The Immortal Game: A History of Chess

and what an interesting world it is. An insightful look at the history, pyschology, philosophy, and implications for the future of the world's oldest and greatest game.This book should please chess lovers, as it is a rare thing in the crowded gamut of chess books... a broad survey of the game. Many of us play the game, and we study chess books and chess software, we play computer progams and human opponents, but perhaps we do not stop to look at the game from a distance. This book does that for us. And there is much we can learn, in my opinion.Mr. Shenk is a talented and capable writer, and he has done his work well. He builds on his personal relationship with the game. While he is not an avid player, his great great great grandfather was a Grandmaster. The book is a fun to read and a page turner, and while it delights, it also instructs. Not so much as how to play the game, but perhaps why.Chess is the world's 3rd biggest sport. It was supposed to be killed by the computer - and yet paradoxically the computer has greatly enhanced the game. It is one of the oldest games and yet it defies mastery. This book looks at this and more, from wacky Grandmasters to precocious school kids and dedicated patzers. It examines the history of chess in ancient Persia, to Bobby Fischer versus Spassky in Iceland to Big Blue versus Kasparof in New York.Most chess books place the game of chess under a "microscope" - they analyze one specific aspect of the game, by breaking the game into pieces with diagrams and algebraic notion. This book is so welcome and necessary because it looks at the big picture of chess... from a distance, through the years, chess through a "telescope".My only critique is that I wish the book had been even longer!This book will be of interest to all, from chess expert to novice to the non-player who merely wants an entertaining education about the world's greatest game.

I've played chess off and on in my life but never really felt confident about my chess ability. I bought this book to learn more about the history of the game and to try to gain a better understanding of the importance of chess. It surprised me that the book was so well-written and entertaining as I read it.The book gives the history of the game as far as possible and outlines the evolution of the pieces and rules until the end of the 15th century when chess became what we know it as today. The author does a great job of telling the history of chess factually and with stories about the game in antiquity. After the solidification of chess David Shenk goes on to describe the progression of chess theory in broad strokes and outlines the different chess schools; Romantic, Scientific, and Hypermodern. As a novice, I found the descriptions of this progression to be fascinating. He did a magnificent job conveying the ideas of tactics and strategy as applied to chess games.The book also does a good job describing not only the development of chess in history, but also the development of chess games in terms of opening, middle game, and end game. The entire book contains a thread based on the Immortal Game and gives the moves and structure of that match throughout. It was amazing as a novice to catch the excitement of that game to the point where I couldn't just read the book linearly, I had to jump ahead to see how the game ended!If you have an interest in the history and importance of chess in the world, I highly recommend this book. It was fascinating throughout and makes me want to study chess a bit more seriously in the future.

top notch....well written, interesting stories, great format idea. would recommend to anyone, chess player or not.

This is the book I always thought, "interesting but I have a lot to read." I was also disappointed because I thought from the review on the jacket that it was about chess in general instead of the famous game.Well, as I found when I got it on my Kindle it was both. It traces the history of Chess through the ages. It also gives an in-depth study of the famous Immortal Game(a notable game played between two masters in a London Gentleman's Club), with illustrations and analysis of every move, which is great as I simply don't have the gift of making a mind picture out of notation. The book is written in an engaging style and gives charming anecdotes. It is not written in a the style of a typical chess manuel but in a way an average reader can comprehend and enjoy.The book is hardly perfect and I have noticed flaws about general history. But that is pedantry; perfection is impossible. What the book gives is well worth it. What it gives is a rich tapestry of the lore of the Game of Kings is what makes the book worth reading.The book, on the whole is just what I wanted. A history of chess and chess folklore written in a charming manner. I love the type of book that traces the history and legends surrounding some particular commodity or item and have been wanting something about chess for a long time. Chess is so much a thing of legend that it begs for a book like this. And this is one I have long waited for. In short this book was a great windfall, one I was lucky to find.

I've been buying a lot of chess books recently, and this one is so good I bought some extras to give away to my correspondence chess opponents. It gives a general history of the game (not too detailed or tedious, as some readers might find HJR Murray's more detailed work, for instance) that is quite informative. Overlayed on this history is the story of one particular game between two chess champions, each with a drastically different style of play. This game, which is known among chess enthusiasts as "The Immortal Game" is a fascinating story in itself which dovetails nicely with the more general history. If you don't know how to play chess, the actual game description will certainly be less enjoyable, but the book is a great read nonetheless. Highly recommended!

Once in a century game doom for Lionel Kieseritzky He died in a Paris mental hospital after this game.

Nice book

Libro interessante per gli appassionati del settore, il carattere di stampa del formato cartaceo, almeno per la copia che ho ricevuto, è però poco nitido.

I'd read the book from the Library when I decided to buy a copy for my son.The book is one game of chess interleaved with the history of chess.Well enough written (the history is more insightful than the notes on the game) but together it's a must read for anyone interested in chess and the game is a wonder from an earlier time. Loved it.

I really enjoyed this accessible history of Chess by David Shenk. The book interweaves the history of the game told between chapters analysing the so called Immortal game played between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky on 21st June 1851 (played as a social game during a break from the London Tournament). This particular game itself has great romantic appeal though many of current chess lovers would not rate the game so highly based on today's technical standards. As a fairly average player myself I like the romantic era and enjoyed the time spent analysing the particular game which made helpful breaks from the chapters on chronological history. From those chapters I gleaned things that I hadn't read elsewhere about the different eras of chess play and particularly the memory testing done on Chess players. No doubt there are more in-depth histories out there but this is very readable as a first dip into chess history and I felt it was akin to Bill Price's History of Chess in Fifty Moves which I have in hardback and is an equally enjoyable read. More than happy to recommend this study of the immortal game's immortal game.