British Chess

Literature to 1914
 Also by Tim Harding
and from McFarland

Joseph Henry Blackburne:

A Chess Biography (2015)
Eminent Victorian Chess Players:
Ten Biographies (2012)
Correspondence Chess in Britain and
Ireland, 1824–1987 (2011)
 British Chess
Literature to 1914
A Handbook for Historians
Tim Harding

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

Jefferson, North Carolina
 FIRST EDITION, first printing

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING -IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Harding, T. D., author.
Title: British chess literature to 1914 : a handbook for historians / Tim Harding.
Description: Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc.,

♾
Publishers, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018003914 | ISBN 9781476668390 (softcover : acid free paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Chess—Great Britain—History—19th century. | Chess—Press
coverage—Great Britain—History—19th century.
Classification: LCC GV1330.G7 H37 2018 | DDC 794.10941—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018003914

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

ISBN 978-1-4766-6839-0 (print)
ISBN 978-1-4766-3169-1 (ebook)

© 2018 Tim Harding. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording , or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover image of chess game © 2018 benoitb/iStock; background A chess

column from The Home Circle, volume 2, 1850 (author’s collection)

Edited by Robert Franklin

Designed by Susan Ham and Robert Franklin
Typeset by Susan Ham

Printed in the United States of America

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers

Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
 Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments 1 Chess in School Magazines 73

Abbreviations and Annotation Bird’s Innovative Chess Column 76
Symbols 5 Nottingham Newspapers 80
Notes on Old British Money and Confusions over Newcastle Papers 83
on Chess Notation 6 Early Scottish Columns 85
Welsh Columns 87
1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Irish Chess Columns 89
Egerton Smith and Thomas
Wakley 7 4. Latter Years of the Chess
Definition of a Column 12 Column 97
Some Notes on Bibliographies 14 “Captain King” and the Rise of
Early Reporting of Chess Events 17 Syndication 98
The First Chess Editor: Egerton Smith 19 Hoffer at The Field (and Elsewhere) 100
Thomas Wakley and The Lancet 23 Muddle Over The Standard 103
Later Years at The Field 106
2. The Heyday of Walker and Some Complicated Columns 108
Staunton 25 Gunsberg as Columnist 113
Early Years of Chess at Bell’s Life in London 25 Later Years at the Illustrated London News 118
Illustrated London News: The Early Years 28 Chess Columns in More Recent Days 119
Some Other Pre–1850 Columns 33
More Columns in the 1850s 35 5. A Short History of Chess
Early Chess in The Field 41 Magazines Up to 1914 121
The Chess Column of The Era 42 The Earliest Chess Periodicals 123
Early Rivals to the Chronicle 127
3. The Golden Age of Chess The Chess Player’s Magazine 133
Columns, ca. 1860–1885 44 The Chess World 138
Wormald’s Start in Chess Journalism 45 The Westminster Papers 142
The Illustrated Weeklies 46 The City of London Chess Magazine 145
A Fine Column: Land and Water 52 Other English Magazines of the 1870s 154
Heyday of the Field Column 58 Hoffer and Zukertort’s Magazine 157
Steinitz’s Other Columns 66 American Magazines of the 1870s and
Columns in Various Periodicals 67 1880s 160

v
vi Table of Contents

Early Years of the British Chess Magazine 164 8. On Doing Chess History
Other Late Victorian Magazines 168 Today 275
Other Edwardian Chess Magazines 174
On Archives, Libraries and Private
Collections 276
6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s The Murray Collection in Oxford 282
Chronicle 178 Genesis of the Chess Column List 287
The Short Life of The British Miscellany 178 About Digitization and Online Research 288
The Early Years of Staunton’s C.P.C. 192 On Websites and Game Databases 289
Brien’s Tenure of the Chronicle 202 The Uses of Genealogy 292
The Third Series 206 A Few Final Words 293
Skipworth and the Quarterly Chronicle 211
The Jenkin Interlude 214 Appendices
The Ranken Years 216 I. British and Irish Chess Columns to
Morgan Takes Over in 1881 218 1914: An Annotated List 297
The Final Series 225 II. British and Irish Chess Magazines,
1837–1914: A Summary 341
7. A Century and a Half of British III. Some Corrections to The Oxford
Chess Books 231 Companion to Chess 344
Earliest British Chess Books 232 IV. Contents of The British Miscellany 346
The Era of Philidor 235 V. Some Amendments to Gaige’s Chess
Sarratt and Cochrane’s Treatises 237 Personalia 349
General Manuals from Lewis to VI. The Chess Column of Our School
Staunton 240 Times 352
Early Game Collections 246
Chapter Notes 355
Jaenisch on the Openings 249
Problems and Studies 251 Bibliography 369
Miscellaneous Works 253 MSS in archives 369
Later Game Collections and Unpublished works 369
Tournament Books (1851 onwards) 255 Secondary and reference works 369
Later Books about Problems 258 Online Services and Useful Weblinks 370
History and Culture of Chess 264 Other works by the present author 370
Books on the Openings 266 Index of Games 371
Annual Works and Directories 273 General Index 372
 Preface and Acknowledgments

The 21st century has seen a considerable lications in English about chess, even before
expansion of interest in chess history, along Philidor raised the profile of the game in the
with a raising of standards in published biog- late 18th century. Even so, there is not much
raphies and historical works. This book sur- to report until the 1830s except for a handful
veys the various kinds of chess literature pub- of books and articles in general periodicals.
lished in Britain and Ireland up to 1914, and Then in 1835 the first major newspaper chess
in so doing it paints a picture of chess life in column began. Soon afterwards, the first mag-
the United Kingdom from an angle that dif- azines devoted to chess appeared and chess
fers from most histories of the period. While columns were increasingly featured in peri-
this book is primarily intended for people ac- odicals from the 1840s onwards. As the mar-
tive in chess history research, or who may ket grew rapidly in response to sharply falling
consider undertaking a project in chess his- book prices, The Quarterly Review noted, in a
tory, it should also interest anyone who cares special article about chess in its June 1849
about the history of the game and would like number, that “chess has truly a literature of its
more insight into an historian’s methods, own.” This literature provides the largest body
sources and outlook. This is not just a study of primary source material about chess, and
of methods and sources; it does include along amateur play in particular, for the 19th and
the way a fair amount of historical informa- early 20th centuries.
tion. The book also includes 18 illustrative Generally this book uses “Edwardian” as
games taken from rare sources, but it is not a a shorthand for the period 1901 to 1914 al-
work of technical instruction. though technically that is wrong because Ed-
The growth of interest in chess history ward VII died in 1910 and his son George V
parallels an expansion in academic studies not was on the throne for the last few years of the
only of sports history, but also of the relation- period. The year 1914 has been chosen as a
ship between print, literacy and the develop- stopping point because the outbreak of the
ment of Western societies, with Victorian pe- First World War in August wrought a huge
riodicals receiving much attention. Yet the transformation in society, its collateral dam-
space that many of these devoted to games and age affecting all sports (including chess) and
puzzles is a research topic that was until re- their publications. Many chess columns ended
cently ignored by scholars. soon after the outbreak of hostilities although
This book does discuss the earliest pub- some chess clubs continued their activities

1
2 Preface and Acknowledgments

throughout the war. After the scaled-down with columns alone would result in a thin
1914 British Chess Federation congress, it was book (in both physical and intellectual terms)
not until 1920 that the British Chess Cham- and a more complete survey of the chess lit-
pionship for men was played again. (In 1919 erature was required, including specialist
there was a British Ladies’ Championship and magazines and books also. This book is not
a small international “Victory” tournament at solely “meta-history.” It also aims to put on
Hastings instead.) Occasionally this book record numerous minor discoveries of the
does stray into the later 20th century, or makes present author about chess history, and its
mention of works in other languages or pub- sources, which do not fit into previous or
lished in other countries, but chiefly it deals planned future works, in order that they should
with British and Irish chess literature to the not be lost to posterity. The appendices, es-
outbreak of the First World War. pecially the first, supplement and correct cer-
This book has a special emphasis on tain reference works which are often consulted
columns. They were not only an important and cited.
stimulus to interest in chess, but often con- Readers are welcome to read the chap-
tained more detailed information than the ters in any sequence that suits them and they
necessarily selective magazines. Many columns may prefer to begin with the Chapter 7 on
and magazines also sponsored competitions books, for example, but it is advisable to take
of various kinds, including postal and prob- the four chapters on columns in sequence.
lem tourneys, and thus were directly instru- This is because there is a kind of chronolog-
mental in the game’s development. These ical narrative here, and each chapter does to
columns are discussed in Chapters 1–4 and some extent presuppose that the reader has
also the major Appendix I. They were not just digested the information from its predeces-
an English phenomenon. The first Scottish sors.
chess column began in 1847, the first in Ire- Chapters 5 and 6 are devoted to British
land in the 1860s, and the earliest in Wales in chess magazines of the period. This is prob-
1870. British emigrants also conducted some ably the most authoritative section in this
of the earliest chess columns abroad. The first book. The time-frame of the two chapters
columns in America were conducted in the overlaps but after a couple of drafts it became
New York papers Spirit of the Times (1845– clear that there would be more clarity if The
1848) and Albion (1848–1865) by an English- Chess Player’s Chronicle, in its various versions,
man, Charles Henry Stanley (1819–1901). was dealt with as a separate narrative. The
Aylmer Maude (later a friend and translator other magazines are discussed first. Chapter
of Tolstoy) started a column in the Moscow 5 establishes, among other things, the detailed
magazine Zritel (“Spectator”) in October 1881: history of The Chess Player’s Magazine. Special
it was mentioned at the time in the Illustrated attention is also paid to some lesser magazines
London News. that have escaped the attention of previous
The genesis of this book was a sugges- writers, whereas the history of The Chess-
tion by McFarland’s founder and president Monthly and British Chess Magazine is quite
emeritus, Robert Franklin, to provide a study well known and they do not require a year-
of chess columns aimed at readers whose by-year review.
principal interest was in chess history, rather Chapter 6 starts with the fullest account
than the history of periodical literature which yet of the publication which preceded, and
was the angle in a 2009 article for Victorian led to the launch of, the Chronicle, namely The
Periodicals Review, which is listed in the Bib- British Miscellany. Furthermore, it includes a
liography. Eventually we decided that dealing fairly detailed account of the career of the
 Preface and Acknowledgments 3

magazine’s second editor, Oxford graduate of sources is also discussed but most readers
Robert Barnett Brien (1827–1873). To say are probably familiar with this phenomenon.
just that his failed stewardship of the maga- There are also warnings about the dangers of
zine was due to his liking for alcoholic drink relying on what is available on the internet.
must be an over-simplification. The confused Chapter 8 does express some personal opin-
period of the Third Series is also clarified ions to which some readers may object, but
somewhat, as Kolisch’s brief involvement is elsewhere in the book the aim has been com-
teased out. Also Jenkin’s brief period in charge plete objectivity.
in 1876 receives more attention than it is usu- The first appendix, by far the largest, is
ally given. The chapter ends with some little- an alphabetical index of British chess columns,
known information about the rare volumes of based on the work of previous writers, sup-
the Chronicle which were produced, most er- plemented by a decade and a half of additional
ratically, in the late 1880s and 1890s culmi- research. The other five appendices are of less
nating in The Chess Chronicle about which we importance but may conceivably be of use to
offer a tentative hypothesis connecting it to future researchers and writers too.
the well known chess writer Leopold Hoffer Appendix I may be the most important
(1842–1913). part of the book for readers who undertake
The title of Chapter 7 refers to P. W. their own research into chess in the 19th and
Sergeant’s A Century of British Chess, a book early 20th centuries. It is an attempt to correct
which for all its faults (and they are many) is and supplement Chess Columns: A List, the
a secondary source one would not want to be last work by Ken Whyld, published posthu-
without. Century is not discussed in detail be- mously. Whyld himself was aware that it could
cause it falls outside the time-frame of this be improved upon, and had he lived, further
book but there are many places where we refer editions would have followed, of increasing
to what Sergeant had to say about people and reliability as readers sent in their own notes.
events. Nor does this chapter attempt to dis- Indeed his whole project, a bibliography of
cuss every chess book that was published. chess columns from all around the world, was
There were far too many of them—turn to a vastly over-ambitious. By concentrating on
bibliography if one wants lists—and their British and Irish columns only, the present
value to historians is limited compared to what work tackles a more manageable, but still vir-
the columns and magazines have to offer. In- tually infinite, job. Appendix I is not claimed
stead that chapter offers a less comprehensive to be definitive because, as the digitization of
and more personal view about old chess books, old newspapers rapidly progresses, new dis-
concentrating on some trends and particular coveries are constantly being made. The release
titles that interest the author. of thousands of pages from half-forgotten
Finally, in Chapter 8, personal observa- publications is a never-ending process. Nev-
tions are offered on the objects and methods ertheless we do believe Appendix I is a sig-
of chess history, together with some practical nificant advance on all previous lists of its
advice and information. Any reader who is ac- kind concerning British and Irish columns.
tively involved in a research project, and who Current and future researchers are encour-
is planning to visit the British Library, the aged to inform the author or publisher of their
Royal Dutch Library or the Bodleian, might own additions and amendments.
do well to read Chapter 8 first. Another sec- In this book, British spellings of words
tion of this chapter deals with manuscript such as “colour” and “centre,” and terms such
sources, of which there are far fewer than as “railway” (for railroad) and “draughts” (for
chess historians would like. The digitization checkers) are retained where they occur in
4 Preface and Acknowledgments

proper names or in direct quotations, includ- this kind. At the John G. White Collection of
ing original game notes and extracts (or block the Cleveland Public Library, Ohio, Pamela
quotes). Old British currency and chess no- Eyerdam and Ray Rozman, chess librarian, as-
tation are briefly explained in a separate note sisted with some of the illustrations for this
on page 6. Most numbered citations and sup- book, and in the past Lissa Waite and Kelly
plementary notes will be found in the back of Ross Brown (who have since moved on) also
the book, but in a few cases it is better to pres- assisted with my research. Henk Chervet and
ent these as footnotes; they are indicated by his colleagues at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek
asterisks or similar marks in the text. Readers in The Hague have also assisted in the past.
of the author’s previous works (especially Em- In addition I especially wish to thank, in no
inent Victorian Chess Players) may find some particular order, the staffs of Trinity College
repetition of facts and points, as it cannot be Dublin library and the National Library of
assumed every reader has seen those books, Ireland; the staff of the (now closed) British
but this has been kept to a minimum. In other Library Newspapers at Colindale, and of the
cases we dilate upon, or occasionally correct, main British Library at St. Pancras.
what was said in former works. I should also like to thank Andy Ansel,
Leonard Barden, William Breeze, Maurice
Carter, Michael Clapham, Bert Corneth, Brian
Acknowledgments Denman, Rod Edwards, Rob Ensor, Vlastimil
Fiala, Kathleen and Owen Hindle, Gerard Kil-
A large historical work of this kind can- loran, David McAlister, Robert Montgomery,
not be written without the help of others. The John Saunders and Panagis Sklavounos for
support of Nottingham chess book collector, their support, with apologies to others whom
publisher and historian Tony Gillam was es- I may have forgotten to mention. Lastly, I
sential concerning the columns and we have thank my wife Joan for once again supplying
exchanged many queries and information all kinds of help and putting up with long
with him over a long period. Librarians and hours out of her company, spent on research
archivists are essential helpers for projects of and writing.
Abbreviations and Annotation Symbols

B.C.A. British Chess Association

B.C.C.A. British Correspondence Chess Association
B.C.F. British Chess Federation
B.C.M. British Chess Magazine
B.L. British Library
B.L.L. Bell’s Life in London
B.N.A. British Newspaper Archive
C.P.C. Chess Player’s Chronicle [or variant title in the series]
C.P.M. Chess Player’s Magazine
I.L.N. Illustrated London News
I.S.D.N. Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News
J.G.W.C. John G. White Collection (at Cleveland Public Library, Ohio)
jpg Joint Photographic Experts Group (image format)
K.B. Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Dutch Library)
M.P. Member of Parliament
O.D.N.B. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
pdf Portable Document Format
Q.C.H. Quarterly for Chess History
T.C.D. Trinity College Dublin
U.K. United Kingdom
W.P. Westminster Papers (chess magazine)
£ Pound sterling (British currency)
s. Shillings (unit of old British currency)
d. Pence (unit of old British currency)

! Strong move ?! Dubious move

!! Brilliant move † Check
? Weak move 1–0 White wins
?? Blunder 0–1 Black wins
!? Interesting move ½–½ Drawn game

5
 Notes on Old British Money
and on Chess Notation

Until decimalization on 15 February you can reckon five U.S. dollars to the pound
1971, the British currency, the pound sterling, except during the American Civil War when
was divided into twenty shillings, each of the dollar weakened considerably. The dollar
which was worth twelve pence, so that there recovered during the 1870s and was back to
were 240 pence in the pound. A sum of money antebellum rates by 1878.
would be written, with abbreviations, as in
this example: £4 3s. 6d. meaning four pounds,
three shillings and six pence. If there were no When printing game scores or move se-
pence, four pounds and three shillings might quences, descriptive notation was almost ex-
be written £4 3/– or £4 3s. Occasionally sums clusively used in the English-speaking world
were expressed in guineas, and by the mid– during the period covered by this book. In
19th century the value of a guinea was stan- fact, until well after the Second World War,
dardized as £1 1s. English descriptive notation was still by far
For comparing sums of money in the old the norm in Britain, the British Empire, and
days with present values in pounds, and also the United States. It gradually evolved from
historic exchange rates, we recommend using verbose descriptions into a kind of shorthand.
the calculator on the Measuring Worth web- Similar forms of notation were frequently
site (www.measuringworth.com), which is an used in French- and Spanish-language publi-
invaluable resource for historians. Some of cations also. In this book all games and anno-
the more important sums in the text have tations are presented in the now universal al-
been given equivalent values based on the cal- gebraic notation (often called the “German
culator at that site. During the 19th century notation” by British writers in the 19th cen-
exchange rates fluctuated, but as a rule of thumb tury).

6
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors:
Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley

The first four chapters of this book ex- sports. Although a great deal of the output of
amine the origin and growth of chess report- Victorian printed presses was binned or pulped
ing in English periodicals. Before going into within days of publication, an astonishing
detail about the earliest editors and their amount was preserved for posterity in libraries
columns, the topic of columns should be in- and archives. Microfilming, from the late 20th
troduced and some definitional distinctions century, made available many of the newspa-
and other general observations made. pers that had become too fragile for repeated
Historians love, and indeed rely upon, handling by readers. Now digitization (espe-
primary sources—documents created at the cially when the sources are made available
time of the events they describe. Newspapers, in effective word-searchable databases) has
published within days of the events they re- opened new horizons, as will be discussed
port, are prime examples of primary sources further in the last chapter.
which were created (in Britain at least) from Many of these documents are potentially
the late 17th century onwards, and in abun- of great interest to historians of chess. At first
dance from the mid–19th century. They pro- chess historians primarily saw them as sources
vide information that sometimes cannot be for finding the scores of chess games that had
found anywhere else—although the fact that never found their way into specialist chess
they are written so soon after the event means magazines, but increasingly they are taking a
that they could be prone to unintentional broader view of how newspaper and periodi-
error. Along with other issues (such as polit- cal sources can be used for chess research.
ical bias), the historian must treat newspapers These printed materials enable us to trace not
with care and find corroborative sources where only the matches and tournaments of bygone
possible. eras, but also to research the lives of chess play-
Other types of periodicals, especially ers, both professionals and amateurs. Even the
weekly magazines, can also be extremely valu- opinion articles and sometimes casual com-
able and they have been increasingly studied ments can help us to understand the mind-
by historians of the 19th century. That was set of our ancestors and the social context in
the first period to produce a great wealth of which they lived.
printed primary sources about games and Historian Edward Royle has warned that

7
8 British Chess Literature to 1914

“the golden rule for all historians using the many sources of this kind. A few successful
press … is to assume that, until you have rea- chess biographies have been written which
son to believe otherwise, it is not telling the were able to draw on private papers, or whose
truth”: important advice when one is reading subject had a significant life outside chess, but
political journalism. In general this advice for many topics in chess history printed pri-
may be less relevant in the case of chess, but mary sources are likely to be central.
Royle’s Law particularly needs bearing in mind Old newspapers and periodicals (other
when reading the output of Howard Staunton than specialist chess magazines) typically con-
(1810?–1874) and, to a lesser extent, of William tain four different types of information of use
Steinitz (1836–1900) and others.1 to chess historians. The most significant of
Chess literature divides itself into three these, the regular chess columns that appeared
kinds: the polemical that immediately puts (usually on a weekly basis) for months, years
the critical reader on guard (and anyway usu- or sometimes decades in the same publica-
ally stems from certain pens known generally tion, are the main subject of this and the next
to be controversial), technical and instruc- three chapters, as well as of the extensive Ap-
tional chess material, about which truth-value pendix I. Secondly, there are straightforward
questions do not arise, and factual announce- reports of chess events or the activities of
ments about forthcoming or recent events. Of chess players, appearing on news pages on an
course, misprints could occur, and mistakes irregular basis, usually one-off accounts but
were not always corrected later, but on the sometimes in concentrations over two or three
whole the chess editors (especially provincial weeks when a paper decided to report a chess
columnists, less likely to have an axe to grind) tournament or match. These can be distin-
did their best, and there is rarely reason to guished from a column simply because when
doubt matters they state as fact. There is one the event is over, the reports cease. Also in
obvious exception: when a future event was some cases a local or regional newspaper re-
announced (such a match fixture or the visit ported chess activities in their area on a reg-
of a master to a chess club) this was subject ular basis (such as results of league matches)
to postponement or cancellation. but not as part of a regular weekly column that
Social, cultural, political and military would carry other chess information. Thirdly,
historians are often able to draw on a wealth there are sometimes interviews with players
of primary source material in the form of di- or feature articles dealing with chess or chess
aries and letters (whether privately held in players. Finally, one can sometimes find ad-
manuscript or published), official documents, vertisements for forthcoming chess events or
and other forms of public record (such as publications which provide information not
statutes and white papers). Previously unpub- available in news reports or columns.
lished manuscript primary sources have For the purposes of this book, a distinc-
formed the basis of countless doctoral disser- tion should be made between “chess editor”
tations, but very few chess masters have left and “chess author.” The writer of a book, or
us diaries or an abundance of letters. It is pos- of a substantial article in a periodical, we shall
sible to strike it lucky, especially if one intends call an author. Somebody (usually anonymous
to research a biography of a player who lived in the 19th century) who wrote a news report
comparatively recently and has left private pa- we can deem to be a reporter, although typi-
pers to family members who are willing to cally such reports were probably sent in by
allow access to them, but in general, the chess local chess club secretaries rather than by a
historian (especially dealing with periods more staff reporter on the newspaper in question.
than fifty years in the past) is unlikely to find The term “chess editor” was widely used
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley 9

The first female chess editors. Left: Frideswide Fanny Beechey (later Mrs. Rowland), who
began in the Matlock Register, 1882/3, and later conducted several columns. The photograph
is from her first book, Chess Blossoms (1883). Right: Mrs. Rhoda Bowles, chess correspondent
of Womanhood magazine from 1899 to 1907. Photograph (1897) by George W. Bradshaw of
Hastings (courtesy Cleveland Public Library Special Collections).

in Victorian Britain to refer to the person who premature death, there was Miriam Clarke,
conducted a regular column, but it can also second wife of Isidor Gunsberg, writing in the
be applied to the editor of a specialist chess Lady’s Pictorial. In her case it is fairly clear that
magazine. (In a small number of cases, apart her husband wrote the game notes and she
from chess magazines, the “chess editor” may did everything else. Both she and Bowles were
also have been the editor of the publication writing for a predominantly female reader-
as a whole.) The “chess editor” was indeed an ship. Beechey wrote primarily for a general
editor in the tasks he performed when com- audience, in numerous papers (and only once
piling his columns. When he had sufficient for a woman’s magazine). As she was a stronger
space in the paper, he might assemble his ar- player than her husband, there is no question
ticle from a variety of sources, such as letters, of his writing her columns; rather, it was often
games, and problems submitted by his read- the other way about.
ers, items culled from the daily press or other The distinction between a newspaper
editors’ columns of previous weeks, and of and a periodical can be somewhat unclear.
course there would also be parts of the col- Until August 1855, when the stamp duty on
umn that he wrote himself. newspapers was repealed by Parliament, this
We say “he” because before the First was a legal distinction. The publisher of a
World War the chess editor almost always was newspaper had to pay a tax (usually a penny)
a man. There were two very important female for each copy sold, which of course meant the
chess editors—Galway-born Frideswide price of copies sold on the street was higher
Beechey (afterwards Mrs. Thomas Rowland) than it would otherwise have been. At least,
and Mrs. Rhoda Bowles of the London Ladies’ after the introduction of the Penny Post in
Chess Club. In addition, though only for just 1840, the stamp did cover the cost of sending
over two years (1895–1897) because of her the newspaper by post to subscribers, so for
10 British Chess Literature to 1914

a reader in the provinces taking a London their title. Nowadays the term “journal” tends
paper it was not an extra expense. One effect to be used for academic periodicals which
of the removal of the stamp duty was greatly sometimes appear just quarterly or even less
to increase the number of English newspapers, frequently than that. Some other cataloguing
and to encourage daily publication where systems use the word “serial” to refer to reg-
there was a sufficient market. In the second ular publications of all kinds, and this could
half of the nineteenth, and into the 20th cen- even include Yearbooks. Chess historians do
tury many publishers produced both daily not need to be overly concerned with such
and weekly papers, of which the latter might terminology issues in this book; more impor-
contain material from the former. (Such pa- tant is the distinction between columns on
pers often had the word “Weekly” or “Budget” the one hand, and one-off reports or other
in their titles.) Weeklies usually appeared on types of chess coverage on the other.
Saturdays (sometimes Fridays) but of course In addition to printed sources in the
there were also some Sunday newspapers, form of periodicals, including the specialist
some of which had very significant chess chess magazines, the historian does have one
columns. other type of printed primary source available
After the abolition of the stamp duty the to her or him. That is, of course, books—es-
distinction between a newspaper and a peri- pecially tournament books that were pro-
odical could be blurred. In general, though, if duced soon after the completion of an event.
a paper came out more than once a week, or Other types of chess books are also some-
if it was a weekly but was chiefly a record of times of use to historians, as will be discussed
recent events, then it will be classed as a news- in Chapter 7, but of course many of the books
paper. The title is usually some guide and so of olden days have little to offer the historian
are the lengths of articles (typically fairly unless he or she is in search of the answers to
short in a newspaper), the size of paper that particular questions. Except for the tourna-
the periodical is printed on, and also its fre- ment books, they are not usually a record of
quency. With rare exceptions, a daily news- recent events.
paper paginated from 1 in each issue whereas To explain in detail why chess was the
a magazine or other periodical started at page most important indoor game of the Victorian
1 for each volume, which might run for three era in the United Kingdom once took this au-
or six months or a year (not always starting in thor the length of a 100,000 word doctoral
January). This facilitated indexing of the vol- dissertation, but the case for this assertion
ume when it was complete. Anything appear- may be briefly summarized.* Cards and other
ing less often than once a week, but at least indoor pastimes (such as backgammon) which
quarterly, is classed here as a magazine. involved gambling were acceptable in society
Broadsheet publications of at least four from the Restoration to the Regency, but by
pages would almost invariably be classed as a Queen Victoria’s accession in 1837 they were
newspaper. If smaller than tabloid size, then becoming restricted to private homes and a
the British Library catalog (which does not few gentlemen’s clubs. It is true that some-
use the word “magazine” in its classification) times small sums of money changed hands at
will call it a journal, although “journal” really chess, but this was not exactly gambling. Bets
is just another old word for newspaper and usually took the form of a stake between op-
many newspapers had the word Journal in ponents which often evened out over the
*The argument and evidence can be found in the Ph.D. dissertation by Timothy Harding, “Battle at Long Range”:
Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824–1914, A Social and Cultural History (University of Dublin, 2009);
online at www.tara.tcd.ie/handle/2262/76892.
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley 11

course of several games in an evening, because solutely divorced from gambling and intem-
the stronger player usually conceded odds perance.”5 Chess became notably popular
(such as a handicap of pawn and move) to among the clergy (Anglicans especially), sev-
make the contest interesting. Putting up the eral of whom, later in Victorian times, even
stakes for one master in a set match was also wrote regularly on the game, edited magazines
not generally regarded as gambling, although or columns, and organized competitions.
a backer stood to make money if the player he The space devoted by many magazines
supported was successful.2 Other forms of and newspapers to games and puzzles is a re-
betting among third parties on a chess event search topic that has mainly been ignored by
was largely unknown. scholars. Familiar nowadays are crosswords,
Chess enjoyed a centuries-old privileged Sudoku and bridge columns. Some Victorian
status as a game for intellectuals. Increasingly periodicals printed brainteasers of various
recognized as being a game of pure skill, it was kinds, but between the 1850s and 1914 chess
beginning to escape evangelical strictures on problems were the most common form of in-
leisure activities. It was now coming to be tellectual exercise in periodicals. Chess grew
considered a “rational recreation” and, as such, from a feature seen in a handful of titles at
was promoted in mechanics’ institutes and mid-century into one that was almost required
some working-men’s clubs.3 From the 1840s reading in a weekly paper by the 1880s, some-
onwards, interest in chess diffused to the times as part of an “amusements” package.
lower-middle and artisan classes through the The columns themselves were an important
medium of literature, especially the columns driver of growth for chess, showing examples
discussed in this chapter and its successors. of good play, offering advice of various kinds,
Playing chess in England was a respectable ac- and running competitions, as well as provid-
tivity, although a few years earlier it might ing puzzles for readers to solve.
have been viewed with suspicion in some It was its notation that gave chess an al-
quarters. In other countries it was possibly most unique advantage for popularization
different. Academic historians are beginning through the press, although one shared to
to take note of chess, as seen in the recent some extent with the game of checkers (called
journal article by J. J. Sharples, which argued draughts in Britain and Ireland). Though this
against the “respectability of chess” thesis, but contention may be hard to prove, it is prob-
on the basis of how the game was played at ably the case that most adults who played
the Café de la Régence in Paris. Against that, some chess understood its notation, whereas
Bernard Kiernan had already in 1957 written in the case of checkers there may have been a
that “the ascendancy of the Café was fatal to higher percentage who enjoyed the game but
French chess. Skittles, odds games, and all never bothered to record their moves or read
sorts of variants of the game itself were the about it. Checkers was somewhat more pop-
vogue, while serious play languished.” Dr. ular in Scotland than in England, partly be-
Sharples has since published a second journal cause Scottish player James Wyllie (known as
article and a full length study titled A Cultural “The Herd Laddie”) was world champion for
History of Chess-Players.4 a long time. There were far more elementary
The Quarterly Review noted, in a special treatises teaching chess than there were for
article about chess in its June 1849 issue, that checkers, but columns for that game started
“chess has truly a literature of its own.” At that to appear in several British newspapers later
time the market was growing rapidly in re- in the 19th century. Also there were some pe-
sponse to sharply falling book prices. The riodicals which carried regular articles on card
Quarterly article noted that chess was “ab- games (mostly whist) but, with the exception
12 British Chess Literature to 1914

of The Field, these were rare until the 20th publications, or one day of the week in a pub-
century, when bridge columns began to pro- lication that appeared more frequently.6 A few
liferate. There were always fewer checkers and were in monthlies and quarterlies and a very
cards articles than the columns catering to few in the (rare) fortnightlies. In practice the
chess players. space devoted to chess varied considerably
Diagrams of chess positions (important from publication to publication and even from
for illustrating the chess problems) at first had one issue to another in the same periodical.
to made individually as woodcuts but even- Chess was typically allotted one-third of a
tually were made up with special type, which three-column large magazine or tabloid page
first came into use in the 1820s. Diagrams pro- or half of a smaller format page. Some columns
vided visual variety to brighten up the look had insufficient space to do more than print
of pages: especially valuable in broadsheet a problem and a few answers or brief
newspapers before the days of large headlines. announcements; even major columns were
Chess enjoyed increased press coverage from occasionally truncated. On special occasions
the 1840s onwards. In the second half of the the allocated space might be significantly ex-
19th century an even more extensive chess lit- tended, notably when The Field was reporting
erature developed, in English and several other a major chess tournament and sometimes the
languages, including more books and special- coverage overflowed a whole page into an-
ist magazines. Columns reached a wider au- other.
dience, and catered not only to regular enthu- For anyone wishing to research the chess
siasts but also, even more perhaps, to people history of the 19th century—and to an in-
who never joined clubs or entered competi- creasing extent the early 20th century also—
tions, and it is certain their numbers included chess columns in newspapers and periodicals
women. are an essential and almost inexhaustible re-
source, frustrating though they can often be.
It seems that their importance to the historian
Definition of a Column has been recognized only comparatively re-
cently, with John Hilbert being among those
Strictly speaking, a “column” is a physi- who led the way by publishing many articles
cal feature in a newspaper, a vertical area of a based on his discoveries in American local
page. This was particularly evident in the days newspapers.7 Ken Whyld, as will be discussed
(up to the 1980s or even 1990s) when metal later in detail, also made a very important
type was used to make up the pages in most contribution to the bibliography of chess—
British newspapers. By extension, the term and where would historians be without bib-
“column” came to mean an article which ap- liographers? He was building on the work of
peared regularly and occupied a more or less some previous historians who had tried to
fixed area of space on one of the pages. So a document what columns had been published.
“chess column” is best defined as a regular se- Columns played multiple roles: to enter-
ries of articles in any periodical which deals tain, to instruct, to challenge the mind, to pro-
with a wide range of news or other topics. A vide information, and to answer queries. Ar-
one-off article, or short series of articles al- ticles typically included a composed chess
ways intended to be of a brief and finite na- problem or puzzle from actual play, together
ture, do not qualify as columns, which by with news, announcements, games, book re-
their nature were open-ended and likely to views, replies to correspondents, and solu-
evolve. tions to previous weeks’ puzzles. Literary ma-
Columns might appear either in weekly terial submitted by readers might be included
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley 13

and many columns ran competitions: for The editor of a column, on the one hand,
problem composing, problem-solving, or cor- was able to react to recent events but, when
respondence play. The weekly series was ideal little was happening, he could have the oppo-
for this purpose. site problem, needing urgently to find some-
Apart from the light that weekly columns thing to fill his space on a weekly basis. A local
throw on periodical publishing and reader- editor was also generally in direct contact with
ship, they provide the most substantial body many of his readers who would write in on a
of primary source material about chess activ- regular basis, with inquiries, opinion, com-
ity in general. These articles frequently con- ments on problems and various news. An ed-
tain facts and opinions not to be found, or itor also needed neat handwriting. Probably
only in summary form, in the necessarily more nearly all chess editors and writers until the
selective chess magazines. Moreover, they 1890s, or even the early 1900s, delivered their
were frequently the forum for debates and copy in manuscript. Therefore correction of
controversies in the chess world. So even the galley proofs was particularly important, es-
biased parts are interesting, so long as they pecially to minimize the confusion between
can be balanced (as is usually the case) by “K” and “Kt” in game scores. Where, however,
comparing what other columns and maga- a game had previously appeared in print else-
zines say on the same issue. Moreover, when where, a cutting could be pasted in, making
columns organized competitions of various life easier for both the columnist and the type-
kinds, we need not worry about Royle’s Law. setter.
In such cases the statements published about Throughout the 19th century, it was es-
them can be classed as performative. When sential for a chess editor (whether of a mag-
the column is running a competition and pub- azine or a column) to have some knowledge
lishes the rules, results, or pairings for a match, about what constituted a good chess problem,
then what it says goes, by definition. and many chess editors were leading experts
Certainly the pioneering chess historian in that field. Although chess editors could be
Harold James Ruthven Murray (1868–1955) strong players—and a few were even leading
was aware that chess columns could be im- masters—skill at practical play was less im-
portant sources, although in his actual writ- portant than being a good judge of a problem,
ings he seems to have made little use of their and developing features that would make read-
content because he was mostly writing about ers want to buy the paper each week. Editors
times before they were common. Magazines, who printed problems and games by readers,
usually published monthly (though sometimes or who organized tourneys, created an ele-
weekly, bimonthly or quarterly), by their na- ment of interactivity between the periodical
ture contain a digest of information. Their in- and its readers, establishing a “virtual com-
formation content has been filtered through munity” loyal to the publication. Then the
the reflection and selection by the editor from volume of incoming correspondence helped
a greater quantity of news, games, problems the columnist prove to his editor that the se-
and opinion articles that were available to ries was of value to the title and so contributed
him. They had to leave things out that we would to the feature’s continuance. Game tourneys
like to know. Especially at busy times (when were played by post, usually on a knockout
major matches or tournaments had to be re- system until the 1880s, and the best games
ported) a magazine editor might reluctantly would be published in the column.8 The or-
have to omit, for space reasons, news or gossip ganization of problem tourneys is discussed
or games that otherwise could have been in- in more detail later in this book, in connection
cluded. with the Huddersfield College Magazine and
14 British Chess Literature to 1914

other columns that were particularly success- important resource for historians in that city
ful in organizing them. library. Chapter 8 also says more about the
The editor (especially of a column in a genesis of those earlier lists, and our Appen-
provincial newspaper) also exchanged articles dix I builds on all these forerunners.
and news with colleagues, including some- This book, with rare exceptions, is not
times chess editors in other countries. Anyone concerned with columns published outside
who has read many Victorian chess columns Britain and Ireland. Even so, in Appendix I
knows that this process of dialogue with read- readers will find entries on just over 600 sep-
ers and other editors often enriches the value arate titles. Some of these are cross-references
of the articles as historical sources, and that to variant titles or turned out to be entries in
what may seem trivial when you are research- Whyld which referred to one-off articles (like
ing a particular project may come into focus the Birmingham Advertiser of 1838). There are
when you revisit the same articles looking for also uses of the term “ghost,” coined by Whyld,
information on something else. While chess meaning that although some of his source lists
columns are therefore primarily important as mentioned a particular title, no such column
a primary source of information about chess (and sometimes no such publication) could
activities in the past, the history of the chess be found. Even discounting these, and bearing
column itself is also of interest. in mind that a few publications actually had,
at different times, more than one chess column,
the true figure for 19th century British and
Some Notes on Bibliographies Irish chess columns is probably in the region
of 550. It would take a lifetime to read them
In his History of Chess (1913), the stan- all, and some are unobtainable in practice, but
dard work, Murray wrote that: “A list pub- this author has attempted over the last 15
lished by Mr. A. C. White in the Norwich Mer- years to sample a great number, and many of
cury in 1907 contained over 1,200 entries from the important ones have been read from be-
all parts of the world, and yet made no pre- ginning to end.
tence to completeness. Most of these columns This work has made use of the biblio-
exist primarily in the interest of the problem, graphical information available in the (on-
but a few also contain articles of permanent line) Waterloo Directory of English Newspapers
historical value.”9 Of the columns listed by and Periodicals, of which more later, and its
Alain C. White, 387 were published in Great (print-only) Irish and Scottish cousins. This
Britain or Ireland, while later researchers, in- series, produced by scholars at Waterloo Uni-
cluding the present writer, have found many versity in Canada, was particularly valuable
more Victorian columns. Whyld’s bibliogra- ten years ago when the catalogues of the Brit-
phy Chess Columns: A List (1992) surveyed all ish Library were far inferior to what they are
the columns known worldwide in the 19th and today. Now that its current catalogue, Explore
20th centuries, building on the work of the the British Library, incorporates a very de-
aforementioned Alain Campbell White (1880– tailed and much more reliable catalogue of
1951), John Griswold White (1845–1928), newspapers, it has become much easier to
and Murray himself.10 John G. White, of Cleve- trace the history of title changes and mergers,
land, Ohio, was a prominent lawyer who over launches and cessations of publication, which
decades purchased numerous books and man- gave rise to so many of the inaccuracies in
uscripts relating to board games and orien- Whyld’s book. There is more said about the
talia. Thanks to his foresight and benevolence, experience of researching chess history at the
his collection became the foundation of the British Library in the final chapter.
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley 15

This is a good point to discuss

some other chess bibliographies,
although they are not concerned
with columns. It is important to do
so because these works will be
mentioned many times later in this
book.
Chess: An Annotated Bibliog-
raphy of Works Published in the En-
glish Language 1850–1968 was com-
piled by Douglas A. Betts “to fulfil
the thesis requirement for Fellow-
ship of the Library Association.”11
It was originally published in the
United States in 1974, but it is easy
to find since a facsimile reprint is
also available. Betts devised a sys-
tem of 55 categories (which he
called sections) to classify all the
works that he considered, includ-
ing many works of literature that
only mention chess incidentally.
Some sections are organized chrono-
logically, but others are confusing
in their arrangement. Collector
Michael Clapham has written in his
Chess Book Chats blog about some
works he has found which are not
mentioned by Betts. Indeed there
are omissions, but no improved
bibliography covering this topic John G. White, founder of the world’s greatest public col-
lection of chess literature, relaxing after lunch at a camp
has since been produced, though
in Newfoundland on his 1917 fishing trip. (Photograph
there have been a few attempts. We from one of his scrapbooks, courtesy Cleveland Public
may be waiting a long time for a re- Library Special Collections).
placement but Betts does need to
be supplemented by information in some li- by Chris Ravilious and Whyld to complement
brary catalogs, especially those of the John G. it, namely Chess Texts in the English Language,
White Collection in Cleveland, Ohio, and of Printed before 1850. This was published in the
the Royal Dutch Library in The Hague. Czech Republic in February 2003.* The list
Needless to say, Betts’s book is an essen- of works is arranged chronologically. Whyld
tial item for any chess historian’s library. So is and Ravilious did not confine themselves to
the (much smaller) work that was compiled books devoted to chess, or the bibliography

