Curious Chess Facts
Irving Chernev was born on January 29, 1900 in Pryluky in the Ukraine. He emigrated to the United States in 1920. He wrote some of the most successful and widely read chess books ever written. Contrary to popular belief and to the publicity blurbs on the chess books he wrote, Chernev was not an especially strong player. According to those I know who played him, his real strength was not more than Expert, although he did play in the 1942 US Championship. However, he was a lively and entertaining writer. On a percentage basis compared with the number of books he wrote, he is probably the most popular writer ever on the game of chess in history.  His books are not read for the deep analysis but rather for the unusual games and chess positions, the curious facts and the amusing stories which have become part of chess lore that every chess player in the world now knows even those who have not read his books. He wrote that he "probably read more about chess, and played over more games than any man in history." He wrote 20 chess books, among them: Chessboard Magic!; The Bright Side of Chess; The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played; 1000 Best Short Games of Chess; Practical Chess Endings; Combinations: The Heart of Chess; and Capablanca's Best Chess Endings. In 1945, he and Kenneth Harkness wrote An Invitation to Chess. Perhaps his most famous book is Logical Chess: Move by Move. Irving Chernev died in San Francisco, California on September 29, 1981.