Bound volume of 11 issues, February 1946 - December 1946

Chess World, Vol. 1 (1946). Cloth-bound annual volume, complete, including the inaugural February 1946 No. 1–2 combined issue. A foundational year of C.J.S. Purdy’s influential Australian chess periodical, published in the immediate post-war period and documenting the revival of organised chess in Australia and internationally. The volume is internally very clean with minimal age spotting, free of library markings, and with a sound, intact spine; original wrappers not retained in the binding.

The 1946 issues are of particular historical significance as they record the re-establishment of international chess activity after World War II, with extensive contemporary reporting, annotated games, and editorial commentary by Purdy. Coverage includes major post-war tournaments and matches, developments in correspondence chess (a central interest of Purdy), opening analysis, instructional articles, and news of the Australian chess scene as competitive play resumed. The early numbers also contain theoretical notes and practical guidance characteristic of Purdy’s pedagogical style, alongside problem sections and endgame material.

As the first annual volume of Chess World, this compilation is considerably scarcer than later runs and is especially sought after by collectors of Australian chess literature and Purdy material. Complete examples retaining the February No. 1–2 inaugural issue are increasingly difficult to locate, and clean, non-library bound copies such as this are well suited both for reference collections and specialist chess bibliographies.

Condition: Very Good. Descriptive notation.