New York 1936: The First Modern United States Chess Championship is a detailed look at the first modern United States Championship from many angles.

Everyone remembers Paul Morphy and his victory at New York 1857, but keeping track of American titleholders after that is not a simple matter. Matches were held, organizations came and went, and champions died during the next fifty years. Then in 1909 Frank Marshall beat Jackson Showalter in a match to take the title, a title he would defend just once -- against Edward Lasker -- in the next quarter century! Finally in 1936, with the Depression ruling out a proper prize purse for a Kashdan-Marshall match (Lasker -Marshall in 1923 had a stake of $5000), the titleholder made way for the new generation and a 16-player round robin was held in New York City. The event, which was won by Sammy Reshevsky with 11.5 from 15, featured a host of young lions including Reuben Fine, Arthur Dake, Israel Horowitz and Arnold Denker.

New York 1936: The First Modern United States Chess Championship is an incredible piece of work. The authors were able to unearth 116 of the 120 games played, a very impressive job considering the fact that there was no bulletin. But this book is more than just the games, many of which are annotated, often by the players at the time. There is a historical examination of the U.S. Championship, as well as a look at the changing of the guard that occurred in the early 1930s. The reader is given a glimpse of the personalities that made the United States the strongest chess nation in the world at the time. You learn that Dake took up smoking to curb his habit of playing tournament games in under an hour. By puffing on his cigarette just before getting ready to move, he was able to restrain himself from making impulsive decisions and give a better effort. Where was the Philip Morris advertising team? Fortunately, Arthur soon slowed down and was able to quit smoking! Think that concern about food additives is something new? Fine was well read on the subject over sixty years ago! All this and more is to be found in Fred Reinfeld's handicapping of the championship. Today Reinfeld is best remembered for the vast number of beginner's books he churned out, but there was a time when he was a serious master who wrote books for an advanced audience.

The contributions to this volume by Arthur Dake are warmly remembered by the two authors who dedicated the book to him. Dake, who was not only an outstanding player but a great human being, finished equal sixth at 9-6 in the 1936 US Championship. His recollections add greatly to the book.

New York 1936: The First Modern United States Chess Championship is the first publishing effort for noted data base maven Andy Ansel's Chess Archeology Press. This book is well produced and sturdily bound. The price of $12 is a real bargain for 200 pages chockfull of material.