Chess NotesEdward WinterLatest C.N. items: 7 October 2024. If contacting us by e-mail (ewinter@sunrise.ch), correspondents need to include their name and full postal address. |
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J.H. Zukertort’s Alleged Accomplishments
‘His need to disguise his internal Regina affected chess and life. On the board it was first expressed in the queen sacrifice. The historic move paralleled his ego-ambition to deny identification with his mother, simultaneously symbolizing a refusal to accept the option of homosexuality, and a defiant rejection of infantile dependence. A reversal of usual chess practice, it paralleled a reversal he was trying to bring about with himself.’
(An observation on Fischer.) Source: P. Fuller, The Champions (New York, 1977), page 81. C.N. 3100. The Byrne v Fischer ‘Game of the Century’.
11973. Announced matesZachary Saine (Amsterdam) asks how the practice of Announced Mates arose. 11974. Cyril Pustan (1929-77)Willibald Müller (Munich, Germany) draws our attention to a 1967 East German film Die gefrorenen Blitze, with particular reference to ‘Cyril Pustan, the second husband of Bobby Fischer’s mother’: We add that the University of Bradford states:
11975. The most spectacular queen sacrificeFrom Richard Forster (Winterthur, Switzerland):
11976. Alekhine and CapablancaOur new feature article on Sir George Thomas does not yet include a famous observation attributed to him, because we currently lack a verifiable source. From page 161 of The Unknown Capablanca by David Hooper and Dale Brandreth (London, 1975):
From page 77 of Capablanca’s Best Chess Endings by Irving Chernev (Oxford, 1978):
11977. Staunton and religionJohn Townsend (Wokingham, England) writes:
11978. Cecil De VereAlso from Mr Townsend:
Illustrations of the chessplayer are rare. Below is a detail of the Redcar, 1866 group photograph in C.N. 5614: 11979. CopyingFour recent additions to Copying: The entirety of our compilation of quotations from the three volumes of W.E. Napier’s Amenities and Background of Chess-Play has been copy-pasted, without acknowledgement, on a chessgames.com page. There is an Alchetron page which helps itself to various illustrations from our Sultan Khan article. That makes it convenient for the chessgames.com page on him to be illustrated as follows: The Bill Wall method: ransacking our work on Capablanca, without credit, and giving worthless, partial sources. The ChessBase contributor Davide Nastasio has been lifting a huge number of C.N. photographs (about 80 in the past week alone), without credit, acknowledgement or authorization, for his personal X/Twitter page. 11980. Chess clubsThe first episode of a new PBS television series, Today in Chess, refers to ‘the chess capital of the US, Saint Louis, Missouri’. Through the munificence of Rex Sinquefield, the Saint Louis Chess Club is often described, without contradiction, as the greatest chess club in the United States. What comparable chess clubs (whether in terms of premises, opulence, membership, activity or any further criteria) exist in other countries? In short, if the Saint Louis Chess Club were described as the greatest in the world, would any clubs have a legitimate grievance? This photograph of the Saint Louis Chess Club was taken for us on 12 February 2024 by Yasser Seirawan: 11981. Menchik v Mieses (C.N. 3687)This photograph by Erich Auerbach from The Quiet Game by J. Montgomerie (London, 1972) was shown in C.N. 3687, with the question of when it was taken. From Philip Jurgens (Ottawa, Canada):
11982. Georg MarcoC.N. 4855 reported a remark by Wolfgang Heidenfeld on page 190 of The Encyclopedia of Chess by Harry Golombek (London, 1977):
