Chessdon

by Don Schultz

Starting in a small town chess club, the story rapidly moves to Iceland and purported KGB attempts to influence the Spassky/Fischer World Championship match. A defection in Thessalonika, an attempt at ping-pong style diplomacy in Dubai, KGB blackmailing of a FIDE official in Moscow, and a terror-stricken KGB colonel in Merano are constant reminders of how corrupt governments attempt to use international sports for selfish political gain. Against this background and a seemingly never ending stream of anecdotal encounters with players and officials, CHESSDON gives the reader an insight into the world of chess-the good, the bad and the ugly. Throughout CHESSDON are sprinkled twenty-eight carefully selected games with commentary by GM Gabriel Schwartzman.

372 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 1999