Chess

xxxviii+490 pages with table and diagrams. Royal octavo (9 3/4" x 7") bound in original red cloth with gilt lettering to spine and black chess pictorial to both covers. Limited to 500 copies. This is copy 88 issued to F M Teed of Brooklyn New York. (Betts: 25-26). First edition.
Contains the report of the Congress Committee and all 432 games with notes by Steinitz. This was a 20-man Double Round Robin Tournament. One of the longest tournaments in history. In the first half of the tournament, draws were counted as a half point. In the second half, they were replayed once. Between the 38 regular rounds, 8 replay rounds, and 4 game playoff for first at the end, there were 50 rounds all told (!). Like the 4th Congress, this tournament consisted largely of foreign masters. The retirement of Captain Mackenzie seems to date from this time (though some sources credit him as US Champion until his death in 1891), giving the top American finisher some claim on being de facto US Champion. The top American… Read More

[i-viii]+430 pages. small octavo (7" x 4 1/2") bound in contemporary half leather with marbled boards. Foreword by Friedrich Nicolai, Translated by K F Trost. First published in French (Paris) in 1775 as Traite Theorique et Pratique du Jeu des Eches. From the library of Borje Borjesson. (Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 414) First German edition.
Le Traite des Amateurs is a chess treatise composed, by a "Society of Amateurs" contemporaries of Philidor; who all frequented the Cafe de la Regence, in Paris. Of these, the strongest players were Bernard, Carlier, Leger, and Verdoni. Philidor, constantly resident in London, took no part in writing the "Traite des Amateurs;" which in fact embodies many criticisms and comments upon his earlier printed book. Only four masters of the group, considered the strongest, are known: Bernard, Carlier, Leger and Verdoni. A part, partially, from Verdoni, who is the only one of the Amateurs with his own entry in the Oxford Companion to Chess, not very much is… Read More

viii+398 pages with diagrams. Octavo (9" x 6 1/4") bound in half leather with three raised spine bands and gilt lettering to spine.From the library of James J Barrett. Volume II. (Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 6389) (Hagedorn: 36) First edition.Fiske's Chess Monthly, launched when he was just twenty five years of age, was an outstanding periodical when first published between 1857 and 1861, probably the best in the English language up to that time, and for a long time thereafter; (John Keeble wrote in The British Chess Magazine in November 1931, page 496, "it is safe to say that [Fiske's] magazine remains to this day the most interesting thing of the kind ever issued"), and, 160 years later, it is still an extraordinarily interesting read for chess history and literature devotees. The Problem Department by E B Cook. This was one of the first magazines published in America. It was started in 1857 and lasted until 1861. It was published at the height of Morphy's popularity and presence.This… Read More

Description:xcii+480 pages with diagrams, tables, errata, and index of problem composers. Octavo (9" x 5 3/4") rebound with original wrappers bound in. Analysis by Gustav Richard Neumann and Jules Arnous de RivieÌre. Includes numerous chess problem compensations. (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana:5195) First edition.Paris, the French capital, was host to a world's fair exhibition in the summer of 1867. Among the enormous buildings erected to house new developments in science, technology (of which the Krupp Cannon was the most impressive display), and art, a master chess tournament was organized from June 4th to July 11th. It was held at the Grand Cercle, 10 boulevard Montmartre, not far from the 1.2 kilometer row of machinery for the exhibition.
Thirteen chess masters were invited to participate in double rounds, with a time limit of six minutes per move and draws counting as zero for both players. The participants included Ignat Von Kolisch from the Austrio-Hungarian empire, Wilhelm Steinitz… Read More

London: A. Millar, 1736. 219 pp., includes both the fold-out frontispiece and the portrait of the author. Boards detatched but present; well-worn, old tape marks. Front board with a chipped free endpaper taped to it; a bookplate on pastedown. Chipping to spine ends. Frontispiece with tears to edges at upper right, and starting to separate from text block at top.. Leather.

