Chess Notes

The late Daniel Naroditsky was born on 9 November 1995. His first book was Mastering Positional Chess.

From C.N. 12236: The inscription itself is private, but we dwell on the date: 9 April 2010. It is a crushing thought that nearly half of his life had already gone.

12166. Online cheating

From C.N. 9254 (written a decade ago, in intentionally utopian style):

Of all the lessons to be learned from the shambolic, sprawling rumpus over ‘Vive la Différence’ [a New in Chess article by Nigel Short on women’s chess ...] a neglected one is mentioned here, in the context of any current issues (as opposed to history and lore): the lack of a proper online chess forum where topical controversies can be discussed in depth; where comprehensive and comprehensible coverage is founded on facts and informed opinions; where contributions bear the writer’s real name; where hearsay is absent; where wit is welcome but glib illiterates are not; where Internet links are supplied only if they lead to something worthwhile; where irrelevancy and repetition are avoided; where strong criticism of people and of ideas is expressed solely if based on substantiated information; where all relevant sources are cited; where points are not deemed true, or even noteworthy, merely because they come from the mainstream media; where press articles by non-chess-specialists are treated not with automatic gratitude but with particular caution; where misquotation is excoriated; where the debate, however lively, is moderated with rigorous even-handedness; where good linguistic standards are ensured; where contributors and readers are treated with the respect that they deserve; where anyone, including top-level masters, would be proud to have a contribution posted.

Wanted: one topical chess forum where 100% of the contributions are worth reading, and not 100 forums where 1% are.

No topical forum along remotely similar lines has yet emerged. The current battles over online cheating are a grimly undignified, barely intelligible mess with, as their hub, nothing better than X/Twitter.

There must be a better way.

12167. A problem by Voronov

Mate in two

Before proceeding, readers are invited to tackle this composition, as well as its twin (black knight on b3 instead of c2):

Mate in two

The problem (‘S.G. Voronov, USSR’) appeared on page 582 of the October 1970 Chess Life & Review, in the ‘Benko’s Bafflers’ column. The solutions were given by Pal Benko on page 643 of the November 1970 issue:

‘1 R-R6? N-K6! 1 B-Q5! Twin: 1 B-Q5? N-B4 1 R-R6! The deceptive becomes real in the twin.’

Drawing this problem to our attention, Tony Bronzin (Newark, DE, USA) notes that the first diagrammed position was taken up on pages 143-144 of the March 1971 Chess Life & Review by a reader of the ‘Larry Evans on Chess’ column, Robert Stachowski of Milwaukee.

Mate in two

Concerning the published key move, 1 B-Q5, he asked:

‘Isn’t 1 R-B5ch an alternate solution?’

Evans’ reply:

‘Right! If 1...K-K3 (1...K-Q3 2 Q-Q7 mate) 2 R/7-B6 mate.’

Mr Bronzin informs us that nothing more on the Voronov problem can be found until much later. On page 266 of the May 1976 Chess Life & Review, Benko wrote:

‘My problem column receives many attempted cooks, a large number of which turn out to be mistaken. Of course, problemists also make mistakes. I obviously cannot publish the wrong cooks, and apparently some readers do not realize that when their cooks do not get published it is because they are not correct. Then they send them elsewhere. Look at this:

S.G. Voronov

White mates in two

Twin: Nc2-b3

This position appeared in Benko’s Bafflers in October 1970. A reader suggested that the problem was “cooked” by 1 R-B5ch. (The published solution is B-Q5.) I did not publish that “cook”. To my great surprise, I found the same question in Larry Evans’s column of March 1971. “Isn’t 1 R-B5ch an alternate solution?” Evans’s answer: “Right! If 1...K-K1 [sic – K-K3] (1...K-Q3 2 Q-Q7) 2 R/7-B6 mate.”

Obviously the “cook” is cooked: after 1 R-B5ch, K-K3 is a discovered check to White and there is no time for mate! At the time I drew the attention of Grandmaster Evans to his error and waited for the appearance of the correction. In vain, alas.

It is very difficult to admit a mistake. This is a weakness of human nature.’

That was the conclusion of a three-page ‘In the Arena’ article by Benko, subtitled ‘Errare humanum est’. Two thirds of the final page comprised corrections of Larry Evans on various points, and Benko’s introductory paragraph in that section was:

‘Of course, I am not immune to error, but it hurts me when someone claims there is a mistake in my work when there is none, especially when that someone is a grandmaster.’

This item will be added to our feature articles on Pal Benko and Larry Evans.

12168. Reviewers

Why do almost all chess reviewers like almost all chess books?

12169. Emanuel Lasker in Cuba

From Yandy Rojas Barrios (Cárdenas, Cuba):

‘I have just finalized a 300-page manuscript on Emanuel Lasker’s visits to Cuba in 1893 and 1906. It is in Spanish, but I am hoping to have it published in English, in a single volume or in two parts.

With the advances in AI technology, it is now possible for me to produce a working English translation, but to ensure maximum accuracy I shall need it to be reviewed by a native English-speaking editor with good knowledge of Spanish. In addition, I am seeking an English-language publisher.

As examples of the material that has been found, here are two reports giving very different impressions of Lasker:

Andrés Clemente Vázquez, El Fígaro, Ausencia de Mr. Lasker, 19 February 1893, page 70:

“El Sr. Lasker nos ha dejado convencidos de sus excepcionales facultades como luchador de la Escuela Moderna, pero sería inútil ocultar que su despedida ha sido fría, no sólo por haberse negado a medir sus fuerzas con el Sr. Walbrodt, en lo cual había extraordinario empeño por parte de los aficionados de esta capital, sino porque en todos casos demostró, al jugar con esos mismos aficionados, un implacable sistema de aprovecharse de los más insignificantes detalles, para ganar a toda costa. En la primera partida con nosotros, nos obligó a jugar media hora más después de habernos eximido de ella previamente, a causa de una repentina indisposición que sufrimos; habiéndose debido quizás su postrero cambio de parecer, al hecho evidente de que en el instante en que debía haberse suspendido el combate, la posición era crítica para él, y no le convenía que con el descanso tuviéramos mucho tiempo para buscar y encontrar la jugada con la cual podía perder. Esto no obstante, al día siguiente le quedaban diez minutos para hacer nueve jugadas, se presentó en el lugar de la cita con un cuarto de hora de retardo, y nosotros no quisimos reclamar la victoria, por el transcurso del tiempo ... Nobleza obliga, y la generosidad y la caballerosidad han sido siempre blasones de nuestra raza. Nosotros relegamos todo eso al archivo del pasado, y deseamos al inteligente y joven champion de Inglaterra [sic] las mayores prosperidades, en su ya brillantísima carrera, como jugador de primer orden, en el sublime arte de Philidor y Anderssen.”

Juan Corzo y Príncipe, Diario de la Marina, Lasker en la Habana, 11 February 1906, page 5:

“El Campeón del mundo cuenta 36 [sic] años de edad, aunque representa menos …

Desde su llegada se ha captado Mr. Lasker las simpatías de los aficionados de Cuba, que no habíamos tenido ocasión de conocerle cuando vino a la Habana en 1893.

Siendo una eminencia en un juego eminente, y poseyendo gran cultura que se revela en su conversación que puede sostener en cuatro idiomas, pues conoce perfectamente, a más del alemán, el inglés y el francés y algo de español, es modesto y afable, habiéndose prestado desde el primer día a jugar partidas rápidas con los jugadores fuertes y dando partido a los jugadores débiles, siendo para ellos un franco camarada, a la vez que un maestro ideal, porque sabe enseñar deleitando.”’

We shall pass on to Mr Rojas Barrios any messages from readers about editing and publishing his work.

Addition on 6 August 2025:

Mr Rojas Barrios has entered into a contract for the publication of his book in Spanish and English.

12170. Calendar dates

Very few calendar dates have entered chess lore, despite possible prompting at the time. Page 59 of Anatoly Karpov: Chess is My Life by A. Karpov and A. Roshal (Oxford, 1980) has this piece of old-style second-hand reportage:

‘When Botvinnik heard by telephone that Karpov had become one of the winners of the Alekhine Memorial, he exclaimed, according to the person who informed him: “Remember this day, 18 December 1971. A new chess star of the first magnitude has risen.”’

12171. Obvious moves

Wanted: remarks by chess writers (Fred Reinfeld comes vaguely to mind) to the effect that some inexperienced players tend to spurn, or cannot abide, obvious moves.

12172. Levy Rozman

An addition to Chess Book Sales is How to Win at Chess by Levy Rozman (various editions, 2023). Its status is demonstrated by exceptionally high rankings on, notably, Amazon.com and the New York Times bestseller list. The book has been translated into a number of languages.

Levy Rozman’s YouTube channel, ‘GothamChess’, currently has 6.5 million subscribers.

12173. Keres in Havana

Olimpiu G. Urcan (Singapore) has submitted the following, courtesy of the Prensa Latina Archive:

The photographs are undated, and information will be welcome. Our feature article on Keres includes (C.N. 2628) a game from a simultaneous exhibition with clocks in Havana on 9 February 1960. The source was pages 291-292 of Ajedrez en Cuba by C. Palacio (Havana, 1960).

Addition on 14 July 2025:

Confirming the year 1960, and adding that Keres arrived in Havana on 6 February, Yandy Rojas Barrios (Cárdenas, Cuba) forwards from his archives two more photographs from the visit:

With Eduardo Heras León (1940-2023), then the national youth champion, and later a prominent literary figure.

With José Antonio Gelabert y Barruete (1893-1969).

12174. Sämisch, Romanovsky and Eliskases

Mr Urcan has also provided this picture of Fritz Sämisch and Petr Romanovsky, from the Russ-Photo Archive (a Moscow photograph agency of the 1920s):

It may have been taken during Moscow, 1925, though it is without relevance to their game in the tournament.

