''Handbuch des Schachspiels'' (''Handbook of Chess'', often simply called the ''Handbuch'') is a

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

book, first published in 1843 by Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa. It was a comprehensive reference book on the game, and one of the most important references on opening theory for many decades. The ''Handbuch'' had been the project of Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, who was with von der Lasa a member of the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Chess Club and the influential group of

chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pre ...

s later called the Berlin Pleiades. Bilguer died in 1840, with the work still in the early stages. Von der Lasa completed the project and saw it published, with his friend von Bilguer alone named as author. It contained comprehensive analyses of all opening variations then known, plus a section on the history and literature of chess. Von der Lasa prepared four further editions (1852, 1858, 1864, and 1874). The sixth edition (1880) was by Constantin Schwede; and the seventh edition (1891) was by Emil Schallopp, with the assistance of Louis Paulsen. Carl Schlechter, who had drawn a match for the World Championship with Emanuel Lasker in 1910, prepared the eighth and final edition. Published in eleven parts between 1912 and 1916, it totaled 1,040 pages and included contributions by Rudolf Spielmann, Siegbert Tarrasch, and Richard Teichmann. International Master

William Hartston William Roland Hartston (born 12 August 1947) is an English journalist who wrote the Beachcomber column in the ''Daily Express''. He is also a chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 and earned a highest Elo rating of 2485. He ...

called it "a superb work, perhaps the last to encase successfully the whole of chess knowledge within a single volume."William Hartston, ''The Kings of Chess'', Harper & Row, 1985, p. 87. .

Notes

References

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Digitized copy of the ''Handbuch'', 1st (1843) ed, Bavarian State Library
1843 non-fiction books Chess books *Handbuch des Schachspiels Chess in Germany 1843 in chess {{chess-book-stub