THE GAME OF CHESS

Harry Golombek was born in London in 1911, and educated at Wilson’s Grammar School and London University. He became boy chess champion of London in 1929, and two years later was the youngest player ever to win the Surrey Championship. He is one of Britain’s leading players, and figured fourteen times in the prize list of the British Championship, from equal second in 1938 to first in 1955. He was British Champion in 1947, 1949, and 1955. He is also one of Britain’s foremost international masters, and was captain and first of the British team at the Helsinki International Team Tournament 1952, captain at Amsterdam in 1954, first board in Moscow in 1956, and captain again at Munich 1958, Leipzig 1960, and Golden Sands 1962. He has written books on many aspects of the game, and is recognized as Britain’s leading theorist. An authority on rules, he was appointed by the International Chess Federation to act as judge at the World Championship matches in Moscow 1954, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, and 1963. He has transla ed The Art of the Middle Game by Keres and Kotov, which is available in Penguins. He is Chess Correspondent of The Times and the Observer and he was awarded the О BE in 1966 for services to chess.


‘This is the best value of any chess book that I know and gives a clear and comprehensive exposition of the game’
- С. H. O'D. Alexander in the Sunday Times

‘A lucid and logical introduction to the game ... sound instruction all the way through '
- The Times Literary Supplement

Dr Golombek’s concise survey of the fundamentals of chess has established itself as a classic of chess literature. Since 1954 it has sold over 300,000 copies and the text has been thoroughly revised and brought up to date. The section on openings now includes the most modern of all openings, the Robatsch defence, and an entirely new chapter has been added on the younger school, with particular reference to Fischer and Tal.