Frank Marshall (1877–1944) reigned as America’s chess champion from 1907 through 1936—the longest stint of anyone in history. A colorful character almost always decked out in an ascot and chewing a cigar, his career coincided with many evolutionary changes in competitive chess. Marshall was a master gamesman. He took up the game of salta, akin to Chinese checkers, and was soon world champion. But more than anything, he loved chess. He claimed that after learning the game at the age of 10 he played every day for the next 57 years. Marshall’s life and playing style are fully examined here, including 220 of his games (some never before published) with 190 positional diagrams.

Originally entitled "My Fifty Years of Chess", this volume presents an account of the career of Frank J. Marshall, who was a United States Chess Champion between 1909-1936. With autobiographical information and detailed, move-by-move accounts of some of his more notable games, "Marshall's Best Games of Chess" is not to be missed by chess enthusiasts and professional players looking for inspiration and insight. Contents include: "My Chess Career", "The Early Years", "Winning my Spurs", "The Year of Years", "Commuting to Europe", "Championship Years", "Championship Years (continued)", "Retirement Years", "My Best Games", "Winning My Spurs", "The Year of Years (1904-1905)", "Commuting to Europe", "Championship Years (1910-1914)", etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with the original text and artwork.

Frank Marshall was United States Chess Champion for 27 years. He was also the first American player able so sustain himself as one of the top players in the world for an extended period of time. Marshall was in the first group of five players to be awarded the Grandmaster title. He along with Lasker, Capablanca, Tarrasch and Alekhine were awarded the grandmaster title by Czar Nicholas II of Russia in 1914, as they were the five top finishers at the tournament at St. Petersberg 1914.

As late as 1950, many chess clubs in America excluded women. The Marshall Chess Club in New York City was an exception, organizing the U.S. Women's Chess Championship beginning in the late 1930s. Since the 1980s, the average rating of the players has increased. The Saint Louis Chess Club has organized the championship since 2009, with record-setting prizes. Drawing on archives and original interviews with the living U.S. Women's Chess Champions, this book examines their careers with biographies, photos, and 171 annotated games, most of which are from the 60 championships between 1937 and 2020.