J. H. Donner: The King Chess pieces

New In Chess, paperback, Englisch, ISBN: 978-90-5691-171-3, 392 Seiten, 2006.

The King - Chess Pieces.

The first unabridged English edition of this classic

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

Donners favourite themes are: Bobby Fischer, the blunder, chess as a game of luck, why women cant play chess, madness, and poor Lodewijk Prins, his rival for the Dutch National Championship for many years, who, according to Donner, "could not tell a bishop from a knight." THE KING is a book full of insults and ironies, but Donner would not be Donner without a considerable amount of self-mockery.

Reviews:
"[An] acclaimed masterpiece. The late Dutch Grandmaster was a brilliant, amusing, provoking and self-mocking author, a master of vertical hyperboles and shortcuts.", Lubosh Kavalek, The Washington Post.

"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 (...) If you do not buy this book, and you later realize just how good it really is, and what a treasure you have missed, you will feel depressed, and deservedly so.", Taylor Kingston, ChessCafe.

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

"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.