That is not the only C.N. item in which relevant quotations from Marco’s writings have been solicited, without tangible results; see also C.N.s 5248, 7819 and 11380. Examples of Heidenfeld’s own brilliance and wit could, and perhaps should, be compiled, but Marco deserves priority. Can readers assist? 11983. J. Baca-ArúsJaime Baca-Arús (C.N. 11881) Further to The Capablanca v Price/Baca-Arús Mystery, Yandy Rojas Barrios (Cárdenas, Cuba) has been looking for games played by Jaime Baca-Arús, and he offers the following: Jaime Baca-Arús – René Portela 1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 Bc4 cxb2 5 Bxb2 Qe7 6 Nc3 Nf6 7 Nge2 Nxe4 8 O-O Nxc3 9 Nxc3 Qc5 10 Re1 Be7 11 Nd5 Nc6 12 Nxc7 Kd8 13 Nxa8 Qxc4 14 Rc1 Qb4 15 Qc2 Bf6 16 Bxf6 gxf6 17 Qf5 Qd4 18 Rcd1 Qc3 19 Rc1 Ne7 20 Qf4 Nd5 21 Qd6 Qd4 22 Qb8 Ne7 23 Rxc8 Resigns. Source: El Fígaro, 10 March 1912, page 138. Jaime Baca-Arús – E.C. de Villaverde 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Nc3 Be7 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Nf6 6 f4 c5 7 Nf3 O-O 8 Bd3 a6 9 O-O b5 10 b3 Bb7 11 Ng5 h6 12 Kh1 b4 13 Nd5 Nxd5 14 exd5 hxg5 15 Qh5 g6 16 Bxg6 fxg6 17 Qxg6 Kh8 18 Bb2 Bf6 19 Rf3 g4 20 Qh5 Kg8 21 Qxg4 Bg5 22 Qe6 Rf7 23 fxg5 Qe7 24 Qg6 Kf8 25 Raf1 Bxd5 26 Rxf7 Bxf7 27 Qf5 Kg8 28 g6 Be6 29 Qh5 Resigns. Source: El Fígaro, 21 April 1912, page 238. Jaime Baca-Arús – René Portela 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 g3 Nf6 7 Bg2 cxd4 8 Nxd4 Qb6 9 Nxc6 bxc6 10 O-O Ba6 11 Qa4 Bb5 12 Nxb5 cxb5 13 Qb3 Rd8 14 Bg5 Be7 15 Bxf6 Bxf6 16 a4 O-O 17 axb5 Rfe8 18 Bxd5 Rxe2 19 Bxf7 Kh8 20 Rad1 Rxb2 21 Rxd8 Qxd8 22 Rd1 Qb6 23 Qe3 Qxe3 24 fxe3 Rxb5 25 Rd7 a5 26 Rd5 Rxd5 27 Bxd5 a4 28 Kg2 g6 29 Kf3 Kg7 30 h4 Kf8 31 Kf4 Ke7 32 Ke4 Kd6 33 Ba2 Kc5 34 Kd3 Kb4 35 Kc2 a3 36 Kd3 h5 37 Kc2 Be5 38 Bf7 Drawn. Source: Capablanca Magazine, 31 July 1912, page 108. Jaime Baca-Arús – Gustavo Fernández 1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 Bc4 cxb2 5 Bxb2 Qe7 6 Nc3 c6 7 Nge2 b5 8 Bxb5 cxb5 9 Nxb5 Qb4 10 Nec3 Qc5 11 Qd5 Qxd5 12 Nxd5 Na6 13 O-O Rb8 14 a4 Bb7 15 Rfe1 Bc6 16 Bd4 Nf6 17 Bxa7 Rb7 18 Bd4 Bb4 19 Reb1 Bxd5 20 exd5 O-O 21 d6 Ne4 22 f3 Nd2 23 Rxb4 Nxb4 24 Bc3 Nb3 25 Rb1 Nd5 26 Rxb3 Nxc3 27 Rxc3 g6 28 Rc7 Rb6 29 Rxd7 Ra8 30 Rc7 Kf8 31 d7 Ke7 32 Na7 Rab8 33 Nc6 Kd6 34 Rc8 Kxd7 35 Rxb8 Rxc6 36 Rb7 Rc7 37 Rxc7 Kxc7 38 Kf2 Kb6 39 Ke3 Ka5 40 Kf4 Kxa4 41 Ke5 f5 42 g4 Resigns. Source: El Fígaro (Ajedrez Local, Juan Corzo), 19 April 1914, unnumbered page. Jaime Baca-Arús – M.A. Carbonell 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nf6 5 Nxf6 exf6 6 Nf3 Bd6 7 Bd3 Bg4 8 O-O O-O 9 c3 Qc7 10 h3 Bh5 11 c4 Rd8 12 c5 Bh2 13 Kh1 Bf4 14 Be3 g5 15 g4 Bg6 16 Bxg6 hxg6 17 Qd3 Nd7 18 b4 Kg7 19 Rad1 Rh8 20 Kg2 Rad8 21 Rh1 b6 22 Bxf4 Qxf4 23 Qe3 Qb8 24 d5 Rhe8 25 Qc3 cxd5 26 Rxd5 bxc5 27 bxc5 Qc7 28 Rhd1 Nb8 29 Rxd8 Rxd8 30 Rxd8 Qxd8 31 Nxg5 Qd5 32 Nf3 Nc6 33 g5 Ne5 34 gxf6 Kxf6 35 c6 Ke6 36 Qxe5 Resigns. Source: Diario de la Marina, 13 December 1931, page 18. Biographical and other information is still being researched by our correspondent and will be added in due course. 11984. Anything is good enoughAs quoted in C.N. 876 (see Book Notes), Charles W. Warburton wrote the following on page 42 of My Chess Adventures (Chicago, 1980) in a discussion of the Caro-Kann Defence:
Countless masters are purportedly ‘known’ to have said countless things, but in this case we can at least cite a vague attribution from Lasker’s heyday. On pages 516-517 of the December 1898 BCM J.H. Blake annotated Tarrasch v Halprin, Vienna, 1898, which began 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Be7 5 Nf3 h6 6 Bf4 dxc4 7 e3 Nd5 8 Be5 f6 9 Bg3 Bb4 10 Qc2 b5 11 a4 c6 12 axb5 cxb5 13 e4. After 8 Be5, Blake wrote:
11985. Backward moves and empty squaresInstruction manuals sometimes note the difficulty of visualizing a) sacrifices on empty squares and b) backward moves by pieces. Who first made such observations in print? Also requested: practical examples (the less well known, the better). 11986. Rupert Brooke’s notebookIt is still not proving possible to find out more about the texts included in the notebooks (circa 1902-04) of Rupert Chawner Brooke (1887-1915), as shown in our feature article on him. For example: We observed that Brooke appeared to be copying openings material from a book or magazine, and that the reference to Staunton related to remarks originally published on page 148 of his Handbook (London, 1847). Can nothing further be found? From page 69 of Rupert Brooke by Michael Hastings (London, 1967) 11987. Samuel ReshevskyAvital Pilpel (Haifa, Israel) sends, courtesy of Herbert Halsegger, a feature about the prodigy Reshevsky on page 2 of part 6 of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, 20 March 1921: 11988. PreparationWanted: little-known accounts by masters of their chess preparations for important tournaments and matches. 