Gideon Ståhlberg - An Epoch in Swedish Chess, Volume I - Peter Holmgren
Roll over image to zoom in
Gideon Ståhlberg - An Epoch in Swedish Chess, Volume I - Peter Holmgren

Gideon Ståhlberg - An Epoch in Swedish Chess, Volume I - Peter Holmgren

Verendel Publishing
Price:
£49.95

Description

Gideon Ståhlberg - An Epoch in Swedish Chess
Volume I: The Musketeer Years 1908–1939

Gideon Ståhlberg (1908–1967) reigned among the world’s best chess players for over three decades, leaving an indelible mark on the Swedish chess scene. This captivating biography chronicles his extraordinary journey from humble beginnings in a village outside Gothenburg to global acclaim, marked by triumphant matches against formidable adversaries like Rudolf Spielmann and Aron Nimzowitsch. Alongside fellow countrymen Gösta Stoltz and Erik Lundin, known as "The Three Musketeers"; Ståhlberg later elevated Sweden to chess supremacy, securing podium finishes in several Olympiads. However, Ståhlberg was not only a strong grandmaster but also a prolific writer of books and newspaper articles. His reputation and popularity made him a natural choice as an arbiter in several world championship matches.

With meticulous research and captivating storytelling, this volume I of Gideon Ståhlberg, An Epoch in Swedish Chess, covers Ståhlberg’s early years up to and including the 1939 Olympiad in Buenos Aires. The reader will get an understanding of Ståhlberg’s character, his motivations, and the challenges he faced on and off the chessboard. Many of Ståhlberg’s opponents are also portrayed in the book, mixed with all known games, often with contemporary annotations. In this way, the reader will also get a rare glimpse into the international chess life of the time through the eyes of a man who was placed right in its epicentre.  

Volume II will cover the remainder of Ståhlberg's career.

Sample pages

Product details

Title: Gideon Ståhlberg - An Epoch in Swedish Chess, Volume I
Author: Peter Holmgren
Publisher: Verendel Publishing
Language: English
Format: hardcover book
Pages: 582 pages with numerous photographs, illustrations, and tables

ISBN: 978-91-527-3514-5
Item weight: ‎2116 g
Dimensions: 29.5 x 23 x 3.5 cm

*Please note that due to the size and weight of this title the base shipping for the UK is £9.99 - it will be dispatched via a courier service rather than royal mail. We are also unable to offer this as a free shipping UK subscriber special.

Payment & Security

American Express Apple Pay Diners Club Discover Google Pay Maestro Mastercard PayPal Shop Pay Union Pay Visa

Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.

Estimate shipping

Customer Reviews

Based on 3 reviews
67%
(2)
33%
(1)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
D
David Cullen
A Chess Historian's Dream Book

From an enthusiastic chess historian's perspective, this is a fabulous book and is obviously a work of love. It goes into some detail about Stahlberg's family origins and his growing up. From there a world is created whereby you are familiarised with a significant number of the notable Swedish chess players of the period from 1908 to 1939 with photographs and player profiles. The book is packed with photographs and insights into chess politics and rivalries of the period. It documents a considerable number of Stahlberg's games and annotations are provided in relation to games of particular interest.

The book quality is magnificent. I gave the book a "4" rating simply because I, personally, would have liked Stahlberg's prominent games to have undergone some form of computer checking comparable to say the recent book on the Cambridge Springs 1904 tournament. However, I accept that might not be to others' tastes.

To my mind, this book challenges UK chess writers to provide something of comparable quality in relation to British Chess from say the the beginning of the 20th Century to 1939. Do we have a writer and publishing company out there who could produce such a book ? The challenge is made!!

D
David Ball
Gideon Stahlberg - Volume 1

This is a very high quality produced book which is a very interesting read. It introduces many less well known players, but their stories are fascinating. The level of research and detail is very impressive. The games are also good to play through. Some may consider the price of the book to be high but the quality more than offsets this if you can afford it. For the chess historian this is a must have volume and I look forward to seeing volume 2.

J
John Collins
Swedish Chess

This book (and the expected second volume) is a magnificent monument to the golden age of Swedish chess. In the 1930's and 40's the "Three Musketeers" : Lundin, Stolz and Stahlberg made Sweden into a leading chess nation. Stahlberg was the strongest, and this book pays tribute to him.
The production quality is of the highest, and the research and scholarship of the author impressive. It is not only a chess biography of Stahlberg, but a history of the tournaments in which he played and the background of the players he met. I have a large chess library, and this book is now among the finest I possess. Expensive, but worth every penny: I eagerly await the second volume.

You may also like

Recently viewed