Soviet Chess Books

Above, the Botvinnik-Tal match, 1960
Is there another game with as much in the way of illustrative, graphic and metaphoric possibilities? You’ve got royalty, war, strategy, various figures and characters, not to mention the black and white checkered board on which the game is played.

The importance of chess in the Soviet Union cannot be overstated. As Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, World Chess Champion, 1975-1985 put it, “Chess in Russia is like baseball in America.”

Paul Hoffman interviewed Karpov (above) in 2010. Here’s an excerpt.

Question: Why has Russia dominated the chess world?

Anatoly Karpov: Because of long time traditions and chess was... chess was part of intellectual life in Russian Empire. And so big writers, great writers they were playing chess and so this was privilege in part of top society, in top society people. And then after the revolution, new power, they saw in chess the tool of bringing knowledge and education because it was easy, it was cheap and if you recall the time when revolution happened, most of educated people and top society people they left the country. And so new power should work out something to make new intelligencia and new intellectual people. And so they believed that with the help of chess they could do it, and especially it’s very cheap compared to any other things. I don’t talk even about sport, but about other subjects and sciences. And that’s why it was supported and even during civil war, when we had civil war in 1920, first championship for Soviet Russia took place. And later it became part of education system, before World War II. And after all chess became national game. Like you have here in America, you have baseball, and so Russia had chess.

The Chess ABC-Book, Czech book published in Russian, 1983.

"Kids Play Chess"
Kindergarten textbook, 1991




Garry Kasparov's game with Deep Blue

Grand master Eduard Gryunfeld, left, and "I Prefer to Risk" about five time world champion, Nona Gaprindashvili. She was the
first woman grandmaster.





1927 book about famous game between Alehin and Capablanca.



Third world champion J. R. Capablanca.









"The Praxis of My System," by A. Nimzovich, 1962

"Become a Grand Master," 1985



Chess magazines, 1966.



Chess game journal.


Books are from eBay and antiquarian bookseller sites.

Scenes From a Weekend

Some visuals from my four-day action-packed weekend in the Berkshires.


Germain is a very cool store that just opened along Route 7. You’ll find modern and vintage home furnishings and quirky original artwork. The store also features the Martin clothing line by Anne Johnston Albert. The designer was formerly based in the East Village and the clothes have quite a following. Check out the press link on the website. Germain is actually a nestled right behind …



the 7-year-old Metropolitain, a charming 2-story cottage filled with French country antiques.

Owls have an amazing ability to hunt swiftly, accurately, and silently in the dead of night. Come learn how they do it! We’ll listen to the calls of several species and try to draw them in.

I mean, how could we not sign up for the Owl Prowl, a two-hour nighttime hike through Bartholomew’s Cobble in Sheffield. Our very knowledgeable guide led the way with his boom box of recorded owl calls, stopping when we reached the territory of a specific species. He’d play the call and we would silently wait for a feathered predator to appear. Well, we never did get to see any owls, but it was a perfect opportunity to roam through the woods and balance ourselves as we made our way, single file, over log bridges in the dark. And there’s nothing like the ubiquitous ring of a cell phone in response to a recorded owl mating call for comic relief. All in all, dare I say, it was a hoot!

We were so curious about where exactly we had been, that we went back and hiked the next day. The green of the moss-covered bedrock outcropping was dazzling against the bare branches and dried fallen leaves. Maybe it's the angle of the sun at this time of year, but the moss surface was so sculptural, kind of like thick cut velvet upholstery.



SoCo is the beloved local ice cream of the Berkshires (and is now available in NYC at Fairway). At their store on Railroad St. we were able to hang with Elvis—that’s a flavor. I can’t really describe it; you just have to taste it. These are their new orange chairs.


A plaster wall plaque at Real Gustavian, on Main St. in GB. Exquisite 18th and 19th century Swedish antiques and a line of reproduction classic painted furniture, direct from the land of blonde. A wonderful shelf of books on Swedish decorating and style was my excuse for taking up temporary residence in the store.


I might have to devote a separate post to all the vintage fabric I photographed at Sideshow Clothing in Sheffield. This awesome photorealistic print is from slinky vintage pants, probably from the 70s.


I absolutely swooned at this chess set on the shelf in my room. It’s aluminum and the pieces are stamped 1962 Austin Enterprises. Turns out it was a commission by ALCOA. See more images and read more about from this unusual and spectacular piece from informed fans here, here, and here.


Believe it or not, the 'Campbell’s' lettering was the hardest. That is before you go into a Zen state of fitting together pure white pieces. And then of course, there was the drama of crawling on all fours to find the missing piece at the end. I was sure that I had heard the piece drop the previous day, but it was no where to be found. Then I thought back to my cat hiding in the radiator when she was just a tiny …