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A Chess Omnibus
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - Kid in a Candy Shop!
If you like reading fascinating stories about the giants of chess, if you like seeing chessic "urban legends" debunked, if you want fascinating and little known chess combinations, games and "behind the scenes" people and history at your finger tips, you will be delighted with all of Mr. Winters books. You will be shocked at how much inaccurate information Mr. Winter has discovered and corrected.
Rating: - Fun Internet Sites are Fun But Can Be Inferior to Superb Books Such as this...
This is an incredible book. It's not the kind of book you read cover to cover in one sitting, nor is it the kind of book you "study" like an opening book. It is fascinating, well-written, meticulously-researced chess information, history, and entertainment, and it is well worth the money you would pay for it. If all books were this thoroughly self-vetted, we would have more trees in the forest and less junk on the market.
While he is right on target about the meticulousness of research gong into this book, I disagree with Mr. Johnson's conclusion about the "vignette" style of book. It is the kind of book you pick up, read a little of, then put down for later. I have two or three of Edward Winter's books and they never get old. I get old, but not Mr. Winter's books... :) They are all fascinating to read, and I heartily recommend this book.
Rating:  - An exceptional compilation
Mr. Winter's outstanding omnibus of chesslore is well worth the money for anyone interested in chess. His writing style is engaging, his research of facts and ephemera exhaustive, and his attention to the most insignificant detail is more than apparent. This is indeed a well-executed omnibus of all things chess. Anyone familiar with his equally excellent book Kings, Commoners and Knaves or his online reviews at ChessCafe will certainly not be disappointed. However, for those who have not cut their teeth on Mr. Winter's writing be forewarned: His reviews and criticisms as contained within this volume can be biting to say the least. In fact he will probably leave some readers wondering whether the almost gleeful maliciousness he exhibits in his frequent negative assessments is perhaps worse than the chess culprits he is critiquing. That notwithstanding, this is an excellent compilation which will not disappoint the curious and combative alike.
Rating:  - Fun Internet sites don't always make great books
Edward Winter is familiar to on-line students of chess history through his long-running column at chesscafe.com. This book continues the tradition of chess scholarship he has shown there and in his similar book "Kings, Commoners and Knaves," but this time the effect, sad to say, is beginning to wear old. The problem is not that the material is ill-researched -- quite the contrary, it's as meticulously turned out as usual for Winter -- or uninteresting -- that's in the eye of the beholder. In all simplicity, it's that snippets and sound bites may be fine for a web site, but they don't make for a very good book. The free-ranging, vignette-oriented style characteristic of Winter's on-line column does not translate well into book form, creating a work that is disjointed to the point of being hard to read.
Rating: - Chess lore galore
This is the third book of Edward Winter's that explores various aspects of chess lore in great detail (following on from Chess Explorations, and Kings, Commoners and Knaves). Winter has a derserved reputation as an excellent and exacting author, with very high standards in seeking chess truth and setting the record straight. His direct criticism and refusal to accept mediocrity, has often put him offside against some of the more frequent and sloppy chess authors. The book contents are presented in seven sections or themes (Positions, Games, Miscellaneous, Biography, Gaffes, Mysteries, and Quotes) and all are interesting, well researched, and unique in the sense of not being found anywhere else (except for some articles from his earlier Chess Notes series). Unlike the two previous publications, this book does not include Winter's book review section. Although missed, there is plenty of other excellent content that substitutes. The book is very hard to put down once started reading, and stimulates a continued interest in chess lore. See Winter's column on the excellent Chess Cafe site for an idea of the book's contents. Winter's knowledge of and keen interest in Capablanca continues throughout the book, and there are many excellent photos that bring the personalities to life. The book is excellently bound and presented and one of the best chess publications of 2003. It is unreservedly recommended for anyone with a keen interest in chess.
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