Lastly, a shot of Erich Eliskases at Mar del Plata, 1947, from the Crítica photographic archive:

12175. Fischer Defence

Noting the references to Eduard Fischer in The Nimzowitsch Defence (1 e4 Nc6), John Saunders (Kingston-upon-Thames, England) provides a game between Georg Schories and James Allcock, played in Plymouth on 31 August 1903:

1 e4 Nc6 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 Bg4 4 Nc3 a6 5 Be3 e5 6 Bc4 Nf6 7 Qd2 Be7 8 a3 O-O 9 h3 Bxf3 10 gxf3 exd4 11 Bxd4 Nxd4 12 Qxd4 Nd7 13 Nd5 Bf6 14 Qd2 Ne5 15 Be2 c6 16 Ne3 Qc7 17 O-O-O Rad8 18 f4 Ng6 19 Nf5 Rfe8 20 Bd3 b5 21 h4 c5 22 c4 bxc4 23 Bxc4 Rxe4 24 Qd5 Rxf4 25 b3 Be5 26 Ne3 Ne7 27 Qg2 Qa5 28 Nc2 Qc3 29 Rd3 Qb2+ 30 Kd2 Nf5 31 Rf1 Rxc4 32 bxc4 Bf4+ 33 Re3 Nxe3 34 White resigns.

Mr Saunders comments:

‘This clipping from page 3 of the Alderley & Wilmslow Advertiser, 11 September 1903, shows a British chess columnist referring to 1 e4 Nc6 as the Fischer defence. The columnist was given as “Captain King” and was most likely to have been Carslake Winter-Wood, who resided in Plymouth, where the game in question was played.’

12176. Opening of the future

When was the term ‘the opening of the future’ first seen in chess literature?

An early occurrence, attributed to J. Crake, is on page 172 of the May 1883 BCM, with respect to 1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 f4.

12177. Raymond Chandler

Some alleged quotations:

‘Life’s too short for chess’ – Henry James Byron;

‘Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe that they are doing something very clever, when they are only wasting their time’ – George Bernard Shaw;

‘Chess is possibly the only game in the world in which it is impossible to cheat’ – John Steinbeck.

The Internet is awash with such pseudo-quotes. All have been discussed in C.N. (see the Factfinder) and are examples of a practice referred to as follows in C.N. 9413:

Any colourful approbation or disapprobation of chess in the output of an eminent literary figure is liable to be quoted as representing his own views even if expressed only by a character in a work of fiction.

Another case will be examined now:

‘Chess is as elaborate a waste of human intelligence as you could find anywhere outside an advertising agency’ – Raymond Chandler.

A point of evident indifference to some chess websites is that the essentials of this ‘Chandler quote’ have been examined in fine style on a Quote Investigator page. It was a remark by the narrator, Philip Marlowe, in The Long Goodbye, a novel by Raymond Chandler (London, 1953 and Boston, 1954).

We add that the text was discussed by Montgomery Major, the then Editor of Chess Life, in D.J. Morgan’s Quotes and Queries column, in the November 1957 BCM, pages 294-295:

Below is the relevant part of The Long Goodbye, with full context, on page 128 of the first US edition:

The highlighted passage, consisting mostly of one long sentence, prompts us to underscore Montgomery Major’s observation about ‘candid criticism of some grandmaster chess tactics’: the private detective’s comment about ‘a waste of human intelligence’ refers not to chess in general but to the 72-move draw between Gortchakoff and Meninkin.

An earlier Quotes and Queries item (number 181 on page 154 of the May 1954 BCM) also concerned Raymond Chandler and The Long Goodbye:

From pages 194-195 of the US edition of the novel:

Regarding the Sphynx problem, our feature article Howard Staunton includes the brief text of C.N. 1190:

In New in Chess issue 3/1986 the readers’ letters section suddenly comes alive with a series of excellent contributions on the Sphynx problem in Staunton’s Handbook.

In 2016 the matter was discussed in admirable detail by Michael Clapham in his Chess Book Chats series. See part one and part two.

The scans in the present article have been provided by the Cleveland Public Library. As so often, we are greatly indebted to Mr William Chase and Mr Raymond Rozman.

12178. Bjelica and Fischer

Our article Dimitrije Bjelica currently has little on his relations with Bobby Fischer.

John Donaldson (Berkeley, CA, USA) has provided the following from pages 104 and 128 of CHESS, November 1970 (extracts from an article by Bjelica):

From page 31 of the New York Times, 28 August 1973:

Can more information be found from, in particular, sources in Zagreb and Belgrade?

12179. Sir George Thomas

This ‘William Hickey’ column on page 4 of the Daily Express, 9 January 1935 has been forwarded by Jonathan Manley (Oxford, England), who is currently co-writing a book on Sir George Thomas with Tibor Károlyi:

We hardly dare ask whether corroboration exists for the assertion that Lady Thomas ‘once hurled king at her opponent’ but, for form’s sake, the column is being added to Chess with Violence and ‘Once’.

Mr Manley notes that the ‘William Hickey’ column at the time was conducted by Tom Driberg (1905-76).

12180. Another ‘William Hickey’ column

From page 4 of the 23 February 1935 Daily Express:

The ‘William Hickey’ column sometimes had a chess diagram, but it is the subsequent item, about ‘Dr Kratky’, that catches the eye, although there was nothing topical about his proposed ‘deviation’, Laureat, from regular chess. The report below had appeared on page 10 of The Observer, 7 September 1930:

There ensued numerous similar items in newspapers around the world (similar, not least, in misspelling the name Spielmann). Additional information about Bedřich Krátký available online includes a photograph sold in a Czech auction in July 2020.

See also Chess Variants and Rule Changes.

12181. Alekhine in Folkestone, 1933

From the ‘William Hickey’ column in the Daily Express, 13 June 1933, page 6:

‘He much prefers bridge to chess’ seemingly comes from nowhere. The alleged fire incident mentioned in the final paragraph was discussed in C.N.s 5169 and 10859. See Chess and Bridge and Chess and Tobacco.

12182. Alekhine in Buenos Aires, 1939

On some chess outlets, the kneejerkerati are ever poised to comment on the colour of h1 in any photograph or video clip. ‘They got the board the wrong way round!’ If h1 is disappointingly white, the opportunity to air an observation is not lost: ‘At least they got the board the right way round!’ See C.N. 11471.

Olimpiu G. Urcan has forwarded a number of photographs, and firstly this shot of Alekhine (acknowledgement: the Crítica archive):

The apparent presence of pawns on White’s first rank is notable but simply explained: given that in photographs of Alekhine his wristwatch, breast pocket and (where applicable) hair parting are, or should be, on the left, the above photograph is a mirror image. Moreover, he was spectating, not playing.

The full photograph, provided by Mr Urcan from the Crítica archive and reversed below, shows the world champion watching a game between two members of Argentina’s team in the 1939 Olympiad in Buenos Aires, Roberto Grau and Luis Piazzini:

12183. Confusion over names

Also courtesy of the Crítica archive, Olimpiu G. Urcan sends this photograph:

It will be recalled that Paulin(o) Frydman (White) has been the victim of negligence by chess writers so eager to have fun with insanity that they muddled him with a lesser-known, similarly-named player.

12184. Prison warders (C.N. 12134)

An addition to Chess and Murder is Dr Buck Ruxton (1899-1936). From page 1 of the Daily Express, 28 April 1936:

Dr Ruxton was hanged in Manchester on 12 May 1936.

12185. Escalation

Impassioned letters escalated into a plea that a chess magazine ‘should be banned (or burned - or both)’.

12186. A remark by Bent Larsen (C.N. 12112)

C.N. 12112 asked what exactly Larsen said or wrote about the safety derived from having a knight on KB1.

Ronald Young (Bronx, NY, USA) draws attention to Larsen’s notes, in algebraic notation, on his victory as Black over Karpov at Montreal, 1979 on pages 452-453 of Chess Life & Review, August 1979:

Position after 21 Re1-e4

Larsen played 21...Nf8 and wrote on page 453:

‘So that I do not get mated. With a knight on f8 you never get mated.’

12187. Rubinstein photograph (C.N. 12131)

From Philip Jurgens (Ottawa, Canada):

‘The portrait of Rubinstein is intriguing. Although the location and date may seem unclear, I recall the photograph of Rudolf Spielmann provided by Jan Kalendovský in C.N. 6131 in connection with Magdeburg, 1927, from page 4 of Wiener Bilder, 7 August 1927:

It is not only the chessboard and background that are similar in the two photographs. Remarkably, even the position appears to be the same, showing the conclusion of the fourth-round game in Berlin, November 1926 in which Rubinstein was White against Grünfeld. The handwritten note on the bottom border of the Rubinstein picture matches the credit on the Spielmann photograph: “Atlantic Photo Co., Berlin”.

Rubinstein did not participate in Magdeburg, 1927, which Spielmann won. However, they did both play in the November 1926 tournament in Berlin, meeting in round one.’

12188. One of the peculiar beauties

From page 11 of A New Treatise on Chess by George Walker (London, 1832):

‘One of the peculiar beauties of chess is that if two beginners be equally matched, they feel quite the same interest in the game as if they were thoroughly learned in its mysteries. Indeed, they perhaps enjoy it more than the very greatest players, who, having conquered every difficulty, have no longer any opponents who can contend against them; and who, having, when they play, their reputation at stake, feel the greater degree of mortification at being occasionally defeated.’

12189. Philidor’s legacy

As indicated in C.N. 9668, it seems that the term ‘Philidor’s legacy’ first appeared in print in Thomas Pruen’s An Introduction to the History and Study of Chess (Cheltenham, 1804). The relevant pages:

The position (White to move) given on page 311:

If any reader can understand page 314, we shall be grateful to know.