11989. Steinitz and SéguinOur recent feature article Wilhelm Steinitz Miscellanea quotes remarks such as the following by Steinitz about James Séguin, on page 86 of the International Chess Magazine, April 1888: ‘And I mean to devote to the task [i.e. exposing the alleged dishonesty of James Séguin], if necessary, the space of this column for the next 12 months, or for as many years, in case of further literary highway robberies perpetrated by the same individual, and provided that I and this journal survive, in order to statuate for all times, or as long as chess shall live, an example that the only true champion of the world for the last 22 years (I may say so for once), who has always defended his chess prestige against all-comers, has also a true regard for true public opinion, and that he can defy single-handed all the lying manufactories of press combinations to show any real stain on his honor; and that he can convict and severely punish any foul-mouthed editor who, like the shystering journalistic advocate of New Orleans, attempts to rob him of his good name outside of the chess board.’ Has there been a trustworthy investigation of Steinitz’s objections concerning Séguin? 11990. The Thomas familyAs a supplement to Sir George Thomas, John Saunders (Kingston upon Thames, England) submits this report from page 9 of the Morning Post, 22 June 1895: Our correspondent is the Webmaster of BritBase – British Chess Game Archive. 11991. Difficult to visualize (C.N. 11985)In addition to backward moves and sacrifices on empty squares, there can be difficulty in seeing collinear moves, as discussed, with examples, in C.N. 4230 and 4233. Those items are in our feature article on the originator of the term, John Nunn. 11992. Staunton and MorphyThe text of C.N. 11939:
The ball still stubbornly stationary, we now approach the issue from a fresh angle (‘prêcher le faux pour savoir le vrai’). Let it be imagined that, excluding Morphy’s blindfold displays, a chess author were to write:
What facts could be put forward to refute that imaginary chess author’s assertion? 11993. Staunton correspondenceFrom John Townsend (Wokingham, England):
11994. Excuses
Anyone using a search-engine for that remark, or a slightly different wording, will be presented with countless webpages. Most ascribe the comment to Tarrasch, some to Tartakower, and none to a precise source. In print, it is no surprise to find A. Soltis writing the following sourcelessly on page 11 of Chess Life, June 1990:
An earlier version was related by Harry Golombek on
page 91 of the April 1953 BCM in a report on
that year’s tournament in Bucharest, at which he ‘had
a really dreadful phase’:
Readers may care to imagine themselves entrusted with editing a chess quotations anthology. What to do with this ‘final word on excuses’? Omit it owing to the lack of a source? Give in detail the various versions and attributions? Plump and hope for the best (the process described in C.N. 9887)? An attempt may first be made to establish when, if ever, Tartakower or Tarrasch lost five consecutive tournament games, and when the story was first attributed to, if not voiced by, either of them. See also Excuses for Losing at Chess. 11995. PhotographsOlimpiu G. Urcan (Singapore) has provided this photograph of Bogoljubow and Rubinstein which he owns. Exact details of the occasion are sought. Mr Urcan has also sent us this 1976 photograph of Tony Miles (Camera Press Archive): 11996. Staunton and Morphy (C.N. 11992)Jerry Spinrad (Nashville, TN, USA) informs us that the only simultaneous display by Staunton which he has seen mentioned in the Chess Player’s Chronicle is a very small one at the Rock Ferry Chess Club (July 1853 issue, pages 217-218): After supper and speeches the games were resumed, but the report did not specify the outcome. On Morphy, Jerry Spinrad and John Townsend (Wokingham, England) refer to a simultaneous display which is well known. Mr Townsend writes:
