Scholastics: The School Library

All Things Chess
1

I teach at a middle school in Tulsa, OK, and am the chess coach there. My librarian has money, and a desire to spend it on chess books. Here’s the catch: There is some sort of policy that the library cannot buy paperback books. They must be hardback.

This completely rules out the purchase of essential books like Capablanca’s “Fundamentals”, any of the “Chess for Juniors” series, and the USCF Rules of Chess, just to name a few.

I need two things.

  1. A list of recommended books for scholastic players ages 11-14 that are available in hardcover.

  2. If you have had a similar problem, I’d like to know what you did about it.

Thanks!

2

How about rebinding?

3

I like the Murray Chandler books, “Chess Tactics for Kids” and “How to Beat Your Dad
at Chess”. They are both hard backs. My other chess books are all paper backs.

You might check with the publishers to see what books they have in hard cover.

Jim

4

My daughter is an aquistion librarian at ASU. If you PM your email, I will see if she can help you. She has access to a lot of resources.

5

Good call. I don’t have “Chess Tactics for Kids”, but I’ll heartily recommend “How to Beat Your Dad at Chess”. Don’t let the silly title fool you - this is a GREAT chess book, and not just for kids.

6

Mr Rine,
Why don’t you check with Jim, and Frank. They know someone that will rebind paperbacks to hardback. You might even get the work donated. :wink:

7

Yes, libraries rebind books all the time. Once you can get that done, any book becomes a possibility. Just now I have an old Fred Reinfeld book from the library, rebound. The old paper cover is glued to the inside.

8

Thanks for the reply.

I don’t understand how rebinding works. They can’t buy a paperback book, so if they can’t buy it, they can’t get it rebound.

There is a pot of money to buy books. Funds are tantalizingly available. They must be hard cover. I don’t think there is a pot of money for rebinding anyway, but will pitch the question to my librarian.

You might be amazed how school regulations, and state and federal laws and rules are pretty specific on how money is spent.

9

Harry,

I did not properly communicate my vision. I’m not simply compiling a list for my little school. I want to fill up over 100 libraries in my school district with chess books. If I figure out a bunch of good hardback books that are available for my librarian to buy, I can spread the word to a lot of librarians, chess sponsors and coaches, Gifted and Talented teachers, and school leaders, who would support buying these books.

I remember going to a my Junior High as a kid and seeing about 10 chess books. I read them all. Right now my school has maybe five books, and they are not really useful for anything but learning the moves. I want to build a proper resource for any kid in my school district that starts snooping around for chess books, whether there is a chess club in the school or not.

I did not consider asking anyone for help with rebinding, because my librarian cannot buy the books if they are paperback anyway.

I suppose I could go to several people in Oklahoma for a handout for my school library. If I go ask for donations to take care of MY school, I have fixed my individual problem. As an active chess player and a scholastic volunteer I might persuade chess patrons to help me out personally. But gosh darn it, taxpayer money is available to buy books each year, and some of them ought to be chess books! There are around 100 schools in my district, including 9 high schools and 14 middle schools. If I get a list of hardback books that my librarian can buy, I can share that list with a BUNCH of people in my district that are interested in chess. Or at least supportive of buying chess books.

Thanks,

Albert

10

I certainly understand the difficulty obtaining good ( recent published) books in hardback. Most of the books I have in my library that are hardback with the exception of Korchnoi, and Kasparov series, are older Books.
One book that may still be in print (which is a fair book) is Chess: Tactics and Strategy by Graham Burgess ( Castle Books).
I wish they would return to printing Chess Books in Hardback, I for one would be willing to pay the extra cost.
Good luck in your search.
Harry.

11

Just finding chess books in hardback seems like it’s a challenge.

Treasure Chess by Pandolfini appears to be available in hardback from Random House. I haven’t read it - can’t “recommend” it other than I haven’t came across a book by Pandolfini that wasn’t good.

randomhouse.com/catalog/disp … 8037572204

Another tactic: Slide on over to Amazon and plug in “Chess Hardcover.” It returns many results, including Reinfeld’s Complete Chess Course (which uses descriptive notation - so I wouldn’t recommend it) and Kasparov’s Checkmate! My First Chess Book.

Hope that helps a little bit, even though it’s not “recommendations.”

12

I know Laszlo Polgar’s 5000+ puzzle book was originally hardback, but I haven’t seen it that way since the softback version came out.

13

I purchased one ( Polgar’s 5000+) from, the USCF about 2 years ago in the hardback, but I think the price was about $60, or 70 dollars. I am only about half way though it “HUGE” Book.