Fred Reinfeld was one of the most prolific authors in history, having written or co-written over 100 books. Most were about chess, including books on the opening (Winning Chess Openings), the middlegame (1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations), and game collections (Great Brilliancy Prize Games of the Chess Masters), as well as biographies of Alexander Alekhine, Jose Raul Capablanca, Paul Keres, Emanuel Lasker (co-written with Reuben Fine), Paul Morphy (Andrew Soltis completed and published this book years after Reinfeld's death), and Aron Nimzowitsch.

Most of Reinfeld's chess books, such as The Complete Chess Player, were geared toward novice players. Many players received their first introduction to the game through his books. Reinfeld also wrote books for more advanced players, but they sold fewer copies. In 1996, Reinfeld became the 26th person inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, and the first inducted primarily for his writing.

Although Reinfeld is remembered today for his writing, he was also one of the strongest players in the United States. He was ranked sixth in the country on the first rating list issued by the United States Chess Federation in 1950, after Reuben Fine, Samuel Reshevsky, Alexander Kevitz, Arthur Dake, and Albert Simonson. Reinfeld won the 1933 New York State Championship, finishing all eleven rounds undefeated, ahead of Fine, Anthony Santasiere, and Arnold Denker. During his career, he won games against grandmasters Reshevsky (twice), Fine, Frank Marshall, and Denker, and drew against world champion Alexander Alekhine.

Reinfeld also wrote books on a number of other subjects, including checkers (How to Win at Checkers), numismatics (Coin Collector's Handbook), philately (Commemorative Stamps of the U.S.A.), geology (Treasures of the Earth), history (Trappers of the West), medicine (Miracle Drugs and the New Age of Medicine), physics (Rays Visible and Invisible), political science (The Biggest Job in the World: The American Presidency), and jurisprudence (The Great Dissenters: Guardians of Their Country's Laws and Liberties). The latter book won the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation Award. In addition to his own name, Reinfeld wrote under the pseudonyms Robert V. Masters and Edward Young. Reinfeld's 19 numismatic works were the subject of an article by Leonard D. Augsberger in the November—December 2000 issue of Rare Coin Review.

On May 29, 1964, Reinfeld died at the age of 54 in East Meadow, New York, reportedly from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.

James Grady's 1974 novel Six Days of the Condor used quotations from Reinfeld's 1959 The Complete Chess Course as introductions to three of its chapters.

Here is a crushing win by Reinfeld over Reshevsky at the Western Championship in Minneapolis in 1932 (moves given in algebraic chess notation):

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 c5 6.d5! exd5 7.Nh4! g6 8.Nc3 h6 9.0-0 a6 10.cxd5 d6 11.e4 Bg7 12.f4 Nfd7 13.a4 0-0 14.Be3 Kh7 15.Qc2 Nf6 16.h3 Nbd7 17.Rae1 Re8 18.Bf2 Ng8 19.e5! dxe5 20.f5! Nf8 21.fxg6+ fxg6 22.Be4 Qd6 23.Be3 Ne7 24.Rf7 Kg8 25.Ref1 Nxd5 26.Rxb7 Nxe3 27.Qf2 Nf5 28.Nxf5 gxf5 29.Qxf5 Kh8 30.Rf7 Ng6 1-0

Another win against Reshevsky in 1932, this time at Pasadena, and as Black:

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 d5 6.c4 c6 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.a3 Ne4 10.Be3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Na5 12.Bf4 Bd7 13.Ne5 Bb5 14.Nd3 Rc8 15.a4 Ba6 16.Ra3 b6 17.Re1 Nc4 18.Ra2 Na5 19.Nb4 Bb7 20.Qd3 e6 21.h4 Rc4 22.Rb1 Qd7 23.Bd2 Rfc8 24.f4 h5 25.e4?? dxe4 26.Bxe4 Rxc3! 27.Bxc3 Rxc3 28.Qxc3 Bxd4+ 29.Kh2 Bxc3 30.Bxb7 Qxb7 31.Nd3 Qe4 0-1

