Olimpiu G. Urcan – författare

Julius Finn was born in Russian Poland, and came to New York in 1887 at the age of 16. From a humble start as a street peddler on the Lower East Side, Finn swiftly rose to become New York's champion chess master and one of the country's best blindfold chess entertainers. Finn's chess success contributed to the rise of the chess scene in the Big Apple in the early twentieth century, and he fared equally well in business, parlaying his skills into a highly successful career. Along with a foreword by John S. Hilbert, this biography of Finn in America includes analysis of 99 of his chess games-- most of them previously unknown or little studied--diagrams of game situations, and photographs.

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.

This biography explores the life and chess career of Arthur Kaufmann, an early 20th century Romanian-born grandmaster-level player. A contemporary of luminaries such as Capablanca, Reti, Schlechter, Spielmann, and Tartakower, Kaufmann remained an enigma despite his high level play.Through an analysis of primary sources, including correspondence, diaries and other archival material, Kaufmann's chess career is reconstructed in detail. His tournament and match play games from the early 1890s to the 1910s are explored, as are his little known matches against some of the top players of his time and his participation in the Trebitsch memorials in wartime Vienna.The book also offers an unprecedented account of Kaufmann's close relationship with Arthur Schnitzler, the famed Austrian dramatist, whose diary offers important clues to Kaufmann's life and work as a philosopher. There is a collection of 71 Kaufmann games with detailed annotations and diagrams.

Adolf Albin, a Romanian-born chess master of German origins, was renowned in epoque for his originality, eccentric and dashing playing style, aggressiveness and edgy character. Through previously unpublished data, tournament reports, newspaper articles, consultation games this work covers Albin's brief but highly significant period spent in New York, 1893-1895, with details on his life and chess career.

This book is the definitive volume on the history of chess in Singapore. Covering 1945-1990, it covers the post-war emergence of a truly "local" chess scene out of the colonial period, then taking the story up to the modern era. Contained within these pages are tributes to the modern founding fathers of Singapore chess. Also chronicled within are the careers of Singapore's top players and their achievements. This includes fine team performances (belying Singapore's seeming status in the chess world as a tiny red dot) and spectacular individual successes on the international stage.In documenting chess development in Singapore for the period in question, this book also provides glimpses of a wider social history. Personal stories (based on fresh interviews) are provided that give a sense of the chessplaying milieu of the time. Stalwarts in the chess scene, featured in this book, went on to be notable figures in the wider social and political landscape.A selection of 139 annotated games played by top Singapore-based players and Singapore masters between 1949 and 1990 is matched by a rich collection of more than 200 rare illustrations. This volume is a wonderful resource for chess aficionados, interested amateurs, collectors and historians.

This book is the definitive volume on the history of chess in Singapore. Covering 1945-1990, it covers the post-war emergence of a truly "local" chess scene out of the colonial period, then taking the story up to the modern era. Contained within these pages are tributes to the modern founding fathers of Singapore chess. Also chronicled within are the careers of Singapore's top players and their achievements. This includes fine team performances (belying Singapore's seeming status in the chess world as a tiny red dot) and spectacular individual successes on the international stage.In documenting chess development in Singapore for the period in question, this book also provides glimpses of a wider social history. Personal stories (based on fresh interviews) are provided that give a sense of the chessplaying milieu of the time. Stalwarts in the chess scene, featured in this book, went on to be notable figures in the wider social and political landscape.A selection of 139 annotated games played by top Singapore-based players and Singapore masters between 1949 and 1990 is matched by a rich collection of more than 200 rare illustrations. This volume is a wonderful resource for chess aficionados, interested amateurs, collectors and historians.