12190. Freemasons (C.N. 10101)

From John Townsend (Wokingham, England):

‘C.N. 10101 noted some prominent people from the world of chess who were identified as freemasons during the nineteenth century from the membership records available on Ancestry.com.

To these should be added the even more illustrious name of Emanuel Lasker, who became a member of Montefiore Lodge in London (Lodge no. 1017). He was initiated there on 22 April 1896, “passed” on 27 May 1896, and “raised” on 24 February [year not specified]. His age on admission was given as 27, and his residence was 71 Chiswell Street, [London], EC. His profession was Mathematician. In the column headed “Certificates” is entered the date 8 March 1897. He kept up his subscription payments until 22 January 1902, the day of his resignation.

John Lane’s Masonic Records 1717-1894, second edition, 1895, on page 337 traces the constitution of Montefiore Lodge back to 9 May 1864, and notes early meetings at Freemasons’ Tavern, Freemasons’ Hall, and the Regent Masonic Hall.

Montefiore Lodge was described as “a real tribute to the benevolence of Bro. Sir Moses Montefiore as a man and a Mason” in The Freemason’s Repository, Vol. XX, 1890-91, page 634.

See also the brief reference on pages 112-113 of volume one (Berlin, 2018) of the Emanuel Lasker trilogy of books co-authored by Richard Forster, Michael Negele and Raj Tischbierek.

Further particulars about Lasker’s activities as a freemason may be obtained at: Museum of Freemasonry, Freemasons’ Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London. WC2B 5AZ.’

12191. Keres in Buenos Aires

Olimpiu G. Urcan (Singapore) sends this 1939 photograph of Paul Keres:

It comes from the same source, the Crítica archive, as the Alekhine picture in C.N. 12182, and presents the same problem. Other photographs of Keres show him to be right-handed and wearing a watch on his left wrist. Consequently:

12192. Lasker in Havana

Olimpiu G. Urcan also provides the following:

Source: Illustrirte Zeitung, 7 April 1921, page 281.

12193. Gibaud v Lazard

‘Enough of this myth’, wrote André Chéron on page 12 of the Feuille d’Avis de Lausanne, 24 June 1933 (C.N. 7904), about the circumstances of the alleged encounter 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nd2 e5 3 dxe5 Ng4 4 h3 Ne3 5 White resigns.

In the hope of summarizing matters in The Gibaud v Lazard Gamelet, we now take a new angle: when were those, or similar, moves first linked to 1924, the year given in many editions of the Guinness Book of Records?

12194. Restoring images

A new feature article, Alterations to Chess Images, has prompted us to experiment briefly with an online program chosen at random. It was asked to improve the following from Photographs of Capablanca:

Without guidance, it produced this in two or three minutes:

The file name of the second image intentionally contains the word ‘doctored’.

12195. Fischer’s lawsuits

John Donaldson (Berkeley, CA, USA) comments that ‘Fischer’s lawsuit against Dimitrije Bjelica (C.N. 12178) stands out for being one of the rare occasions he was awarded a settlement’.

Our correspondent adds:

‘Tracking Fischer’s legal activities is tricky. I believe the first was his lawsuit initiated after the Fischer-Reshevsky match. The conditions were such that the winner was to be awarded 60% of the purse, and Reshevsky being declared the victor received this amount. Fischer as the loser was given 40% but sued for another 10% on the grounds that the score was tied when the match was aborted.

I have been unable to track the lawsuit, but it seems likely (Fischer being invited to the 1963 Piatigorsky Cup) that Jacqueline Piatigorsky ended up enhancing the prize fund and in the end Fischer was given 50%.’

12196. Tarrasch’s religion (C.N.s 5997 & 6067)

The account on pages 357-359 of Siegbert Tarrasch Leben und Werk by Wolfgang Kamm (Unterhaching, 2004) stated that on 28 May 1909 Tarrasch converted from Judaism to Christianity. Have further details come to light since 2004?

12197. Koltanowski v Grob

Philip Jurgens (Ottawa, Canada) writes:

‘George Koltanowski and Henry Grob contested two matches in Zurich. Their 1937 encounter was drawn, with two draws and a win apiece. In April 1953, Koltanowski won by the score of +2 –0 =3. This picture was taken during their second match, in which Koltanowski secured draws with the Two Knights’ Defence in all three of his games as Black.’

Source: Journal et Feuille d’Avis du Valais, 16 April 1953, page 2, from e-newspaperarchives.ch.

12198. Peter Saburov/Pierre de Sabouroff

The Swiss newspaper website mentioned in the previous item provides an opportunity to read more about the music activities of Peter Saburov (Pierre de Sabouroff). For example:

Source: Courrier de Genève, 19 December 1925, page 5.

Such material complements the biographical information about him given, from the Tribune de Genève, in C.N.s 448 and 2672.

12199. Capablanca in Liverpool

Olimpiu G. Urcan (Singapore) sends this cutting from page 7 of the Liverpool Weekly Courier, 4 October 1919:

The display was on 27 September 1919.

12200. An observation by Nimzowitsch

In his annotations to Karpov v Larsen, Montreal, 1979, the Dane wrote on page 453 of Chess Life & Review, August 1979 (C.N. 12186):

‘The bad bishop is out, but I insist it is still bad. “To play positional chess is to make a statement and then try to prove it”, said Nimzowitsch.’

Not recognizing the remark, we have consulted Per Skjoldager (Fredericia, Denmark), who responds:

‘Nimzowitsch wrote an article in Skakbladet, August 1931, pages 121-124 under the title “Positionsspillet og Kombinationsspillet skal supplere hinanden”. Later, it found its way into Bjørn Nielsen’s book on Nimzowitsch (pages 433-437).

Bent Larsen’s quote is slightly different from what Nimzowitsch wrote but is essentially the same. My translation:

“Positional play and combinational play must complement each other.

Playing positional chess is to make a claim, such as “I am better in the centre than my opponent” or “the opponent is weak on the white squares”, etc.

But one thing is to make a claim, another is to prove its correctness.”’

The full article is available on the website of the Dansk Skak Union.

12201. Simultaneous display by Vera Menchik

The present batch of items ends on a low note, courtesy of page 9 of the Daily Express, 7 February 1931:

Page 16 of the newspaper had a photograph from the exhibition, a shot discussed in C.N. 9849.

12202. Sam Loyd

Robert John McCrary (Columbia, SC, USA) adds a reference to Sam Loyd on the subject of chess grandmasters:

‘We present this week a choice chess-nut from the hands of the problem grand master, Mr Samuel Loyd.’

Source: Philadelphia Times, 7 March 1880, page 2.

12203. Morphy’s two-mover (C.N.s 5141 & 8473)

Mate in two

On the subject of the Philadelphia Times, we add to C.N.s 5141 and 8473 by quoting its chess columnist, G.C. Reichhelm, about Morphy’s two-mover.

30 January 1887, page 12:

‘Morphy’s only problem

It is not generally known that Paul Morphy once set up a problem of his own and the position therefore has a peculiar interest.’

A diagram of the two-mover followed, with the kings on f8 and h8.

13 February 1887, page 7:

‘The position kindly sent by a correspondent as a “Morphy problem” is a celebrated two-er by F. Herlin.’

20 February 1887, page 10:

‘General John Tillson, of Quincy, Ill., writes:

“To the mention which you made of problem 712 it might have been added that the problem was composed by Paul Morphy before he was ten years of age. This is the fact. His uncle, Ernest Morphy, who was, as you must remember, in the first rank of American players, showed me this pretty little problem before Paul had made his swoop at the New York Tournament, to the head of American chess, and as it proved to the precedent place among the chessplayers of the world. Mr Ernest Morphy was full of pleasant little anecdotes about ‘Leetle Paul’, as he used to style him, and predicted his certain success against the best players in the world, and showed this problem as the only one that he knew Paul to have made, but as indicative of his precocious intuitive capacity for chess. Ernest Morphy’s description of Paul’s contests with Löwenthal, when the little fellow – for he was small as boy and small when a man – stood up to the table instead of being seated, etc., was very interesting, and many other remembrances I have from the elder Morphy (who lived a long time and died here) about his gifted nephew.

I had never seen this problem (712) in print before, but have had it in my possession for 30 years.”

General Tillson adds that Paul composed the problem at nine years of age, and we hope we can induce the General to give us many more of his pleasant and entertaining anecdotes about Paul Morphy.’

2 March 1902, page 8: The two-mover was published again (kings on c8 and a8), with no particulars.

General Tillson’s reference to Ernest Morphy having died in Quincy, IL is confirmed by newspaper reports. For example:

Brooklyn Review, 3 May 1874, page 5

In Reichhelm’s columns, no other references to General John Tillson or to ‘F. Herlin’ have so far been traced. The latter reference, in the 13 February 1887 column, has yet to be explained.

C.N. 8473 mentioned that this was the composition’s first known appearance, on page 78 of the New York Clipper, 28 June 1856:

As noted by David Lawson on page 27 of his 1976 monograph on Morphy, the problem was sent to the New York Clipper with a letter from Ernest Morphy dated 10 June 1856 which referred to ‘a two-move enigma composed by Paul, as far back as 1849’. From page 70 of the 21 June 1856 edition:

The C.N. material is brought together now in a feature article, A Problem by Paul Morphy.

12204. An 1882 letter from Morphy

Philadelphia Times, 13 August 1882, page 7

The letter was also published on page 16 of the St Louis Globe-Democrat, 20 August 1882, but any appearance in an English-language newspaper in Morphy’s home state, Louisiana, remains to be found.

