Wednesday 28 March 2018

Additions and Corrections

The Illustrated London Magazine



In the previous article I included the chess columns from Volume I of 1853. I now learn that the first five volumes are available on Google Books as follows:

Volumes I and II are here, although the only chess column in Volume II was in March 1854 on pages 105/106.

Volumes III and IV are here. Volume III covered July to December 1854 with chess columns from September to December on pages 106, 154, 211, and 256. The September column included a recently played game between Green and Williams, and assuming that this was Elijah Williams, the column's editor, this was possibly one of his last games before he died on 8th September 1854.

Volume IV included a chess column every month from January to June 1855 on pages 41, 82, 126, 175, 215, and 271.

Volume V covering July to December 1855 is here, with chess articles in July, August and September on pages  50, 104, and 162.

Williams' successor as chess editor is not named but was possibly Josef Kling, as most of the games included were played in Kling's Chess Rooms and many of the problems are by Kling.

Thanks to Dr. Timothy Harding for much of this information. Harding's forthcoming book British Chess Literature to 1914, A Handbook for Historians, is eagerly anticipated.


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Additions to Betts' Bibliography.

I previously stated that the book: Leicestershire Chess Club Centenary Tournament, 1961, had been omitted from Douglas Betts' Annotated Bibliography. That was incorrect as this book is included, hidden away at the bottom of page 359, and I have removed the details from my previous article.

However, a tournament book not recorded by Betts is Commonwealth Tournament, Oxford 1951, edited by Ken Whyld.  



This is Ken Whyld's Limited Edition Number Three, and it is curious that Betts missed this considering that he included the other five books in the series. The edition was limited to 125 copies and in an email dated 2002 Whyld informed Eric Fischer that he did not have a copy himself.

An intriguing note at the end mentions a publication on Vienna 1882 "not for general sale".

 

The following photograph, with caption, from the event was published on page 55 of A History of Chess by Jerzy Gizycki, (English text edited by B. H. Wood), London 1972. This book is packed full of wonderful photos and illustrations.




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Marache's Manual of Chess

In the first article on A. J. Souweine's catalogue I included an illustration of, what I thought, was the first edition of Marache's Manual of Chess, with the "fancy pictorial wrapper":




However, René Wukits has queried whether this colourful cover was really published as early as 1866. Perhaps the first edition had this green and gilt cover:

 

 

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The Chess Problem by R. McClure



In my article on this rare periodical I claimed that it was "the only British chess periodical which commenced operations during the war years". Jurgen Stigter has pointed out that the West London Chess Club Gazette (which is absent from Betts' Bibliography) was also launched during the war, having commenced in November 1941.



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Chess Pie No. 2 and the International Team Tournament, 1927

In my article I stated that no tournament book on this event was published. Wrong again; the very useful recent publication: Chess Competitions, 1824-1970, compiled by Gino Di Felice, lists six books and pamphlets relating to this tournament. 



These include Chess Pie No. 2, a Programme published by the British Chess Federation, Hamilton-Russell Cup Results, published in 1927, two editions of Ken Whyld's later book on the event, first issued in 1993, and Schachkämpfer: Einzelbilder vom Länderwettkampf zu London im Juli 1927, by Erwin Voellmy, Basel 1927. 



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William Lombardy

Lombardy's article on Bobby Fischer, A Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma, from Sports Illustrated is available in full on several websites including Chess.Com, here and here

Lombardy's inscribed copy of My 60 Memorable Games was sold, along with some other items, at Bonhams, New York last December for $1,875. I understand that this copy of Fischer's book is now being advertised for sale for $50,000!

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I am always very pleased to receive comments and corrections .



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