The King: Chess Pieces

Thank you for being so prompt. They said the book was used, however it looks brand new to me.Thanks again

This is a fun book to read about chess and some of the stories of the lives of grandmasters. A good read.

J.H. Donner was a chess journalist and Grandmaster from the Netherlands. This book assembles some of his best articles from his 30 year writing career. From the standpoint of reporting and history, you will get accounts of the author's contacts with Fischer, Spassky, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Bronstein, and other greats from that generation --that alone would have been worth the price. But in addition, what emerges is not only a portrait of Donner the man (and he was a character!), but also his fascinating commentary on the human condition. His provocative article on why women can't play chess seems at first to be the rantings of some benighted chauvinist pig, then you see that it is really a tongue-in-cheek tribute to women, and by the end you realize it is something else altogether. Donner has a great feel for irony, a gift for constructing delicious insults, and a sideways approach to his subjects that simply confounds expectations. You won't learn any opening theory, or build your tactical skills, but you will laugh and be entertained. Send more stars!

Full of humour, anecdotes and an insider's understanding of chess.

This book stands out of competition. I have read many chess books, but this one is certainly the most entertaining book of all. It is a combination of chess and literature. This compilation of chess articles Donner wrote for several magazines, is full of witty chess anecdotes. Donner writes in his incomparable style, and I am sure that the English translation cannot render the exact content of the Dutch text (I have read in Dutch and it is beautiful Dutch). But since this book in Dutch is worth at least six stars, in English it deserves beyond any doubt five stars.

This is definitely the best book ever about chess. It won't tell you a lot about opening theory or the secrets of rook endings. However, the stories are brilliantly written. From Fischer to why women can't play chess and the upcoming chess computer. Nothing is to be taken seriously. It's just a lot of fun to read.

A bedside book which will amuse and scandalise in turn.

L'autore era un fortissimo giocatore olandese che era anche giornalista. Questa è la raccolta dei suoi articoli dal 1950 al 1987. Questi articoli restituiscono freschezza e attualità a partite e argomenti che i più giovani considerano storici. Ma il vero tesoro del libro è costituito dal suo spirito vivace e originale, profondo e anche ironico, su una miriade di argomenti scacchistici, con interessanti osservazioni psicologiche e sociologiche. Il libro è in inglese, le partite sono annotate e gli articoli divertenti. Un libro unico per arguzia e profondità, con poca teoria ma molto istruttivo per il giocatore a tavolino.