At the start of Chapter 25 of his 1976 monograph on Morphy, on pages 307-308, David Lawson gave a different text with, to take an example from the penultimate paragraph, ‘during a part of the first quarter of this century’ instead of, as above, ‘during the first part of the century’:

Acknowledgement for the scans from Lawson’s book: Cleveland Public Library

Morphy’s letter was prompted by this item on page 1 of L’Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléans, 30 July 1882:

Page 1 of the 1 August 1882 edition gave Morphy’s response:

As shown above, Lawson introduced the letter by stating:

‘In July 1882, the New Orleans French newspaper l’Abeille announced plans for a biographical work on famous Louisianans and proposed to include Paul Morphy as “the most celebrated chess-player in the World”.’

However, as also shown above, there was no suggestion in the French-language newspaper that it had any involvement in the ‘Biographies Louisianaises’ project. It was merely announcing an initiative by Meynier (self-published and in English, it will be made clear).

It was rare for Lawson to misspell a name, but in the first line of the letter ‘Meyiner’ should be Meynier. Lawson’s bibliographical section made no mention of anything on Morphy by Meynier.

The publication details of Arthur Meynier’s Louisiana Biographies are complex. Volume one number one can be viewed online. The masthead stated that it was to be ‘published every Saturday by A. Meynier, Jr., 133 Decatur Street’ in New Orleans. That first number is dated 11 February 1882, nearly six months before Morphy’s letter. It consists of eight pages, of which only four had biographies (of Samuel D. McEnery, Randall Lee Gibson and George W. Cable).

In the interests of further confusion, there follows a selection of press notices, in chronological order:

• Page 15 of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, 19 February 1882:

‘We have received the second number of Louisiana Biographies, a weekly magazine, published by A. Meynier, Jr. The number contains well written sketches of the lives of W.C.C. Claiborne, J.J. Audubon, G.T. Beauregard, M.F. Bonzano and E.B.A. Viel, and other interesting articles.’

• Page 14 of the Daily Picayune (New Orleans), 26 February 1882:

‘The third number of Meynier’s Louisiana Biographies, published yesterday, contains sketches of James Philip Villere, Benj. F. Jonas, Francis Xavier Martin, Aubert Dubayet, Thos. Treard and Geo. L. Walton.’

• Page 3 of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, 5 March 1882:

‘The fourth number of the weekly magazine of Louisiana Biographies, edited by Mr A. Meynier, Jr, is quite interesting. It contains biographical sketches of John W. Cannon, Edward Bermudez, Charles Gayarre, J.H. Acklen, and other interesting matter. The work, when complete, will be of great value for reference.’

• Page 3 of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, 12 March 1882:

‘The fifth number of Mr A. Meynier, Jr’s weekly magazine of Louisiana biographies is quite interesting and valuable as matter for reference. It contains the biographies of Louis Alfred Wiltz, Pierre Soule, John Lawson Lewis, Adrien Rouquette and J.H. Keller.’

• Page 4 of the Daily Picayune (New Orleans), 19 March 1882:

‘The weekly magazine “Louisiana Biographies” has been discontinued. The sketches of prominent citizens which appeared in that publication, with many others, will appear shortly in book forms, and Mr Meynier promises the public a valuable work for reference.’

• Page 3 of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, 31 July 1882 (a piece strikingly similar to what had appeared in L’Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléans the previous day):
  

‘Mr A. Meynier, Jr, the author, compiler and publisher of “Louisiana Biographies”, informs us that the first portion of the work will go to press today. This first part comprises the biographies of all the Governors of the State of Louisiana, comprising that of Fowler [Fulwar] Skipwith, Governor of West Florida, the part of Louisiana now known as the Florida parishes. The volume will also contain an interesting biographical sketch of Paul Morphy, the celebrated chessplayer. Every pains has been taken to make these biographies correct in every particular, the information having been gathered with great care at the most authentic sources. The book will be ready in 10 or 12 days, and will be valuable not only as a source of information and reference, but interesting as reading matter.’

• Page 4 of the Daily Picayune (New Orleans), 2 September 1882:

‘We are indebted to the publisher, Mr A. Meynier, Jr., for a copy of Meynier’s Louisiana Biographies, part first. This interesting work will be complete in four parts. The one just out gives sketches of Governors of Louisiana, from William C. Claiborne to Sam McEnery; also of Paul Morphy and Lafitte the pirate.’

• Page 6 of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, 4 September 1882:

‘“Louisiana Biographies – Part I”

A. Meynier, Jr, Publisher

This is the first number of a series of four, which, when bound together, will make a valuable volume for reference. The first part contains the biographies of Governors of Louisiana in chronological order, of Paul Morphy, the chessplayer, and of Lafitte, the pirate. If the remaining numbers present such diversified subjects, this whole gamuet of human interest will be sounded before the series is finished. The biographies of the Governors are necessarily short, on account of their number; but they are written in a concise style, and seem to be historically accurate. This is an age of biographical writings, and the public craves any work that shows the inner life of a great man. From this point of view these sketches are meagre; but their purpose is rather to draw the historical outlines than to fill in the shadings and colorings of the social or domestic life. The biographies of Morphy and Lafitte are on the same order, though the bare history of the latter has a large sensational element in it.

The typographical features of the book are excellent, the paper being strong and thick, and the type large and clear. The Four Parts, bound in cloth, will be $4; in paper, $3.’

• Page 1 of the Opelousas Courier, 2 December 1882:

‘We have had a call from Mr A. Meynier, Jr, publisher of Louisiana Biographies, New Orleans, La. We have examined part 1 of this new journalistic venture, containing interesting and succinct sketches of all the Governors of Louisiana, Paul Morphy (the chessplayer) and of Lafitte, the pirate. Those biographies are well written, and embrace all the salient features in each public personage forming the subject matter of their contents; they are printed in large, clear type, on excellent white paper, and present a very handsome typographical appearance. Mr Meynier will make Opelousas his headquarters for several days to come, canvassing in the interest of his valuable publication. Complete in four parts, the work will contain 300 pages. Every intelligent Louisianian who desires to be familiar with a history of the prominent men of his State should subscribe to the “Louisiana Biographies”. Prices $3, $4 and $5, according to the binding.’

Google Books records a 71-page work Louisiana Biographies by Arthur Meynier (1882), but we have yet to trace a copy.

New Orleans Times-Democrat, 26 December 1902, page 12

12205. Capablanca in Mexico

Eduardo Bauzá Mercére (New York, NY, USA) reports that the Biblioteca de México has made available the record of the game shown below (with a couple of corrections here by our correspondent):

José Raúl Capablanca – Enrique González Martínez
Simultaneous exhibition, Mexico City, 21 April 1933
Ruy López

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nge7 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Nxd4 6 Qxd4 Nc6

7 Qc3 Bb4 8 O-O Bxc3 9 Nxc3 O-O 10 Bf4 d6 11 Rad1 Re8 12 Rfe1 Bd7 13 f3 Ne5 14 Bf1 Bc6 15 Bg3 Qf6 16 Rd2 Ng6 17 Nd1 h5 18 Bf2 Ne5 19 Ne3 g6 20 h4 Kh7

21 b4 a6 22 c4 b5 23 Rc1 bxc4 24 Bxc4 Nxc4 25 Rxc4 Bb5 26 Rxc7 Rec8 27 Rdc2 Rxc7 28 Rxc7 Qe6 29 Nd5 Kg8 30 Re7 Qc8 31 Rc7 Qd8 32 g3 Be8 33 Bd4 Kf8 34 Bf6 Qb8 35 Be7+ Kg8 36 Nf6+ Kh8 37 Bxd6 Ra7 38 Be5 Qxc7 39 Bxc7 Rxc7 40 Nxe8 Rc1+ 41 Kf2 Rc2+ 42 Ke3 Rxa2 43 Nd6 Kg8 44 b5 a5 45 Nc4 a4 46 b6 Ra1 47 Nd2 Ra2 48 Nc4 Drawn.

12206. Napoleão and Lucena

Leo Mano (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) writes:

‘The 1898 chess problem book Caissana Brasileira by Arthur Napoleão is now available online in PDF format.

It is the oldest surviving Brazilian chess book. Its author, Arthur Napoleão (1843-1925), was Portuguese. A music prodigy, he gave his first recital at the age of seven. As a chess aficionado, he contributed greatly to the game’s development in Brazil by writing, promoting events and founding chess clubs.

In the photograph Caissana Brasileira is on the left, alongside a very rare copy of Lucena’s Repetición de Amores y Arte de Axedrez (1497). Caissana Brasileira is from my own collection, and the Lucena volume is held by the Biblioteca Nacional in Rio de Janeiro.’

12207. 1944

From page 31 of the February 1944 BCM:

This early mention of Leonard Barden dates from when Alekhine was world champion and Vera Menchik held the women’s title.

12208. Rex Sinquefield

In his Guardian column on 29 August 2025, Leonard Barden refers to ‘the St Louis billionaire Rex Sinquefield, who has been the most generous individual sponsor in all chess history’.

12209. Capablanca’s nationality

Dennis Monokroussos (South Bend, IN, USA) asks:

‘Was Capablanca ever a US citizen? More particularly, was he a citizen after 1902, when Cuba gained formal independence from the US? I realize that he was always Cuban, but I wonder if he had dual citizenship and was technically an American during his reign as world champion.’

As far as we know, throughout his life Capablanca held only a Cuban passport, and never had US citizenship.

12210. Burn and Owen

As shown in Chessplayers and Animals, this photograph of Amos Burn and John Owen was in A Century of British Chess by P.W. Sergeant (London, 1934), the location being ‘the garden at Hooton’:

We now see a slightly different shot on page 9 of the Manchester Guardian, 27 November 1925:

12211. Janowsky obituary

On the subject of dark photographs, this obituary of Dawid Janowsky is on page 11 of the (London) Evening Standard, 18 January 1927:

12212. In memoriam

Whatever the temptation, it is bad form to decry a chessplayer’s looks. Below is an extract from the anonymous ‘A Londoner’s Diary’ column on page 6 of the Evening Standard, 7 June 1929, in which Richard Réti, who had died the previous day, was called ‘a very ugly man’, albeit with a saving grace:

Would a British publication write in similar terms about a Briton?

