[Retros] "Der Blick zurück" (Looking Back) by Wolfgang Dittmann

[Gerd Wilts]

Hello,

a new retro book has been published which will surely soon become a classic
in its field: "Der Blick zurück" (Looking Back) by Wolfgang Dittmann. It is
divided into two main parts: the first part, "Theory", gives a detailed
history of retroanalysis, followed by a typological study of retroanalysis
which is itself divided into the sections "solve the position" retros,
shortest proof games, defensive retractors, help retractors, illegal
clusters and miscellaneous. Aesthetic criteria for the judgement of retro
problems are discussed extensively.

The second part, "Practice", contains appr. 200 selected retro problems by
Wolfgang Dittmann, spanning a period of nearly 40 years of composing
activity. Every problem is discussed at length which makes the book
especially interesting and enjoyable!

The two main parts of the book are supplemented by a short auto-biography of
the author, a bibliography, some photos, and prefaces by Klaus Wenda and
Michel Caillaud. The book has 496 pages and is published in the excellent
chess problem edition "EDITIONS feenschach-phénix". As the book is written
in German, non German-speaking retro enthusiasts may perhaps not be able to
follow all of the theoretical discussions in depth, but the big collection
of retro problems should make the book enjoyable nevertheless.

This book is clearly a must-have for every retro fan! It is available from
bernd ellinghoven (email be.fee at t-online.de) for 40 Euro.

Best wishes,

Gerd Wilts