xcii+480+[4 including errata] with diagrams and tables. Octavo (9" x 6) bound in bound in half leather withe raised spine bands and red label in gilt over marbled boards. Included Collection de Problemes by G R Neumann and J Arnous de Riviere. (Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 5194). First edition.World exhibitions became a new phenomenon in the West in the nineteenth century. Scientific and technical progress were shown. Ten World Fairs were organized during the second half of the nineteenth century. Seven times an international chess tournament was part of the event (London 1851, London 1862, Paris 1867, Vienna 1873, Philadelphia 1876, Paris 1878, Paris 1900). Paris, the French capital, was host to a world's fair exhibition in the summer of 1867. Among the enormous buildings erected to house new developments in science, technology (of which the Krupp Cannon was the most impressive display), and art, a master chess tournament was organized from June 4th to July 11th. It was held at the Grand… Read More

xxix+281 pages with diagrams. Octavo (8 3/4" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine with blind-stamped chess board to covers. Inscribed by Capablanca on front end paper. (Betts: 10-136) First American edition.This work is in tow parts. In part one the author gives basic instruction, first very briefly, the covering the same points in more detail. In part two he deals with endings, the middle-game, openings, in that order. This was published in London by Bell in the same year.Jose Raul Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888-8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is considered by many as one of the greatest players of all time, widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Born in Havana, he beat Cuban champion Juan Corzo in a match two days before his thirteenth birthday on 17 November 1901. His victory over Frank Marshall in a match in 1909 earned him an invitation to… Read More

191 pages with photographs, diagrams and tables. Small octavo (7 1/2 x 4 1/2") bound in original publisher's pictorial wrappers. Signed by both contestants. First Hungarian edition.The World Chess Championship 1972 was a match for the World Chess Championship between challenger Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. The match took place in the Laugardalsholl arena in Reykjavík, Iceland, and has been dubbed the Match of the Century. Fischer became the first American born in the United States to win the world title, and the second American overall (Wilhelm Steinitz, the first world champion, became a naturalized American citizen in 1888). Fischer's win also ended, for a short time, 24 years of Soviet domination of the World Championship. The first game was played on July 11, 1972. The last game (the 21st) began on August 31, was adjourned after 40 moves, and Spassky resigned the next day without resuming play. Fischer won the match 12 1/2 - 8 1/2,… Read More

2 volumes in one: 320 pages with diagrams and index; 320 pages with diagrams and index. Octavo (8 1/4" x 5 1/2") bound in half leather with gilt lettering to spine. Volumes 7 and 8. (Betts: 7-15) First edition.
The Huddersfield College Magazine chess section was superseded by the British Chess Magazine after 1880 with no more published. In 1872 John Watkinson started a chess column in the Huddersfield College Magazine. Eventually the single page column became a small magazine exclusively devoted to chess - The Huddersfield College Chess Magazine. Finally this magazine evolved into the British Chess Magazine which is still going strong today. The columns provide an interesting glimpse of the local Huddersfield & Yorkshire chess scene at the time before eventually becoming more nationally and internationally oriented in later years. In English Descriptive notation One of the early chess magazine published.
Condition: Provenance from the Franklin Chess Club of Philadelphia with their stamp on end papers… Read More

112 pages with 2 portraits and diagrams. Small octavo (7 3/4" x 5 1/4") bound in half brown cloth over marbled boards. (Betts: 25-8, (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 5198) First edition.
The 2nd American Chess Congress was held at the Kennard House in Cleveland, 5-15 December 1871. Two decisive games (+2, -2, or +1 -1) were required against each opponent. There were 73 total games. No dates or round numbers are given in the tournament book. Players were responsible for playing from 9-12 am, 2-5 pm, and 7-10 pm each day, but may have been able to arrange their own time of play, and sequence of opponents. The Ohio newspapers have more details, including dates for most of the games.
The players: George Henry Mackenzie led an interesting life away from the chessboard. (2) After he resigned his commission in the British Army but before moving to the United States, he lost a match to George Alcock MacDonnell (+4 -7 =2) and won a second (+6 -3 =2). He moved to the United States in 1863 and joined… Read More