12213. Jack London

Christian Sánchez (Rosario, Argentina) sends a paragraph from the widely anthologized 1895 short story ‘Who Believes in Ghosts!’ by Jack London, ‘in which two players are possessed by spirits (a murderer and his victim) during a game of chess’:

‘He would be forced to double his rooks to avoid checkmate – he saw that. Then his opponent would check his queen under cover, and capture his red bishop. Checkmate would then be inevitable. Suddenly, however, a light broke upon the situation. A brilliant move was apparent to him. By a series of moves which he would inaugurate, he could force his adversary’s queen and turn the tables.’

See Chess in Fiction.

12214. Grandmasters in the United States

An addition to Chess Grandmasters comes from Robert John McCrary (Columbia, SC, USA):

‘In The Official Blue Book and Encyclopedia of Chess (New York, 1956) Kenneth Harkness introduced his newly-developed rating system. On page 344 he gave rating classes, with “grandmaster” defined as 2600 and above, and on pages 356 and 358 he listed Reshevsky and Fine as the only grandmasters.

Since Harkness’s titles referred only to his rating system, intended for the United States Chess Federation, his rating classes and associated titles applied only to US players. The grandmaster classification was later dropped in favor of the “Senior Master” designation, which was the next class down and was retained by the USCF. As far as I know, only Reshevsky and Fine were ever officially recognized as USCF grandmasters, as distinct from their FIDE titles.’

See too Chess Ratings.

12215. Alekhine photographs

Two further photographs of Alekhine have been forwarded by Olimpiu G. Urcan (Singapore), courtesy of the Crítica archive:

12216. Morphy’s final two years (C.N. 12204)

After reproducing Morphy’s letter of 31 July 1882 to L’Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléans about ‘Louisiana Biographies’, David Lawson wrote on page 308 of his 1976 monograph on Morphy (who died on 10 July 1884, aged 47):

‘Perhaps some misinterpretation arose abroad from l’Abeille’s mention of a Paul Morphy biography, for some time later in 1882, English and other papers were commenting on his demise at 45 years of age.’

Indeed, references to Morphy’s letter appeared in the US press throughout much of 1882, and towards the end of the year there was a spate of reports in the Old World that Morphy had died.

In English-language outlets a brief, early instance was on page 5 of the Manchester Courier, 20 November 1882:

Over the ensuing week, similar notices, all with the wording ‘at the comparatively early age of 45’, were published in at least a dozen English, Scottish and Irish newspapers. Even prominent chess columnists took up the accounts.

Shortly beforehand, various French newspapers had announced Morphy’s death, though none with as much fanciful falsehood as La Réforme (Paris) on 15 November 1882. From pages 1 and 2:

With digital technology, such untrue reports are easily traced, although corrections and retractions naturally remain elusive.

C.N. 12204 mentioned that we had yet to find the 71-page work Louisiana Biographies by Arthur Meynier (New Orleans, 1882), but the Morphy section can now be shown, courtesy of the City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library:

Larger version

There is much on pages 62-63 that David Lawson could have examined critically. Why he gave no indication of having even seen Meynier’s book remains unclear.

12217. Approximations

Below is part of the syndicated ‘London Letter’ published on page 2 of the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 4 December 1882. The overall heading stated ‘London, Sunday Evening’, i.e. 3 December.

Before disseminating the false announcement of Morphy’s death, the column deploys the boilerplate ‘it has been estimated that ...’ regarding How Many People Play Chess?

On the subject of approximations, any worthwhile review of The Real Paul Morphy: His Life and Chess Games by Charles Hertan (Alkmaar, 2024) should surely estimate how much of its factual biographical narrative had already appeared in David Lawson’s Paul Morphy The Pride and Sorrow of Chess (New York, 1976). Have there been such reviews?

12218. John C. Owen

Paul Brown (Ponca City, OK, USA) enquires about the chess author and translator John C. Owen, whose books on St Petersburg, 1895-96, Budapest, 1896 and Nuremberg, 1896 were published by Caissa Editions.

John Castle Owen was a valued reader of C.N. and occasional correspondent from the 1980s onwards. A reasonably detailed Hartford Courant obituary records that he died on 16 October 2006, aged 80.

12219. The death of Labourdonnais

From John Townsend (Wokingham, England):

‘The details entered on Labourdonnais’ death certificate were as follows:

Date and place of death: Thirteenth of December 1840, 4 Beaufort Buildings
Name: Charles [sic] de la Bourdonnais
Sex: Male
Age: 43
Rank or Profession: Gentleman
Cause of death: Dropsy
Informant: Jane Parry, present at the death, 2 Grange Court
When registered: Fifteenth of December 1840
(Source: General Register Office, Deaths, Dec. quarter 1840, Strand Union, volume 1, page 342).

The informant was a sister of Labourdonnais’ wife, the latter having been advised not to spend the night with her dying husband without support. Both were daughters of Lewis Gordon, a purser in the Royal Navy, and his wife, Sarah, who had several children baptized at Stoke Damerel, near Plymouth, Devon, including Mary Eleanor, born 27 October 1798, Lewis Gore, born 8 January 1800, Eliza Waller (Labourdonnais’ wife), born 17 October 1801, Louisa Grimes, born 31 October 1803, and Jane Kitchingham (the informant), born 31 January 1806.

Marriage register entries show that Jane Kitchingham Gordon had married Thomas Holmes Parry on 16 August 1832 at St John’s, Clerkenwell, while Louisa Grimes Gordon had also married a Parry, namely, Charles Richard Parry, at St Andrew’s Holborn, on 12 June 1832. In 1825, Jane Parry had been a witness to Labourdonnais’ wedding at Shoreditch.

On the subject of the French champion’s health, an informative, though not always accurate, article appeared in the Leicester Journal of 1 January 1841 (page 4), the author of which was not named. This stated that “the first French surgeons agree in attributing the commencement of his sufferings to his playing blindfold”, and continued:

“Two years back he played a game blindfold in the presence of 250 spectators. He was intensely nervous of committing an error, being peculiarly tenacious of his fame. He won the game, but during the night certain small vessels of the head burst, and his eyes in the morning were blackened as though he had been in the prize ring.”

In an article by Charles Tomlinson, entitled “Simpson’s” (BCM, February 1891, page 53), Labourdonnais’ opponent on this fateful occasion was identified as Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt, one of the strongest players in France. (Actually, in March 1840 Boncourt predeceased his blindfolded opponent by about seven months, but he was a much older man, having been born more than 30 years before Labourdonnais).

Tomlinson remarked:

“He said he felt as if something had given way in his brain.”

There is, consequently, ample evidence that the onset of ill health immediately followed the game against Boncourt, but that is not to say that the blindfold aspect of the game was the cause. Presumably, his symptoms may have been the consequence of the stress or other physical or mental demands placed upon him by the occasion. Your feature article Paul Morphy has an addition dated 26 December 2022 by Ross Jackson, who warns that “it is misguided to assume answers in contemporary reports or understandings of medicine”.

The score of the game appeared in the Chess Player’s Chronicle, volume IV, 1843, pages 291-293, with annotations by George Walker. This account of the game contradicts the Leicester Journal by recording it as a draw.

The Leicester Journal continues:

“Apoplexy came on, and for a long time his life was despaired of. He could not play chess, but subsisted upon the 1,200 francs allowed him as secretary of the chess club. Repeated bleedings averted apoplexy, but brought on ascites, for which he has been tapped 21 times since the June of last year. Mr Babington operated upon him a few days back, and continues in attendance.”

Ascites is a variety of dropsy affecting specifically the abdomen. “Mr Babington” is referred to as an “eminent surgeon” in an article by George Walker which appeared in the chess column of Bell’s Life in London (20 December 1840). It was repeated in the Chess Monthly (October 1860, page 303):

“During the 9th, 10th and 11th, De La Bourdonnais was visibly worse in health, and on Friday week was again operated upon by Mr Babington, the eminent surgeon.”

This was probably George Gisborne Babington, a successful surgeon who was then based at Golden Square, St James’s, aged approximately 47 according to the 1841 census (National Archives, HO 107 735, folio 24). Treatment in London by an eminent surgeon was a privilege which Labourdonnais enjoyed in common with Philidor before him, even though, in both cases, there were those who maintained that they were allowed to die in poverty. (See C.N. 9759: Philidor in London).

According to Walker, “his disease was ascites, accompanied by scrotal hernia”. From the same article comes this:

“Between five and six on Sunday morning he expired with a slight convulsion.”

A fund had already been established for the support of him and his widow. Beyond allaying the anxiety of the French champion himself, it may be wondered if this charitable initiative served much purpose in the event. His widow, who was referred to in the press as “interesting” – a contemporary slang expression meaning physically attractive – was soon married, in 1842, to James Budge, a Cornish merchant, described in the press as “opulent”.

Labourdonnais had come to London from Paris at the invitation of Samuel Ries of the Divan, to earn a living. He was offering odds of pawn and move during this period in London, but his play was below his best. It appears that his supporters considered a scheme which would have added to the charitable arrangements that were set up, as is shown by an article in the Weekly Chronicle (London), 6 December 1840, page 13:

“... one suggestion strikes us as good, that those who play with him should pay on losing, but should receive nothing on winning; his stake being half a crown. De La Bourdonnais challenges any player in England to come up now to the scratch and take pawn and move.”

Few would have doubted at the time that, in his customary form, he could have given these odds without the need to consider such a departure from normal practice regarding the stakes.

H.J.R. Murray found it remarkable that Staunton never met Labourdonnais in the flesh. The latter’s match against Popert began during December 1840 at the London Chess Club in Cornhill. The exact dates of the match have not been established. Popert played against Labourdonnais during the Frenchman’s last few days.’

