great chess masters over the forces of darkness.

From Gutenberg to the Internet presents 63 original readings from the history of computing, networking, and telecommunications arranged thematically by chapters. Most of the readings record basic discoveries from the 1830s through the 1960s that laid the foundation of the world of digital information in which we live. These readings, some of which are illustrated, trace historic steps from the early nineteenth century development of telegraph systems---the first data networks---through the development of the earliest general-purpose programmable computers and the earliest software, to the foundation in 1969 of ARPANET, the first national computer network that eventually became the Internet. The readings will allow you to review early developments and ideas in the history of information technology that eventually led to the convergence of computing, data networking, and telecommunications in the Internet. The editor has written a lengthy illustrated historical introduction concerning the impact of the Internet on book culture. It compares and contrasts the transition from manuscript to print initiated by Gutenberg's invention of printing by moveable type in the 15th century with the transition that began in the mid-19th century from a print-centric world to the present world in which printing co-exists with various electronic media that converged to form the Internet. He also provided a comprehensive and wide-ranging annotated timeline covering selected developments in the history of information technology from the year 100 up to 2004, and supplied introductory notes to each reading. Some introductory notes contain supplementary illustrations.

The best, the worst, the shortest, the oddest, the longest, the most deceitful, the most memorable, the most brilliant, the dumbest--of players, games, matches, tournaments, books, ideas, etc. The lists are replete with background detail and exact facts--this second edition of Soltis's classic 1984 book is altogether an essential part of any chess collection and a browser's delight. The new edition contains 25 percent more lists, games, diagrams and annotations. The majority of lists from the first edition have been updated or expanded--or both.

A fun, write-in book packed with brain-teasing puzzles, useful facts and clever tips that show how to play chess and improve your game. Some of the puzzles are answered using chess-piece stickers and all the answers are at the back of the book. Simple puzzles show how to use the pieces, with more tricky puzzles on tactics and checkmates.

A compact and comprehensive chronicle of the worldwide origins and history of the game of chess—from 500 A.D. to its modern gameplay today Have you ever wondered what the pieces in the chessboard mean or why each piece has a unique move? In A Short History of Chess, Henry A. Davidson explores the ancient roots of chess and the developments around the world that led to the modern version of the popular game. For people new to the game and experienced players alike, Davidson includes a polyglot—a lexicon of chess terms in the forty major languages of the world. And for the skeptical reader or those interested in learning more, there is also a working bibliography of English language references.

This book takes readers on a fantastic voyage to the physics of eternity, with a long-term projection of the evolution of the universe.

He describes and analyses, in depth, his most memorable encounters-both famous victories and painful defeats, against the best chess players of the last 50 years. --