*Ken Whyld and Chris Ravilious, Chess Texts in the English Language, Printed before 1850 (Olomouc: Moravian
Chess 2003). This author’s personal copy, on the colophon page facing the introduction, bears no date and says,
in error, “Reprint.” The late Chris Ravilious provided the correct date and said that it was no reprint. There may
have been subsequent reprints.
16 British Chess Literature to 1914

would have been much thinner. They included to mention two Irish periodicals which were
articles about chess in periodicals, and works also overlooked by Betts. Irish Chess was pub-
like Hoyle which include chess. If you find a lished for just three issues in 1937; George
pre–1850 work on chess that is not listed in Koltanowski was a contributor. There are
their bibliography, then you have probably copies in the National Library of Ireland,
made an important discovery. whose catalogue was put online a few years
There is also a more recent bibliography, ago. The next Irish chess magazine was Ficheall
Chess Periodicals, by an Italian compiler of (briefly the organ of the Irish Chess Union in
chess reference works, Gino di Felice, which the 1950s), and then two other magazines
will be corrected many times in this book.12 which were published later than the period
The bibliography contains 3,163 entries and covered by Betts. Di Felice did find out some-
many cross-references, covering chess maga- thing about them, saying correctly on page
zines, bulletins, annuals and yearbooks (not 102 that the Irish Chess Journal “replaces Fia-
columns) published worldwide. If we could cle Fichille.” Actually, whereas the Irish Chess
trust it, it would be an invaluable aid to future Journal (edited by Michael Crowe for many
researchers and chess historians. No attempt years but now defunct) was totally different
is made here to evaluate its coverage of peri- in style and appearance from Fiacle Fichille.
odicals in other languages, but the treatment The latter, edited by Tom O’Sullivan from
of early English-language chess magazines is 1980–1987, was mimeographed, not printed,
deficient and reveals flaws in his methodol- and should have had its own listing.
ogy. An international magazine from Ireland,
To begin with the treatment of Irish Chess Mail, is not mentioned at all, although
chess magazines, which will be discussed in 82 issues were published and circulated world-
more detail in Chapter 5, it is true that Di Fe- wide between August 1996 and January 2006.
lice does include the first two, which were Many periodicals of a far more ephemeral or
published for short periods in the 1880s, but local nature are listed in Di Felice’s book.
he omits The Four-Leaved Shamrock (more Chess Mail’s omission is another sign that
than fifty issues of which appeared during something has gone badly wrong. Had the
1905–1914) although it is in the catalogues of compiler searched for “chess” in the British
the British Library and several other libraries Library’s online catalogue, he could not have
that have strong chess collections, such as the missed it. Moreover a complete run of Chess
Cleveland Public Library (Ohio), and the Mail is in both the John G. White Collection
Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Perhaps he per- (Ohio) and the Royal Dutch Library, whose
formed his British Library searches at an early catalogues Di Felice claims to have been among
stage, when the online catalogue was not his most important sources.
nearly as helpful as it is now. Moreover, this The omission of this title is also indica-
is item #7–52 in the standard Betts bibliogra- tive of a general failure in connection with pe-
phy. There is no good reason for a compiler riodicals concerning correspondence chess.
to omit anything listed by Betts. The period- This may be because publications that are
icals are all grouped together. Although Betts produced for the benefit of the membership
and the British Library catalogue are listed of clubs and associations often do not go on
among Di Felice’s sources, they were not general sale (and there have been many of
checked systematically. these relating to correspondence chess). Such
Moving briefly beyond the period under periodicals are indeed probably hard for a bib-
discussion in this handbook, it is less surpris- liographer to trace, though some find their
ing that the Chess Periodicals author also failed way into public library collections. Di Felice
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley 17

has not recorded the periodicals published by chess activity at all until the 1840s and there
the British Correspondence Chess Associa- were also very few chess clubs until that
tion quite correctly, for example.13 Erich von decade. It is also the case that in the 18th cen-
Freienhagen’s little magazine Brief-Schach tury there were far fewer periodicals and
(1929) is missing, although some copies sur- newspapers than in the second half of the 19th
vive in the John G. White Collection. Freien- century, and the survival rate is also probably
hagen also edited another short-lived journal not as good. The Burney Collection (at the
called Fernschach-Courier which we have never British Library, but now digitized) and The
seen. The Four-Leaved Shamrock and Chess Times of London (founded in 1785 as The
Mail should not be viewed as just absentees. Daily Universal Register) provide the two best
Their omission points to fundamental meth- sets of reports of Philidor’s visits to England,
odological flaws concerning the editor’s search but they really only cover his later years (in-
for English language titles. There are possibly cluding much on his musical activities).
similar mistakes with publications in other Searching for “Philidor” (and the com-
languages. A German reader also informed mon alternative spelling “Phillidor”) in the
the publisher that #1477 Mein Garten-Meine British Newspaper Archive yielded only one
Welt “is by no means a chess-related item.” It hit prior to 1779, which was a one-line listing
was published by the firm Schacht KG but in The Scots Magazine of Friday 2 November
Schacht means “Shaft” in English; it is not 1850. In a list of newly published books there
Schach! appears “Chess analyzed. By A. D. Philidor.
It would be harsh to expect Chess Peri- 3s.” François-André Danican Philidor (1726–
odicals to be perfect, but a work of this kind 1795) had first come to England in 1747 and
would have had a better chance of being com- defeated Philip Stamma in a match, but as yet
plete and accurate if the editor had recruited no contemporary news reports have been
an international team of contributors rather found of that contest and none of the game
than attempting to do all the work himself. In scores survive.
many ways it is remarkable how inclusive and The earliest reference to Philidor in the
accurate the book is about early British peri- Burney Collection was in the General Adver-
odicals, although it is somewhat weak on tiser (London) of Friday 17 February 1749,
identification of editors if they were not advertising a concert series, mentioning Phili-
named explicitly. For example, Di Felice failed dor’s Coffee House. Then on 23 February
to name Staunton as the editor of The Chess 1753, the same newspaper says that after a re-
World, 1865–1869, although it is well known hearsal for one of his concerts many people
to have been his baby. and the best connoisseurs are of the opinion
that Philidor (if he really is the composer) “is
in a fair way of making the same figure in Mu-
sick as he doth at chess.” Until Philidor began
Early Reporting of Chess to give blindfold exhibitions, it was always
Events more likely that his music would be reported.
Only in the last decade and a half of his life
Before going into detail about the earli- are there reports of his chess displays. The
est chess editors, whose columns should re- earliest found was the following:
ally rather be regarded as “proto-columns,”
The great match at Chess now pending in the
something should be said about earlier re- club, is between Monsieur Philidor on one side,
porting of chess events in the press. Most im- and the Hon. Mr. Conway, Comte Bruhl and
portant is that there was very little public Mr. Erskine on the other. The nature of the
18 British Chess Literature to 1914

abovementioned match is the most extraordinary Nevertheless between 1793 and 1795 the
that can be conceived. There are to be three Sporting Magazine did carry several reports
games simultaneously subsisting on three sepa-
concerning chess, including some about Phili-
rate boards, each under the conduct of … Phili-
dor … playing the entire three games, merely on dor, but none of them were original. They re-
the report he has of every succeeding move!14 lied on reports in newspapers and also on
Richard Twiss’s anecdotal book on chess (to
On the continent there was briefly a rival be discussed in Chapter 7) which had been
chess attraction. In 1783 Kempelen’s chess au- published in two volumes, in 1787 and 1789.
tomaton was exhibited in Paris. The Morning After the death of Philidor, the next sig-
Herald and Daily Advertiser claimed on 10 nificant date in British chess history was the
May that “all heads are turned here by the ex- formation of the London Chess Club in 1807
hibition of an Automaton that plays at Chess, but this, too, escaped the notice of contem-
and would baffle the skill even of a Philidor.” porary commentators, and we only know of
This assertion was never tested. Philidor was it because the club endured until 1870. None
back in London and the automaton never of its earliest documents survive, but when
crossed the English Channel until after the George Perigal was secretary he compiled
Napoleonic wars. In Philidor’s last years, al- membership lists and other useful informa-
though there are descriptions of his feats, no tion, which survive in the London Metropol-
chess moves were ever printed in the papers. itan Archives, and have been written up by
Fortunately some of his late games do survive John Townsend in his second book.16 Perhaps
and were eventually published in a book, as a reference to it will turn up one day, as
will be recounted in Chapter 7. searches in the British Newspaper Archive did
Meanwhile, a very significant publishing turn up the foundation of one (probably short-
event occurred in October 1792: the launch lived) chess club in Suffolk in 1813 and the
of the first periodical devoted to sport: The existence of an early club in Hereford around
Sporting Magazine: or, Monthly Calendar of the the same time has also been documented in
Transactions of the TURF, the CHASE, and recent years, although not from newspaper
every other Diversion interesting to the Man of sources. The following appeared in The Ip-
Pleasure, and Enterprize. Naturally for those swich Journal on 9 October 1813:
days during the reign of George III, the most
space in this monthly magazine was given to We are enabled to inform our readers, that a
Chess Club is recently established in this town,
the sporting activities that most interested the
which is held at the Waggon and Horses Inn once
gentlemen of the era: horse racing, prize fight- a fortnight, and which having for its object the
ing, cockfighting and the like, but some space extension of the knowledge of that pleasing and
was given to indoor activities, though chess scientific game, is calculated to afford consider-
was covered only in the third (December) able pleasure to the amateurs of that amusement.
issue, and not very favorably. Chess was said There was, though, very little reporting
to be a noble game of Indian invention carried of current chess activity over the next decade.
west via Persia. The only objection to it “as a News coverage of chess really began to take
mere pastime” was that off in 1824, excited by the start of the corre-
… it requires too much thought and study to spondence match between Edinburgh and
answer the purposes of relaxation, as the mind London, dealt with extensively in an earlier
should, on such occasions, be amused without
book.17 One detail that may surprise today’s
any fatigue or exertion of its powers. For this rea-
son, chess has been styled a philosophic game, follower of chess events, which often are
fit only to be played by an Archimedes with a shown online simultaneously with their being
Newton.15 played, is that there were no contemporary
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley 19

reports in the English press during 1834 of

the important matches played in London be-
tween the French champion Louis Charles
Mahé de la Bourdonnais (sometimes referred
to as Labourdonnais, 1797–1840) and Alex-
ander McDonnell (1798–1835). Not even the
results of matches were announced, let alone
the results of individual games and the moves.
It is a small miracle that the moves were re-
corded for posterity by a third party.

The First Chess Editor:

Egerton Smith
The dearth of early chess activity and
scarcity of contemporary chess reporting
therefore makes it all the more surprising that
in the same year, 1813, the first chess column
began. One man—even in the absence of any
current events to report—attempted, and
Egerton Smith, the reforming Liverpool edi-
more than once, to put chess “on the map” by tor who was responsible for the earliest two
writing regularly about it in the press. It did chess columns.
help that he was the owner, editor and pub-
lisher of the papers concerned. He did not Liverpool at the time) known as the Concen-
have to “sell” the idea to a skeptical editor. tric Society, which Smith cofounded and ran
The early history of chess columns be- up to its closure in 1822. He also been cred-
gins with this one man in Liverpool: Egerton ited with founding a night asylum for the
Smith (1774–1841). In 1870, the periodical homeless poor. Later, in the 1830s, he would
Notes and Queries was asked: “Can any of your support Rowland Hill’s campaign for cheap
readers inform me as to the best sources for postal services.19
obtaining particulars as to the life and writ- Smith was definitely a man of many
ings of Egerton Smith, who founded the Liv- parts. In the 1820s he was also involved in a
erpool Mercury, and was one of the prime company doing diorama shows and he coau-
movers in founding mechanics’ institutes, thored (with Dominique Albert) a book en-
etc.?”18 There was no reply to this and Smith titled Homonymous Française, or the French
remains a “missing person” who is not in- homonymous words arranged in sentences (Lon-
cluded in the Oxford Dictionary of National don 1831).20 Publishing the earliest series of
Biography. While several modern articles dis- newspaper chess problems, which began in
cuss Smith’s life and journalism, none men- the Mercury on 9 July 1813 and ended about
tions chess. Smith was a progressive man, an 20 August 1814, 21 was just one of Egerton
innovator and a philanthropist, among other Smith’s minor claims to fame.
things, being an activist against the slave trade. Smith founded the Liverpool Mercury,
He was involved in local Whig politics, through which appeared on the streets for the first
a local body (one of seven political clubs in time on Friday 5 July 1811, price seven pence,
20 British Chess Literature to 1914

announced as a new weekly paper to be “con- (#12); 1 October (#13); 8 October (#14) but
ducted upon liberal, yet steady, principles.” no chess was published on 15 October. The
Publication in volume form with an index issue of 22 October had #15 and the explana-
proved popular and enabled it to avoid the tion of #14, followed by 29 October and 5 No-
stamp duty. It could not be sent by post but vember. The puzzle #18 of 12 November is
was distributed by canal or coach. For many unavailable at either the B.L., B.N.A. or Chess
years thereafter, it was a weekly paper (of Archaeology. There followed 19 November
roughly tabloid size) and pages in each vol- (#19); 26 November and then 3 December
ume were numbered consecutively like a mag- when in issue #21, curiously, under the Phili-
azine. The normal practice of numbering each dorian rules then current, the puzzle was a
issue from page 1 was only adopted some win by stalemating the opponent.
years after his death, which probably followed There followed puzzles 22 to 24 on 10,
a decision by Smith’s heirs to pay the stamp 17, and 24 December. The latter date also had
duty after all. a reply to a correspondent on page 8, not pre-
At the start of volume three, the Mercury served on the chessarch site, where Egerton
announced they had acquired new type, and Smith wrote: “We are obliged to our Chess
the first chess article appeared on Friday 9 Correspondent but his plan would at present
July, page 7. Headed “The game of chess” it interfere with ours.” After #25 on 31 Decem-
was a basic introduction with a crude wood- ber, the series continued into 1814 as follows:
cut diagram and using an idiosyncratic no- 7 January (#26), 14 January (#27), 21 January
tation. The Liverpool Mercury has now been (#28 on page 6); 28 January (#29); 4 Febru-
mostly digitized in the British Newspaper ary (#30); 11 February (with explanation of
Archive but a few early issues (including #30 but postpones #31); and then there was
the issue with the first chess article, fortu- no chess on 18 February. The series resumed
nately preserved elsewhere) are lacking be- on 25 February with puzzle #31 and a discus-
cause they are absent from the British Library sion of the notation Smith was using. The se-
holdings. The Liverpool Public Library has a ries continued with 4, 11, 18 and 25 March,
set.22 Images of several of the articles can also the latter also having a brief reply to a corre-
be seen online in the Excavations section of spondent on page 8. Likewise the issue of 1
the Chess Archaeology website which has April also had, besides #36 on page 6, a reply
many 19th century columns (mostly Ameri- on page 8. The following week the paper ap-
can). peared a day early because of Good Friday, so
Later chess content can be found in the number 37 was published on Thursday 7
digitized Liverpool Mercury on the following April. There was no chess in Easter Week and
dates: 16 & 23 July 1813; 6 August (#5 at then #38 appeared on 22 April 1914. The se-
www.chessarch.com/excavations/excavations. ries was becoming irregular. Number 39 was
php/ but not in B.N.A.); 13 August (#6); 20 published on 6 May, and number 40 on 20
August (on page 7; also a reply to A Novice May but number 41 of 27 May is unavailable.
in the To Correspondents column on page 8); The last seen by the present author was #42
27 August (#8; page 6 near foot of column 4); on 1 July 1814. Whyld’s Columns, page 251,
3 September (#9 at www.chessarch.com); and said the last article was on 20 August but that
then 17 September (#11) also apologizes that was a Saturday; no chess was seen on 19 Au-
the unavailable puzzle no. 10 the previous gust. It is also noteworthy that on 3 January
(missing) week was the same as no. 2 inad- 1817 Smith’s name appeared in a small adver-
vertently, being taken from different works. tisement in the Mercury proposing to estab-
The series then continued with 24 September lish a Liverpool Chess Club, meeting weekly
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley 21

“upon a respectable and economical plan,” raphy of columns are incorrect. It is hard to
but probably nothing came of this. understand how his entry for that paper in-
In 1818, Smith began The Gleaner, as a cluded the line “1st chess column in the
literary supplement, but was forced to discon- world” when he also knew about Smith’s ear-
tinue it after two issues because it was deemed lier column. Perhaps he entered information
to be a newspaper and, therefore, liable to about each title into a database and forgot to
stamp duty.23 So he revised the concept and update The Kaleidoscope after writing up the
on 28 July 1818 issued the first number of The Mercury. Also Whyld’s suggestion “perhaps
Kaleidoscope, or Literary and Scientific Mirror, also 1833 & 1834,” which was after publica-
of which it has been said that: “this weekly tion had ceased, may be due to confusion with
publication, priced threepence, was conducted an Eton College publication of the same title,
with very considerable ability for many years” which we have not seen.
and the title “was derived from the Kaleido- The Waterloo Directory gives the true
scope, a new optical instrument, invented by publication history of The Kaleidoscope. It in-
Dr. Brewster of Edinburgh.” 24 During 1824, dicates that there were two volumes pub-
The Kaleidoscope included a report on the lished between 28 July 1818 and 1820, fol-
founding of Liverpool Mechanics’ Library by lowed by a “new series” with 11 volumes
Smith. Ironically his paper, designed to be between 1820 and 1831. It used to be hard to
abreast of its time, ceased publication on 6 find complete volumes of The Kaleidoscope
September 1831 because of the march of but in 2006 Proquest digitized it all. Some
progress. The Kaleidoscope had been sold on chess articles up to June 1826 can also be seen
Liverpool’s streets by licensed hawkers but for at www.chessarch.com/excavations/excava
sales further afield Smith relied on horse- tions.php/.
drawn coaches, since, being unstamped, it Smith ran more than one series of chess
could not be mailed economically. The Liver- articles in The Kaleidoscope and gradually they
pool area was one of the first to have railroads, improved from something like the original
harming the coaching trade on which The crude attempts in the Mercury to what could
Kaleidoscope relied for distribution. The chess be more justifiably called a column. The first
content had mostly ended two years previ- volume had only one chess article, but a reg-
ously although there were occasional refer- ular series of problems (from Lolli etc.), en-
ences to the game in 1831. titled “The Beauties of Chess,” began on 13
In 1840 prominent chess writer George July 1819 and this ran until 17 October 1820.
Walker (1803–1879) confirmed Smith’s per- As in the Mercury, the board diagrams were
sonal involvement in the chess column, telling crude without shaded squares. The last was
a correspondent that: “The first attempt to number 61 on 17 October 1820. After chess
make chess a standing dish in a weekly peri- ended there was no board game for a while
odical was in the ‘Liverpool Kaleidoscope,’ until a series entitled “Critical situations in
some years back. Our friend Mr. Egerton draughts” followed in volumes two and
Smith there gave continuously a long series three. * The diagrams had roughly shaded
of problems etc.” 25 Some of Whyld’s state- squares. This series ran for more than a year
ments about The Kaleidoscope in his bibliog- but was not in volume 4.

*This was the game known as checkers in America, not the European version of draughts played on a 10 × 10
board. Later, the Leeds Mercury Weekend Supplement (from 1880) and the Glasgow Weekly Herald (from the mid–
1870s) were two important provincial weeklies running both games side by side for many years. Checkers moves
could also be easily notated and replayed, but that game never achieved the same status outside Scotland and
major cities; chess was played in gentlemanly clubs, checkers was played chiefly in pubs.
22 British Chess Literature to 1914

Smith’s chess column revived in The Kaleidoscope, 6 July 1824; note the algebraic notation.

In volume five, “The Beauties of Chess” ticle. The last chess position was no. 237 on
returned with improved graphics, starting in 8 February 1831 and the final chess item, a let-
number 210 of 6 July 1824. Smith now pre- ter, appeared on 31 May 1831. Thus The Kalei-
ferred a system very like the “algebraic” nota- doscope series of articles was more extensive
tion used today, instead of the usual “descrip- than is generally appreciated, but its influence
tive” notation seen in nearly all 19th-century was restricted because it did not circulate in
English chess literature. The famous corre- London or nationwide.
spondence chess match between the chess In 1837 the Liverpool Chess Club was
clubs of London and Edinburgh, the first of founded, originally at the Lyceum in that city.
its kind, had begun in April, with much pub- Egerton Smith was never numbered among
licity. The interest aroused by that contest had its members; perhaps he was just too busy
perhaps prompted the revival of chess in The with his newspaper work and reform cam-
Kaleidoscope, which now gave some coverage paigns. Smith died on 18 November 1841 and
of current chess events and readers’ corre- the tributes to him were generous. In 1843 a
spondence. This series also included reader statue of him was erected in Liverpool, the in-
challenges and news of the Philidorean Chess scription saying:
Club in Dublin, for example on 13 March 1827.
The indefatigable friend of humanity; the pro-
The Kaleidoscope chess series continued to the
tector of the brute creation; the fearless assailant
end of volume nine, with problem 222 ap- of oppression in all its forms; the advocate of the
pearing on 23 June 1829. Volume 10 had little universal diffusion of knowledge, of free trade,
chess while volume 11 included only one ar- of civil and religious liberty in every land.
 1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas Wakley 23

Thomas Wakley and Wakley’s biographer, S. Squire Sprigge,

explained that the disappearance from The
The Lancet Lancet of the weekly columns on chess, the
drama and “Table Talk” meant “a sacrifice of
Several inaccuracies have appeared in his own hobbies to the pressure of what he
print about the chess column of The Lancet, [Wakley] conceived to be his wholly absorb-
the reforming medical weekly founded in ing duty.” 28 Sprigge states that Wakley was
1823 and first edited by Dr. Thomas Wakley responsible for both the chess and drama ar-
(1795–1862), who was later a Member of Par- ticles, dropped when the journal became suc-
liament. This chess series, although better re- cessful. Wakley, the biographer explains, had
membered than Egerton Smith’s contribu- learned chess as a boy and it formed his chief
tions, was far less interesting. It can only be recreation while he was studying medicine.
called a column by stretching a point to the “He was one of the very few players who con-
limit. Its content was far from original. Nev- tested successfully with the original and cel-
ertheless, it is worth discussing its authorship ebrated automaton player,” Sprigge also
in some detail since two different people claimed. If that was in 1818 or early 1819, his
(Walker and surgeon Sir Astley Cooper) have human opponent would have been William
been named wrongly as its chess editor. Lewis (1787–1870); if later, then it was per-
Wakley began publication of The Lancet haps Jacques- François Mouret. Both were
on 5 October 1823 and printed its first chess strong players who won most of their games
article two weeks later. The next issue recom- while concealed inside the machine known as
mended chess as “the only game to which the The Turk.
medical student may profitably devote any Whereas the Cooper attribution is doubt-
portion of his time and attention,” and also ful, the crediting of the series to Walker by the
said that the study of chess had been recom- editors of the Oxford Companion to Chess is
mended by “the distinguished professor” demonstrably incorrect.29 Yet on the author-
whose lectures were a major feature of the ity of this much-revered book, it was repeated
magazine, namely surgeon Sir Astley Cooper.26 in the even more authoritative Oxford Diction-
Probably misled by that comment, Staunton ary of National Biography and henceforth the
told a correspondent: “articles on Chess were error may be very hard to stamp out. The orig-
published in the Lancet, under the sanction, inal Dictionary of National Biography, relying
we believe, of Sir Astley Cooper, himself no on the obituary in the Chess Player’s Chronicle
mean proficient in the game, as far back as and notes supplied by Professor William Wayte
1823.” 27 The final Lancet article appeared at (1829–1898), had not mentioned The Lancet,
the end of volume two, on 28 March 1824, but somebody at Oxford University Press up-
consisting of the solutions to problems set dated many of their old articles about chess
long before, some of which arose from actual players using the Companion as a secondary
play. Wakley wrote that he would only give source.30 This case is a typical example of the
three positions in each issue because “these modern propagation of repeated error. The
problems are designed chiefly for medical stu- original mistake was not made by either
dents, and are intended to afford a relaxation Hooper or Whyld (the editors of the Com-
from more serious pursuits” but he was un- panion); their mistake was to take on trust
willing “that a larger portion of time should something that was said in one of Walker’s
be devoted to Chess than would be consistent obituaries, without doing their own checks.
with the prosecution of more important stud- It has taken considerable research to trace this
ies.” error back to its source. The offending passage
24 British Chess Literature to 1914

appears on page 374 of the first edition of the It is conceivable that Wakley had joined
Oxford Companion in its article on Walker, as the same chess club as Walker in 1823, and
follows: “At a time when he was receiving odds that Walker may have suggested to him some
of a rook from Lewis he had the temerity to of the material that was later included in the
edit a chess column in the Lancet (1823–4); Lancet, but to go beyond that and say Walker
the first such column to appear in a periodical, contributed the column is unsupportable.
it was, perhaps fortunately, short-lived.” Walker never in print claimed authorship of
Perhaps, when Whyld wrote this, he had the column. Neither his brief memoir in the
temporarily forgotten about the columns by Westminster Papers about his career, nor the
Egerton Smith, although in the same book unsigned article about him that follows, men-
there is an article headed Newspaper Col- tions The Lancet.32 Hooper and Whyld did
umns (pages 223 and 224) which does men- not check that very specific date reference, 19
tion the Liverpool Mercury although not The October 1823; if they had, with their deep
Kaleidoscope. The Companion’s error about knowledge of chess history, they would surely
Walker is compounded by another on page have recognized that the article concerned
224 which said The Lancet gave a chess game was not original with Walker, or with Wakley
in 1822. In fact the medical journal did not either.
start until 1823 and The Lancet series of 1823 Close examination of that article, “Ori-
to 1824 did not include any games. gin of the Game of Chess,” shows it to be vir-
The misattribution to Walker stems from tually identical with a French Academy paper
the following passage in the Illustrated London of 1719 by M. Frevet which had been trans-
News obituary of Walker, which suggests that lated into English many years prior to its ap-
Dublin-born Patrick Thomas Duffy (1834– pearance in The Lancet. 33 The first English
1888), who then conducted that column, is version appeared in The Country Journal, or
ultimately responsible for the mistake. We can the Craftsman on 6 February 1742 and soon
only conjecture that Duffy must have misun- afterwards reprinted in the Gentleman’s Mag-
derstood something Walker once told him. azine.34 Then in 1794 virtually the identical
The Glasgow Weekly Herald also attributed the text was republished in the Sporting Magazine
column to Walker, on 24 May 1879, but prob- which claimed they had “with much difficulty
ably because they had read it in the I.L.N. This obtained from the French of M. Frevet.”35Ap-
is the relevant passage of the Illustrated’s obit- parently that version was just given by Wakley
uary notice: to the Lancet printer to reproduce. Differ-
ences between the versions are very minor
… the younger amateurs were scattered over the
great city, meeting occasionally only in the coffee-
and attributable to the typesetters.
houses, which then served the purposes of the There is no need to look further than
modern club. In 1823 these were brought to- Wakley himself for the authorship of those
gether by Mr. Walker, and the first step towards parts of the series that were not, like this one,
the spread of chess in the metropolis was then simply plagiarized. Note also that the Illus-
taken in the opening of the Percy Chess Club.
trated London News did not attribute every
In the same year he originated the popular “Chess
column” of our time by contributing an article Lancet article to Walker, but only the very one
to the Lancet, which was published in the issue of which one can be absolutely certain that he
of that periodical on Oct. 19, 1823.31 was not the author!36
 2. The Heyday of
Walker and Staunton

In this second chapter we move on to the by editors and proprietors to satisfy a middle-
mid–1830s and 1840s when George Walker class readership that was growing increasingly
and Howard Staunton laid the foundations fascinated with the game. Probably the ma-
for the chess column as an institution in news- jority of the readership of national columns
papers. Walker was the first to establish a long- were not club members, and this included
running column with games and news, but it women who until late in the 19th century did
was Staunton who created a template which not have the opportunity of joining chess clubs
the majority of Victorian chess editors were (with a few rare exceptions).
to follow. In this chapter several other impor-
tant chess columns of the 1840s and 1850s are
also discussed.
Chess activity grew from a low base in
Early Years of Chess at
the 1830s but exponentially after 1840 when Bell’s Life in London
chess clubs began to multiply in cities and
medium-sized towns, even starting in some We saw already that the attribution of
small urban centers. The Penny Post, inaugu- the Lancet chess articles to Walker was incor-
rated in 1840, also gave a huge boost to the rect. Nevertheless he was the first major figure
game by making correspondence chess very in the history of the chess column, thanks to
cheap and this brought players in different his almost forty years of writing about chess
parts of Britain into contact with each other. for Bell’s Life in London, and Sporting Chron-
Many columns featured games played by cor- icle. This, his greatest service to chess, began
respondence. with occasional articles in 1834 and the start
Provincial chess columns were nearly al- of publishing games was in January 1835. This
ways connected with local clubs and con- meant that Bell’s Life was the first London
ducted by members of those clubs, often the newspaper to run a chess column. Bell’s Life
honorary secretaries, in order to publicize started in 1822, and had achieved a circulation
their activities and gain new members. Chess of around 20,000 in the early years of its chess
in the national press generally arose inde- column. On 18 November 1838 the paper
pendently of clubs, out of a perceived need claimed an average circulation of 20,650. In

25
26 British Chess Literature to 1914

1847, from 9 May onwards, page headers an- Since the information about Bell’s Life in
nounced a circulation exceeding 26,000 and Whyld’s Chess Columns is not entirely accu-
on 6 June 1847 they claimed to have exceeded rate, it is important to give accurate dates here.
27,000. Since they had to pay stamp duty on Whyld said “Regular weekly column from
every copy sold, the statistics are probably re- 1845” with “just odd items” previously. While
liable. that statement might be correct if one insisted
Bell’s Life principally reported on sport, that, in order to qualify as a column, all ele-
but also sometimes covered sensational legal ments must appear together, but his formula-
cases and political matters. It was usually pub- tion seriously underestimates the amount of
lished on Sundays but in some years it ap- chess in Bell’s Life from January 1835 onwards.1
peared on Saturdays. In this period it appears What perhaps misled Whyld was that in the
to have been read by people of all classes with early years news and games were normally
sporting interests, throughout the United King- printed on a separate page from answers to
dom. Until October 1845 it was a four-page correspondents, which were generally to be
broadsheet. Typically the front page was filled found on page 2 along with answers about
with advertisements and some news, usually other games. Also it is true that Bell’s Life did
reports of crimes and trials. The third and not publish chess problems until the expan-
fourth pages were devoted to sports. Page two sion of the newspaper in 1845.
had miscellaneous items including politics, Looking back, Walker wrote on 10 July
answers to correspondents on various matters, 1842 that “We began to give chess articles in
and a cartoon. Bell’s Life has now been com- our journal during the playing of the great
pletely digitized and is available in B.N.A. and match between Labourdonnais and McDon-
elsewhere, but this author was fortunate to be nell.” As already noted, that match (or rather
able to read about seven early years in the matches) was not reported at the time, so
original hard copy bound volumes. Some of Walker misremembered here. Bell’s Life had,
its chess articles are available free at www. though, mentioned on 29 June 1834 the ar-
chessarch.com/excavations/excavations.php/. rival of the French master in London:
M. Labourdonnais, the celebrated Parisian chess
player, is at present in London, where his arrival,
for a limited period, has, we understand, excited
great interest in the chess-playing world. The
metropolis may, therefore, boast of having the
three first players in Europe, Labourdonnais,
Lewis, and Macdonald [sic] present together.
Some interesting matches, we learn, are on the
tapis, at the Westminster Chess Club, of which
M. Labourdonnais is an Honorary Member.
With respect to the match between Paris and
London, which is still pending, it is understood
that, from the very earliest moves, M. Labour-
donnais declined taking part in the games; so
that his name is to be considered as not at all
connected with the result, concerning which,
from the necessarily tardy pace of the move-
ments on either side, the parties having only yet
arrived at about the tenth move, nothing deci-
George Walker, pioneering chess editor of sive can, at present, be predicted, although the
Bell’s Life in London. Pictured in his old age English players seem to consider they have a
by the Westminster Papers, December 1876. slight advantage in position.
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 27

The match between Paris and London, its rudiments will shortly be held to be impos-
referred to in that paragraph, was the corre- sible in an educated man.”3
spondence match between the clubs of Paris A major expansion of the newspaper
and Westminster. The column can be dated (and of the column) was undertaken in 1845,
from 4 January 1835 when Walker began pub- although several times postponed. The man-
lishing anonymous games played in the West- agement of Bell’s Life announced prominently
minster Chess Club, of which he was secre- on 13 July 1845 that “arrangements are in
tary, together with news items. Some of these progress for increasing the size of this Journal
were from the de la Bourdonnais–McDonnell to the fullest extent allowed by law, which will
matches, which had not previously appeared take place as soon as new steam machinery
in print. Short paragraphs about chess— can be manufactured, and other mechanical
which had sporadically appeared during 1834 arrangements effected.” As early as 11 May
in the “To Correspondents: Answers” col- they had promised larger type when the new
umn—now became a regular feature, with steam press was ready.
chess almost invariably being the top item, Finally, on 12 October 1845, the propri-
followed by cards and other games. Although etors relaunched Bell’s Life with eight instead
the two parts were rarely on the same page, of four broadsheet pages (though of a slightly
and never together, one can speak of a chess smaller size). Now all the chess items were
column in Bell’s Life from January 1835 on- collected together, and the game was given
wards. Some weeks there was no chess game nearly a full column, a substantial increase on
and sometimes no chess answer, but there was the space normally allocated to the game in
only one issue in 1835 (25 October) which the past. No chess games were printed after
entirely lacked chess editorial content. 11 May until 21 September, but 27 July was
From 1835 until 1840 Bell’s Life in Lon- the only week in 1845 entirely without chess.
don blazed the trail for chess virtually alone, The break in publishing games may have been
appearing at just the time when many people due to Walker’s preparing articles for the de-
were looking for “rational recreations”—even layed relaunch, and this hiatus may be why
if “irrational” ones like cockfights, hare cours- some writers such as Whyld state the column
ing and bare-knuckle boxing might be re- was only “occasional” prior to then. The Oc-
ported in the same issue, alongside swimming, tober 1845 relaunch introduced diagrams, el-
cricket, horse racing, and various other out- ementary chess lessons, and chess problems,
door pastimes. “Pedestrianism” (professional which all appeared in Bell’s Life for the first
athletics for wagers, often over what would be time.
called extreme feats nowadays) also made good Walker continued to work in the family
copy. Some reports and challenges about music publishing business until 1847, when
checkers matches occasionally appeared ad- his father (of the same name) died.4 Changing
jacent to chess. Walker’s role as a proselytizer his career to that of a stock broker, he became
for chess was crucial in his early Bell’s years. increasingly removed from the main centers
He was fond of utterances such as “We hold of chess activity in London’s West End, as his
that he who supports a chess institution does loyalties returned to the old London Chess
nearly the same sort of good to man as he who Club in the Square Mile. The Bell’s Life col-
subscribes towards a new church,”2 and “We umn also declined in importance as the years
know more than six members of the present went by after the 1851 tournament. Walker re-
House of Commons who are fine chess-players. duced his involvement in chess, and the col-
Chess is progressing throughout England at umn was often perfunctory, with just a prob-
railway speed. We hope that to be ignorant of lem and a game or two. These were often from
28 British Chess Literature to 1914

Continental events since the best games cur- R. B. Wormald, whose career is discussed at
rently being played in England were going to the start of Chapter 3. His obituary in the
Staunton and other editors. Westminster Papers obituary said Wormald
There were some short periods when was coeditor of Bell’s Life for a time.
Walker seemed to make more of an effort to There were even occasional chess items
cover current English chess, particularly in much later. On 10 October 1874 Bell’s Life
the periods when the Chess Player’s Chronicle published problem 823 (which had been in-
was not being published in the late 1850s. correctly printed in the Westminster Papers)
This is especially evident in the second half and this may have been a desultory attempt
of 1858 when Walker bestirred himself to re- by person or persons unknown to relaunch
port Paul Morphy’s visit to England in some the column in a small way. Another problem
detail. On 4 July the American master’s arrival appeared on 17 October, then others with so-
was announced: “he is prepared to play any lutions and sometimes a brief news item.
man living a match of chess for any sum from Chess continued sporadically thereafter. Prob-
one hundred to one thousand pounds.” lem 839 on 12 June 1875 was the last, but
Matches if played on the terms announced there were 36 news reports after that until
would have been marathons, of 21 games ex- publication ended in 1886. There was no chess
clusive of draws. On 11 July Walker wrote: content after a merger with Sporting Life.
“Mr. Morphy has played some chess games in
London, but, probably, has not recovered the
fatigues of his voyage from America, or has
taken his opponents too lightly, the result of
Illustrated London News:
his play hitherto being hardly up to what was The Early Years
expected from him.”
Land and Water reported Walker’s retire- It is not often that an academic historian
ment on 10 May 1873, and the magazine West- writes about chess columns, so the following
minster Papers also carried an item about him, observation by E. E. Kellett, from a major
but Bell’s Life itself made no announcement. study of Victorian Britain written in the 1930s,
Walker’s last article was possibly the one that is worth noting, although his paragraph con-
appeared on 31 May. Löwenthal wrote that: tains some errors of fact.
There was one feature of the Illustrated which
This distinguished writer and player has defini-
must not be passed over, as it probably gained
tively given up all connection with the game
for the paper at least some readers in almost
which he adorned by his pen, and also illustrated
every country of the world. This was the chess-
by his skill over the board. During the period in
column, now so prominent in scores of period-
which he was most prominent he might have
icals, but then, if not quite unknown, exceed-
been called the soul of chess at the west end of
ingly rare … for more than twenty years, this
London. The early history of the St. George’s
column was conducted by a famous chess-
Chess Club is intimately bound up with the zeal
player, Howard Staunton, who made it not only
and enthusiasm of this energetic supporter of
a centre of interest to enthusiasts for the game,
the game.5
but also … a vehicle for his personal antago-
nisms….6
Subsequent to Walker’s retirement, a few
more chess articles were published in Bell’s Kellett’s passage is too long to quote in
Life. The digitization of the newspaper has re- full, but he was certainly right to say that for
vealed that the column continued up to 30 all his faults, Staunton “was a real benefactor
August albeit with several missed weeks. These to the game” and to praise him as a pioneer in
final articles were almost certainly written by annotating chess games and setting a standard
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 29

for future columns. He was mistaken in some tinguished member of the London Chess
details, however. In fact, Staunton’s first Illus- Club” and inviting “communications relative
trated London News column appeared not in to matches pending at clubs, problems, or any
1844, as he wrote, but on 22 February 1845, well contested games.”10 This was accompa-
as the paper itself confirms. His contribution nied by a brief but glowing notice of Walker’s
to chess publishing and the popularization of Chess Studies; Whyld speculated that Walker
the game was in part through his books and himself may have been the “distinguished
his magazine, but the Illustrated London News member of the London Chess Club” but there
gave him a much wider platform. However, seems no clear evidence. Walker does meet
he was not the first or even the second chess that description, but so do several others.
editor in that journal. Then on 15 February 1845 the Illustrated
The Illustrated London News commenced London News announced “we have secured
publication on 14 May 1842 and gradually the valuable services of Mr. Staunton the em-
grew into one of the world’s most famous inent Chess Player” to conduct the column.
journals, circulating worldwide. It printed its While it was comparatively rare for a writer’s
first chess article on 25 June. The first volume identity to be thus explicitly acknowledged,
of the paper (which spanned seven and a half contemporaries active in chess probably usu-
months) included twelve chess articles at ir- ally knew who edited which column, although
regular intervals, written by someone with lit- they may not have been officially acknowl-
tle knowledge of the game. One issue included edged until retirement or death.11 Some attri-
a game “played at the Westminster Chess butions remain uncertain, but usually another
Club during last summer, between the cele- column or a magazine provides the informa-
brated players M. de la Bourdonnais and Mr. tion eventually. Staunton’s contribution to the
McDonnell,” the writer being unaware that paper was acknowledged again on 27 June
both were long dead.7 1874, a few days after he died.
Soon afterwards, there was a break of Walker’s position as the leading chess
several weeks until chess returned in October. columnist was effectively supplanted during
Fifteen issues in the second volume, covering 1845 by Staunton’s arrival at the Illustrated
January–June 1843, had chess content, mostly London News. Staunton’s first article appeared
problems of poor quality, sometimes printed the week after his engagement by the paper
incorrectly.8 A few items were substantial, and was announced. This is clear from an answer
the paper began to take on the role of facili- on 8 March (page 160), reminding a corre-
tating communication between players and spondent calling himself “Scacchi” that the
helping them to arrange postal games, which new chess editor is not responsible for any
hitherto only Bell’s Life had done. The numer- error in the column prior to 22 February.
ically greater and socially wider readership of This was not his first chess column, and
Illustrated London News made this significant.9 of course by now he had been editing the
Chess continued through 1843, though not Chess Player’s Chronicle for almost four years.
appearing every week, but there was hardly Staunton had first, in 1840, conducted a chess
any chess at all in volume four ( January–June column for several months in a fashionable
1844) or in most of volume five. The solution social weekly, the New Court Gazette,12 in
to the problem published on 20 April did not which he employed some features that he
appear until 6 July! later developed in the Illustrated London News.
This situation changed on 16 November, He usually published a chess problem and a
when it was announced that the chess column game, together with answers to correspon-
was resuming with “the co-operation of a dis- dents, which were often (as with Bell’s Life)
30 British Chess Literature to 1914

on a different page. These replies often in- Staunton the taste for editorship, which he
cluded barbed shots at adversaries and the lit- was able to indulge the following year when
erary allusions by which this self-made man he became chess editor of the short-lived The
was fond of displaying his learning. It appears British Miscellany. That soon led, as explained
that many readers of the Gazette were not in- in detail in Chapter 6, after a few months, to
terested in chess: “Articles on this game will the launch of The Chess Player’s Chronicle,
only appear, for the future, occasionally; ow- Britain’s first successful chess magazine.
ing to several complaints of an over-dose. It As soon as Staunton took over at the Il-
is impossible to oblige every-body.”13 Although lustrated London News, he established what
the Court Gazette column petered out, it gave could be called the template or standard for-
mat for a chess column, which Bell’s Life in
London then copied in October. From his very
first week, Staunton included, together on the
one page, substantial “Answers to Correspon-
dents,” an annotated game, a diagrammed
chess problem, and the solution to the previ-
ous week’s problem. Essentially, this plan
never varied, although it was developed some-
what, with the addition of news items and an-
nouncements of forthcoming events (some-
times contributed by readers), occasional
obituaries, and book reviews.
The Answers were an important feature
in many Victorian periodicals. Most chess
columns had them at least until the 1880s,
usually placed first in smaller print. These
could vary from one terse reply to several lines
in which the columnist felt freer to express a
personal opinion than in the more formal sec-
tions of the article. Sometimes the question
may have been invented for the purpose in
order to make a point. Staunton was often ac-
cused of this—but everybody did it, not only
chess columnists.
Occasionally the editor’s irritability is
evident, as he is obliged to confirm yet again
that it is permissible to have more than one
queen on the board or that stalemate is a
drawn game. During the 18th century, the rule
was different in England, and you could win
(or sometimes lose) by stalemating the oppo-
nent. Reprints of Philidor and Hoyle’s books
Howard Staunton, chess editor of the Illus-
trated London News from February 1845
contrived to perpetuate the old error well into
to his death. Sketch by Wallis Mackay, Victoria’s reign. Staunton, for example, wrote:
from George MacDonnell’s book Chess Life- “Hoyle is no authority at all upon chess.”14
Pictures. The actual question usually has to be in-
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 31

ferred from the reply, though sometimes this a “vehicle for his personal antagonisms.” This
is nearly impossible. The identity of the per- was apparent in 1845 in connection with a
son inquiring is almost always disguised by long-running quarrel with Walker. For exam-
nicknames, first names, or by initials. The ple, Staunton drew attention to a pamphlet of
fairly frequent appearance of female names is 1841 that had satirized Walker, saying “it cer-
one indicator that women were interested in tainly deserves a more extended circulation.”16
chess at this time. Several composed chess He also feuded with the Hungarian J. J. Löw-
problems and occasionally games played by enthal (1806?–1876), who originally was his
women were published, although they were friend, and with Steinitz, the future world
more likely than the men to be anonymous. champion, who had come to England in 1862.
The names or nicknames of successful prob- Staunton developed a xenophobic objection
lem solvers were often listed; this recognition to foreigners’ making money from chess.
provided an incentive to find the right solu- An historian has estimated that by the
tion even if there were no prizes to be won. early 1850s the chess column in the Illustrated
Chess editors also used this section to ac- London News was being read by 20,000 peo-
knowledge receipt of communications, often ple weekly, which gave Staunton immense in-
stating that it was not possible to give private fluence in the chess world, especially among
replies—because of the large volume re- the general public of amateurs who were not
ceived—although they did sometimes com- concerned with the niceties of metropolitan
municate privately with valued contributors. chess politics.17 That figure probably rose in
As with Bell’s Life, Staunton’s “Answers” later years. As the Illustrated became increas-
section frequently contained items of more ingly successful, however, Staunton was prob-
interest to the historian than the main part of ably constrained by its editorial policies, as
the column. They provide information about the proprietors would not wish to compro-
where chess was played in various towns, mise its leading position in the market by be-
opinions and facts about players of the past coming embroiled in needless controversies.
and present, observations on chess rules, eti- In later years he managed to insert attacks on
quette, literature, and history. Some readers Löwenthal and Steinitz, but they had to be
used the Answers columns in Bell’s Life and carefully worded and those readers who were
perhaps the Illustrated London News also, as not aware of controversies in the London
an authority to settle bets. Staunton did not chess scene would probably have remained
believe in a false politeness to his readers and, unaware of the real significance of the pieces.
like Walker, sometimes expressed himself Staunton’s tirade against “Professionalism” on
vigorously and did not suffer fools. When a 29 December 1866 is a good example; Stein-
reader claimed to have detected a fault, he re- itz is not once named in that piece but he
sponded: “Had ‘Philo-Philidor’ bestowed knew very well that he was the target.* Like-
one-fiftieth part of the attention on Problem wise, the later editor Duffy was able to put
No. 97 which we have, he would have spared personal attacks into the Westminster Papers
us the necessity of telling him he has discov- that would not have been tolerated in the
ered a ‘mare’s nest.’”15 columns of the Illustrated.
Kellett, in the chapter quoted above, Staunton, from the mid–1850s, was vir-
rightly refers to Staunton using the column as tually retired from chess play as he pursued