Those reports, one display apiece by Staunton and Morphy, are all that can currently be cited here, although the following may be recalled from C.N. 10423 (concerning Morphy after his match with Anderssen):
Source: page 274 of Keene On Chess by R. Keene (New York, 1999). The identical wording was on page 275 of Complete Book of Beginning Chess by R. Keene (New York, 2003). 11997. Rook ending noteJoão Pedro S. Mendonça Correia (Lisbon) draws attention to this annotation on page 217 of the Caissa Editions translation (Yorklyn, 1993) of Tarrasch’s book on St Petersburg, 1914 and wonders whether any personal acrimony underlies the reference to billiards: From the original German edition (page 151): The game was Capablanca v Marshall in round four of the final section: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 Qe2 Qe7 6 d3 Nf6 7 Bg5 Be6 8 Nc3 h6 9 Bxf6 Qxf6 10 d4 Be7 11 Qb5+ Nd7 12 Bd3 g5 13 h3 O-O 14 Qxb7 Rab8 15 Qe4 Qg7 16 b3 c5 17 O-O cxd4 18 Nd5 Bd8 19 Bc4 Nc5 20 Qxd4 Qxd4 21 Nxd4 Bxd5 22 Bxd5 Bf6 23 Rad1 Bxd4 24 Rxd4 Kg7 25 Bc4 Rb6 26 Re1 Kf6 27 f4 Ne6 28 fxg5+ hxg5 29 Rf1+ Ke7 30 Rg4 Rg8 31 Rf5 Rc6 32 h4 Rgc8 33 hxg5 Rc5 34 Bxe6 fxe6 35 Rxc5 Rxc5 36 g6 Kf8 37 Rc4 Ra5 38 a4 Kg7 39 Rc6 Rd5 40 Rc7+ Kxg6 41 Rxa7 Rd1+ 42 Kh2 d5 43 a5 Rc1 44 Rc7 Ra1 45 b4 Ra4 46 c3 d4 47 Rc6 dxc3 48 Rxc3 Rxb4 49 Ra3 Rb7 50 a6 Ra7 51 Ra5 Kf6 52 g4 Ke7 53 Kg3 Kd6 54 Kf4 Kc7 55 Ke5 Kd7 56 g5 Ke7 57 g6 Kf8 58 Kxe6 Ke8 59 g7 Rxg7 60 a7 Rg6+ 61 Kf5 Resigns. Tarrasch also criticized 46 c3, appending a question mark. Below is the position after White’s penultimate move, 60 a7: Tarrasch called Marshall’s 60...Rg6+ a Racheschach. It is not a ‘spite check’ strictu sensu, given that two of the three possible king moves by White lose. 11998. A difficult rook endingOn 25 March 2024 Ben Finegold posted on his YouTube channel a game with a complicated rook ending submitted by a viewer. Afterwards, starting at 13’17”, Finegold drolly commented that most games from viewers had seven blunders by one side and eight by the other. C.N. 7228 gave two pre-Tartakower (1890 and 1901) occurrences of the observation that the winner is the player who makes the last mistake but one, but information is still sought on when it was first attached to Tartakower’s name, or to that of other masters. In the latter category, Barnie F. Winkelman wrote on page 205 of Chess Review, September 1935:
With terms like ‘is reported to have said’ (and ‘reportedly said’), the floodgates are open for anyone to write anything. 11999. Chess Book ChatsAs recorded in the Factfinder, we have referred to Michael Clapham’s website Chess Book Chats. In the past month it has been updated with some more first-class articles. 12000. My SystemAs shown in Nimzowitsch’s My System, C.N. 9792 remarked:
Now we note that Russell Enterprises, Inc. has just produced a ‘FastTrack Edition’ of My System, edited by Alex Fishbein. 12001. The Pride and Sorrow of ChessWith the increase in digitized publications it can be hoped that more nineteenth-century occurrences will be found of ‘The Pride and Sorrow of Chess’. At present the earliest citations that we have given are:
12002. A remark by Purdy (C.N.s 10171 & 10182)Still also being sought: the source of the following annotation by C.J.S. Purdy:
12003. The Club Argentino de Ajedrez (C.N.s 11330, 11341 & 11349)Some further photographs provided to us by Carlos León Cranbourne (Buenos Aires): 12004. HangingThere is a difference between ‘hanging pawns’ and ‘pawns hanging’, and we wonder how far back one can trace the verb ‘to hang’ in the sense of to leave en prise or to leave a resource open to the opponent, as in expressions such as White ‘hung a rook’, ‘left his queen hanging’ or, indeed, ‘left a mate in one hanging’. 12005. Announced mates (C.N. 11973)We are grateful to Robert John McCrary (Columbia, SC, USA) for making an initial search for early references to announced mates. It may seem logical to assume that correspondence chess gave an impetus to the practice, to limit postage outlay, but hard facts are still lacking. Our correspondent draws attention to page 220 of Volume II of the Chess Player’s Chronicle, which includes this:
