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Chess History and Reminiscences. Project Gutenberg eBook version of this public domain book (large!).[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]
George Duke wrote on Wed, Apr 18, 2018 04:45 PM UTC:

This book by Harry Bird in 1893 was put up by CVPage in 2002.  H.E. Bird (1830-1908) of course revived Carrera's Chess in the 1870s after 250 years, and Capablanca made his version 50 years later.  Capa gets the credit because doing more with it in public play and being GM too. Bird's meandering style and coverage of chess history must have influenced countryman H.J.R. Murray's 1913 'History of Chess'.

'gnohmon' is Ralph Betza nom de plume, and Betza weighs in on Bird in this comment under the Gutenburg book : 

gnohmon wrote on 2002-04-06 Excellent ★★★★★

'More than excellent, superb! Harry Bird is one of history's greatest non-GM chessplayers. His originality combined with his longevity (he played against Morphy, and he played against Lasker, maybe even against Vidmar, if I remember rightly) combined with his strength (not a world champion, but surely stronger than me) make him one of the more interesting personalities in modern chess history. I have often heard of this book, but was never fortunate enough to find a copy. Now I can read it at last. More than superb, optimal!'

Vidmar (1885-1962), mentioned by Betza above.

[ Use of "meandering" style of Bird and Murray reminds of why rivers meander by Albert Einstein in 1926: Meandering, off topic in that Einstein friend GM Lasker (1868-1941) competed with Capablanca so much -- including Capablanca Chess. Physicist Einstein and mathematician Lasker colleagues: Science/Chess. ]


Robin Lester wrote on Fri, Feb 14, 2003 09:13 PM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
A wonderful read. As an amateur player at best, I found the writing brought the enthusiasm of the author to life.

gnohmon wrote on Mon, Apr 8, 2002 02:04 AM UTC:
chessvariants could have a page with links to all known downloadable chess books...

David Howe wrote on Sun, Apr 7, 2002 01:11 PM UTC:
Project Gutenberg also has Edward Lasker's 'Chess and Checkers: The Way to Mastership'. Here's a link to it. If enough folks want this on our site as a web page, I'll create it. Otherwise, here's the link to it on PG's web site: <a href='http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04/lchch10.txt'>Chess and Checkers: The Way to Mastership</a> (text file).

gnohmon wrote on Sun, Apr 7, 2002 11:29 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
The book itself is very disorganized and tough to read, with many passages
that are repetitive and uninteresting.

However, enough of Bird's personality shines through that I am glad to have
made his acquaintance.

To correct what I said earlier about the time of his career -- it was from
before the first tournament up to the times of Lasker.

gnohmon wrote on Sun, Apr 7, 2002 05:08 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
Bird lost a match to Steinitz by a mrer 7 to 6. 

'Bird is one of history's greatest non-GM chessplayers.' I said, but I was
wrong.

Steinitz was a tough cookie. Losing 7-6 makes Bird a GM in my estimation.

More than superb, optimal!

gnohmon wrote on Sun, Apr 7, 2002 04:57 AM UTC:Excellent ★★★★★
More than excellent, superb!

Harry Bird is one of history's greatest non-GM chessplayers. His
originality combined with his longevity (he played against Morphy, and he
played against Lasker, maybe even against Vidmar, if I remember rightly)
combined with his strength (not a world champion, but surely stronger than
me) make him one of the more interesting personalities in modern chess
history.

I have often heard of this book, but was never fortunate enough to find a
copy. Now I can read it at last.

More than superb, optimal!

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