Aesthetics of chess Outside of the joys of winning or losing, my real interest in chess has for many years been in the aesthetics of the game. My main contribution in this field was as joint author (along with David Friedgood) of Secrets of Spectacular Chess (Batsford, 1995. 224 pp, 184 diagrams. ISBN 0-7134-7721-0).
Extracts from Secrets of Spectacular Chess:
- Our purpose in writing the book
- Importance of chess aesthetics
- Fantasy and motivation
- A brief history of beautiful chess ideas
- Philosophy of aesthetics in chess:
- Paradox, geometry, depth and flow
- Limitations of the method
- Contents of book
These are all taken from the mainly textual introduction...The rest of the book is full of examples!
Reviews of Secrets of Spectacular Chess
Someday I hope to write a sequel to ‘Secrets’, outlining further thoughts and ideas. Each of the four elements (Paradox, Depth, Geometry and Flow) deserves its own book. I’m busy saving up spectacular examples! Since publication of the book in 1995 I have written several articles in connection with aesthetics. Perhaps the most significant of these was a joint article with Sir Jeremy Morse, one of England’s leading problem composers. Anybody interested in problems might wish to check out:
The Aesthetics of Task Problems
Feedback about chess aesthetics is most welcome. What do you think of the theory outlined in ‘Secrets’? Do you have a better theory? Want to show me a spectacular example? E-mail me! I do try to reply.
If you are interested in purchasing a signed copy of ‘Secrets’ or any of my other books, click here