Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964)

Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964)

Fred Reinfeld was one of the most prolific authors ever. In fact,
Reinfeld may even be the most prolific author of any kind in the
entire history of the world.

Fred Reinfeld wrote so many books that it will probably never be known
how many books he wrote, especially since he not only wrote under his
own name, but he worked as a ghost writer for other famous players and
he had some pseudonyms.

For example, it is believed that the book “Reshevsky on Chess” by
Samuel Reshevsky was actually written by Fred Reinfeld. It is also
believed that books by Frank Marshall were written by Reinfeld.

Of course, the supposed author would never reveal this and Reinfeld
himself could not disclose that Reinfeld actually wrote the book.

It is known that Reinfeld wrote at least 200 books by himself and at
least 81 books in collaboration with other authors. This of course
does not count the books he ghost wrote.

Most of Reinfeld's books were chess books. A little appreciated fact
is that Reinfeld was a strong chess player. His books often mentioned
that he was once New York State Champion. However, a much greater
accomplishment that is rarely mentioned is his result in the great
tournament at Pasadena 1932, a tournament featuring World Chess
Champion Alexander Alekhine at the peak of his powers and almost all
of the top players in America.

Reinfeld drew his individual game with Alekhine and defeated
Reshevsky. Final scores we Alekhine 8.5-2.5, Kashdan 7.5-3.5, Dake,
Steiner and Reshevsky 6-5, Borochow 5.5-5.5, Reinfeld, Bernstein, Fine
and Factor 5-6, Araiza 3.5-7.5, and Fink 3-8.

All of these players were grandmasters on the modern standard, except
for perhaps the bottom two.

When the first USCF rating list came out as of July 31, 1950, Fred
Reinfeld was rated 2593, making him the sixth highest rated player in
America.

That was also Reinfeld's last USCF rating, because by then he was no
longer an active tournament player. He was devoting himself to writing
books about the game.

In addition to writing chess books, Reinfeld also wrote books about
coin collecting, stamp collecting and a variety of other subjects. He
wrote a book about presidential politics, a book about whales and he
even wrote a revised edition of the Charles Dickens classic Oliver
Twist.

Reinfeld's chess books especially are still studied today. Probably
his best remembered chess book is “The Complete Chess Course” which is
simply a combined reprinting of eight of his previous books. At 692
pages, it is still in print and recommended for players of all levels.

Reinfeld was not without his critics. Cracks about his “Chess Book of
the Week” were common. It was alleged that he simply re-shuffled and
reprinted the same book over and over again. However, it has yet to be
proven that this is true.

Sadly, I never met Fred Reinfeld. I did write him a letter once. As a
kid in Lynchburg Virginia, I was studying one of his books and I came
to one of his “White to Play and Win” puzzles that I could not solve.
Actually, the solution was in the back of the book. However, even
after studying the solution, I could not see it and I thought it was
wrong.

So, I wrote Reinfeld a letter and told him that I believed that I had
found a mistake in one of his books.

I was amazed when, less than a week later, a reply shot back. Reinfeld
wrote me with a more detailed solution to the problem. Of course, I
had been mistaken. Reinfeld's book had been correct. I just had not
seen the solution down to the end.

I no longer have Reinfeld's letter but I think this happened in 1957
or 1958.

Fred Reinfeld was born on January 27, 1910. He started writing at an
early age. I found an ad by him in Chess Correspondent magazine in the
1930s. He was offering to annotate chess games for a dollar. The
reader could send him any chess game plus one dollar and Reinfeld
would return the game with complete notes to the game. One wonders if
any of those annotated games survive and what they might be worth
today as collectors items.

Fred Reinfeld died on May 29, 1964 in East Meadow, New York. He has
been inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame.

Sam Sloan
December 24, 2009

samsloan wrote:
Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964)

Fred Reinfeld was one of the most prolific authors ever. In fact,
Reinfeld may even be the most prolific author of any kind in the
entire history of the world.

Reinfeld's book "Catalogue of the World's Most Popular Coins" played a major
role in my getting back into this crazy hobby some 30 years ago. Thanks for
that retrospective.

James

On Dec 25, 12:27*am, samsloan wrote:
Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964)

Fred Reinfeld was one of the most prolific authors ever. In fact,
Reinfeld may even be the most prolific author of any kind in the
entire history of the world.

