Publishing house Moravian Chess, Olomouc 1997 & 1998,  672+534+264 pages, 2950 grams, hardback, reprint,  fine condition, never read.

  American Chess Magazine which started from June 1897 only lasted into 1899 before coming to an end. It certainly gave value for money, mixing much prose on club life and personalities with annotated games, problems, books reviews and many other items.

 - Volume I. ran from the June 1897 issue to the April-May 1898 double number. Here you can find an early Napier - Marshall game in an Albin Counter Gambit. Marshall won, but the 16-year-old Napier was very successful at the time, beating Steinitz in one game and defeating many prominent New Yorkers. There are also games of Pillsbury and Showalter (they played two matches in the period covered by American Chess Magazine) as well as Charousek, Tarrasch and Chigorin. There is even a game by Franklin K. Young in a cable match against Britain. There are many information from different American local chess clubs, reports from the Berlin International Tournament, Llanduno Tournament, New York Sun Tournament, the Vienna Tournament and from many matches. All in all, a wonderful production that provides an insight into chess of a century ago. 672 pp.

- Volume IΙ. There is a reprint of the second of this short-lived but accomplished New York predecessor of the American Chess Bulletin. Assiduous in its reporting of the American chess scene, its clubs and personalities, it counted among its collaborators leading U.S. players Showalter, Hodges and Shipley. Although very much in the traditional style of the day, there are a few lighter moments: an imaginary tale tells of a new rule barring chess players' entry at the pearly gates. Mr. Jakelson is furious to see his friend, Mr. Ohpee, admitted. St. Peter replies, He's no chess player - he only thinks he's one. The ACM flickered brightly in its all - too - short existence, and has been a treasured historical rarity since. 534pp.

- Volume IΙΙ. Amongst the last offerings are reports from the London congress, in which Lasker won the masters' event and Marshall the minor. There are numerous prose articles touching on the mental condition of chess masters, such as a review of Steinitz's career, followed by the ex-World Champion commenting bitterly that he was being criticised for not winning a prize for the first time in my life, news of Schiffers' confinement in a St. Petersburg asylum and an analysis of the physical properties of Lasker's brain by a phrenologist. However, favourite has to be a delightful piece entitled He plays chess with the Pope on the master of games in the Vatican, a Father Giulio. 264pp.