A Tribute to Chess in the Netherlands
On Friday 31 July 2026, the Emanuel Lasker Gesellschaft (ELG) and the Max Euwe Centre will hold a special evening in Amsterdam entitled “A Tribute to Chess in the Netherlands – ELG’s chess4europe meets MEC.”
As part of the ELG’s 25th anniversary celebrations, the Viktor 2026 Award, named after Viktor Korchnoi, will honour four major figures of Dutch chess: Max Euwe, Jan Timman, Gennadi Sosonko and Karel van Delft. Jan Timman, who died earlier this year, will be honoured posthumously.
The programme will begin at 6 p.m. and will include a short presentation by Dr Michael Negele on Lasker in the Netherlands, followed by the award ceremony and an informal gathering.
Anyone wishing to attend should register by email at info@lasker-gesellschaft.de, indicating whether they will be accompanied by family members or other chess enthusiasts.
Two New Books by Juan Carlos Sanz Menéndez
Juan Carlos Sanz Menéndez has recently published two Spanish-language books that combine chess history, analysis and original graphic design.
His first book, Moscow 1925: A Triangle of Chess, Science and Art, is devoted to one of the most important tournaments of the interwar period. The volume contains 154 photographs, diagrams and other illustrations, together with contemporary articles, historical commentary and analysis of the games.
Modern engine analysis is accessible through QR codes, allowing readers to follow the evolution of the games round by round. The book also looks beyond the tournament itself, examining related subjects such as the film Chess Fever, Dyakov’s psychological study of the participants, and Capablanca’s simultaneous exhibitions in the Soviet Union in 1925.
A detailed statistical section includes progressive scores, game lengths, accuracy percentages, average centipawn losses, inaccuracies and errors. One particularly interesting result confirms Capablanca’s contemporary opinion that Tartakower played with remarkable precision: modern analysis identifies him as the most accurate player in the tournament.
The book is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GWSR1G19
Further details and examples of its design can be found on the author’s blog:
https://ajedreztipografia.wordpress.com/2026/04/22/mi-tercer-libro-moscu-1925-un-triangulo-de-ajedrez-ciencia-y-arte/
Our favourite pastime: "Chasing the Rabbits ..." - but some were even caught!
James "Jimmy" Bernard Adams (February 7th 1947 - June 6th, 2026) a British FIDE Master, chess author, and long-time editor of CHESS magazine, passed away on June 6, 2026, at the age of 79 following a long illness.
For me, following our first in-person meeting in June 2007, Jimmy became a humorous friend who always showed great respect for the achievements of fellow enthusiasts, despite his own prominent standing in the field. So I remember with warm feelings his comment to my talk in Norwich (KWA-meeting 2012): "Amazingly, Michael, you are making jokes, even in English language." And our "Chasing the rabbits ..." at the dinner.
The following compilation — which makes no claim to being exhaustive — bears witness to Jimmy's incredible contribution to the chess world.
Read more … Our favourite pastime: "Chasing the Rabbits ..." - but some were even caught!
Biography of GM Dr. Robert Hübner
Robert Hübner: A Biography in Texts, Images, and Documents. With a focus on his estate at the Löberitz Chess Museum. Part I (1948–1991) and Part II (1992–2025)
[Robert Hübner. Eine Biographie in Texten, Bildern und Dokumenten. Mit Blick auf seinen Nachlass im Schachmuseum Löberitz. Teil I (1948-1991) und Teil II (1992-2025)]
Edited by Konrad Reiß in collaboration with Siegfried Schönle, Löberitz/Leipzig 2026, limited edition of 100 copies, Part 1, 396 pages + 10 pages of title pages and endpapers; Part 2, 420 pages + 12 pages of title pages and endpapers.
Blue paperback volumes [245x165], thread-bound.
The Löberitz Chess Museum, its director Konrad Reiß, and his staff were unexpectedly entrusted with a major task pursuant to the will of GM Dr. Robert Hübner (November 6, 1948 – January 4, 2025), as the deceased stipulated the following:
"I bequeath my chess legacy to the Löberitz Chess Museum, directed by Mr. Konrad Reiß."
[„Meine schachliche Hinterlassenschaft vermache ich dem Schachmuseum Löberitz, geführt von Herrn Konrad Reiß.“]
This led to the creation of the two-volume biography shown here, based on a very extensive collection of source material.
The tables of contents for the two volumes certainly provide a good impression of this:
Reiss - Robert Huebner - Buch 1 - Inhaltsverzeichnis.pdf (413,2 KiB)
Reiss - Robert Huebner - Buch 2 - Inhaltsverzeichnis.pdf (709,5 KiB)
Please direct questions and orders to:
Konrad Reiß
konradreiss@web.de
Karel Mokrý has passed away
by Frantisek Stross
The article was originally published on 1 June 2026 on the website of the Czech Chess Federation.