*On the amateur-professional tensions in Victorian chess, see also Chapter 6. This topic has not yet been sys-
tematically investigated, but a good start was the paper by Dr. Adrian Harvey: “You May Say What You Like to
the Professional and Dismiss Them When You Want,” in Sport in History, 30:3 (2010), pages 402–421.
32 British Chess Literature to 1914

Part of Staunton’s Illustrated London News chess column of 17 July 1847.

his editorial labors on Shakespeare. So he be- well into the 20th century. Since the paper
came increasingly isolated and reliant on oth- had a large worldwide circulation, it was read
ers for information on what was happening. by far more people and in far more countries
Like its conductor, the Illustrated London News than any other. Because of the popularity of
column grew middle-aged, but it continued the publication, circulating globally, the col-
to appear almost every week. Whyld wrote in umn became the most widely-read bit of chess
Columns, page 201, that there were “Gaps, e.g., literature in the 19th century.
1863”; but this is incorrect; there was a col- Staunton’s annotations to the games in
umn every week in 1863 and indeed, from the the column tended to be superficial, although
time Staunton took over, there was no break sometimes he provided detailed notes. He
in the regular publication of the series until was probably constrained by the limited space
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 33

available and by knowing that the majority of Some Other Pre–1850 Columns
his readers were casual social players, for whom
lengthy analyses might be tedious. Staunton The adjoining table shows outline de-
rarely contributed on-the-spot coverage of tails of all the columns we have been able to
important chess events. He missed, for exam- discover which commenced by mid-century.
ple, the historic Oxford–Cambridge univer- Until the early 1850s, Bell’s Life and the I.L.N.
sity match in 1873, although the second match remained the two major columns, and there
in 1874 was possibly the last time he was seen were relatively few others. In this section, some-
at a public chess event. Staunton’s standard thing will be said about all the others. In most
format for the column was not altered for at cases, there is relatively little to be said.
least fifty years, although the content fluctu- One of the earliest series of articles about
ated in quality. chess in a London weekly periodical was in
Staunton died suddenly of a heart attack the Saturday Magazine. Between 1841 and
at his desk on 22 July 1876. The 4 July issue 1844 it carried miscellaneous and elementary
in volume 65 printed his obituary separately articles by Charles Tomlinson, but this was
from the regular column which may have in- not a topical column. Later these items were
cluded items written by Staunton that had al- reprinted in Tomlinson’s book Amusements
ready been set in type. The 11 July column was in Chess (1845) where he explained that his
the work of the next editor. The story of the sketches of the history, antiquities and cu-
I.L.N. column is continued in Chapter 3. riosities of the game were scattered between

Chess Columns in British Periodicals Started by 1850

From–To Title (and City) Chess editor
9 July 1813–20 Aug. 1814 Liverpool Mercury (Liverpool) Egerton Smith
13 July 1819–17 Oct. 1820 Kaleidoscope (Liverpool) Egerton Smith
5 Oct. 1823–28 Mar. 1824 Lancet (London) Thomas Wakley
6 July 1824–23 June 1829 Kaleidoscope (Liverpool) Egerton Smith
4 Jan. 1835–30 Aug. 1873 Bell’s Life in London (London) George Walker
8 Sep. 1840–21 Oct. 1846 Bath & Cheltenham Gazette (Bath) Elijah Williams
9 May 1840–5 Dec. 1840 New Court Gazette [Court Gazette] Howard Staunton
(London)
Feb. 1841–April 1841 The British Miscellany (London) Howard Staunton
2 Jan. 1841–28 Dec. 1844 Saturday Magazine (London) Charles Tomlinson
25 June 1842–30 Dec. 1843 Illustrated London News (London) unknown
16 Nov. 1844–15 Feb. 1845 Illustrated London News (London) “Member of London
Chess Club”
22 Feb. 1845–June 1874 Illustrated London News (London) Howard Staunton
5 Feb. 1845–8 Jan. 1848 Pictorial Times (merged with Lady’s News-
paper, 1848) (London) unknown
1846–June 1847 South Devon Literary Chronicle (Plymouth) unknown
June 1847–31 Jan. 1851 Glasgow Citizen (Glasgow) A. G. McCombe
15 Jan. 1848–25 Oct. 1851 Lady’s Newspaper (London) unknown
26 Aug. 1848–21 Feb. 1852 Gateshead Observer (Gateshead) Silas Angas?
1 May 1849–27 Oct. 1854 Family Friend (London) Daniel Harrwitz
(from vol. 2)
7 July 1849–June 1854 The Home Circle (London) Henry Cook Mott
16 Nov. 1849–26 Sep. 1850 Illustrated Historic Times (London) Elijah Williams
34 British Chess Literature to 1914

fortnightly articles over four years and eight 5, no 101, on 15 February 1845 saying, “We
volumes of the periodical, and a demand had have engaged the assistance of an eminent
arisen to have them collected, and in some player, a member of the principal chess clubs.”
cases extended. (This was probably William Lewis as Gillam
Two of the earliest weekly newspaper has suggested.) On 15 January 1848, it merged
columns were conducted by Elijah Williams with The Lady’s Newspaper; which previously
(1809–1854), a pharmacist from the west of had no chess. The new title was The Lady’s
England who moved to London at some stage Newspaper and Pictorial Times. The num-
in the 1840s in search of greater chess oppor- bering of chess problems continued from the
tunities. Starting on 8 September 1840 he Pictorial and went on to 25 October 1851.18
began a column in the Bath and Cheltenham The chess editor was probably male, maybe
Gazette. The column consisted mostly of still Lewis. It was all about men’s chess, though
problems but with some games. Whyld states some women sent in queries. There were lots
that the column ran to 21 October 1846, but of games by Szén; it appears the columnist
there are gaps. had Continental contacts. The problemist
Williams was also the person responsi- Henry John Clinton Andrews (1828–1887)
ble for the chess column in The Illustrated was often mentioned. There was a later run
Historic Times. This short-lived publication of 20 chess problems starting on 2 August
had his chess column from 16 November 1849 1856.
to at least 26 September 1850 (which is the The South Devon Literary Chronicle, a
last issue available in the British Library and monthly magazine published in Plymouth,
may have been the final issue). There were supposedly had a chess column in 1846 and
seven articles in 1849 but the last had no prob- 1847. There are some feeble articles in 1847
lem as the diagram arrived too late, so it just and publication ended in June that year. The
had the game. On 14 December, Williams ad- issues for 1846 were unavailable in the B.L.
vised a player from Bristol that the “shilling The Gateshead Observer ran the earliest
stake, played for in clubs, has so many advan- column on Tyneside; the editor was not by-
tages that we should be sorry to see the cus- lined but it is easy to guess who he was. Reg-
tom abandoned,” but he condemned the prac- ular chess articles began (with problem 1 and
tice, lately introduced, of playing for large a game) on 26 August 1848 but they had pub-
stakes. lished some games earlier (although not on
There is also some interesting reading in 22 July 1848, the date stated by Whyld). This
the columns during 1850. On 5 July Williams author has not seen all of it but according to
objected to the Sunday closing of the Post Of- Whyld, the column appeared most weeks
fice, saying “There is something really mon- until 21 February 1852. The title was Gates-
strous in a set of men arrogating to themselves head and County of Durham Observer from 14
all the purity of the country” and he believed April 1849 until 27 December 1851 and then
that in aggregate Sunday working would in- changed back.
crease as a result. This was in a paper pub- By 1851 the column was in decline; there
lished by the Church of England! Probably was rarely more than a problem and one or
not everybody of influence in that church two replies to correspondents, but occasion-
agreed with the objectives of the Lord’s Day ally there is something of interest. On 18 Jan-
Observance Society. uary that year, the editor says: “The North-
The Pictorial Times, published in Lon- umberland Club was dissolved a few weeks
don, is mentioned in Whyld also, on page 344. ago. We believe, with the writer referred to,
An anonymous chess column began in volume that the material for the formation of another
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 35

is both plentiful and sound, were it only had something to say about each of them: The
brought together and united.” On the row Illustrated London News, Bell’s Life, The Era,
concerning the organization of the great tour- The Field, The Sunday Times, Cassell’s Family
nament, the editor wrote on 8 February: “We Paper, The Illustrated News of the World, The
have read the correspondence between the St. Review, Reynolds’s Miscellany, The Family Her-
George’s and the London Clubs and it cer- ald, and The London Journal. Five of these
tainly appears to us that the London Club de- could be classified as family papers with liter-
serves no censure for the course it has adopted.” ary content, four as sporting papers, and two
As Silas Angas (1814–1867), who was from as illustrated newspapers. Most of the columns
Tyneside, was a great supporter of Staunton, followed the Illustrated London News pattern
this is strong evidence that he conducted the although they varied in the quantity of origi-
column. On 15 March 1851 a game between nal material they contained. The Chronicle list
two women was published, perhaps the first was incomplete, nor does this chapter men-
time such a game was ever published. tion every single column shown in Appendix
The Glasgow Citizen was the first Scot- I to have existed in the 1850s, but it does cover
tish column but attempting to find it can be the important ones.
frustrating. The column was edited by A. G. The 1850s and early 1860s were the time
McCombe, who later immigrated to Australia. of the “family magazine” and a chess column
It ran from June 1847 to 31 January 1851 ac- was often part of the package in many such
cording to Whyld, but that was not a publica- papers. The Family Friend, which began in
tion day and 1847 is unavailable in the British 1849, had a rather poor column from volumes
Library, which does have microfilms covering 2–6 (1850–1852) and, briefly, another one in
1848 to 1851.The last chess seen was 5 Octo- the next decade. The new (monthly) series
ber 1850. However, an answer to a correspon- began in January 1862 with chess by “Herr
dent on 16 February 1850 stated: “We are Loewenthal” for four issues up to April 1862;
often obliged to withdraw the Chess to make a May 1862 article looks as if it was probably
room for the late news which we publish in not by him. The British Library could not
our Third or Evening edition.” This explains supply volume 2 ( July–December 1862) while
why the microfilm in the British Library does volume 3 had chess only in January, March
not have all the articles that appeared. In a few and April, which Whyld (page 141) attributed
cases, extracts from the Citizen are quoted in to G. F. Pardon.
the Chess Player’s Chronicle about a row be- The Family Herald was a more success-
tween the Glasgow and Newcastle clubs over ful domestic weekly, which began publication
a correspondence match, but these were not in December 1842, and ran a chess column in
found on the relevant microfilm. volumes 16 and 17 (from 1 May 1858 to April
1860). Charles Tomlinson began the column
and in the introductory article he wrote:
More Columns in the 1850s Dear Reader,—Do you play at chess? No! Then
you have hitherto missed one of the purest pleas-
When the Chess Player’s Chronicle was ures of intellect, one of the greatest charms of
revived in 1859, it ran an article on “The social life. We once heard a fine player remark,
Progress of Chess,” which included a survey that of all the pleasures of mind, he knew of none
superior to the act of playing a winning game
of chess journalism. It said several pioneering
against a stiff antagonist. There is also pleasure
series that had once existed were no more, yet in playing a losing game against a finer player
there were now 11 weekly chess columns in than yourself. You admire his skill and subtlety,
London publications alone. The Chronicle even while the inevitable mate is dimly looming
36 British Chess Literature to 1914

in the distance; and though beaten, you feel that typical column, including problems and games.
you have done your best, that your best is capa- On page 783 of volume 16, replying to a cor-
ble of improvement, and that you may probably
respondent, he expressed his opinion about
one day beat your master.
two great players of the previous generation,
The article mentions chess problems too which differed from the common opinion:
and playing through fine games of the masters.
In play, Labourdonnais won a large majority of
It said the chess knowledge was cumulative, games, and we think had greater genius for the
whereas “Games that depend on skill of hand, game than McDonnell; but the latter possessed
quickness of eye, swiftness of foot, such as great knowledge, and for ourselves we should
fives, cricket, etc., are not of this character.” not pronounce in favour of the Frenchman,
His remarks were not only addressed to “our though we believe he is usually considered to
have been somewhat the better player.
own sex,” saying: “The pleasures of home
cease to be pleasure unless shared in by our As circulation of the Family Herald at
wives and sisters, our daughters and nieces. that period was 260,000 declining to 200,000,
Woman’s nimble mind and quick perceptions the inclusion of chess may have been part of
tell well on the chessboard.” To the objection a drive to find new readers by going upmarket,
that chess is “too clever,” Tomlinson asked “Is which failed. Löwenthal’s last article was on
Shakspeare too clever, or Milton, or Gold- 28 April 1860, on page 831. There was noth-
smith, and do not these worthies belong to ing to say the column was ending but so often
the poor as well as to the rich?” they did not announce negative things like
The next articles consisted of elemen- that, especially when it was the end of a vol-
tary instruction. One on the Laws of Chess ume, as in this case. The Family Herald had
on page 111 (12 June 1858) concluded the les- another chess column decades later, from
sons; this was the last time the initials “C.T.” 1902.
appeared on the column. David Levy’s book Reynolds’s Miscellany of Romance,
on Staunton quotes (without citation of General Literature, Science, and Art, a Lon-
source) a revealing letter that Staunton had don weekly, was published by George W. M.
written to Tomlinson in June: Reynolds from 1858 to 1869. Whyld under-
I was very glad to hear the chess of the F.H. estimated the long run of the anonymous col-
[Family Herald] had fallen into British hands, as umn in this magazine. The chess editor re-
that preposterous custom of engaging a for- mains unidentified, but chess (problems, poor
eigner to edit Chess in an English newspaper games, answers to correspondents) was in-
makes us ridiculous wherever the game is
known…. Indeed the practice if not checked
cluded almost continuously from 4 December
would shortly have given to half-dozen refugees 1858 (in volume 21) to the end of publication
a complete monopoly of English periodical (19 June 1869) when Reynolds announced
Chess. You have no conception of the exertions that he was closing the magazine rather than
these fellows have been making to get the Chess sell it.
in their hands….19
One of the most successful family week-
Staunton’s xenophobic attitude was not lies was Cassell’s Illustrated Family Paper,
based on fact: The majority of columns were which ran from December 1853 to March 1867.
still in the hands of Englishmen. That letter It had an estimated circulation of 250,000–
was probably counter-productive because 285,000 in the years 1855–1858 and ran chess
soon afterwards Tomlinson then passed the every week for more than 13 years. Not only
column on to Löwenthal himself, “whom he was it good for chess problem enthusiasts, as
considered more qualified to write it,” accord- the Chronicle noted, but its chess editor, Henry
ing to Levy. Löwenthal’s series was a more Cook Mott, interacted well with readers, run-
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 37

ning an important series of corre-

spondence chess game tourna-
ments.
Mott had previously written
for the humbler but rather inter-
esting family weekly The Home
Circle which, launched on Satur-
day 7 July 1849, ran weekly for 10
half-yearly volumes, ceasing pub-
lication in mid–1854. From De-
cember 1853 to June 1854 Mott
had both columns but, on the clo-
sure of the Circle, he transferred
his competitions.20 From the start,
the German chess composers Jo-
seph Kling (1811–1876) and Bern-
hard Horwitz (1807?–1885) were
also named as contributors to The
Home Circle, so they assisted Mott
as well as perhaps advising on their
specialist areas: art in the case of
Horwitz, music in Kling’s case.
One of the earliest columns stated:
“We consider Herr Kling the fore-
most among the inventors of prob-
lems in the present day. Nothing
can exceed the ingenuity and
beauty of the problems which ap-
pear in the collection just pub-
lished by him.” Towards the end
of 1853, the Home Circle chess col-
umn announced that: Title page from The Home Circle, volume 9 (1853).
Mr. Kling has made such arrange-
ments in regard to his musical engagements as
from issue 157 onwards (the start of volume
have again enabled him to take premises at 454, seven in 1852), though these may have ap-
New Oxford Street, and which he has opened as peared on covers not surviving in bound vol-
chess-rooms. True lovers of the royal game will umes. Dates were probably omitted because
again, therefore, have the opportunity of enjoy- the paper was sold, like many periodicals, in
ing those chess gatherings which formed so
monthly parts as well as weekly numbers. The
pleasing a feature of Mr. Kling’s former estab-
lishment. final volume, for example, was available in var-
ious formats and prices: weekly, one penny;
The exact closure date of the Home Cir- stamped 2d; monthly parts, 6d.* Twenty-six
cle is uncertain because title pages bear no date issues constituted a volume, the last being a

*The Home Circle not being a newspaper, a stamp was not compulsory, but as the stamp included postage, its
provincial readers probably preferred that option.
38 British Chess Literature to 1914

number of 24 pages instead of the usual 16, in Around 1850, Manchester bookseller Abel
which all fiction serials would be concluded. Heywood claimed to be selling 600 copies
The bound volume 10 price was stated as weekly, compared to 1,500 weekly for the
“Plain 4s., Gilt edges and backs 4s. 6d.” A fron-more sensational titles like the London Journal
tispiece and a two- page address, usually and Family Herald.22 Perhaps a higher peak
bound at the front, completed each volume. was reached but, presumably, circulation fell
The circulation of The Home Circle was in 1853–1854 before the paper closed. Distri-
claimed after four or five months to be “about bution may have been inefficient. The literary
43,000 … with a rapidly increasing sale.” 21 reviewer of the Dundee Courier commented
in 1850 that the Home Circle
“reaches us rather irregularly” but
“its general excellence is still kept
up. The cheapest in its class, it ex-
hibits no inferiority in talent.” 23
Few copies have survived. The last
volume proved elusive, the British
Library copy having been lost or
destroyed. The Waterloo Directory
could not locate any complete set
in Britain or North America. Ulti-
mately the search was rewarded
when the John Rylands Library in
Deansgate, Manchester, reopened
in May 2007 after two years’ recon-
struction work and one was able to
see volume 10 at last. That library
possibly possesses the only com-
plete set in existence, forming part
of the Douglas Munro–Alexandre
Dumas, père, Collection.24
The editor of The Home Circle
throughout was Pierce James Egan
(1814–1880), a son of the famous
boxing writer Pierce Egan (1772?–
1849).25 Egan, Jr., began as an illus-
trator and writer of popular histor-
ical serial novels; this was his only
venture into magazine proprietor-
ship.26 The claim in the Oxford Dic-
tionary of National Biography that
Egan’s reign ended in December
1851 appears to be a misunder-
A chess column from The Home Circle, volume 2 (1850),
standing inherited from Boase’s
27
showing the numeric notation system that was adopted Modern English Biography. Egan
for international correspondence chess after the Second was still named as editor on the
World War (until the era of internet chess servers). final page of volume 10.28 What did
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 39

change was that by 1851 W. S. Johnson, who pers, and above all to the sporting papers pub-
originally was listed as printer, became the lished in London.
publisher too and remained so until the end. George Frederick Pardon (1824–1884)
By 1853 the magazine was in difficulties. was responsible for two of the columns of
The address to volume eight refers to its aim which the Chronicle disapproved: in The Re-
of “altering the taste of the masses” but com- view (a rival to The Field during 1858 and 1859)
plains that other publishers almost stole their and The London Journal, which was at this
title and copied their appearance.29 “Several period, along with Cassell’s and Reynolds’s Mis-
religious publishing associations have fol- cellany, one of the largest-selling London fam-
lowed in our van … tried to elbow us out of ily weeklies. The London Journal chess col-
the field.” That may refer to the Home Friend, umn ran only from August 1858 to July 1859.
begun by the Society for Promoting Christian Pardon is an example of how journalists in-
Knowledge in 1852. In defense, a recommen- volved in radical publishing of the 1840s were
dation from the literary-minded Justice Tal- now adapting themselves to serve the growing
fourd was obtained, which appears on the title family, juvenile, and sporting markets. He had
page in the final volume: “Your work is replete sub-edited for Chartist editor Feargus
with innocent recreation and suggestions of O’Connor on the Evening Star, then edited
practical good.”30 The abolition of the adver- the People’s and Howitt’s Journal.36 In the early
tisement tax may have been a final blow, since 1850s Pardon was an employee of John Cas-
this concession would have been more bene- sell, who had started as a carpenter and
ficial to lavish competitors such as Cassell’s.31 temperance orator before founding a major
Ceasing publication was possibly Johnson’s publishing house.37 Pardon seems to have spe-
decision. The fact that nothing was said about cialized in start-ups. After hiring him to edit
closure in the final issue, or in the address for the Working Man’s Friend, Cassell gave him re-
the volume, suggests a late decision. Johnson sponsibility for the Illustrated Exhibitor (one
later took over the London Journal and em- of the titles covering the Great Exhibition of
ployed Egan as editor and writer.32 1851).38
Chess appeared throughout the ten vol- Eventually moving on from Cassell’s,
umes of The Home Circle, and the column was Pardon wrote for The Boy’s Journal: A Maga-
significant for several reasons. It encouraged zine of Literature, Science, Adventure, and Amuse-
both chess problems and play by correspon- ment, a monthly that began in 1863 and in-
dence. In 1853 Mott began to organize the cluded his chess and later checkers columns,
first correspondence chess tourney ever held, which ran correspondence competitions until
with 16 players. Run on a knockout basis, it 1865. He sometimes used the pseudonym
continued in his Cassell’s column and ended Captain Rawdon Crawley (a character bor-
in 1856.33 In March 1867 Cassell’s flagship pe- rowed from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair), not only
riodical, the Illustrated Family Paper, was re- for chess but also for writings on other games.
modeled as Cassell’s Magazine, and chess was Pardon complained that after John Crockford
dropped. Although that may have been due asked him to write for The Field on chess, he
partly to Mott’s health problems,34 it probably was then told that the paper “could not afford
suited the new policy to concentrate on liter- to pay ten shillings a week for chess, the cir-
ature rather than amusements.35 By the late culation being so small,” but after he began to
1860s, the erstwhile readers of family paper write for The Review, or Country Gentleman’s
chess columns had gone elsewhere—to the Journal, chess commenced in The Field “and
specialist chess magazines, or perhaps to now they could afford one of the leading play-
other chess columns in smaller circulation pa- ers, Boden, to write it.”39
40 British Chess Literature to 1914

Chess columns can be found in several supplement of the newspaper from 26 April
papers aimed at youth from 1860s onwards, 1857 until 6 November 1859. The supplement
as Appendix I shows. The peculiar publishing ended the following week and that is probably
history of Young Men of Great Britain requires why chess was stopped. Thereafter there was
clarification. Publisher Edwin Brett himself no chess in that newspaper until the 1890s.
had moved from the chartist press to the The column began with a greeting mes-
“penny dreadfuls,” though his publications sage signed by Falkbeer and a game from the
were not as black as they were painted.40 This current Bird–Falkbeer match. There was also
title was aimed at graduates from his Boys of a short game by Deacon and some news. In
England. Ten half-yearly volumes appeared, the following weeks more games between
from January 1868 to the end of 1872; then, Falkbeer and Bird were published. Then in
starting in 1875, the complete run of Young the second week there was a diagram with
Men of Great Britain was repeated. Thus it Problem 1 by Joseph Graham Campbell
continued until 1879; holdings (e.g., at the (1830–1891). Much of the column was rather
British Library) often consist of a mixture of dull but on 5 July it mentioned that attempts
the original run and the reissue.41 The “Cap- were being made to revive the McDonnell
tain Crawley” column was passed on to Löw- Chess Club. In August there was a game by
enthal, whose first article appears on page 308 Oxford graduate Valentine Green (1831–1877),
of volume one. See page 72 for more on boys’ then working in India, played against a “na-
columns. tive.” Further games from India appeared in
One of the pioneering columns that were 1859.
no more, as referred to in that Chronicle arti- On 11 April 1858 it was stated that the
cle, would have been that in Sharpe’s London Philidorian Rooms opened last week, and
Magazine. Whyld’s data on page 399 is in- subsequent weeks carried good coverage of
complete. This monthly magazine had vari- chess played there. In Chapter 6 is seen that
ous titles over time but during the period of the Third Series of The Chess Player’s Chron-
the chess column it was Sharpe’s London Mag- icle was published by the proprietor of those
azine of Entertainment and Instruction, which chess rooms. Then during Morphy’s Euro-
has been digitized by Proquest in its British pean visit, from the summer in 1858, most re-
Periodicals database, available in many re- ports concentrate on that, including his activ-
search and university libraries. This chess col- ities in France in early 1859. From late March
umn ran from May 1855 to June 1857 (bar a 1859 until mid–May (except 8 May) most of
few months) beginning as “Chess Exercises the Sunday Times articles report on a handi-
by Kling and Zytogorski.” It often included cap tournament played at Purssells chess
news and games from Kling’s chess rooms and rooms in the City of London, which has been
from June 1856 only Kling was involved. Soon well covered by Hans Renette in his biogra-
after the column ended, the publication phy of Henry Edward Bird (1829–1908).42
changed from being a general literary maga- The first class players—Bird, Falkbeer and
zine to a women’s magazine. Hughes—had to give pawn and move or even
The last of the columns mentioned in pawn and two moves to everyone else. Falk-
the article above, The Sunday Times, ran for beer won the tournament. In the Final he de-
two and a half years and was informative feated Henry Albert Reeves, despite conced-
about London chess. Its editor, the Austrian ing pawn and two, but it was a close contest:
Ernest Karl Falkbeer (1819–1885), was a pro- 3–2 with two draws. Reeves and Hughes then
ficient journalist as well as a chess master. The played a match at the same odds, and other
column ran in the Sporting and Agricultural matches being played were also reported later
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 41

in the year, including a protracted match be- advertisements could be sold, and the peri-
tween Campbell and Wormald. odical market grew enormously. Of course it
helped that education was also being reformed
so that literacy in the “lower classes” was
Early Chess in The Field much greater than in previous generations.
There was a hunger for printed materials at a
Another important column began in price that was now more affordable.
1854, in The Field, which was to become the A large number of new titles were
greatest sporting newspaper of the 19th cen- launched or expanded thanks to the ending
tury. Its first chess column—and also the last of stamp duty and paper duty and eventually
to be conducted by Williams—only lasted the tax on advertisements. Some newspapers
about a year and a half, and was but a curtain- moved from weekly to daily (or at least to more
raiser to the important column in that paper
which came later and whose heyday will be
discussed in Chapter 3. The Field has not been
digitized but some of the chess columns (the
first two years, then 1858, 1870 and 1902) are
available free at www.chessarch.com/excava
tions/excavations.php.
When it first appeared in January 1853,
the proprietors of The Field had to pay—as
the paper’s historian R. N. Rose, explained—
one penny stamp duty on its 16 page main
paper and another one penny when there was
a supplement.43 This fixed cost had to be
passed on directly to purchasers of the news-
paper, though the stamp did cover the cost of
postage to subscribers from the provinces. All
periodicals, not just those classed as newspa-
pers, also had to pay a tax on any advertise-
ments they published and in addition there
was duty levied on paper. That meant that the
size of publications was usually much smaller
than they later became.
Changes in legislation at this period even-
tually resulted from an extensive campaign
against what were called “the taxes on knowl-
edge.” The advertisement duty was repealed
in August 1853, the stamp duty was repealed
in July 1855 and finally the paper duty came
to an end in October 1861. It is universally ac-
knowledged by historians of Victorian Britain
that the removal of these taxes led, as the cam-
paigners had expected, to a new era in news-
paper and periodical publishing in the United Chess article by Elijah Williams in the first
Kingdom. Cover prices could fall and more issue of The Field, 1 January 1853, page 12.
42 British Chess Literature to 1914

frequent) publication and numerous new ti-

tles appeared. This in turn led to a prolifera-
tion of new chess columns. The Field had a
chess column by Williams from the very first
issue, but in mid–1854 it was petering out, a
casualty of the space given in the paper that
year to Crimean War coverage. Then Williams
died, a victim of the London cholera epi-
demic of that year, and he was not replaced.
Rose has shown that The Field was not a great
commercial success at first, and that its own-
ership changed in November 1854 when cir-
culation was about 3,800 copies a week.4 4
Chess was only revived in The Field in 1858
and the further history of this column is traced
in the next two chapters. The new proprietors
made a great success of this paper and it is still
being published today as a magazine, though
without a chess column.

Johann Jacob Löwenthal, first chess editor of

The Chess Column of The Era who later conducted several other
columns.
The Era
content, although enjoying a circulation only
Another important column began on 19 one sixth the size of Bell’s.4 6 Nevertheless
February in a Sunday newspaper entitled The Löwenthal’s column prospered until the focus
Era. According to The Home Circle, “The ap- of the newspaper shifted primarily to theatri-
pointment advertised some weeks back in The cal matters. Historians of the periodical press
Times newspaper, has, we are pleased to say, have called it “the most important theatrical
been conferred on Herr Lowenthal.”45 (Ef- weekly of its day” and said “by the late 1860s
forts to trace the advertisement have been un- it had become first and foremost a theatre
successful.) In 1854 he was still friendly with paper.”47
Staunton, so it is possible that he got the job The chess column ran from 19 February
on Staunton’s recommendation. Löwenthal 1854, with a byline in the later years, until the
was a Hungarian who had spent two years in Era explicitly stated that it ended on 29 April
America as a refugee from reprisals after the 1866. Editorial requirements were the osten-
Hungarian revolution of 1848. He arrived in sible reason for Löwenthal’s column closing,
England just in time for the London 1851 although there must be a suspicion that Staun-
tournament, after which he assisted Staunton ton somehow engineered his ousting. Löwen-
for a time before they fell out later in the 1850s. thal had received a byline from 21 June 1858
It seems paradoxical that the organ of the Li- onwards, the Era making capital of his being
censed Vintners organization ran a column the first to play a match with visiting Ameri-
on chess, which requires sobriety for skilled can champion Paul Morphy. Sergeant believed
performance, but that paper relied in its early that Löwenthal chose to resign to make more
years primarily on sporting readership and time for his work with the British Chess As-
 2. The Heyday of Walker and Staunton 43

sociation. The timing is right—the B.C.A. 10 February to 28 December. The tone of the
was reorganized a few weeks before the col- column had definitely changed because the
umn ended—but Duffy may have maneu- new editor wrote more entertainingly but in
vered to replace him. Dundee master George a biased way, critical of the British Chess As-
Brunton Fraser (1831–1905) attributed its sociation (therefore anti–Löwenthal), and he
second series to Duffy and attitudes some- was not a good annotator of games.48 On the
times expressed in the column support that other hand, the Oxford Dictionary of National
view. Löwenthal could probably ill afford to Biography associates Staunton with the later
lose the Era fees and there had already been Era column; his obituary in that paper sup-
a testimonial for him in 1864. ports his having an association at some un-
A new anonymous column ran in The clear date. It is hard to form a firm opinion
Era from 17 June 1866 to 6 January 1867, but about which years Duffy was in charge and
it was mostly fortnightly. Then a “new series” which years were under Staunton, as the evi-
(numbering the problems from #1) began on dence is so thin.
 3. The Golden Age of
Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885

The quarter of a century between 1860 stead. In general there were far more titles
and 1885 may be seen as a golden age of chess than before and several cities had competing
columns. Both years are chosen somewhat ar- newspapers, especially in the weekly market.
bitrarily, but 1885 was the year that William By the 1880s there was usually at least one
Norwood Potter (1840–1895) ceased to write newspaper chess column in every major city,
the excellent column in Land and Water. Cer- and indeed in most county towns, which would
tain of the major columns mentioned in this normally appear in the weekly paper or the
chapter will start before 1860 or continue a Saturday edition of a daily, although there were
little beyond 1885 to a natural stopping point. exceptions.
Why speak of a golden age? The London 1862 There was also an explosion in magazine
tournament stimulated chess reporting, but publishing, again mostly weeklies. Sometimes
the growth of clubs seems to have slowed for chess appeared in surprising specialist publi-
a time afterwards, partly because of economic cations, though often it did not last. Browsing
variations. The collapse of the Overend and through the titles in Appendix I will give the
Gurney bank in 1866, which caused the failure reader a good idea of the variety of periodi-
of many businesses, was a contributing factor. cals, regional and national, which ran chess
By the early 1870s prosperity had returned in columns at one time or another. There were
England, and with it came a considerable in- so many that is impossible for anyone to read
crease in the number of clubs. Matches and every column and there remains plenty of
tournaments became more frequent so there scope for future research in this area.
was also more for columns to report. Columns did experience life cycles. Some-
As noted already in the previous chapter, times a column came to an end just because
the economics of newspaper publishing im- the chess editor became too busy at work, or
proved in the 1860s. With the abolition of the he began to lose interest, fell ill or died. Some
last of the taxes on knowledge, there began to editors were replaced, but in other cases there
be a great expansion in provincial papers. Sev- was no replacement to be found. Columns
eral cities and regions had their own morning could also come to an end because the publi-
papers; some newspapers that had formerly cation in which they appeared changed its ed-
been weeklies adopted daily publication in- itor, or merged with another paper, or failed

44
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 45

altogether. If a newspaper editor started to year and he conducted both columns until his
squeeze the space available for chess, or own death in December 1876. (Further de-
dropped it from late editions, or omitted it for tails on those columns are in the next section
several weeks, the chess editor was likely to of this chapter.) They were the only two in-
decide to quit, or seek a new home for his dexed to Wormald in Whyld’s Columns but he
writings. Columns that transferred to other had earlier conducted at least one other.
titles can be hard to trace; some examples will This distinguished writer was the third
be given later. son of Bryan Wormald, of Bramham, a York-
shire county gentleman. “Tommy” Wormald,
as he was known to his friends, was only 15
Wormald’s Start in years old when his first published chess prob-
lem (“enigma 605”) appeared in the Illus-
Chess Journalism trated London News on 7 September 1850.1 By
then he was living in Oxford (perhaps for
Robert Bownas Wormald (1834–1876)
preparatory studies), and he became a student
was a sporting journalist with many interests.
at the age of 17 or 18, matriculating at Lincoln
He conducted chess columns for only rela-
College on 2 June 1852. Until 1856 he was a
tively brief periods, not much more than two
“bible clerk” (a type of scholarship) and he
years at any time, but he was a popular and
graduated with a B.A. in 1857.2 While at Ox-
influential figure in the chess world for over
ford, Wormald was a prominent member of
two decades. Wormald became a close asso-
the university’s first chess club, the Hermes,
ciate of Staunton and it was he who inherited
which had been founded around 1847 and
the column in the Illustrated London News
was centered on Lincoln College. During his
when Staunton died in June 1874. Though al-
student years, he competed in the two earliest
ready in poor health, Wormald had also
postal chess tournaments—run by the Home
launched the chess column of the Illustrated
Circle (from 1853) and the Birmingham Mer-
Sporting and Dramatic News earlier that same
cury (from 1854)—which brought him into
contact with some prominent amateurs else-
where in the country. His opponents included
Frederick George Rainger (1829–1871) of
Norwich, Charles French Smith of London
(1828–1868, an early rival of Bird), and Fraser,
all expert players by the standards of the day.3
In 1853 Wormald was rather a weak
player, as can be seen from the fact that Brien,
an alumnus of his college, gave him odds of
pawn and two moves in a match which ended
in a tie 3½–3½. Wormald’s play improved as
he drew 4–4 with Zytogorski in 1859 and the
same year only lost a hard-fought match
against Campbell by 11½–9½ and beat Frank
Burden 5–4.4 In 1860 Wormald published an
Robert Bownas Wormald as portrayed, only
elementary book, The Hand-Book of Chess,
a few weeks before his death, in The Westmin- “by an Oxford amateur.” He did not compete
ster Papers, IX (October 1876), facing page in the 1862 London Congress but did play for
101. the B.C.A. Gold Cup in 1868. Wormald also
46 British Chess Literature to 1914

wrote a small book on chess openings, pub- of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News,
lished in 1864, which will be discussed in which lasted a quarter of a century, its origi-
Chapter 7. nator was Wormald, who conducted it for two
His first essay into chess journalism came and a half years. This lively paper, featuring
in The Sporting Gazette, which began publish- many large engravings, can now be found in
ing on 1 November 1862. This weekly tabloid the British Newspaper Archive though one
magazine was, according to one of Wormald’s can spend dozens of hours reading it in the
obituaries, then “owned by a limited aristo- original hard copy. The I.S.D.N. first appeared
cratic/officer circle.” His first column appeared on 28 February 1874—without chess but it
in the second issue. Early articles included was probably planned from the beginning as
games by Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841– the column started in the next issue (of 7
1924), George Henry Mackenzie (1837–1891), March).
and Steinitz. On 6 December Wormald pub- The column had only been running a
lished the originally declared results of the few weeks when Wormald’s friend Staunton
1862 Congress problem tourney before faults died, and Wormald inherited the column of
were found in some of the prize-winners and the Illustrated London News too. The obituary
the awards were changed. Early in 1863 there he wrote for Staunton in the I.S.D.N. on 11
were more games from a match between July 1874 was one of the warmest; many
Mackenzie and the Rev. George Alcock Mac- others struck a critical note to some extent.
Donnell (1830–1899), “the progress of which Whyld says Wormald took over the I.L.N. as
has been watched with considerable interest from 27 June, but Staunton had surely sub-
in chess circles.” It was not mentioned that mitted some copy to the editors of the I.L.N.
they had previously played a match in Dublin. by then. Game annotations in the 4 July edi-
The final score this time was given by the tion look like Staunton’s work too. In the days
Gazette as Mackenzie 6, MacDonnell 3, with of metal typesetting, with galley proofs being
one drawn. sent to the writer for correction, it is probable
This column was interesting in 1863 but that games and problems were prepared well
several weeks were missed as the year wore in advance of being published. Likewise, there
on, and after May 1864 it only rarely appeared. would be no break in publication on Wormald’s
In early 1865 there were a few chess problems, death on 4 December 1876, but in his case, in
the last of which was on 6 May. It is possible, view of his known poor health, a deputy was
though, that Wormald was also conducting probably already assisting.
the anonymous column in The Illustrated Wormald conducted the I.L.N. column
Weekly News (a title unknown to Whyld’s bib- from volume 65 through to volume 69 (bar
liography) for at least some of its run between the last few weeks of the latter). There was
1861 and 1866. The editor of that column ap- nothing particularly remarkable about his
pears to have been a strong player, well- stewardship of the column, which continued
informed and a competent journalist. Some much as before, minus the personal excesses
future historian may perhaps be able to con- that Staunton had sometimes introduced. On
firm an identification. 3 April 1875 he wrote: “We are afraid that the
British Chess Association must be considered
to be defunct” and on 11 September 1875 that
The Illustrated Weeklies the Association “is, we fear, both defunct and
insolvent.” Where Staunton might have gloated,
Although MacDonnell’s name is the one Wormald was matter-of-fact. This marks the
most closely associated with the chess column end of the first phase of chess organization in
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 47

Britain which had begun with the founding letter, saying (in the correspondence section
of the Yorkshire Chess Association in 1841.* on 11 September): “If you will furnish us with
The second British Chess Association, which an unequivocal contradiction to the state-
also failed after a few years, was established ment, which we had on the authority of one
in the 1880s. of the sub-committee, we shall be happy to
On 21 August Wormald replied to a cor- insert it; but you cannot expect us to publish
respondent who had raised two hypothetical such a half-hearted denial as that contained
rules issues that troubled Staunton. Of the in your letter.” The complete correspondence
dummy pawn, Wormald said it “had a very eventually appeared in the City of London
short-lived existence, and has been laughed Chess Magazine for October on pages 269 and
out of court,” but we shall see later that the 270, where the editor of that magazine said
dummy pawn was disinterred a few years later that “each and every member of the sub-
and caused more trouble—or amusement.† committee” denied the leak and asked where
The second arose from a claim some people Wormald had really obtained the information.
had made that if one’s only legal move was to Clearly somebody was telling lies and relying
capture a pawn en passant then one could claim on what nowadays is called “plausible denia-
a draw by stalemate. They argued that captur- bility.”5
ing en passant was just an option which you By mid–1876 there were signs that
should not be penalized for declining to ex- Wormald’s illness was putting him out of
ercise. Wormald was emphatically in support touch with current chess events. On 5 August
of the generally accepted rule: “If you have no he wrote that “two numbers only” of the
other legal move you are compelled to take Chronicle (new series) had appeared. In fact
the Pawn in passing.” there had been three. In October 1876 the
Wormald became embroiled in contro- Westminster Papers published a sketch and
versy when, on 28 August 1875, he published short profile of Wormald, outlining his chess
in the I.L.N. a paragraph that read: career, and saying “his high personal qualities
CITY OF LONDON CHESS CLUB.—At a meeting have secured for him the cordial regard of
of a sub-committee appointed to revise the rules every one that knows him.” This article noted
of this club, a resolution was proposed and car- that Wormald’s “life-long friendship with the
ried, to the following effect:— “That in future late Mr. Staunton marked him out as the
no professional player shall be eligible to act on fittest successor to that gentleman” at the
the committee of management.”
I.L.N. An obituary was to follow in the Janu-
The club’s honorary secretary, F. W. Lord, ary 1877 number which added a few more de-
wrote in to complain that this was a private tails about Wormald’s scholarship and profes-
matter but Wormald refused to publish his sional achievements.