12006. Vienna, 1922From Avital Pilpel (Haifa, Israel):
12007. CheatingPrompted by the swirl of unverified and unverifiable claims about online cheating, we suggest the following:
12008. The spite checkC.N. 11997 referred to the term ‘spite check’ and the similar, though not identical, German word Racheschach. As shown in the The Spite Check in Chess, various writers offer various definitions, but we should like to know of any (close) equivalents in other languages. Spanish, for instance, has jaque por despecho. 12009. The last mistake but one (C.N. 11998)Christian Sánchez (Rosario, Argentina) points out the following in an article by Henry Smith Williams about Samuel Reshevsky on page 43 of the October 1920 issue of Hearst’s:
12010. The Orthodox DefenceWanted: early occurrences of the word ‘Orthodox’ (in any language) in connection with the defence 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6. 12011. Fischer on AlekhineAlexander Alekhine Miscellanea begins with Fischer’s view in the article ‘The Ten Greatest Masters in History’ on pages 56-61 of Chessworld, January-February 1964): Would anyone venture to offer serious support to Fischer’s contention, ‘strangely, if you’ve seen one Alekhine game you’ve seen them all’? 12012. T.A. KrishnamachariarFurther to Two Indian Chess Figures, Michael McDowell (Westcliff-on-sea, England) notes that although T.A. Krishnamachariar seems to have had no obituary in The Problemist, the following appeared on page 510 of the March 1954 issue: 12013. Ian Brady, Graham Young and Peter SutcliffeFrom Avital Pilpel (Haifa, Israel):
12014. Announced mates (C.N.s 11973 & 12005)John Townsend (Wokingham, England) writes:
See also Announced Mates. 12015. Rossolimo’s brillianciesMichael Petrow (Munich, Germany) notes references to an alleged self-publication by Nicolas Rossolimo: Rossolimo’s Brilliancy Prizes (New York, 1970). It is mentioned in the English-language Wikipedia entry on Rossolimo, but neither online nor elsewhere have we found authoritative information about its existence. The other chess work referred to in the entry, Les Échecs au coin du feu (Paris, 1947) with a Preface by Tartakower, has 28 pages and, courtesy of the Cleveland Public Library, a number of them are shown below: 12016. Alekhine’s gun (C.N.s 7880, 7914, 7972, 8625 & 8860)Eduardo Bauzá Mercére (New York, NY, USA) provides the following game: Alexander McDonnell – George Walker 1 e4 … 2 d4 Nc6 3 e5 d5 4 c3 Bf5 5 g4 Be4 6 f3 Bxb1 7 Rxb1 e6 8 Bf4 h5 9 Bd3 hxg4 10 Bg6+ Kd7 11 fxg4 Qh4+ 12 Bg3 Qg5 13 Bd3 Nh6 14 Be2 Qe3 15 Kf1 Be7 16 Kg2 Raf8 17 Nh3 Nf7 18 Qd3 Qh6 19 Bf4 Qh4 20 Qg3 Qh7 21 Bd3 g6 22 Rbf1 Bh4 23 Qe3 Be7 24 Rf3 Qg7 25 g5 Rh5 26 Rg3 Qh7 27 Rg4 Bd8 28 Bb5 a6 29 Bxc6+ bxc6 30 Rf1 Be7 31 b4 a5 32 a3 axb4 33 cxb4 Rh8 34 Rf3 Nd8 35 Nf2 Nf7 36 h4 Qg8 37 Bg3 R8h7 38 Nd3 Qh8 39 Nc5+ Bxc5 40 bxc5 Qa8 41 Rf6 Rg7 42 Rgf4 Rhh7 43 Qd3 Nh8 44 Rf8 Qb7 45 Rf3 Ke7 46 R8f6 Rg8 47 Kh3 Qb2 48 Qa6 Qb5 49 Qa7 Qb8 50 Qa5 Nf7 51 Kg4 Qb7 52 Qa4 Ra8 53 Qc2 Nh8 54 Rb3 Qa6 55 Qb2 Rg7 56 Rb8 Rg8 57 Rxg8 Rxg8 58 Rf3 Qc8 59 a4 Qa6 60 Qc2 Ra8 61 Ra3 Rf8 62 Rf3 Ra8 63 Ra3 Rf8 64 Qd3 Qa5 65 Qc3 Qa6 66 Qd3 Qa5 67 Qc3 Qa6 68 Qd3 Qa5 69 Ra1 Qb4 70 a5 Qb2 71 Rb1 Qa2 72 Rf1 Rf5 73 a6 Nf7 74 Rxf5 exf5+ 75 Kh3 Qa1 76 Bf2 Nd8 77 Kg2 Ne6 78 Be3 Qa2+ 79 Kg3 Ng7 80 Kf3 Kd7 81 Bf4 Kc8 82 Bg3 Kb8 83 Qe2 Qxe2+ 84 Kxe2 Ka7 85 Bf4 Kxa6 86 Ke3 Kb5 87 Kd3 Ka4 88 Kc3 Ne6 89 Be3 Ka5 90 Bf2 Ka6 91 Kd3 Kb7 92 Ke3 Kc8 93 Bg3 Kd7 94 Bf2 Ng7 95 Kf4 Ke6 96 Bg3 Kd7 97 Ke3 Kc8 98 Bf4 Kd7 99 Ke2 Ke6 100 Bg3 Kd7 101 Kf3 Nh5 102 Bf2 f4 103 Be1 Ke6 104 Kg4 Ke7 105 Bd2 Ng7 106 Be1 Ne6 107 Bf2 Ke8 108 h5 Kf7 109 h6 Kf8 Drawn. Our correspondent’s source is pages 88-91 of A Selection of Games at Chess ... by William Greenwood Walker (London, 1836). The set of C.N. items on this theme has now been brought together in Alekhine’s Gun. 12017. Sourcing
