Chess Notes

Edward Winter

When contacting us by e-mail, correspondents are asked to include their name and full postal address and, when providing information, to quote exact book and magazine sources. The word ‘chess’ needs to appear in the subject-line or in the message itself.

3 April 2019: C.N.s 11276-11278
4 April 2019: C.N. 11279
6 April 2019: C.N.s 11280-11283
7 April 2019: C.N. 11284
9 April 2019: C.N.s 11285-11288
10 April 2019: C.N.s 11289-11290
11 April 2019: C.N.s 11291-11292
13 April 2019: C.N. 11293
16 April 2019: C.N.s 11294-11297
18 April 2019: C.N.s 11298-11299
19 April 2019: C.N.s 11300-11301
20 April 2019: C.N.s 11302-11304
21 April 2019: C.N. 11305
22 April 2019: C.N.s 11306-11308
23 April 2019: C.N. 11309
26 April 2019: C.N. 11310
27 April 2019: C.N. 11311
29 April 2019: C.N.s 11312-11313
All feature articles and C.N. archives
C.N. Factfinder

First column << previous Archives [177] next >> Current column


11276. Press coverage of Nottingham, 1936

From pages 3-4 of CHESS, 14 September 1936:

nottingham

nottingham

nottingham

With regard to the first section, where had the quoted material been published?



11277. Emanuel Lasker and London, 1922

Can an authoritative explanation be found, or put together, concerning Emanuel Lasker’s absence from London, 1922?



11278. Buenos Aires, 1927 (C.N. 11219)

Eduardo Bauzá Mercére (New York, NY, USA) provides some further photographs taken by him at the Club Argentino de Ajedrez, Buenos Aires, on 25 March 2019:

capablanca alekhine

capablanca alekhine

capablanca alekhine

capablanca alekhine



11279. Dishonesty

An item on page 370 of Womanhood, November 1905:

poem

The poem in question was not identified, but the following had been published on page 130 of the April 1905 issue:

poem

Alfred Breese’s ‘Sing a song of Staunton’ composition appeared on page 154 of Lasker’s Chess Magazine, August 1905:

poem

The credit to the Weekly Irish Times will be noted, but Gerard Killoran (Ilkley, England) informs us that he has been unable to find the poem in any 1905 edition of that newspaper.

He has, however, come across the following, which will be added to Chess and the House of Commons:

chess

Larger version



11280. Advice from Alekhine

Alekhine annotated his loss to Euwe in the 25th match-game of their world title contest on pages 224-226 of CHESS, 14 February 1936, with this introduction:

alekhine

The final two paragraphs of the article, which was dated 3 February 1936:

‘A master should never trust the analysis of others without careful verification; nor should a player allow himself to be over-influenced by the state of the score in a contest, whether it be a match or a tournament, but should try instead only to solve the problem of the position before him.

Advice far more easy to give than to take!’



11281. Goldschmied v Preinhälter

Although familiar from databases, this game is worth adding here for comparison with Lasker v Thomas, London, 1912:

chess

chess

Source: Schachjahrbuch für 1915/16 by Ludwig Bachmann (Ansbach, 1917), pages 61-62.

1 d4 f5 2 e4 fxe4 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 exf3 5 Nxf3 e6 6 Bg5 Be7 7 Bd3 O-O 8 O-O b6 9 Ne5 Bb7 10 Bxf6 Bxf6 11 Bxh7+ Kxh7 12 Qh5+ Kg8 13 Ng6 Re8 14 Qh8+ Kf7 15 Ne5+ Ke7 16 Qxg7+ Bxg7 17 Rf7+ Kd6 18 Nb5+ Kd5 19 c4+ Ke4 20 Re1 mate.



11282. ‘Sing a song of Staunton’ (C.N. 11279)

The poem in C.N. 11279 has reminded John Townsend (Wokingham, England) of the following on page 120 of the Westminster Papers, 1 December 1869:

chess poem



11283. George H. Derrickson

The gallery of the Cleveland Public Library’s digital chess collection now has two photographs of George H. Derrickson.

