For some time, I have been wondering who on earth Vlastimil Fiala, the founder of Moravian Chess, might be. Kaissiber editor Stefan Buecker, mentioned above, is the only source I've found with biographical information. Fiala is a 41-year old who earned a PhD in History in 1990 and has held various academic posts up to at least 1997. He publishes two magazines in Czech, and one (discussed below) in English.

Fiala's output as a chess publisher and writer over the last decade has been simply staggering, and I urge you to visit his site (see below) for the whole story. He put out something like 75 volumes (most roughly 370-410 pages) of The Complete Encyclopedia of Chess Openings, with apparently only 500 copies of at least some of them. These contain anywhere from 1200 to 1700 games up to 1997, and there more than 100 additional 60-70 page booklets similarly organized. I haven't seen any of these, but it seems obvious that they have been surpassed by chess databases and probably don't sell now.

Any other publisher with 40,000 or so pages becoming irrelevant might be discouraged. Not so Fiala. Aside from at least 7 collections of endgames, he has an astonishing number of volumes in the following categories, with the number of books in parentheses:

I Historical Chess Tournaments

20, between 24 and 64 pages and inexpensive

II Classic Magazine Reprints:

(a) American Chess Bulletin, 1904-39 (36 volumes!, the early ones 280-310 pg., later 170-210 pg.)

(b) Capablanca Magazine (3 Volumes)

(c) Lasker's Chess Magazine reprints (Emanuel Lasker, editor!), 9 vols (292 pg. Each, 1904-5)

(d) Steinitz' International Chess Magazine reprints (W Steinitz, editor!), 7 vols (388 pg. each, 1885-) To me, these are the best of all these reprints, replete with Steinitz' often caustic but at other times respectful commentaries, wonderful strategic comments, analysis, etc. The volume I list above has a whole series of articles devoted to Morphy, who had just died, controversy over Steinitz' forthcoming Zukertort match, and the like.

(e) The Chess Player's Chronicle reprints (H Staunton, ed), 14 vols (400+ pages each, around 1841+)

(f) Chess Monthly reprints (P Morphy, editor!), 5 vols (384 pg., 1858-)

and many more (e.g., American Chess Magazine and Brooklyn Chess Chronicles reprints). All of the above make entertaining, browsing (I have done quite a lot), and I would recommend buying one or two first, to see what you think.

III Games Collections/Biographies:

Here are some books, listed above, that I have already read a lot of and can appreciate as a player. The 3-Volume set of Alekhine's games (and travels) contains a very large number of annotated games and includes simultaneous exhibitions. Games are drawn from a variety of sources, particularly from a huge list of newspapers and periodicals. There are interviews, letters, multiple points of view about events from various articles at the time, etc. Unlike the reprints, these volumes contain a great deal of writing by Fiala and his co-author. Further volumes forthcoming.

Then there's the wonderful Botvinnik book of early games, including training games, with extensive notes by Botvinnik. There will be 3 volumes in this series, a classic set of books that are here translated into English for the first time (I think), by Kenneth Neat. I just love this one, since I've always liked Botvinnik's play. Check the website--these books are very reasonably priced.

IV Quarterly for Chess History

I've left what is probably the best for last. Fiala's current masterwork is the ongoing magazine/research periodical/book: Quarterly for Chess History. This true labor of love features articles by leading English-speaking chess historians such as Kenneth Whyld, K Landsberger, John Hilbert, and Fiala himself. There have only been 3 issues, the latest one dated Autumn 1999, but put out fairly recently, as Fiala's personal note in the introduction carries the date October 14, 2000. This is a massive 514-page review of a large number of subjects from chess history. Fiala has wonderful articles on 'Steinitz in Russia' (106 pages!), 'The Olympiad Hague' (57 pages), and short biographies of Duz-Khotimirsky (12 pages, half games), Vidmar (14 pages, half games), and Sant-Amant (20 pages, mostly prose). He also writes a 104-page article on Steinitz-Lasker 1894, with 42 pages of introductory prose and then the annotated games! Landsberger writes 'Steinitz Revisited', Hilbert contributes 'Chess In Philadelphia II', and Whyld presents some newly discovered games by Emanuel Lasker. There are also Fiala columns on chess research and miscellany, book reviews, and the like. Thus most of this issue is done by Fiala, who is fortunately fluent and very readable in English. I am not into chess history (apart from games, theory, and changes in play), but I find much of this material fascinating.

In conclusion, most of the books listed above are probably of interest mainly to fans of chess history, with the exception of things like the Alekhine and Botvinnik collections. But I think that Quarterly for Chess History would also interest any chessplayer, and should also be in libraries everywhere. It is in my opinion an extremely well priced specialty product at $29 + $4 postage per issue. As of the third issue, Fiala speaks of having only 37 subscribers via his website (http://www.moravian-chess.cz), and points out that despite being on sale in chess book dealers around the world, "our own circle of subscribers is needed." As a subscriber, you get 20% off on the price of a book ordered from Moravian chess. The publisher's email is fialav@risc.upol.cz.