John S. Hilbert – författare

During his first years in America, William Henry Krause Pollock participated in some of the most important American chess events of the 19th century. Pollock played matches against strong players like Charles Moehle, John L. McCutcheon, Jackson W. Showalter and Eugene Delmar. This biography analyzes in great detail Pollock's chess play, as well as his career and life in England, Ireland and America. His American years unveil even more about the American chess landscape during the first half of 1890s, one of the most interesting periods in American chess history. Offered here are an unprecedented collection of annotated games played by Pollock (around 500), historical photographs and line drawings. Sources include historical chess journals and magazines with chess columns from America, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Walter Penn Shipley was crucial to the development of chess in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He organized correspondence chess in the United States in the 1890s, was a talented player and was a friend of world champions and contenders. He served as the president of the Franklin Chess Club in Philadelphia at the height of its power and prestige.This work is a complete biography and games collection of Walter Penn Shipley. It draws from original documents--correspondence with Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Pillsbury and others, detailed Shipley family records--and extensive research conducted in contemporary newspapers, journals and magazines. The book contains approximately 250 games (most of them annotated), with 246 positional diagrams.

Emil Kemeny appeared on the American chess scene in 1890, a Hungarian chess player on the Lower East Side who had difficulty with English. Within a decade he was considered one of the country's finest chess players and writers. He dominated chess in both Philadelphia and Chicago, where he lived between 1893 and early 1906.Congenial and modest, Kemeny was appreciated for his chess play and valued for the strong friendships he formed during his years in the United States. A tenacious competitor despite poor health, he fought Showalter for the national title, ran his own chess magazine, and provided detailed coverage of Monte Carlo 1903.His chess career as player and writer is presented in detail. Common databases rarely include more than 35 of his games; this book has 227--sixty or more against Halpern, Hanham, Voigt, Showalter and Pillsbury--most with annotations; 361 diagrams. Forty additional period games, hundreds of source notes, tournament and match records, crosstables, a bibliography, and openings, player, and general indexes complete the work.

Albert Beauregard Hodges is a legend among chess aficionados. One of the most well-known American chess players of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he played an important role in transforming chess from a pleasant pastime into a social institution. This work provides an in-depth biography of Hodges' personal life and chess career and a collection of more than 340 of his games, as well as 15 of his published chess problems. Hodges' complete tournament and match records are included, along with line engravings, photographs, and several indexes.

The Civil War affected the entire American landscape in ways not always fully considered. It determined the political future of a nation--but also its scientific and cultural development. The war cost America many of its best and brightest in every realm. James A. Leonard was one such loss: a brilliant up-and-coming chess player in 1861-62 before he made the decision to serve his country during wartime.Born November 6, 1841, Leonard was the son of a poor Irish immigrant--but even a poor child could play the game of kings. He grew up in a time when interest in chess was experiencing a revival, and contemporaries such as Paul Morphy, Eugene Delmar and Leonard's mentor Philip Richardson captured much interest. Leonard defeated a number of the country's best players and was widely viewed as the "New Morphy."This biography discusses what is known of Leonard's life but concentrates primarily on his talent and his sadly shortened career. Game scores and diagrams from 96 games are included, with details of place, date and opponents.