It was gratifying to be able to show in C.N. 3263 (see pages 1-2 of Chess Facts and Fables) a full-length portrait of Derrickson from the scrapbooks of George Allen, with the permission of the Library Company of Philadelphia:

derrickson

From the privately-circulated 1994 edition of Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige:

derrickson



11284. Emanuel Lasker and London, 1922 (C.N. 11277)

Plans to hold an international tournament in London were reported on page 12 of The Times, 19 September 1921:

times

A similar account was on page 362 of the October 1921 BCM:

chess

A tentative list of participants was published on page 195 of the Chess Amateur, April 1922:

chess amateur

From page 258 of the June 1922 edition:

chess amateur

Neither V.K. Khadilkar nor B. Kostić participated. Regarding the former, page 14 of The Times, 31 July 1922 reported:

‘Znosko-Borovsky takes the place of the Indian Champion, V. Khadilkar, who found himself unable to make the journey to England.’

The name of J.S. Morrison of Canada was added in a report on page 5 of The Times, 26 June 1922:

times

Most British reporters wrote about the tournament as if German chess did not exist, although two BCM issues in 1922 carried reports in the ‘Colonial and Foreign News’ section, under the heading ‘Germany’, about Lasker’s non-participation in London, 1922:

July 1922, page 273:

‘In connection with the proposed quadrangular tournament in Hastings between Capablanca, Lasker, Alekhine and Rubinstein, the Deutsches Wochenschach remarks that in Hastings they appear to be more open-minded than in Chauvinistic London! The DW does not propose to report the London tournament.’

August 1922, page 307:

‘The Deutsches Wochenschach has reconsidered its decision not to report the London Congress, influenced by the fact of the invitation of Dr Lasker to Hastings, which, our contemporary says, shows that the exclusion of German masters from the London Congress is a mistake for which the whole of England must not be held responsible.’

It will be borne in mind that after Lasker wrote a series of nationalistic/patriotic/jingoistic articles about the Great War in the Vossische Zeitung from 16 August to 25 October 1914, he was strongly criticized in England, and especially in the Chess Amateur. See C.N. 3272, reproduced on page 211 of Chess Facts and Fables.

Pages 277-279 of the April-June 1927 Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten reproduced a statement by Lasker from the Essener Zeitung of 21 December 1926. His explanation as to why he would not be participating in New York, 1927 included the following about his absence from London, 1922 (and Hastings, 1922):

lasker

Another version of such remarks by Lasker was given on page 195 of our book on Capablanca.

In an endnote on pages 319-320 we quoted from Brian Harley’s column on page 19 of the Observer, 26 March 1922:

harley

On page 8 of the 23 July 1922 edition of the Observer, in a column by Harley entitled ‘Capablanca and his rivals’, there was a rare reference to Lasker by name in connection with London, 1922:

‘In the Masters’ Tourney we have the world champion, Capablanca, most of the other great foreign experts (with Lasker a conspicuous exception) and six representatives of the British Empire.’

Further details are still sought concerning the basis on which invitations to London, 1922 were, or were not, extended, and especially with regard to Lasker and Tarrasch.



11285. Pulcherio and pulchritude

An episode in the 1936 Munich Olympiad was related on pages 159-160 of the Schweizerische Schachzeitung, October 1936:

munich

munich

The Austrian magazine referred to was the Österreichische Schachzeitung, and the relevant passage on page 5 of the September-October 1936 issue is given below, courtesy of the Cleveland Public Library:

munich

Gerbec did not name the player on the Yugoslav team who lost to Pulcherio after being distracted by the beauty of a young Brazilian ‘mascot’. Pages 106-107 of part two of Schach-Olympia München 1936 by Kurt Richter (Berlin and Leipzig, 1937) record that in round 16, played on 28 August, Pulcherio (Black) defeated Imre König. We have not found the game-score.



11286. How to pronounce Nimzowitsch (C.N. 11156)

From ‘The Editor’s Mailbag’ on page 199 of CHESS, 14 February 1937:

nimzowitsch

A reply from G.C.A. Oskam was discussed on page 236 of the 14 March 1937 issue:

nimzowitsch



11287. Louis Paulsen

Just received and immediately placed at the top of our reading list: Louis Paulsen. A Chess Biography with 719 Games by Hans Renette (Jefferson, 2019).

paulsen



11288. Sämisch v Whitaker match (C.N. 11213)

C.N. 11213 asked for information about a contest referred to by N.T. Whitaker on page 503 of the December 1969 Chess Life & Review:

saemisch
                whitaker

Peter Anderberg (Harmstorf, Germany) reports that he has traced no reference to such a match in either the Deutsche Schachzeitung or Schach-Echo of the time.



