Book picks similar to
Amos Burn: A Chess Biography by Richard Forster
chess
chess-biographies
mcfarland
xadrez
Unforgettable Fire: Past, Present and Future--The Definitive Biography of U2
Eamon Dunphy - 1987
An in-depth portrait of the four disaffected youngsters from Dublin who turned to music and infused their own set of political and spiritual beliefs. 24 pages of photos.
Churchill
Sebastian Haffner - 1967
Perhaps the most determined and inspirational war leader in Britain's history, it was during that darkest summer of 1940 that Churchill's astonishing oratory seemed to rally the nation, from his opening statement to the House of Commons on May 13th that he had 'nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat'. Each successive crisis produced phrases that have resounded ever since, from the danger of invasion after the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk ('their finest hour') to the Battle of Britain (his tribute to the 'Few'). However, he lost the general election in June 1945. But he returned to Downing Street in 1951, finally retiring in 1955.
Emilie Du Chatelet: Daring Genius of the Enlightenment
Judith P. Zinsser - 2006
After marrying a marquis at the age of eighteen, she proceeded to fulfill the prescribed-and delightfully frivolous-role of a French noblewoman of her time. But she also challenged it, conducting a highly visible affair with a commoner, writing philosophical works, and translating Newton's Principia while pregnant by a younger lover. With the sweep of Galileo's Daughter, Emilie Du Châtelet captures the charm, glamour, and brilliance of this magnetic woman.
The Kings Are Already Here
Garret Weyr - 2003
But now, one year away from joining the Company, her mind begins to wander. To clear her head, she decides to visit her father, who lives in Switzerland. There, she meets Nikolai Kotalev, a teenage chess champion, who is looking for the legendary Stas Vlajnik, the teacher who will show him how to be a grand master capable of both grace and speed. Phebe organizes a search across Europe to help Nikolai find the elusive Stas. And all the while, Phebe and Nikolai study each others' obsessions to find the lives they want. What are they each willing to pay for perfection and beauty?
Grandmaster
David Klass - 2014
Daniel, thinking that his father is a novice, can’t understand why his teammates want so badly for them to participate. Then he finds out the truth: as a teen, his father was one of the most promising young players in America, but the pressures of the game pushed him too far, and he had to give up chess to save his own life and sanity. Now, thirty years later, Mr. Pratzer returns to the game to face down an old competitor and the same dark demons that lurk in the corners of a mind stretched by the demands of the game. Daniel was looking for acceptance—but the secrets he uncovers about his father will force him to make some surprising moves himself, in Grandmaster by David Klass.
Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game
Cho Chikun - 1997
Today, go is becoming increasingly popular in the western world as more and more people discover its beauty, elegance, and strategic depth.This book is the best and most authorative introduction to this ancient and fascinating game. Written specifically for the western reader by one of the strongest players in the world, it presents the rules, tactics, and strategy of this unique game in a step-by-step, easy to understand way.Besides showing you how to play, it contains essays about the world of go which will broaden your knowledge and understanding as well as pique your interest. From history to modern tournament play, from traditional playing sets to computer go, you'll find it in these pages.
The Eight
Katherine Neville - 1988
Before she goes, a mysterious fortune teller warns her of danger, and an antique dealer asks her to search for pieces to a valuable chess set that has been missing for years...In the South of France in 1790 two convent girls hide valuable pieces of a chess set all over the world, because the game that can be played with them is too powerful....
Karl Marx
Francis Wheen - 1999
Written by an author of great repute. The history of the 20th century is Marx's legacy. Not since Jesus Christ has an obscure pauper inspired such global devotion – or been so calamitously misinterpreted. The end of the century is a good moment to strip away the mythology and try to rediscover Marx the man. There have been many thousands of books on Marxism, but almost all are written by academics and zealots for whom it is a near blaspemy to treat him as a figure of flesh and blood.In the past few years there have been excellent and successful biographies of many eminent Victorians and yet the most influential of them has remained untouched. In this book Francis Wheen, for the first time, presens Marx the man in all his brilliance and frailty – as a poverty-stricken Prussian emigre who became a middle-class English gentleman; as an angry agitator who spent much of his adult life in scholarly silence in the British Museum Reading Room; as a gregarious and convivial host who fell out with almost all his friends; as a devoted family man who impregnated his housemaid; as a deeply earnest philosopher who loved drink, cigars and jokes.
Under The Eye of the Clock
Christopher Nolan - 1987
His first book, Dam-Burst of Dreams, written when he was a teen, was a collection of poems that exploded with linguistic virtuosity, earning him comparisons to Joyce and Yeats. Nolan, whose disability requires that someone cup his chin while he pushes a head-mounted pointer at the keyboard, tells here of battles in an un-handicapped world, the heroic efforts of his family and the sights of Ireland that surround him. The book won England's Whitbread prize.
Mother Ireland: A Memoir
Edna O'Brien - 1976
"Mother Ireland" includes seven essays seamlessly woven into an autobiographical tapestry. In her lyrical, sensuous voice, O'Brien describes growing up in rural County Clare, from her days in a convent school to her first kiss to her eventual migration to England. Weaving her own personal history with the history of Ireland, she effortlessly melds local customs and ancient lore with the fascinating people and events that shaped he young life. The result is a colorful and timeless narrative that perfectly captures the heart and soul of this harshly beautiful country. Rendered with grace and beauty, resonating with emotion and passion, "Mother Ireland" is an ode to a time, a place, and a people that one can leave, but never leave behind.
Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius, "The World's Greatest Bass Player"
Bill Milkowski - 1995
First serial, Bass Player. IP.
Murphy
Samuel Beckett - 1938
The novel recounts the hilarious but tragic life of Murphy in London as he attempts to establish a home and to amass sufficient fortune for his intended bride to join him.
The Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube
James G. Nourse - 1981
Unlike other solutions, this solution is both easy to follow and is deliberately presented without reference to the colors on the faces of the cube. (Take a closer look, all cubes are not colored alike!) Try it with just a few hints or with the quick and complete, step-by-step solution which follows. Amaze your friends! master that infernal cube once and for all!
The Second Coming of Steve Jobs
Alan Deutschman - 2000
With a new epilogue on Apple's future survival in today's roller-coaster economy, here is the revealing biography that blew away the critics and stirred controversy within industry and media circles around the country.
My Name Is Tani . . . and I Believe in Miracles: The Amazing True Story of One Boy’s Journey from Refugee to Chess Champion
Tanitoluwa Adewumi - 2020
All he knew was that when his parents told the family was going to America, Tani thought it was the start of a great adventure rather than an escape. In truth, his family’s journey to the United States was nothing short of miraculous—and the miracles were just beginning.Tani’s father, Kayode, became a dishwasher and Uber driver while Tani’s mother, Oluwatoyin, cleaned buildings, while the family lived in a homeless shelter. Eight-year-old Tani jumped into his new life with courage and perseverance—and an unusual mind for chess. After joining the chess club in his public school, Tani practiced his game for hours in the evenings at the shelter. Then he began competing in the ultra-exclusive chess clubs of New York City. And winning—again and again. And then, less than a year after he learned to play, Tani won the New York State chess championship.In My Name Is Tani . . . and I Believe in Miracles, Tani and his parents tell us their incredible true story of sacrificing everything for family, living with nothing but hope, and then sharing generously all they received to discover the greatest riches of all. Tani’s triumphant spirit reminds us of the power of kindness and the beauty of unity as we watch for the next miracle to begin.