A History of Chess
The Original 1913 Edition
by H.J.R Murray

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, 2012
Edition: Paperback large
Pages: 900
Language: English

An epic work that took over a decade to complete, A History of Chess, originally published in 1913, was a historic undertaking that shattered preconceptions about the game upon its release.

Over a century later, Murray’s research, in which he argues that chess originated in India, is still widely accepted by most chess historians. Undertaking such a pioneering task, the scope of which has never been attempted before or since, Murray was required to learn to read Arabic in order to decipher historical manuscripts on the game.

Divided into sections, Murray’s study unravels the history of the game as it evolved from its Asiatic beginnings through the role chess played in Europe during the Middle Ages, up until the arrival of modern chess as we know it in the nineteenth century.

Accompanied by diagrams of transcribed important games, as well as some of the more famous historical chess pieces, such as the Lewis chessman, no single work on the game of chess has come close to touching Murray’s in breadth or significance.

Harold James Ruthven Murray (1868-1955) was an English school inspector and prominent chess historian. His father was the first first editor of the 'Oxford English Dictionary'. Murray only published one other book during his lifetime, 'A History of Board Games other than Chess'.

Ernest J. Clarke, American Chess Bulletin:
“So fascinating it is difficult to put down.”

William Hartston, author of 'The King of Chess':
"The classic book on the subject; nine hundred pages of meticulous research.”

D.J. Morgan, British Chess Magazine:
"The greatest book ever written on the game."