DESCRIPTION

Zahrajte si sachy s velmistry

Rare uncensored copy

by Vlastimil Hort + Vlastimil Jansa

only a few copies are known

(plus a copy after censorship – the winner gets both versions)

Hort, Vlastimil / Jansa, Vlastimil: Zahrajte si sachy s velmistry (original uncensored copy with names of players Jansa and Kavalek on page 31).

Praha, Olympia, 1975. Orig. softcover. 240 pages. First edition. Size 20 cm. In Czech. The weight 520 grams.

Good or better: front cover is a little soiled and a little/somewhat creased near the bottom corner. Text is clean with no writings.

So far I know, only a few (cca 6) copies of this uncensored copy could be located. Here is the story about it, based on the remembrances of master Jiri Vesely in the book Bilocerne vzpominani (Praha 2008):

Well-known book „Zahrajte si sachy s velmistry“ written by Czech GMs Vlastimil Hort and Vlastimil Jansa (In English known as „The Best Move“, NY 1980) was published in 1975, in time of so-called „normalization“ in Czechoslovakia. The time of normalization in communist Czechoslovakia started in 1969, after Prague spring. It is characterized by political repressions and among others, by high level of political censorship.

In the book, sample no. 24 (page 31) does not contain - as the only of 230 position - names of players. The reason explains master Jiri Vesely (1932-2009) in his last book "Bilocerne vzpominani" (White-Black Remembering, Praha 2008), page 168. Master Vesely was editor of the book Zahrajte si sachy s velmistry.

The book was already printed when some accurate censor discovered that it contains name of GM Lubosh Kavalek on page 31. This was not acceptable for the communist regime - Kavalek's name was „forgotten“ as he went to Germany in 1968 and settled in Washington DC two years later.

What now? Jiri Vesely writes that just two possibilities were offered to him: either all the stock of 18,000 copies will be destroyed, or the sheet with Kavalek's name must be cut out of the book and replaced by another sheet, without his name.

Jiri Vesely agreed with the second offer as it was the only possibility how to save the book. The names of players have disappeared and the original sentence "Postup 1..f5 (0 bodu) si vybral cerny v partii Jansa - Kavalek (Harrachov 1963), ale blokada pozice zcela ochromila pusobnost jeho belopolneho strelce" has been replaced by this:

"Postup 1..f5 (0 bodu) si vybral cerny, ale blokada pozice zcela ochromila pusobnost jeho belopolneho strelce"

Both the removal of original sheet and pasting-in of a new one is made very professionally and it is almost unpossible to recognize it for someone who does not know about the replacement. The new sheets can be in some copies slightly smaller than original ones.

The edition of the book was 18,000 copies (this would be now barely possible). I estimate that replacing sheets in all copies took about 300 hours, at least.

Jiri Vesely saved one original copy of this book with names of players. It is not sure, how many other copies are in existence.

I wrote an article about this uncensored copy to our Collector’s Corner in 2013, when only one (the Vesely’s) copy was known. During the nine years since the article was written, some more books appeared. To date, I know about 6 uncensored copies with the names of both players.

I will add also a copy after censorship, so the winner gets both versions.

The pictures show:

cover of the uncensored copy
page 30-31 of the uncensored copy
detail of page 31 of the uncensored copy, with names of both players
page 30-31 after censorship
detail of page 31 after censorship

xxx

Note: sending to the UK is now somewhat problematic. If you are from the UK and want to bid, please email me first.

Postage EUR (insurance included). Item weight 520g
xxx	100g	250g	500g	1 kg	2 kg
A, BG, DE, HR, HU, PL, RO, SI, SK	6.00	6-8	6-9	7-9	8-10
BE, ESP, EST, FR, GR, I, IRL, LT, LV, NL, PT	6.00	8.00	8-10	10-15	11-15
Other Europe	6.00	8.00	10.00	13-17	18-23
Non-Europe (airmail)	7.00	9.00	12.50	19.00	30.0
Non-Europe (economy)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Ask

We combine shipping – you always pay just the real postage. 2+ kg boxes depend on location, please ask. Postage within the Czech Republic at real costs in crowns.

Payment methods and fees

EU:

Europayment with IBAN + EUR 0

Wise + EUR 0

Paypal + 2.5% of the total amount

Outside EU:

Wise + EUR 0

Paypal + EUR 0

Complete information about book description, postage and payment methods is on our website www.chessbookshop.com in the left column.

Questions are welcome, I shall answer immediately or the same day. If you need an additional information or if you have any questions, please email me to: karel@chessbookshop.com

Listing Format:	Auction
Current price :	€135,00
Starting bid:	€100,00
# of bids:	3
Closes:	Auction is closed
Location:	Czech Republic
Started:	2022-05-21 09:47:27
Ended:	2022-05-29 20:35:00
Seller:	chessbookshop (809)
High Bidder(s):	Boletus27 (562)
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