12220. Keene v Ritson Morry

An update on two matters covered in Cuttings:

In his ‘TheArticle’ piece of 13 September 2025 Raymond Keene falls back on a watered-down version of his attacks on the deceased W. Ritson Morry, but still with no acknowledgement of his untruths and, even, with a new one.

‘I know the taste of such false criticism. When I won the British Championship in 1971, I was told by one prominent chess writer that I lacked fighting spirit. This in spite of the fact that I sacrificed recklessly, played games that stretched over days, and fought until the end. Later, when I won an international tournament, he wrote almost nothing of my victory and much of my single loss. In England such misreporting is only irritating. In Russia it might have destroyed a career, or worse.’

Regarding, firstly, his games in the 1971 British Championship, Mr Keene has asserted over the years:

• ‘the british championship i won included several games of huge length -one over 120 moves’


• ‘... I had actually made speculative and unsound piece sacrifices to force events and gone through multiple adjournments with games lasting for days and over 100 moves.’


• ‘... I had actually made speculative and unsound sacrifices to force events and gone through multiple adjournments with games lasting for days and over 100 moves.’


• ‘I sacrificed recklessly, played games that stretched over days, and fought until the end.’

Britbase gives all 11 of Raymond Keene’s games. Round by round, the number of moves was 41, 29, 128, 25, 62, 30, 37, 38, 14, 31, 13.

Next, Raymond Keene’s claims about Ritson Morry’s coverage of the Woolacombe ‘international’ tournament in 1973:

• ‘i won the woolacombe international in 1973-the strongest all play all outside hastings in the uk for many years-and in his bcm report ritson morry failed to give any of my wins and only mentioned in passing that i had won the event!’

• ‘The same talent-free critic went even further when I won the international tournament at Woolacombe in 1973, writing a report which more or less failed to mention me, apart from publishing my only loss!’

• ‘The same, at least in my opinion, talent-free critic went even further when I won the international tournament at Woolacombe in 1973, writing a report which more or less failed to mention me, apart from focusing attention on my only loss!’

• ‘... when I won an international tournament, he wrote almost nothing of my victory and much of my single loss.’

Exact citations are given in Cuttings, which pointed out 12 years ago that Ritson Morry’s tournament report in the BCM gave a complete crosstable, that Raymond Keene’s name appeared a further nine times on the same page, and that a win by Mr Keene was included.

His 13 September 2025 formulation about Ritson Morry on Woolacombe, 1973 is new: ‘he wrote almost nothing of my victory and much of my single loss’. In reality, Ritson Morry wrote a mere 11 neutral words about the defeat: ‘In round 6 Keene went down to the rapidly advancing Cardoso.’ The bare scores of two Keene games, the loss to Cardoso and a win against Hutchings, were given side-by-side at the end of the report, without comment.

12221. What is happening?

From page 10 of the (London) Evening Standard, 23 September 1930:

Answer

12222. Pronunciation

When exactness is required in the pronunciation of chess masters’ names in their native language, the International Phonetic Alphabet is indispensable.

Eero Böök’s surname – [bø:k] – was discussed in C.N. 9381. On page 64 of the Illustrated London News, 9 July 1949, B. H. Wood wrote that it sounded more or less like ‘Burke’ (which – leaving aside regional variants – is [bəːk] or [bərk]).

The surname of Edgard Colle is an awkward case. He was from Ghent, and the pronunciation in Flemish is [ˈkɔ.lə]. In French: [kɔl]. However, chessplayers often pronounce Colle like the dog breed collie: [ˈkɒli] by British speakers and [ˈkɑːli] or [ˈkɑli] by Americans.

How do Brazilians pronounce the name of their compatriot Trompowsky?

12223. Sämisch v Romanovsky (C.N. 12174)

Javier Asturiano Molina (Murcia, Spain) points out that the photograph was on a postage stamp issued by the Republic of Djibouti in 1980. It can readily be found online and is also on page 55 of Petr Romanovsky by Isaak Z. Romanov (Moscow, 1984):

As mentioned in C.N. 12174, the board position is unrelated to Sämisch and Romanovsky’s game in the Moscow, 1925 tournament.

12224. Lasker v Capablanca

Larger version

The above comes from page 7 of the Evening Herald (Rock Hill, NC, USA), 19 February 1921, and similar or identical features found their way into numerous US newspapers of the time. The image seems to have chopped together bits of the well-known St Petersburg, 1914 group photograph. If the report itself could serve any purpose, it would be as a test paper (facts and style) for prospective copy editors.

12225. Saint-Amant, Morphy and Edge

In his book on Morphy, F.M. Edge cited a ‘brilliant’ article by Saint-Amant in Le Sport. For instance:

‘Saint Amant writes prose in poetry, and he has made of Morphy an epic hero.’

The context was Morphy’s presence in Birmingham on 26 August 1858, and the praise appears in Edge’s book on pages 77-78 of the New York edition and pages 71-72 of the London edition. Lawson quoted from Edge on page 117 of his 1976 monograph.

Dated 27 August 1858, Saint-Amant’s article was published in Le Sport on 8 September 1858 (page 2), and other columns by Saint-Amant in the Paris newspaper are also available on the Gallica website.

Page 2 of the 13 October 1858 edition had a letter from Edge emphasizing that Morphy’s subsequent indisposition had nothing to do with his eight-game simultaneous blindfold display at the Café de la Régence on 27 September 1858:

We also note mention of a (barely) anonymous letter on page 2 of Le Sport, 1 December 1858, concerning Paulsen’s acknowledgement of Morphy’s superiority:

12226. Exchange sacrifice

Early occurrences of the exchange sacrifice ...Rxc3 in the Sicilian Defence are referred to at the end of our feature article on the opening. The topic has also been discussed by Tim Krabbé in his Open chess diary (item 339 on 8 March 2007).

Eduardo Bauzá Mercére (New York, NY, USA) now adds a much earlier case (although not with the Dragon Variation), from pages 118-119 of the Chess Player’s Chronicle, 1862. It is an undated game between James Robey and Edward Löwe, and Black’s 16th move is forced:

1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 Nxd4 e6 5 Nb5 d6 6 Bf4 e5 7 Be3 a6 8 N5c3 Nf6 9 Bd3 Be7 10 Na4 b5 11 Nb6 Rb8 12 Nd5 Nxd5 13 exd5 Nb4 14 Be2 Bb7 15 Nc3 Rc8 16 a3

16...Rxc3 17 bxc3 Nxd5 18 c4 Nxe3 19 fxe3 Bxg2 20 Rg1 Qa5+ 21 Kf2 Bc6 22 Rxg7 bxc4 23 Bxc4 d5 24 Qh5 Rf8 25 Qxe5 Qd2+ 26 Be2 Bb5 27 Re1 Kd7 28 Rg4 Bc5 29 a4 Bc6 30 c4 Re8 31 Qf5+ Kd8 32 Qf6+ Kc7 33 Qxf7+ Kb6 34 Rb1+ Bb4 35 Rxb4+ Qxb4 36 cxd5 Qc5 37 a5+ Kxa5 38 Qc7+ Qb6 39 Qxb6+ Kxb6 40 dxc6 Kxc6 and White wins.

12227. Grandmasters

Robert John McCrary (Columbia, SC, USA) has submitted a number of further nineteenth-century occurrences of the word grandmaster, the earliest being on page 109 of the third edition of A New Treatise of Chess by George Walker (London, 1841). ‘Our Chess-grand-master’ is Walker’s description of Philidor.

Our correspondent points out that when the passage was reproduced on page 145 of volume five (1844) of the Chess Player’s Chronicle, the wording was ‘our grand Chess Master’.

12228. Length of Wikipedia articles

On his YouTube channel, Ben Finegold often comments about the length of Wikipedia articles, and in a video on H.N. Pillsbury earlier this year he said:

‘I’m furious at how short the Wikipedia articles are for these great chessplayers.’

On any Wikipedia page the reader can see its length (in bytes) by clicking on ‘Tools’ and then on ‘Page information’. In the case of Pillsbury (English-language version), the current length is only 10,066 bytes.

The disparities in Wikipedia articles are also shown by these lengths:

Henry Edward Bird: 4,755;

Eric Schiller: 24,364.

12229. Alekhine in Buenos Aires, 1939 (C.N. 12215)

From Christian Sánchez (Rosario, Argentina):

‘The reverse of this photograph given in C.N. 12215 states “40 partidas simultáneas jugadas por el Dr Alekhine”, “Córdoba 731”, and “4/5/39”.

Skinner and Verhoeven’s work on Alekhine contains no reference to exhibitions by the world champion in Argentina between his appearances in Peru and Brazil. However, a report on page 7 of the newspaper Crítica the following day says that the display took place, on 4 May 1939, at the Club Alemán (Córdoba Street 731), Buenos Aires. Alekhine faced 40 opponents of the second, third and fourth categories (including one blindfold game), and he scored +34 –2 =4 (the defeats being against Christian Rosch and Carl Isenberg).

Larger version

A summary of Alekhine’s activities during this period:

• 28 April: departed from La Paz, Bolivia;

• 1 May: arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina;

• 4 May: gave a 40-game simultaneous exhibition (+34 –2 =4) at the Club Alemán;

• 5 May: played bridge at the Club Argentino de Ajedrez;

• 14 May: delivered a lecture on the Ruy López opening at the Club Argentino de Ajedrez;

• 16 May: played a game against the Del Sel brothers (Luis and Enrique);

• 21 May: left Buenos Aires for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

I am building up a webpage with details of Alekhine’s South American tour.’

12230. Mr and Mrs Alekhine

A further photograph from the Crítica archive has been provided by Olimpiu G. Urcan (Singapore):

12231. W.C. Fields

The start of Larry Evans’ column on page 12H of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 23 September 2007:

We have found no earlier occurrence of this alleged quote – or any later one from a reputable source.