Such conduct by Writer B is widespread, and a technical term for it may be sought. Since technical terms are often -isms, one possibility is ‘intermediate source misattribution’. 12018. Reversed imagesC.N. 7345 (see Chess and Insanity) quoted slighting remarks about leading masters by interviewees in Liz Garbus’s documentary film (2011) Bobby Fischer Against the World. The CD cover above is a famous shot by Harry Benson but in reverse form; Fischer parted his hair on the left. See, however, C.N. 7860 (included in Gaffes by Chess Publishers and Authors), which mentions a book by Benson himself, as well as a work on Pillsbury with a flipped image on its front cover. As shown by numerous pictures, Morphy too parted his hair on the left; see our comment on a mirror image in C.N. 5150. Another mistake occurred on page 53 of Chessworld, January-February 1964, in a lengthy, richly illustrated article on Morphy by David Lawson: Left: published mirror image – Right: corrected New in Chess has announced the forthcoming publication of The Real Paul Morphy by Charles Hertan: Addition on 28 August 2024: As shown on the above-mentioned New in Chess webpage, the front cover has been changed: 12019. The Star of DavidFrom Avital Pilpel (Haifa, Israel):
Mate in two. 12020. Chess literatureParticularly in the 1980s, C.N. items criticized the low standard of many chess books and the preponderance of volumes on openings. Those who, at the time, dismissed such grievances may profitably reflect on the situation today. To mention just one example, Quality Chess (Glasgow) produces a vast array of highly impressive titles which are poles apart from what the chess public was expected to tolerate decades ago, such as the ‘Batsford disposables’ referred to in Fischer’s Fury. 12021. References to chess in language courses (C.N.s 8684 & 11023)Another rare example comes from page 49 of A First German by L. Stringer, illustrated by Alfred Jackson (London, 1966): 12022. StalwartsIn hurriedly penned ‘obituaries’ of minor chess figures who have just died (they have ‘passed sadly’ and will be ‘missed sadly’) minor memorialists often reach for that curious noun/adjective ‘stalwart’. Never applied to oneself, it hints at an elderly, unfêted club member, more notable for his presence than his prowess, who gladly stays behind to tidy up and rinse the cups. Our use of ‘his’ is intentional; chess stalwarts are not female. 12023. Electronic resourcesAsked by another C.N. correspondent whether he had researched all of Staunton’s Illustrated London News columns, G.H. Diggle replied in 1987 (see C.N. 1439):
The days of grappling with bulky annual volumes in reference libraries have largely gone, home- or office-based electronic searches having transformed the task, or joy, of historical investigation. With Google Books alone much thirst for knowledge, whether serious or trivial, can be slaked in moments by entering key words or phrases. If, for instance, a chess enthusiast wants to know about players of past centuries slaking their thirst in coffee houses, and wonders how the term became derogatory, innumerable citations can be found, perhaps beginning with Staunton’s remark on page 111 of the London, 1851 tournament book that his second game against Anderssen ‘would be discreditable to two third-rate players of a coffee-house’, and culminating in Fischer’s dismissal of Emanuel Lasker as ‘a coffee-house player’ in 1964. The words of Georg Marco will be found too: he considered that the game Pettersson v Nimzowitsch, Barmen, 1905 was ‘played in the worst coffeehouse style’. In that game, the spectacle of Nimzowitsch replying to the Ruy López with 3...f5 may spark our interest in early analysis of that opening/defence/gambit/counter-gambit (commonly named after either of two players who died within a couple of months of each other, C.F. von Jaenisch and A.K.W. Schliemann). To take Jaenisch as an example, Google Books
painlessly leads to a run of Le Palamède. In
the December 1847 issue, Jaenisch contributed a
lengthy article (pages 530-560)
on 1 e4 e5, which he termed ‘Le début royal’.
