A History of Army Chess (Historie armádního šachu)

From the Officers' Chess Club to Dukla
PaedDr. Rudolf Soukal | e-book (PDF), 170 pages

⚠️ Please note: this e-book is available in Czech only.

Ninety years of Czechoslovak and Czech army chess in one book, from Czech legionnaires playing chess in Siberia to the chess section of TJ Dukla Prague. A unique chronicle full of tournament tables, forgotten stories and annotated games, written by the club's long-time chairman.

The history of Czechoslovak and Czech chess is inseparably linked with the army. Members of the Officers' Chess Club and later the Central Army House (ÚDA) in Prague won dozens of national titles. Grandmasters such as Vlastimil Hort, Vlastimil Jansa, Miroslav Filip, Jan Smejkal and David Navara all played for the club.

The club never kept a chronicle. The author, who started at the club as a young pupil and later became its chairman, therefore gathered what had survived: period press, club bulletins, archives and personal memories.

Inside you will find:

• the story of army chess from the legionnaires through the occupation to the golden era and national team championship titles

• dozens of crosstables from army championships, national leagues and allied armies' championships

• annotated games with 34 chess diagrams

• portraits of key personalities and a gallery of famous grandmasters

• historical photographs from the author's and the club's archives

Chess notation in the book is Czech (K = king, D = queen, V = rook, S = bishop, J = knight), so the games can also be followed by readers who do not speak Czech.

Format: PDF. Language: Czech only.