Chess libraries
Encyclopedia
Chess libraries are library
collections of books and periodicals on the game of chess
.
Chess has a very extensive literature, probably exceeding that of all other games combined.
In 1913, preeminent chess historian
H.J.R. Murray estimated the total number of books, magazines, and newspaper columns
pertaining to chess to be about 5,000 at that time. B.H. Wood
estimated that number, as of 1949, to be about 20,000. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld write that, "Since then there has been a steady increase year by year of the number of new chess publications. No one knows how many have been printed..."
Due to mergers and acquisitions in recent years there are only two public chess libraries of major significance and only a few other specialist collections. The two significant public chess libraries are:
Grandmaster Lothar Schmid
of Bamberg
, Germany reportedly owns the world's largest private collection of chess books and memorabilia. In 1992, Hooper and Whyld stated that Schmid's chess library "is the largest and finest in private hands, with more than 15,000 items". In 2008, Susan Polgar
stated that Schmid "has over 20,000 chess books". Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam states that Schmid "boasts to have amassed 50,000 chess books.
David DeLucia's chess library contains 7,000 to 8,000 chess books, a similar number of autographs (letters, score sheets, manuscripts), and about 1,000 items of "ephemera". DeLucia's library contains such items as "a 15th-century Lucena manuscript, score-sheets ranging from Fischer's Game of the Century against Donald Byrne to all the games of the 1927 New York tournament, eight letters by Morphy
, over a hundred Lasker
manuscripts, Capablanca's
gold pocket watch, [and] the contract of the 1886 Steinitz-Zukertort world championship match". Ten Geutzendam opines that DeLucia's collection "is arguably the finest chess collection in the world".
Former World Champion
Anatoly Karpov
is known to have a large chess stamp collection.
Ken Whyld's library was sold to the Musée Suisse du Jeu in 2004, according to http://www.gadycosteff.com/eg/eg152.pdf
The Musée Suisse du Jeu in Switzerland has a room devoted to chess, according to number 152 of EG
, which reports their purchase of Ken Whyld
's library in 2004. As of January 2010, the British Chess Variants Society was planning to transfer five boxes of archival material related David Pritchard
's research for the Encyclopedia of Chess Variants to that collection.
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
collections of books and periodicals on the game of chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
.
Chess has a very extensive literature, probably exceeding that of all other games combined.
In 1913, preeminent chess historian
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
H.J.R. Murray estimated the total number of books, magazines, and newspaper columns
Chess columns in newspapers
The earliest known chess column appeared in the Lancet in 1823, but due to lack of popularity disappeared after less than a year.-Historical development:...
pertaining to chess to be about 5,000 at that time. B.H. Wood
Baruch Harold Wood
Baruch Harold Wood MSc OBE was an English chess player, editor and author. He was born in Sheffield, England.-Playing career:...
estimated that number, as of 1949, to be about 20,000. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld write that, "Since then there has been a steady increase year by year of the number of new chess publications. No one knows how many have been printed..."
Due to mergers and acquisitions in recent years there are only two public chess libraries of major significance and only a few other specialist collections. The two significant public chess libraries are:
- The John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection at Cleveland Public LibraryCleveland Public LibraryThe Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...
.- Largest chess and draughts library in the world, with over 32,000 chess books and over 6,000 bound volumes of chess periodicals."
- Built on the donation of a quarter of a million dollars and 11,000 books from John G. WhiteJohn G. WhiteJohn Griswold White was a prominent Cleveland attorney, a chess connoisseur, and a bibliophile. "Over a period of some fifty years he conducted a determined quest, throughout the world, for desirable additions to his library." Chess historian H.J.R...
's private library upon his death.
- The Chess & Draughts collection at the Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana (part of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the National Library of the Netherlands).
- The second largest public chess collection in the world is built on the donations of the private chess libraries of Antonius van der Linde, Meindert Niemeijer and G.L. Gortmans. It contains about 30,000 books.
Grandmaster Lothar Schmid
Lothar Schmid
Lothar Maximilian Lorenz Schmid is a German chess grandmaster who was born in Dresden. He is best known as the arbiter of several World Chess Championship matches...
of Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
, Germany reportedly owns the world's largest private collection of chess books and memorabilia. In 1992, Hooper and Whyld stated that Schmid's chess library "is the largest and finest in private hands, with more than 15,000 items". In 2008, Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-American chess Grandmaster...
stated that Schmid "has over 20,000 chess books". Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam states that Schmid "boasts to have amassed 50,000 chess books.
David DeLucia's chess library contains 7,000 to 8,000 chess books, a similar number of autographs (letters, score sheets, manuscripts), and about 1,000 items of "ephemera". DeLucia's library contains such items as "a 15th-century Lucena manuscript, score-sheets ranging from Fischer's Game of the Century against Donald Byrne to all the games of the 1927 New York tournament, eight letters by Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
, over a hundred Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
manuscripts, Capablanca's
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
gold pocket watch, [and] the contract of the 1886 Steinitz-Zukertort world championship match". Ten Geutzendam opines that DeLucia's collection "is arguably the finest chess collection in the world".
Former World Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
is known to have a large chess stamp collection.
Ken Whyld's library was sold to the Musée Suisse du Jeu in 2004, according to http://www.gadycosteff.com/eg/eg152.pdf
The Musée Suisse du Jeu in Switzerland has a room devoted to chess, according to number 152 of EG
EG (magazine)
EG is a magazine that publishes endgame studies and discusses various aspects of the endgame in chess. The letters "EG" stand for "End Game."...
, which reports their purchase of Ken Whyld
Ken Whyld
Kenneth Whyld was a British chess author and researcher, best known as the co-author of The Oxford Companion to Chess, the standard single-volume chess reference work in English....
's library in 2004. As of January 2010, the British Chess Variants Society was planning to transfer five boxes of archival material related David Pritchard
David Pritchard
David Pritchard may refer to:* David Pritchard * David Pritchard * David Pritchard...
's research for the Encyclopedia of Chess Variants to that collection.
External links
- http://www.chessarch.com/excavations/0006_savage/lecture.shtml
- Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana
- The John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection
- University Centre Hastings Chess Collection
- The World's Greatest Chess Library
- Special Chess Records