by Emanuel Lasker, 277pp., Large 7" x 10" format, Figurine Algebraic Notation (2008 Russell Enterprises)

A 21st-Century Edition of One of the Great Chess Books of All Time!!

 

With a Foreword by Mark Dvoretsky

 

Lasker’s Manual of Chess is one of the greatest chess books ever written. The fact that it was first published almost 85 years ago has diminished neither its relevance nor significance in today's modern chess world.

 

This new edition takes Lasker's legendary classic and puts it in a form more congenial to 21st-century readers. What is different in this edition? The English version of the Manual had remained, even through numerous reprints, virtually unchanged since it first appeared almost 85 years ago. In this new edition figurine algebraic notation is used, now standard throughout most of the world, instead of descriptive notation. The chapter on descriptive has been replaced with one explaining algebraic. Some of Lasker’s more awkward or archaic wordings and grammar — English was not his first language — have been improved or modernized, though recalling Fischer’s fury at Batsford’s revisions of My 60 Memorable Games, this has been done sparingly. Besides more diagrams (the old edition was woefully stingy with them), the main additional features here are:

• Photos of Lasker and some of his major contemporaries.
• "Lasker Lore” — brief notes highlighting important events in his career, and portraying something of the man and his era.
• Computer-checked analysis. Virtually every move and position has been subjected to computer analysis. Even with so fine a chess mind as Lasker’s, the occasional mistake or improvement was found. For minor items, brief comments have been added in italics directly in the text. However, sometimes the new analysis required longer discussion, and sometimes even warranted revision of Lasker’s original text. To minimize disruptions, such notes have all been placed in an appendix at the back, the text to which they correspond being indicated by superscripted numbers (e.g. 44.Bb5 Resigns.⁵²) within the main body of the book. In cases where the original text was changed, the endnote shows Lasker’s original analysis, and gives the reasons it was modified. In cases where the original text was left intact, the endnote gives a correction or improvement.

"Lasker’s Manual of Chess is philosophical to its core. It helps you examine different kinds of problems in the most varied positions and it is exceptionally important, both for practical players and for trainers. Many times I have re-read, with great pleasure and great benefit to myself, those portions of the book dedicated to combinations, positional play (here we find accurately laid out the vital principles of the theory of Steinitz, which form the basis of contemporary chess), and chess aesthetics...

 

"Lasker was both a great fighter and a deep thinker. His book forms the quintessence of many years of exceptionally successful experience, and his thoughts on the same. It teaches you what he considers to be most important, general principles and methods applicable to any situation. Once you have read the Manual, you will become wiser, which is bound to help you later on, both in chess and in life." — From the Foreword by Mark Dvoretsky

 

This is one of the finest books ever written on the art and science of chess. Read it, learn, and enjoy.

 

"Lasker's explanations of Steinitz's theories is unsurpassed in its clarity, and his charmingly philosophical writing style makes this book a classic." — Steve Giddins, in The Chess Instructor 2009