I have revised and re-written this sentence. I have found out that
Barbara Cartland (1901-2000) wrote 723 novels. Almost all of them were
romance novels. I saw an interview of her just before she died and she
said, "At the end of my books, the virgin always marries the Duke."

Other candidates for the most prolific author of all time are Isaac
Asimov and Georges Simenon.

However, they all wrote novels. Fred Reinfeld never wrote a novel. He
only wrote non-fiction.

Therefore, I have revised my sentence to read:

"Fred Reinfeld was one of the most prolific authors ever. Reinfeld may
even be the most prolific author of non-fiction books in the entire
history of the world."

Sam Sloan

Perhaps the greatest contribution to collecting ever made by Fred
Reinfeld was the popularization of world numismatics among Americans.
He wrote about a subject that suffered from a lack of public awareness
in the US. Ironically, before the annual appearance of the Krause-
Mishler opus, "Standard Catalog of World Coins," many young
numismatists thought the twelve coins illustrated in Reinfeld's book
on French coins, or the 15 on Germany comprised the entire series!

Yet, credit where credit is due, he was a pioneer in introducing many
people to the diversity and bredth of "world collecting." His
"Catalogue of the World's Most Popular Coins" was and is a milestone
achievement.

On Dec 25, 1:43*pm, samsloan wrote:
On Dec 25, 12:27*am, samsloan wrote: Fred Reinfeld (1910-1964)

Fred Reinfeld was one of the most prolific authors ever. In fact,
Reinfeld may even be the most prolific author of any kind in the
entire history of the world.

I have revised and re-written this sentence. I have found out that
Barbara Cartland (1901-2000) wrote 723 novels. Almost all of them were
romance novels. I saw an interview of her just before she died and she
said, "At the end of my books, the virgin always marries the Duke."

Other candidates for the most prolific author of all time are Isaac
Asimov and Georges Simenon.

However, they all wrote novels. Fred Reinfeld never wrote a novel. He
only wrote non-fiction.

Therefore, I have revised my sentence to read:

"Fred Reinfeld was one of the most prolific authors ever. Reinfeld may
even be the most prolific author of non-fiction books in the entire
history of the world."

Sam Sloan

On Dec 26, 8:42*pm, Doug Andrews wrote:
Perhaps the greatest contribution to collecting ever made by Fred
Reinfeld was the popularization of world numismatics among Americans.
He wrote about a subject that suffered from a lack of public awareness
in the US. Ironically, before the annual appearance of the Krause-
Mishler opus, "Standard Catalog of World Coins," many young
numismatists thought the twelve coins illustrated in Reinfeld's book
on French coins, or the 15 on Germany comprised the entire series!

Yet, credit where credit is due, he was a pioneer in introducing many
people to the diversity and breadth of "world collecting." His
"Catalogue of the World's Most Popular Coins" was and is a milestone
achievement.

Thank you very much, especially since I am reprinting that book right
now, at this very moment.

Watch the following listings:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...SBN=4871878007
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878007

Within less than one week, you will see "Catalogue of the World's Most
Popular Coins" by Fred Reinfeld listed for sale.

It was a massive job to do this, as the original book has more than
4000 pictures of coins.

Sam Sloan

Doug Andrews wrote:
Perhaps the greatest contribution to collecting ever made by Fred
Reinfeld was the popularization of world numismatics among Americans.
He wrote about a subject that suffered from a lack of public awareness
in the US. Ironically, before the annual appearance of the Krause-
Mishler opus, "Standard Catalog of World Coins," many young
numismatists thought the twelve coins illustrated in Reinfeld's book
on French coins, or the 15 on Germany comprised the entire series!

Yet, credit where credit is due, he was a pioneer in introducing many
people to the diversity and bredth of "world collecting." His
"Catalogue of the World's Most Popular Coins" was and is a milestone
achievement.

Yes, it was. There is information in there that cannot be found in Yeoman
or Krause. It had enough detail to whet the appetite without being
overwhelming or tedious.

James

samsloan wrote:
On Dec 26, 8:42 pm, Doug Andrews wrote:
Perhaps the greatest contribution to collecting ever made by Fred
Reinfeld was the popularization of world numismatics among Americans.
He wrote about a subject that suffered from a lack of public
awareness in the US. Ironically, before the annual appearance of the
Krause- Mishler opus, "Standard Catalog of World Coins," many young
numismatists thought the twelve coins illustrated in Reinfeld's book
on French coins, or the 15 on Germany comprised the entire series!