11289. Gheorghiu v Quinteros (C.N. 7261)

gheorghiu quinteros

The Oxford Companion to Chess by D. Hooper and K. Whyld (Oxford, 1984), page 128

In C.N. 7261 a correspondent, Richard J. Hervert, pointed out notational errors and, in particular, that the Lone Pine, 1980 crosstable shows that Quinteros defeated Gheorghiu, and with the white pieces.

Now, Florin Dănănău (Bucharest) reports that the game was played in the Le Baron Open tournament in San José, CA, on 8 March 1980. From the Daily Review, 6 April 1980:

gheorghiu
                quinteros

The result of the tournament:

chess

Our correspondent also remarks that the Gheorghiu v Quinteros game was published on page 87 of the June 1980 issue of the Revista Română de Șah, in a feature headed ‘Lone Pine, 1980’ (pages 86-88). However, when the annotations were reproduced on pages 202-204 of Integrala de șah Florin Gheorghiu, volume two (Bucharest, 2017), the occasion was given as San José, 1980.

The game also appeared on page 11 of the March-May 1980 edition of Chess Voice.



11290. F.W. Womersley

Concerning F.W. Womersley, John Townsend (Wokingham, England) writes:

‘The birth indexes of the General Register Office show that Frederick William Womersley was born in the registration district of Hastings during the quarter ending 30 September 1839 (volume 7, page 328), his mother’s maiden name being Shaw. He seems to have been called William in the family, since he is listed by that forename in the censuses of 1841 and 1851. In 1841 the family was at Albion Place, Hastings, his father, Charles Womersley, being described as an upholsterer, with Caroline Womersley (aged 30-34), and four children, of whom William was the youngest (National Archives, HO 107/1107). In 1851, at 3 and 4 York Place, his father was described as “Upholsterer Auctioneer”, born at Tenterden, Kent; in the place of Caroline, who had died since 1841, was Catherine Womersley, aged 37; William was a “scholar” at that time (National Archives, HO 107/1635, folio 69). By 1861 he had become an upholsterer’s clerk (National Archives, RG9/560, folio 80), and in 1881 an upholsterer (National Archives, RG 11/1024, folio 39). During the quarter ending September 1859, Womersley had married Mary Ann Long in the registration district of Hastings (volume 2b, page 17). The 1881 census indicates that she was born in Bexhill, and that at that time they had two children, Emily and Godfrey. Mary Ann died in the March quarter of 1899 (Hastings, volume 2b, page 16), and in the same year the National Probate Calendar shows that Womersley also lost his father (full name Charles John Womersley). In the 1911 census, a few months prior to his death, Frederick William Womersley was shown as a widower, professional accountant and public auditor, living with his daughter, Emily, 50, who was single and served as housekeeper (National Archives, RG 14/4747).’

Our correspondent has also provided some information about Womersley’s killer, Joseph James, from page 7 of the Western Daily Press, 9 September 1931:

‘Murderer Dies at Broadmoor

The death has occurred at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum of Joseph James, a chemist (71), who at the Sussex Assize, in December 1911, was sentenced to be detained during his Majesty’s pleasure on a charge of wilful murder.’

Mr Townsend adds:

‘Confirmation of Joseph James’ death is provided by the death indexes of the General Register Office, in an entry in the September quarter of 1931 in the registration district of Easthampstead (vol. 2c, page 416), his age also being given as 71.’



11291. Charles Henry Stanley (C.N.s 3503 & 4955)

Jerry Spinrad (Nashville, TN, USA) points out that a news item about the disappearance of Charles A. Libby on page 3 of the Savannah Morning News, 14 July 1885 referred to his acquaintance with C.H. Stanley, ‘a phenomenally clever chess and whist player’:

libby stanley



11292. Howell v Tietjen

Page 52 of the scrapbook mentioned in C.N. 10811 has this game from an unidentified newspaper:

tietjen

1 d4 d5 2 e3 e6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 c4 c5 5 Nbd2 Nc6 6 dxc5 Bxc5 7 Nb3 Bb4+ 8 Bd2 dxc4 9 Bxc4 O-O 10 O-O Bxd2 11 Nbxd2 Qe7 12 a3 Rd8 13 Qe2 b6 14 Rac1 Bb7 15 Rc3 Rac8 16 Rfc1 Nb8 17 Nd4 a6 18 a4 Qd7 19 b3 Nd5 20 R3c2 Nb4 21 Rb2 N8c6 22 Nxc6 Qxc6 23 Nf3 Nd3 24 Rd1 Nxb2 25 Rxd8+ Rxd8 26 Qxb2 Qxc4 27 White resigns.

