chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

LtvlNG CHESS 189
Anong the many poels who have wd ctess
imagery are Dante. Skelton, Spe.se., Donne,
Abrahm Cowley, Pope, Cowper, Byron, Keils,
Temyson, Bropning, Yea1s, Maseneld. T. S.
Eliot. and Graves. Ho Chi Minh, in the interual
between being a London chef and the Vier Cong
leader. wrcte a chess poem which inclndes lhe line
'At iimes a pawn leads all to viclory'. Moden
poens @ntred on che$ include: Ezra Pound. Tne
Gamc of Chc$' (1915), Madimn Mayakovsky,
'NagMhka na Maknshku' (1928), L.un Ma.-
Neie, 'cbess (c.1938), Paricia Beer, Check
mate' (1959), Elizabeth Jenninss, 'A Game Dr
Ches'(1961). A poem by the A.sentitrian Jo.se
Ltris Bo.ges translated 6 'Chesi (1%8) begrns:
h ten senous 6rter, the playem
nove rhc Sradud pi(es. The boaid
dcrains lhem nntil da*n in its h,rd
mmpas, rhe hahd or rso colours.
Allred de Mussct. told rhar nate witb two
knights was impossible, @nposed this prcblem.
published in Za Rlge,.", 1449.
+3
Whire mares i. thee beainnina 1 Rd7 Nxd? 2
Nc6.
There are many anthologies oi chess quotations
fron literaturc. the bestkno{nolthem by eNs.
Andrcw walerman's flr. Poerly o/ cnds (1981)
excludes prose quotations.
LITERATURE OF CEE!iS. The trords chess
literalure", by the way, are applied to ihose
text-books reproducing openings and ganes in
notation, which look, Ior .ll the *orld, like lists ot
rhe numbers oi nolor cas and which coovcy
absolutely nolhing to thc uninitiared' wrote a
tdiewet io the Florcnce bdli,n Gozene. 1912, aa.J
n n rue thdt tew chess books have literary
distindion. In his Hritor] ol CraJ (1913) MURRAT
expres*d a commo.ly held opitrion. 'The game
possesses a literarure which in content Prob.bly
exceeds that of all other games @mbined. He
esrimated lbe rotal number of books, magannes,
and ne$paper olunns to be.bout 5,0U1al lhat
rime. ln 1949 B. H. wood suggesled in the
lu rute.l t,ond.n Ne$ c6.ss column. which he
efited, that the bral .umber tras about 20,0011.
Sincc tho. ih€re has been a steady i.crease ye by
yed of the nunber of .ew chess publications. No
one knows how many have been pri.tedi thcre is
no @nplete lisr atrd it rhere wcrc the qrcslion of
defnition would need to be resolyed. The largest
single list is lhe J. G- *HrE catalogue. bul ot its
12,U10 cards nore than 6tro are various edilions oI
Omar Klayydn. ls this one chess book, 6110, or
The lisl che$ books lo be published were
vesions of cEssoEt norality; but the fi6r practic
al chess books ol the mod.rn gsme Nere by LUCENA
and qcEM in the 1490s followed by D MNo
(1512) a.d Ruy L6pu (1561). Today lhere is
prcbably an average oI orc new chess boot daily.
Edniotu ot the early books had betveen 50 ed 300
oues. abour one bundrtdth Df an avera8e nsue
loiay; e(eprionaly Lso or three hudred
thoNand copies hale beetr pnnbd.
The ldgest calegory, the nost amerous
beause addressed io lhe widest public, consisls ot
primeB. l0 sme lhe authoro know neilher lhe
ruleqnorhow to play and insome rheaulhou(nnw
the gme wel but are nnable to connuni.ate vith
$eak player