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?

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! 

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