The game was played on 14 December 1893 on top board in the club match, the venue being the Bohemians Chess Club in London (BCM, January 1894, page 18).



11293. Lasker v Schlechter

A new feature article has just been posted: The Lasker v Schlechter Controversy (1910).



11294. Morphy and checkers

On the subject of draughts/checkers, details are requested regarding this paragraph on page 48 of the American Chess Bulletin, February 1927:

morphy
                checkers



11295. Posters and advertisements

A larger version of the poster shown in C.N. 7513 (included in Chess in Advertisements):

norwich union
                chess

CHESS, 14 September 1936, page 11



11296. Capablanca playing simultaneously (C.N. 7704)

Information is still sought on the exact occasion when the well-known photograph of Capablanca shown in C.N. 7704 was taken. (See too Capablanca’s Simultaneous Displays.) Below is what appeared on page 9 of the 29 April 1916 edition of the Wiener Illustrierte Zeitung:

capablanca

Larger version



11297. Sketches of Capablanca and Alekhine

From page 9 of the Illustrierte Kronen Zeitung, 15 November 1927:

capablanca

alekhine

Afterword on 10 November 2020: Miriam Friedman Morris (Pomona, NY, USA) adds that the sketches were by her father, David Friedmann (1893-1980), whose work was also shown in C.N.s 3510, 4125 and 4132.



11298. Kostić v Zollner

From page 4 of the sports section of the Salt Lake Tribune, 5 November 1922:

kostic
                zollner

1 d4 f5 2 e4 fxe4 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 d5 5 Bxf6 exf6 6 Qh5+ g6 7 Qxd5 Bd6 8 Qxe4+ Kf7 9 O-O-O Re8 10 Qh4 Kg7 11 Bd3 Nd7 12 Nf3 Nf8 13 Rhe1 Be6 14 d5 Bf7 15 Rxe8 Bxe8 16 Nd4 Bf7 17 Re1 Be5 18 Qe4 c6 19 Bc4 Qb6 20 Rd1 Re8

dia

21 Ne6+ Nxe6 22 dxe6 Bxe6 23 Bxe6 Rxe6 24 Rd7+ Kh8 25 Qh4 h5 26 Nd1 f5 27 Qg5 Bg7 28 Qd2 Qb5 29 Ne3 Qxb2+ 30 Kd1 f4 31 Rxg7 Qa1+ 32 Ke2 Qxg7 33 Qd8+ Kh7 34 Qc8 Qe7 35 White resigns.

Details are sought from any Newcastle chess columns of the time.



11299. Albin v Réti

Rod Edwards (Victoria, BC, Canada) writes:

‘On page 43 of Hundert Jahre Schachzweikämpfe (Amsterdam, 1967) P. Feenstra Kuiper listed a +1 –1 =0 result for a match between Albin and Réti in 1918, and G. Di Felice reproduced that information on page 249 of Chess Results, 1901-1920 (Jefferson, 2006). However, on pages 124 and 127 of Chess Fathering a Nation (Olomouc, 2004) O.G. Urcan gave the same result in the year 1912, and no results for Albin in 1918. Which year is correct?’

Finding contemporary references is difficult, but we note the following on page 344 of Schachjahrbuch für 1917/18 by L. Bachmann (Ansbach, 1919), in the section relating to 1918:

albin reti

Pages 62-63 of the same book, but in the section on 1917, had a game dated 7 December 1917:

albin reti

The game-score was published with the same information (i.e. without any indication of the conditions) on pages 36-37 of the February 1918 Deutsche Schachzeitung.