112 pages with 2 portraits and diagrams. Small octavo (7 3/4" x 5 1/4") bound in quarter brown cloth with marbled boards. (Betts: 25-8, (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 5198) First edition.The second American Chess Congress was held in Cleveland on December 4-15, 1871 and won by George Henry Mackenzie. The first prize was $100 ($1,500 today) and the total prize fund was $290 ($5,000 today). The entry fee was $10 ($150 today). It was a double round robin tournament with a time limit of 12 moves an hour. Draw games were replayed. There were nine players (George Henry Mackenzie, Henry Hosmer, Frederick Elder, Max Judd, Preston Ware, Harsen Darwin Smith, Henry Harding, A. Johnston, and William Houghton). With the retirement of Morphy, this tournament was generally intended to recognize the best player in the United States. Contains 67 games, a few with annotations and awards and selections from the problem tourney (10 problems). Includes a frontispiece portrait of Max Judd, and a portrait of the… Read More

lii+232 pages with diagrams, index and tables. Quarto (10 1/2" x 6 3/4") bound in dark brown cloth with gilt lettered spine label and original vignette affixed to front cover. Annotations by Leopold Hoffer. (Betts: 7-36) Limited to 500 copies. First edition. The London 1899 chess tournament was without a doubt one of the very strongest tournaments ever held on British soil. Almost every great master of the day was present including the past and reigning world champions. It proved to be the swan song of the old champion Wilhelm Steinitz but for Emanuel Lasker it was a glittering success which propelled him way beyond the other grandmasters of the time. All important players were invited. Many of these players were the champions of the country that they represented. Refusals came from Siegbert Tarrasch and Rudolf Charousek (illness). The businessman Amos Burn had to withdraw at the opening's day. Fifteen participants played double rounds from 30 May to 10 July 1899, except for Richard Teichmann. He… Read More

151+[1 ad] pages with frontispiece portrait and diagrams. Royal octavo (8 1/4" x 6 1/4") bound in original publisher's green cloth with gilt lettering and decorative squares to cover and spine. Biography by Jacques Hannak. (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 3262) Signed by Rubinstein below printed name on portrait. First edition.

Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1880-1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Between 1907 and 1912, Rubinstein established himself as one of the strongest players in the world. In 1907, he won the Carlsbad tournament and the All-Russian Masters' tournament, and shared first at Saint Petersburg. In 1912 he had a record string of wins, finishing first in five consecutive major tournaments: San Sebastián, Pöstyén, Breslau, Warsaw and Vilna (All-Russian Masters' tournament), although none of these events included Lasker or Capablanca. Some sources believe that he was stronger… Read More

50 pages with folding maps. Royal octavo (9 1/4" x 5 3/4") bound in half leather over marbled boards, with gilt lettering to spine, housed in a custom enclosure. 33d Congress, 2d session. Inscribed by the author. Senate. Ex. doc. 55. First edition.
Andrew Belcher Gray was an American surveyor. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he studied engineering and surveying under Andrew Talcott, and surveyed the Mississippi Delta with him in 1839, before joining the Texas Navy as a midshipman. Remaining in the Republic of Texas, he was appointed a surveyor for the Texas-U.S. boundary commission led by Memucan Hunt. In 1844–1846, he served as U.S. government mineral surveyor, mapping the rich copper country of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan and leasing out the government's mineral lands.
He returned to the new state of Texas during the Mexican–American War. Following the war, he served as chief surveyor of the US–Mexican commission which established the border after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. When the U.… Read More

48 pages with photographs and diagrams. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's spiral binding in blue felt wrappers with black and silver Piatigorsky Cup stamped to cover. Included 10 first day tickets for the cup. Signed or inscribed by all the contestants. First edition.The Piatigorsky Cup was a triennial series of double round-robin grandmaster chess tournaments held in the United States in the 1960's. Sponsored by the Piatigorsky Foundation, only two events were held, in 1963 and 1966. The Piatigorsky Cups were the strongest U.S. chess tournaments since New York 1927. Jacqueline Piatigorsky (nie Rothschild) was married to cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. One of the strongest woman chess players in the U.S. and a regular competitor in the U.S. Women's Chess Championship, she designed the cup and was the primary organizer of the tournament. The prize funds were among the largest of any chess tournament up to that time. Every player was guaranteed a prize and all traveling and living… Read More