Here is a game Reinfeld won against Marshall in New York City in 1941:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 Bd6 8.Bxd6 Qxd6 9.Bd3 O-O 10.O-O e5 11.Nb5 Qe7 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Be2 Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Be6 15.Qe2 Rfc8 16.Rfd1 Rc5 17.Rd4 Rac8 18.Nc3 Rc4 19.Rad1 Rxd4 20.Rxd4 h6 21.h3 Rc5 22.Qd3 Qc7 23.g4 g5 24.Kg2 Qe5 25.b4 Rc4 26.Nxd5 Bxd5 27.Rxd5 Rc3 28.Rxe5 Rxd3 29.Ra5 b6 30.Rxa7 Nd7 31.Ra6 Kg7 32.Bc6 Ne5 33.Rxb6 Rd2 34.a4 Nc4 35.Rb7 Nxe3+ 36.Kf3 Nd1 37.Rd7 Rxf2+ 38.Kg3 Rf1 39.a5 Nc3 40.a6 Ne2+ 41.Kg2 Ra1 42.a7 Nf4+ 43.Kf3 Ra3+ 44.Ke4 Nxh3 45.a8=Q Nf2+ 46.Kf5 1-0

• 101 Chess Problems for Beginners (Wilshire, Hollywood, 1960) (ISBN 0-87980-017-8)
• 1001 Brilliant Chess Sacrifices and Combinations (Sterling, NY, 1955)
• 1001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate (Wilshire Books, Hollywood, 1955) (ISBN 0-87980-110-7)
• 1001 Chess Sacrifices and Combinations (Barnes & Noble, NY, 1959) (ISBN 0-87980-111-5)
• 1001 Ways to Checkmate (Sterling, NY, 1955)
• A Chess Primer (Dolphin Books, Garden City, 1962)
• A New Approach to Chess Mastery (Hanover House, Garden City, 1959)
• A Treasury of British Chess Masterpieces (Chatto & Windus, London, 1950)
• A. Alekhine vs. E.D. Bogoljubow : World's Chess Championship 1934 (McKay, Philadelphia, 1934)
• An Expert's Guide to Chess Strategy (Hollywood, 1976)
• Art of Chess (edited by Reinfeld; written by Mason) (1958) (ISBN 0-486-20463-4)
• Art of Sacrifice in Chess (ISBN 0-486-28449-2)
• Attack and Counterattack In Chess (Barnes & Noble, NY, 1958)
• Beginner's Guide to Winning Chess (ISBN 0-87980-215-4)
• Book of the 1935 Margate Tournament
• Book of the 1935 Warsaw International Chess Team Tournament
• Book of the 1936-37 Hastings Tournament
• Botvinnik the Invincible
• Botvinnik's Best Games, 1927—1934
• British Chess Masters: Past and Present
• Challenge to Chessplayers (McKay, Philadelphia, 1947)
• Chess At-A-Glance by Edward Young (Ottenheimer, Baltimore, 1955)
• Chess By Yourself (McKay, Philadelphia, 1946)
• Chess Combinations and Traps
• Chess for Amateurs: How To Improve Your Game (McKay, Philadelphia, 1942)
• Chess for Children, with Moves and Positions Pictured in Photo and Diagram (ISBN 0-8069-4905-8)
• Chess for Young People
• Chess In A Nutshell (Permabooks, NY, 1958) (ISBN 0-671-64391-6)
• Chess is an Easy Game
• Chess Mastery by Question and Answer (McKay, Philadelphia, 1939)
• Chess Quiz (McKay, Philadelphia, 1945)
• Chess Secrets Revealed (Wilshire, Hollywood, 1959)
• Chess Strategy and Tactics: Fifty Master Games (Black Knight, NY, 1933)
• Chess Strategy for Offense and Defense (Barnes & Noble, NY, 1955)
• Chess Tactics for Beginners (ISBN 0-87980-019-4)
• Chess Traps, Pitfalls, and Swindles (ISBN 0-671-21041-6)
• Chess Victory Move By Move
• Chess: Attack and Counterattack (Sterling, NY, 1955)
• Chess: Win in 20 Moves or Less (Crowell, NY, 1962)
• Complete Chess Course (ISBN 0-385-00464-8)
• Complete Chess Player (ISBN 0-671-76895-6)
• Colle's Chess Masterpieces (Black Knight Press, NY, 1936)
• Complete Book of Chess Openings (Sterling, NY, 1957)
• Complete Book of Chess Stratagems (Sterling, NY, 1958)
• Creative Chess (Sterling, NY, 1959)
• Development of a Chess Genius, 100 Instructive Games of Alekhine (Dover)
• Dr. Lasker's Chess Career, Part I, 1889-1914 (Printingcraft, London, 1935)
• E. S. Lowe's Chess In 30 Minutes (E.S. Lowe Co, NY, 1955)
• Eighth Book of Chess: How to Play the Queen Pawn Openings and Other Close Games (Sterling, NY, 1957)
• Epic Battles of the Chessboard (ISBN 0-486-29355-6) (Editor in collaboration with Israel Albert Horowitz, the author was Richard Nevil Coles)
• Fifth Book of Chess: How to Win When You're Ahead (Sterling, NY, 1955)
• Fifty-one Brilliant Chess Masterpieces (Capitol Pub, NY, 1950)
• First Book of Chess (with I.A.Horowitz) (Harper & Row, NY 1952)
• Fourth Book of Chess: How to Play the Black Pieces (Sterling, NY, 1955)
• Games of the 1938 Washington State Chess Association Championship (1938)
• Great Brilliancy Prize Games of the Chess Masters (Collier, NY, 1961)(ISBN 0-486-28614-2)
