“For surely of all the drugs in the world, chess must be the most permanently pleasurable.” –Assiac aka Heinrich Fraenkel
Heinrich Fraenkel – Chess Author and Writer
Fraenkel was born to Jewish parents on September 28, 1897 in Lissa, Poland—then Province of Posen, Germany.
In 1933, he emigrated from Nazi Germany and lived in Britain. He died in Ealing, England in May 1986.

Under the pseudonym “Assiac,” an anagram of the name of the fictional chess goddess Caissa, Heinrich Fraenkel edited a chess column in the New Statesman.
He published several chess books, among them “Adventures in Chess” in 1951—and the American edition was published as “The Pleasures of Chess.”
The Pleasures of Chess
Fraenkel was also a historian and a highly esteemed writer for his biographies of Nazi war criminals—including Goebbels, Goering, Himmler and Hess—published in the 1960s and 1970s.
Doctor Goebbels

“A measured, scholarly account of a real monster.” -Newsweek
Hermann Göering

“There are no better biographies of Goering, Goebbels and Himmler in existence.” -The New York Review of Books
Heinrich Himmler

“There are no better biographies of Goering, Goebbels and Himmler in existence.” -The New York Review of Books
Rudolf Hess

On October 1, 1946, the Nuremberg Trials judges sentenced Hess to life imprisonment at Spandau Prison in West Berlin, Germany.
On August 17, 1987, Prison guards found Hess dead at age 93 years old in a Spandau Prison cell. He had hanged himself using an extension cable strung over a window latch. Hess had been the only inmate in Spandau Prison since 1966.
Germany demolished Spandau Prison shortly after Rudolf Hess’ death to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.
The World’s Best Selling Scholastic Chess Workbooks!
177,685 of John’s workbooks sold!
Beginner’s Book – Chess Rules For Students

“Knights Battle”
Chess Rules For Students is a workbook for students learning the game of chess and for beginning students returning to the game. No previous knowledge of chess is necessary. Parents unfamiliar with chess will find this booklet a valuable guide to their child’s new interest.
Chess Rules For Students is designed with students, coaches, and parents in mind. Reading level is appropriate for grade-school use. All major rules of chess are covered, and algebraic notation worksheets are included. Each page is in easy-to-use worksheet format.
A student-friendly Answer Key makes self-correction fun!
Beginners & Intermediate Book – Checkmate! Ideas For Students

“Knight Checkmates King!”
Checkmate! Ideas For Students is a workbook for beginning and intermediate students. Checkmate! covers the tactics used in checkmate attacks with clear explanations, diagrams and arrows to pinpoint the key features.
Unlike many other basic checkmate books, Checkmate! categorizes the checkmates by the tactics used to force the checkmate–like Pins, Sacrifices, Removing the Guard, Attraction, Clearance and Attacking Flight Squares–rather than only the checkmate pattern itself.
The worksheets and Answer Key are clear and simple for the student to use, and easy for the parent, teacher and coach to correct! Fun!
Intermediate & Advanced Book – Chess Tactics For Students









