In addition, the question is finally answered why the great Dutch author W.F. Hermans designed a chess set made of cigarette lighters, but did not want to play chess.

Though the game of chess and its practitioners are certainly not idealized, this book is in the first place, a loving description of a world brimming with striking personalities, and an inexhaustible source of stories.

Grandmaster Hans Ree (b.1944) is a four-time Dutch champion, and represented his country from 1966 through 1994 in every chess Olympiad. From 2001-2007, he was the wearer of the "Euwe Ring," an award for outstanding service to Dutch chess.

He writes about chess in NRC Handelsblad, New in Chess magazine, and on the American website russell-enterprises.com. Internationally he is considered to be one of the best chess writers of his era.

Jon Speelman, The Observer: "A grandmaster, excellent writer and careful researcher who doesn't seek out controversy, but is equally unafraid to plumb the sometimes murky depths of chess politics, Ree is an ideal chess journalist."


240 Seiten, 1. Auflage 2013, kartoniert, englisch.