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Chessville
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Fred Reinfeld : Chess Writer by Robert T. Tuohey
Well, naturally, the question arises: how many chess books did this guy write, anyway? And friend, here’s the kicker: nobody even knows! What with such a large output, pseudonyms (e.g., Robert V. Masters, and Edward Young), re-titling, and out-of-print works, the best guesstimate is somewhere around 100! Now, that’s a whole lotta chess books… Admittedly, the quality varies; and, indeed, the “Reinfeld pot-boiler” is something of a standing joke among chess enthusiasts. Still, the opposite situation holds: not only did Reinfeld produce a number of very solid works, but even a few classics. Professor Bob’s Top 10 Reinfeld Chess Books Now, while I can’t claim to have read, or even seen, all of Reinfeld’s chess works, over my many years in this game, I’ve come across a good many (in fact, the first chess book I ever tackled, way back in 1970, was a Reinfeld and Horowitz collaboration, “How to Think Ahead in Chess”). Here then are my picks, with a few comments.
Not, as you might imagine from the title, any kind of systematic overview of traps, but rather an attempt at analyzing the thought-processes of setting, and, conversely, falling into, traps. Not only are all the examples drawn from the games of well-known players, but Reinfeld also provides very entertaining background anecdotes and details. Really, a very “human” chess book.
2. Why You Lose at Chess Again focusing on what might be termed “practical psychology”, here Reinfeld asks the important, and very often neglected, question, “What common personality factors cause the average player to lose?” For example, how many club players do you know who are just plain lazy? When at the board, he refuses to calculate in-depth, and when away, won’t study to save his life. And so he loses. Each chapter is devoted to a different weakness, and then an OTB example is given. If read with self-honesty, with some degree of personal insight, I think this is a damn useful book. 3. Chess Mastery by Question and Answer Each chapter provides a master-level game, and then poses a series of questions pertaining to key moves (answers are given at the back of the book). The majority of the questions are “positional” (e.g., “What advantage is there to BN2, rather than BK2?”). While the explanations and analysis are often not very deep, what I liked about this short book was that it instilled this questioning-attitude in me.
4. 1001 Brilliant Chess Sacrifices and Combinations 5. 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate About these two titles, let me be plain: if you haven’t studied them (and, yeah, discovered and corrected the few goofs in there too) you can’t even call yourself a chess player.
(Game Collections)
This collection is notable for presenting some of the lesser known, though still remarkable, “brilliancy prize” games. Lightly annotated. 7. The Immortal Games of Capablanca A very good intro to some of Capa’s finest work. Lightly annotated. 8. Keres’ Best Games of Chess Again, an excellent entrée, though here Reinfeld’s analysis is far more detailed. The more experienced player will benefit from this book. (Beginner’s books) 9. Win at Chess Basic principles and tactics for the new-comer. Once you’ve got the rules in your bio-computer, start fine-tuning the wet-ware here.
Actually teaches a basic opening repertoire: the Stonewall attack with white; the Sicilian Dragon against e4; and Lasker’s Defense against the Queen’s Gambit. Recommended for the beginning club or tournament player.
