Chess has traditionally been associated with insanity. Grandmaster Wilhelm Steinitz was incarcerated in a Moscow asylum where he played a game over an invisible telephone line with God. God Lost. But nothing about the clinically insane matches the machinations of Chess' politics. Grandmaster Evans' book chronicles the bad behavior of the powerful; from the antics of Bobby Fisher, whom he knew intimately, to the absurd motions of FIDE (Chess' governing body), who began testing players for steroids in an effort to bring the game to the Olympics. The bid failed. Testing continues. But wait! There is more: anti-semitism, bribery, blackmail, embezzlement, supression of free speech, and every other kind of evil one can think of to add to this list. Fascinating!

Fascinating, intriguing, and controversial, the dean of American chess tells the never-before-told machinations and stories of world championship chess and what really goes on behind the scenes of the game at its highest level. If you think that chess and marbles are the only games free from politics, you can scratch that idea. These 101 entertaining dispatches from the front deal with the crazy world of chess ranging from politics, Fischermania (and Fischer's paranoid antics), the real deal behind the deep blue supercomputer that beat Kasparov, to just plain gossip and fun.

Grandmaster Larry Evans is a 5-time USA champion, author of 25 books, and the ?dean? of American chess. His national syndicated column, Evans on Chess, has appeared continuously since 1971. He coached Bobby Fischer during his world championship run and is generally considered to be the most authoritative, astute and witty observer of the international chess scene.

Publisher: Cardoza
Distributor: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 11-06-2007
Pages: 192
Measurements: 6.100in X 9.200in X 0.900in X 12.775oz