Beginning on page 538
he analyzed the ‘very interesting’ move 3...f5, with
four options for White’s fourth move: d4, exf5, Bxc6
and d3. He explained on page 538 that he was
temporarily holding back from readers of Le
Palamède his suggestion of a winning method for
White, but that December 1847 issue marked the abrupt
end of the periodical’s run. Again thanks to Google Books it can be seen how Jaenisch resolved the difficulty. In 1848 an abridged version of his original article was published in the Chess Player’s Chronicle (pages 216-221, 248-253 and 274-279). The move 3...f5 was examined on pages 220-221 and 248-249. In the 1849 volume (pages 362-366) Jaenisch provided a further article, incorporating the analysis intended for Le Palamède. (See too pages 313-315 and 344-345 of the Deutsche Schachzeitung, 1848.) Leaving aside the awkward question of whether somebody nowadays writing a book on 3...f5 is likely to take account of Jaenisch’s detailed articles, we conclude these random musings with a curiosity highlighted by him on page 363 of the 1849 Chess Player’s Chronicle, where he gave a line which ...
Analysis after 11...bxc6 Jaenisch’s analysis continued this line to move 27. 12024. Cramling v PérezJon Ludvig Hammer is one of the best commentators on YouTube and Twitch, blending lucidity with dry whimsy. During his live commentary on the seventh-round women’s match between Sweden and Paraguay at the Budapest Olympiad on 18 September 2024, he discussed this position (Pia Cramling v Jennifer Pérez), starting at about 4:03:30 in the transmission: White has played 46 Rb7-c7, and Black resigned. Instead of surrendering, why not produce some fireworks with 46...Qa6 47 Rxd7+ Kh8 48 Qh6 (threatening mate on the move) 48...Qxf1+ 49 Kxf1 Rc1 mate? Hammer gave the answer: 49...Rc1 is not mate. 12025. Mate in 90 moves (C.N.s 10035 & 10061)C.N. 10061 (see also How Many Moves Ahead?) showed page 266 of the 1 December 1947 [sic] issue of Chess World, from an article by Lajos Steiner: In the Bakay composition, Lindsay Ridland (Edinburgh) points out a motif which secures Black a draw: 10…Bb8 11 Rxb8 Kf2 12 Rf8+ Ke1. 12026. Chess and pokerFrom page 406 of the September 1979 BCM (Quotes and Queries item 3986 by Kenneth Whyld):
Two points stand out: the satisfying chess-poker quip and the troubling absence of any source for anything. For a documented account, page 199 of the November 1901 issue of Checkmate is the first port of call: The account of the Pillsbury-Barry controversy was the sequel to what had appeared on pages 182-183 of the October 1901 issue of the Canadian magazine: Acknowledgement for the Checkmate scans: the Cleveland Public Library. Below is the letter from Howell to Young as published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 22 September 1901, page 32: Subsequent editions of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle included these items with the chess and poker comments: 29 September 1901, page 20 20 October 1901, page 23 None of this explains why K. Whyld indicated that the
words ‘theories of that vague and dreamy and
word-opulent character which abound in art, but are
unwholesome in chess’ were written by Howell and led
to the challenge. The BCM item contained no reference to Emanuel Lasker, yet it was the world champion who wrote the following in his column on page 6 of the Manchester Evening News, 13 November 1901: Tailpiece: the Lasker column was mentioned by John Roycroft on page 909 of the October 1996 issue of EG: In an uncharacteristic mistake, the final section, ‘The Retort Courteous’, in the Manchester Evening News was apparently misinterpreted by EG as being Lasker’s answers to two correspondents. 12027. EGIn any list of the greatest chess periodicals, EG, founded by John Roycroft in 1965, commands a high position. The run is freely available online. 12028. Anderssen v SchalloppAlan Smith (Stockport, England) reports that Chess Archaeology provides a link to the third volume (1887) of Brüderschaft. The periodical, edited by Schallopp and Heyde, published, at intervals from page 104 onwards, 14 games between Anderssen and Schallopp, few of which are commonly seen today. 12029. A pawnAn item on page 153 of the July 1912 American Chess Bulletin will be added to Chess and War:
12030. Thousand Islands, 1897This photograph was published on page 129 of the August 1897 American Chess Magazine: Larger version and detail of the front row We see no caption in the American Chess Magazine, but as mentioned on page 408 of the first of two volumes on Pillsbury by Nick Pope (see the end of our article Harry Nelson Pillsbury), those seated nearest to the camera are Borsodi, Hanham, Pillsbury, Lipschütz, Pieczonka, Steinitz and Napier. An Albert Pieczonka webpage shows another photograph from the same location. Page 148 of the August 1897 American Chess Magazine has the group portrait given in C.N. 5550, and the following is on page 149: The above images have been provided by the Cleveland Public Library. 12031. Letters and numbersConcerning Letters and Numbers in Chess Problems, Michael McDowell (Westcliff-on-sea, England) writes:
