Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography

Tim Harding

ISBN 10: 0786474734 ISBN 13: 9780786474738

Publisher: McFarland, 2015

Synopsis

During a career spanning more than 50 years, J.H. Blackburne (1841-1924) won the British Chess Championship and several international tournaments, at his peak becoming one of the world's top three chess masters. A professional player who derived his livelihood from annual tours of chess clubs in England and other countries, entertaining and teaching amateur players, he astonished his contemporaries by the ease with which he played the game without sight of the chessboard. At 21, he set a world record for such exhibitions, competing against 12 club players simultaneously, and he continued to perform "blindfold" into his sixties.

This first comprehensive biography of Britain's greatest chess player of the 19th and early 20th centuries presents more than 1,000 of Blackburne's games chronologically, including all his surviving games from serious competition, annotated in varying detail. Many are masterpieces containing beautiful combinations and instructive endgame play. Blackburne's unusual family and social background are fully explored.

About this title

About the Author:

Tim Harding played for Ireland at the 1984 FIDE chess olympiad in Thessaloniki, and is a Senior International Master of correspondence chess. A well-known writer on many aspects of chess, he was editor of Chess Mail magazine from 1996 to 2005. Since 1996 he has contributed the monthly articles in "The Kibitzer" series at Chesscafe.com. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Review:

"A monumental new book by chess scholar Tim Harding represents a colossal contribution to chess literature. Harding has not just provided a full biography with many games, he has also done far more than simply reproduce 19th century commentary...no chess library which aspires to the name can afford to be without this book." - The Spectator, 10th October 2015 "Harding's biography is a breathtaking and carefully researched masterpiece, full of information about one of the great English players. It is also a portrait of the old Europe that vanished in the upheavals of WWI." --Andre Schulz, ChessBase.com "A monument in the history of chess-books." - Bab en Truus Wilders, Nederlands Dagblad

"Wonderful...so far no real biography of Blackburne has ever appeared so this massive undertaking from Tim Harding is a gift to every chess players who is interested in exciting chess...massive research work." --John Elburg (Chessbooks.nl)

"Harding tells Blackburne's chess life with a great love for detail...a breathtaking and carefully researched masterpiece." --Chess News

About this edition

• Publisher: McFarland
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0786474734
• ISBN 13: 9780786474738
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 592