by Isaac Lipnitsky, 229pp. (2008 Quality Chess)

Foreword by Anatoly Karpov

Questions of Modern Chess Theory is the lost masterpiece of Soviet chess literature. It was written by a double Ukrainian Champion, and published in the Soviet Union in 1956. Russian experts say it is one of the most influential chess books of the 20th century, yet it has never been published in English.

Questions of Modern Chess Theory has been edited to make it useful for the 21st century and is now accessible for the first time to an English-speaking audience.

“[Questions of Modern Chess Theory] is something of a legend, yet enigmatic and inexplicable…Botvinnik and Fischer, two great champions, so unlike each other, took Lipnitsky’s very seriously.

“In a striking, indeed fantastic way, it is the reverse of banal. Have a browse and read through any two pages at random and you will see for yourself…There are some books which stimulate thought. Such is the one before you.” – From the Foreword by Anatoly Karpov.

Isaac Lipnitsky was a major player on the Soviet chess scene just after World War Two, strong enough to take the scalps of Keres, Smyslov and Petrosian. He would no doubt have been a household name had he not tragically passed away at a young age in 1959.

 

From Endgame by Frank Brady: "Nothing attracted [Fischer] more than a book he'd heard about in almost reverential whispers: Isaac Lipnitsky's Questions of Modern Chess Theory. ... [Fischer] pored over the pages ... Bobby was astonished at how much insight he absorbed from the book. ... Years later, he'd quote Lipnitsky's precepts in his own writing."