''Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess'' is a

chess puzzle A chess puzzle is a puzzle in which knowledge of the pieces and rules of chess is used to logically solve a chess-related problem. The history of chess puzzles reaches back to the Middle Ages and has since evolved. Usually the goal is to find th ...

book written by

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...

and co-authored by Stuart Margulies and Donn Mosenfelder, originally published in 1966. It is one of the best-selling chess books of all time with over one million copies sold.

Overview

The book is intended for beginners and uses a

programmed learning Programmed learning (or programmed instruction) is a research-based system which helps learners work successfully. The method is guided by research done by a variety of Applied psychology, applied psychologists and educators.Lumsdaine A.A. 1963. In ...

approach, permitting readers to go back and retry each question if they give a wrong answer. Unusually for a modern chess book, it requires no knowledge of

chess notation Chess notation systems are used to record either the moves made or the position of the pieces in a game of chess. Chess notation is used in chess literature, and by players keeping a record of an ongoing game. The earliest systems of notation used ...

, using only

diagrams A diagram is a symbolic representation of information using visualization techniques. Diagrams have been used since prehistoric times on walls of caves, but became more prevalent during the Enlightenment. Sometimes, the technique uses a three- ...

with arrows and descriptions such as "rook-takes-pawn-check". The book begins with an explanation of the

rules of chess The rules of chess (also known as the laws of chess) govern the play of the game of chess. Chess is a two-player Abstract strategy game, abstract strategy board game. Each player controls sixteen chess piece, pieces of six types on a chessboar ...

. The puzzles focus largely on finding

checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

;

combinations In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are t ...

involving

back rank mate In chess, a back-rank checkmate (also known as a corridor mate) is a checkmate delivered by a rook or queen along the opponent's (that is, the closest to them) in which the mated king is unable to move up the board because the king is blocked ...

s are particularly emphasized. The text includes 19 examples adapted from Fischer's real games played between 1957 and 1965. The examples are variously presented as chapter-ending lessons, problems involving board positions which actually occurred in the cited games, or otherwise as close

variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

which could have occurred (but didn't) in the real games, to illustrate simple themes. Problem No. 22 was adapted from Fischer– Larsen, Yugoslavia 1958, with White to move and mate. The real game's closest and penultimate position was 30...Rd8, a matching position except for White's queen at d2 and Black's bishop at f6; the variation 1.Qh6+ Bg7is an example of arriving at the book's position. The cover of the book shows Fischer using his favorite Dubrovnik chess set.

Publishing history

The book was originally published in 1966 by Basic Systems Inc, a subsidiary of

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

. A paperback edition was published by

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin Jr., Sidney B. K ...

in 1967 and sold 10,000 copies by early 1972. Due to the interest in the 1972 Fischer–Spassky World Championship match, the book was reprinted eight times that year alone. In 1994,

Interplay Entertainment Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca Heineman, as well a ...

released a

computer chess Computer chess includes both hardware (dedicated computers) and software capable of playing chess. Computer chess provides opportunities for players to practice even in the absence of human opponents, and also provides opportunities for analysi ...

program Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

of the same name based on the book. The software received mixed reviews, ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

'' noting the "ugly 2-D board" and ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' describing the lessons as "humorless... dogmatic, and fearsome".

Authorship

The extent of Fischer's involvement in the book has been questioned.

Andrew Soltis Andrew Eden Soltis (born May 28, 1947) is an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, author and columnist. He was inducted into the United States Chess Hall of Fame in September 2011. Chess career Soltis learned how the chess pieces mov ...

writes that Fischer "contributed some ideas, but chiefly his name". Brady says that Fischer concentrated on working on it after the

Capablanca Memorial The Capablanca Memorial is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962 in honor of José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera. At the time, it was the best paid tournament in the world. Since 1974 B and C tournaments have been held ...

chess tournament in 1965 and that Mosenfelder, Margulies, and Leslie Ault, who were all strong players, as well as educational experts, "helped him in outlining and editing the work". According to Margulies, Fischer wanted a high-quality work free of any errors, so

Michael Valvo Michael Valvo (April 19, 1942 in New York – September 18, 2004 in Chanhassen, Minnesota) was an International Master of chess. By 1962, he was one of the top blitz players in the United States. He won the 1963 U.S. Intercollegiate Champio ...

and Raymond Weinstein were brought in as proofreaders.

Reception

Chiefly due to its accessibility for beginners and Fischer's high public profile, the book sold an estimated one million copies. It is difficult to determine chess book sales with certainty, but this figure, based on the royalty payments made to co-author Stuart Margulies, makes it a candidate for best-selling chess book of all time. In October 1972, following Fischer's victory in the World Championship, the Bantam edition appeared on ''The New York Times'' best-seller list at No. 2 on the general paperback list. It remained in this position for four weeks. Frank Brady, who was hired by Basic Systems as a promotional consultant, later said the book "lacked color or even a fleeting glimpse into the real way Bobby's mental processes work" and that it "was not ... one of the great introductory chess treatises of modern times." ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', reviewing a 1973 British edition, criticized Fischer's grammar as well as the lack of content, which they said could have been compressed to fifty pages.Times Literary Supplement
March 30, 1973, p 362

Popular culture

* The book is referenced in

Janet Fitch Janet Fitch (born November 9, 1955) is an American author. She wrote the novel '' White Oleander'', which became a film in 2002. She is a graduate of Reed College. Fitch was born in Los Angeles, a third-generation native, and grew up in a fam ...

's novel '' White Oleander''.

References

External links

''Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess''
at randomhousebooks.com {{Bobby Fischer 1966 non-fiction books 1966 in chess Books by Bobby Fischer Chess books