History of Chess in the U.S.?

[LaughingVulcan]

From viewtopic.php?p=176560#p176560

@LaughingVulcan

@Harry Payne

@marknibb

How is it that the Scholastic groups take over? Must have some pretty convincing arguments in order to sway so many so often. It just seems to keep coming up, doesn’t it. Why?

I really think the two (adult and scholastic) have competing interests. Maybe we need to quietly go our own way with scholastic. No big deal. Don’t even try to work things out. It happens all the time in most industries. If someone isn’t meeting the need of the consumer, someone else comes into the market.

It does not seem very hard to sway (or swatek) those knowing very little about “Adult Chess” Or the history of Chess In this country. Just my take on it

Perhaps in part because there aren’t that many secondary sources to convey the history of Chess in the United States. (At least, not many that I’ve found. Mostly it seems like one must rely on primary or secondary word of mouth coupled with primary sources like autobiographies.) But that’s a topic for another thread… so I’ll start one.

This raised an interesting question for me. I don’t know of any written secondary or tertiary sources which convey the history of chess in the United States. Although I say, “any,” the recent page blurbs for the 70th anniversay of USCF in Chess Life is one. And I’m not looking for bare facts of tournaments like who played whom and the game scores - nor analysis of games.

Does anyone else know of any?

[LVHQLSBS]

(1) American Chess Masters from Morphy to Fischer by Soltis and Bisguier [edit – Bisguier not Lombardy].

(2) “Chess in the United States” (something like that), a long series in Chess Life & Review in the 1980s, probably by Frank Brady. I also recall a Chess in the Cinema series, but can’t recall which came first. Sorry my memory isn’t what it once was.

(3) The US Chess Championship 1845-1985, by Soltis and McCormick. Also another edition to 1996.

[wbport]

Deleted by author .

[LVHQLSBS]

The chess archaeologists probably know the answer to your question.
http://www.chessarch.com/