Anyone who doesn't like Romantic Chess doesn't like chess.
 Anyone who is not moved, who is not excited, for example, by De Labourdonnais and his game of the three pawns in the seventh, by Morphy's game in the opera, by Anderssen's The Immortal and the Everlasting or by Steinitz's The Weightless Rook (don't look for it, the baptism is mine) in Hastings, cannot, in my opinion, be a true chess player.
 In this book, Álvaro Bermejo del Barrio, a true chess player, brings together this collection of photographs he took on a safari through the savannah of the 19th century chessboards. And he does so with the careful taste of a lover of beauty and the precise knowledge of chess of an experienced player. And, above all, with the unconditional love that every chess player should have for our goddess Caissa.
 Thus, the author of the anthology provides us with a map to reconstruct the hundred years in which chess became popular and established its bases, both organizational and theoretical and scientific, with Wilhelm Steinitz and his The Modern Chess Instructor as the nominal reference point in the popular tradition, although the issue is more complex.
 On the other hand, the 19th century is the century that laid the foundations of the modern era, recording, publishing and commenting on all the games of a match; the century of the birth of the first chess column in a newspaper, of the creation of the first chess-themed magazine, of the first clubs dedicated exclusively to our game, of the first international tournament, of the institution of the title of World Champion (again our Steinitz) and of the valorization of reasoning time as a fundamental competitive element.
 The vineyard is good and winemaker Bermejo is up to the task. The result: a wine list that no matter which page you open; offers a glass with a tempting bouquet.
 Therefore, dear readers, I leave you in the hands of Álvaro Bermejo del Barrio so that you can begin your visit to the centuries-old 19th century winery and, without fear or restraint, become intoxicated with as much talent as in the cellars of that golden century.
 Jose Luis Torrego
 Madrid, March 2024.