Pillsbury's Chess Career
by Sergeant & Watts
ISBN: 978-1-927179-42-0
US $6.99
This chess classic appeared 16 years after the death of Harry Nelson Pillsbury in 1906 and represents an important contribution to chess literature. It was the first book in English to trace the meteoric rise of the American chess legend from relative chess obscurity to becoming one of the world's strongest players. It combines biographical detail with 233 annotated games, many of which have caught the imagination of chess followers then and now with their combination of positional insight and sparkling tactics.
In his short career (Pillsbury died at the age of 33) he stunned the chess world with not only his tournament and match performances but also his astonishing blindfold chess exhibitions and feats of memory. He is perhaps best known for his stunning victory in the great Hastings 1895 tournament, where he finished ahead of World Champion Lasker, former World Champion Steinitz, Chigorin, Tarrasch, and Schlechter amongst others. He started the tournament a virtual unknown and finished it as the toast of the chess world.
The authors P W Sergeant and W H Watts were both significant in chess publishing in the early part of the last century. Sergeant made many major contributions such as 'A Century of British Chess' (1934), while Watts was responsible for numerous chess publications through his publishing company Printing-Craft Ltd.
About the book
This edition was published in 1922 by the American Chess Bulletin, 150 Nassau Street, New York, USA. The hardback version has 226 pages. The e+Books version has been converted to algebraic notation and you can play through all the examples and games on the live board. Games are indexed by player (White or Black) and opening. You can navigate in the Contents by chapter. IM Jeremy Silman has contributed an Introduction, with puzzles. Photographs from the Tournament Book of Hastings 1895 (with autographs of the players) have been added.
