Fred Reinfeld (1910 - 1964) was an American chess player and writer. He is one of the most prolific authors in history, having written or co-written over 200 books. Most were about chess, including books on the opening (Winning Chess Openings), and middlegame (1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations), game collections (Great Brilliancy Prize Games of the Chess Masters), and biographies of Alekhine, Capablanca, Paul Keres, Emanuel Lasker (co-written with Reuben Fine), Morphy, and Nimzowitsch (co-written with Andrew Soltis). Most of Reinfeld´s chess books, such as the comprehensive The Complete Chess Player, were geared toward novice players. Many players received their first introduction to the game through his books. Reinfeld also wrote books for more advanced players, but they sold fewer copies. In 1996, Reinfeld became the 26th person inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, and the first inducted primarily for his writing.
Although Reinfeld is remembered today for his writing, he was also a very strong chess player. He was ranked sixth in the country on the first rating list issued by the United States Chess Federation in 1950, after Fine, Samuel Reshevsky, Alex Kevitz, Arthur Dake, and Albert Simonson. Reinfeld won the 1933 New York State Championship ahead of Fine, Anthony Santasiere, and Arnold Denker. During his career, he won games against such luminaries as Reshevsky, Fine, Frank Marshall, and Denker, and drew against world champion Alekhine.
Reinfeld, a true polymath, also wrote books on a number of other subjects, including checkers (How to Win at Checkers), numismatics (Coin Collector´s Handbook), philately (Commemorative Stamps of the U.S.A.), geology (Treasures of the Earth), history (Trappers of the West), medicine (Miracle Drugs and the New Age of Medicine), physics (Rays Visible and Invisible), political science (The Biggest Job in the World: The American Presidency), and jurisprudence (The Great Dissenters: Guardians of Their Country´s Laws and Liberties). The latter book won the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation Award. In addition to his own name, Reinfeld also wrote under the pseudonyms Robert V. Masters and Edward Young. Reinfeld´s 19 numismatic works were the subject of an article by Leonard D. Augsberger in the November-December 2000 issue of Rare Coin Review.
In 1964, Reinfeld died at the age of 54 in East Meadow, New York.
Here is a game Reinfeld won against Marshall in New York City in 1941 (moves given in algebraic chess notation):
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 Bd6 8.Bxd6 Qxd6 9.Bd3 O-O 10.O-O e5 11.Nb5 Qe7 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Be2 Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Be6 15.Qe2 Rfc8 16.Rfd1 Rc5 17.Rd4 Rac8 18.Nc3 Rc4 19.Rad1 Rxd4 20.Rxd4 h6 21.h3 Rc5 22.Qd3 Qc7 23.g4 g5 24.Kg2 Qe5 25.b4 Rc4 26.Nxd5 Bxd5 27.Rxd5 Rc3 28.Rxe5 Rxd3 29.Ra5 b6 30.Rxa7 Nd7 31.Ra6 Kg7 32.Bc6 Ne5 33.Rxb6 Rd2 34.a4 Nc4 35.Rb7 Nxe3+ 36.Kf3 Nd1 37.Rd7 Rxf2+ 38.Kg3 Rf1 39.a5 Nc3 40.a6 Ne2+ 41.Kg2 Ra1 42.a7 Nf4+ 43.Kf3 Ra3+ 44.Ke4 Nxh3 45.a8=Q Nf2+ 46.Kf5 1-0
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