Books about Chessboard from Amazon.com

Daniel Johnson -- journalist, editor, scholar, and chess enthusiast who
once played Garry Kasparov to a draw in a simultaneous exhibition --
is the perfect guide to one of history's most remarkable periods,
when chess matches were front-page news and captured the world's imagination.

The Cold War played out in many areas: geopolitical alliances, military
coalitions, cat-and-mouse espionage, the arms race, proxy wars -- and
chess. An essential pastime of Russian intellectuals and revolutionaries,
and later adopted by the Communists as a symbol of Soviet power, chess
was inextricably linked to the rise and fall of the "evil empire." This original
narrative history recounts in gripping detail the singular part the
Immortal Game played in the Cold War. From chess's role in the Russian
Revolution -- Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky were all avid players -- to the 1945
radio match when the Soviets crushed the Americans, prompting Stalin's
telegram "Well done lads!"; to the epic contest between Bobby Fischer
and Boris Spassky in 1972 at the height of détente, when Kissinger told
Fischer to "go over there and beat the Russians"; to the collapse of the
Soviet Union itself, White King and Red Queen takes us on a fascinating
tour of the Cold War's checkered landscape..
Price: $12.69 [Notify me when price goes down.]

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Price: $9.66 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Widely regarded as the best chess book ever written, “Masters of the Chessboard”, discusses the playing styles of each of the leading grandmasters of history up until that time. Richard Reti was one of the strongest and certainly was the most original player of all time. He defeated at least once almost every leading player of his era. He defeated Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Rubinstein, Bogoljubov and Tartakower in tournament games. He invented new and successful opening systems and brilliant endgame studies. He was also a gifted and entertaining writer. In this book, Reti examines the technique of each of the great masters of his era and explains what enabled them to reach the top levels of competitive chess. This 2008 edition includes a new introduction explaining Reti's contributions to modern chess theory..
Price: $25.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Chess is a game of decisions As well as deciding which move to play and which plan to adopt, players must also make practical decisions about how to use their clock time and whether to use intuition rather than trying to calculate every line to a finish. Viacheslav Eingorn drawn upon his vast experience to provide guidance on how to weigh the various factors in positions and decide on the best course of action. He examines many practical examples and explains how the critical decisions were made, and investigates whether they were correct. By following Eingorn on this voyage of discovery, the reader will gain a greater understanding of decision-making and develop an enhanced feel for the harmonious use of intuition and calculation..
Price: $14.88 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Across the Board is the definitive work on chessboard problems. It is not simply about chess but the chessboard itself--that simple grid of squares so common to games around the world. And, more importantly, the fascinating mathematics behind it. From the Knight's Tour Problem and Queens Domination to their many variations, John Watkins surveys all the well-known problems in this surprisingly fertile area of recreational mathematics. Can a knight follow a path that covers every square once, ending on the starting square? How many queens are needed so that every square is targeted or occupied by one of the queens?

Each main topic is treated in depth from its historical conception through to its status today. Many beautiful solutions have emerged for basic chessboard problems since mathematicians first began working on them in earnest over three centuries ago, but such problems, including those involving polyominoes, have now been extended to three-dimensional chessboards and even chessboards on unusual surfaces such as toruses (the equivalent of playing chess on a doughnut) and cylinders. Using the highly visual language of graph theory, Watkins gently guides the reader to the forefront of current research in mathematics. By solving some of the many exercises sprinkled throughout, the reader can share fully in the excitement of discovery.

Showing that chess puzzles are the starting point for important mathematical ideas that have resonated for centuries, Across the Board will captivate students and instructors, mathematicians, chess enthusiasts, and puzzle devotees.

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Price: $13.52 [Notify me when price goes down.]