*The first formal meeting of the Yorkshire Chess Association was held at Leeds in January 1841, but it was initiated
in 1840, as shown in George W. Medley’s prefatory “Memoir of the British Chess Association,” on page ix of
Löwenthal’s book The Chess Congress of 1862 (London: Bohn 1864). That book is discussed further on in the
present work, especially in Chapter 7.
†The issue arose from the curious formulation of the pawn promotion rule adopted by the British Chess Asso-
ciation in 1862 which differed markedly from Staunton’s wording in his Chess Praxis. The B.C.A. rule (see The
Chess Congress of 1862, page lxxi) gave the player who advanced a pawn to the eighth rank the option “of deciding
that it shall remain a Pawn.” In a lengthy paragraph on page xci of the same book, Löwenthal attempted to give
an intellectual justification for this provision but most practical players considered it absurd to have a man on the
board that could no longer move, and gave it the name “dummy pawn.” The true motivation for this and other
differences between the Praxis and B.C.A. laws was Staunton’s feud with Löwenthal. On later debates among
chess editors about this topic, see Chapter 3.
48 British Chess Literature to 1914

For Wormald, having to divide his ener- page 247, which gave far more information
gies between two columns at a time when he about his general journalistic career than the
was in poor health meant something had to others had done. He had worked on the Sat-
suffer; the I.L.N. column probably paid better urday Review and Literary Budget and Imperial
and the other became relatively dull. Review (which had a brief existence) and: “He
Wormald’s last I.S.D.N. column appeared on might some years since have had the post of
2 December 1876 and his column that day in editor of a leading journal in Yorkshire, which
the I.L.N. could also have been his last there. offer, however, he declined. The charms of a
It is possible, though, that the annotations to London life were too strong for him.” Wormald
the game published on the 9th, and comments had done a “vast amount of honourable work
on three problems the same day, had already in sporting journalism.” After the Sporting
been submitted by him. He had died on the Gazette he had been involved in the launch of
4th. The I.L.N. obituary notice, published The Sportsman. He was subsequently yachting
below the chess column, said that Wormald’s correspondent and occasional leader-writer
terminal illness had begun two years earlier in the Daily News and at one time joint editor
“and, incapacitating him for continued labour, with Mr. H. Smarthwaite, of Bell’s Life in Lon-
cut short the promise of a brilliant future.” don. The notice concluded by saying “He
Nevertheless in those final years Wormald never made an enemy and never lost a friend.”
had managed to do some writing and com- Wormald’s death created two vacancies.
pleted Staunton’s last and unfinished work Let us deal with the succession at the I.L.N.
Chess: Theory and Practice, which was pub- first. Duffy took over the column as from 9
lished in 1876. That obituary concentrated on December 1876 and remained chess editor
praising Wormald’s personal qualities, his lit- until April 1888, at least nominally, as he was
erary work and his problem composition. It in poor health in the final year or so. Duffy
also said “he was never in danger of sinking had come to London during the 1860s after
to the level of the mere chess-player” but “had a chess apprenticeship in Newcastle, where
won no undistinguished place in the field of there had long been a strong club. Bird had
journalism.” secured him a position at an accountancy
Whereas Wormald had to stick to Staun- firm, Turquand Coleman, where he himself
ton’s formula when writing his I.L.N. columns; held a senior position. Duffy’s chess expertise
the I.S.D.N. sometimes gave him more free- seems to have been confined to the problem
dom. The Divan tournament of 1876 was re- department (essential for anyone who would
ported in more detail than was possible in the conduct this column) but after coming to
I.L.N. and it seems he had a later deadline London he soon stopped active playing, prob-
in the Sporting and Dramatic. Then, when ably because he found the standard of oppo-
Wormald probably knew he was dying, he sition in the capital to be beyond his capac-
worked with the paper’s engraver to craft a ity.
special illustrated farewell article which ap- Duffy had probably conducted the Era
peared separately from the main column on chess column at some point (as noted in the
11 November. When this was reproduced in previous chapter) and his writings had been
the English magazine Chess some years ago, the mainstay of the chess section in the monthly
the writer of that article missed the point be- games magazine The Westminster Papers from
cause he believed that the column was being the second volume onwards. He also in 1882
conducted at that date by MacDonnell. (according to Whyld) wrote a column in the
A lengthy obituary of Wormald was pub- New York periodical Union Jack. Whereas his
lished in the I.S.D.N. on 23 December, on predecessors had appeared out of touch, Duffy
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 49

was at the center of the capital’s chess life. He

was one of those chess editors who enlivened
his copy with “personalities” although the
scope for doing this at the I.L.N. was limited.
Steinitz (never named) was a favorite target.
As was the norm, the Illustrated only acknowl-
edged Duffy’s services to the paper when he
died, on 17 April 1888; various assistants
probably conducted the column for him dur-
ing his final illness. The statement in that obit-
uary that after the closure of the Westminster
Papers Duffy had “edited for some time three
of the principal London columns” appears to
be incorrect, although he was certainly asso-
ciated with at least four columns at various
times.6
For many years from March 1877 Duffy
began to receive reports and games from Rus-
sia after Aylmer Maude (then only 18 years
Patrick Thomas Duffy, chess correspondent
old) moved to Moscow. Maude’s first oppo-
of the Illustrated London News from Decem-
nent there was Albert Hellwig, who was an ber 1876 to his death, who also conducted
American (though Duffy did not say this) and other columns at various times.
it may be that Hellwig helped Maude into
Russian society as well as improve his chess. sion is hard to develop from reading his often
Maude, who frequently wrote to the English sarcastic or vindictive attacks on foreign mas-
chess press thereafter, did not meet Tolstoy ters. In the fall of 1877 Duffy conducted a
(whose translator he became) for another ten scurrilous campaign against Steinitz in an-
years or so, but chess then proved to be an in- other column, but he either was not allowed
terest they had in common. to do so in the I.L.N. or knew better than to
Duffy’s reply to a correspondent on 27 attempt it.
January 1877 sheds some light on procedures Volume 79 was chiefly of interest for
when games were adjourned: “Neither player Duffy’s venomous and disingenuous treat-
should examine the position until the play is ment of Hoffer. On 23 July 1881 Duffy naugh-
resumed.” This item also shows that in “im- tily informed a correspondent that there was
portant games” the practice of sealing a move “only one English chess monthly that we know
was already in use. When John Cochrane (who of—the British Chess Magazine.” So Hoffer,
was born in 1798) died on 16 March 1878, coeditor of The Chess-Monthly, wrote in to
Duffy in his obituary observed that “Mr. complain, and this is the reply he received on
Cochrane was a chessplayer of the attacking 6 August (page 139): “Mr. Hoffer says that
school, and it may be fairly said that his suc- there is another English chess monthly that
cess was attained despite the brilliancy of his we ‘know of ’ and rudely accuses us of wilfully
play, rather than because of it.” misleading our correspondent. We know
Duffy’s friends seem to have liked him nothing of Mr. Hoffer and are, consequently,
and his eventual I.L.N. obituary praised his somewhat surprised at his assumption of
virtues, saying he was kind and “quick to see knowledge of our knowledge.” Duffy went on
good in everybody.” Such a positive impres- to say that about two years ago he had (some-
50 British Chess Literature to 1914

what unfavorably) reviewed the first number Barden and Keene). Abbott seems to have
of a chess monthly with which Mr. Hoffer’s found that managing one was usually suffi-
name was associated, and “having never seen cient.
a copy since that time, we were under the im- Abbott, like Duffy, was undistinguished
pression that the world had, very willingly, let as a player, but unlike Duffy he was not a
it die…. We recommend in this column only polemicist. He quietly superintended the de-
those periodicals as we see and approve.” How- cline of the Illustrated London News column
ever, on 9 December 1882 he did admit there into dull senescence. Readers keen on chess
were two English monthly chess magazines: and for whom the weekend arrival of a new
The Chess-Monthly and the B.C.M. chess column—full of news and exciting
Duffy died in the seaside resort of Hast- games—was an eagerly anticipated event,
ings on 17 April 1888 and before that he had would have looked elsewhere, probably to
also taken a break for the sake of his health. The Field. Any historian seeking a lively ac-
So it is clear he must have been assisted to- count of current chess affairs in the succeed-
wards the end by the people named by Whyld ing decades must also look elsewhere. More
(F. H. Lewis and W. H. Cubison) although on Abbott and the later editors at the Illus-
there is no internal evidence of this. By the trated London News is in Chapter 4.
time of his death, the Illustrated London News After Wormald’s death, there was no
was such a worldwide success that the man- chess in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic
agement were certainly looking, even more News for three weeks. Then after this short
than before, to place the column into a safe interval, somebody restarted the column in
pair of hands rather than risk controversy. His January 1877. Although it is possible Duffy
successor, Joseph William Abbott (1840– was responsible for a few weeks, it was prob-
1923), had probably been one of those who ably MacDonnell from the start, though of
helped out in those final months. The 1911 course he received no byline. There are sev-
census shows that Abbott was a clockmaker eral references to MacDonnell that year, and
until he retired. This could explain how his news of his friend Blackburne. On 30 June
first column came about, from 1872 in the 1877 there was a letter in the paper from Mac-
weekly English Mechanic (discussed below). Donnell headed “English chess and foreign
Abbott was a member of a circle who used to critics.” This was a response to Steinitz’s pub-
meet at the Divan on Saturday afternoons to lication in May of MacDonnell’s 11-move loss
discuss chess problems.7 Then on 1 February to Gunsberg. MacDonnell re-annotated it.
1876, he began a new chess column in the Then in September, the I.S.D.N. and Westmin-
Ladies’ Treasury, which was then a monthly. ster Papers joined forces in an attack on Stein-
He wrote (page 125) that chess divided into itz, described in detail elsewhere.9 It is possi-
two parts: games and problems, and this col- ble Duffy was writing for both papers at the
umn would be about the latter. After a few time, but the style is different and it seems
months he gave up the Mechanic column, likely this was a planned concerted effort by
which was taken over by another member of MacDonnell and Duffy.
the circle.8 Abbott continued at the Ladies’ Whyld’s Columns says MacDonnell’s
Treasury until some time in 1886, probably on start-date at I.S.D.N. was 21 April 1879, which
his appointment at the I.L.N., whereupon he was actually not a publication day. That was
passed on that column to Frank Healey (1828– probably a misprint for 21 June, which was
1906). Unlike some chess editors who have the first time that news snippets in the I.S.D.N.
conducted several columns simultaneously column developed into more lengthy, opin-
(e.g., Löwenthal, Gunsberg and, more recently, ionated and entertaining pieces called “Chess
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 51

Chat” signed with the byline “Mars.” It seems

likely we can date MacDonnell’s assumption
of the column, though, to 1877. The only
question is whether it was only in November
(when Duffy went to America for a few months,
retaining just the I.L.N.) or whether MacDon-
nell began in January 1877, or at some inter-
mediate date. For much of this year the col-
umn had little character so it is hard to find
internal evidence upon which to form a judg-
ment.
From 1879, the I.S.D.N. column became
increasingly lively, with many pointed com-
ments on current events and players of the past
and present. The best of the pieces, mostly
pen-portraits of many of his contemporaries,
can be found recycled in MacDonnell’s two
books of essays: Chess Life-Pictures and The
Knights and Kings of Chess.10 Reading his com-
mentaries, one is always aware that he is a The Rev. George Alcock MacDonnell, who
strong supporter of British players and can be wrote as “Mars” in the Illustrated Sporting
unfair to foreigners. Some of his personal at- and Dramatic News. His signed photograph
tacks seem unworthy of a man of the cloth, es- was the frontispiece for his 1883 book Chess
pecially when directed against his favorite tar- Life-Pictures.
get, whom he styled “Fieldwitz.” The Sporting
the pawn or the bishop; if he takes the pawn I
and Dramatic column was of less interest where
sacrifice the exchange and mate in four; and if
games were concerned, because MacDonnell’s he takes the bishop I sacrifice the queen, the
annotations were mostly brief and shallow. queen, sir, and mate in seven.” “Indeed,” mut-
One might say that as a player, MacDon- tered the British autocrat.
nell was a candidate master but at entertaining Scarce had this little scene been enacted when
he was a grandmaster. One good story he told Roby looked up from the board, on which he had
been gazing for a long time, and surveying the in-
in the column is the following, set during the creased concourse of spectators, smilingly looked
London 1862 international tournament, con- at Deacon, who was standing opposite to him,
cerning the game between James Robey and exclaimed, “Won’t you take your seat, Mr.
(1826–1885) and Frederic Deacon (1830– Deacon?’ The polite Deacon at once sat down.
1875). This anecdote appeared in the I.S.D.N. “It’s mate in five,” said Roby, still looking at
his opponent. “No,” replied Deacon; “if you
column of 20 February 1886.
make the best move I cannot mate you in less
In the course of the fight, which took place at than seven.”
St. James’s Hall, Mr. Deacon left the table and “It’s mate in five,” rejoined the hard-hearted
sought out his friend, the late Mr. Staunton. Roby. “It is I who give the mate, not you.” Then
Finding that gentleman surrounded by a host of followed rapidly a series of brilliant moves, and
admirers—myself included—he invited us all to in two minutes Roby rose from the table tri-
come and witness the grand finale with which umphant, leaving his opponent to sit on there,
he was going to crown his victory over James utterly amazed and chap-fallen.
Roby [sic]. We at once accepted the invitation,
and crowded round his board. “You see,” said The facts somewhat spoil the story. Here
Deacon, in a whisper to Staunton, “he must take is that game.
52 British Chess Literature to 1914

F. Deacon–J. Robey “nothing if not personal; and sometimes his

B.C.A. Grand Tournament, St. James’s bent in that direction has been indulged at the
Hall, London, 1 July 1862 expense of charity and discretion” but could
King’s Gambit Declined (C30) be forgiven as amusing. So it proved when the
book actually appeared and on 18 August Pot-
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 Bg4 ter reviewed it. He says MacDonnell was per-
5. Bc4 Nf6 6. f×e5 B×f3 7. Q×f3 d×e5 8. d3 sonally acquainted with all these stars of chess.
0–0 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. Nd2 c6 11. 0–0–0 b5 “What he says of them, though not to be taken
12. Bb3 a5 13. Rdf1 a4 14. Bd1 b4 15. Nc4 without salt, is nevertheless in the main cred-
b×c3 16. b×c3 Qe7 17. Qg3 Ba3† 18. Kd2 ible.” He objected, though, that Staunton had
Kh8 19. Rf5 Rad8 20. Rhf1 Rfe8 21. Qh4 been portrayed too favorably: “He too often
Qc5 22. N×a3? used his sharp claws cruelly and unjustly. All
22. B×a4 should win easily. Löwenthal’s this the author conceals, and, going from his
tournament book, page 87, said: “the combi- account, the reader would never imagine how
nation contemplated by Mr. Deacon, com- different the controversial Staunton was from
mencing with R×f6, could then have been car- the conversational Staunton.”
ried out with effect.” On the next page, after Eventually somebody in the Church of
a diagram, he said, “If in reply, Black attacks England forgave MacDonnell the indiscre-
Queen with one of the Rooks White’s Queen tions of his youth (when he had married a di-
takes Rook with impunity.” This seems to vorced couple) and he was at last enabled to
match the anecdote but an intermediate se- enter the semi-retirement of a country parish.
quence of moves must be missing that cannot MacDonnell was happy until poor health
be reconstructed. caught up with him; he continued to write the
22. … Q×a3 23. R×f6 Q×a2† 24. Bc2 column up to 8 August 1896.11 He died on 3
N×f6 25. R×f6?? (see diagram) 25. B×f6 Rd6 June 1899. MacDonnell’s editorial chair was
26. Be7 was probably still good enough to inherited by Antony Guest (1856–1925), who
hold the draw. only enjoyed it for four years before the col-
umn was dropped altogether. Initially Guest
wDw4rDwi had no byline but from 16 January 1897 he
DwDwDp0p sometimes signed Chess Chat with the initial
wDpDw$wD “G.” The last time he did so was on 16 June
DwDw0wGw After 1900, leading Whyld to identify that as Guest’s
pDwDPDw! 25. R×f6 last column. Nevertheless, he may have con-
Dw)PDwDw tinued for the final few weeks, which included
qDBIwDP) an obituary of Steinitz published on 25 Au-
DwDwDwDw gust. Towards the end some weeks had no
chess and the last I.S.D.N. column was pub-
25. … R×d3†! This must be what Dea- lished on 22 September 1900.
con overlooked, but what he expected is not
clear. There is no forced mate in five accord-
ing to the computer but it is a forced win.
26. K×d3 Rd8† 27. Ke3 Q×c2 28. Qe1? Rd3
A Fine Column: Land
mate (0–1). and Water
On 3 March 1883, Potter noted in Land
and Water that Chess Life-Pictures would be Land and Water was a sporting and lei-
published soon. MacDonnell, he said, was sure weekly for country and city gentlemen,
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 53

which began publication in 1866, in compe- posterity, which was probably in part the fault
tition with The Field. From August 1870 to of Löwenthal. As one of the main people in-
September 1885, it had one of the best chess volved in the B.C.A. he may well have col-
columns in England, really essential reading lected game scores that he did not publish, al-
for chess historians of the period but harder though there is a slight chance they may have
to find than those just discussed. At the time been preserved in manuscript notebooks that
of writing Land and Water has still not been might some day turn up in a collector’s auc-
digitized or even microfilmed—though this tion. This was, nevertheless, a good column
will probably change eventually—but there and the coverage was much better for the
is a lot to be said for reading the original bound 1872 B.C.A. Congress, when there were two
volumes, where the chess is found in context. major tournaments as well as a Handicap and
The John G. White Collection at the Cleve- other events.
land, Ohio, Public Library does have a scrap- In 1873 Löwenthal’s health began to fail
book of the columns which has been micro- and he was probably assisted by the British
filmed, but much of that is over-exposed and champion, John Wisker (1846–1884), because
illegible. This was probably one of the scrap- there are signs around August that the style
books belonging to John G. White which of the column has changed.12 Löwenthal’s re-
were damaged at a bindery, as he reported in tirement was announced on 27 December
one of his letters to Harold Murray. (when he was named at last, on page 531), and
The chess column was begun by J. J. he was replaced by “a gentleman well known
Löwenthal on 27 August 1870, at a time when in the chess world, and fully able to do ample
the column of The Field was going through a justice to so important a subject.” Wisker was
bad patch. He began with a mission statement, not named in the paper. The column in 1874
not dissimilar to what he had written in 1854 was somewhat shorter and less lively than be-
in the Era. He also referred to the Baden- fore, though perhaps in more stylish English
Baden international congress (somehow man- as one would expect with a native speaker in
aging not to mention the war), reported on a charge. It fell to Wisker to write Staunton’s
Newcastle meeting, and included a game of obituary for the issue of 4 July and he con-
his own against the then editor of the Chess tributed a well-balanced assessment of that
Player’s Chronicle, the Rev. Arthur Bolland complex man.
Skipworth (1830–1898). Löwenthal’s second
His influence on the progress of the game of
column included an obituary of William
chess will ever remain a disputed question. The
Lewis, the veteran player and chess writer, old maxim, nil de mortuis, etc. cannot be carried
while on the 10th and 17th of September he beyond a certain point; and it is indisputable
contributed a piece on “Chess, Its Influence that a large section of British players consider
and Benefits.” that the faction fights carried on under the ban-
In October the third tournament for the ner of Mr. Staunton caused so much harm as to
counterbalance the good he did by his play and
British Chess Association gold challenge cup his writings…. To him belongs the merit of hav-
was played—as usual at various London ven- ing taken the first step to popularise the game.
ues over a period of several weeks. There were
several reports (both in Land and Water and Staunton’s Handbook, wrote Wisker, “had
in The Field, and some elsewhere) but very few pretensions to originality, but the arrange-
few games were ever published. This was defi- ment was admirable and the style excellent.”
nitely the worst organized and publicized of Staunton’s win against Saint-Amant in 1843
the first British Championship series, and the he described as “famous beyond its merits.”
upshot is that most of the games are lost to In conclusion: “The greatest of his powers
54 British Chess Literature to 1914

was his mastery of the art of conversation. For is felt to be just and necessary. To contend for a
this he had a real genius; the kingdom did not miserable stake which would not provide a sys-
tematic winner with pockethandkerchiefs [sic]
contain his superior, and hence his society
does not render a player a “professional” in any
was sought after by men of rank and station.” greater degree than playing for the high stakes
On 28 November 1874, Wisker joined in common in London clubs renders whistplayers
the general condemnation of George Gossip’s [sic] a professional body.
pretentious The Chess-player’s Manual. Some The transition to the next chess editor
excerpts of his review will be found in Chap- was a little unclear. Whyld indicates that
ter 7. During 1875 Wisker was also conduct- Duffy took over “c. 4/1876.” It may be noted
ing a column in The Sportsman newspaper as that on 8 April, after the missed week, the
well as Land and Water but he was starting to heading “Chess and Indoor Games” (intro-
suffer the effects of tuberculosis. During duced in March) appears for the last time—
March 1876 his health collapsed and he had but there were no other games. Also the in-
to give up both his columns. There had been clusion of Problem 315 by Duffy probably
no chess on 19 February (possibly because of signifies this was his first column. Many new
a missed deadline) but on 26 February the editors of chess columns seem to have made
first game of the Blackburne–Steinitz match a coded announcement of their arrival in this
was published. On 4 March chess was short, way. The tenure of Duffy as editor of this col-
with no diagram or game. The result of the umn therefore ran from 8 April 1876 which
Oxford University–Birmingham match ap- means he was running this column in addition
peared along with an item about indoor games to the I.L.N. and his work for the Westminster
which was possibly not written by Wisker. On Papers.
11 March there was a little chess and a double Duffy started with some good reports of
dummy whist item by F. H. Lewis. the Divan tournament, which was won by
There was nothing on 18 March or 1 Blackburne ahead of Johannes Zukertort
April, but it does look as if Wisker may have (1842–1888), MacDonnell, and other strong
contributed the column for 25 March which amateurs. In the Cleveland scrapbook, some
included a problem, one of Morphy’s last of the columns were incorrectly dated by
games, and a first mention of the Divan tour- whoever compiled it; this appears to have led
nament which was just starting. Wisker en- to errors of dating in Gillam’s little book of
tered but his health broke down and he with- that tournament. Then on 20 May there was
drew after five games, four of which he had a curious report to the effect that:
lost. On 25 March there was also an item in
the paper about the City of London Chess On Monday last there was a prize in store for the
visitors to Simpson’s Divan, and it consisted in
Club dinner, held on Tuesday 21 March. A the unusual spectacle of two first-class players
speech by attorney Charles Mossop (1833– engaged in a serious game. The partie was played
1896?), editor of the Westminster Papers mag- for a small stake, but it was not finished, owing
azine, was hissed because he: to some misunderstanding having arisen be-
tween the players regarding the interpretation
… took upon himself to warn the company of one of the rules of the late tournament.
against “professionals,” who played only to win
other people’s money. The diners decidedly re- The players were not identified, but one
sented the insinuation; nor can we see how they may strongly suspect that this was the game
could fail to take notice of it. In all the London
published in the column the following week.
clubs the general rule is that games should be
played for a shilling, simply in order to compel The crosstable of the Divan tournament shows
weaker players to accept odds. Peers of the realm, that some games had been left unplayed, in-
clergymen, and others accept a regulation which cluding both the games between these two
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 55

gentlemen.13 Duffy pointed out that the tour- never seen the pamphlet you describe. It was
nament had ended with the distribution of probably printed for private circulation only.”
prizes after which the organizing committee Perhaps this was the mysterious Economies of
ceased to have corporate existence. “Although Chess penned by Steinitz which was referred
the game arose out of the late tourney, it can- to by Prof. James Mavor in his 1923 memoir,
not be considered to have formed any part of to which attention was drawn by Edward Win-
that affair.” Then on 27 May we find “The fol- ter on his historical website.14 No copy of that
lowing amusing game was played some time “little pamphlet” appears to be extant in any
ago between Mr. Macdonnell [sic] and Major public library, but maybe some collector may
Martin.” be able to enlighten the world about it.
In September and October 1877, Duffy’s
G. A. MacDonnell–W. Martin campaign against Steinitz reached its height,
London 1876 so the future World Champion was probably
Evans Gambit (C52) relieved when Duffy sailed for the United
Land and Water, 27 May 1876 States in November and gave up the column.
He went on professional business for the ac-
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 countancy firm but also with a private mission
B×b4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 e×d4 7. 0–0 d×c3 to persuade Bird to return to England.15 Land
8. Qb3 Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 10. N×c3 Nge7 11. Ba3 and Water of 3 November (Duffy’s last article
b5 12. N×b5 Rb8 13. Qa4 Bb7 for the paper) carried a long account of the
If 13. … a6 14. Nd6† c×d6 15. e×d6 Nf5 City of London Club’s monthly committee
16. Rfe1† B×e1 17. R×e1† Kf8 (or 17. … Kd8 meeting where Duffy was toasted by Mac-
18. Ne5) 18. Q×c6 Bb7 19. Q×d7 B×f3 Donnell. Duffy, in his reply, referred to his
20. Qc8† R×c8 21. d7† (MacDonnell). labors as a chess journalist, saying:
14. Rad1 Bb6 15. B×e7 The aim which for the last two years he had had
Major Martin had presumably intended in view, namely, that efforts which had been per-
to improve upon a Blackburne–Martin, si- sistently made to override and depreciate En-
multaneous display game earlier in the year glish chess should no longer be carried out in
private, but should be made public, confident as
which had gone 15. Bd3 f5 16. e×f6 Q×f6
he was that when such should be the case En-
17. Rfe1 Kd8 18. N×a7 Re8 19. Qg4 Nd4 glish chess-players might be trusted to form
20. Bb2 N×f3† 21. g×f3 Q×b2 22. Q×d7† their own opinion upon the matter. He had suc-
K×d7 23. Bb5# 1–0. MacDonnell pre-empts ceeded, and should not now feel disposed to
him. take any further notice of the parties whose
15. … K×e7 16. Qa3† Kd8 17. Rfe1 a6 hands he had forced.
18. Nc3 Nd4 19. Nd5 N×f3† 20. Q×f3 Re8 Potter, who was to succeed Duffy in the
21. N×b6! Q×b6 22. R×d7† K×d7 23. Q×f7† column, was then called upon to respond and
1–0. “he made some remarks upon the hard-and-
The content of this column over a de- fast line which had become drawn between
cade and a half is very rich. To provide a full English and foreign players. He also alluded
survey would require many pages. All we can to the fact that the enemy was not now sup-
do here us to draw attention to a few details ported by any of the first-class English players.”
among the many which future historians may Then MacDonnell, in a second speech, here
care to investigate. We puzzled over the fol- paraphrased by Duffy, “pointed out the dom-
lowing answer to a correspondent on 19 May ineering character of foreign pretensions, and
1877. It is frustrating that the question was the observations of the three speakers seemed
not repeated, but Duffy answered: “We have to give much satisfaction to their hearers.”
56 British Chess Literature to 1914

Potter was a barrister’s clerk by profes- done an excellent job of editing the City of
sion. He had suddenly emerged at the start of London Chess Magazine (see Chapter 5), and
the 1870s as one of the strongest chess players before that he had contributed annotations
in England, although this is not always recog- to the Westminster Papers.
nized. Statistician Professor Rod Edwards, on In the winter of 1871-72 Potter had won
his historical ratings website www.edochess.ca, the City of London Handicap tournament,
has calculated that Potter’s rating was over showing considerable skill in defeating three
2500 throughout the 1870s and early 1880s, amateurs while conceding large odds, and
and over 2600 in some years with a peak of also (as part of that contest) winning a closely
2634. However Potter never competed out- contested mini-match on level terms against
side London, there being very few opportu- Blackburne. The following winter Potter also
nities while he was active. His chief qualifica- progressed through three rounds before los-
tion for taking over the column was the two ing to Steinitz. When the City of London
years (roughly 1874 and 1875) that he had Chess Club played its high-stakes correspon-
dence match against Vienna between 1872
and 1874, Potter was Steinitz’s chief assistant
and collaborator. In 1875 he gave Zukertort a
good fight in a head-to-head match in which
many games were drawn. The final result was
8–6 to the Prussian professional who was
then probably the second or third strongest
player in the world. After that Potter played
much less chess in most years, except for 1879
when he drew a protracted match against
James Mason 10½—all, and at that time
Mason was in the world top ten by Edwards’s
calculations.
Potter several times expressed views in
favor of women’s chess and during the short
life (1868 to 1870) of the Ladies’ College
Chess Club in Holborn, which had members
of both sexes, he was one of the men who
joined. He wrote about the club several times
and supported its activities. On 12 January
1878 he wrote in support of Mary Rudge who
had won third prize in the Counties Chess
Association second class tournament at
Grantham.
Everyone will be pleased to hear that the lady
player should have been so successful in a con-
test in which she had nothing to hope from mas-
culine generosity. Chess is generally looked upon
as a chivalrous game, but that is a mistake. Gen-
William Norwood Potter, chess editor of tlemen who, at some trouble and inconvenience,
Land and Water from late 1877 to the close besides much expense to themselves, go to a dis-
of the column in 1885. Sketch from The West- tant town to take part in a chess competition,
minster Papers, IX (May 1876), facing page 1. cannot afford to throw away their chances by
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 57

yielding to any feeling of misplaced gallantry. If … played at some disadvantage, inasmuch as

a lady, in the exercise of her undoubted right, there were none of his fair co-members present
chooses to enter herself as a competitor, she to stimulate him with their smiles and amuse
must look to it that she will have to match her him with their chatter. The reason of their ab-
brain and nerves against those of her opponents; sence is not far to seek, for the chessplayers of
nor expect any mercy, for none will be shown. London are the slaves of Misogny and Nicotine,
But if, after all, she come out one of the victors, two of the most selfish spirits that fell. In the
then even the vanquished, whose hopes she has provinces they manage things better, and con-
disappointed, will, if they be gentlemen, offer sequently the presence of ladies at country chess
her their hearty congratulations. gatherings is not at all unusual.
Prince Leopold, one of the sons of Queen On 25 January 1879 Potter replied to a
Victoria, presented the prizes at the Birkbeck correspondent that the history of the game of
Literary and Scientific Institute, forerunner chess had been treated in the then current
of today’s Birkbeck College in London Uni- ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
versity. Potter noted (in his column of 1 March Potter was too modest to say that he himself
1879) that 22 prizes went to ladies. Potter said wrote that article, and also one on cards. He
that there was great applause as the good- said that Twiss’s 18th century book was full
looking teenager Louisa Rymer received the of anecdotes “more fabulous than real.” The
chess prize of chessboard and men. Earlier, on more recent book by Professor Duncan Forbes
23 September 1878, he had noted: “contains a mass of valuable but heterogenous
Those peculiarly-constituted individuals who and badly- arranged information” although
object to the daughters of Eve recreating them- “the best authorities” agreed with him in as-
selves in any other way than by dancing and flirt- signing an Indian origin to the game. Even
ing will no doubt learn with displeasure that a Antonius van der Linde (whose Geschichte
young lady named Miss Rymer, was the winner
und Litteratur des Schachspiels was published
of the late tournament of the chess club at the
Birkbeck Literary Institution. As for ourselves, in 1874) did not escape censure:
we feel nothing but the utmost pleasure in being You would do well to disregard his attacks upon
the means of making public such a very interest- other writers, and to remember that even his
ing event, it being our opinion that chess is a very great industry cannot be considered to have
pastime for which women are not naturally un- attained to more than a relative amount of reli-
fitted; while we also consider that, when prac- ability, seeing that the historical facts of Chess
tised in common by the male and female mem- lie hidden and undiscoverable beneath the fables
bers of a household, it is eminently calculated of centuries.
to bring about a much-to-be-desired compan-
ionship and unity of feeling between them … This of course was before later research-
the Birkbeck Chess Class consists of students of ers like Murray reckoned that much was dis-
both sexes, the masculine element, as may be ex- coverable by a more scientific method based
pected, largely predominating.
on archaeology, philology and close study of
Potter had many nice turns of phrase texts.
which helped to make his column more lively On 31 May 1879 the Chess Intelligence
than most. On 15 February 1879 he reported section reported: “Mr. W. N. Potter having
on Blackburne’s blindfold simultaneous (on found it necessary to bring his public Chess
25 January) against representatives of various career to a close, we proceed to write his Obit-
clubs. Since the event was played at the City uary as a Chess-player. His achievements …
of London Chess Club, the Ladies’ College have been almost exclusively confined to the
Club were obliged to send a man to represent City of London.” The writer did mention that,
them and he was defeated. Potter remarked in conjunction with Herr Steinitz, Potter suc-
that Mr. Stiebel: cessfully conducted the correspondence match
58 British Chess Literature to 1914

with Vienna, but abstaining from praise he On 11 November 1882, Potter noted that
seems to imply that Steinitz was chiefly re- Steinitz had left England during the latter part
sponsible (probably true). On 7 June he clar- of October for Philadelphia. They had once
ified that Potter “retires as player and club offi- been friends before a big falling-out. Now
cial. The time thus saved will serve for the Potter seemed ready to bury the hatchet. He
present, and there will therefore be no imme- said Steinitz “has no peer amongst living
diate relinquishment of literary labours.” How- chess-players, Morphy alone excepted…. Mr.
ever, Mason said Potter had already agreed to Steinitz has his faults, but for our part we say
play him a match, which duly took place and let the memory of them be sunk in the At-
ended in a draw after a very long contest. Pot- lantic.” Then on 16 June 1883 Potter had this
ter thereafter continued writing—but cut to say about Zukertort clinching first prize in
down heavily on his play. the London international.
On 20 September 1879 Potter wrote of
There is no doubt that Zukertort, so far as genius
the new Doughty Club formed for chess and and knowledge are concerned, was then [1872]
billiards in London’s West End. “Billiards and what he is now, but, like Steinitz, he had to go
chess are two games that may very well go to- through a course of what we will call the English
gether, both being in their different ways style of play, which aims at methodic calculation,
soundness of combination, and a severe accu-
games of skill…. Cards and chess have never
racy. The result of a union between German ge-
gone well together.” He did hope that the club nius and British self-mastery has been with Zuk-
rule that gambling is forbidden will be “so ertort the same as it was with Steinitz, who came
construed as to prevent chess being played for over here in 1862, expecting to do grand things,
money. Thereby the real meaning of the word but who, in the congress of that year, received a
salutary lesson, for he then only took sixth prize,
amateur, which is sometimes lost sight of, will
whereas four years afterwards he was able to de-
be conserved….” feat the then world’s champion, Anderssen.
On 13 March 1880 Potter published an
obituary of the popular figure known as “Old Potter continued for two more years
Lowe,” whose age was “not precisely known with good observations on the chess world
to anyone, but considered to be nearer ninety but then surprisingly, in the summer of 1885
than eighty.” Bohemian by birth, Löwe had the Land and Water column started to col-
come to London to be a professional chess lapse. His column did not appear on either 11
player but saw sense and became a worker, or 18 July. Perhaps there was an editorial change
opening a hotel where Morphy had stayed. or else Potter had some personal problem.
His favorite saying was that “Pawns are not to The former seems more likely as it was ex-
be picked up in the street” and: plained on the 25th that due to pressure on
other departments the “chess had to stand
He once beat Staunton in a match at pawn and over.” Then 8 August was also missed. After
two moves, an act of audacity which, in the the 29 August article this fine column by Pot-
eyes of the eminent English expert, was most
intolerable and not to be endured, especially
ter ended without explanation.
as Lowe expected to be paid the amount played
for. Hence a certain blackball, which excluded
Lowe from the Westminster Chess Club, was Heyday of the Field Column
supposed to be of an ascertainable parentage,
an idea which seemed to be confirmed when
The first brief column in The Field was
Mr. Lowe was elected a member of the same so-
ciety after Mr. Staunton’s retirement therefrom briefly discussed in the previous chapter, but
[Land and Water, XXIX, 13 March 1880, page now it is time to look at the second phase of
235]. its run, culminating in the editorship of Stein-
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 59

itz. It is hardly possible for a chess historian does with the old mechanical ones. Moreover,
to do justice to the period between 1858 and the contents tables for each issue can be hard
1914 without reading the column of The Field to find, because of the way the paper was
and this represents a tremendous amount of made up in order to enable it to cover as much
material. Although the column was initially of a week’s sport as possible, and to carry pho-
sometimes short, it grew longer in the time tographs once technology made it possible to
of Steinitz, especially when a major tourna- reproduce them instead of line engravings.
ment was in progress, and the amount of Rose explained on page 110 of his history:
space granted to his successor, Hoffer, on such Before the First World War, The Field went to
occasions was sometimes even greater, ex- press in two sections, the art paper (illustrated)
tending in a few cases to more than a whole section on Thursday, and the rotary (solid type)
tabloid page. This shows that the editors of section on Friday, at about 11 p.m. Late news was
the paper had become well aware that a sig- taken over the telephone until 9 p.m., and the
paper came out on Saturday morning.
nificant proportion of their readership per-
haps bought the paper only for the chess col- Especially in Hoffer’s time, reports of
umn. current tournaments could be supplemented
Using The Field as an historical source by items in the late news page, which might
does require a good deal of time and patience, be the whole results of a tournament round,
partly because it has not yet been digitized. not repeated the following week in the main
Some of its numerous volumes run to over a column. When reading The Field in bound
thousand tabloid pages for a six-month period volumes, one problem is that chess did not
so that situation may not change for a long appear in a settled position in each issue; it
while yet. The volumes were particularly large could be almost anywhere in the paper and
in the last two decades before the First World some issues had more pages than others.
War. However, images of some of the chess Worse, in many 19th century volumes there
columns have been made available at the appears to be no index for each volume to
Chess Archaeology website (listed as “Lon- steer one quickly to the correct pages. It is a
don Field”). As of mid–2017, the following good idea, therefore, when reading a particu-
was available there: the Williams run (1853– lar volume of The Field for the first time, to
1854), May–September 1858 (the first period keep note of all the pages where chess is to be
of the revival), July–December 1870, Janu- found, in case there is a need to return to the
ary–July 1902. Reprints of several years of the same volume at a later date.
column, namely 1873 to 1882 and some of Researchers with access to the scrap-
Hoffer’s years, have also been published by books in the Cleveland Public Library, or the
Moravian Chess. Many libraries still hold two microfilms derived from those scrap-
bound volumes of The Field but these are books, need to be aware that in many cases
often held in remote storage and have to be the stated dates of articles are incorrect, for
ordered days in advance. example during much of 1872. There were
Many readers will read this column in weeks when the chess column was omitted
microfilm. With a microfilm one can usually and the person writing the dates into the scrap-
scan through an issue quickly with the ma- books must have been unaware of, or lost
chine in fast-scrolling mode, taking advantage track of, these omissions. Consequently some
of the fact that chess diagrams generally stand recent chess books have wrong dates because
out well from pages with plain text matter. of relying on the films from Cleveland. Only
This time-honored technique does not work by checking against the original volumes or
so well with the new digital film readers as it complete microfilms such as those from the
60 British Chess Literature to 1914

British Library can one be sure that a partic- whom the paper took a leading part in exper-
ular article, and so often a particular game or imental work with shotguns and powders and
event, is correctly dated. in the staging of dog shows and field trials.
The first Cleveland microfilm of The Walsh even extended the multiplicity of his
Field has all the columns up to June 1884. The interests to the establishment of lawn tennis
other is less satisfactory. It goes from July as we know it to-day.”17 Walsh trained as a
1884 to the end of 1899 with just a few weeks medical doctor but became an expert on dogs
in 1900. Then it reverts to the start of the sec- and guns. He wrote a book on greyhounds
ond series in 1858 but peters out mid–1860. under the pen name “Stonehenge.” An acci-
Also on that microfilm are a few unconnected dent with a gun, which cost him the forefinger
items: Löwenthal’s column in The Dial, some and thumb of his left hand led him to take
cards articles by “Cavendish” (Henry Jones) great interest in the subject and, says Walsh,
from the Field, up to about 20 September “It may almost be said that it was Walsh’s work
1873, then a single issue of the first volume of which led to the production of the shotgun
the Westminster Papers (October 1868) and as we know it today.”
finally some Field chess columns from between Rose tells that in November 1858 the of-
4 July 1931 and December 1935.16 fices and printing works of The Field moved
The initiative to revive chess in The Field from their original location in Essex Street to
probably came from John Henry Walsh (1810– the corner of 346 Strand and Wellington
1888), who occupied the editor’s chair for Street. “There in a commanding position, at
more than thirty years from February 1857 the corner of the approach to the Strand from
until his death. Rose’s history of The Field de- Waterloo Bridge, the offices were to remain
scribes Walsh as a “great all-rounder … under until 1891.”18 The chess editors would prob-

