Monday, May 14, 2007

The Best of Goldowsky

Howard Goldowsky's new book, Engaging Pieces: Interviews and Prose for the Chess Fan, is off to the printers.

The book is a collection of Howard's chess writing from the past six years. It includes interviews with many interesting chess celebrities, chess fiction, and in-depth reviews and editorials. All but two stories and the appendix have been previously published, but most people have probably not read everything. The appendix lists every chess novel or anthology of chess fiction with considerable chess content published from 1933 to the present. Many books from 2007 are included in the bibliography. It is the most complete and up-to-date list of its kind. If one is interested in chess fiction, this is a must-read list.

Knights and other tactics hounds will be interested in Howard's profile of Michael de la Maza which originally appeared in Chess Horizons. The story "Chess as a Sport" also incorporates the thrill of tactics study.

Greater Bostonians may find interest in "When the Balance Be in Your Favor", which follows the going-ons in Harvard Square and "En Passant: An Opportunity Lost" which takes place at MIT.

Here is the complete table of contents:

INTERVIEWS/PROFILES
Michael de la Maza ('400 points in 400 days')
Mig Greengard
Paul Hoffman (chess writer and TV broadcaster)
Hikaru Nakamura
Charles Katz (former VP of Edge TV -- was planning to have chess on cable TV )
Chrilly Dollinger and Muhammad Nasir Ali (Team Hydra)
Jennifer Shahade (author, Chess Bitch)
Greg Shahade (President of the U.S. Chess League)
Joe Block (chess playing Beauty and the Geek star)
David Shenk (author, Immortal Game)
Mark Glickman (USCF Ratings Committee Chair)
Michel Weinreb (author, Kings of NY)

FICTION
En Passant: An Opportunity Lost
Chess as a Sport
Chess Doesn't Care
Inspiration for a Young Chess Master
A Conversation with Anthony Meters
When the Balance Be in Your Favor

OPINION
The Chess Journalist Letter
Tournament Entries: A New Perspective
Computer Chess: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Chess and the Art of Negotiation: A Review

APPENDIX
A bibliography of contemporary chess fiction

Engaging Pieces is currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

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