Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

For the chess program based on the book, see Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (video game).
Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess
AuthorBobby Fischer
Stuart Margulies
Donn Mosenfelder
LanguageEnglish
SubjectChess
PublisherBasic Systems Inc, Bantam Books
Publication date
1966
Publication placeUnited States
Pages352
ISBN978-0553263152

Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess is a chess puzzle book written by Bobby Fischer and co-authored by Stuart Margulies and Donn Mosenfelder, originally published in 1966. It is one of the best-selling chess books of all time with over one million copies sold.[1]

Overview

Problem No. 22
abcdefgh
8a8b8c8d8 black rooke8f8 black kingg8h88
7a7b7 black queenc7d7 white pawne7f7g7 black bishoph77
6a6b6c6d6e6f6g6h6 white queen6
5a5 black pawnb5c5d5e5 black pawnf5g5h5 black pawn5
4a4b4 black pawnc4d4e4f4g4h44
3a3b3 white bishopc3d3e3f3 white pawng3h33
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2e2f2g2h22
1a1b1 white kingc1d1 white rooke1f1g1h11
abcdefgh
White to move and mate

The book is intended for beginners and uses a programmed learning approach,[2] permitting readers to go back and retry each question if they give a wrong answer. Unusually for a modern chess book, it requires no knowledge of chess notation, using only diagrams with arrows and descriptions such as "rook-takes-pawn-check".[3] The puzzles focus largely on finding checkmate; combinations involving back rank mates are particularly emphasized.

The book begins with an explanation of the rules of chess, followed by six chapters:

Introduction: How to Play Chess
  1. Elements of Checkmate
  2. The Back-Rank Mates
  3. Back-Rank Defenses and Variations
  4. Displacing Defenders
  5. Attacks on the Enemy Pawn Cover
  6. Final Review

The text includes 19 examples adapted from Fischer's real games played between 1957 and 1965.[4][5][6] The examples are variously presented as chapter-ending lessons, problems involving board positions which actually occurred in the cited games, or otherwise as close variations which could have occurred (but didn't) in the real games, to illustrate simple themes. Problem No. 22 was adapted from Fischer–Larsen, Yugoslavia 1958, with White to move and mate.[7] The real game's closest and penultimate position was 30...Rd8, a matching position except for White's queen at d2 and Black's bishop at f6; the variation [31.Qh6+ Bg7] is an example of arriving at the book's position.[8]

The cover of the book shows Fischer using his favorite Dubrovnik chess set.[9]

Publishing history

The book was originally published in 1966 by Basic Systems Inc,[10] a subsidiary of Xerox.[11][12] A paperback edition was published by Bantam Books in 1967 and sold 10,000 copies by early 1972. Due to the interest in the 1972 Fischer–Spassky World Championship match, the book was reprinted eight times that year alone.[13]

In 1994, Interplay Entertainment released a computer chess program of the same name based on the book.[14] The software received mixed reviews, PC Gamer noting the "ugly 2-D board" and Entertainment Weekly describing the lessons as "humorless... dogmatic, and fearsome".[15]

Authorship

The extent of Fischer's involvement in the book has been questioned. Andrew Soltis writes that Fischer "contributed some ideas, but chiefly his name".[16] Brady says that Fischer concentrated on working on it after the Capablanca Memorial chess tournament in 1965 and that Mosenfelder, Margulies, and Leslie Ault, who were all strong players, as well as educational experts, "helped him in outlining and editing the work".[17] According to Margulies, Fischer wanted a high-quality work free of any errors, so Michael Valvo and Raymond Weinstein were brought in as proofreaders.[13]

Reception

Chiefly due to its accessibility for beginners and Fischer's high public profile, the book sold an estimated one million copies. It is difficult to determine chess book sales with certainty, but this figure, based on the royalty payments made to co-author Stuart Margulies, makes it a candidate for best-selling chess book of all time.[1] In October 1972, following Fischer's victory in the World Championship, the Bantam edition appeared on The New York Times best-seller list at No. 2 on the general paperback list. It remained in this position for four weeks.[18]

Frank Brady, who was hired by Basic Systems as a promotional consultant, later said the book "lacked color or even a fleeting glimpse into the real way Bobby's mental processes work" and that it "was not ... one of the great introductory chess treatises of modern times".[17] The Times Literary Supplement, reviewing a 1973 British edition, criticized Fischer's grammar as well as the lack of content, which they said could have been compressed to fifty pages.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Winter, Edward. "Chess Book Sales". Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  2. ^ Shelby Lyman on Chess: A World Class Teacher Archived October 26, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess". USCF Sales. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (game compilation)". Chessgames.com.
  5. ^ "Robert James Fischer vs. Arthur Feuerstein, U.S. Championship 1957/58". Chessgames.com. Although missed in the previous list, the game is also cited in the book; see following citation.
  6. ^ Fischer, Bobby; Margulies, Stuart; Mosenfelder, Donn (1972). Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. Bantam. pp. 285–286. ISBN 9780553263152.
  7. ^ Fischer et al., pp 41–42.
  8. ^ "Robert James Fischer vs. Bent Larsen, Portoroz Interzonal 1958". Chessgames.com.
  9. ^ Bobby Fischer discussing his Dubrovnik chess set
  10. ^ Fischer, Bobby; Margulies, Stuart; Mosenfelder, Donn (1966). Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. ISBN 9780553263152. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  11. ^ Francis Mechner, Some Historic Roots of Education Reform (pdf)
  12. ^ Winter, Edward (November 14, 2009). "C.N. 6371 – Fischer and Xerox". Chesshistory.com.
  13. ^ a b Donaldson, John; Tangborn, Eric (1999). The Unknown Bobby Fischer. International Chess Enterprises. p. 172. ISBN 9781879479852.
  14. ^ Interplay Entertainment – Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (Online)
  15. ^ Moby Games,Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess Reviews, 1995
  16. ^ Soltis, Andrew (2003). Bobby Fischer Rediscovered. B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 10. ISBN 0-7134-8846-8.
  17. ^ a b Brady, Frank (1973). Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy. David McKay/Dover. p. 92. ISBN 0486259250.
  18. ^ Justice, Keith L. (1998). Bestseller index : all books, by author, on the lists of Publishers weekly and the New York Times through 1990. McFarland. p. 111. ISBN 0786404221.
  19. ^ Times Literary Supplement, March 30, 1973, p 362
  20. ^ Fitch, Janet (1999). White Oleander. Little, Brown & co. ISBN 0-316-28526-9.
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