The King: Chess Pieces

by J. H. Donner

Overview

THE KING spans a writing career of more than thirty years during which Donner slowly developed from chess player-writer into writer-chess player.

Donner's favourite themes are: Bobby Fischer, the blunder, chess as a game of luck, why women can't play chess, madness, and poor Lodewijk Prins, his rival for the Dutch National Championship for many years, who, according to Donner, "couldn't tell a bishop from a knight."

'THE KING' is a book full of insults and ironies, but Donner wouldn't be Donner without a considerable amount of self-mockery.



"After I resigned the last game with perfect self-control

and solemnly shook hands with my opponent in the best

of Anglo-Saxon traditions, I rushed home where I threw

myself onto my bed, howling and screaming, and pulled

the blankets over my face."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789056919252
Publisher:	Continental Sales, Inc.
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	392
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

J.H.Donner (1927-1988) was a Dutch Grandmaster and one of the greatest writers about chess of all time. He was a chess reporter and a chess columnist, as well as an annotator of the game. Above all he was a witty and unpredictable commentator of everything and everybody, both inside and outside the chess world.

What People are Saying About This

Tim Krabbe

Eminently readable for chess players and non-chess players alike. (Tim Krabbe, author of The Vanishing)

Peter Svidler

I felt I deserved a little present and bought myself 'The King'.It is every bit as good as it is said to be. (Grandmaster Peter Svidler, four times chess champion of Russia)

Raymond Keene

Absolutely wonderful. (Raymond Keene, chess columnist of The Times(London))

Harry Mulisch

This book is about chess only in appearance, and I hope that no one will allow himself to be scared off by the diagrams and the annotations.It is in fact a magnificent self-portrait of Hein Donner,the player, the equally fearless and hilarious provocateur, who,when the chips are down,will always be found on the right side. (Harry Mulisch, author of The Discovery of Heaven)

Jeremy Silman

A wonderful book;when it comes out in paperback, grab a copy as fast as you can. (Jeremy Silman, author of How to Reassess Your Chess)

Editorial Reviews

His reportorial style reminds one of the 'gonzo journalism'of Hunter S.Thompson fame, and his polemics are reminiscent of such great scourges of hypocrisy as H.L.Mencken.
— The Chess Cafe

Taylor Kingston

The most outrageous chess book money can buy.
— Chess Moves

Sarah Horst