Left: John Henry Walsh, editor of The Field from 1857 to 1887, who used to play chess regularly
at the Divan in the Strand. Right: Samuel Standidge Boden, formerly chess editor of The Field,
as depicted in the Westminster Papers, IX (September 1876), page 88.
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 61

ably have had a desk there, and would have this was Boden’s choice or for editorial rea-
become very familiar with this handy loca- sons. A week was missed in February, two in
tion, which was a five minute walk from the March, two more each in June and July, and
Divan and not too far from the chess clubs lo- one in August. The last column to appear in
cated in the City. 1869 was on 28 April and it was only a few
The Field resumed chess on 24 April lines long, with a problem solution. Then on
1858. This revival was well timed because of 1 January 1870 a new series began, which is
a general revival of chess activity which was clear because the Problem is numbered 1. The
soon to be stimulated by the exploits of Amer- game renumbering was also restarted. At the
ican chess prodigy Paul Morphy. The second top was the following announcement:
chess editor of The Field, Samuel Standidge This department of THE FIELD has been, for
Boden (1826–1882), by vocation a landscape some months, in abeyance. In resuming it, we
artist, was a native of Hull who had won the purpose, whenever the more important features
Provincial tournament at the 1851 London of the paper will permit, that chess shall be both
Congress. In the same year his chess book A more copiously and more continuously illus-
trated than it has been heretofore.
Popular Introduction was published anony-
mously.19 The question of when Boden actually re-
Much of what is known about Boden signed the column remains open. The West-
comes from a profile in the Westminster Papers minster Papers profile says he edited the col-
of September 1876. In 1853–1854 he was in- umn only “down to the early part of 1869,”
volved in editing the British Chess Review (dis- which would imply that somebody else was
cussed in Chapter 5) but his day job was as responsible for the January 1870 resumption.
an accountant with the South Eastern Railway The next editor, Valentine John Cecil De Vere
at Nine Elms. His last tournament was the (1846–1875), is not generally thought to have
1861 B.C.A. Congress in Bristol where he lost taken over at The Field as early as that, but
to Paulsen after defeating Horwitz and Wayte, Fraser, writing to White on 28 June 1877, said
a pretty good indication of his relative stand- the Field column was edited by Boden, De
ing. Increasingly with the passing of years, Vere and Steinitz successively; nor was any
however, Boden seems to have preferred to other chess editor at this period named by
devote his leisure hours to painting and he contemporaries or by Rose. On the other
did not enter the 1862 London international, hand, an earlier paragraph in the Westminster
whereas some amateurs weaker than he did Papers for February 1872 (page 172) had said:
participate. In Boden’s hands, the column of “We observe that some of our American
The Field became a good source for chess news friends still refer to the Chess column in the
and occasionally he expressed strong personal Field as edited by Mr. Boden. That gentleman’s
opinions, for example about Blackburne’s be- connection with The Field ceased in March
ing wrongly defaulted against Dubois in the 1870.” That seems to be the basis for the dat-
1862 tournament.20 The games Boden in- ings given in Whyld’s Columns, namely: “Boden
cluded in the column were usually interesting, 24/4/1858–3/70; 71–73; de Vere 1871; Stein-
but his annotations were generally brief, as itz 73–8/7/82.” None of those details is cer-
was normal in those days. Staunton’s notes for tain; certainly the closing date for Steinitz
the Illustrated London News and Löwenthal’s looks slightly premature.
for the Era were only more detailed on a few There does not seem to be any conclu-
occasions. sive evidence to decide when Boden stopped
In 1869, however, the column started to writing for The Field but it seems more likely
vanish from the paper. It is not clear whether that he continued to March 1870 than that he
62 British Chess Literature to 1914

quit altogether in 1869. Owen Hindle and

Bob Jones, in their biography of De Vere,
mentioned another detail from the 1876 pro-
file: at some point Boden inherited money
from a distant relative that enabled him to
give up his railroad job and devote himself to
art. Hindle and Jones, however, make a con-
nection between Boden’s receiving the money,
giving up the day job, and relinquishing the
column to De Vere, dating all three to 1870.21
Here they went beyond the sources and made
an unwarranted assumption. The 1876 profile
did not precisely date Boden’s inheritance to
1870 and certainly it did not connect the in-
heritance to his ceasing to write for The Field.
Hindle and Jones said that Boden arranged
for De Vere to succeed him, which is probably
Cecil de Vere, Steinitz’s predecessor as chess
true, but no primary source says precisely
editor of The Field, drawn by Wallis McKay
when this occurred. for MacDonnell’s book Chess Life-Pictures.
So many contradictory statements have
appeared, both at the time and in more recent in his obituary notice published in the March
secondary sources, concerning the end of 1875 number of the City of London Chess Mag-
Boden’s stewardship and Steinitz’s assump- azine. He said that De Vere had many of the
tion of the editorial throne that it is almost qualities of a strong master: “a calm, cool
impossible to disentangle the threads. Did judgment, and a clear view of the board,” but
Boden and De Vere have a lengthy transition he also lacked many of the qualifications re-
period working together, or did Boden return quired in a good chess editor. Potter contin-
to help out later? Were there un-named assis- ued:
tants? How much did Steinitz do for The Field He [De Vere] had very little, or rather no book
before his triumphant return from the Vienna learning, his natural indolence standing in his
1873 tournament? These are the unanswered way in this respect, just the same as it impeded
questions. The toughest issue is to date De his advancement in life. Owing to the same
Vere’s period in charge of the column, the only moral defect, his management of the Field Chess
column during the two years it was edited by
general agreement being that he was Chess
him can be considered as by no means satisfac-
Editor throughout 1871. There are two entan- tory, and we look upon it as a good thing for
gled issues: when did he really start and when Chess that such an important column should
did Steinitz replace him? have been detached from his care about fifteen
De Vere might have seemed an excellent months ago, and delivered into the hands of its
appointment at first. After all he had been the present capable and conscientious editor.
first English chess champion, by virtue of win- If we take Potter’s “two years” in con-
ning the B.C.A. challenge cup when it was junction with a start in April 1870 that would
first played for in 1866, although in the sec- imply De Vere was replaced in 1872, which is
ond championship he tied with Blackburne too early, unless it was by the temporary re-
and lost the play-off. The problem was his turn of Boden—which Whyld seems to imply
character, and latterly his tuberculosis. Potter but without any primary evidence. On the
assessed De Vere’s strengths and shortcomings other hand, there are problems with stating
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 63

that Steinitz took over in January 1873, as his am delighted to say, has a nice appointment,
biographer Landsberger claimed. The pub- & vested English interest, as Chess-editor of
lishing house Moravian Chess have issued a The Field.”22 This sounds like it was a recent
reprint volume entitled The Chess Columns of change. Moreover it fits with Potter saying in
The Field, Edited by Wilhelm Steinitz. Volume early 1875 that the column was “detached”
1: 1873–1876 but it is likely that 1873 was not from De Vere about 15 months previously.
all his work. If this is correct, we are left with one
Potter’s statement about a two-year ten- problem: De Vere’s start date. The Westminster
ure ending about 15 months prior to March Papers said Boden quit in March 1870 from
1875 implies that Steinitz was appointed ed- which Whyld assumed an immediate appoint-
itor not in early 1873 but only towards the ment of De Vere. However, if De Vere’s tenure
very end of that year. Anyone reading the began in April 1870 that would mean he had
Field’s reports of the Vienna tournament in more than three years in charge instead of
the summer of 1873, with sarcastic annota- about two. There are other problems with
tions about the weak opening play of Steinitz supposing De Vere was conducting the col-
among others, can tell that Steinitz was not umn for most of that year. For about a month
yet the editor. Steinitz may well have made in July and early August, De Vere was at Baden-
some contributions, even as early as 1872. De Baden, or in transit; somebody else was doing
Vere being so unreliable, Walsh probably had the column while he was away. Telegraphing
Steinitz lined up to deputize if copy fell short reports must have been very difficult because
or did not meet the deadline. Steinitz later the town was close to a war zone; the first re-
said that the notes to his win against Potter port in The Field, about the start of that tour-
that was published in The Field on 9 March nament, was on 6 August so cannot have been
1872 were by him, and it is fairly clear from received in London until the event was almost
internal evidence that this was true. over.
Allowing for some vagueness in Potter’s Also, in November 1870 the Westminster
dating, we may suppose Steinitz was probably Papers pointed out various mistakes that had
eased into the role in the fall of 1873, follow- appeared a couple of weeks previously con-
ing his victory at Vienna. A roughly two-year cerning entries for the Challenge Cup tour-
tenure by De Vere would thus imply that he nament, one of which was to say that “if Mr.
had taken over in 1871 rather than 1870 as De Vere (who, by-the-bye, never entered) won
usually stated. Reading through those early the largest number of games he would become
columns of 1873 it is apparent that the game the proprietor of the Cup, because he won the
annotations were mostly as brief as in the pre- year before last.” This does not sound like an
vious years. In 1874 they become much more error De Vere would have made, since he would
detailed in most weeks. In fact the first game have known it was 1866 not 1868/9 that he
that really receives the Steinitz treatment was won, and whether he was going to play for the
the one published in The Field on 22 Novem- Cup this year or not. From this it follows that
ber 1873, in which Zukertort conceded odds De Vere had not yet taken over (at least on a
of pawn and two moves to Vyse and drew. So regular basis). The Westminster Papers was sar-
Steinitz was probably formally confirmed in castic about such mistakes in both the col-
the post in November or December. A start umns of The Field and the Illustrated London
date for Steinitz in late 1873 also accords with News, saying “in future, we must refer to
a letter that novelist R. D. Blackmore wrote [them] as the ‘know-nothing’ papers” and
to Nelson Fedden after Steinitz had spent that “if the Editor of The Field cannot be a lit-
Christmas Day 1873 at his house: “Steinitz, I tle more accurate he had better give up his
64 British Chess Literature to 1914

Chess column; or at any rate he might pay us

something handsome for correcting his blun-
ders.”23 There is an alternative possibility to
the usual supposition that one editor followed
another seamlessly; it may be that Walsh just
delegated a member of The Field’s regular staff
to compile the column at that period in 1870
when it was particularly unsatisfactory, while
waiting for De Vere to take up his appoint-
ment. In a 2011 email, Hindle suggested to
the present author that 24 December 1870
might be the start of the regular De Vere col-
umn, and the passage just quoted makes that
plausible, but hard-and-fast evidence is lack-
ing. Would an efficient editor like Walsh have
tolerated an incompetent appointee for three
years? It seems doubtful, but it seems that De
Vere was retained for two years when he had
Steinitz on hand to assist.
There is no doubt that the Field column
improved by the end of 1873 although the fact
that Steinitz was both a foreigner and a pro-
fessional made him unpopular in some quar- William Steinitz, chess editor of The Field
from some time in 1873 until his resignation
ters. His spoken English was said by contem-
in the summer of 1882. Photograph from
poraries to be very poor, though they may MacDonnell’s book The Knights and Kings of
have exaggerated, and he was sometimes Chess.
mocked for this, but his written English was
excellent. Steinitz had a tendency to become an authority nobody else could match, except
embroiled in bitter arguments, especially in that in analysis of tactical complications Zuk-
print. This first affected his work in The Field ertort, Blackburne, and (later) Chigorin were
in 1875 when a complaint about a serious in- sometimes his superiors.
accuracy he inserted in the column on 20 No- Now that he had a regular income, Stein-
vember, concerning the finances of the City itz was able to take time out from regular play
of London Chess Club, was received from to develop his ideas about positional chess
that club’s secretary. Three weeks later the and he came to understand the strategy of the
Field published that secretary’s protest, the game far more deeply than his editorial con-
editor’s apology, and Steinitz’s groveling re- temporaries. Steinitz attended the great Paris
traction.24 tournament of 1878 solely as a reporter. He
Nevertheless, for almost a decade Stein- sent back very lengthy accounts to London,
itz set new standards in chess journalism and setting a pattern for how Hoffer would report
his years in the editorial chair were marked major events for the same paper in later years.
by a high standard of game annotations, which In all the years Steinitz worked on The Field
were objective and instructive to readers of he hardly played any competitive chess, apart
all skill levels. Only Löwenthal had previously from his crushing match victory over Black-
given so much care to annotating games. burne in 1876, until his re-emergence at Vi-
Steinitz wrote on technical chess matters with enna in 1882. He did of course visit some clubs
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 65

for exhibition chess and played consultation dence resulting from it. We feel bound to close
games for prizes offered by wealthy amateurs this correspondence….
but his income came mostly from The Field That leading article, which was probably
and his energies were mostly given to it, until not written by Steinitz (then competing in Vi-
he decided to emerge from retirement. enna), had said something about Mason to
Steinitz’s reign ended in July 1882, after which the latter objected once the tournament
the Vienna tournament; an acrimonious cor- was over. In a letter to White on 23 November,
respondence involving James Mason pro- Fraser summarized what had happened:
voked his resignation. No blow-by-blow
Hoffer now edits the Field Column assisted, I
account will be rehearsed here as there are
suppose, by Zukertort.—Steinitz I understand
many versions of the story and the evidence wished to insert some letter or another, which
remains inconclusive for what exactly hap- the Chief Editor considered objectionable in
pened. Rose rightly said that Steinitz put the some respect. & Steinitz, standing upon his dig-
column “in a position of pre-eminence” but nity, insisted on its insertion which occasioned
a quarrel and—resignation of the Editorship by
said nothing about why he left.25 Steinitz’s bi-
little Steinitz.—There is no doubt he was very
ographer said cautiously that “research is un- conscientious in all his analysis, and the change
likely to show just why he resigned his edito- is not I should say for the better.
rial duties,”26 although Hooper and Whyld (in
the second edition of The Oxford Companion Walsh is known to have played chess at
to Chess) suggested that there was a conspir- Simpson’s Divan and it was probably his in-
acy, saying “The Field column was lost to him fluence which led to the Divan’s rescinding its
as a result of manœuvres made while he was ban on Steinitz after the controversies during
the fall of 1877. Nevertheless Steinitz must
away.”27 Steinitz appears to have believed, at
have tried his patience sorely.* It is known
least in later years, that there had been a con-
that in 1880 (Rose does not say exactly when)
spiracy engineered by Hoffer to replace him.
Walsh “suffered a severe illness that incapac-
More likely Steinitz was the architect of his
itated him for eighteen months.” Although
own downfall. Hoffer appears to have taken
Walsh was back in charge in 1882, the seeds
over at The Field from 5 August 1882; his ca-
of what got Steinitz into trouble may have
reer as a chess columnist is discussed in Chap-
been sown during Walsh’s absence.
ter 4.
Because Hoffer was still writing the col-
Curiously, Whyld’s Columns (page 144)
umn up to the summer of 1913, discussion of
dates the end of Steinitz’s editorship as 8 July
his “reign” is deferred to the next chapter. A
1882 but no reason is found to suppose he did
final observation is by Potter, in his Land and
not also contribute the columns published on Water column on 9 September, reporting that
15 and 22 July. It was on 29 July that a trun- Hoffer had recently acquired the column in
cated column appeared together with the fol- The Field and now was rejoining the City of
lowing statement signed by the Editor, i.e., London Club:
Walsh, which began:
He retired therefrom in 1875, in company with
We have to apologise to our readers for the ab- Messrs Steinitz, Zukertort and others. No one
sence of our usual annotated game, having re- can condemn the loyal partisanship which
ceived from Mr. Steinitz in lieu thereof a long caused him so to act. For some time past, how-
letter, extending to fully a column, on the subject ever, Mr. Hoffer has carved out for himself an
of a remark made in our leading article “The independent position. He has become as it were
Chess World,” on 20 May, and the correspon- a friendly neutral in his attitude towards English

*Steinitz’s crises at The Field are discussed in more detail in Harding, Eminent, especially page 189.
66 British Chess Literature to 1914

chess…. It is well known that Mr. Hoffer’s posi- that point. The British Library lacks the vol-
tion in chess has been materially strengthened ume in which Steinitz’s column actually ended
by his appointment to an important editorial but the Cleveland scrapbook has all the col-
chair. The influence he has thus acquired will
doubtless be well exercised; and should this rea- umns, and it has been turned into a pdf, which
sonable anticipation be fulfilled, a chess career is downloadable from their Digital Gallery.
in every respect prosperous and satisfactory That also includes the rather poor column
opens out before him. The Figaro briefly ran in 1887.
In the summer of 1883, after the London
international tournament, Steinitz remained
Steinitz’s Other Columns in England for a while. During this period he
was able to start a new column in a minor
Steinitz conducted two other columns London weekly, called Ashore or Afloat: A
while he was in England. The first of these, Weekly Review of Sport, Fisheries, etc., at
which he inherited from Löwenthal in 1876, Home and Abroad. This paper was published
was in The Figaro, a London satirical and lit- between 6 July 1883 and 11 January 1884 but
erary paper edited by James Mortimer. He Steinitz did not last long as chess editor. The
was an American journalist and chess expert column is significant only that it included
who originally settled in Paris and was friendly some polemical pieces by Steinitz, targeting
with the Emperor Napoleon III and his fam- the organizers of the congress and also Zuk-
ily. Shortly before the downfall of that regime ertort whom he was challenging to a match.
in the Franco-Prussian War, Mortimer moved The management presumably did not like the
to England where he resided for the rest of his
life. He founded the London Figaro which first
appeared on 17 May 1870; it usually appeared
twice weekly. The main title, as the British Li-
brary catalog shows, varied over the years be-
tween plain Figaro and The London Figaro;
sometimes this even varied between the front
page and inner pages. The Figaro usually ap-
peared twice weekly with chess in the mid-
week edition.
Löwenthal’s column began on 17 Febru-
ary 1872 but it was almost entirely devoted to
problems. Following his death, Steinitz con-
ducted the column from 2 August 1876 until
19 April 1882, and sometimes it included news
items, but not games. Generally this column
is of less interest than The Field except some-
times in 1877 when Steinitz was under verbal
attack from other chess columnists. Mortimer
permitted him to make polemical replies in
The Figaro which The Field might not have tol-
erated. Contrary to what the Oxford Compan-
ion to Chess says, the paper did not close when James Mortimer, proprietor of the Figaro,
Mortimer was jailed over a libel case and there later profiled in The Chess-Monthly, XIV (No-
was no interruption of Steinitz’s column at vember 1892), page 65.
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 67

tone of these, and possibly received com- edge (which was started by astronomer Rich-
plaints; his resignation was announced on 14 ard Proctor, but continued after his death).
September. This was Steinitz’s last chess Shorter lived was the Illustrated Science Monthly
column in England, and he left permanently (originally The Science Monthly Illustrated in
for America soon after the column ended. 1883), which had one of the earliest female
Chess was in the paper from the first issue chess editors: Miss Frideswide Beechey.28 A
until January 1884. Whyld called it “a dull few women’s papers also had chess columns.
column after Steinitz forced out.” These Men usually conducted these,29 until Miriam
columns have been reprinted by Moravian Clarke, the second wife of chess master Isidor
Chess. Gunsberg, started a chess column in the Lady’s
Pictorial on 18 May 1895, including profiles
of leading female players. That column ceased
abruptly in August 1897 when Mrs. Gunsberg
Columns in Various was dying. She had profiled many of the lead-
Periodicals ing women players of the 1890s. Another
prominent member of the London Ladies’
During the late 1870s and early 1880s Chess Club, Rhoda Bowles, started writing
several excellent chess columns flourished, at about chess in 1899 in Ada Ballin’s Woman-
least in the eyes of their readership and the hood, continuing until that monthly magazine
opinion of other chess editors. Copies of closed in June 1907.
weekly columns were exchanged between ed- To return to science and technology
itors and they frequently quoted from each magazines, the column with the longest run
other and sometimes debated various topics was in English Mechanic (for over thirty years),
such as the notorious “dummy pawn” which but the short-lived one in Design and Work
had arisen from the British Chess Associa- (1878–1881) had one of the highest reputa-
tion’s attempt in 1862 to improve upon Staun- tions among cognoscenti and still makes in-
ton’s formulation of the pawn promotion rule. teresting reading today. The English Mechanic
These columns appeared in a wide variety of was a London weekly which ran (with varia-
periodicals, including magazines serving par- tions in the title) for over 60 years up to 1926.
ticular regions, journals for people of a tech- Page 1 of volume 61 included a retrospective
nical bent, women’s magazines, and not least article about their completing 60 volumes.
papers for juveniles (including some school This stated that English Mechanic started on
magazines). It was far from unusual to find a 31 March 1865 but completed its 60 volumes
particular column being recommended in an- in less than 30 years. Its original price of one
other, which could even lead to subscriptions penny was raised to twopence and the size
coming in from classes of readership who more than doubled on 12 January 1866, with
might not otherwise have had any interest in a further enlargement on 29 June the same
the magazine or newspaper concerned. In the year. “Week in, week out, for 30 years, this
extreme case, to be discussed later, a school paper has presented to its readers an epitome
magazine broke out of its natural boundaries of the scientific news and discoveries of those
and mutated into a national chess magazine. 30 years. It has been an abstract and brief
Chess players were not infrequently peo- chronicle of the ‘scientific’ times.” They added
ple who were interested in modern scientific on page 2 that “As to amusements, have we
and technical ideas, which is probably what not had a Chess column ever since 7th June,
led to several magazines of this character to 1872—the immediate outcome of a letter
have chess columns. These included Knowl- from one of our correspondents, Mr. William
68 British Chess Literature to 1914

F. Denning of Bristol, who was kindly ‘willing one to choose an opposing piece, “a possibil-
to send problems.’” ity which no doubt never occurred to the
Abbott was the first chess editor of the drafters or any player, but might to a problem
English Mechanic, succeeded from October composer.” The B.C.A. wording saw no ne-
1876 until March 1892 by James Pierce (1833– cessity for saying that another King could not
1892). Pierce organized six postal tourneys be chosen, but had deliberately introduced a
from 1882 onwards, the management of the new idea in its final clause:
last competition (which ended in 1894) was X III. Q UEENING A PAWN. When a pawn has
completed by his brother. On the death of reached the eighth square, the player has the op-
Pierce, after some discussion with readers, the tion of selecting a piece, whether such piece has
column resumed on 20 May 1892 with an been previously lost or not, whose name and
anonymous editor. Whyld named his brother powers it shall then assume, or of deciding that
it shall remain a Pawn.31
William Timbrell Pierce (1839–1922) as edi-
tor until about 1899, then J. P. Taylor, but an During Staunton’s lifetime, expressing
A. G. Fellows, who was under the same im- opposition to his rules was a way of showing
pression as Whyld, was informed: “We do not where you stood but it was surprising to see
understand your post-card. Mr. Pierce is not the row flaring up again several years after his
Chess Editor of ‘E.M.’”30 The 20th-century death. Bland commented: “We should regret
continuation also lacks a byline. Several vol- to see the Dummy pawn introduced into prob-
umes may be found in whole or part on lems. That it would be of service to composers
Google Books. The last physical volumes this there is no doubt.” His Derby colleague Fred
author has seen covered 1905 and 1906, while Thompson (1835–1906) was a particularly
the index showed that chess content contin- strong advocate and he received support from
ued to at least the end of the publisher’s vol- Potter who said “it’s in the rules.” Discussion
ume 84 (1 February 1907) and it may well of the “dummy pawn” continued on 30 August
have gone on much longer, but it now just in Design and Work. Bland quoted J. Crake’s
consisted of a weekly problem. After James column in the Hull Bellman which said “it is
Pierce, this journal is of no interest to practical an infringement of the rights of a player to
players or historians. compel him to make another piece where it
While the English Mechanic, in its good would be prejudicial to his interest to do so.”
early years, was popular with chess problem This remark, indeed the whole debate,
aficionados and correspondence players, more may be seen as offering an insight into the pe-
widely influential, praised and quoted by many culiar Victorian cast of mind. Bland returned
of its contemporaries, was the column in De- to the topic on 6 September saying “The op-
sign and Work. Chess in this weekly was edited ponents of the Dummy Pawn take their stand
by William Robert Bland of Derby (1850– on law; its advocates on equity.” He said laws
1929). His column had games and news, and not framed equitably should be amended and
ran problem tourneys, but also debated issues so the Design and Work editor was in favor of
with readers and other editors. The dummy the dummy pawn. On the Staunton wording,
pawn was one favorite topic. Staunton’s Chess which said a pawn must be immediately re-
Praxis had said, on page 6, that: “When a Pawn placed, Crake thought that while the option
has reached the eighth or last square on its of choice was purposely left to the player, re-
file, it immediately assumes the name and ally it just never occurred to Staunton that a
power of any Piece its player may select, ex- player would choose a piece of the opposing
cept a King….” Staunton’s wording, Bland color.
said, could be literally interpreted as allowing The debate on the dummy pawn contin-
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 69

ued throughout the year, and more. For ex- majority of publications adhered to English
ample, on 18 October, Bland wrote that a descriptive. Even minor amendments to no-
dummy pawn in the initial position of a prob- tation that we think nothing of today met with
lem must be objected to but non-promotion objections. The December 1878 issue of West-
was also an issue. It had now been pointed minster Papers printed a two-page letter by the
out, as discussion continued in the chess press, former Oxford University player Edwyn A.
that some problems could be ruined by Black Anthony (1843–1932). who proposed a space-
non-promotion. Ultimately, when the Lon- saving simplification of the descriptive nota-
don 1883 Congress was being planned, it was tion, and noted that the symbols x (for cap-
recognized by the organizing committee that tures), 0–0, and 0–0–0 were now in use in
neither wording conformed to the actual prac- some quarters, Potter joked (in Land and
tice of chess players and that Continental Water of 7 December) that Mr. Anthony
masters could hardly be expected to play “wants to describe a Kt by an N in order to
under either set of rules. A subcommittee was please the editor of the Fonetic Nuz” and he
appointed to draft a revised set of rules and mentioned that Blackburne (who had often
effectively came down on Staunton’s side as played in German tournaments) was strongly
they ruled out the dummy pawn and decided in favor of the English notation.
that it was unnecessary to specify that a piece After some thought, Potter relented on
of the opposing color could not be selected. 11 January 1879. He said he was in favor of
Their wording was different from the current English descriptive (though not using that
FIDE laws but similar in its effect: term) but agreed that reforms should aim to-
A Pawn reaching the eighth square must be ward making the space taken up by each move
named as a Queen or piece, at option of player, approximately equal and to make the number
independent of the number of pieces on the of symbols denoting a move as few as possi-
board. The created Queen or piece acts imme- ble. In view of the anomaly that Knight (be-
diately in its new capacity. Until the Pawn has ginning with the same letter as King) was de-
been so named the move is incomplete.32
noted by two symbols, he now accepted the
Another topic that arose in this and change to N. He had some objections to An-
other columns was the Continental (alge- thony’s example which had no hyphens (e.g.,
braic) notation which was rarely seen in Brit- 1. PK4). However Potter did not adopt these
ish chess literature prior to the First World improvements in his own column!
War (although Stamma had used it in the 18th Chess editors were always at the mercy
century) but which was being advocated by of the decisions of their superiors and of the
W. T. Pierce in the Brighton Herald. On 24 Jan- commercial decisions that led to newspaper
uary 1880 Bland printed a game using alge- proprietors’ changing policy, merging titles
braic notation with 0–0 for castling and dag- or just going out of business. Some good
ger for check but he had a P in pawn moves columns that otherwise might have run for
(“Pe4 Pe5” etc.). Perhaps he did this because many years came to an end even in this “golden
Pierce favored this notation. Other games in age” of columns, and both the notable Derby
Design and Work remained in descriptive no- columnists were affected. Thompson had
tation. To be fair, not only Spanish but also started his column in the Derby and Derby-
French publications (such as La Stratégie) shire Gazette on 24 March 1876, prompted
continued to use descriptive notation for a by a visit by Blackburne to that city the fol-
long time afterwards. A few chess editors, lowing week, and this column continued al-
such as H. F. L. Meyer, sometimes tried to in- most to the end of 1877. At the start of Janu-
troduce idiosyncratic notations but the vast ary 1878 Thompson’s column transferred to
70 British Chess Literature to 1914

the Derbyshire Advertiser, where it gave excel- and Mechanical World. Bland then applied him-
lent coverage (not only of local events) for self to editing a second edition of his Direc-
two years. But in early 1880 the column ap- tory, which appeared in 1882 but after that he
peared irregularly and never returned after 21 appears to have retired from chess journalism,
May (datelined 20 May). On page 5 of the 28 and passed on his rights to the Directory to
May issue a short notice regretted the discon- the Rowlands in Dublin. On 27 August Potter
tinuance of the column. regretted the ending of Bland’s column saying
Bland explained on 5 June that Thomp- it would “undoubtedly be as much a shock as
son decided to end his Derbyshire Advertiser a very great loss to the Chess world at large.”
column because it was too often “crowded It “had become one of the most valuable or-
out” instead of receiving expected proofs. He gans of the game” and its reputation had been
wrote to Bland: “This, as you are aware, has growing.
been of too frequent occurrence to be agree- Sometimes columns came to an end at
able. It is no joke to prepare matter for a Chess the choice of the chess editor himself, when
column and to have it repeatedly returned in he became too busy with work or family mat-
manuscript only.” Bland himself was to suffer ters. William Pierce ended his column in the
a similar fate the following year. His column, Brighton Herald early in 1881 because “he re-
despite being widely praised and probably the quired some rest from chess work.” On the
sole reason why many chess players subscribed other hand, Edward John Winter Wood (1847–
to Design and Work, became the victim of a 1920), member of a well known chess playing
policy change and eventual merger. Sussex family from Plymouth, was another chess ed-
chess stalwart Henry William Butler (1858– itor whose column ended because of the fail-
1935), in his own column in the Brighton ure of the publication in which it appeared,
Guardian, was sorry to hear the news: the Western Magazine and Portfolio. This
was a monthly miscellany magazine, with a
We deeply regret to announce the discontinu-
ance of the chess page in Design and Work, which west of England (especially Devon) emphasis,
has been most ably conducted by Mr. W. R. published in Plymouth from July 1888 to De-
Bland, compiler of the Chess Club Directory. The cember 1892.
paper has now assumed a new form and chess is The original title was The Western Port-
considered foreign to its scope. We confess our folio, edited by Godfrey Evans. The chess col-
inability to agree to this assertion, especially
umn began in February 1889 (the second issue
when it is considered that this column was uni-
versally acknowledged to be one of the best and of volume 2) and continued almost to the end
most interesting extant. We are convinced that of the publication. Winter Wood did not re-
the chess world has sustained a substantial loss ceive a byline but as already noted when Duffy
by this abrupt termination, and we feel confident took over at Land and Water, starting with one
that our sentiments will be fully endorsed by all of one’s own problems appears to have been
chessists who have had any experience with Mr.
Bland or his column.33 a common way for new editors to signal who
was in charge (though this was not always the
That was at the end of March 1881 and case because some chess editors were not
it seems that some attempt was made to per- problem composers). In this case some other
suade the management of Design and Work to columns stated that Winter Wood was re-
reverse their decision. The column struggled sponsible.
on a few months more, but many articles in- The start of the column was announced
cluded no game. Bland’s column last appeared the month before it began: “This department
on 20 August after which the journal was re- of our work will be conducted by well known
launched under its new title, Design and Work and competent hands, and will contain an
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 71

original problem, as well as the current chess 4 October 1879 and Marks’s introductory arti-
news of each month, together with games, cle stated his manifesto. This column, he wrote,
criticisms, and reviews of everything apper- would normally include: 1. Answers to Corre-
taining to the Chess world.” Throughout, the spondents etc.; 2. An endgame from actual play
column ran under a Latin motto, “Delectando (by which he means practical finishes, not nec-
Pariterque Monendo,” a line from the Roman essarily with limited material); 3. One or more
poet Horace about mingling profit with pleas- games; 4. Chess news “in which ‘parochial’
ure. Chess will receive attention out of all propor-
In April 1889 the title of the periodical tion to its merits. Local secretaries will please
changed to The Western Magazine and Portfo- note that we aspire to be their ‘organ.’”
lio. From volume 3 (1890) James McCleod Marks was indeed a great promoter of
became editor. Then in 1892 the magazine cooperation between suburban and district
changed character, dropping the price from clubs in London, and encouraged regular com-
three pence to one pence and introducing petition between them. He presented prizes
color illustrations while reducing the text. for the best individual performers and ulti-
This move, which signaled the imminent mately his efforts, along with those of Hoffer
mortality of the chess column, was a commer- and others, contributed to the eventual for-
cial failure. In September 1892 the publisher mation of the London Chess League about a
changed and the last chess (very small) was decade later. On 25 September 1880, at the
seen in October. A curiosity of the final vol- conclusion of the first year of publication of
ume is that pages were not numbered. The his column, it was announced that the editor
title by then had changed to The Western Mag- of the column would, each year, so long as the
azine: a monthly illustrated journal. editorship was entrusted to him, donate a sil-
Another chess editor who was highly re- ver medal to the most successful player in
garded by his peers was Edward Marks, in London interclub matches. Rules were printed
north London, although not for his first ef- and the prize came to be known as the Staun-
fort. Marks began his work in August 1879 in ton Medal. This innovation seems to have
the short-lived monthly North Middlesex Mag- been born out of frustration that club secre-
azine published by Walter Pelham for 20 is- taries were very inconsistent in sending Marks
sues between July 1879 and February 1881. match reports. He would decide the winning
Although on 13 December 1879 Land and team (minimum 14 matches in a season to
Water said Edward Marks was retiring from qualify); the secretary of the victorious club
the chess editorship of North Middlesex Mag- would then nominate the winning individual
azine, he appears to have been persuaded to among his members.
continue. Both quantity and quality varied in Unlike many chess editors, who gave
the final year, some articles having little more much attention to mate problems and organ-
than a problem while others were filled with ized tourneys for their composition and solv-
detailed results from London club matches, ing, Marks was decidedly in favor of over the
and there was also detailed coverage of the board play. His manifesto also said: “We have
Rosenthal versus Zukertort match of 1880. formed (no doubt erroneously) a strong opin-
Marks gave more attention to his second ion, in opposition to distinguished authority,
column which enjoyed good space in a new of the comparative uselessness to the average
weekly periodical, from the same publisher, player, of problems as contrasted with end
which undoubtedly had a wider readership. games. The former are for the most part im-
Walter Pelham’s Illustrated Journal: A Miscellany possible positions, such as could never occur
of Romance, Wit, and Wisdom first appeared on in actual play….”
72 British Chess Literature to 1914

The final issue of Walter Pelham’s Journal Crake lived in Hull it seems implausible. Also
was published on 19 February 1881 so Marks according to Whyld, Marks later had a col-
looked for a new home for his column. He umn in the Holloway Press for a few months
found it in Society, a publication which is in 1889 to early 1890 (see Appendix I). Marks
tricky to find in library searches because the died in 1896 and had an obituary in The Chess-
single-word title occurs in so many publica- Monthly.
tions. It originated as a weekly magazine ed- Several periodicals for youths and juve-
ited by George W. Plant. Originally entitled niles had chess columns. Generally speaking,
The Mail Budget, its title changed to Society though, they did not have very interesting
from 12 March 1880 and it became a twice- content. Appendix I has summary details of
weekly, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Society the columns that ran in, for example, The
had (at least originally) the subtitle “A Journal Boy’s Journal. The chess column in Young
of Fact, Fiction and Fashion.” Society is avail- Men of Great Britain had a curious publish-
able in the British Library only, as what they ing history; Whyld, page 506, did not get this
call a “microform surrogate.”* one right, but can hardly be blamed. The col-
The chess column of Society began on umn was indeed begun by G. F. Pardon, in
Saturday 9 April 1881 and ran to the end of issue 8 (ca. 22 February 1868), but he passed
June 1883, ending right after the conclusion it on to Löwenthal after a few months. The
of the London 1883 international tourna- run ended in volume 7, no. 180, in 1871. After
ment. There was no byline but Potter wrote ten volumes had been completed in 1872,
in Land and Water, 16 April 1881, that the for- there was a break in publication. Then the
mer chess editor of Walter Pelham’s Illustrated proprietor, Edwin J. Brett, realized that a new
Journal (i.e., Marks) was now writing in Soci- generation of young boys could enjoy the
ety. Potter again quoted Society in May and paper and the whole series was repeated start-
October. Whyld’s Columns mentions that ing in 1875.
“Mephisto” (meaning its operator, Isidor Another complicated case, in the early
Gunsberg) was also involved. Probably Guns- 1880s, was the column of The Boys’ Newspa-
berg just contributed some games and notes per, which transferred to Youth when that
as he had previously done with the North paper was started. Whyld, understandably,
Middlesex Magazine. Whyld had a duplicate had some trouble sorting out the similar titles
entry under “Illustrated Society,” but al- in various sources that included the word
though the word “Illustrated” sometimes ap- “Boy’s” or “Boys,” some of which were in-
pears on the front page it was not part of the volved in a previous merger. Potter mentioned
title. In that entry Whyld implied that Crake the transfer in Land and Water on 5 August
had taken over from Marks during 1882, but 1882. He referred to the Youth column again
no evidence of that is apparent and since on 6 January 1883, saying it had run a chess

*The magazine cannot be found as Society but there are two ways to get this item after logging in as a reader. One
is through the Explore the British Library main catalog by searching for Mail Budget on shelfmark Cup.701.a.10.
After ordering the librarians should change this to a request for the first six reels of microfilm. The chess column
is on reels 2 to 6. Reel 1 covers 1880, after which each reel covers six months. These must be read on the rather
antiquated microfilm readers in the Rare Books and Music reading room. Should one wish to print something
out, it can be done (awkwardly and at some expense) by bringing the reel into the copying department where
they have modern machines linked to a printer. Alternatively, one should be able to order the surrogate directly
by choosing “Request Other Items” (instead of the main search box) and then the link to the Humanities and
Social Sciences collection, and finally entering the shelfmark 12881. This method may enable one to order the
reels to “My Basket” and from there to the Newsroom, which has the most modern microfilm machines and free
copying facilities. Other microform surrogates can be ordered this way also but only if one knows the shelfmark
number.
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 73

verse competition, won by E. J. Winter Wood lege Magazine, the Mill Hill Magazine, The
with Miss Beechey second. Norvicensian, the Oldhallian, Ours (from the
Perhaps the longest-running of this type Jews’ Free School in London), Ulula (from
was the column in Boy’s Own Paper. Volume Manchester), the Whitgift School Magazine,
1 ( January–September 1879) is bound as and the Woodbridgian. Some of these are in
Boy’s Own Annual in the British Library. Chess Whyld’s bibliography and others were discov-
starts on page 80 and seems to have been ed- ered elsewhere. The present author has seen
ited by H. F. L. Meyer who contributed many only a few of these. The chess series in The
problems and the first game. Volume 2 (Oc- Felstedian and The Norvicensian were roughly
tober 1879–September 1880) was published simultaneous and ran while a correspondence
at the Leisure Hour office and among the con- match was in progress between the pupils of
tributors were listed “Captain Crawley” (i.e., the two grammar schools. Whyld also noted
Pardon, who wrote on checkers), Herr Meyer, that chess historian Harold Murray was a
and Jules Verne. Whyld says Meyer wrote this pupil at Mill Hill. His father, James Murray,
column until 1925 and that it was continued the lexicographer (later Sir James), taught at
by Edwin Gardiner to 1935. He also mentions the school from 1870 to 1885 but Whyld was
a column by London civil servant J. B. How- incorrect to say that he was headmaster.34
son in 1964–1965 at least. This is definitely The most extraordinary case of a school
correct because the paper offered to send magazine chess column was the one which
Howson to give free simultaneous displays at grew and grew until it was relaunched as a
schools, and our mathematics master engaged new magazine entirely devoted to chess.
him to give one. Huddersfield, in west Yorkshire, had been an

Chess in School Magazines

There are in Appendix I several exam-
ples of school magazines which ran chess
columns, although most are of only minor in-
terest or curiosities. Several schools in both
England and Ireland ran magazines, some
aimed at a readership among current pupils,
others at “old boys” (alumni), but mostly at
both. There was also the special case of the
Blackfriars Chess Journal, mentioned in Chap-
ter 5, which was produced by school pupils;
Whyld included it in his Columns bibliogra-
phy although it was a chess magazine not a
column in a magazine. Three Irish schools
had chess columns and these are discussed in
the Irish section towards the end of this chap-
ter.
Ten Victorian schools in England have John Watkinson, who began writing on chess
so far been identified as having chess in their in the Huddersfield College Magazine, which
magazines at some time or other: The Ayle- led to his becoming founding editor of Brit-
stonian, The Felstedian, the Huddersfield Col- ish Chess Magazine.
74 British Chess Literature to 1914

important chess center since the early 1840s those who send correct solutions to the prob-
and one of the club’s leading members by the lems will be published.”36 In September 1873,
early 1860s was John Watkinson (1833–1923) the last number of the first volume, the chess
who was to be B.C.M.’s first editor. Hudders- editor said the column “has been to us a labour
field College was a secondary school for boys of love, and we have devoted to it no little
instituted in 1838, “for the purpose of afford- time and thought.” In April 1874, the Dubuque
ing, at a moderate expense, a superior Col- Chess Journal was reviewed. The Huddersfield
legiate and Commercial Education upon a editor said he did not mind their using + for
Scriptural basis.” 35 In October 1872, when check or 0–0 and 0–0–0 for castling but “S
Samuel Sharpe was principal, the Huddersfield for Kt sticks in our throat.”
College Magazine was started as a monthly for The title page of volume 4 clarified the
pupils and old boys and it ran until the Au- editorial situation, saying: “Edited by W. J. C.
gust–September 1880 double number. The Miller, B.A., Vice-Principal of Huddersfield
magazine is unavailable at any U.K. copyright College; and John Watkinson.” On page 207
library, but it is said that Huddersfield Public of volume IV, Miller signed a paragraph saying
Library may have it. Complete sets are held that “with this number I resign my duties in
by the special chess collections at the Royal connexion with the Magazine” and that in
Dutch Library, the State Library of Victoria future all communications should be sent
(in Melbourne), and at the Cleveland Public to Watkinson. The latter’s involvement had
Library in Ohio. steadily grown and he was now in sole charge
The Betts and Di Felice bibliographies for the remaining issues of that volume and
name W. J. C. Miller as editor from the begin- for the whole of volume 5. The December
ning until June 1876, and Watkinson there- issue of volume 5, on page 56, said that all
after, but Watkinson (now Huddersfield’s lead- literary articles for the magazine, all com-
ing player) was probably always in charge of munications relating to chess and subscrip-
the chess pages. This chess column originally tion orders should go to John Watkinson.
spanned four small pages but gradually grew He was not a member of the school’s teach-
in extent and fame, while Watkinson became ing roster, but a staff list in the November
coeditor and eventually sole editor. Many sub- issue shows Miller was the mathematics
scribers had no connection with either town teacher and Edwards Watkinson Esq., pos-
or college. Other school magazines included sibly a relative, was a director. In March 1877
regular chess features for at least a year or two, it was announced that Henry Jefferson of
but in no other did the coverage become so Clapham would take over as principal of
extensive although at least half the magazine the college after Easter. Jefferson, like his
always dealt with other topics. On page 15 of predecessor who died in June, was a Wesleyan
the first issue, this was stated: Methodist, and his academic department
was modern linguistics. He seemed happy to
It has been thought that a page of the “H.C.M.”
might not inappropriately be devoted to the let chess take a larger share of the magazine.
game of chess. Not a few of the former pupils On page 250, Watkinson said to have given
have attained to considerable proficiency in this up match playing “on account of his engross-
scientific recreation, and the writer of these ing duties in connection with the Editorship
lines, an “old boy,” has undertaken to edit this of this Magazine.” He seems to have been
department for twelve months, or longer, if it
meets with the approbation of the subscribers.
given a free hand. The September 1877 num-
ber, last of the volume, said that this was the
A problem and game was to be given in only monthly school periodical, and the sub-
every number “and the names or initials of scribers related to school have reached their
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 75

maximum, so the editor appealed to their ary 1878 number included a three-page arti-
readers to recruit new ones. cle, in Stubbs’s department, about the inven-
Volume 5, in the October 1876 issue, saw tion of the telephone, which he welcomed. Its
the introduction of a chess problem compo- advantages, compared with the telegraph,
sition tourney, which was to prove a popular were privacy and “uncurtailed sentences” and
feature. On page 24 it was said that they of- hearing the voice of our friend at a distance.
fered book prizes to encourage a high stan- The first games of chess by telephone also got
dard of submissions. Several other columns a mention on a later page.
were to copy this idea in future. Of course a It is but a short time ago that the generally de-
weekly column might run a speedier compe- veloped impression was dispelled that we had
tition than a monthly like the Huddersfield. reached the end of great inventions, that the
The way it worked was that problem com- steam engine and telegraph crowned the labours
posers were invited to submit problems, of human ingenuity, and that it only remained
to perfect those in order to reach the limit of
which would in effect be judged partly by the man’s influence over the natural powers of the
solvers, who themselves earned points for world. The production of the telephone, the
correct (or partly correct) solutions over a pe- greatest of modern inventions, has surprised us
riod of time. Readers would often send in ver- with evidence of the possibility of existence of
bal comments which were printed later along a far more extended field of power for humanity
to exercise in the universe.37
with the solutions in a subsequent issue. Some-
times there was really a double competition: At the start of volume 8, in October 1879,
the solving tourney for readers, and the prob- Watkinson acknowledged that they were now
lem tourney for composers, which would ul- in competition with The Chess-Monthly (which
timately be judged by experts who would take was reviewed on page 25). He pointed out
into account the difficulty that solvers had that each issue of the new magazine cost a
had, and any flaws that had been uncovered shilling whereas the Huddersfield College Mag-
in the process. In volume 7 the Huddersfield’s azine remained “marvellously cheap” at three
second problem tourney was run in connec- pence (a quarter of the price). The March
tion with a solution competition in this way. 1880 number dealt with the American Chess
It was also possible for a chess column to run Congress and other matters, but, as usual, the
a solving tourney without a problem tourney, Huddersfield’s own problem tourney took up
by using previously published problems, but lots of the space. Its good coverage of chess
this would not work in a publication that problems was one of the main reasons why
catered for real problem experts who might the magazine had subscribers unconnected
have seen the puzzles before. with the College.
In June 1877 it was said that Watkinson The July number had extra pages includ-
“has given up match playing on account of his ing a special report on the Rosenthal–Zuker-
engrossing duties in connection with the Ed- tort match, which was the major chess event
itorship of this Magazine.” At the start of vol- in London in 1880. This issue also announced
ume 6 it was announced that a meeting of the that the August–September numbers would
Magazine Committee had been held, on 6 be a double issue published on about 15 Au-
September 1877, at which “Mr. Watkinson ex- gust. That issue included a report on the
pressed a wish to be relieved of part of his du- school prize-giving and cricket but on page
ties.” A member of staff, Mr. Stubbs, offered 299 the discontinuance of magazine was
to assist and in future he was to edit “the lit- announced. Various chess items of interest
erary portion” while Watkinson continued to followed, including more on Rosenthal ver-
act as treasurer and chess editor. The Febru- sus Zukertort. At this stage Watkinson was
76 British Chess Literature to 1914

