by Tony Gillam, 445pp., Hardcover (2005 Caissa
Editions) -
Finally this complex and great tournament appears just about one hundred years
after it occurred. Schlechter won by a slight margin in a very complicated
series of qualifying sections. Gillam has worked hard with a dedicated band of
helpers to track down all the known games, graced in most cases with notes of
that era. Many great players such as Lasker, Schlechter, Burn, etc contributed
notes. Also included are photos of most of the players plus photos of the great
Kursall on the boardwalk at the resort city of Ostende plus a signed photo of
the outside of that impressive building with the autographs of the thirty
competitors. Two slight books with only a tiny fraction of the games were
published just after the tournament in the German language, but they scarcely
did justice to this strong and large even
Vladimir Petrovs from Latvia was one of the
leading players of the thirties and early 40's before he became a victim of the
Soviet oppression perishing in a gulag in 1943. Petrovs greatest chess
achievements were his tie for first at Kemeri 1937 (ahead of Alekhine, Keres and
Fine), and his outsanding 72% score for Latvia at the 1939 Olympiad in Buenos
Aires, against players like Capablanca, Alekhine and Tartakower. In this book
there is a biographical account of his chess career along with all the 265 games
that can be found. Notes, often by Petrovs and other outstanding players are
given to many of his best games.
190 pages, Published by Caissa Editions