12232. Morphy in Birmingham, 1858

From page 101 of David Lawson’s 1976 biography of Morphy and page 94 of the 2010 paperback edition:

‘After his arrival in Liverpool, he entrained at once for Birmingham. In an article in the New Orleans Times-Democrat of 18 June 1899, Alderman Thomas Avery, president of the Birmingham Chess Club, tells of meeting him at the Curzon Street [sic] station:

“I was never more astonished by the appearance of anyone. Having formed my opinion of the man by the strength of his chess, I expected to see a tall broad-shouldered individual, with a big beard and a ferocious expression. And there he turned out to be a slight, beardless stripling youth in a broad-brimmed straw hat, a black tie and a meek and mild manner. I took him at once to the photographer, and had the portrait taken which is now in the Birmingham Chess Club. He was a very gentlemanly young fellow; no talker, and as it seemed to me, a player who performed all his wonderful feats by instinct and without any visible effort.”’

Something is amiss, given that Thomas Avery died over five years before publication of the New Orleans Times-Democrat article.

It is shown below, from page 25 of the 18 June 1899 edition:

Compared to Lawson’s version, there are slight differences in the sentence beginning ‘And there he turned out ...’

The Times-Democrat item specified from the outset that it was quoting the Birmingham Weekly Mercury, from which it may be deduced that, in the phrase ‘Telling us the story, Mr Avery went on ...’, the pronoun ‘us’ refers to the Birmingham chess columnist Robert J. Buckley.

The following, from page 21 of the American Chess Magazine, July 1899, cites another Birmingham newspaper for which Buckley wrote:

‘There is a unique portrait of Morphy in the Birmingham Chess Club room at the Midland Institute, and here we record, for the first time, its history. Mr Thomas Avery, President of the Birmingham Chess Club, had heard of the exploits of Morphy in London [sic], and on the eve of his arrival went down to the railway station to meet him. Telling us the story, Mr Avery went on, “I was never more astonished by the appearance of any one. Having formed my opinion of the man by the strength of his chess, I expected to see a tall, broad-shouldered individual with a big beard and a ferocious expression. And there he turned out to be a slight, beardless stripling, with a broad-brimmed straw hat and a meek and mild manner. I took him at once to the photographer and had the portrait taken which is now in the Birmingham Chess Club. He was a very gentlemanly young fellow, no talker and as it seemed to me a player who performed all his wonderful feats by instinct and without any visible effort.” The people of New Orleans may be glad to hear of this excellent portrait; and we venture to believe that if application were made to the honorable secretary of the Birmingham Chess Club (England) that very courteous and obliging gentleman would see that the New Orleans Chess Club, or whatsoever other chess organization stands at the head of the New Orleans Chess world, was presented with a duly authenticated copy. – Birmingham Gazette.’

Unlike in Lawson’s time, such texts can nowadays be found online with ease, just as information about Avery’s year of death requires a mere glance at Jeremy Gaige’s Chess Personalia (1987). We hope to show the relevant Birmingham columns at a later date.

Lawson incorrectly made the New Orleans Times-Democrat sound like a primary source. Above all, it seems strange that no more was said about the photograph of Morphy taken on Avery’s initiative. Lawson added one detail about it in his chapter on Morphy in World Chess Champions (Oxford, 1981): Avery ‘had him photographed at once with his Panama hat’ (page 18).

Where is that photograph?

The only picture of Morphy wearing a hat that comes to mind is the sketch by Wallis Mackay on page 12 of Chess Life-Pictures by G.A. MacDonnell (London, 1883):

On page iv of his Preface, MacDonnell wrote, regarding the book’s illustrations:

‘It is but fair towards Mr Wallis Mackay to mention that he has been somewhat handicapped in his work. In some cases he has not had the advantage of having seen the gentlemen whom he has portrayed, and in several he has been obliged to sketch from photographs, which, although the best I could procure, were not perfectly satisfactory.’

Addition on 5 October 2025:

New Orleans Times-Democrat, 15 October 1899, page 24

The obituary of Thomas Avery on page 5 of the Birmingham Daily Gazette, 19 February 1894 included a lengthy section headed ‘Mr Avery as a Chess Player’.

12233. Paul Morphy and E.T. Fellowes (C.N. 8469)

As with other recent Morphy items, we pick up where David Lawson’s 1976 book left off.

There follows a chronological outline of the law practices of Morphy and of E.T. Fellowes – separate and joint – at 12 Exchange Place, New Orleans. These are the earliest ones traced:

Daily Picayune, 5 November 1864, page 1

The above is the advertisement mentioned in Lawson’s book (page 281 of the 1976 original and page 294 of the paperback), although not shown by Lawson as promised. Moreover, the notice had already appeared in the Daily Picayune on 2, 3 and 4 November, and there was also the following in another newspaper:

New-Orleans Times, 2 November 1864, page 5

See too Lawson’s Appendix 11 (‘Morphy Announcement of Law Office’, dated 4 November 1864).

As regards E.T. Fellowes:

Daily Picayune, 2 May 1860, page 5

(The advertisement recurred with Fellowes’ name still misspelt.)

New-Orleans Times, 12 December 1867, page 5

Over the years, many lawyers worked at 12 Exchange Place.

Daily Picayune, 7 July 1871, page 5

New-Orleans Times, 11 April 1872, page 5

‘E.B. Fellowes’ may be a misprint, but it will be seen below that there were three Felloweses (brothers) who were practising lawyers and had a first forename beginning with E.

New-Orleans Times, 3 April 1865, page 5

Another lawyer at 12 Exchange Place was John Ward Gurley:

Daily Picayune, 18 April 1873, page 5

His time there overlapped with Morphy’s:

Daily Picayune, 1 February 1874, page 5

Now, the partnership between E.T. Fellowes and Morphy:

Daily Picayune, 24 December 1873, page 5

Daily Picayune, 25 December 1873, page 7

New-Orleans Times, 25 December 1873, page 5

New-Orleans Times, 3 January 1874, page 2

But then:

Daily Picayune, 12 February 1874, page 5

Daily Picayune, 13 February 1874, page 5

On pages 290-291 of his monograph, Lawson was unusually vague about the duration of the Fellowes-Morphy partnership, stating that it began ‘ca. 1872’ and ‘lasted for some time into 1874’. That could mean two years or more, whereas the evidence of the newspaper announcements found so far indicates a period of under six weeks (from 24 December 1873 to 2 February 1874).

Ernest Thomas Fellowes died in New York on 6 April 1913 (the New York Sun, 7 April 1913, page 7). He was in his 71st year according to the brief record on page 13 of the New York Times, 8 April 1913. The same day’s New-York Tribune (page 9) reported that he was born in New Orleans in 1842, although his year of birth was given as 1845 on page 2 of Ridgewood News, 29 October 1897.

An obituary of Eugene J. Fellowes (born in New Orleans on 17 March 1847, died in Spokane on 20 January 1907) on page 7 of the Spokesman-Review, 21 January 1907 mentioned his brothers E.T. Fellowes and Edward A. Fellowes as ‘both successful lawyers of New York City’. The same information was in a shorter obituary of Eugene Fellowes on page 8 of the Daily Picayune, 20 February 1907.

Of the numerous other lawyers who had offices at 12 Exchange Place, New Orleans, John Ward Gurley (born in 1851) has been singled out here on account of his fame. He became District Attorney, and on 20 July 1903 was shot dead by an aggrieved client, Lewis (Louis) W. Lyons (New Orleans Times-Democrat, 21 July 1903, pages 1, 5 and 12). Lyons was hanged on 24 March 1905, as reported on page 4 of the Daily Picayune the following day.

12234. Supposedly Nimzowitsch

A new quirk is Editors’ use of fabricated or imaginary photographs. Nothing is right about the ‘Steinitz’ picture on page 35 of the November 2025 CHESS, and here is the start of an article about Nimzowitsch on pages 30-32 of the same issue:

The authorities quoted in Mr Ben Graff’s text include Divinsky, Schonberg and Sunnucks.

Addition on 4 November 2025:

The ‘Steinitz’ picture is shown in Alterations to Chess Images.

12235. Saint-Amant, Morphy and Edge (C.N. 12225)

From John Townsend (Wokingham, England):

‘I wonder if the praise given by Saint-Amant and Edge to Morphy for his blindfold performance at Birmingham was a trifle too enthusiastic.

Firstly, it should be remembered that Morphy had defaulted in the main tournament, perversely, in my view. Edge affirmed that it was because Morphy wanted to avoid playing Staunton at that time, while Morphy himself gave his unavailability as the reason. In the first round, his absence left the field to his opponent, Mr Smith, who was declared the winner when Morphy failed to turn up. For other information about Morphy’s withdrawal from Birmingham, see my first contribution to A Debate on Staunton, Morphy and Edge.

Whilst Morphy’s taking on, blindfold, eight players was an achievement, the Morphy adulation tends to create an exaggerated impression of the strength of the contestants in the exhibition. David Lawson, on page 113 of Paul Morphy The Pride and Sorrow of Chess (edited by Thomas Aiello, 2010), describes how the haphazard choice of his opponents came about:

“There were then in the room Messrs Staunton, St Amant, Löwenthal, Boden, Falkbeer, Brien, and others of not much inferior strength, and Morphy was in hopes that many, if not all, of these gentlemen would offer themselves as opponents. But he was mistaken and great difficulty was experienced by the Committee of Management in making up the required eight.”

In reality, none of those gentlemen accepted, causing an anti-climax. Whether they regarded him as a prima donna who was attempting to upstage the main event, or whether they were fearful for their reputations, or simply not available at short notice, is not clear. The eight amateurs chosen contained only two strong players, namely, Rev. G. Salmon, of Ireland, and J.S. Kipping, of Manchester. The latter beat Morphy.

