The Genius and the Misery of Chess

Just published by Mongoose Press, Boston and written by Zhivko Kaikamjozov. Very interesting reading.

The section on young chess masters who died at the hands of the Nazis during WWII is quite moving. This is particularly so in the case of David Prezepiorka who owned the Swiat coffee house in Warsaw that was seized by the SS. He was sent to Auschwitz where he died with his entire family in 1942. DP had been scheduled to play in the 1939 Olympiad but did not travel with the others on the Polish team, including Najdorf, because he had the flu. But for that, he might have survived the war in South America. The story of his book autographed by Capablanca is quite amazing in itself. I’ll leave that to those interested in getting the book.

Thanks for the info. I’ll read the book. Are you aware of the titles of any guality biographies of Alekhine?