"Of chess it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not chess."

"The sign of a great Master is his ability to win a won game quickly and painlessly"

"On the chessboard, if nowhere else, justice does triumph."

"There is no room for gallantry in chess.”

Chernev's book covers 300 endgames. A few introduce the basics. Most are masterpieces from play or composition.

The book is nicely layed out. There is one endgame per page. Each page contains a diagram with the starting position, moves and analysis. Each endgame is set off nicely, with ample white space. I treat each as a challenge which I try to solve. I usually get some of the ideas and moves, but always miss something.

" The greatest compliment one can pay a master is to compare him with Capablanca. "

-- Chernev

"Every chessmaster was once a beginner"

That isn't much of a quote, have to say.>

True. That could be said of any endeavor.

"Every concert pianist at one time could not play a note"

"Every brain surgeon at one time picked his nose"

"Every woman was once a girl."

"Every computer was once just computer parts."

But...

Logical Chess was the first chess book I found (Jr. High). I read it over and over, highlighted the italicized advice, and didn't understand a bunch of it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-m...

It was dome by Pushpin Studios, whose founders include the legendary Seymour Chwast and Milton Glaser.

The cover for Logical Chess looks to me like a Glaser design: simple, direct, and original.

Among the things for which he's famous are the "I Love New York" logo and the Bob Dylan poster:

< "Every chessmaster was once a beginner." >

< Judged by today's standards, Ajeeb was a fairly gimcrack mechanical fraud, but audiences then were not too fussy. >

~ Chernev

<Introduction

He once went to a wedding in Las Vegas, where he had a successful battle with the one-armed bandits: "I managed to wrest $900 from their clutches. Of course I had to invest some $300 to do so, but I prefer to regard it as a clean profit of 900 smackers.

I enjoyed Irving's irreverence. Among his large chess library, his favorite book was Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's heavy volume Dreihundert Schachpartien ("Three Hundred Chess Games"). He had read this so many times that it fell apart; accordingly, he took it to a local bookbinder and asked him to bind it in black leather. Then came the question of what should go on the spine. "Gold blocking," said Irving. But surely, said the binder, you don't want all that German stuff? "No," said Irving, "just put 'Holy Bible.'"

Irving didn't really need to win. For most chessplayers, winning is what chess is all about. For Irving, however, the game itself was what mattered. He didn't want to beat anyone; he wanted to show everyone just how beautiful chess can be. Turn the pages of this, his final book, and you will see.>

< "Every chessmaster was once a beginner. " >

---Chernev