Why read Grandmaster of Avant-Garde?

Book cover of Grandmaster of Avant-Garde: The Chess Art of Galina Satonina

Book description

Galina Satonina (1905–2000) was the leading chess painter of the Soviet era. A multiple-time Kazan and Tatarstan ladies chess champion, she saw life as a game of chess, and her paintings speak the language of Caissa. She painted world champions and other famous players, ranging from early stars Philidor, Morphy…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Grandmaster of Avant-Garde as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Matthew Sadler

Author

This book was my biggest surprise of the year! This lovely color hardback gathers together the chess-themed artwork of chess player, arbiter, and artist Galina Satonina.

In particular, I loved Satonina’s depiction of typical chess situations such as “The Fork” (when two pieces are attacked at the same time) or “Time Trouble” (when a player is struggling to complete all his moves within the given time) which demonstrate a true affinity with the game.

Her paintings just spring into my mind every time something like that happens on the board!

From Matthew's 3 favorite reads in 2023.