Trophy Chess

Trophy Chess was one of Bobby Fischer's favorite books. He studied it with great care during his sudden appearance right after this tournament and his rapid rise to the top, culminating in his winning his first of eight US Chess Championships in 1957/58. It is nicely laid out and designed and is easy to read. In his famous "My 60 Memorable Games" Fischer later collaborated with Evans, who served as his second during his rise to the world championship and became one of America's best-selling chess authors with over 20 books to his credit. The book is called "Trophy Chess" because it is about a tournament for the gigantic Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy. Lessing Julius Rosenwald (February 10, 1891 - June 24, 1979) was for years the Chairman of Sears Roebuck and Company. He was a wealthy man and became a patron of the arts, including chess, upon his retirement.

Larry Evans, the runner-up, has provided a memorable record of the event, especially from the human side. Each game is critically analyzed and sprinkled with copious explanatory diagrams. Amateurs and less experienced players, as well as experts, will find herein a wealth of instruction which should strengthen their own game considerably. In 1951, at the age of 19, Larry Evans became the youngest player in chess history to capture United States Championship, ahead Samuel Reshevsky. In the same year, he won the U.S. Open title, which he repeated in 1952 and 1954. Evans held the Marshall Chess Club Championship three times (1947-1950), the New York State Trophy (1948). and has been National Speed Champion. In 1957, Evans was awarded the grandmaster title by the World Chess Federation. He represented the United States successfully in countless international events. He was a member of the hand-picked team which faced the Soviets in New York (1954) and again at Moscow (1955). He was high-scorer (90%) in the first postwar Olympiad at Yugoslavia in 1950 and represented his country in a total of 8 Olympiads, including the only one where America won the gold at Haifa, Israel in 1976. In 1982 he was captain of the USA Olympic team which won the silver in Switzerland.