New York 1924, by Alexander Alekhine, 352pp. (Russell Enterprises 2008)

Foreword by Andy Soltis

 

A Truly Extraordinary Tournament

 

One of the most remarkable and famous chess tournaments ever took place in New York City in March and April 1924. It had a narrative that is still striking today: Three world champions – undisputed world champions, mind you – fulfilling their destiny. The stunning performance of the 55-year-old former world champion Emanuel Lasker. The seemingly invincible reigning world champion José Capablanca suffering his first loss in eight years. And all 110 tournament games deeply annotated by future world champion Alexander Alekhine.

 

The tournament book that Alekhine produced became the stuff of legend. He provides real analysis, and with words, not just moves. He imbues the book with personality, on the one hand ruthlessly objective, even with his own mistakes, on the other, candidly subjective.

 

This is a modern "21st Century Edition" of Alekhine’s classic, using figurine algebraic notation, adding many more diagrams, but preserving the original, masterful text and annotations, including Alekhine's fascinating overview of the opening theory at that time.

 

"Modern readers, who habitually eschew anything old fashioned (regardless of content and value) will have no problems being inspired to study the fabulous games...It is good to see Russell Enterprises continuing to resurrect classic tomes for modern readers." - From the review at MarshTowers.com.