• Great Chess Upsets (written by Reshevsky; annotated by Reinfeld)
• Great Games By Chess Prodigies (Macmillan, NY, 1967)
• Great Moments In Chess (Doubleday, NY, 1963)
• Great Short Games of the Chess Masters (Collier, NY, 1961)(ISBN 0-486-29266-5)
• How Do You Play Chess?
• How Not to Play Chess (Edited by Reinfeld; authored by Znosko-Borovsky) (ISBN 0-486-20920-2)
• How To Be A Winner at Chess (Hanover, Garden City, 1954)(ISBN 0-449-91206-X)
• How To Beat Your Opponent Quickly (Sterling, NY, 1956)
• How To Force Checkmate (Dover, NY, 1958) (ISBN 0-486-20439-1)
• How To Get More Out of Chess (Hanover, Garden City, 1957)
• How To Improve Your Chess (with Horowitz) (Collier, NY, 1952)
• How To Play Better Chess (Pitman, NY, 1948)
• How To Play Chess Like A Champion (Fawcett, Greenwich, 1956)
• How To Play Winning Chess (Bantam Books, NY, 1962)
• How to Think Ahead in Chess (with Horowitz)
• How To Win Chess Games Quickly (Barnes & Noble, NY, 1957)
• Hypermodern Chess: As Developed in the Games of its Greatest Exponent Aron Nimzovich (Dover, NY, 1948)(ISBN 0-486-20448-0)
• Immortal Games of Capablanca (ISBN 0-486-26333-9)
• Improving Your Chess (Barnes & Noble, NY, 1955)
• Improving Your Chess (Faber, London, 1954)
• Instructive and Practical Endings From Master Chess
• Kemeri Tournament, 1937
• Keres' Best Games of Chess (1941)
• Keres' Best Games of Chess, 1931-1948 (Printed Arts Co., 1949)
• Lasker's Greatest Chess Games, 1889-1914 (Dover, NY, 1963)
• Learn Chess Fast! (with Reshevsky) (McKay, Philadelphia, 1947)
• Learn Chess From the Masters (Dover, NY, 1946)
• Modern Fundamentals of Chess
• Morphy Chess Masterpieces (with Soltis) (Macmillan, NY, 1974)
• Morphy's Games of Chess (by Sergeant; edited by Reinfeld) (ISBN 0-486-20386-7)
• My System: A Treatise on Chess (by Nimzovich; edited by Reinfeld) (McKay, Philadelphia, 1947)
• Nimzovich: The Hypermodern (McKay, Philadelphia, 1948)
• Practical End-game Play (Pitman, London, 1940)
• Reinfeld Explains Chess (Sterling, NY, 1957)
• Reinfeld On The End-Game in Chess (Dover, NY, 1957)
• Relax With Chess and Win In 20 Moves (Pitman, NY, 1948)
• Second Book of Chess: The Nine Bad Moves, and How to Avoid Them (Sterling, NY, 1953)
• Semmering-Baden Tournament of 1937
• Seventh Book of Chess: How to Play the King Pawn Openings (Sterling, NY, 1956)
• Sixth Book of Chess: How to Fight Back (Sterling, NY, 1955)
• Strategy in the Chess Endgame
• Tarrasch's Best Games of Chess (Chatto & Windus, London 1947)
• The Book of the Cambridge Springs International Tournament 1904 (Black Knight Press, 1935)
• The Chess Masters On Winning Chess
• The Complete Book of Chess Tactics (Doubleday, Garden City, 1961)
• The Complete Chess Course (Doubleday, Garden City, 1959)
• The Complete Chessplayer (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1953)
• The Complete Chessplayer by Edward Young (New English Library, London, 1960)
• The Great Chess Masters and Their Games (Hanover, Garden City, 1960)
• The Easiest Way To Learn Chess (Simon & Schuaster, NY, 1960)
• The Elements of Combination Play In Chess (Black Knight, NY, 1935)
• The Fireside Book of Chess (with Chernev) (Simon & Schuster, NY, 1949)
• The Games of the 1933 Match Between S. Flohr and M. Botvinnik
• The Human Side of Chess (Pellegrini & Cudahy, NY 1952)
• The Immortal Games of Capablanca
• The Joys of Chess (Hanover, Garden City, 1961)
• The Macmillan Handbook of Chess
• The Secret of Tactical Chess (Crowell, NY, 1958)
• The Treasury of Chess Lore (McKay, NY, 1951)
• The Unknown Alekhine 1905-1914
• The USCF 7th Biennial US Championship of 1948
• The Way To Better Chess (Macmillan, NY, 1959)
• Third Book of Chess: How to Play the White Pieces (Sterling, NY, 1954)
• Thirty Five Nimzowitsch Games, 1904—1927
• Two Weeks To Winning Chess
• Ventnor City Tournament, 1939 (New York, 1939)
• Why You Lose At Chess (Simon & Schustor, NY, 1956)
• Win at Chess (Dover, NY, 1958)(ISBN 0-486-41878-2)
• Winning Chess: How to Perfect your Attacking Play
• Winning Chess for Beginners (Grosset, NY, 1959)
• Winning Chess Openings (Hanover, Garden City, 1961)

