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Dr. Lasker's Chess Career 1889-1914
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samsloan
Nov 9, 2012, 5:35:02 AM11/9/12
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Dr. Lasker's Chess Career 1889-1914
by Fred Reinfeld and Reuben Fine
Introduction by Sam Sloan
This was the first book by Reuben Fine and one of the first, if not
the very first, by Fred Reinfeld.
Both were young men. Fine was 21. Reinfeld was 24.
Both went on to become not only strong chess players but prolific
writers of books, especially Reinfeld who wrote more than one hundred
chess books. Both Fine and Reinfeld became noted authors of books on
other subjects as well. Reinfeld wrote more than fifty books on other
subjects such as checkers, coin collecting and stamp collecting. Fine
wrote college textbooks on psychology and psychoanalysis.
Dr. Lasker's Chess Career 1889-1914 has become a rare book, almost
impossible to obtain. I bought the book used for this reprint from a
collector of rare books in Denmark.
The original title was Dr. Lasker's Chess Career, Part I, 1889-1914.
This was obviously intended to be the first in a series of books about
World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941). Since this book was
written in 1935, Emmanuel Lasker was still alive. However no other
volume of this book was ever written, so I have shortened the title to
just Dr. Lasker's Chess Career 1889-1914.
Emanuel Lasker burst on the chess scene by winning his first
tournament in 1888-1889 at the age of 20. He then won several
tournaments and played a series of matches in 1889-1893 against some
of the strongest players in the world, winning them all. However, when
he challenged the World Chess Champion Wilhelm Steinitz to a match in
1894, it was believed that he stood no chance. The world was shocked
when he defeated Steinitz and became World Chess Champion, a title he
held for the next 27 years until he lost to Capablanca in 1921.
It has long been said that Emanuel Lasker was a coffee-house player
who deliberately played week moves in order to psyche out his
opponents. However, we now need to revaluate this assessment. Computer
Scientist and International Chess Master Ken Regan did a computer
analysis of the moves of modern and historical chess grandmasters to
see which player's moves most closely matched the moves of a strong
modern computer. The reason for these tests was to detect computer
cheating. Nowadays many computer programs are stronger than any human
in the world, so if a human player consistently picks moves that a
computer also picks, that might be evidence that the player is
computer cheating.
This was reported in the New York Times in an article dated March 19,
2012 entitled “Chess Players Whose Moves Most Matched Computers”. This
program was developed in response to a complaint that during the
Kramnik-Topalov Match in 2006 for the World Chess Championship when
Kramnik was spending most of his time in the toilet when it was his
move. This became known as the Toiletgate Affair. It was alleged that
Kramnik was using a computer hookup in the toilet to get his moves.
As it turned out here was insufficient evidence that either Kramnik or
Topalov had cheated. However, there was strong conformation that a
known and convicted cheater Sébastien Feller of France had cheated in
the Paris Open. Feller has since been suspended by FIDE from competing
in chess tournaments.
What was surprising is the grandmasters who moves most closely matched
the computer. At the top of the list was Zsuzsa (“Susan”) Polgar,
whose moves in her match against Xie Jun wherein she won the World
Woman's Chess Championship in 1996 most closely matched the computer.
This has raised questions about whether Polgar's victory in that match
was computer-aided. Polgar has since been expelled from the United
States Chess Federation for other reasons. She has also been banned
from computer chess websites such as the Internet Chess Club.
What is surprising here is the historical player whose moves most
closely marched the computer was none other than Emanuel Lasker. This
is based on the Lasker-Marshall Match of 1907 and the Lasker
Schlechter Match of 1910.
Here is the list:
http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~regan/chess/fidelity/WCallperfs.txt
As you can see, among the historical players who lived before the
invention of computers, Emanuel Lasker is first, followed by
Botvinnik, then Fischer, then Alekhine and Euwe.
So from this we can see that the claim that Emanuel Lasker
deliberately made weak moves was invalid. Rather the moves he made
were deeper and more profound than anybody at the time realized.
By the way, Emanuel Lasker could not have been a computer cheat
because computers did not exist when he was alive. Lasker died on
January 11, 1941. The first computer capable of playing a full game of
chess was in 1957. The first computer capable of beating a master came
in 1981. The first time that a computer defeated the World Champion in
a match was in 1997.