Life Fred Reinfeld was born in New York City on January 27, 1910. He began playing chess at the age of 12, joining the famous Marshall Chess Club at 14. The Royal Game was, however, very far from his only interest: a veritable slew of other intellectual pursuits, such as coin collecting and astronomy, also occupied a great deal of his time. As might be expected, Reinfeld was a voracious reader early on; some of his favorite subjects were history, literature, and classical music. According to several accounts, Reinfeld’s memory was “photographic”. By his late teens, Reinfeld had set his heart on being a writer, and particularly a chess writer. Indeed, the early 1920’s looked to be a prosperous time (who could have predicted the impending economic crash?), and especially for publishing. Local news-stands and bookstores were chock-full of pulp magazines, newspapers, and inexpensive paperbacks of all kinds. In a word, not only had popular entertainment hit mass media, but popular education as well. And writers were needed. Thus it was, circa 1930, that Reinfeld started Black Knight Press, his own one-man publishing operation, based in his own humble flat. Advertising via NY papers and pulps, Black Knight initially offered correspondence courses and pamphlet-style books on chess; gradually, subject matter and quality would increase. These original BK imprints, put out, as they were, on the coarsely ephemeral pulp-stock of the times, are today collector’s items fetching a pretty penny. The immortal Petrarch (with whom the polymath Reinfeld was no doubt familiar), wrote that Philosophy goes poor and nude (“Porvera e nuda via filosophia”) ~ he might well have remarked the same of Caissa’s scribblers…and that’s when things are good. Imagine trying to eke out a living writing chess books in America during the Great Depression! When the crunch came, Reinfeld was ready, having become a competent accountant via coursework at Columbia and NYU. Further part-time employment was found in all kinds of editing jobs. Luckily, Reinfeld’s chess and academic contacts linked up, and a position as part-time chess instructor for the adult-education sections of Columbia and NYU was secured. These courses, of various levels of difficulty, were to run for many years, and were very popular. Through all of this, Fred Reinfeld continued, one way or another, to write and publish his books. Though economically tough, the decade of the 1930’s into the early 1940’s were beneficial to Reinfeld in other ways. As a player, this was his best period: the NY Championship was won in 1930 and 1931 (with Reuben Fine in second place), and the Marshall Club Championship in 1941 and 1942 (with Marshall himself in second). Some notable games include wins against Fine, Reshevsky, Denker, Edward Lasker and Marshall, with draws against Alekhine, and Fine. With prospects, if not fortune, growing, the hard-working Reinfeld was confident enough to ask his fiancée, Beatrice, to marry him in 1932. The couple was blessed not only with a deep love, but also shared a number of common interests, for example classical music and art (in fact, at the time, Beatrice was a secretary at the Museum of Modern Art in NY). Two children ( a boy in 1942, and a daughter in 1947) would be born to the Reinfelds. Following World War II, a general economic boom occurred in the U.S., and what with more money in there pockets, not to mention more children in their homes, Americans again began to seek out suitable pastimes. And so, finally, after so many years and so many books, Reinfeld’s works began to turn a profit. By the 1950’s, the years of privation and obscurity were over for Fred Reinfeld. Although it cannot be said that he ever became wealthy from his writings, from this time until his death in 1967, they did provide a decent living for himself and his family. Further, Fred Reinfeld was recognized as the most prolific, and indeed, America’s first, chess writer.
The Man In preparing this article, I had the great good fortune to be assisted by Fred Reinfeld’s son Don (now in his early sixties, and a veteran cellist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra). I would like here to quote some of his replies:
Reinfeld gives Sammy a Whammy In his prime, Reinfeld was not only one of the strongest players in the U.S. (the first USCF rating list, in 1950, placed him at sixth), but could even give world-class GMs a run for their money. The following game was played in Minneapolis, at the Western Championship, 1932. Reinfeld works a classic build-up; Reshevsky defends a little less aggressively than he should …and Reinfeld punches a hole through with 19.e5, and then sacs a pawn for a beautiful attack. A nice example of the “classic” game: 1) Reinfeld slowly accrues small advantages (a la Steinitz), and 2) makes finding the right moves, and particularly the decisive ones (19 and 20), look easy (as with the great Capablanca). Reinfeld, F - Reshevsky, S
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Links 1. For information on Don Reinfeld and family: http://www.drbows.com/, and also http://www.rpo.org/ReinfeldDon.html 2. Bill Wall has a good article on Fred Reinfeld at: www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/reinfeld.htm 3. And finally, a short bio is located at: www.chessmuseum.org/bio_reinfeld.html Downloads 1.
54 Fred Reinfeld games in pgn
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If
you’re interested in chess books at all, you’re familiar with the name Fred
Reinfeld. You’ve seen Reinfeld-titles everywhere from the mega-chains
to the paperback-exchanges, and any public library has a few as well.
In fact, if you’re any kind of a chess player at all, he’s probably on your
own bookshelf too.
6.
Great Brilliancy Prize Games of the Chess Masters
