Reuben Fine
A Comprehensive Record of an American Chess Career, 1929–1951
Aidan
Woodger
ISBN
978-0-7864-1621-9
photos, diagrams, tables, appendices, bibliography, indexes
400pp.
library binding
(8.5 x 11)
2004
Available for immediate shipment
Description
American Grandmaster Reuben Fine grew up in the East Bronx in an impoverished Russian-Jewish family, learning to play chess from an uncle at the age of eight. During his high school years, his stake winnings and coins earned from playing at a Coney Island concession helped support his family. After graduating from college, he decided to become a professional player. Though his active international career was brief, his accomplishment and talent are unmistakably significant.
This comprehensive collection of 659 of Reuben Fine’s tournament and match games is presented chronologically, in context, and with annotations from contemporary sources. More than 180 other games and game fragments (rapid transit, correspondence, exhibition, blitz, and others) are also included. The work also includes a biography of Fine, and notes aspects of his career that merit further study: his contribution to endgame and middlegame theory, his methods and style of play, and his exhibition play. Fine’s career results, brief biographical data about his opponents, a comprehensive bibliography that includes his contributions to journals, and indexes of players and of openings complete the work.
About the Author
Former field archaeologist Aidan Woodger compiles chess books in his spare time. He lives in Halifax, West Yorks, United Kingdom.
Reviews
“Four stars”—Chess Horizons
“Beautiful, clothbound volume written by [a] meticulous researcher and published by a company which obviously cares about quality”—Winnipeg Free Press
“The overall quality of the games is high. The roster of Fine’s opponents is a ‘Who’s Who’ of American and international chess of the time. Of the serious games, the great majority are annotated, often in considerable detail...extensive research to find annotations not just from Fine’s and other easy-to-find works, but from many sources. This is one of the few books we have seen with an ‘Annotator’s Index’...the notes are handled quite well, Woodger often harmoniously blending multiple annotators in one game, making intelligent cross-references between sources, and judiciously adding his own computer-assisted comments, which our own spot-checking found to be quite accurate...Woodger has done fine work to add significantly to the canon of an important player...the history is competently written and well researched...wealth of archival data...physically the book is up to McFarland’s usual high standard...we like this book a great deal...an impressive work, presenting in great detail the career of an important chess master who played many outstanding games. We recommend it very highly”—ChessCafe.com
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Table of Contents & Excerpts
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