1 e4 b6 2 Bc4 Bb7 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 Bxf7+ Kxf7 6 Nxe4 e6 7 Ne5+ Kg8 8 Qh5 Qe7 9 d3 g6 10 Qf3 Bg7 11 Ng4 Bxe4 12 dxe4 h5 13 Ne3 Nc6 14 O-O Rf8 15 Qe2 Qh4 16 f3 Be5 17 g3 Qe7 18 f4 Bf6 19 e5 Bg7 20 Qd3 Qf7 21 Bd2 Rd8 22 Qc4 Bf8 23 b4 b5 24 Qe4 Kh7 25 Bc3 a5 26 a3 a4 27 Rad1 Bg7 28 h3 Ne7 29 g4 hxg4 30 hxg4 c6 31 Bd4 Kg8 32 Bb6 Rb8 33 Bc7 Rc8 34 Bd6 Nd5 35 Rd3 Bh6 36 Ng2 Bf8 37 f5 Bxd6 38 exd6 Kg7 39 f6+ Kg8 40 g5 Rh5 41 Rg3 Kh7 42 Nf4 Rh4 43 Nxd5 Rxe4 44 Rh3+ Kg8 45 Ne7+ Qxe7 46 dxe7 Resigns.



11300. Timothy Whitworth (1932-2019)

John Beasley has written a warm tribute to the late Timothy Whitworth, a highly respected study specialist committed to accurate research.

C.N. 9508 referred to his two books on Leonid Kubbel, and here we reproduce a letter from 35 years ago:

whitworth

whitworth

Timothy Whitworth did not have an entry in Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige (Jefferson, 1987), but he was included in the privately-circulated 1994 edition:

whitworth



11301. Chick Evans with Alekhine and Edward Lasker

alekhine
                evans lasker

Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 February 1924, page 15

alekhine evans lasker

Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), 24 February 1924, page 2 (Pictorial News section)


11302. Florin Gheorghiu

Florin Dănănău (Bucharest) has prepared a list of Florin Gheorghiu’s tournament and match results.

He also provides this official portrait of Gheorghiu, taken after he became world junior champion in 1963:

gheorghiu



11303. Another Capablanca sketch

The image in C.N. 11297 reminds Eric Fisher (Hull, England) of this sketch in F.P. Wildman’s chess column in the Yorkshire Weekly Post, 26 June 1909:

capablanca



11304. David Andrew Mitchell

mitchell

An addition to the feature article on David A. Mitchell comes from page 1 of the Hartford Courant, 10 October 1912:

mitchell



11305. Lasker v Schlechter

Ola Winfridsson (São Paulo, Brazil) writes:

‘On pages 38-39 of the 2/1963 issue of Tidskrift för Schack an article by the Swedish correspondence chess grandmaster and botanist Åke Lundquist throws possible light on the contentious issue, often discussed in C.N., of whether a two-point margin was required for Schlechter to win the world championship title from Lasker in 1910. It referred to an article by Gideon Ståhlberg on pages 295-296 of the 10/1962 issue of Tidskrift för Schack which had discussed the final game of the match. Mentioning analysis by Tarrasch and Spielmann, Lundqvist took issue with Ståhlberg’s description of the course of the game and suggested that Schlechter could have drawn with 39...Qh4+. Stating that Schlechter did see that continuation and asking why he did not select it, Lundqvist wrote that there was a possible explanation other than Spielmann’s suggestion of noblesse on Schlechter’s part:

“According to Yudovich in Shakhmaty v SSSR 2/1960, no less than a two-margin of victory had been set as a condition for the title of world champion to change owners. Such a stipulation would, in and of itself, hardly be unreasonable, and Yudovich quotes as proof a contemporary Russian chess periodical.”

Lundqvist added that Spielmann, who ought to have had first-hand information, said nothing about such a clause, but that if Yudovich’s claim were correct, it would explain Schlechter’s play: he had to win the last game to achieve the necessary two-point margin of victory. Lundqvist did not specify the contemporary source quoted by Yudovich. What exactly did Yudovich write in the 1960 Soviet magazine and what was the contemporary source that he gave?’

Vitaliy Yurchenko (Uhta, Russian Federation) has sent us not only the article by Yudovich on pages 53-54 of the 2/1960 Шахматы в СССР but also the source material used by Yudovich, i.e. page 328 of Шахматное обозрение, September 1909, and pages 455-456 of the December 1909 issue. These texts have been added direct to The Lasker v Schlechter Controversy (1910).