beginning to set up the launch of a new ven- lied on contributions from local readers, also
ture devoted entirely to the game. The posi- including national chess news and information
tion was clarified by a farewell article head- from other columns to fill any vacant space.
lined “Our Future” on pages 317 and 318. Here The Derby and Derbyshire Gazette columnist,
are some excerpts: Fred Thompson, complained on 26 October
When the first number of the Huddersfield Col- 1877 that local players often preferred to sub-
lege Magazine appeared in October, 1872, we had mit their games to London editors, and inci-
no idea that its modest Chess department of a dentally confirmed he was not paid: “The way
couple of pages would eventually develop into in which some of the leading players in the
its present proportions…. The announcement provinces ignore their local Chess columns is
has already been made in various quarters that
our new Chess magazine would commence in
a standing blot…. We confess to being just a
October next, but we have decided to postpone shade sprung with this indifference to the work
the publication of the first number till January, of local honorary Chess Editors.”
1881…. We shall be able in future to give more Professional journalists, leading players,
prominence to the game department, which we and writers for major London papers were
are free to admit has not hitherto had that share
paid but provincial columnists probably en-
of attention which its importance deserves….
The title of the magazine is an open question at joyed private incomes or salaried jobs. In
the time we write…. most cases it is not known what they did in
their “other” lives, but some were Anglican
Advertisements for a Huddersfield Chess clergymen; James White (Leeds Mercury),
Magazine even appeared but eventually Brit- James Pierce (English Mechanic), and William
ish Chess Magazine was decided upon. The Mitcheson (1834–1888; Newcastle Courant)
continuation of this saga will be found to- were all teachers; James Thomas Palmer
wards the end of Chapter 5. It is worth noting (1853–1929) was a policeman when he was
that Henry Ernest Atkins (1872–1955), from editing the Preston Guardian column.39 Butler
Leicester, the great British chess champion of stopped his Brighton Guardian column after a
the Edwardian era, was principal of Hudder- few months; it was too time-consuming for
sfield College from 1909 to 1936 so perhaps the proprietor of a small business.
a chess tradition was maintained there after Each column was unique, with its own
the closure of the magazine. editor, serving its own constituency. There
was one striking exception, the chess column
written by Bird for about twelve months start-
Bird’s Innovative Chess ing in December 1882. His innovation was to
Column write a column which, with a little tailoring
at times, could be submitted to more than one
The heyday of provincial newspapers was newspaper at the same time. This was the be-
from the 1860s to the late 1880s. Press Asso- ginning of what came to be known as syndi-
ciation telegraphs meant that they could com- cation, a process that is discussed further in
pete with London titles on fresh news. Literacy the next chapter.
levels were rising and after the 1867 Reform Bird’s column had problems, chess news
Act more men were entitled to vote in political and games (including many of his own), and
elections. Most cities and counties had at least of course in the early summer of 1883, the col-
one weekly chess column from the 1870s but umn reported on the London 1883 interna-
they tended to have a shorter life span than na- tional tournament in which Bird himself com-
tional ones, partly because editors were prob- peted. It should first be noted that Whyld was
ably writing for love, not for money.38 They re- confused about this paper and assigned Bird’s
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 77

column to the wrong title. How his column

came about, and whether Bird employed an
agent or secretary, or did all the work himself
remains unclear. Renette’s biography of Bird
is somewhat incurious about the practicalities
that may have been involved. The author
briefly discusses the column, on page 288, but
does not go into much detail about it. The
main thing Renette has to say is the following:
Bird’s only regular, full-blooded, column ap-
peared from 2 December 1882 until 24 Novem-
ber 1883. This was a syndicated effort that was
first published in the Sheffield and Rotherham In-
dependent and the Boston [sic] Weekly Journal.
Several other newspapers purchased Bird’s col-
umn, which consequently could be seen in the
Nottinghamshire Guardian, the Northampton Mer- Henry Bird, who conducted a chess column
cury and even in the Illustrated Sydney News in
in multiple papers during 1882–1883. Pho-
Australia. The column was quite voluminous
tograph from his 1893 book Chess History
and interesting, especially for his numerous fans
and Reminiscences.
and chess historians with a predilection for him.40
Firstly it should be pointed out that In those days, writing out multiple copies
“Boston” was a misprint for “Bolton.” There of an article would have been exceptionally
was no such title in Boston, Lincolnshire. We tedious for a columnist. There were of course
have been able to ascertain that Bird's column no photocopiers until the late 20th century,
did indeed run throughout the period Renette and in Victorian times few journalists had one
stated in both the Sheffield and Rotherham In- of the novel and expensive typewriters. This
dependent and the Bolton Weekly Journal, and perhaps explains why in some of the papers
also ran elsewhere for part of the period. The where it appeared, Bird’s column was running
Northampton Mercury began the column on 2 one week behind others. For example, the
Dec. 1882 but dropped it during June 1883, problem in the Northampton Mercury on
while the Nottinghamshire Guardian and Mid- Saturday 2 June 1883 (by John Skinner of
land Counties Advertiser took up the column Sheffield) was the one in the Sheffield Inde-
on 1 June 1883 and ran it to the end. The col- pendent on 28 July, but on 2 July the problem
umn also appeared from January 1883 in the in the Independent was the same one in the
Tyldesley Weekly Journal, Leigh and Atherton Nottinghamshire Guardian, where the column
news. In addition to the titles mentioned by only began that day. The Australian newspa-
Renette, Whyld mentions the Leigh Weekly per would have been sent printed copies of
Journal as having chess ca. November 1882; one of the English articles to work from.
without mentioning Bird but either it was the It may be the case that Bird (who had
Leigh Journal (the new title from 1875) or, good connections with America and often
much more likely, the Tyldesley Weekly Journal traveled there) did not have to write out mul-
column was meant. Leigh and Tyldesley are tiple copies of his articles by hand. It is pos-
close to each other geographically in what is sible that in order to reduce the labor involved
now Leigh, Greater Manchester, while Bolton in his journalism—and of course to greatly
lies a few miles to the north. Possibly Bird's reduce the likelihood of error when printers
column may yet turn up elsewhere. transcribed game notations—he may have ac-
78 British Chess Literature to 1914

quired one of the early models of typewriter decided voluntarily to discontinue his col-
which would have certainly eased the task of umn. Renette does suggest, though, that there
contributing essentially the same material could have been another reason—a dispute
(with sometimes minor variations) by post to between Bird and the Sheffield Chess Club,
several different editors. arising from that visit.
The largest circulation newspaper in On 17 November a “personal notice”
which Bird’s column appeared was not an in- signed by Bird appeared in both the Bolton and
dependent title, but was a weekend supple- Sheffield newspapers, announcing that this was
ment of the Sheffield and Rotherham Independ- his 51st column and that there would only be
ent. In 1882 and 1883 that was an eight-page one more. He said that his work on “Railways
newspaper on Mondays to Fridays but on Sat- and National Finances” alone would have been
urdays the additional eight-page supplement sufficient reason to discontinue writing the
was added, where the chess column appeared. chess articles, but “the jealousy and apparent
Readers had the option of buying the news sec- envy of certain local chess representatives,
tion only for a penny or to pay two pence and however, is my main reason…. I take the op-
have the weekly supplement also. The supple- portunity of expressing the hope that future
ment was paginated continuously (9–16) but chess editors may have to chronicle more en-
page 9 had its own masthead, Supplement to the thusiasm than at present appears to prevail out
Sheffield & Rotherham Independent. On British of London.” It is clear that his dispute was not
Library microfilms and the B.N.A. digitization, with players in Bolton (which he had not vis-
the weekly supplement can be found each week ited) but with the Sheffield club, whose secre-
immediately after the main Saturday paper. tary H. C. Twist sent in a reply letter which was
The editors believed they had achieved a published in the Sheffield newspaper at the end
coup by securing the services of the veteran of Bird’s final column on 24 November.
master; they had already announced on Satur- Renette also wrestled (on the same page)
day 18 November that the column would start with the thorny question of what contribu-
next month. A more detailed announcement tions Bird may have made to the London Times
was repeated the following week, saying they newspaper. Bird certainly used his technical
had concluded arrangements for the weekly accountancy expertise to contribute some ar-
publication “of an original article on chess, by ticles of a financial nature to The Times,42 and
Mr. H. E. Bird, the distinguished chess player, this may also have given him the entrée to
Chess Correspondent of The Times, Author of write for the famous paper about chess. He
Chess Openings, Chess Masterpieces, etc.” liked to describe himself as the “chess corre-
Hiring Bird was perhaps part of a larger spondent” of The Times but any articles he
plan to launch the weekly supplement as a wrote were unsigned, like most of the articles
separate newspaper, and towards the end of in that newspaper in those days. In general, a
1883 puzzle and checkers columns were also paper’s appointing somebody as their “chess
introduced. However the supplement re- correspondent” does not necessarily imply
mained just that changed until 1884 after Bird that they contributed a regular column.
had ceased writing the column. Bird only vis- As Renette observes, Bird’s October 1887
ited Sheffield once during the period of the claim, in a letter to The Chess-Monthly, that Bird
column, on and around Saturday 26 May, tak- started his contributions in 1878 may not be
ing advantage of a short break in the London taken at face value. “Until the 1890s articles
1883 tournament schedule.41 Conducting the dedicated to chess in The Times remained very
column would have been time consuming, so sparse, with no regularity whatever.” However,
it is perhaps unsurprising that after a year Bird he did manage to get several of his own games
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 79

published in The Times (for example his draw nounce that “they have made arrangements
against Blackburne from Hereford 1885 which with a very competent Chess-player to take
otherwise would have been lost to posterity) his place.” The magazine’s editor complained:
so it would appear that Bird’s claim was justi- We notice that the first game of the new column
fied, albeit exaggerated, but at some point in is copied from the B.C.M., notes and all, without
the 1890s when he became too unwell to work, the customary acknowledgment. We presume
Bird was replaced by Samuel Tinsley (1847– that this is an inadvertence and that the rest of
1903), who also contributed a column to The the column consists of original matter. A very
liberal amount of space is allotted every week to
Times Weekly Edition (a separate title from the the department, which promises to become one
same publisher) for many years from 1893, of the best in the Provinces.
which his son Edward Samuel Tinsley (1869–
Although not named in the newspaper
1937) took over in 1903. Tinsley Sr. was a
or the magazine, it is known that the new ed-
minor master who, perhaps because of his jour-
iting team was Frideswide Beechey, who at
nalistic work, was accepted for a few interna-
the time was residing in the Derbyshire spa
tional tournaments including Hastings 1895.
town of Matlock Bath, about 24 miles from
Further research into chess columns in
industrial Sheffield. She had recently begun
the related titles connected with The Times is
writing on chess for a small local paper, the
required. One idea that would require time
Matlock Register, which gave her some celeb-
consuming cross-checking of two different ti-
rity as the first woman to edit a chess column.
tles is that the column from March 1900 (men-
Soon afterwards she published a collection of
tioned by Whyld) in Literature was the same
her problems, Chess Blossoms. The editors of
as that in The Times Weekly Edition. When Lit-
the Sheffield paper somehow thought to pair
erature was relaunched on 17 January 1902 as
her with Thomas Rowland, a Dublin expert
The Times Literary Supplement, the problems
on problems. She recalled later in a retrospec-
did not begin at 1 but rather at 652. The T.L.S.
tive article:
has been entirely digitized so the whole run
of the column in that paper is easy to trace. The proprietor of the Sheffield Independent wrote
Chess last appeared on 24 January 1935 (prob- inviting me to conduct their chess department
in collaboration with Mr. T. B. Rowland, who at
lem 4765) but the following week there was this time had sprung into fame, so though parted
an announcement that chess had been trans- by the Irish Channel we agreed to accept the
ferred to The Times Weekly Edition. Sheffield Independent post and eventually met.
To return to the Sheffield Independent, After our marriage we conducted as many as six
the management did not at first seek a local columns in different papers, and there has never
been a break in this work.43
player to write the column, although they do
seem to have lined up one or more local play- The address for readers’ correspondence
ers to contribute news and chess problems. It to their column was initially “Chess Editor,
was several years before eventually they did Independent Office, Sheffield,” but almost im-
hire a local editor. When Bird’s last article mediately Beechey moved back to her native
appeared, on 24 November 1883, it was an- land. From 29 December the address for cor-
nounced that he had “relinquished” the col- respondence was changed to 10 Prince of
umn and that “a very fine chess-player” would Wales Terrace, Merrion Road, Dublin, which
take his place. Then in the January 1884 num- was presumably where Thomas Rowland then
ber of British Chess Magazine, on page 31, it lived. On 29 March the correspondence ad-
was observed that, Bird having “relinquished” dress changed to Leinster Lodge, Fort View,
the editorship of the chess column in the Clontarf, Dublin. That was where Beechey
Sheffield Independent, the proprietors an- lived before their marriage, which took place
80 British Chess Literature to 1914

on 5 June 1884, with MacDonnell officiating player and a student of the game.” There were
at the ceremony. That continued to be their more games and local news, elementary les-
address for some time after the wedding. sons, fewer problems. Whyld says R. J. Buck-
During 1884 the newspaper they wrote ley took over from 26 October 1891 (but per-
for underwent some restructuring, as can haps it was already him in 1889?) and he
mostly be followed in the digitized pages in continued the column to 1893 or later.
the British Newspaper Archive. The chess col-
umn continued in the weekend supplement
but the proprietors also launched a separate Nottingham Newspapers
newspaper in March, entitled the Sheffield and
Rotherham Weekly Independent Budget.4 4 Al- Rob Ensor’s master’s thesis of 2016, ex-
though the British Library catalog suggests amining the history and social constitution of
that the first issue of this new paper was on Nottingham Chess Club (founded 1829),
Saturday 29 March, it can be seen from an ad- shows that many of the members held influ-
vertisement in the daily paper on Friday 21 ential positions in other voluntary societies
March that it was a week earlier. This adver- in the city, but that gradually the club seems
tisement sits beside the masthead in one of to have lost its elite status as a consequence
the two positions known to newspapermen of social change in the late 19th century. There
as the “ears” and states that it was “Ready this was another chess club in the city, at the Not-
(Friday) morning. Contains portraits, views, tingham Mechanics’ Institute, whose mem-
tales, chess. An excellent family journal.” The bership was of a lower social class, but on the
Budget cost one penny or a penny halfpenny whole friendly relations obtained between the
by post. Comparing the digitized columns two. Eventually there may have been a merger
with this author’s notes from the 1884 bound because, Ensor found, the original Notting-
volume of the Budget, it is clear that the same ham Chess Club seems to have dissolved after
column was published each week in both pa- the 1902-1903 season although there is no
pers. So Whyld was not incorrect when he formal record of this.
said that “for part of the time, at least” the two There is no extant minutes book of the
newspapers had the same column. The last club after the one that ends at 1900. The Not-
date the chess column appeared in the daily tinghamshire Guardian of 20 June reported
paper appears to have been Saturday 5 Sep- briefly on the club’s final meeting of the 1902-
tember 1885. 03 season, where “the treasurer announced a
From 12 September 1885 onwards chess satisfactory balance on the right side,” and the
was only in the Budget. Then, from 11 June following Saturday an enjoyable garden party
1887, the reference to Rotherham was dropped was held, with tea and tennis as well as chess,
and the title of the weekly paper changed to hosted by J. N. Derbyshire who later was pres-
the Sheffield Weekly Independent. From 4 May ident of the British Chess Federation at the
1889 the format of that paper changed to a time of 1936 Nottingham international con-
16-page tabloid instead of an 8-page broad- gress. The Nottinghamshire Guardian of 4 July
sheet. The Rowland column last appeared on reported that about 50 gentlemen attended
19 October 1889, their competitions transfer- the party including “nearly the whole of the
ring to the Bristol Mercury. An unidentified Notts. members and the first team from the
new editor took over in Sheffield from 26 Oc- Mechanics’ Institute, besides visitors from
tober 1889 when the Weekly Independent said Leicester and Derby.” Yet when the new chess
chess was now under the care of a new editor, season began in the fall, the column reports
“a man of undoubted ability, both as a chess on the activities of the Mechanics club and
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 81

says nothing about the old club, not even the ably the difficulty Whyld had in this case.
apparent fact that it had failed to reconvene. Checking the date in his book led to the dis-
What had happened? This is a mystery still covery that Hamel began contributing chess
waiting for some historian to solve.45 information to the paper much earlier. On 2
The Nottingham Mechanics Institute, January 1872 Hamel said he hoped soon to
however, continues to this day (with a bridge be able to publish diagrams but it was several
club and chess club among other activities), months before that became possible. Thanks
though of course with a different social make- to Tony Gillam helping with the research, it
up from its original foundation.46 The famous is now evident that the commencement of
San Francisco Mechanics and the less known chess reporting in the city was prompted by
Nottingham Mechanics chess clubs stand a three-day visit of Joseph Henry Blackburne
today as really the last relics of a great Victo- to Nottingham starting Thursday 19 October
rian social movement that was originally aimed 1871. The Nottingham Daily Express carried
at providing technical instruction and rational advertisements each day and there were re-
recreation for the hordes of young men flood- ports from the 20th onwards. Blackburne
ing into the major cities in search of employ- gave two over-the-board simuls and a dinner
ment.47 was held after the second of these; then on
With this background information in the Saturday he played blindfold against ten
mind, the Victorian newspapers of Notting- opponents.
ham and their chess columns can now be ex-
amined. The present author has pursued re-
search into Nottingham columns but it has
not been possible to see everything; Tony
Gillam and Rob Ensor have thankfully been
of some help in disentangling them. Except
for a few months when Bird’s syndicated col-
umn was running in the Nottingham papers,
the columns were, so far as can be seen, always
in the hands of local players and provided pri-
marily local chess information—a wealth of
it. There are however some difficulties in re-
searching these papers which cannot be easily
summarized in the appendix, and therefore
they are dealt with at some length in this
chapter.
The earliest column in the city was pub-
lished in the Nottingham and Midland Coun-
ties Daily Express and it ran for over a decade.
The editor of the column was a local lace mer-
chant, the German-born businessman Sigis-
mund Hamel, who came from a family of chess
players.48 Whyld, page 318, said chess began
Sigismund Hamel, chess editor of the Not-
on 22 June 1872, but there is an earlier start. tingham Daily Express for more than a decade.
It is much harder to spot a chess column (Undated photograph by A. W. Cox & Son,
in a newspaper, especially when reading mi- Nottingham, courtesy Cleveland Public Li-
crofilms, if there is no diagram; that was prob- brary Special Collections).
82 British Chess Literature to 1914

From 24 October Hamel supplied sev- was a report of the Manchester match on the
eral games from the “recent tournament” and following Monday but the usual column did
from 12 December his contribution appeared not return until Thursday 7 February, includ-
to be weekly (mostly on Tuesdays). The col- ing a game but otherwise with essentially the
umn proper, with diagrams, actually began on same information. That article may be under-
Thursday 13 June when Hamel published stood as being the final column to appear in
Problem 1 but Tuesday remained the usual this newspaper. There were sometimes other
day of the week for chess. By 1876, when the reports but not very much until, on Saturday
Nottingham Chess Club’s correspondence 24 May, the following (signed “F.F.S.”) ap-
match with Ipswich was in progress, the Tues- peared by way of explanation:
day article was even being repeated on Satur-
CHESS. We regret to say that in consequence of
days. the severe and protracted illness of the Chess
Whyld correctly stated the column ended Editor, no column has appeared in the Express
in 1884 but provided no definite date. By for some months past. We are, however, glad to
chance we discovered that the newspaper dig- say that, although he is not sufficiently recovered
itized at this period by B.N.A. under the title to undertake the preparation of a weekly col-
umn, should any event of special importance
Nottingham Journal was in fact the Express.
occur in the chess-world, the same will have due
(There was no connection between the Ex- notice here.
press and the Journal until a 1918 merger but
the B.N.A. has a strange and unhistorical In Whyld’s Columns (page 319), the entry
approach to such matters.) The digitization under the heading Nottingham Guardian con-
starts in 1860 but does not include 1871, the fuses two titles, both of which had chess col-
first chess year. Nor does it, at least at the time umns, at least during part of 1884. Contra
of writing, include 1874, 1877 or 1879. The Whyld, F. F. Beechey was not an editor of ei-
British Library catalog says that on Thursday ther of them. Whyld mentions her as a con-
19 July 1883 the title of the newspaper was tributor for several months that year but there
shortened to Nottingham Daily Express but is no evidence of that. She and her fiancé were
the page headers of inside pages still said Not- writing the Sheffield column in succession to
tingham and Midland Counties Daily Express, Bird, as well as a column in Dublin, but not
but that changed later. Sometimes there was the one in Nottingham. The correct details,
more than one chess article in a week when so far as they can be ascertained, are as follows
there was also news of local matches to report. (and are also summarized in the Appendix).
By now, the chess column did not appear on The Nottinghamshire Guardian and Mid-
a regular day of the week and once this starts land Counties Advertiser was a weekly paper,
happening with a column in a daily paper published between 1846 and 1969. Most years
(where the articles are separated by many until 1900 have been digitized in the B.N.A.
pages), the chess content can be hard to find, but not 1888, 1890, 1891, 1897, nor any year
especially on microfilm, so the digitization of after 1900. It was during the London interna-
the Express is of great assistance. tional tournament, on 1 June 1883, that the
On Saturday 5 January 1884, problem Nottinghamshire Guardian began taking Bird’s
435 by S. Hamel was published. The next ar- column which had already begun in the
ticle was on Thursday 24 January (and re- Sheffield Independent and elsewhere. After
peated next day), previewing the forthcoming Bird resigned on 23 November 1883, only one
match against Manchester, and this article in- week was missed before a new column by
cluded an unnumbered problem by F. J. Hamel young local expert Arthur Towle Marriott
of Manchester, a nephew of Sigismund. There began on 7 December 1883.
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 83

When Marriott died from tuberculosis the content of Whyld’s bibliography was not
in December 1884, the Nottinghamshire Guard- actually written at one time as text. It was, in-
ian column was continued by anonymous stead, the output of a database of his own con-
local players. Ensor has said that the editors, struction, which he worked on over years, and
at least at first, were probably Thomas and Whyld died suddenly before he could really
Edwin Marriott (brothers of Arthur) and Dr. knock the final List into shape.
Henry Reginald Hatherley, as named by Title changes and mergers often compli-
Whyld. It ran until 1903, at least, when the cate the search for chess columns and the
collapse of the old Nottingham Chess Club work of the bibliographer, and it is clear he
may have led to its demise. There was also a had not succeeded in tracking all these changes
checkers column up to at least 1901 in this correctly. In fact a general problem with
newspaper. Whyld’s book is that columns are often listed
The Nottingham Daily Guardian was from under titles that were not actually those in use
the same publisher as the previous (weekly) at the time the chess column was running.
title. The Nottinghamshire announced on 4 There is no ideal way to handle this, and the
July 1884 that a column by anonymous local B.N.A.’s use of generic titles (sometimes plac-
players on Thursdays had begun in the daily ing “London” at the start of titles in which the
the previous day. This column ran until at place-name did not actually appear) has also
least the end of April 1885. Gillam informed created some new problems for researchers.
us that a later Gunsberg column ran in the Another point the historian needs to keep in
daily Guardian from 5 November 1901 to 4 mind is that a newspaper may have been pub-
August 1914 (the dates as given by Whyld). lished weekly even if the word “weekly” did
The B.L. catalog shows that title changed to not appear in the title. For example, in the
The Nottingham Guardian from 10 October case of Newcastle upon Tyne, the largest city
1905 and stayed that way until 1953. in the north-east of England, there was a
Weekly Chronicle but also earlier a Chronicle
that was weekly but did not say so.
There are several inaccuracies in Whyld
Confusions over Newcastle concerning papers published on Tyneside. He
Papers listed six different Newcastle papers on pages
306 and 307 (not counting the one in New-
Whyld can be excused his confusions castle, Australia) in addition to another on
over various newspapers published in the same page 93 which did not have the city name in
city because, in his day, the British Library the title, namely the Daily Chronicle. Concern-
catalogs were much harder to use than they ing that, Whyld said that it was founded in
are today. The original Integrated Catalogue— 1764, but actually it began in 1858, though
introduced only in 2003 and not very inte- presumably started by the same publisher of
grated, though a great improvement on its the original (and weekly) Chronicle. There was
predecessor—did not provide all the infor- also an important title (the Newcastle Courant)
mation that was available only at the old Col- for which Whyld failed to have a separate
indale newspaper library. Only since the in- entry. Implausibly, the same column of 1861
troduction of the current catalog, Explore the by C. P. Lloyd was listed for three of the seven
British Library, has it been possible to search titles Whyld listed.
everything together and place orders from With a view to making the Newcastle en-
home for reading on future visits to the li- tries in the appendix as brief and clear as pos-
brary. Part of the problem was that much of sible, the complications are explained here.
84 British Chess Literature to 1914

First let us look at what the B.L. catalog tell appears to have been one that Whyld did not
us about which newspapers were actually mention. On Monday 14 November 1859, The
published. One of the papers in Whyld we can Daily Chronicle & Northern Counties Advertiser
disregard because the Newcastle Evening Chron- said on page 3:
icle had no chess content until 1930. It re- The racing season having nearly terminated, we
mains to disentangle the history of newspa- yield to the requests of numerous correspon-
pers named with variants of the Chronicle, the dents, and furnish for the winter months a
Courant, and the Journal. For example, the weekly half-column of chess. The problems and
Newcastle Daily Journal has been digitized by games will appear every Monday until the return
of spring introduces us to more athletic recre-
B.N.A. under the generic “Newcastle Journal”
ations.
but the word “Daily” was only added to the
title from the start of 1861. The commencement of that column fol-
The Daily Chronicle and Northern Coun- lowed closely in time the start of a two-game
ties Advertiser (1858–1861) was continued by correspondence match between the Newcas-
The Newcastle Daily Chronicle and Northern tle Chess Club and that of Berwick-upon-
Counties Advertiser (1862–1864), which in Tweed, the northernmost town in England
turn became simply The Newcastle Daily Chron- just south of the border with Scotland. The
icle (1864–1922), where we can stop. Confus- opening column published the first few moves
ing readers further, the B.N.A. digitization in both games, which continued through the
uses the generic title Newcastle Daily Chroni- winter; one of which was eventually won by
cle. Separate from this, there was the newspa- Berwick and the other was drawn. The Nor-
per which began in 1764 as The Newcastle folk News of 18 April 1860 named the “chief ”
Chronicle, or, General Weekly Advertiser. players on each side. For the border town they
(Whyld’s first listing on page 306 was the were the Rev. T. C. Durham, Mr. Macaskie
Newcastle Chronicle & Weekly Advertiser but (editor of the Berwick Warder) and J. White,
the B.L. catalog shows that this was never an later chess editor of the Leeds Mercury. The
actual title.) From 1793 to 1864 the title was main players for Newcastle were Puncher,
plainly The Newcastle Chronicle and then, to Mitcheson and Lloyd, who was named as chess
distinguish from the daily, the title Newcastle editor of the Newcastle Chronicle. Problem 1
Weekly Chronicle was adopted on 18 June 1864 was by “P.T.D.,” evidently Duffy, who a few
and it continued to 21 December 1940. years hence was (thanks to the influence of
The Newcastle Courant, perhaps the old- Henry Bird) to move to London and take up
est newspaper in the city, was founded in 1723 a post with the accountancy firm Turquand
and continued with that title until its fre- Coleman and end up being a very influential
quency of publication was indicated by a chess writer and editor. Whyld, page 93, men-
change in 1884 to Newcastle Weekly Courant. tions another column by Lloyd in 1861 but
There was also The Newcastle Journal (1832– this seems incorrect; it was in a different title,
1860) which was continued as the Newcastle the Journal. The Chronicle for 1861 has not
Daily Journal up to 6 March 1915 when a merger been digitized yet but we inspected a bound
with the Courant group created the Newcastle volume and can now be certain there was no
Daily Journal and Courant, which expired in column in it that year. Nor does there appear
1924. Briefly there was also the unsuccessful to have been any later revival of chess in this
Newcastle Evening Courant (1870–1874) which paper.
then became the Newcastle Daily Courant but The 1861 column that C. P. Lloyd did edit
expired in 1876. was in the Newcastle Daily Journal and it ran
The earliest chess column in Newcastle from 18 February to 29 July 1861, although
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 85

its frequency was irregular in the summer. British Library catalog. The year 1903 is not
Lloyd was identified as the editor in the Chess available in that library, but all subsequent
Player’s Chronicle that year, on page 66. Whyld years have been consulted. It can definitely be
(page 306) states that the column continued stated that the chess (and also the checkers)
to 1867 with Lloyd editing until some time in column ran until 26 February 1910 when pub-
1863, but actually there was a break. A new lication of this newspaper ceased with no suc-
column (starting again at problem 1) began cessor. This column is a good record of chess
29 September 1862 and ended on or soon on Tyneside in the early 1900s with some
after 3 June 1867 (problem 200). Probably coverage of national news also.
Lloyd was not involved. The Norfolk News The information on Whyld’s page 306
of 17 January 1863 attributed this series to about the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle is not
Mitcheson and Duffy. entirely accurate. The first column, by John
Whyld had no separate entry under the Charleton, indeed began on 20 September
Newcastle Courant. This resulted in a confu- 1873 but space for chess was very limited. In
sion in his page 307 listing of the Newcastle late January and February 1874 it started to
Weekly Journal & Courant that arose from a be a proper column, but it ended in February
subsequent merger. The newspaper of this 1875. The more important later column was
plain title, Newcastle Courant, did however, conducted from 4 January 1890 (not the 8th)
have a chess column, conducted by Mitche- by George Carm Heywood. He was a printer,
son from 14 April 1876 to 27 December 1878. formerly of Devon and then London, who ran
Only after 4 July 1884 did the title of this the chess club at the Newcastle Art Gallery
paper change to Newcastle Weekly Courant. for several years but died suddenly on 8 March
Then, typical of many newspapers, the full 1895. During that year at least, the chess was
title appeared only on the masthead, for ex- normally on page 8 of the supplement. The
ample in 1901, with the simple “Newcastle column on 9 March was as normal (probably
Courant” on the running headers of inside already in type) but Heywood’s obituary ap-
pages. Confusingly, the B.N.A. digitizes it as peared on page 7 of the news section on 16
plain “Newcastle Courant.” The digitization March, confirming he was the chess editor. It
covers some relevant years up to 1900, but said he had revived the column about five
not 1894 (available on microfilm in the B.L.) years previously.
and 1897 (which the B.L. lacks altogether). Chess continued, however. According to
Checkers started in this paper in April 1892. Whyld the column was now conducted by
Then its second chess column (plausibly at- Mrs. Heywood, whose maiden name is un-
tributed by Whyld to local expert H. W. known. Chess certainly continued to the end
Hawks, although there was no byline) began of 1896 at least and possibly as late as 1917 if
on Saturday 10 December 1892. Whyld is right. There were subsequent col-
From 5 July 1902, the Newcastle Weekly umns postwar, at least from 1923 in the hands
Journal and Courant was the successor to the of E. G. Sergeant, according to Gillam.
previous title. The chess column (apparently
still by Hawks, though not bylined) and the
checkers column both continued. After this Early Scottish Columns
merger, the masthead of the new title read
“The Newcastle Weekly Journal and Courant There were many Scottish chess col-
(established 1711).” Whether that date claim umns in the 19th century, mostly in newspa-
was valid is unclear; the original Newcastle pers published in Glasgow, which is by far
Journal was founded in 1832 according to the Scotland’s largest city. Edinburgh, the capital,
86 British Chess Literature to 1914

despite having Britain’s oldest chess club, was umn for the period from the early 1870s to at
not well blessed with columns. There were in least the mid–1890s was that probably begun
addition some short-lived columns published in the Weekly Star by John Jenkin in 1872,
in Aberdeen, Ayr, and Dundee, and some though it is difficult to check this, as the rel-
other towns, not forgetting the amazing Fal- evant issues are unavailable in the British Li-
kirk Herald column which lasted 47 years and brary. It would need to be sought in Glasgow
ended only during the Second World War. or Edinburgh. From 2 November 1872 Jenkin’s
The first Scottish column, in the Glas- column began in the Glasgow Weekly Herald,
gow Citizen (1847 until 1851), is discussed which was the sister paper of the daily Glas-
in Chapter 2. Much later there was another gow Herald. The first column included Prob-
column in the Glasgow Weekly Citizen, con- lem 1 by Sheriff Spens (Walter Cook Spens).
ducted by Georges Emile Barbier (1844– It should also be mentioned that besides the
1895), a Frenchman long resident in Scot- chess column on the page there was usually
land; he received a byline. This was one of the also a checkers column.
best Scottish columns during the period it The exact succession of editors is not
ran. Barbier began it on 19 March 1887 and clear because they mostly did not have by-
wrote it until his death on 16 December 1895, lines. More research on the editors is defi-
although he had returned to France a few nitely needed. It is possible that Jenkin ran
months previously. Some publication changes this column for ten years or he may have been
should be noted. At the start of 1891 the mag- succeeded by somebody unidentified. During
azine’s title changed to plain Weekly Citizen 1878 the column added a lively London cor-
(not indexed by KW) at the start of 1891. respondent who is also unidentified. The idea
Then from November 1896 the title changed that it was West of Scotland champion An-
to Saturday Weekly Citizen. The article on 21 drew Hunter proved unfounded with the dis-
December 1895 was also bylined Barbier. covery that he did not move to London until
Then the issue of Saturday 28 December 1895 1879. One candidate is Archibald Keir Mur-
had “Chess edited by John Russell” and Bar- ray, a former honorary secretary of the Glas-
bier’s obituary. Russell continued the column gow Chess Club, who much later was chess
for another 14 months until the last article editor of Hobbies and first president of the
was published on 27 February 1897. It is note- British Correspondence Chess Association.
worthy that the “Saavedra” rook versus pawn Potter noted in Land and Water, 5 August
endgame study arose from the columns of 4, 1882, that there had been a change of reins at
11, 18 and 25 May 1895, as discussed by A. J. the Glasgow Weekly Herald as the old editor
Roycroft (in Test Tube Chess) and Harrie left for Edinburgh and Potter was sorry to see
Grondijs (in his book No Rook Unturned). that the new editor had dispensed with the
The second Scottish column was con- London correspondence; 22 July 1882 was
ducted by Fraser in the Dundee Courier & the last issue with a London letter.
Argus, from 14 July 1862 to 23 May 1864. James Marshall (not mentioned by
These articles have been digitized. It should Whyld) was named in the paper as the new
also be noted that in 1867 there were valuable chess editor of the Glasgow Weekly Herald,
news reports, both in the Dundee Courier (a “though a young player, already one of the
later title) and in the Dundee Advertiser at the strongest players in Scotland.” Marshall may
time of Steinitz’s visit to Dundee, early in the not have conducted the column for long, and
year, and later at the time of the international possibly handed over quickly to Sheriff Spens
congress in September. whom Whyld credits for 1887–1897. On the
The most important Scottish chess col- other hand, the usually reliable compilation
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 87

The Chess Bouquet says Spens was editor from An obituary and photograph of Neilson
1882 and that David Forsyth (whom Whyld was printed in the paper on Wednesday 22
names for 1886–1887) “assisted in editing” April. More tributes were published on 29
the column. Forsyth (who was the deviser of April. In an announcement on 3 June 1942
the compact Forsyth notation for recording the editors of the Falkirk Herald regretted
game positions) possibly started in 1885 but that, especially due to the circumstances of
on 14 May 1887 the newspaper reported he the war, they had been unable to find anybody
was moving to Edinburgh. Spens was still ed- to replace Neilson and so had to discontinue
itor in 1897 when The Chess Bouquet was pub- the column.
lished, and may have continued the column
until he died in 1900. Forsyth subsequently
started a column in the Weekly Scotsman at the Welsh Columns
time of one of Blackburne’s visits to Edin-
burgh. That column ran from 4 November Relatively little research has been done
1893 until 3 April 1897. Forsyth later immi- into chess columns published in Wales. Only
grated to New Zealand where he died at the a few are mentioned in Martyn J. Griffiths’s
end of 1909. book Chess in Wales and it seems likely that
Back in Glasgow, Whyld names W. Black none were widely read beyond the principal-
as editor from about 1900 to 1906 and W. ity. Briefly, the following is what we discov-
Gibson (one of Scotland’s strongest players ered.
at the time) in 1914 and 1915. The daily Glas- The first Welsh newspaper to have some
gow Herald had news reports occasionally substantial chess reporting was The Cambrian,
but no column until 1921, when one (prob- a Swansea weekly which was the first English
ably by Carrick Wardhaugh) started on Sat- language newspaper in south Wales. However,
urdays. Some of these articles may be found there was never a real column in the paper
in the images at Google News but the scores until one was started by James Glass (by-
of games are sometimes illegible. lined) from 9 October 1891 running to at least
Finally there must be mentioned the im- the end of 1893, possibly to 1899. Very useful
portant and long-running column in the Fal- for historians is the Cambrian Index Online,
kirk Herald, which is particularly useful a project of Swansea libraries which can be
because it has been digitized. This series, con- found at www.Swansea.gov.uk/cambrian. The
ducted throughout by Archibald Johnston first mention of chess was on 5 April 1828. At
Neilson, commenced on Wednesday 10 April present the index ends around 1881 so it does
1895 (not 1894 as Whyld said) and continued not cover the period of Glass’s column.
until his death on Friday 17 April 1942 at the The first Welsh column, as opposed to
age of 70. The last column he had prepared occasional news reports, was probably that in
appeared on 22 April with problems 4849– the Western Mail, a Cardiff daily paper, which
4851. This run of 47 years, though not a world began publication in 1869. Gillam has discov-
record for a chess column, is probably a Scot- ered a chess column not mentioned by Whyld,
tish record that is unlikely ever to be broken. which ran from 4 December 1869 to 29 Jan-
The column is all the more valuable because uary 1870. As this is just before the start of
relatively few chess columns running beyond the first column in the sister paper Weekly
1914 have so far been digitized, and because Mail, discussed below, it is likely to have been
Neilson took a great interest in chess affairs a precursor with the same contributor. These
throughout Britain and indeed the world so few articles may be found online as they have
that this was by no means a parochial column. been digitized by the B.N.A.
88 British Chess Literature to 1914