Most of the eight were known as chess organizers rather than strong players. If we look beyond Saint-Amant’s hype and consider Board 7, for example, we find Mr Carr, of Leamington, showing distinct signs of being a weak player. He opened his game with 1 e4 h6 2 d4 a5 – shall we call it the Carr Defence? – and then lost a couple of pieces in his first 15 moves (source: H. Staunton, Chess Praxis, London, 1860, pages 521-522).

Saint-Amant also reported the score incorrectly, stating, “Morphy a gagné sept parties”. In fact, Morphy only won six, and drew with Thomas Avery.

Edge commented as follows (in Paul Morphy, The Chess Champion, London, 1859, page 71):

“But Morphy did not intend disappointing the Birmingham gentry altogether, and felt convinced that if he played six or eight games blindfold before the Association, they would pardon his absence at the opening of the meeting.”

This makes it sound as if Morphy regarded his blindfold performance as an attempt to recover the esteem he had lost through not facing his peers in the main tournament.

Staunton’s predicament in preparing for his Morphy match is likened by Saint-Amant to that of a heavily outnumbered general in the field whose only hope is to wait for yellow fever to come to his rescue:

“ ... attendant pour auxiliaire contre l’armée française la fièvre jaune, M. Staunton a fixé l’époque des brouillards pour une lutte dans laquelle son antagoniste, natif d’un climat très-chaud et qui paraît jouir d’une poitrine délicate, ne sera pas dans toute la plénitude de ses aises.” (Source: C.N. 12225.)

This is witty enough from Saint-Amant, but it is hard to tell to what extent he is joking. He equates the yellow fever in his analogy with the fog in London. Was he really suggesting that Staunton had deliberately proposed a November start to the match in order to enlist the fog on his side? Wasn’t November offered simply because it was, chronologically, the next available opportunity for Staunton? In the quadrangle in Birmingham, Morphy had invited Staunton to choose from among October, November and December. If Staunton’s objective was as dastardly as Saint-Amant suggested, he could have chosen December, when the fog was likely to be at least as bad as in November.

The severity of London’s fog in those days should not be under-estimated. In a letter, dated 10 December 1873, Staunton wrote:

“The cold is intensive and in addition to that horror we have had four days’ fog as thick & yellow as Tewkesbury mustard.” (See my book, Notes on the life of Howard Staunton, page 159.)

The fog was sometimes, literally, yellow, so the comparison with la fièvre jaune is apt in that sense. By 1873, because of what he himself described as bronchitis, Staunton viewed the arrival of winter with real fear. On 2 December, he had written:

“The late weather, so wonderful in its mildness, considering the season, has been very favourable to me, but, remembering what my sufferings were last year, I am looking forward with terror at the approach of winter with its cold death-wave.” (Source: Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections, Letters to J.O. Halliwell-Phillipps, 77/9.)

Ironically, Staunton eventually died in midsummer of the following year. We have little or no evidence of his state of health in 1858, though he complained of health problems at sundry times. It is a big assumption by Saint-Amant that, of the two players, Morphy would be the worse affected by London’s fog.

At least Saint-Amant did not question whether the match would go ahead. Commentators today tend to assume automatically that experts at the time all thought that Morphy would win easily. However, at least one writer seemed to believe that Staunton would perform well. A remark addressed to a correspondent, “Alpha”, appeared on page 192 of The Field, 4 September 1858:

“Alpha – It has been agreed by Mr Staunton to play a match with Mr Morphy in November. Although Mr Staunton must necessarily be a good deal out of practice, we have no doubt that after the first few games he will ‘come up’.”

Exactly how “come up” should be interpreted is not clear. Perhaps it means that Staunton would get into his stride. I wonder if any other writers at the time thought that Staunton would “come up”, or conveyed similar encouraging sentiments.

Backing Morphy must have been flawed by at least one important uncertainty. As Lawson revealed, Morphy’s family were strongly opposed to matches for stakes and had threatened to send an agent to London to remove the American champion bodily, if necessary, and bring him home, if he played for money (see my second contribution to A Debate on Staunton, Morphy and Edge). Although Morphy was over 21, his friend, Charles Maurian, feared that they would be “as good as their word”. This being so, once the stakes had been committed, Morphy’s backers could have been vulnerable to a risk of his defaulting, a risk of which they were not even aware. Morphy had been secretive about the promise he had made to his family, and Lawson indicates that even Maurian and Edge were in the dark about it, until the crisis over the source of the stakes was at hand. Even after the New Orleans Chess Club had supplied the stakes, Maurian’s last known words on the subject of bodily removal had contained no real assurance that it would not happen:

“As to the threat of somebody going to London, I hope it will not be carried into effect by the family. It would be useless if not worse.” (Lawson, 2010 edition, page 123.)

Perhaps there would have been some “smart money” on Staunton in view of the possibility of a default.

Why did Staunton pull out of the match? The primary reason must lie in his commitments to his publisher, Routledge. He may have made personal sacrifices to retain a chance of being available to play. For the match to come off, good relations between the two belligerents were needed.

I wonder if the effect on Staunton of Morphy’s letter of 6 October 1858, from the Café de la Régence, has been adequately considered. Confrontational from the outset, this billet-doux ends with the following statement:

“In conclusion, I beg leave to state that I have addressed a copy of this letter to several editors, being most desirous that our true position should no longer be misunderstood by the community at large.” (Lawson, 2010 edition, page 137.)

Earlier negotiations had been conducted privately, so the implication was clear: that Staunton’s word could not be trusted. Staunton did not say that he was insulted by this, but he may have seen his response as being dictated by self-respect. Morphy cannot have been surprised, surely, if this letter brought an abrupt end to negotiations which had been marred for some time by hostile exchanges in the press and elsewhere. Any remaining Staunton goodwill being enjoyed by Morphy was forfeited when he sent this letter.

Staunton replied privately on 9 October. Among other remarks, he noted that he had been waiting for Morphy’s match with Harrwitz to be concluded before he announced his decision not to play while he was busy with the Shakespeare edition. (Lawson, 2010 edition, page 138.)’

12236. The Aftermath

Daniel Naroditsky was an infrequent but fine writer on chess. Those less gifted, or whose native language is not English, can lessen the gulf if, for every text, they systematically embrace the freely available fact-checkers, grammar-checkers and spell-checkers, the ever-improving automatic translators, AI tools employed critically, and a second opinion from qualified confidants via e-mail. That is our diplomatic, impersonal wording. A more direct formulation would be that, and still referring only to linguistic standards and clarity of presentation, much of what Vladimir Kramnik has posted on X/Twitter and elsewhere has been execrable and continues to do his cause a marked disservice.

Our feature article on Daniel Naroditsky shows the conclusion of an inscription in his first chess book – the work of a prodigy and as such a record-breaking publication. The inscription itself is private, but we dwell on the date: 9 April 2010. It is a crushing thought that nearly half of his life had already gone.

12237. Language (FIDE)

Further to C.N. 12236.

On page 5 of the November 2025 CHESS, an editorial by Malcolm Pein observes that there was ‘an outpouring of anger’ at the first of two messages on X/Twitter posted by Emil Sutovsky, the Chief Executive Officer of FIDE, after the death of Daniel Naroditsky.

As in C.N. 12236, we propose to focus on language, and from the same standpoint: why would the CEO of a world federation issue a statement left unchecked by basic computer tools? For example, Mr Sutovsky wrote incoherently:

‘It kept haunting him for more than a year, even if there was not much of polemics of recent.’

Another faulty text:

‘... public debate within the chess world has too often moved beyond the boundaries of acceptable, harming not only people’s reputation but ...’

‘The boundaries of acceptable’?

That line comes from a statement by the President of FIDE, Arkady Dvorkovich, dated 22 October 2025, the same day as Emil Sutovsky’s two X/Twitter posts. The President announced that ‘all relevant public statements’ by Vladimir Kramnik were being referred ‘to the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission for independent consideration’.

On or about 28 October 2025, a statement appeared from the ‘Chairwoman, Ethics & Disciplinary Commission’, Yolander Persaud. One paragraph reads:

‘I confirm receipt of, and I have read the numerous email petitions made to the EDC concerning the bullying campaign and alleged unfounded cheating claims directed at GM Naroditsky, even posthumously. I acknowledge your expressions of hurt and frustration.’

Incorrect punctuation aside, there is this to consider:

‘... concerning the bullying campaign and alleged unfounded cheating claims ...’

As that text stands, the ‘Chairwoman, Ethics & Disciplinary Commission’ is publicly affirming that there was indeed a ‘bullying campaign’. Many will say, ‘Of course there was’, but where does her declaration leave Vladimir Kramnik’s entitlement, before her Commission, to deny any bullying campaign?

On the other hand, the cheating claims are described by Yolander Persaud as ‘alleged unfounded’, which has no meaning.

What could have been intended? Has she decided, with or without her Commission, that the claims about cheating were alleged and unfounded, or just alleged, or allegedly unfounded, or something else again? Above all, what business is it of hers to judge anything before the promised ‘independent consideration’ by her Commission has even begun? An AI tool would have suggested ‘cheating and bullying allegations’, a neutral wording which neither Vladimir Kramnik nor anyone else could reasonably contest.

Inquiries can drag on beyond the worst fears. It may soon be evident, if it is not already, that FIDE lacks the requisite independence and competence for such a major undertaking, and that an impartial outside body, such as an international investigation firm, needs to be engaged.

In the meantime, there is one practical step that FIDE officials, and not only them, could decide upon with immediate effect: no text will enter the public domain until the person or body concerned has found the short time needed to verify it properly with readily available IT tools.

Finally, our observation in C.N. 12166, dated 2 July 2025, is reiterated here:

The current battles over online cheating are a grimly undignified, barely intelligible mess with, as their hub, nothing better than X/Twitter.

There must be a better way.