The chess historian is a free agent who may go wherever he pleases, constrained only by the wish, and need, to present something fresh. If his specialty is biography, for instance, he may choose to focus on a well-known master, but will the delve deeply, going far beyond the well-trodden path. Alternatively, and sometimes even more satisfyingly, he may select a figure never previously accorded full-scale biographical treatment. Until recently, the name of James Leonard was unfamiliar to most chess enthusiasts. There were occasional references in passing to
a brilliant young blindfold expert viewed as a possible successor to Paul Morphy, but scant particulars were readily available about him. His name did not appear in chess encyclopedias, and his games were absent from books and databases. In the late 1990s, Leonard began to receive recognition, although it could hardly have been imagined or hoped that, within a few years, he would become the subject of a comprehensive monograph. That such a book has now come about is, of itself, testimony to the skill and drive of Dr. Hilbert, who has investigated Leonard with his usual thoroughness, reliability and even-handedness. In so doing he has unearthed a remarkable amount of information and many fine forgotten games. There emerges a portrait of an engaging, talented chess lover who could indeed legitimately aspire to fill the gap left by Morphy withdrawal, at least in his homeland and possibly beyond. Yet while leonard remains the focus of attention in these pages, the broader tableau of U.S. chess in the early 1860s is also presented. So too is the agony of the Civil War, which cost Leonard his life. It is curious to reflect that, in other circumstances, James Leonard might still have been in active play during the First World War. After all, J. H. Blackburne, another blindfold specialist, was born the same year as Leonard and participated in the St.Petersburg tournament of 1914. But Leonard, still in his teens, was dead at twenty. Almost a century and a half later, Dr. Hilbert has paid him a magnificent tribute.

Edward Winter, Geneva, fall 2005.