Fred Reinfeld

Dean of Chess Writers

Fred Reinfeld (January 27, 1910 to May 29, 1964) was a master chess player who understood ordinary players like no one else. Reinfeld's activities as a player, teacher, but most especially as a writer, had a profound impact on the game of chess in the United States. A native New Yorker, Reinfeld began his chess career in the New York public schools and at City University, going on to become one of the most beloved chess writers. Reinfeld's son Don is conducting research about his father's life to explore the possibility of writing an biography, and he encourages those with relevant information to .

Reinfeld the Writer

Reinfeld wrote over 100 chess books, but also wrote on other topics, including geology, history, numismatics (14) and checkers. His book The Great Dissenters won the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation Award of 1959.

Bruce Pandolfini estimates the total number of books written by Reinfeld on all subjects as being as many as 200 or more, while Bill Wall's estimate is 260. It is difficult to get an exact count, as Reinfeld:

However, it is not just quantity of output that makes Reinfeld so popular, but his love of chess and his attitude toward writing. In one of his earlier books, Chess Mastery by Question and Answer,1939, Reinfeld complained, "It seems to me that little effort is exerted as a rule [by most writers] to make the study of a chess book an interesting and pleasant occupation." Reinfeld always tried to make reading his books as "interesting and pleasant" as possible, and this is one of the reasons he was able to introduce millions of Americans to the joys of The Royal Game. The reaction of NM Robert Harrington is typical:

I enjoyed his books. Reinfeld's love for the games was enthusiastic! Many chess books are boring to read ... but not his.

 

 

Many of Reinfeld's chess books were written for beginning and average players. This has made it fashionable among some strong players to look down on Reinfeld. However, Reinfeld's best books, including Colle's Chess Masterpieces, Practical Endgame Play and Lasker's Greatest Chess Games (coauthored with Fine) rank among the finest ever written by an American author. Reinfeld's collections 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate and 1001 Brilliant Chess Sacrifices and Combinations are still considered exceptionally valuable tactical compendiums. No less an authority than Keres said his games in Keres' Best Games of Chess were "beautifully annotated by Mr. Reinfeld."  

Even Reinfeld's less ambitious books do not always get the respect they deserve. As Arnold Denker and Larry Parr observe in their book, The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories (1995), Reinfeld "enlarged the market for serious chess literature by introducing the game to millions of Americans. Some of today's chess writers who attack Fred would be unable to earn a living had the object of their scorn not paved the way."

Reinfeld the Player

Reinfeld was best known as a writer and teacher, but he was a well respected player in his day, numbering such other Hall of Fame inductees as Sammy Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, Arnold Denker and Al Horowitz among his over-the-board victims. Reinfeld had a lifetime plus score against Reshevsky of two wins, three draws and no losses, and drew World Champion Alekhine in tournament play.

Reinfeld won the U.S. Intercollegiate Chess Champion as a teenager, and later added the New York State Championship. He also won the titles of the Marshall and Manhattan Chess Clubs, back in the days when New York was the undisputed center of the American chess universe, and was invited to play in the U.S. Championship on more than one occasion.

Reinfeld the Teacher

Through his classes at Columbia University and New York University, Reinfeld improved the play of hundreds of American chess players every year. Reinfeld reached literally millions more through chess books for beginning and intermediate players. One reason Reinfeld was such a popular teacher was that he understood the problems of the ordinary player:

The thoughts of an inexperienced player during a chess game are mainly a great mental fog, occasionally lifted (or further obscured) by blind intuition, baseless fear and equally baseless rejoicing.

Perhaps Reinfeld's greatest talent as an instructor was his ability to infect students with joy and excitement concerning the game of chess. He was determined to avoid in his own writing the deficiencies he saw in too many other chess writers:

There is a school of annotators which gains prestige from the obscurantism of its "scientific" jargon; another turns principles into rhetorical quips; a third buries them in variations and embalms them with parentheses.

British chess teacher Brian Gosling explained in an April 15, 1996 Inside Chess tribute to Reinfeld why he uses one of the master teacher's manuals (Beginner's Guide to Winning Chess -- now available with corrections in algebraic notation) instead of one of the scores of newer instructional books on the market:

Gosling goes on to say "While I was reviewing this book, I began to realize the tremendous contribution to teaching chess that Reinfeld had made over three decades; so the idea of holding a Memorial Tournament was born." The resulting 1995 competition pitted some of the most talented young British players against established opponents, a pedagogical set-up that would undoubtedly have met with Reinfeld's whole-hearted approval.

Reinfeld had a remarkable ability to give average players some feeling for "the inner game of chess," as played at the master level, and to do so with a hearty and welcome sense of good cheer. As Denker and Parr note, "Fred had that rare facility to see humor in almost everything, and when he laughed, he roared so hard that you lost control with him." Cartoon about Reinfeld.

Reinfeld's death on May 24, 1964 at the age of 54 marked the passing of a beloved titan of chess. In recognition of his exceptional contributions to American chess, Fred Reinfeld was inducted into the United States Chess Hall of Fame in 1996.

Other Views of Reinfeld

That Fred produced accurate and deep analysis should surprise no one who played him over-the-board. His chess was precise, positional and poisonous.

--Arnold Denker and Larry Parr, The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories (1995).

 

 

Reinfeld's greatest contribution was as a communicator and teacher. In an age when television was in its infancy and computers were only of academic interest, he reached more people than anyone else.

--Brian Gosling in Inside Chess (1996)

 

 

Reinfeld explains general principles in clear, sharp, hard, practical exemplification.

--San Francisco Chronicle

 

 

Mr. Reinfeld crams into a small space a large amount of chess wisdom, together with well-chosen examples of how that wisdom should be applied over the board.

--New York Times

 

 

Quick: name a chess writer...I am willing to bet a dollar to a dime that you named Fred Reinfeld. ... Reinfeld was inspired principally by chess players. Reinfeld was responsible for introducing Keres, Tarrasch, Nimzovich, and, to some extent, Emanuel Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine to the modern American chess fan. ... He popularized chess by popularizing chess masters. ... Reinfeld gave us heroes and taught us to love them, so we appreciate chess all the more.

--Burt Hochberg, introduction to Great Moments in Chess, 1977

 

In his early works Reinfeld attempted to add to chess knowledge, but soon realized that he could make a better career by writing for the larger market created by weaker players. His readers liked his clear style, and his publishers liked his reliability.

--David Hooper and Ken Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess, 1992

 

Reinfeld had a real gift for bringing the Game -- the clash of intellect and personality -- to life in a way that few others ever have.

--Frank Berry, 1995