Other Books by Fred Reinfeld (aka Robert Masters):

• A Catalogue of the World's Most Popular Coins, (Sterling, NY, 1956)
• A Catalogue of European Coins (Oak Tree Press, London, 1961)
• A Simplified Guide to Collecting American Paper Money, (Hanover House, NY, 1960)
• A Treasury of American Coins (Garden City, NY, 1961)
• Blazer the Bear (Sterling, New York, 1953)
• Cash for Your Coins (Sterling, NY, 1957)
• Coin Collecting (Bonanza, NY, 1958)
• Coin Collecting for Beginners (with Burton Hobson) (ISBN 0-87980-022-4)
• Coin Collector's Handbook (Sterling, New York, 1954)
• Coin Dictionary and Guide (with C.C. Chamberlain) (Bonanza, NY, 1960)
• Coinometry (with David Boehm) (Sterling, New York, 1952)
• Commemorative Stamps of the U.S.A. (Bramhall House, New York, 1956)
• First Book of Famous Battles (Garden City, NY, 1961)
• Fun with Stamp Collecting (Garden City, NT, 1957)
• How to Be a Winner at Checkers (Hanover House, NY, 1960)
• How to Build a Coin Collection (Sterling, NY, 1958)
• How to Play Checkers (Barnes & Noble, NY, 1957)
• How to Play Top-Notch Checkers (Sterling, NY, 1957)
• How to Win at Checkers (ISBN 0-87980-068-2) (Wilshire, Hollywood, 1957)
• Manual of Coin Collectors and Investors (Sterling, NY, 1963
• Miracle Drugs and the New Age of Medicine (Sterling, NY, 1957)
• Oliver Twist (Pocket Books, New York, 1948)
• Picture Book of Ancient Coins (Sterling, NY, 1963)
• Picture Book of Atomic Science (Sterling, NY, 1963)
• Pictorial Guide to Coin Conditions (with Burton Hobson) (Garden City, NY, 1962)
• Pony Express (Collier, NY, 1966) (ISBN 0-8032-5786-4)
• Rays Visible and Invisible (Sterling, NY, 1958)
• Stamp Collectors' Handbook
• Stamp Collector's Price Guide (with Obojski) (Sterling, NY, 1986)
• The Biggest Job in the World: The American Presidency (Crowell, NY, 1964)
• The Great Dissenters, Guardians of their Country's Laws and Liberties (Crowell, NY, 1959)
• The Real Book About Famous Battles (Doubleday, NY, 1961)
• The Real Book About Whales and Whaling (Garden City, NY, 1960)
• The Story of Paper Money, Including Catalogue of Values (Sterling, NT, 1957)
• They Almost Made It (Thomas Crowell Co., NY, 1956)
• Trappers of the West (Crowell, NY, 1957)
• Treasures of the Earth (Sterling, New York, 1954)
• Treasury of the World's Coins (Sterling, New York, 1953)
• Uranium and other Miracle Metals (Sterling, New York, 1955)
• US Commemorative Coins and Stamps (Sterling, NY, 1964)
• What's New in Science (Sterling, NY, 1960)
• Young Charles Darwin (Sterling, New York, 1956)