The Weekly Mail commenced publica- 10. b3 This and the following move on White’s
tion on 12 February 1870. The chess column part involves a loss of time, and tends to shut-
began on page 6 in the very the first issue (not ting the Queen’s Bishop out of play. The dou-
1871 as Whyld had said), with this justifica- bled pawn on the queen’s file must delay the
tion: “The game of chess has become so very opening of the diagonal to the bishop. 10. …
popular in South Wales and the west of En- Nd7 11. Bb2 Ndf6 12. Qe2 The force of our
gland, that in devoting a corner of the Weekly remark on White’s 9th move is now apparent.
Mail to it, we feel that we are supplying an ac- 12. … Qe8 13. Nd2 N×d2 14. Q×d2 Ng4
knowledged want.” Readers were informed 15. Rae1 Qh5 16. g3 f×g3 17. h×g3 Rf6
that Cardiff Chess Club was now engaged in 18. N×g4 Q×g4 19. Re8† Kf7 20. Qe1 Rh6
a correspondence match with Chester. More- It appears to us that Black might now have
over, Messrs. Solomons and Wakeford of Car- taken the P ch, compelling an exchange of
diff were engaged in a postal match against queens, not only with safety, but with the bet-
Messrs. Burn and Cox of Liverpool, while “the ter game. 21. Rd8 Kg7 22. R×d6 c×d6 ½–½.
Rev. Walter Evans, like a Paladin of old, is Black has no way of avoiding the perpetual
playing a match, single-handed against the ris- check. If the players of the white pieces at-
ing chess club of Aberdare.” tempt to win, they must lose the game. The
The correspondence games involving Liverpool players thus won the match.
the future master Amos Burn (1848–1925)
were published in the column on 12 March and The chess editor made an effort to pub-
2 April. Richard Forster’s biography of Burn lish games by the strongest players in the
says the games began late in 1869 as the result south Wales region, many of which would not
of a challenge from the Cardiff to the Liver- have got into print otherwise. On 19 February
pool club. Forster identified Burn’s partner as there was a game played over the board be-
Charles Hudson Cox (1829–1901) who is tween Fedden and Richard Henry Falkland
known from other sources. Forster published Fenton (1837–1916), who now lived in Bath
the game that Burn and Cox won with White; but had formerly been in Swansea. Fenton
he could not find the other. Here it is for the was soon to move to London where he be-
sake of posterity, though it is not very inter- came an habitué of the Divan and a minor
esting. professional player, despite the fact that Potter
was able to beat him in a match conceding
Solomons and Wakeford– odds.
A. Burn and C. H. Cox In 1870 the column also published some
Liverpool–Cardiff match, corr 1869–1870 games by Eugene Sevich who was an amateur
King’s Bishop’s Gambit (C36) from St. Petersburg, Russia, then residing in
Notes from the Western Mail, 2 April Newport, Monmouthshire. On 17 September
the column said Sevich had left Britain but
1870, probably by Walter Evans.
was expected to return in a few months. The
1. e4 e5 2. f4 e×f4 3. Bc4 Nf6 This de- column remained active for over two years
fence to the King’s Bishop’s Gambit is, by many but started to fail towards the end of 1872
good players, considered preferable to the when there was often no game. The last article
older ones of 3. … Qh4† and 3. … g5. 4. Nf3 in the series was on 24 May 1873; it was very
d5 5. e×d5 Bd6 6. 0–0 0–0 7. d4 Ne4 8. Ne5 short and included problem 168.
g5 9. Qh5 This is premature. We should have A second column began in the Western
preferred freeing the pieces on the Queen’s Mail on 1 March 1884. There was no byline
side before commencing an attack. 9. … f5 but Griffiths (page 39) names W. Heitzman,
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 89

a German immigrant who lived in Pontyp- did not exist. It should also be noted that de-
ridd. Griffiths says the column “ran for several tailed information about the Dublin Evening
years and gave news of all important chess Mail is presented in this author’s history of
events in Britain and indeed the world, as well correspondence chess (and is not repeated
as chess problems, opening theory, games etc.” here).49 For convenience, there will not be a
The end-date of this column is unknown, but separate discussion of later Irish columns in
a third column in the Weekly Mail began about Chapter 4.
the middle of November 1890 and continued Irish chess columns of the 19th and early
at least into early 1891, problem 11 by Heitz- 20th centuries can be roughly categorized as
man appearing on 10 January. It seems likely follows. Firstly, national newspapers with
that Heitzman was the pseudonymous chess columns published in Dublin. Then there
editor, “Plutarch.” This revival occurred shortly were columns in regional or local newspapers,
after another column had begun in the rival the most important of which were published
Cardiff Evening Express. in Belfast. These catered to the province of
The column in the Cardiff Evening Ex- Ulster (which is not the same as present day
press therefore predated the third series in the Northern Ireland). Thirdly there were columns
Weekly Mail. Whyld’s entry for this title was in Cork, catering to the south, and for a few
vague, and appears inaccurate; he said there years the Sligo Times (in the north-west) had
was chess from 1890 to 1899 and later, nam- a column, but these were in the early 20th
ing Heitzman as the editor and citing various century. Fourthly, there were columns in var-
sources for this information. In fact the col- ious magazines or small journals, most of
umn began on Friday 3 October 1890 and which were short-lived. A large number of the
continued every Friday at least to the end of columns in the first and fourth categories were
that year, but it was not by Heitzman, al- conducted by the Rowlands, either jointly or
though it is certainly possible he took over separately. This couple has already been in-
later. In 1890 the chess editor was George W. troduced in connection with the Sheffield In-
Lennox, who received a byline. Lennox, of dependent, and they also had a column in the
Scottish origin, was another prominent south Bristol Mercury which lasted into the 1890s.
Wales player of the period but his first article (They are discussed in the History of Corre-
did feature a problem by Heitzman. It is not spondence Chess in Britain and Ireland.)
known how long this column, which Griffiths It was the 1880s before any long-running
does not mention in his book, may have con- Dublin newspaper columns become estab-
tinued. lished although there had been some short-
lived ones. The earliest Irish columns were in
fact those in the second category, serving the
Irish Chess Columns North. A curiosity worth a brief mention, al-
though it was not a true column, was the se-
The present author has made a special ries of chess articles in the early 1840s in the
study of Irish chess columns, but to present Newry Commercial Telegraph. This paper
all the findings here in detail would rather un- was published in Newry, County Armagh, on
balance the chapter, especially as the title of Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It was
this book is British Chess Literature. Neverthe- generally known locally as the Newry Tele-
less, in Appendix 1 the most important find- graph and has been digitized by B.N.A. under
ings and entries are summarized chronologi- that name. After a short paragraph on 17
cally for all the Irish columns discovered— March 1840, announcing the start of the Ar-
and also some that Whyld listed but which magh Chess Club’s correspondence match
90 British Chess Literature to 1914

with Liverpool, an anonymous series of news detailed in Appendix I. This column published
items and games appeared nearly every week many games by Irish players and reported well
between 29 May and 5 October 1841, mostly on local events, including some in Dublin, and
concerning the Armagh Club, its lectures and also included some retrospective information
correspondence match. It was probably con- about early Belfast chess in the days of Alex-
tributed by George Cochrane, who gave those ander McDonnell. Whyld made no distinction
lectures, and including also in August, a ro- between this paper and the daily Northern
mance about Ruy Lopez. In late 1843 they Whig which revived chess in 1886.
also reprinted reports and game scores of Some sources say that there was a slightly
Staunton’s match against Saint-Amant in Paris, earlier column, published in Dublin, in an un-
taken from Galignani’s Messenger, an English traceable newspaper called the Irish Sporting
language newspaper published in the French Times. There are references to it in the Chess
capital. Player’s Chronicle of 1861.50 According to the
The first true Irish chess column found Rowlands, “…the first chess column that ap-
is that in the Weekly Northern Whig, between peared in Ireland was in the Irish Sporting
8 March 1862 and 5 December 1868, albeit Times, some thirty years ago. It was conducted
with several breaks. This Belfast paper had by Mr. J. A. Conroy.”51 As Conroy was still
chess by an anonymous editor from 1862 to alive (and also MacDonnell, who could have
1868, often weekly but with interruptions, as corroborated the information), this is prob-
ably true, but no publication of that name is
known to the British Library or the bibliog-
raphers of the Waterloo Directory. This was
certainly not the 1876 paper of that title which
had only a very brief existence.
The likeliest explanation is that it was
not an independent title but a supplement
with Saturday editions of the Irish Times which
failed to be preserved in the files of that paper
that have been microfilmed and digitized. The
best evidence in favor of this argument is that
the Irish Times report on Thursday 26 De-
cember 1861 of the Belfast–Dublin telegraph
match refers in its introduction to the earlier
Liverpool match “fully reported in our paper,
2nd November.” Yet the microfilms and digi-
tized Irish Times of Saturday 2 November con-
tain no such report. There were a few reports
of chess events in the Irish Times but no reg-
ular column until 1955.
The next Dublin column was that in Irish
Sportsman and Farmer, a Dublin weekly.
J. A. Conroy, chess editor of the Irish Sports- The series lasted only a few weeks. The col-
man in 1887–1890, who is also said to have
conducted the lost column of the Irish Sport-
umn by James Alexander Rynd (1846–1917)
ing Times in 1861–1862. Photograph (unknown was announced 12 November and began seven
date) by F. Coghlan, Londonderry (courtesy days later. It ran to 18 February 1871 with one
Cleveland Public Library Special Collections). final article on 8 April 1871. Later the title of
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 91

this newspaper was shortened to the Irish

Sportsman, which had a column in the 1880s
as discussed below. There are occasional ref-
erences to chess in another similar Irish title,
Practical Farmer, of which little trace remains.
The Weekly Irish Times, published in
Dublin by the proprietors of the daily paper,
has been digitized so it is no longer difficult
to find the chess content. There was initially
a column by Alfred S. Peake which started on
25 January 1879 to coincide with Zukertort’s
visit to the city. The column continued through
1880 and 1881, albeit with some weeks missed,
and its frequency eventually reduced to fort-
nightly. It became irregular and last appeared
on 18 March 1882. Whyld misleadingly wrote
of a problem tourney in 1882; it was just an
award for best problem published in 1882. He
also wrote “irregular in 1886” but actually
there was no chess column at all. A new col- Thomas Rowland, chess editor of the Dublin
umn by Mrs. Rowland was said (e.g., in the Evening Mail and some other columns. Pic-
English Mechanic) to be starting in early 1889 ture from The Chess Bouquet (1897).
but it did not happen, as shown by the elec-
tronic database edition of the Irish Times. Later Rynd from 28 November 1885. As Kenneth
there was a quite good column by Mrs. Row- Rynd was only born on 9 October 1873 this
land which ran from 23 February 1895 except seems implausible but he is known to have
for a lengthy hiatus during the Boer War. There been keen on chess well before this; presum-
was no chess in 1900 or 1901; the column re- ably his father helped him.
sumed in November 1902. It was brought to Peake’s editorship ended on 30 Novem-
an end in August 1914, immediately on the ber 1886 after the outbreak of a lengthy feud
outbreak of war. between him and Rowland which spilled into
The great increase of chess activity in the column; probably the editor sacked him.
Ireland in the mid–1880s, consequent to the The column was resumed in January 1887
forming of the Irish Chess Association and under Conroy, finally ending on 22 March
the emergence of the Irish champion, Rynd, 1890 (but with no chess between 27 April and
from retirement, saw several columns started. 13 July 1889 inclusive). There is no direct ev-
The first of these was in the Irish Sportsman, idence that the Rowlands were involved in the
begun by Rowland (assisted by Beechey) from later period, but Conroy (who was now living
8 December 1883 until 21 November 1885 well away from Dublin in Listowel, County
when he gave up the column because of his Kerry) was friendly with them and thanks
contributions to the Dublin Evening Mail. The them for help. Possibly the Rowlands took over
subsequent history of this column is a bit con- in July 1889. In 1889 the Mail and Sportsman
fused and the information presented in Whyld’s columns disagreed over the history of Dublin
bibliography is doubtful. He (following Harold chess clubs which does suggest different edi-
Murray’s notes) named Peake as editor from tors. The Irish Sportsman was subsumed into
18 December 1885, preceded briefly by K. A. the Irish Field in 1894 without a chess column.
92 British Chess Literature to 1914

The chess column of the Dublin Eve- Chess historians not based in Ireland
ning Mail was begun by Thomas Rowland on face a serious problem in connection with the
16 July 1885 and continued on Thursdays until Mail and Warder column, namely that the
March 1900 when it moved to Saturdays. British Library holdings lack the Thursday
Whyld’s information on page 116 is not fully editions of the Dublin Evening Mail until 1894.
correct; for example, there was no apparent In fact the Mail was published six days a week,
connection with the Daily Express. The fol- but until that year the B.L. has only the Mon-
lowing announcement appeared in the Irish day, Wednesday and Friday editions. This
Sportsman on 25 July 1885: misled the Waterloo Directory into thinking
In order to meet the demands of chess players, the paper was only published thrice weekly.
the Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail wisely com- The recent B.N.A. digitization of the Mail
mences in time the publication of a chess column. only reflects the B.L. holdings. Researchers in
It will also appear in the Evening Mail on every England can seek the column instead in the
Thursday afternoon. The chess column will be Warder but the B.L. does not have that for
attractive to both beginners and advanced players,
1885 either, and its later holdings are incom-
for the former is promised a series of simple and
comprehensive instructions on how to play, also plete, but they do now appear to have it on
articles on the constructions of problems and the microfilm for most years from 1889. The Na-
art of solving. The advanced players will also be tional Library of Ireland does have a full set
well catered for, as the chess editor is a well known of the Mail from 1886 onwards but they also
reliable authority. We wish our confrere that suc- lack the Thursday editions in 1885. Those ar-
cess which we fully expect he will have.
ticles only survive in a scrapbook at the Cleve-
The Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail was land Public Library (of which the Royal Dutch
a weekly paper from the same proprietor, Library has rather poor photocopies).
which also circulated in England where there The column in the Dublin Evening Her-
were now large numbers of Irish emigrants. ald was begun on Saturday 5 March 1892 by
From 12 November 1892, until 1902, the title J. A. Rynd, who was initially bylined “Mr. J.
changed to simply The Warder. The column Porterfield Rynd The Irish Champion.” (In
on Saturdays was usually identical with the recent years he had adopted the name “Porter-
one in the evening paper two days previously, field” but the genesis of this remains obscure.)
e.g., Saturday 26 January 1889 (first year this For most of this period (though not in 1892)
author has seen) had the same content as the the masthead of the weekend edition (where
Mail of Thursday 24 January, but the Warder chess appeared) was the Saturday Herald, but
fell a week behind after the Mail column it is on the same microfilms as the weekday
moved to Saturdays in 1900. This was the editions. The column continued to 1914, but
most important Irish column of the late 19th in some years (especially when it is called
century; running problem tourneys, five major “Neochess”) the articles make strange read-
postal tourneys and other postal matches with ing, making one wonder about Rynd’s mental
much British participation. There was some health. Or perhaps he just was not very inter-
irregularity around 1900, probably due to the ested in conducting a normal type of column.
Boer War. The column finally ended on 29 During a more lucid period, in the second half
March 1902 and the style of writing and con- of 1903 at least, “M. W.” (who was probably
tent suggests that Mrs. Rowland had a much Moffatt Wilson, a Dublin Chess Club mem-
larger hand in it towards the end. For com- ber) was assisting the editor. Rynd was cer-
pleteness, it should also be noted that Mrs. tainly writing the column around 1912–1914
Rowland briefly had a wartime column in the until it ceased on 15 August 1914, soon after
Irish Weekly Mail and Warder. war broke out. Thomas Rowland revived the
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 93

Herald column on 9 December 1922, until he William Steen (not Stern as in Whyld) was
died on 13 August 1929. The column (and named as having conducted the column and
postal tournaments) were continued after- reports of the 1886 Irish Chess Association
wards by two long-serving chess editors, T. P. Congress, but regretted he was now unable to
Donnegan and Jim C. Corby, until at least the continue. The same announcement appeared
late 1990s when a syndicated puzzle replaced on 29 September in the Northern Whig:
the old weekly local column.
From the commencement of this “Chess Depart-
In the 1880s and 1890s there were a few ment” our readers have been indebted to Mr. W.
other columns in Dublin newspapers and Steen, of Belfast, for kindly contributing the in-
journals of less importance, for which readers formation contained in it from week to week. In
are referred to Appendix I. The titles con- March, 1886, Mr. Steen undertook the task of
cerned are the Celtic Times, Irish Fireside, Irish compiling a weekly chess column, the chief object
at the time being to give publicity to the meeting
Figaro, and To-day’s Woman. A curiosity is that
of the Irish Chess Association, which took place
in 1897 Mrs. Rowland’s readers subscribed to in the month of October last year. Chess players
buy her a typewriter, which would have greatly will regret to learn that Mr. Steen has found it im-
eased her work of writing multiple columns. possible for him to continue the work which he
In the Irish Figaro on 19 June 1897 it was re- has carried on so ably in connection with this de-
ported that the presentation had been made partment, but we are glad to say that arrange-
ments have been made by which the column is
to her. Just over £9 was raised from 78 people still to be continued by a member of B. C. C.
in Ireland, England, and Scotland. The Hon.
H. C. Plunkett MP and the Rev. Fernando A new series of articles, contributed by
Saavedra were among those who contributed. Belfast Chess Club, resumed in the News-
Meanwhile several newspapers in Belfast Letter (not the Whig) from 15 September 1887
also ran chess columns from the 1880s on- (but with no regular day of the week). From
wards. Fuller details are to be found in Ap- October to December the same articles ap-
pendix I. For some of this period the content peared in the Belfast Weekly News. This col-
in the Belfast News-Letter and the Northern umn continued in 1888 (still with no diagrams
Whig was essentially the same, since the arti- and no regular day of the week) until it settled
cles were contributed by Belfast Chess Club down on Thursdays from 26 April. The Irish
members. The Belfast News-Letter claims, on Sportsman of 19 May 1888 credits William
its website, to be “the oldest continuously Campbell with reviving chess in the News-
published daily newspaper in the English- Letter and the Northern Whig. A later chess
speaking world,” having been established in editor was W. J. Allen from 1911 to 1956.
1737. Originally a radical Presbyterian paper, Whyld names Thomas Martin as editor in
it had become staunchly Unionist by the time 1889, but that was probably a confusion with
the chess columns appeared. Since the News- the Belfast Weekly News whose column Martin
Letter has been extensively digitized, it is a was to conduct for many years, roughly from
very convenient source for historians about 14 January 1888 to the end of 1901.
chess in the north of Ireland.52 A difficulty to The Northern Whig, like the News-Let-
be found with this and some other Belfast ter, was a Protestant daily paper but with a
columns is that they frequently consisted of more liberal outlook. Whyld’s page 317 refer-
just text without diagrams. ence to a column in 1860s is incorrect: see the
The News-Letter column, began 19 March Weekly Northern Whig [q.v.]. This paper has
1886 with news, games, and some problems not yet been digitized for the years with chess
but in the New Year it became irregular and but Ulster chess historian David McAlister in-
ended in June 1887. On 21 September 1887 formed this author some years ago:
94 British Chess Literature to 1914

The column in the Northern Whig started I be- through ill health but it was continued by an
lieve Thursday 18th March 1886. The material unknown person (possibly a local Cork player)
in its chess column was usually but not invari- until a closure announcement appeared on 27
ably the same as that in the Belfast News-Letter
chess column (at least until 1911). Eventually January 1917. The Irish correspondence chess
the Northern Whig largely stopped having local tournaments were then taken over by W. J.
material, though the Belfast News-Letter carried Allen of the Belfast News-Letter until, after his
on until 1956. I think it’s only available in hard wife’s death, Thomas Rowland took them
copy. back to the Herald.
The newspaper columns published in Finally, magazines may be briefly men-
Cork, the largest city in the far south of Ire- tioned. The Rowlands (or one of them) were
land, are all easy to find in Appendix I because again involved in the Clontarf Parochial Mag-
“Cork” is in all the titles. The most important azine, of which no examples survive, and in
of these for chess was the Cork Weekly News, The Visitor, and more importantly in Kings-
another Protestant paper. Whyld mentions town Monthly and its successor Kingstown So-
only a column starting in 1907, but there was ciety. These are available only in the British
much more chess than that. It began with a Library. Chess ceased in Kingstown Society
local column edited by Archibald Smith from when Mrs. Rowland started her little maga-
12 October 1901 to 6 September 1902, before zine, The Four-Leaved Shamrock, discussed in
he moved to Dublin. It resumed on 20 Sep- Chapter 5.
tember 1902, now probably conducted by One Irish school magazine has already
Richard Archer (named in Kingstown Society, been discussed. The other two, of which brief
November 1903) until 24 December 1904. details may be found in Appendix I, were the
Between 1905 (4 February) and the end Rathmines School Magazine from the 1870s,
of 1906 the column was supplied by the Brit- the Wesley College Quarterly (which ran prob-
ish Chess Company and attributed to W. Mof- lem tourneys that were entered by people un-
fatt on 23 October 1905. It promoted their connected with the school). The Rathmines
correspondence tournaments. The fact that School Magazine was published at a Protestant
the run begins with Problem D17 suggests the secondary school in that south Dublin suburb
same column must have begun already in at and included chess articles by Thomas Long
least one English paper since 1903; see the (1827–1907) for about two years. The exam-
entry in Appendix I on the Gloucester Citizen. ples found were all in the British Library; no
The column did include some local content, copies of the magazine with chess content
more in 1905 than in 1906. On 6 January have been located in Ireland although the
1906 it was said that the column was “Con- Trinity College Dublin Library has some is-
ducted by the British Chess Co., with the as- sues that lack chess.
sistance of Philip H. Williams, author of The Wesley College is a Methodist second-
Modern Chess Problem.” The B.C.C. byline ary school for boys founded in south Dublin
was dropped when Chess Amateur began (in from July 1881, which since relocated to the
October 1906), but the contributors and style suburb of Dundrum and eventually became
to the end of 1906 are similar. coeducational. Chess began in the Quarterly
On 4 January 1907 Mrs. Rowland began mid–1888, with a problem tourney and games.
a new series which continued for ten years Gradually the magazine became one more for
though the content was often very similar to the pupils and the final issue with some chess
her Weekly Irish Times column, but with some was that for October–November 1897. The
local information when it was available. At the chess editors were R. F. Crook, R. T. White
end of April 1916 she gave up the column (named in the 1891 Rowland Directory), A. T.
 3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885 95

Bassett (from January 1892), and lastly Wil- position by retaining his B and prefers giving
liam E. Thrift (from August 1893), who at the up the exchange to abandoning the attack.
end of his life was provost of Trinity College 11. … e×d4 12. Ne2 Ne3 12. … Qh4 looks
Dublin from 1937 to 1942. The College has tempting, but White could reply 13. h3 and
some copies of the Quarterly but no complete reply to 13. … Ne3 by 14. Qe1 Still, Black
set is known. The University of Kansas Li- would have obtained an attack by the move
brary has the first 12 issues ( July 1881–August which might have proved formidable. 13. Qd2
1884). Cleveland has issues 3/ and 4/1888 N×f1 14. R×f1 [TH: “P. to QB4” was printed
and all four issues of 1889; scans have been as both Black’s 14th and 16th move but can-
donated to T.C.D. Library. The July 1890 and not have been played here because Steinitz
October 1891 issues are the only ones found would have replied B×b5†.] 14. … Qb6 15. f5
from those two years. f6 16. Qf4 c5 17. Qg4 c4 The capture of the
A less-known example is Our School B is tempting, but perhaps Black should rather
Times, which is detailed in Appendix VI be- have advanced his g-pawn, which cannot be
cause of the discoveries made (with local help) taken in reply without sacrificing White’s
about this rare column. That series was con- queen. [TH: Computers do not condemn the
ducted by Irish scholar William Henry Stan- text, but dislike Monck’s suggestion. They
ley Monck and it included the following game prefer 17. … 0–0 or 17. … Qb7.] 18. Q×g7
he played against the future World Champion Rf8 19. Nf4 c×d3?? This move loses the
during the latter’s brief visit to Dublin in 1881. game. Black would, I believe, have retained
This game is not to be found in Bachmann’s the advantage by 19. … Qb7 or 19. … Bb7 …
Schachmeister Steinitz or any other collection [TH: omitted here is Monck’s inaccurate
of his games.53 The score was garbled in the analysis of the latter move.] The present move
magazine from move 14, but a reconstruction leads to a very pretty finish. Black overlooked
has been managed. his opponent’s move 22. 20. Nd5 Qb7 20. …
Rf7, returning the rook to f8 if the queen
Wilhelm Steinitz–William Henry checks, is better but would probably not save
Stanley Monck the game. He would at all events have enabled
Simultaneous display, Dublin Chess Club, White to draw. [TH: The accuracy of the re-
14 January 1881 construction is proved because 20. … Rf7
Italian Game (C50) would otherwise be impossible. Also White’s
Our School Times, 13 June 1881, with next move would just lose the knight if 15. …
f6 had not been played.] 21. Nc7† Kd8
notes by Monck [TH is the present
22. Ne6† B×e6 Hardly an oversight, for 22. …
author, with additional notes].
Ke8 loses the game equally, e.g., 23. Q×f8†
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. 0–0 Kd7 24. Qd8† Kc6 25. N×d4† Kc5 26. Nb3†
Nf6 5. d4 B×d4 This is now considered the and wins the queen next move, unless 26. …
best way of taking the pawn. 6. N×d4 N×d4 Kb4 in which case White mates in two moves
7. f4 d6 8. Nc3 [TH: Monck has a note “Not with the queen. 23. Q×b7 Rc8 24. f×e6 Rc7
the usual move but good enough apparently.” 25. Qb8† 1–0.
It is not attached to any move in the score but
seems to belong here, because White almost Finally, there were two temperance jour-
invariably played 8. f×e5 now. 8. Nc3 was an nals in Dublin which ran chess columns. Both
experiment by Steinitz which he wisely did were published by the Dublin Total Abstinence
not repeat.] 8. … c6 9. Be3 b5 10. Bd3 Ng4 Society, a Protestant-run voluntary body,
11. B×d4 Herr Steinitz would have got a bad which, according to one of its publications,
96 British Chess Literature to 1914

was “established to promote the Social and City Club on Tuesday 18 December 1888.
Moral Well-being of the Community, without “There were as many as sixty present to meet
distinction of Creed or Politics.”54 In 1875 it him—a number much larger than has as yet
had founded a Coffee Palace in Townsend come together in a chess-room in Dublin.”
Street (near the River Liffey in the south inner Pollock took White in all games, winning 16,
city), modeled on many similar Coffee Palaces drawing two and losing three, one of them to
in England in the late 19th century. This one Cosgrave. The Irish champion, “Porterfield
ran various social alcohol-free social events Rynd” and Professor Mir Aulad Ali of T.C.D.
and the City Chess Club met there. This was respectively proposed and seconded a vote of
probably established around 1887 after the thanks.
failure of the St. Patrick’s Chess Club by one Some further copies of this column ap-
of Dublin’s leading freemasons, Dr. E. Mac- pear to exist in a scrapbook at Cleveland.
Dowel Cosgrave, along with Thomas Row- Whyld dates these as May to September 1888
land and other supporters. based on one of Murray’s lists; it is uncertain
This gave rise to a chess column in the how accurate these were. Gillam surmised
Coffee Palace and Temperance Journal which that only five articles appeared; there may
is mentioned in some club Directories edited have been more but most are lost. Peake,
by the Rowlands, who had resumed that an- though named as editor on a Murray list, is
nual publication after the first two numbers questionable; the fifth (1891) edition of the
Bland produced earlier in the decade. The Na- Rowlands’ Directory said T. Willson Fair was
tional Library of Scotland holds one complete editor. In 1893 the Dublin Total Abstinence
12-page issue of the Journal, bound in with Society replaced the Journal by a better mag-
some other pamphlets. The start of Elemen- azine called Common Sense, edited by Cos-
tary Lessons on Chess, by the Editor, suggests grave, which was published until 1901. This
this was the first article in the series; a prob- is not mentioned in Whyld, but it was pub-
lem editor was named ( J. M. Kenny, of Clons- lished until 1901 and some issues (at least Oc-
keagh, Dublin) but no problems were included. tober 1895 and October 1896) included chess
Since this was the first number of volume 12, articles by Monck. This author has been able
for January 1889, that suggests the journal had to see only a few copies in the National Library
begun in either 1878 (if volumes were annual) of Ireland, so these two columns are historical
or 1884 (if they were semi-annual). The other curiosities of little practical value unless more
article in that first column was a report on Dr. examples can be found.
W.H. K. Pollock’s simultaneous display at the
 4. Latter Years
of the Chess Column

This chapter (which occasionally strays ism that lay behind much provincial culture
into postwar periodicals) discusses the late was being made to look archaic in an age that
Victorian and Edwardian periods, when nu- turned increasingly to ‘professionals’ and ‘ex-
merically there was a large number of chess perts.’” Irish and Scottish papers were prob-
columns but their significance in general had ably less affected by these changes because of
somewhat changed. The historian Lord Asa the somewhat different cultures as well as the
Briggs identified the 1890s as the decade when greater distance involved making the timely
centripetal forces began to operate in English circulation of English newspapers in those
society, especially affecting journalism.1 Ad- countries impractical, although some people
vertising came to be organized more on a na- might have bought London papers a day late
tional basis and provincial papers were re- to keep in touch. Readers of chess columns,
stricted to what they could earn from their too, probably looked to London, especially
local markets. In the late 1880s and 1890s the The Field, for the best coverage, although
Linotype, which mechanized and greatly provincial columns still carried local news,
speeded up the typesetting process, probably and a few with expert editors still carried orig-
gave a competitive advantage to the London inal material in the early 1900s, notably the
newspaper proprietors who could afford the Norwich Mercury in the hands of problem ex-
capital investment. Another factor influencing pert John Keeble.2
the increasing dominance of London journal- The role of chess and indeed of other
ism may have been the increased speed of rail- sporting, intellectual and cultural activities in
road trains, enabling papers and journals pub- British society had also changed. Well before
lished in the capital to be brought more speedily 1914, hobbies of various kinds had established
to English provincial centers in time for early their place in the modern leisure world. The
morning sales, thus challenging the provincial early Victorian idea that chess could be “im-
daily papers in their own markets. For exam- proving” was now “old hat.” The institutions
ple, the Nottingham Daily Express ceased pub- that had sprung up in the 19th century to cater
lication in 1918, becoming a paper of a differ- to the young artisans and clerks, many newly
ent title and character. arrived in the big towns and cities, had now
Moreover, Briggs wrote, “The amateur- changed their nature or closed down. There

97
98 British Chess Literature to 1914

was so much more on offer now and by the display.” (In chess, sending in one’s best game
outbreak of war, chess had declined into being to a chess editor in the hope of publication
a hobby for the middle classes. As early as can be viewed as a form of display.)
1895 a new weekly publication called Hobbies McKibbin referred to the “individualism
was launched, catering to these young men, of hobbies” and also discussed their function.
with chess as one of its regular features from His observation that they provided “an ac-
1897 onwards. ceptable competitiveness to lives otherwise
Ross McKibbin, probably the only pre- circumscribed” is close to the arguments of
vious social historian to use the magazine sociologists Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning
Hobbies as a source, was interested chiefly in about sports (whether participatory, or en-
working-class men. Although he did not men- joyed vicariously as a spectator) providing ex-
tion chess (perhaps he had seen only the first citement in “unexciting societies.”4 He says
volumes), it is striking that much of his analy- another function was that “they permitted a
sis seems true of chess players too. He noted socially-acceptable level of intellectual activ-
that “most hobbies were intensely competi- ity…. The mastery of a craft-hobby or sport
tive”—even gardening—and in the breeding demanded accuracy, knowledge, discipline,
of dogs or birds “‘a man’s success at his hobby and skill.”5 Similarly, Helen Meller’s study of
was measured by public competition.”3 Com- Bristol says that by the First World War,
petition came to dominate and, he wrote, even “leisure was becoming more than an antidote
private hobbies “usually involved some public to work. For some it could even be the major
source of emotional and intellectual satisfac-
tion in their lives.”6
So it was the fate of chess (except among
its most dedicated and proficient exponents)
to decline into a hobby, and ultimately to cede
its premier position among indoor recreations
to the almost equally skillful bridge, a partner-
ship game more suited to an era when women
could readily participate and card games were
no longer stigmatized as gambling. Articles in
periodicals on “royal auction bridge” began
to appear, changing eventually by the early
1930s (in papers like The Referee and The
Field) into columns about the more highly
evolved contract bridge.

“Captain King” and the

Rise of Syndication
Nowadays many newspapers run chess
John Keeble of Norwich, chess editor, author,
columns which consist of little more than a
and problem specialist. (Photograph dated puzzle for solution, which these days is nor-
1935, courtesy Cleveland Public Library Spe- mally a game position rather than a composed
cial Collections). problem. Often the editors obtain these arti-
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 99

cles at low cost from a news features agency are of that type. The case of the British Chess
which circulates identical or near-identical ar- Company was also already mentioned in
ticles to several papers all over the world. This Chapter 3 in connection with the Gloucester
is an aspect of the history of chess literature Citizen and the Cork Weekly News. This was
which remains under-researched. Features on a relatively small scale, though there may
agencies have advantages for editors in that have been other titles, as yet unidentified, that
they can purchase weekly copy on generic took the same column.
subjects (such as crosswords, games, puzzles, The case of the as yet unidentified “Cap-
cookery recipes etc.) without much effort, tain King” is worth more detailed examina-
and very cheaply, because the writers are paid tion.7 This was definitely an agency-handled
by the agency a small sum for each separate column. Beginning with the case of the chess
newspaper or magazine that takes their con- column (not mentioned in Whyld) in the
tributions. Western Weekly Mercury, published in Ply-
It is of course the agency’s responsibility mouth: In the years 1903 and 1904, at least,
that they do not distribute the same copy to “Captain King” was bylined and the address
competing titles in the same geographical given for correspondence was Whitefriars
area, so agency copy is more useful for provin- House, Carmelite Street, London EC. The
cial than national titles, although what is a chess column of the Bridlington Free Press,
“national” article in one country might be sent published far away in north-east Yorkshire,
to papers in other countries. Alternatively, a had essentially the same content and the same
newspaper company owning titles in neigh- address for correspondence. It was notewor-
boring towns or suburbs that might have dis- thy that on 13 February 1904 the column re-
tinct circulation areas, could place identical ported the death of Miss Eliza Mary Thorold
features into each of those separate papers, who lived in Bridlington. In this case, either
knowing that nobody was likely to buy more the agency was asked to insert something for
than one of the titles. Whyld noted the case their readers about this well-known local
of the column by Gittins, appearing in both player, or more likely the local editor just
the Birmingham News and Handsworth Herald. added a paragraph to the agency copy. An-
In the case of Ethelbert Holt’s column for the other advantage of agency copy is that if edi-
Rossendale Free Press (which started in 1889), tors wished to take a break (perhaps because
it also appeared in other newspapers owned chess was not popular with readers in the
by the same proprietor: the Darwen News, summer), the series could be dropped for a
Ramsbottom Observer and the Haslingden while and not paid for, but resumed when the
Guardian, so the owner got value for money. autumn season began. Both the Plymouth
The idea that a chess column might be and Bridlington papers did this with “Captain
written in such a way that it could be repro- King.”
duced in several different journals, with little The correspondence address in those
or no modification, was unheard of until the two papers, and others, matches almost iden-
1880s as we saw in the last chapter, in the case tically an entry to be found in the Newspaper
of Bird’s column. The typewriter and early du- Press Directory for 1903 and several years be-
plicating machines in the late 19th and early fore and after. There was no other agency in
20th centuries removed the last technical ob- the Directory with a similar address. Their
stacles to producing multiple copies. Even in entry read:
the early 1900s, we know of only two syndi- ATHLETIC NEWS AGENCY (THE) supplies Spe-
cated chess columns whereas nowadays the cial Reports, Notes, Articles, and London Let-
vast majority of the few columns that survive ters on all kinds of Athletic and Cycling Sport,
100 British Chess Literature to 1914

each branch being under a Specialist’s supervi- ing had “Captain King” columns at one time
sion. Particular attention paid to golf. Notes sup- or other: Birmingham News (uncertain dates,
plied, and reports wired on the shortest notice.
possibly 1913 to September 1914), Cheshire
Dixon, J. E. & Co., 11, 15, 16 & 18 East Temple
Chambers, 2, Whitefriars street, EC.8 Daily Echo (1913), Stockport Advertiser (1913),
and the West Sussex Gazette & South of En-
Surely this agency was “Captain King’s” gland Advertiser (21 November 1901 to 12
employer or took his contributions on a free- February 1903).
lance basis. The use of a pseudonym even Apart from the Leicester paper, three
meant they could change the writer if they more can be added to that list. The Burnley
wished. A good clue to whether a column is Gazette (in the British Newspaper Archive)
syndicated is that the problems and games had “Chess and Draughts by Captain King”
will usually not be numbered, because this fa- running from 28 July 1906 to 18 February
cilitated starting the column in a newly sub- 1911. Also in the B.N.A. is the Morpeth Her-
scribed paper at any time, and it also facili- ald which ran Chess and Draughts “Edited by
tated breaks and helped to avoid errors. Captain King,” from 29 December 1911 to 4
“Captain King” usually just named the prob- April 1913. Then the Middlesex County Times
lem composer and wrote “solution to last had in 1911 (at least) chess by “Captain King”
week’s problem” without reference to a num- whereas Whyld only mentions a later (post-
ber. Originally contributed columns to non- war) column in that paper. This one was not
syndicated columns usually started with prob- discovered in the B.N.A. but instead by the
lem 1 and sometimes numbered the games kind of serendipity that all diligent historians
they published also. deserve to enjoy once in a while. While doing
The earliest “Captain King” column we research in the old Colindale library, another
have so far discovered was in the Leicester researcher at a table nearby, who noticed this
Chronicle in the fall of 1901, but there may author was looking for chess articles, spotted
have been earlier ones which the B.N.A. has this item in the Middlesex paper he was read-
not yet digitized. A chess column actually ing for an entirely different reason. This shows
began in the Leicester paper on 28 Septem- there could well be several other columns yet
ber, with no local content, and the article was to be discovered.
headed “Chess and Chess Players.” There was
no byline and correspondents were asked
to address the Chess Editor. After 26 Octo-
ber there was a three-week break and then
Hoffer at The Field
from 23 November they started “Chess and (and Elsewhere)
Draughts” edited by “Captain King” and giv-
ing the Whitefriars address in London. The The most extensive, and usually the high-
Leicester column ran (with gaps) until 13 De- est quality, chess column in Britain from the
cember 1902 and then from 3 October 1903 1870s up to 1923 was that in The Field. It is
to 6 February 1904 (without checkers). now time to examine its continuance in the
It appears that the clients of the Athletic post–Steinitz era. Steinitz’s replacement at
News Agency had two subscription series from The Field, the club-footed Hoffer, was a good
“Captain King” to offer to provincial newspa- chess reporter and organizer, but decidedly
per editors: either with or without the check- inferior as an analyst. The departure of Stein-
ers. Whyld drew no attention to this phenom- itz immediately meant the quality of annota-
enon, but in his name index on page 518, he tions fell, although perhaps to the majority of
also mentioned the following papers as hav- readers it made little difference. As a player,
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 101

Hoffer in fact largely avoided formal chess

contests, and never entered tournaments, so
it is hard to assess his playing strength. He
kept in regular practice—first at the Divan
and later at chess clubs—and was frequently
involved in consultation games with masters.
Hoffer also played in team matches. Notably,
in the 1895 cable match against Brooklyn,
he played board 2 against Jackson Whipps
Showalter, then U.S. champion, and drew his
game, which is an indication Hoffer could
play at near master strength. This is what Rose
had to say about him:
Leopold Hoffer, born at Budapest in 1842, re-
placed Steinitz, and for thirty-one years, from The last likeness of Leopold Hoffer, chess
1882 to 1913, kept the chess columns of the editor of The Field for thirty years from 1883
paper at their highest level. Hoffer took no part to 1913. This sketch, made a few weeks be-
in tournaments, limiting himself to journalism, fore his death by Dutch artist M. Nardus of
but there were few of importance that he failed Paris at the 1913 Scheveningen international
to attend. At chess congresses he was as familiar tournament, was printed in The Field, CXXII
a figure as the masters themselves. He had a keen (2 August 1913), page 270.
eye for combination and in annotating he could
see at a glance if either of the players had missed
less convenient for the Divan than the office’s
the opportunity of a brilliant sacrifice. Linguistic
ability enabled him to gather from players them- previous location, but not too far from the
selves the ideas they had in mind during the City of London Chess Club’s meeting rooms.
progress of a game and this lent vivid interest to Apparently the files of The Field must have
his notes. From time to time promoters of tour- contained more information about Hoffer
naments made use of Hoffer’s organizing ability than his predecessors, or else Rose heard an-
by entrusting him with the management of a
contest. ecdotes from somebody old enough to re-
member him. For example:
For the first 14 years that Hoffer con-
No one could wish for a more delightful com-
ducted The Field column, he was also editing panion, yet his best friends would have to admit
The Chess-Monthly. Moreover, he was active that he had a quick temper. It was not improved
as secretary and chief organizer of the British by the office boys of the pre–1914 era, who, when
Chess Association (until that failed after about at night he had set out his board in working out
1892) which, with the support of newspaper a problem, would move the pieces before he
came in next day.9
proprietor George Newnes (1851–1910), Hof-
fer was instrumental in founding. Hoffer also Gunsberg, in a biographical sketch for
wrote a beginners’ manual, simply entitled The Field after Hoffer’s death, recalled meet-
Chess, which was first published in 1892 and ing him for the first time at the 1867 Paris
went through numerous editions and impres- tournament when, he said, Hoffer was the
sions until it was mercifully killed off in the stronger player, but Gunsberg was only 12
1980s when books in algebraic notation took years old. During the 46 years since then,
over on booksellers’ shelves. Gunberg wrote, “I have watched his chess ca-
Rose says that in January 1891 The Field, reer, his ambition to rise, and his success, due
along with Hoffer, moved from the Strand to both to a domineering will power and to a
Breams Buildings, Chancery Lane, which was great capacity for taking pains.”10 Gunsberg
102 British Chess Literature to 1914

also mentioned that Hoffer, despite his lack On the Paulsen–Kolisch match at the St.
of ambition as a player, “had a vast amount of George’s Club of 1861, an engraving was re-
experience and knowledge of the game” and produced, belonging to the Oxford University
“a very abstemious mode of life.” He did not Chess Club. Of Potter and Steinitz, Hoffer
mention that in 1873 Hoffer had married an wrote:
English widow but she died three years later Mr. Potter was one of the strongest English play-
and they had no children. Afterwards he ap- ers, and the indirect originator of the modern
pears to have lived alone until a niece joined school as propounded by Steinitz. Potter had a
him from abroad in 1901.11 Until he obtained peculiar defensive style, so irregular that Steinitz
and Zukertort used to say derisively, if you place
sufficient income from chess writing, Hoffer,
the black pieces into a hat and shake them out
who was an accomplished linguist, probably over the board, you have exactly Potter’s style of
worked as a teacher of languages, as stated as defence. Strange to say, Steinitz himself adopted
his occupation on his marriage certificate. that style later on—in a scientific and modified
One of the anecdotes told in The Field form—and called it the Modern School…. By
shortly after Hoffer’s death was that one night temperament, Steinitz really was a Romanticist,
as testified by his match games against Anders-
he had worked late to complete his column sen, whom he defeated, as well as Bird, Black-
but when he went out about midnight to post burne, Zukertort, and others, by whether con-
it to the office, he found the doors barred and sciously or unconsciously, feeling that a more
could not get out. His landlady and servants cautious method was necessary with the rapid
lived next door and did not hear him ring. So progress of the game, he changed his style, but
after all he only remained un romantique détruit.
he stood at a window overlooking the street
until, about 1 a.m., a postman came to empty This article includes memories of some
a nearby mailbox. With some difficulty Hoffer tournaments, including Paris 1867 where
managed to attract his attention and hand Hoffer said he was “the acting secretary.”
over the letter. It may seem remarkable that Winawer’s name was unknown previously.
in those days mail would be collected in the Arnous de Rivière was “chiefly instrumental
middle of the night and delivered the same in bringing about the tournament, and knew
day. how to enrol influential high personages to
As one of the chief chess organizers and favour the project.” At Baden-Baden 1870,
journalists in London in this period, Hoffer al- “Blackburne and Steinitz and De Vere had
ways had very good information about what some trouble on their home journey, the rail-
was happening in the chess world. Hoffer (un- way being fully occupied with the transport
like Gunsberg) was not constrained by family of troops. As a matter of fact, the boom of the
commitments and was able to attend many artillery could be heard at Baden-Baden dur-
chess events and organizational meetings on a ing the progress of the tournament.” Jules
regular basis, as well as having excellent con- Grévy (later president of the French Third
tacts abroad. Hoffer has left detailed reports Republic) was one of the patrons of the Paris
of many major chess tournaments that took 1878 tournament. London 1872 was:
place during his decades in charge of The Field … a small tournament, chiefly notable for the
and accounts of numerous minor events. He advent of Zukertort. He made a name in Ger-
effectively summed up much of his career in a many both as a practical player and writer on the
special illustrated article (on 31 December game, was invited by the St. George’s Chess Club
(or, as Steinitz said out of spite, by Lowenthal,
1910) spanning five pages entitled “Progress of
who was the secretary of the club) to make the
the game from the early days to the present little tournament more attractive, as otherwise
time.” This included some personal recollec- the issue would have been a foregone conclusion
tions and some good pictures. for Steinitz; but Zukertort could only tie with
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 103