11306. Chick Evans with Alekhine and Edward Lasker (C.N. 11301)

A ‘tidied up’ version of the photograph on page 2 of the Pictorial News section of the Courier-Journal, 24 February 1924:

alekhine
                evans lasker

Alexander Alekhine, Chick Evans, Edward Lasker

Larger version



11307. Bogoljubow v Alekhine

‘Played without board or men, this game should go down in history as one of the most remarkable games on record.’

David A. Mitchell made that remark on page 85 of his book Chess (Philadelphia, 1918):

bogoljubow alekhine

It is one of two such blindfold games in Rastatt on page 108 of the Skinner/Verhoeven book on Alekhine. The source specified (page 317 of Shakhmatny Vestnik, 1914) is shown below, courtesy of Vitaliy Yurchenko (Uhta, Russian Federation):

bogoljubow alekhine



11308. Ortvin Sarapu (C.N.s 9477 & 11063)

C.N. 11063 reproduced a biographical article about Ortvin Sarapu on pages 177-178 of the August 1952 Chess World, with this paragraph highlighted:

sarapu

Ola Winfridsson (São Paulo, Brazil) comments:

‘Wittingly or unwittingly, that paragraph makes it sound as if Sarapu finished fourth in the top section of the Nordic Championships (the term “Scandinavian” was used). In fact, he played not in the Championship section but in one of the two groups (group A) of the Master section immediately below it. Furthermore, he did not come outright fourth but shared fourth to seventh places, with a score of 6½/11. For the detailed results, see page 209 of Tidskrift för Schack, August-September 1946.’

As mentioned in C.N. 9711, the Swedish magazine is available online.



11309. A 1936 game

Which game did the Schweizerische Schachzeitung describe as the most eventful/lively/turbulent (mouvementée) of 1936?

Many incorrect guesses can be imagined, with or without the additional information that it was between two leading masters, although not included in the winner’s best games collection.

In 1936 the game received little attention. For example, the bare score appeared on page 135 of the June 1936 Chess Review:

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Bc5 5 Be3 Qf6 6 c3 Nge7 7 Qd2 Bxd4 8 cxd4 d5 9 Nc3 dxe4 10 d5 Ne5 11 Nb5 O-O 12 Nxc7 Rb8 13 Bxa7

dia

13...Bg4 14 Bxb8 Rxb8 15 Nb5 N7g6 16 Rc1 Nf4 17 Rc3 Ned3+ 18 Bxd3 exd3 19 O-O Qg5 20 h4 Nh3+ 21 gxh3 Qxd2 22 hxg4 Qe2 23 Rc4 d2 24 Rd4 Qxb5 25 Rd1 Re8 26 R4xd2 Re4 27 f3 Re2 28 Rc1 h5 29 Rcc2 Qb6+ 30 White resigns.

The game (Kashdan v Reshevsky, US championship, New York, 4 May 1936) was called ‘La partie la plus mouvementée de 1936’ when it was annotated by Fritz Gygli on pages 74-76 of the May 1937 Schweizerische Schachzeitung:

kashdan
                reshevsky

kashdan
                reshevsky

kashdan
                reshevsky

Brief annotations by Reshevsky were published on page 24 of the 25 June 1936 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

kashdan
                reshevsky



11310. Fred Reinfeld

reinfeld

After a run of finely-researched books, McFarland & Company, Inc. has produced something unworthy: Fred Reinfeld. The Man Who Taught America Chess, with 282 Games by Alex Dunne (Jefferson, 2019).

One passage for now, from pages 131-132 of this casual, undiscerning 194-page paperback:

reinfeld

reinfeld
  • The first paragraph obviously needs editing.

  • The second paragraph vaguely attributes to ‘Chess Forums at Chess.com’ a passage by Arnold Denker which – a ten-second Internet search would have shown – is from his 1995 book The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories. (The wording in the book was indeed ‘in three weeks for $100’. The figure $1 is merely one of many transcription errors on a chess.com page.)

  • The third paragraph consists of a bare quote, and a further ten seconds with a search engine suffice to show that it was written by W.D. Rubinstein, as a contribution to C.N. 341. See Chess and Ghostwriting.


11311. The Capablanca v Corzo match

Yandy Rojas Barrios (Cárdenas, Cuba) writes:

‘In their match in Havana in 1901, Capablanca won games 4, 8, 9 and 11, and Corzo won games 1, 2 and 13. The result is customarily given as +4 –3 =6. Although there has been much debate about the status of the final 13th game, little has been said about game 12.

