WALTER PENN SHIPLEY: PHILADELPHIA’S FRIEND OF CHESS is a scholarly book by John Hilbert, one of the top historical writers around. I discussed his delightful and accessible work on Norman Whitaker in a previous review. This book is of at least as high a quality in terms of writing and research, but not as much fun; and as with the Steinitz book above, the average player probably won't want to spend the money necessary to get such a specialized work. However, there are many interesting games, some annotated very well by the omnipresent IM Richard Forster; so for those of you who like games from (mostly) 1890 to 1920, there is plenty to chomp on.

Shipley was a strong player for his time, but apart from the vicissitudes of Philadelphia chess, the book's main interest for chess historians may well be his relationships with Steinitz, Lasker, and Capablanca. All lived in the U.S. for parts of their lives, and Shipley hosted, sponsored, and provided friendship and various kinds of help to these three (not the least by organizing tournaments). Significantly, Shipley served as arbiter for the negotiations for the Lasker-Capablanca match.

Hilbert's book contains 16 pages of very high-quality photographs, including 4 with Capablanca but otherwise of Shipley, his family, and some lesser figures. I admire this book greatly. It is another labor of love from Hilbert and is often fun to read, although there are some pages of the dullest correspondences. Unfortunately, this book will probably appeal to only a limited market. On the bright side, it fills out the historical record and should delight fans of that facet of the game.

For Donaldson’s review of this same book, click HERE.