What do you think?
Rate this book
Underhanded Chess
Book by Sohl
113 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
8 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Sohl
90 books9 followersGerald Allan Sohl Sr. (December 2, 1913 - November 4, 2002) was a scriptwriter for The Twilight Zone (as a ghostwriter for Charles Beaumont), Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, Star Trek and other shows . He also wrote novels, feature film scripts, and the nonfiction works Underhanded Chess and Underhanded Bridge in 1973.
His 1955 Point Ultimate is a piece of Cold War invasion literature: in 1999, a faraway future history at the time of writing, the US lies under a cruel Soviet occupation, reinforced by a deadly artificial disease which makes conquered Americans dependent on the conquerors for the injections which keep them alive. But a dashing Illinois farm boy breaks out in revolt, killing a degenerate soviet governor and his "Commie" American collaborators. Eventually, he becomes a leading member of a very formidable resistance organization which is capable of breaking at will into the occupiers' security headquarters and springing prisoners out, and which had already established a clandestine space program under the Soviets' noses and established a sizeable colony on Mars.
In the far more low-key The Time Dissolver (1957) Sohl tells the story of a man and a woman who wake up one morning to find that, inexplicably, they had lost all memory of the past eleven years including any memory of how they ever came to meet and become married to each other, and who embark on a quest to find what happened and to trace back these eleven lost years. Aside from the science fiction aspects, the book captures the atmosphere of late 1950s America.
His 1955 Point Ultimate is a piece of Cold War invasion literature: in 1999, a faraway future history at the time of writing, the US lies under a cruel Soviet occupation, reinforced by a deadly artificial disease which makes conquered Americans dependent on the conquerors for the injections which keep them alive. But a dashing Illinois farm boy breaks out in revolt, killing a degenerate soviet governor and his "Commie" American collaborators. Eventually, he becomes a leading member of a very formidable resistance organization which is capable of breaking at will into the occupiers' security headquarters and springing prisoners out, and which had already established a clandestine space program under the Soviets' noses and established a sizeable colony on Mars.
In the far more low-key The Time Dissolver (1957) Sohl tells the story of a man and a woman who wake up one morning to find that, inexplicably, they had lost all memory of the past eleven years including any memory of how they ever came to meet and become married to each other, and who embark on a quest to find what happened and to trace back these eleven lost years. Aside from the science fiction aspects, the book captures the atmosphere of late 1950s America.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 12, 2007
What a hoot! Especially since so many chess players are so serious, to the point of solemnity, about the game, this book is hilarious even though few players would ever use most of the stratagems it lays out (and I doubt the author did either).
December 16, 2020
I read this book in high school when I was on the chess team. After watching Queen's Gambit, I reminisced about my chess-playing days, so I felt compelled to re-read Underhand Chess again. Some of the humor was still as funny as when I read the book the first time, while some of it seemed dated. Overall, I enjoyed the book again! I like the summary and analysis of the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky World Championship.
August 9, 2020
The book is cute
and well he's more known for one Star Trek story and a couple of minor 60s sci-fi books
This book would go nicely with the book
'Chess for Tigers'
but i'm not always keen on silly books with chess,
but for the right price, it's sorta neat
I think he did Underhanded Bridge too
and well he's more known for one Star Trek story and a couple of minor 60s sci-fi books
This book would go nicely with the book
'Chess for Tigers'
but i'm not always keen on silly books with chess,
but for the right price, it's sorta neat
I think he did Underhanded Bridge too
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews