The Theory of Chess Problems by Josef Pospisil (1887)

Description

Translator's introduction: Although the exposition of Bohemian chess problem theory in Josef Pospfsil's book Ceske ulohy sachove has long been recognized as one of the most important texts in chess problem history, there appears until now to have been no readily available version of it in English. This has been a serious gap in the problem literature of our language, and I hope the making of this translation will fill it. I have accompanied it by a selection of problems from the book, kindly chosen for me by Vladimir Kos, and by a brief essay of my own which looks back after the passage of a hundred years. I am grateful to the library of the British Chess Problem Society for access to a copy of Ceski ulohy sachove, and to Jiff Jelinek for highlighting the differences between the Czech of 1887 and that of the present day. Jifi has gone so far in his support as to send me a transcription of the entire text into modern Czech, which has proved invaluable in elucidating some obscure passages. Literary fashion has changed both in Bohemia and in England and I have simplified or eliminated some passages which seem unduly laboured or repetitive to a modern reader, but I believe that everything which matters has been fully and faithfully reproduced.