In the chapter on the match in My Chess Career (London, 1920) Capablanca wrote:

capablanca corzo

Capablanca’s fourth victory was in game 11, before which the match score was +3 –2 =5 in his favour. Even so, he also stated that his fourth win was the final game of the contest:

capablancacorzo

On pages 36 and 37 of Capablanca Biografía (Havana, 1990), Jorge Daubar referred to the 12th game as the last:

capablancacorzo

capablancacorzo

Daubar had also produced the games collection Así jugaba Capablanca (Havana, 1988). From page 11:

capablancacorzo

The ‘12.12.’ indicated that, according to Daubar, that draw with the Ruy López was the last of the match. On the same page the Dutch Defence game, won by Corzo, was numbered not 13 but zero (‘0-0’):

capablanca corzo

The following page explained that the Dutch Defence game was not included in the total match score (which Daubar therefore gave as +4 –2 =6):

capablancacorzo

On page 84 of volume one of Capablanca, leyenda y realidad (Havana, 1978) Miguel A. Sánchez wrote that 5½ points were required to win the match and that, therefore, a draw in the 12th game was enough for Capablanca:

capablancacorzo

This does not make sense because after 11 games Capablanca already had 6½ points.

In José Raúl Capablanca. A Chess Biography (Jefferson, 2015) Sánchez asserted on page 84 that by drawing the 12th game Capablanca won the match:

capablancacorzo

There was this endnote on page 506:

capablancacorzo

As shown below, page 4 of Diario de la Marina of 16 November 1901 did indeed state that the winner of the match would be the player who made the better score from seven games, draws not counting:

capablancacorzo

David Hooper and Dale Brandreth wrote, correctly, on page 116 of The Unknown Capablanca (London, 1975):

capablancacorzo

However, page 80 of a Spanish version of Miguel A. Sánchez’s McFarland book, entitled Capablanca, leyenda y realidad (Havana, 2017 – although it did not appear until 2019), had the following about game 12:

capablancacorzo

The corresponding endnote 39 on page 96 affirms that in the Havana Chess Club it was customary to play out all the games of a match even if the final overall result of the contest would not be affected:

capablancacorzo

Although that clarification was provided to explain why game 13 was played, it could also have been applied to game 12.

In short, it seems to me that contrary to what Daubar and Sánchez have written, the final score must either include both games 12 and 13 or exclude both. It is illogical to include only game 12.’



11312. Vienna, 1895-96

Hans Renette (Bierbeek, Belgium) notes the digitization of a volume on the 1895-96 winter tournament of the Wiener Schachgesellschaft, including many forgotten games played by, among others, Englisch, Schlechter and Weiss.



11313. James Cooper Warner

From John Hilbert (Amherst, NY, USA):

‘In C.N. 2891 (reproduced on page 319 of Chess Facts and Fables) a correspondent contributed a quotation from page 59 of Chess World, 1866. Although the author of the passage is not named, the placement of a Diggle quotation immediately afterwards, which referred to Staunton’s frustration due to his poor health, suggests that Staunton was the author. However, Staunton, the editor of Chess World, referred to the New York Leader, 10 March 1866. The text thus appears to reflect an American source tweaking Morphy for his abdication of the national title, rather than Staunton himself criticizing Morphy.’

chess world

Chess World, 1866, page 59

We add the original text, from page 8 of the 10 March 1866 edition of the New York Leader:

chess

chess

chess

From page 241 of Chess Columns A List by K. Whyld (Olomouc, 2002):

warner

The publication dates ‘03/07/1866-17/03/1866’ are evidently wrong.

The abbreviation ‘m2’ refers to a catalogue of chess columns prepared by H.J.R. Murray. Its entry for the Leader is difficult to read:

warner

Larger version

As shown below, the newspaper had a chess column by Warner from 3 February 1866 (page 5) to 19 May 1866 (page 8):

warner

warner

To trace information about James Cooper Warner, Jeremy Gaige’s Chess Personalia (1987 and 1994) is, as so often, indispensable:

warner

From page 6 of the New York Tribune, 29 April 1868:

warner

An additional item comes from the Era, 17 May 1868, page 5:

warner

For further information about Warner, including some of his games, see pages 97-100 of John Hilbert’s Essays in American Chess History (Yorklyn, 2002).





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