The public record of chess matches and great tournaments places
the name of the author of this work above that of any living
English competitor for chess honours, excepting Mr. Blackburne.
It is therefore all the more disappointing to find that
Mr. Bird's book has not done justice to his great reputation as
a player. The author's chief defect as an analyst arises probably
from one of his distinguishing qualities as a practitioner over
the board. Few chess masters could excel Mr. Bird in rapid survey
of position and in the formation and execution of surprising
maneuvers, which, though not always sound--and sometimes, as he
admits, even eccentric--tend to raise confusing complications,
difficult for the adversary to disentangle at a quick rate.
These qualities make Mr. Bird one of the most dangerous opponents
in "skittle play," or in matches regulated by a fast time limit;
but they prove almost antagonistic to the acquirement of
excellency as an author on the game. For the first-class analyst
is not merely expected to record results, but to judge the
causes of success or failure from the strictly scientific point
of view, and he has often to supplement with patient research the
shortcomings of great masters in actual play. In such cases every
move of a main variation becomes a problem which has to be studied
for a great length of time; and the best authors have watched the
progress of different openings in matches and tournaments for
years, and pronounced their judgment only after the most careful
comparisons, Mr. Bird is, however, too much of an advocate to be
a good judge, and he evinces great partiality for ingenious traps
and seductive combinations, which form an attractive feature of
his own style in actual play, but which mostly occur only in
light skirmishes. Moreover he often treats his duties as an