[Translation from Czech by ChatGPT.]
On 27 May 2026, Czech chess grandmaster and former national team player Karel Mokrý died at the age of 67. Czech chess has lost an important figure who left an indelible mark not only through his achievements over the board, but also through his lifelong dedication to the chess community as a chess bibliographer and the owner of a well-known chess bookshop.
Karel Mokrý was born on 7 February 1959 in Prostějov. In 1977, he won the Czechoslovak junior championship, and in the same year he finished fifth at the European Junior Championship in Groningen. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster in 1984. Among his many tournament successes, his victory at Reggio Emilia in Italy at the turn of 1983 and 1984 stands out in particular. In a strong field, he finished ahead of, among others, former world champion Boris Spassky, John Nunn, and Ian Rogers.
Our association’s next meeting in Copenhagen – 28 and 29 August 2026
Dear members of the society! Our next annual meeting in Copenhagen is coming closer. We have arranged a very interesting program (attached) and would invite you to join us in the Danish capital. So far, we have not received many registrations, but I hope that you can settle your summer plans in the coming month.
Registrations should be please sent to our secretary, Claes Løfgren (claes.lofgren54@gmail.com).
Happy to see many of you in August!
Frank Hoffmeister, President
Read more … Our association’s next meeting in Copenhagen – 28 and 29 August 2026
A Book by A Member
by Henri Serruys
Our amiable and modest Spanish member Juan Sanz is the author of a delightful book entitled 64 Immortal Chess Games & More. The English-language edition appeared in May 2024.
There are, of course, other books in this genre — one might think, for example, of Andrew Soltis’s The 100 Best Chess Games of the 20th Century, Ranked. Yet Sanz’s book has a character of its own: it presents memorable games, though not necessarily the “best” ones in the conventional sense.
A few of the chapter titles give a good impression of the tone and scope: Immortal Zwischenzug, The Immortal Zugzwang Game, The Most Fantastic Defence, The Immortal Lost Game and The Immortal Game of Waiting Play (or, humorously, Immortal Shit), among others. The author also assigns “immortals” to individual players, ranging from Alexander Petrov to Magnus Carlsen. Further sections include titles such as The Immortal Postal Game, The Immortal Blitz Game, The Immortal Problem, and The Immortal Study. In short, the variety is so great that it is difficult to enumerate everything.
Sale of Items from the Collection of Lothar Schmid at Sotheby’s
by Henri Serruys
On Friday, 17 April, an online auction entitled Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections was held at Sotheby’s, London. The first 86 lots derived from the collection of the late and renowned Bamberg collector Lothar Schmid.
In the weeks preceding the sale, considerable attention in the international press had already focused on one particular highlight: the original scoresheets — signed by both players as well as by Schmid in his capacity as arbiter — of the 17th game of the 1972 World Chess Championship between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer.
Expectations of a substantial result were amply fulfilled. The lot realised the impressive sum of £140,800 (£110,000 hammer price, plus a 28% buyer’s premium).
Other major items likewise achieved outstanding prices. The 1497 work by Luis Ramírez de Lucena — undoubtedly the star lot of the sale — fetched £179,200 (hammer price £140,000).
Read more … Sale of Items from the Collection of Lothar Schmid at Sotheby’s
Ruy López de Segura: a new biography sheds fresh light on a major figure in chess history
Known to chess players around the world through the opening that bears his name, Ruy López de Segura remains one of the most important figures in the history of the game. A recently published book in Spain is devoted to him: Ruy López de Segura, la cara oculta del tablero, by Daniel Gragera Ledesma and Francisco de Asís Gragera Ledesma. The book is written in Spanish and is presented as the result of nearly five years of research based on extensive work in archives, libraries, and collections. An English translation is also planned in the coming months.
Obituary Adelheid Klittich-Pfankuch
An obituary by Michael Negele
With the death of Adelheid Klittich-Pfankuch, the German antiquarian book trade loses a defining figure, who also became a dear friend and a caring hostess of over 25 years to CH&LS.
Adelheid Pfankuch grew up in a long-established bookselling family; her love of books was practically instilled in her from birth. She began her training at her parents' bookstore, Karl Pfankuch, in Braunschweig – a foundation that shaped her future. Early on, she developed not only a keen sense for literature and regional studies, but also a deep respect for the cultural value of books. Completing her training as an antiquarian bookseller at the Tenner auction house in Heidelberg broadened this perspective and laid the groundwork for comprehensive expertise and her later specialization. It was there that she met her future husband, Roger Klittich (June 3, 1936 – † May 1, 2015 Obituary of Roger Klittich) met and fell in love with her husband, and together they returned to Braunschweig and jointly ran the Karl Pfankuch bookstore and antiquarian bookshop from 1963 onwards.