Yet, credit where credit is due, he was a pioneer in introducing many
people to the diversity and breadth of "world collecting." His
"Catalogue of the World's Most Popular Coins" was and is a milestone
achievement.

Thank you very much, especially since I am reprinting that book right
now, at this very moment.

Watch the following listings:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...SBN=4871878007
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878007

Within less than one week, you will see "Catalogue of the World's Most
Popular Coins" by Fred Reinfeld listed for sale.

It was a massive job to do this, as the original book has more than
4000 pictures of coins.

Sam Sloan

Please post again when it is ready. Will it updated from the last known
edition?

James

On Dec 26, 9:46*pm, "Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote:
samsloan wrote:
On Dec 26, 8:42 pm, Doug Andrews wrote:
Perhaps the greatest contribution to collecting ever made by Fred
Reinfeld was the popularization of world numismatics among Americans.
He wrote about a subject that suffered from a lack of public
awareness in the US. Ironically, before the annual appearance of the
Krause- Mishler opus, "Standard Catalog of World Coins," many young
numismatists thought the twelve coins illustrated in Reinfeld's book
on French coins, or the 15 on Germany comprised the entire series!

Yet, credit where credit is due, he was a pioneer in introducing many
people to the diversity and breadth of "world collecting." His
"Catalogue of the World's Most Popular Coins" was and is a milestone
achievement.

Thank you very much, especially since I am reprinting that book right
now, at this very moment.

Watch the following listings:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo....asp?ISBN=4871....
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871878007

Within less than one week, you will see "Catalogue of the World's Most
Popular Coins" by Fred Reinfeld listed for sale.

It was a massive job to do this, as the original book has more than
4000 pictures of coins.

Sam Sloan

Please post again when it is ready. *Will it updated from the last known
edition?

James

No, sorry. It will not be updated.

If you are interested in purchasing it, please watch this spot.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...SBN=4871878007

Within one or two days Barnes and Noble will start offering it at a
very substantial discount, probably about 25% to 30% off list price.

Then, in about one week more it will go up to full price, which will
be $29.95

(You may wonder how I know this.)

So, if you are sure that you want it, best to buy it right away,
because it will be cheapest then.

Sam Sloan

Sam Sloan

Google "Sam Sloan."

Convicted felon, ex-con, scam artist. Beware.

On Dec 25, 12:27*am, samsloan wrote:

Reinfeld drew his individual game with Alekhine and defeated
Reshevsky. Final scores we Alekhine 8.5-2.5, Kashdan 7.5-3.5, Dake,
Steiner and Reshevsky 6-5, Borochow 5.5-5.5, Reinfeld, Bernstein, Fine
and Factor 5-6, Araiza 3.5-7.5, and Fink 3-8.

All of these players were grandmasters on the modern standard, except
for perhaps the bottom two.

That seems quite an exaggeration. Herman Steiner had opportunity
during his life to gain the GM title but only made IM. The Bernstein
at Pasadena 1932 was not GM Ossip Bernstein, but Jacob Bernstein of
New York, a player of little international accomplishment as far as I
can determine. Harry Borochow, Samuel Factor and Reinfeld never were
GM strength. One should not make too much of the fact that they did as
well or better than Fine at Pasadena, since in 1932 Fine was nowhere
near his peak strength of a few years later.

When the first USCF rating list came out as of July 31, 1950, Fred
Reinfeld was rated 2593, making him the sixth highest rated player in
America.

That 1950 rating should not be confused with a modern Elo rating. It
was based on a different system, where ratings overall came out a bit
higher. For example Fine, the #1 player on that 1950 list, was rated
2817, about 160 points higher than his estimated 5-year peak Elo.

In addition to writing chess books, Reinfeld also wrote books about
coin collecting, stamp collecting and a variety of other subjects. He
wrote a book about presidential politics, a book about whales and he
even wrote a revised edition of the Charles Dickens classic Oliver
Twist.

Here is list of Reinfeld's books on subjects other than chess:

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/reinfeld.html

It would be more accurate to say his version of "Oliver Twist" was
abridged, rather than revised.