Sam Sloan
ISBN 4871875318
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871875318
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ISBN=4871875318
by Fred Reinfeld and Reuben Fine
Introduction by Sam Sloan
This was the first book by Reuben Fine and one of the first, if not
the very first, by Fred Reinfeld.
Both were young men. Fine was 21. Reinfeld was 24.
Both went on to become not only strong chess players but prolific
writers of books, especially Reinfeld who wrote more than one hundred
chess books. Both Fine and Reinfeld became noted authors of books on
other subjects as well. Reinfeld wrote more than fifty books on other
subjects such as checkers, coin collecting and stamp collecting. Fine
wrote college textbooks on psychology and psychoanalysis.
Dr. Lasker's Chess Career 1889-1914 has become a rare book, almost
impossible to obtain. I bought the book used for this reprint from a
collector of rare books in Denmark.
The original title was Dr. Lasker's Chess Career, Part I, 1889-1914.
This was obviously intended to be the first in a series of books about
World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941). Since this book was
written in 1935, Emmanuel Lasker was still alive. However no other
volume of this book was ever written, so I have shortened the title to
just Dr. Lasker's Chess Career 1889-1914.
Emanuel Lasker burst on the chess scene by winning his first
tournament in 1888-1889 at the age of 20. He then won several
tournaments and played a series of matches in 1889-1893 against some
of the strongest players in the world, winning them all. However, when
he challenged the World Chess Champion Wilhelm Steinitz to a match in
1894, it was believed that he stood no chance. The world was shocked
when he defeated Steinitz and became World Chess Champion, a title he
held for the next 27 years until he lost to Capablanca in 1921.
It has long been said that Emanuel Lasker was a coffee-house player
who deliberately played week moves in order to psyche out his
opponents. However, we now need to revaluate this assessment. Computer
Scientist and International Chess Master Ken Regan did a computer
analysis of the moves of modern and historical chess grandmasters to
see which player's moves most closely matched the moves of a strong
modern computer. The reason for these tests was to detect computer
cheating. Nowadays many computer programs are stronger than any human
in the world, so if a human player consistently picks moves that a
computer also picks, that might be evidence that the player is
computer cheating.
This was reported in the New York Times in an article dated March 19,
2012 entitled “Chess Players Whose Moves Most Matched Computers”. This
program was developed in response to a complaint that during the
Kramnik-Topalov Match in 2006 for the World Chess Championship when
Kramnik was spending most of his time in the toilet when it was his
move. This became known as the Toiletgate Affair. It was alleged that
Kramnik was using a computer hookup in the toilet to get his moves.
As it turned out here was insufficient evidence that either Kramnik or
Topalov had cheated. However, there was strong conformation that a
known and convicted cheater Sébastien Feller of France had cheated in
the Paris Open. Feller has since been suspended by FIDE from competing
in chess tournaments.
What was surprising is the grandmasters who moves most closely matched
the computer. At the top of the list was Zsuzsa (“Susan”) Polgar,
whose moves in her match against Xie Jun wherein she won the World
Woman's Chess Championship in 1996 most closely matched the computer.
This has raised questions about whether Polgar's victory in that match
was computer-aided. Polgar has since been expelled from the United
States Chess Federation for other reasons. She has also been banned
from computer chess websites such as the Internet Chess Club.
What is surprising here is the historical player whose moves most
closely marched the computer was none other than Emanuel Lasker. This
is based on the Lasker-Marshall Match of 1907 and the Lasker
Schlechter Match of 1910.
Here is the list:
http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~regan/chess/fidelity/WCallperfs.txt
As you can see, among the historical players who lived before the
invention of computers, Emanuel Lasker is first, followed by
Botvinnik, then Fischer, then Alekhine and Euwe.
So from this we can see that the claim that Emanuel Lasker
deliberately made weak moves was invalid. Rather the moves he made
were deeper and more profound than anybody at the time realized.
By the way, Emanuel Lasker could not have been a computer cheat
because computers did not exist when he was alive. Lasker died on
January 11, 1941. The first computer capable of playing a full game of
chess was in 1957. The first computer capable of beating a master came
in 1981. The first time that a computer defeated the World Champion in
a match was in 1997.
Sam Sloan
ISBN 4871875318
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871875318
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ISBN=4871875318
Jürgen R.
Nov 9, 2012, 7:19:06 AM11/9/12
to
"samsloan" <samh...@gmail.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:9301c924-dfc1-4358...@i7g2000pbf.googlegroups.com...
