Vienna 1922 - International Chess Tournament

Vienna 1922 - International Chess Tournament
by Larry Evans

The first book – and sadly the last – by Larry Evans covers the Vienna 1922 international chess tournament, remembered as one of the first great tournaments after World War I. All the stars of the day (Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Grunfeld, Maroczy, Reti, Spielmann, Tarrasch and Tartakover) played here except Capablanca and Lasker, but it was Akiba Rubinstein who was to turn in an outstanding success scoring an undefeated 11½ from 14 to finish a point and half ahead of second place - Tartakover was two and a half points ahead of Alekhine! This was the first book ever written by American Grandmaster Larry Evans. The then 16-year-old master self-published it in 1948 with English descriptive notation, no diagrams, and with a plastic ring binding, mimeographed. He was persuaded to revise and update it, making use of modern figurine algebraic notation with many diagrams, not to mention annotations that have made him one of the most popular chess writers of our era. Just when this book was being prepared to go to press, however, the tragic news flashed around the world: Larry Evans had died. As far as chess in America was concerned, he had been a national treasure. But his loss was not felt only in the U.S. He was admired as a chess player, journalist and author worldwide. As noted by John Donaldson in his Foreword, this book marked the beginning of what turned out to be one of the longest and most productive literary careers in American chess history. It also tragically turned out to be Larry’s swan song. It is unlikely that the chess world will ever see another chess player who accomplished so much both with the pieces and with the pen.

About the Author
Larry Evans is a five-time U.S. Chess Champion, with more than 20 chess books to his credit. Vienna 1922 marked the beginning of what turned out to be one of the longest and most productive literary careers in American chess history. A complete list of all of Grandmaster Larry Evans' contributions would require a small book but one can mention his co-authoring My Sixty Memorable Games with Bobby Fischer, his revision of MCO-10, his magazine American Chess Quarterly and his long-running column in Chess Life as some of the highlights.

Print Length: 144 pages
Publisher: Russell Enterprises, Inc.; Reprint edition (September 11, 2013)
Publication Date: September 11, 2013