12032. Auguste d’OrvilleAuguste d’Orville (1804-64) was described on page 529 of Le Palamède, December 1847 as ‘le maître des maîtres en fait de problèmes’, yet he currently has a Wikipedia entry in only French, German, Italian and Latvian. The online availability of Some problems by Auguste d’Orville by John Beasley (1940-2024) is drawn to our attention by Michael McDowell. See under ‘Problems’ in ‘Orthodox Chess’. 12033. Ordinal numbersWhen and where did the practice arise of referring to world chess champions with ordinal numbers, at least until the 1993 bifurcation? Kasparov is known as the 13th in the lineage, but did writers in 1972, for instance, see any reason to describe Spassky and Fischer as the 10th and 11th? 12034. ImagesIf we received a nominal sum every time a scanned image from chesshistory.com was misappropriated and viewed on YouTube, Wikipedia, X/Twitter, Facebook, chess.com, or other websites and outlets, we could single-handedly offer to fund future world championship matches. See Copying. 12035. Samuel Reshevsky’s birth-dateC.N. 11994 invited readers to imagine themselves as the editor of a chess quotations anthology faced with handling a remark attributed, in various wordings, to both Tarrasch and Tartakower. Now, let readers see themselves as the editor of a single-volume chess encyclopaedia and having to decide what date of birth to give in the entry on Samuel Reshevsky. The natural course may be to follow Jeremy Gaige’s Chess Personalia (Jefferson, 1987) and take the precaution of also checking the privately circulated 1994 edition: ‘26 November 1911’ is in both editions, but the encyclopaedist may worryingly recall an article by Andrew Soltis on pages 10-11 of the August 1992 Chess Life: From C.N. 1943:
Page 202 of Kings, Commoners and Knaves added a footnote:
C.N. 11199 reverted to the subject:
Here, we quote the start of Monson’s investigation of the birth-date matter (page 51):
Difficult to summarize, Monson’s article is important and should be read in full. It contains both documentation and speculation, marked as such. One image is a Łódź registration card dated 1919 which indicates that Samuel Reshevsky was born in 1909 (with no exact date). Using this and other materials and inferences, Monson wrote on page 53 of the New in Chess article:
What, then, should our hypothetical encyclopaedist put in the Reshevsky entry? Andrew Soltis has a new book out, a chess memoir entitled Deadline Grandmaster (Jefferson, 2024). Page 246, which can be viewed online, includes the following: Some obvious questions:
Addition on 2 October 2024: From Marek Soszynski (Birmingham, England):
12036. Harry Golombek at universityIn the English-language edition of Wikipedia, the entry on Harry Golombek currently states, for unclear reasons, that he studied ‘philology at King’s College, London’. Our feature article on him quotes the following:
We are grateful to Gemma Hollman (the Senior Archives Assistant, Libraries & Collections at King’s College, London), who has searched the student slip books, the main source for student records, and has sent us the entry for Harry Golombek: It states that Golombek was registered for a Bachelor of Arts degree (Latin, English, French and History) from 1930 to 1932. He failed both years. 12037. Brad Darrach v Bobby FischerBrad Darrach and the Dark Side of Bobby Fischer summarizes the dispute about Darrach’s book Bobby Fischer vs. the Rest of the World (New York, 1974) on pages 299-300 of the May 1975 Chess Life & Review, a dispute which concerned three pieces in the New York Times Book Review:
See also the many references to Darrach indexed in Bobby Fischer and His World by John Donaldson (Los Angeles, 2020). These include, on page 493, a brief comment that Darrach’s above-mentioned letter was ‘the only public response by Darrach after the book’s publication’. Donaldson added:
It should, however, be noted that such charges did not appear in the Hochberg letter to which Darrach was replying. We add here some significant passages in Darrach’s letter (sent from Madison, CT, USA) in the New York Times Book Review which were not quoted in Chess Life & Review:
12038. Davide Nastasio (C.N. 11979)Below is one of the examples of copying recorded in C.N. 11979:
Despite that item, posted on 28 January 2024, Mr Nastasio has refused to stop his misappropriation. Indeed, on a single recent day, 30 September 2024, he put online over 20 of our images. 12039. VerendelIt is always a pleasure to acknowledge chess publishers with high production standards. A newcomer is Verendel Publishing: 12040. Lady Jane CarewOne of the quotes under the heading ‘Longevity’ in C.N. 4789 was from page 479 of the December 1901 BCM:
From John Townsend (Wokingham, England):
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Copyright Edward Winter. All rights reserved.