Title Dr. Lasker's chess career. Pt.1, 1889-1914
Author REINFELD, FRED (Annotations by Fred Reinfeld & Reuben Fine,
appreciations by Hans Kmoch & others; biographical introd. by Fred Reinfeld)
Registration Date 15Sep35
Renewal Date 19Feb63
Registration Number A87520
Renewal Id R310765
Renewing Entity Fred Reinfeld (A)
Old Class Code
samsloan
Nov 9, 2012, 9:59:53 AM11/9/12
to
On Nov 9, 4:31 am, Jürgen R. <jurg...@arcor.de> wrote:
> "samsloan" <samhsl...@gmail.com> schrieb im Newsbeitragnews:9301c924-dfc1-4358...@i7g2000pbf.googlegroups.com...
> > 2012 entitled �Chess Players Whose Moves Most Matched Computers�. This
Thank you for looking up and finding this information.
This probably explains why Dover and the other habitual reprinters
have not reprinted this book, making it nearly impossible to obtain.
However, Fred Reinfeld died in 1964. Nobody alive today has filed a
copyright claim and the law back in 1935 was a copyright could only be
renewed once, so this book is public domain.
Sam Sloan
> "samsloan" <samhsl...@gmail.com> schrieb im Newsbeitragnews:9301c924-dfc1-4358...@i7g2000pbf.googlegroups.com...
> > program was developed in response to a complaint that during the
> > Kramnik-Topalov Match in 2006 for the World Chess Championship when
> > Kramnik was spending most of his time in the toilet when it was his
> > move. This became known as the Toiletgate Affair. It was alleged that
> > Kramnik was using a computer hookup in the toilet to get his moves.
>
> > As it turned out here was insufficient evidence that either Kramnik or
> > Topalov had cheated. However, there was strong conformation that a
> > known and convicted cheater S�bastien Feller of France had cheated in
> > Kramnik-Topalov Match in 2006 for the World Chess Championship when
> > Kramnik was spending most of his time in the toilet when it was his
> > move. This became known as the Toiletgate Affair. It was alleged that
> > Kramnik was using a computer hookup in the toilet to get his moves.
>
> > As it turned out here was insufficient evidence that either Kramnik or
> > Topalov had cheated. However, there was strong conformation that a
> > the Paris Open. Feller has since been suspended by FIDE from competing
> > in chess tournaments.
>
> > What was surprising is the grandmasters who moves most closely matched
> > the computer. At the top of the list was Zsuzsa (�Susan�) Polgar,
> > in chess tournaments.
>
> > What was surprising is the grandmasters who moves most closely matched
This probably explains why Dover and the other habitual reprinters
have not reprinted this book, making it nearly impossible to obtain.
However, Fred Reinfeld died in 1964. Nobody alive today has filed a
copyright claim and the law back in 1935 was a copyright could only be
renewed once, so this book is public domain.
Sam Sloan
Offramp
Nov 9, 2012, 10:18:04 AM11/9/12
to
Sam - didn't you reprint Elista Diaries? I seem to remember you
mentioning it.
I would like to get a hold of that book.
mentioning it.
I would like to get a hold of that book.
samsloan
Nov 9, 2012, 10:32:21 AM11/9/12
to
of that book. Here are the links:
ISBN 0923891978
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891978
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ISBN=0923891978
This is a truly great book. However, it has not sold well due to an
unfortunate choice in the name. If reprinted under a better name than
Elista Diaries is should be a good seller.
Sam Sloan
samsloan
Nov 9, 2012, 10:59:12 AM11/9/12
to
45 books by Fred Reinfeld but not on this book.
They probably could not renew the copyright on this book because of
its age. Most of the books on which they renewed the copyright were
published in the late 1950s or early 1960s, the earliest being 1953.
This book was published much earlier, in 1935.
Almost all of the books copyrighted by Fred Reinfeld were books where
he was the sole author, not works of joint authorship like this one.
Reuben Fine did not bother to copyright his chess books, although he
did copyright his psychology books.
There is no effective copyright registration by anybody alive today on
this book. If somebody alive today emerges and can demonstrate a right
to this 1935 book, I will of course respect that.
Sam Sloan
Offramp
Nov 10, 2012, 11:02:59 AM11/10/12
to
I ordered it from that 1st link today - sadly not your version.
samsloan
Nov 14, 2012, 11:14:47 AM11/14/12
to
The book is out now. Take a look!
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