Réti's "Other" Classic

Ask most chessplayers about the works by Richard Reti, and most will quickly reply Modern Ideas in Chess. His Masters of the Chessboard will be a distant second and that is unfortunate, because in many ways Masters is more comprehensive and instructive than its better-known predecessor.
 
He packs it with advice, even for beginners. Opening theory is a priority. Reti tells the student to understand "the basic idea" of each opening, and goes into considerable detail as he explains each of the popular lines of the day, including, of course, his own Reti Opening.

Some of the finest parts of the book are the mini-essays, most of them on openings, but also on rook endgames. It's remarkable that Reti manages to do this without going into long variations.
 
This practical approach is also evident when he deals with positional themes. For example, Masters can be appreciated as almost a primer on the subject of how to turn the two bishops into a significant advantage.
 
As noted by American grandmaster Andy Soltis in his Foreword, this entire book is "wonderfully instructive." And now it is available in a 21st-century edition, with figurine algebraic notation, with many diagrams and photos added.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Andy Soltis ...5
Author's Preface ...8

Part I The Older Masters

Adolf Anderssen ...10
Paul Morphy ...19
Wilhelm Steinitz ...30
Siegbert Tarrasch ...55
   The Queen's Gambit ...67
Emanuel Lasker ...70
   The Steinitz Defense of the Ruy Lopez ...83
   The Ruy Lopez Eschange Variation ..90
Carl Schlechter ...100
Harry Nelson Pillsbury ...109
Examples of the Breakthrough on the Grand Scale ...110

Part II: Masters of Today

Foreword ...116
Geza Maróczy ...116
Frank Marshall ...121
Akiba Rubinstein ...124
   The Rubinstein Defense of the Four Knights Game ...128
Rudolf Spielmann ... 134
Aron Nimzowitsch ...137
   The Hanham Variation ...140
   The Indian Defense ...143
Milan Vidmar ...149
Savielly Tartakower ...151
José Raúl Capablanca ...157
   The Theory of the Caro-Kann Defence ...161
   The Cambridge Springs and the Westphalia Defenses of the Queen's Gambit ...166
  Rook Endgames...171
Efim Bogoljubow ...174
   My System of Opening ...185
   The Center Pawn as an Obstruction to Its Own Pieces ...190
Alexander Alekhine ...191
   The Blumenfeld Gambit and Related Systems ...194
   Declining the Cambridge Springs Variation ...204
   The Technique of Chess Combinations ...208
   The Alekhine Defense ...211

Player Index ...215
Opening Index ...216