De Vere and the Rev. G. A. MacDonnell, Steinitz reviewing Whyld’s Columns for B.C.M.13 Read-
being first and Blackburne second. ers can find the articles from 1896 free online
at www.chessarch.com/excavations/excava
The Field, as mentioned, has not been
tions.php/. Some earlier news reports in this
digitized but is widely available in major li-
paper are digitized in the American newspa-
braries, either on microfilm or the original
perarchive.com.
bound volumes. Hoffer’s later columns (1900
At least by the end of 1902, the Budget
onwards) are not included in a Cleveland
column seems to have had the same editor as
scrapbook but Moravian Chess has published
the Westminster Gazette and it is likely Hoffer
reprint volumes covering the years 1900 to
was editor of both. Sometimes the articles
1909, and perhaps more will follow. Until
each week in the two papers may have been
Hoffer’s death in 1913, and indeed under its
the same, but in 1904 at least, the Budget
next editor also, The Field was an excellent
reprinted the column that had first appeared
source of information about all chess activi-
in its stablemate the previous Saturday. The
ties, not only in Britain but also on the con- last issue of the Westminster Budget was pub-
tinent, and the column continued with a suc- lished on 4 November 1904. Its chess column
cession of editors until the late 20th century. had problem number 458: one less than the
Hoffer’s journalism was not confined to number of the Westminster Gazette problem
The Field. Briefly, in 1893, he had a column in next day. Although the Budget closed in No-
another weekly Black and White, which spon- vember 1904, the publisher began a new
sored a small master tournament won by weekly paper entitled the Saturday Westmin-
Blackburne.12 Especially after the close of The ster Gazette, which from at least 1913, and per-
Chess-Monthly, he acquired further columns. haps much earlier, started to run Hoffer’s chess
Whyld mentions that the Weekly Dispatch column also. The further history of this col-
ended on his death in 1913; Gillam says he umn is discussed below in the section on the
saw nothing before 1908 so this needs more war years and their aftermath.
investigation. Hoffer definitely had important
columns in the Westminster Gazette and The
Standard, and other titles associated with Muddle Over The Standard
those two.
According to Whyld, the column in the There has been a real muddle over Hof-
Westminster Gazette (which was a daily news- fer’s second most important column, which
paper) began in 1899 but the impression one was in the London daily paper The Standard.
gets is that this was a continuation of the col- The publication history is complicated, so
umn which had begun in the Westminster that is examined before a discussion of the
Budget on 1 May 1896. This was a London chess column. There are two important facts
weekly illustrated magazine published on Fri- that the chess historian needs to be clear about.
days from 1893 to 4 November 1904; the B.L. Firstly, the information in connection with
catalog names a John Marshall as publisher the Evening Standard on page 137 of Whyld’s
but Sir George Newnes, a keen chess player, Columns actually relates to The Standard. Sec-
was involved for much or all of this time (at ondly, a similar confusion between the papers
least as financial backer). Newnes’s biogra- has been made by the British Newspaper
pher Hulda Friederichs was editor from 1896 Archive, whose digitized pages designated the
as she mentions in her book. The existence “London Evening Standard” are actually also
of this column, overlooked by Whyld, was The Standard. From 1857 the two titles were
mentioned by the late Chris Ravilious when distinct newspapers (although under the same
104 British Chess Literature to 1914

ownership until 1915) and the British Library times contributed news reports to the evening
online catalog distinguishes between them paper. Eventually, as will be explained further
correctly. If in doubt when reading a digitized on, a change of proprietor led to his either re-
chess article found through the search engine, signing or being replaced.
turn to page 1 and look at the title on the mast- Writing about the start of this column,
head. which is now established to have been in The
The Encyclopædia of the British Press tells Standard not the Evening Standard, Whyld
us that The Standard was “launched on May said that chess reports began on 15 March
21, 1827, as an afternoon paper by Charles 1892 (“3 or 4 a week”) until the end of May
Baldwin … [and] ceased publication as a morn- 1892. There were also games (sometimes two
ing paper on March 17, 1916.”14 The B.L. cat- in the same article). Then problems were added
alog appears to show that it continued until (mostly on Mondays) from 9 May 1892—
the end of 1920, but these were just single- which was a special problem contributed by
page “registration issues” (of small book size, prize-winning composer Conrad Bayer but
each with a few snippets of news), the pur- not numbered. It appears that Hoffer had al-
pose of which was merely to retain copyright ready sometimes reported on chess events for
to the title in case the owner wished to sell or the Standard papers for several years prior to
relaunch it. the column starting, at least about chess events
The publication history of the London taking place in London, of which he was often
Evening Standard is even more complicated. a chief organizer. An example is the 1887 Brit-
Both sources agree that The Standard began ish Chess Association Congress played be-
as an evening newspaper on 21 May 1827 and tween 30 November and 8 December 1887.
continued as such up to 27 June 1857; from More than once the Evening Standard included
29 June 1857 it became a morning newspaper. games in its late edition that had actually been
The Encyclopædia entry on this newspaper tell played the same day, the copy being filed (ei-
us that when James Johnstone (1815–1878) ther by telephone or a human “runner”) be-
became owner of the Standard in 1857 he con- fore play had finished in most of the games.*
verted it into a morning paper “which became During most of the 1890s and the early 1900s,
a direct threat to The Times.” Then on 11 June national and metropolitan chess news was
1859, Johnstone launched a sister paper, the well reported by a combination of The Stan-
Evening Standard, which has since absorbed dard column, that conducted by Antony Guest
nine other titles in its long history. in the Daily News and Samuel Tinsley’s cov-
Johnstone’s family continued to own the erage in The Times group of newspapers. Then
papers after his death and the two papers ran after 1901 the Daily News column petered out
in tandem for many years, with the same ed- and a few years later the Standard column also
itor as before (William Mudford) up to 1899. began to fail.
In 1892 Mudford introduced chess articles Whyld said the column continued until
and it appears Whyld’s attribution of the col- January 1905 but the digitization has shown
umn to Hoffer is correct, although there was that reports and problems continued for four
no byline. For more than a decade, Hoffer more months, albeit with some weeks missed.
wrote regularly for The Standard but also some- The last problem published was number 671

*Harding, Blackburne, page 257, expressed some doubt about whether the score of Mortimer–Blackburne (game
557 in that book) had really been published in the Evening Standard on the day it was played, 5 December 1887,
but the British Library microfilm shows that this was indeed the case. Probably final editions were printed much
later in the day than in more recent times, and it was usually the final edition of any newspaper that survived in
the files that have been preserved.
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 105

on 15 May 1905 when the article also included ning paper began a series of “chess cameos”
two games from Charousek’s manuscript col- (high-quality problems) which ran on Satur-
lection. That is known to have been in Hof- days. Readers of the morning paper were re-
fer’s possession, as he often published games minded of the existence of the series by the
from it in The Field, so this is supporting ev- following announcement which appeared in
idence for his having been the chess editor. The Standard on both the 23rd and 29th of
Also in the column on 15 May there was a 29 May 1907:
short paragraph reporting the death (on 9 CHESS PROBLEMS. A series of rare chess prob-
May) of the problemist and army doctor Lt. lems, specially selected by a well-known expert,
Col. Charles White (1840–1905), who was is appearing in the Evening Standard and St.
known to the chess world as “C. W. of Sun- James’s Gazette. In this way a collection of chess
bury.” It may be that White had been manag- “cameos” differing from anything which has been
published before is offered to those who are in-
ing the problems for Hoffer; at any rate,
terested in the game.
White’s passing was the proprietor’s cue to
stop chess in the morning paper and transfer There can be no doubt that Pearson père
it to the evening paper, with a new editor. was responsible, because on 11 October 1907
Newspaper magnate C. Arthur Pearson The Standard carried a review of The Twenti-
(1866–1921), who had made his fortune with eth Century Standard Puzzle Book by A. C.
the Daily Express (launched in 1900), was the Pearson which stated that the book included
eldest son of a retired clergyman and chess “chess cameos.” We have verified that the eve-
writer. The Rev. Arthur Cyril Pearson (1838– ning paper continued to publish its weekly
1916) had been the author of a book One Hun- “chess cameos” until at least the end of 1909.
dred Chess Problems, which was first published This arrangement probably came to an end in
in 1879 and went through three editions up April 1910 when Arthur Pearson, his eyesight
to 1883. Now it seems he wanted to conduct failing, sold the Standard titles to Davison
a chess column. Pearson, Jr., had bought both Dalziel, M.P.15 Later, during the period of
the Standard titles from the Johnstone family Dalziel’s proprietorship, there was a chess col-
in 1904. He decided to merge the evening umn from January 1912 to 1914, which Whyld
paper with the St. James’s Gazette, which he attributed to Gunsberg. A sample was found
already owned, so it was relaunched on 14 on a microfilm for October 1913: a column
March 1905 as the Evening Standard and St. on Saturdays, without a byline but headed
James’s Gazette. On 27 May 1905 there was an “The Chess World,” having news and anno-
announcement in the Standard that “chess tated game but no problem or diagram.
cameos,” selected from “the best work of ac- Dalziel, in turn, sold the Evening Stan-
knowledged experts” would appear every Sat- dard to Edward Hulton, Jr., which the article
urday, from that day, in the Evening Standard on Dalziel in the Encyclopædia shows occurred
and St. James’s Gazette. A few of these “cameos,” in 1915, and the following year the editor of
the positions described without diagrams, that work claims Dalziel closed down the
had been introduced to the column earlier in Standard. In 1916 Hulton reverted the title of
the year. Now it was explained that they were the newspaper he had bought to simply Eve-
termed “cameos” in order “to distinguish them ning Standard and in 1923 it was taken over
from ordinary Chess problems, which, how- by Beaverbrook. Further changes were to fol-
ever good they may be, are often not of the low later. In the 1950s and 1960s it still faced
first quality.” The Star and the Evening News as competitors,
So on 27 May 1905, soon after the col- and they appeared six days a week. Since 1980
umn in the morning Standard ended, the eve- the Evening Standard has been London’s only
106 British Chess Literature to 1914

evening paper, though much reduced. Read-

ers in a position to research the Evening Stan-
dard at the British Library in St. Pancras should
note that it is available on microfilm in open
access cabinets in the Newsroom at reference
MLD24.
The Evening Standard included chess
again from 1929 according to Whyld. In 2009
it switched to being a freesheet, published on
Mondays to Fridays only, and the chess col-
umn in the print edition ended on 30 July
2010. This meant that Leonard Barden’s run
as the longest daily chess column in print
ended at 54 years and 1 month, having over-
taken the previous record set by George Kol-
tanowski for the San Francisco Daily Chronicle,
which lasted 51 years and 9 months until his
death.16 Following representations by chess
players, Barden’s column was continued in the
online edition of the Evening Standard where
it was still running, five days a week, in the Amos Burn in later life; this was the photo-
summer of 2017. graph that accompanied his obituary in The
Field.

Later Years at The Field As Forster’s biography shows, the vet-

eran master Burn was eminently qualified for
Hoffer suffered from some serious “in- the role, in that (in between periods of inac-
ternal complaint” in August 1913 and he wrote tivity when his businesses were going well)
to the editor of The Field from a nursing home, he had proved himself a genuine master
saying doctors told him he needed an opera- player, culminating in his victory in the 1898
tion. It was unsuccessful and Hoffer died on Cologne international tournament. Burn had
Thursday 28 August. The Westminster Gazette some previous experience of conducting a
confirmed this and also said he had been their weekly chess column, in both the Liverpool
chess editor from the commencement of pub- Weekly Albion (in the 1870s) and currently in
lication. His two remaining columns were the Liverpool Courier (from 1910).
continued, but with different editors. On page Following the 1912 Breslau international
141 of Rose’s history of The Field, he tells how tournament, Burn retired from playing all but
Amos Burn came to be appointed as Hoffer’s minor events in England. By then, he was sep-
successor. arated from his wife and living as a bachelor.
In the 1911 census he was recorded in Liver-
The coming of Burn had its amusing side. The pool, but he moved to London soon after
letter he wrote applying for the post did not in- being appointed to The Field. A friend wrote:
dicate modesty, so much so that a rather trucu-
“He was to be seen nearly every day at the
lent individual was expected to arrive. To the
surprise of the assistant-editor the new member City of London Chess Club. For his advice,
turned out to be a bearded man of benign ap- always readily given, the members of that club
pearance and the mildest demeanour. owe him a deep debt of gratitude.”17
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 107

Once Burn took over the Field column, the price of a single number of The Field dou-
he followed Hoffer’s policy of being a diligent bled from sixpence to one shilling because of
chronicler of all events in the chess world. newsprint costs.
Chess continued in The Field during the war The first British international tourna-
years 1914–1918. The nature of the paper was ment following the hostilities was held in
such that it did not fill pages with war news Hastings in 1919, including Capablanca. Burn
but existed to remind readers of normality informed a correspondent that Dr. Lasker
and fill their leisure hours. The absence of would not be welcome in England because of
major matches and tournaments was a prob- the “gratuitous insults to England and En -
lem, however. On 1 April 1916 Burn reported glishmen” that he made during the war.19 On
the death of Fenton who, he noted, had helped 17 January 1920 came the first mention of
Hoffer with the column.18 Burn said he was eight-year-old Rzeschewski [sic]; there was
only about second class as a player, and yet a more about the prodigy on 24 April. Later
professional. that year he reported on Reshevsky in Lon-
Burn continued through the war years don. It is noteworthy that on 30 September
to report at length and conscientiously on 1922, the Field ran a “70th birthday” issue al-
whatever significant chess events he could though really its 70th birthday was in January
find, though naturally he was largely con- 1923. This special number included Burn’s
cerned with such activity as continued in recollections of British chess, particularly in
London. In particular, both the City of Lon- London, during his career.20 Burn kept work-
don Chess Club (to which Burn belonged) ing until felled by a stroke on the evening of
and the Hampstead Chess Club continued 24 November 1925, and he died next day. His
their activities which provided Burn with passing marked the end of the Victorian gen-
news and games. He also included such news eration of English masters who had been ac-
as he was able to obtain about chess in Europe tive in the formative decade of the 1870s. In
(even in Germany) as well as in America and his obituary notice for The Observer on 29
elsewhere. November, Brian Harley remarked that Burn
Burn’s column shows that there was a was not as outgoing as Blackburne, and so not
surprising amount of chess in the war years. as popular with the public, but he was “very
Another factor was that chess was an activity likeable when you knew him. His column in
available to wounded soldiers who had been The Field was a classic in its way, but no jests
repatriated. On 23 February 1918 The Field were allowed to creep in.”
reported on a match played the previous Sat- The obituary in the Manchester Guardian
urday between a team from the City of Lon- the day after his death said that Burn “ap-
don and the Canadian Convalescent Chess peared to be in usual good health” at home in
Club from a camp in Surrey, with Burn mak- London, until he had a stroke “while chatting
ing a speech and Blackburne adjudicating un- with his friend and fellow- member of the
finished games. The Canadians lost 13–1, but committee of the City of London Chess Club,
their top board, Driver W. W. Robson of Mr. G. E. Smith.” The man named in that sen-
Toronto, defeated the City co-champion G. E. tence was surely the same George Ernest
Wainwright. Smith who was to succeed Burn as columnist
There was correspondence chess, and of The Field. Incidentally the obituary perhaps
news of chess in Australia, occasionally else- explains why The Field now appointed, for the
where, throughout the war. English clubs with one and only time, a man to that post who
membership mostly over military conscription was not a player of any distinction. It was al-
age kept going. At the end of 1917, however, most certainly Smith, therefore, who wrote
108 British Chess Literature to 1914

the obituary in The Field from which we quote War. His facility with languages gave him an
the following extracts: advantage that he shared with Steinitz and
Hoffer before him. Du Mont finally became
To the Field [Burn] brought his vast knowledge
of the game and a conscientious and untiring de- incapacitated, probably in September 1955;
votion to duty. His annotations in this column he died in a nursing home on 7 April 1956.
were known and admired all over the world, and His obituary in the Diary column of The Field
were frequently quoted in foreign chess maga- on 19 April said he had been chess editor for
zines. Few of those who studied his notes could, ten years, succeeding Smith, who was not by-
however, know of the careful and untiring work
lined (at least in the 1920s and up to 1936).21
he devoted to them. Frequently he would sit up
all the night, engaged in the analysis of a difficult Leonard Barden and Du Mont had a joint
position…. Mr. Burn was of an exceedingly byline on the column from early 1955 up to
modest and retiring disposition, but those who 12 April 1956; thereafter it was just Barden.
were privileged to know him intimately found He informed us: “I began The Field in early
him a most delightful companion, quietly hu- September 1955 … when Du Mont had his
morous and possessed of a very rich fund of
kindness and affection. stroke, but I don’t have a record or a firm
memory of the final Field column. It eventu-
Smith at first conducted the column ally … was terminated … with the payoff for
along the same lines but, unlike Burn, he did the decades of work being a bottle of whisky.”22
not receive a byline. Whereas one of Burn’s Whyld’s Chess Columns gives 1994 as the final
last articles (on 19 November 1925) filled a year for the chess column in The Field, by
page, chess would be reduced over the follow- which time it had mutated into a glossy monthly
ing few years to about a third of a page, which magazine. This author found that the Novem-
it had to share with (usually) bridge and bil- ber 1994 article was its last appearance and it
liards, the card game having the greatest space rather looks as if Barden wrote the column’s
of the three. Perhaps it now suited the propri- own obituary by reporting that “Chess will
etors to leave the management of a reduced never be the same again after the latest high-
column in the hands of a relative nonentity speed computer, Pentium Genius, knocked
who could be relied upon to file a shorter col- Garry Kasparov out of the Intel Grand Prix at
umn (a problem, a game, and brief news items) the Sedgwick Centre in the City of London.”
without asking for more. Rose’s history of The So after an almost unbroken run of 132 years
Field ignored Smith, and Whyld says his pe- of chess in The Field, that paper never was the
riod in charge ended “c. 1935” but Smith pos- same again.
sibly conducted the column until 1946. In
April that year The Field suspended its bridge
and chess columns for a time, apparently be- Some Complicated Columns
cause of paper shortages, but both resumed
on 14 September. In the meantime Smith had This section provides some information
died (on 17 July 1946). about certain columns which may present
Julius Maurice du Mont (1881–1956), problems, in the hope of saving future re-
who at that time was editor of the British Chess searchers time and effort. One of those columns
Magazine, became the penultimate chess ed- it would be very helpful to have fully digitized
itor of The Field and he was first given a byline is the Hereford Times, running from the late
on 26 October 1946. Paris-born Du Mont had 1880s to 1910, with four different editors. The
been a piano teacher with chess as his sideline last two of these were minor London-based
but appears to have increasingly devoted him- chess professionals, Francis Joseph Lee and
self to chess journalism after the First World later Louis van Vliet. So far only the articles
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 109

from the year 1899 are available in the B.N.A. says). According to Whyld, Louis van Vliet
Most other years usually have to be read in took over in July 1893 and continued in that
the original broadsheet hard copy. Whyld says position until 1910. A check in the B.N.A. for
that the column had the “same matter as the 1899 showed the column by Van Vliet ran
Perthshire Advertiser” from 1890 to 1893 when throughout that year. For example, problems
Lee was in charge, but no precise dates are 835 and 836, and games 970 and 971, were
known for the Scottish version. published on 30 December 1899. The
The Hereford Times was a weekly paper, columns of the 1900s, in particular, should
edited during this period by Charles Anthony, well repay study.
who was probably also the proprietor, as was A column, or columns, often referred to
the case with many provincial papers. He was by contemporary editors, which has proved
a brother of Edwyn Anthony who had been, peculiarly difficult to trace is that which was
for the summer term of 1870, the second pres- commonly referred to as the Hackney Mer-
ident of the Oxford University Chess Club. cury, published in a north-east inner London
At that time the club, which had been re- borough. The editor of this column is usually
formed in 1869, changed its officers every said to have been Canadian-born Dr. Joseph
term, and the first presidents were older men William Hunt (1851–1920), perhaps in asso-
who had been students at the university sev- ciation with colleagues. The local newspaper
eral years previously.23 in question was originally entitled the Hack-
The chess column began some time in ney Mercury and North London Herald, and it
1885. Contra Whyld, page 191, there was no began publication on 4 July 1885. Searches at
sign of any chess column in 1881; this author the (mostly) American newspaperarchive.com
found only a report in the 8 January issue of show that a chess column began in the first
Steinitz’s visit to Hereford earlier that week. issue, which appeared to peter out in the sum-
A search up to April saw no diagrams. A spot mer of 1886, the last seen being 31 July 1886
check in 1887 found chess on page 3 “edited (problem 63, games 80 and 81). The focus of
by the author of The Book of Chess etc.” This the content was mostly on the North London
confirms that the editor was G. H. Selkirk, as Chess Club, and the very first game was one
stated by Whyld; Selkirk’s book of that name in which Dr. Hunt gave odds of pawn and
was published in 1868. The statement that the move. The editor was anonymous, but was
column began in 1885 is derived from the possibly the C. E. Biaggini who is unknown
problem numbering in the volume examined, to us but was named in Whyld.
on the basis of one column per week. That The British Library catalog shows that
Book of Chess byline last appeared on 10 De- the title of the newspaper changed to The
cember 1887. On 17 and 31 December there Mercury with issue number 117 on 24 Septem-
was only some chess news but no problem, ber 1887 (and so remained until 1905), per-
and no chess at all on 24 December. haps with a view to competing with other
Chess resumed on a regular basis from local papers with an overlapping catchment
7 January 1888 but without a byline. Then on area and hoping to attract readers from neigh-
13 September 1890, when Edwyn Anthony boring metropolitan districts. Despite the of-
announced he was giving up the column he ficial name change, it seems to have been gen-
had been conducting for nearly three years, erally referred to as the Hackney Mercury
he thus retrospectively confirmed that he was nonetheless. A second column, which was
the second chess editor. He was succeeded by definitely by Dr. Hunt (as confirmed by ref-
Lee, who was bylined from 20 September erences to it in other publications) ran from
1890 (i.e., he started a week later than Whyld 3 January 1891 to 21 April 1894, as can be
110 British Chess Literature to 1914

seen from the (as yet incomplete) digitization this newspaper except for those few issues in
at newspaperarchive.com. 1889. He also named a coeditor, E. Dale.
Any historian trying to find this news- Shoreditch is adjacent to Hackney, and
paper at the British Library may be disap- in fact the modern London Borough of Hack-
pointed. The volumes for 1891 through 1894 ney comprises three old metropolitan bor-
have not yet been microfilmed or digitized by oughs: Hackney, Shoreditch, and Stoke New-
the B.N.A. If one tries to order the bound vol- ington. Clearly a newspaper in any of these
umes, the message “Restricted—Item is too was competing with those in the adjacent bor-
fragile” will probably come up. This would oughs and also probably with papers in Isling-
not matter if the newspaperarchive digitization ton and other districts close by. In 1889 the
were complete, but much of 1891 and some full title of the paper that had started the col-
later weeks seemed to be missing. Moreover umn was the Shoreditch Citizen and Hackney
both the search engine and the viewing soft- & Bethnal Green Advertiser; it may have been
ware on that web service is far inferior to the something different previously. The British
British Newspaper Archive so we must hope Library holdings begin with number 213 of
that the situation improves in future. One op- 13 July 1889, which indicates the paper had
tion for persistent researchers with good cre- been running since about June 1885, at least
dentials might be to go to the British Library’s two years before chess content began.
reading room at Boston Spa in Yorkshire and From 17 August 1889 the cumbersome
try to negotiate to see restricted items. As the title was changed to the East Central Times,
volumes then would not need to be trans- bound in the same B.L. volume, with the col-
ported to London, this approach might con- umn continuing to the end of 1890 and after-
ceivably succeed. It is likely that items now wards transferring to the Mercury. Again the
deemed too fragile will not be made available British Library says that its volume of the East
until the B.N.A. gets around to scanning Central Times for 1890 is too fragile to issue
them. to readers. Here at least the American digiti-
The difficulties described above are by zation does help. An editorial in the Mercury
no means the end of the problems with Dr. of 27 December 1890 mentioned “the in-
Hunt’s column. Readers of Whyld’s bibliog- creasing interest which has taken place in the
raphy may have noted references to two other study of chess in this neighbourhood,” nam-
titles in which the column previously ap- ing eight clubs including the North London
peared. These, also, are almost totally unavail- and the Shoreditch. Then it announced “we
able and they are not in the American digiti- have made arrangements by which the chess
zation either. The profile of Dr. Hunt in The column hitherto conducted by our contem-
Chess Bouquet dates the start of his career as porary, the East Central Times, will be trans-
a chess editor to 1887 in the Shoreditch Citi- ferred to our pages, commencing with our
zen, afterwards named the East Central Times. next issue, January 3rd.”
The British Library has just one bound vol- It was also possible to discover when the
ume from 1889 containing only a few issues column ended: 21 April 1894 was the last date
of these two titles, which is extremely frus- it appeared. That issue printed the results of
trating (because they show it was an excellent competitions, and announced that “owing to
column at this period) but at least they pro- circumstances over which we have no control,
vide some clues to what was going on. Whyld this column will come to a conclusion in [sic]
gives the start date of the column as 29 Octo- our next issue.” The Chess Bouquet says that
ber 1887, which could not be verified because when his Hackney column was stopped, Dr.
of an inability to trace any archive that holds Hunt “determined to relinquish editorial work
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 111

altogether, but he is now hard at work again, cially contributed)” began on 31 July 1890
in his favourite pursuit for leisure hours, in and usually appeared on Thursdays, but not
the columns of Brighton Society.” Whyld said every week; there was local news but no chess
that column in the Brighton magazine had problem. Gradually games were introduced
begun on 2 September 1893 and Dr. Hunt and became more frequent. From 22 April
took it over from 15 December 1894; he con- 1897 the byline “QUEEN’S KNIGHT” ap-
ducted it for just over seven years.24 Accord- peared at the foot of the text. Later that year
ing to The Chess Bouquet, although he was not some problems were set, but by stating the
a composer of problems himself, Hunt “is the positions of the pieces; there were still no di-
author of a variety of highly meritorious and agrams! The first diagram found by this au-
instructive end-games.” Moreover: thor was printed on 2 March 1899. Actually
the final date of the column was 1 March 1906
No man knows better than Dr. Hunt how to ren-
der a chess-column attractive with the chess
with an announcement that, with the same
community. He ascribes his success in this mat- conductor, it would transfer the next week to
ter to the careful attention he bestows upon the Western Weekly News. In fact that title was
problems. He has initiated many a tourney, al- almost immediately changed to the Illustrated
ways with acceptable prizes for composers as Western Weekly News. The B.L. catalog shows
well as solvers; accordingly his competitions are
that from 10 March 1906 (until early March
ever successful and productive of some of the
finest specimens of the problem art. 1921) the actual title of the newspaper was
the Illustrated Western Weekly News and it then
Since the story of West of England col- again became the Western Weekly News (to
umns, especially those published in Plymouth October 1939). It is unknown whether there
after 1900, seems to be very complicated, was chess in the paper at any time during this
with some unclear details, some of these are later period. Between the transfer of the col-
also discussed at length in this chapter, in umn in 1906 and 1921, some news items
order that the listings in the Appendix may about chess appeared in the Western Morning
be simplified. Apart from the syndicated col- News but no column.
umn in the Western Weekly Mercury, this au- The Devon and Exeter Daily Gazette
thor found the following, presented roughly was published in Exeter and ran a column that
in chronological order. lasted more than thirty years, probably by the
The earliest major newspaper column to same contributor—although, since the byline
start in the West of England region was in the was a pseudonym, it could have been used by
Western Morning News, published in Ply- successive editors. There were some confus-
mouth. Whyld, page 494, said it had chess ing title changes. Prior to March 1903 the
from 1891 to March 1906. The pseudony- word “Daily” was not in the title and the
mous chess editor was Carslake Winter Wood B.N.A. has digitized this newspaper as the Ex-
(1849–1924), who had earlier conducted a eter and Plymouth Gazette, a title not used
column in The Torquay Directory while he lived after 1885. B.N.A. policies with merged and
in that town. He was the younger brother of changed titles are sometimes baffling, but
E. J. Winter Wood and of problem composer complaints to them about such inconsisten-
Mrs. Baird. In the section about Carslake cies always seem to meet with an insistence
Winter Wood in The Chess Bouquet, it says, that their way of doing things is right. It evi-
“His weekly Chess Notes in the Western Morn- dently suits their way of working to use a
ing News are racy, and the authority in the generic title. The Devon and Exeter Daily
West of England.” Gazette became the full title during April
Our finding is that “Chess Notes (spe- 1903.
112 British Chess Literature to 1914

Whyld stated that there was chess in this ther series of games, grouped by openings,
paper from October 1898 to December 1908 followed in 1894 and 1896.25 He repeated this
“& later.” Articles were usually published on exercise with three volumes of Classified Chess
Tuesdays and bylined “King’s Rook,” the nom- Games in 1904 and 1905, some of which were
de-plume of a local player. Although not ap- reprinted in the Mercury.26 Also in the Mer-
pearing every week, he was still contributing cury, Blanshard included, for example, on 20
his articles throughout the First World War. January 1905 a game from the Aftonbladet
From 1920 and up to the end on 25 February postal tournament in Sweden, on 10 February
1932 the column was moved to Thursdays but a game from the Offiziers Schachzeitung (a
still conducted by “King’s Rook.” There were German chess magazine for military officers),
occasional news reports after that. and on 24 March a game from the German
The important column in the Western Wochenschach. On 7 April it was noted that
Daily Mercury (also a Plymouth newspaper) the Mercury chess columnist subscribed to
was usually published on Fridays before World four different Bohemian columns. English
War I, but later probably on Saturdays as postal games were also included. Later that
Whyld states. So far only 1912 has been digi- year the first of two correspondence matches
tized by the B.N.A. but there is a good chance against Bohemia was started, in association
this may have been greatly extended by the with Narodny Listu.27
time the present book is published, which The Western Daily Mercury column ap-
would be a great boon to chess researchers. pears to have had a wide following among
Several years in hard copy were sampled in chess players outside the south-west of En-
the old British Newspaper Library, but with gland. At the head of the chess column it was
four cumbersome volumes per year it was not regularly stated that each week’s issue of the
possible to examine everything. paper containing the chess column could be
The publishing history and the chess ed- sent by post. The price quoted in 1912 was 1s.
iting is complicated. Whyld, page 493, says 6d. per quarter to addresses in the U.K., or 2s
the first editors (from August 1902) were 6d per quarter if sent overseas. In 1906 chess
Charles Thomas Blanshard (1852–1924) and in the Mercury was explicitly stated to be by
P. J. Dancer. Our old notes on Irish sources Blanshard, assisted by W. Mears (solving
mention that there was a column in 1901– editor) and, for West Country news, “King’s
1902 edited by Philip Dancer, who arranged Rook” of the Devon and Exeter Gazette. In
a correspondence match with Mrs. Rowland. 1907 the first match with Bohemia ended and
In 1903, chess in the Daily was generally on a second one was started. On 20 November
page 4 and not bylined. It contained local and 1908 the byline changed to W. Mears with
international news whereas the sister paper, “foreign news by C. T. Blanshard.” The fol-
the Western Weekly Mercury had the syndi- lowing week it was added that “King’s Rook”
cated column discussed in Chapter 3. was still a contributor. From this date, the for-
From 1905, chess in the Western Daily eign and postal chess content of the column
Mercury bore Blanshard’s byline; he was ap- was reduced and was much lower in 1909.
parently a graduate linguist (described as At this point a warning to researchers is
“M.A.”), and several games from Continental required. The library in Cleveland has scrap-
sources were reprinted, many of which were books said to be from the Western Weekly Mer-
correspondence games. In 1893 Blanshard cury, in very bad condition, and the present
had been responsible for Examples of Chess author bought from them a microfilm cover-
Master-play (first series), translated from Jean ing October 1906–April 1909. It caused con-
Dufresne’s Schachmeisterpartien and two fur- siderable puzzlement because the content did
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 113

not seem to match notes made in the British column transferred to the Western Morning
Newspaper Library. It seems likely that at News. On 1 January 1920 the Devon and Ex-
least some of the clippings therein are from eter Daily Gazette announced the death on
1906 in the chess column of the Kidderminster Saturday 27 December 1919 of W. M. Mears,
Shuttle. Some of the content may have been “a life-long sufferer from an incurable afflic-
the same, because Blanshard was involved in tion,” at the age of 38. The paper said that
both cases. He worked in the carpet trade and Mears had succeeded C. T. Blanshard in con-
had moved to Bewdley in Worcestershire, ducting the Western Daily Mercury column
which is near Kidderminster. A byline on 13 and had done an excellent job. Gaige’s Person-
October 1906 says he was assisted in that col- alia, probably following B.C.M.’s obituary,
umn by a man in Birmingham (Leonard A. gives his full name as “William Marcham
Dutton). Whyld also names Dutton in con- Meares” but in Devon papers the spelling
nection with the Kidderminster Shuttle, quot- “Mears” was always seen.28
ing Lasker’s Chess Magazine of November It is now evident that the chess column
1906 as calling it “a carpet trade magazine of which transferred to the Western Morning News
world-wide circulation.” from 12 February 1921 was not that which
The Western Daily Mercury carried on 3 Winter Wood used to conduct, but rather the
September 1909 a profile of Joseph Henry one that had originated in the Western Daily
Blake, the Southampton-born expert who was Mercury and had been in the hands of A. R.
a regular annotator of games for British Chess Cooper since about 1916. When it first ap-
Magazine. Blake was now in his fiftieth year peared in the Western Morning News, it was
and living in the London suburb of Surbiton. headed “Chess Problems. Solutions and
He had learned chess at the age of 11 from his Notes for our Readers. (By A.R. Cooper, 104,
father, then after 18 months or so he obtained Manners-Road, Southsea, Portsmouth.).”
Staunton’s Handbook and progressed. He tied Since the first problem was numbered 2,650
first in his earliest public tournament, the it was evidently a continuation. The Western
1881 Counties Chess Association second class Morning News has been digitized by B.N.A.
at Leamington Spa. He then played in all their from 1890 to 1949 inclusive (except for 1912
events until the last in 1893. He won unbeaten and 1913), so this newspaper appears to be a
in 1887 and again won a silver tea service in source worth researching for 20th century
1892. He also captained the Hampshire team Devon chess. Whyld gave the dates of Cooper
since its first county match in 1887. It was also as 1927 [sic] to 1939, and there were also
mentioned that Blake played a lot of postal columns after World War II that he lists.
chess between 1881 and 1896; indeed he was
England’s strongest exponent of this form of
the game in the 19th century. Gunsberg as Columnist
In 1912 Mears (of Torquay) was bylined
as principal chess editor with “foreign games There has always, since the second half
and notes from abroad” by C. T. Blanshard. of the 19th century, been a tendency for some
By the end of that year “Problem solving, A. chess editors to accumulate multiple columns.
Barnett” had been added. Whyld says the col- Writing one column is a big distraction from
umn continued until 19 July 1914 and that playing and does not bring much financial
subsequently A. R. Cooper was chess editor return, but various writers have shown it is
from April 1916 until 1921. This implies a possible to make a reasonable living by con-
break of about 18 months, which needs check- ducting several columns simultaneously in
ing. Then from 12 February 1921 Cooper’s newspapers and other periodicals. We have
114 British Chess Literature to 1914

seen that Duffy and Löwenthal and Hoffer ning for 19 months. Other longer-running se-
sometimes had more than one column on the ries were the London Evening News and Post
go, but Isidor Gunsberg (1854–1930) was (1889–1894) and the Penny Illustrated Paper
probably the most prolific chess editor of the (1894–1902), and eventually Gunsberg was
Victorian and Edwardian eras. His literary ca- appointed to run the chess column in various
reer began at the time when he was operating London daily newspapers. He did other work
the chess “automaton” known as “Mephisto.”29 too, during his rise. For a few years around
From 1881 to 1883 he contributed articles and 1886 he is known to have been employed in
games under that pseudonym to the chess col- the office of the Liberty and Property Defence
umn of the magazine Knowledge, edited by as- League for whom he wrote at least one
tronomer R. A. Proctor. Also in 1882 he was pamphlet lobbying against temperance cam-
named as Games Editor for The Chess Player’s paigners.31 He obtained this job thanks to
Chronicle. That work possibly continued later. Wordsworth Donisthorpe, a chess player and
Gunsberg also wrote a few articles on chess prominent League member; the League also
in the monthly magazine Our Corner although employed Mason.
these only ran in 1883 until December.30 All In the late 1880s and in 1890 Gunsberg
this was only a prelude. Whyld’s index to ed- was very active as a professional player, spend-
itors in Columns lists more than twenty dif- ing long periods out of England, and he gave
ferent titles after Gunsberg’s name. His work up his column in the Cheltenham Examiner
as a chess editor really became intensive in (and perhaps other titles) because of this.
the 1890s and remained so up to 1914. This episode in his life culminated in his un-
Gunsberg’s first important column began successful world title match against Steinitz.32
in the Weekly Echo in November 1884, run- Gunsberg’s lifestyle then underwent a huge
change in the summer of 1891 shortly after
his return from America. His first wife, Jane,
died on 8 May 1891, leaving him with a young
family to care for. After this he never played
another serious match. Instead he earned his
living by literary work (including a book on
chess openings, published in 1895) and by
visiting clubs to give lectures and simultane-
ous displays. On the rare occasions thereafter
when he played a few tournaments, such as
Hastings 1895, Gunsberg never recovered his
former playing strength.
On 12 May 1893, a few months before he
re-married, Gunsberg began one of his more
important columns, entitled “Over the Chess-
Board,” in the St. James’s Budget, a relaunched
pictorial weekly, and this ran for seven years.
Between 1895 and 1897 he helped his second
wife, Miriam, with her column for the Lady’s
Pictorial. It is clear from the content that she
Isidor Gunsberg as a young man, probably wrote most of it herself but he probably
taken in the early 1880s when he was becom- helped with game annotations and revisions.
ing famous as a chess player and editor. After her death he soon remarried, and by the
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 115

turn of the century one of his sons, Alfred, and a spot check has shown this was true. On
may have been helping with the columns. Saturday 8 March 1902, problem 158 was
Also in the summer of 1893, it was prob- published, implying one a week since the
ably Gunsberg who began the chess column start, but there was little other content and
in the Daily News, which has been digitized no byline. This series possibly continued
in the B.N.A. Monday 17 July was the start, without a break, but that remains to be veri-
although there were sometimes news reports fied.
on other days of the week, and previously. Isidor Gunsberg was certainly writing
Then and again on the 24th there was chess for the Telegraph later on, as can be seen from
news and games from a match that had just the spring of 1914. His article on page 18 of
finished between Herbert Jacobs and Rudolf the issue for Saturday 4 April 1914 had two
Loman. On the 31st two consultation games problems, numbered 1239 and 1240, with
by Blackburne were published and from 7 Au- solutions of previous ones, but no news or
gust a series of original chess problems by game. The numbering does imply a reason-
Blackburne began. These continued for the ably continuous column. In addition that
next seven weeks (usually Mondays), together month, the paper reported on two tourna-
with news and games, so the true column ments in which Gunsberg was personally
began much earlier than the 1896 date cited involved: the Kentish chess congress in Dart-
by Whyld. As Gunsberg and Blackburne are ford followed by the St. Petersburg interna-
known to have been close, this is a clue to the tional. Curious mistakes appeared in some of
editorship of the column. The column later the news reports, perhaps because of Russian
moved to Tuesdays and gradually petered out telegraphists struggling to cope with an En-
early in 1902 (Problem 419 on 18 January) al- glish journalist. Thus the report on 24 April
though occasional news reports appeared, e.g., included a sentence saying “Alechin resumed
about the Monte Carlo international tourna- his game against Blackburne, and won by a
ment. This was possibly the end of Gunsberg’s pawn advantage in the end game.” As in fact
column, perhaps because he was now writing Alekhine was lucky to draw, this comment
for the rival Telegraph, but the problem num- might refer to a different game. The next day’s
bering was continued whenever chess ap- report reversed a result, saying: “Gunsberg
peared, until a definitely new column began met Tarrasch, who defended with an irregular
on Thursday 17 March 1904 starting at prob- opening, which led to brilliant play on both
lem 1. So there are two possible dates for the sides. At the critical point in the middle game
end of Gunsberg’s involvement and no deci- Tarrasch failed to make the most of his op-
sive evidence was found to choose between portunities, and Gunsberg won.” In fact, he
them. lost.
The Daily Telegraph, a major national In 1916 Gunsberg won libel damages of
newspaper supportive of the Conservative £250 against Associated Newspapers: a wind-
Party, is not yet digitized but is available in fall that eased his financial situation for a
the B.L. Newsroom on open access micro- while. The Evening News had published an ar-
films at reference MLD7. The column began ticle, critical of errors in Gunsberg’s column,
in the Sunday Daily Telegraph when that was and the court upheld his claim that it had
not a separate title, but just the Sunday edi- been unfair. Chess expert Herbert Jacobs was
tion of the weekday paper. There were just a barrister on his legal team and several lead-
seven Sunday articles, from 9 April 1899 to ing chess players, including Blackburne and
21 May 1899. Whyld, page 97, said that there the B.C.M. problem editor B. G. Laws, testi-
was maybe a Daily Telegraph column in 1902 fied as expert witnesses in his favor.33 Evidence
116 British Chess Literature to 1914

was given that the Daily Telegraph was his only Saturday Westminster Gazette survive the war,
column that continued after the outbreak of it even continued throughout 1922 when the
war. The column in The Field was even men- title was relaunched as the Weekly Westminster
tioned in evidence, when Gunsberg’s defense Gazette, but early in 1923 the paper and the
lawyers showed that other columns also oc- column ceased publication. In 1928 Schumer
casionally published erroneous problems. On produced a book, now scarce, entitled Chess-
16 December, Burn denied that The Field had lets.35
done so, but the following week he had to re- Notwithstanding the war, some chess
tract this and admit that early in 1915 three columns survived in weekly provincial papers.
consecutive problems in the Field had been In certain cases the columnists may have been
faulty.34 on the papers’ staff. The Field noted during
The obvious reason why many chess 1916 that W. L. Biggs was chess editor of the
columns were halted at the outbreak of war Oxford Times and honorary treasurer of the
was that reports and analysis of the conflict, Oxfordshire county chess association.36 His
departures for the Front, and later of the ca- column had begun in 1910 when the British
sualties, occupied the majority of space in Championships were held in Oxford.
most publications. Moreover, newspapers Gunsberg was able to continue the Daily
mostly shrank in size through shortage or Telegraph column well into the 1920s but it is
greater cost of paper (newsprint often being unclear whether he did so to the end of his
sourced from Norway). “Frivolous” topics life. For a few months in 1920 (from 10 Janu-
such as chess became relegated to weeklies, if ary until May) he also had a new column in
the columns survived at all. Moreover the de- Nash’s Illustrated Weekly. This soon ended,
cline in chess activity meant there was much leaving him with just the Telegraph again—
less activity for a column to report and a until 1925 at least, and probably until 1928,
smaller audience as many players were shipped although he had no byline. Whyld said F. D.
off to die in the trenches. Yates conducted the column from 1929 until
The case of one daily paper, the West- his own death in 1932, and subsequently there
minster Gazette, is indicative. When Hoffer were columns by B. H. Wood and others.
died, on 28 August 1913, the Westminster One of the Gunsberg columns that halted
Gazette series was continued seamlessly by at the outbreak of war was in the Manchester
Dr. Jacob Schumer. Unlike the earlier case Guardian, which he seems to have taken over
with the Budget, the columns were not re- in 1906 or 1907. Originally a weekly in 1821,
peated in arrears; instead the same articles ap- then twice-weekly from 1836, the Manchester
peared in the two papers from the same pub- Guardian had become a daily in 1855 and
lisher every Saturday. This practice continued gradually came to have a national circulation
for some time until the daily Gazette ran chess during the 57-year editorship of C. P. Scott.
for the last time on Saturday 1 August. Schumer The title was eventually changed to The Guard-
was able to continue it in the magazine-style ian in 1959 but the editor moved to London
Saturday Westminster Gazette which also in- only in 1964. There is a digitized database of
cluded a bridge column and many articles the complete historic Manchester Guardian to-
aimed at a female audience. That was fortu- gether with the Observer Sunday newspaper,
nate because this was one of the few columns which is available by subscription in many li-
to report in detail on the 1914 British Chess braries.
Championships, held in Chester from 10 to An anonymous chess column on Fridays
21 August, in which Schumer himself was a began in the Manchester Guardian on 11 No-
competitor. Not only did his column in the vember 1904, following a series of news re-
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 117

ports and an article on 5 November. This con-

tinued to 17 May 1907 but Gunsberg may
have already been writing the later ones.
Whyld attributes some early columns to
B.C.M. editor Isaac McIntyre Brown (1858–
1934), which is plausible. Reports on the
1907 Ostend international tournament and
the 1907 British Championship followed
through the summer; Gunsberg would surely
have been contributing them. Then a bylined
column by Gunsberg ran on Tuesdays from 5
November 1907 to 4 August 1914 inclusive.
Whyld names F. D. Yates from an un-
known date until his death in November 1932
but apparently there is no sign of a regular col-
umn, so presumably he was just named as
Isidor Gunsberg as pictured in Chess Pie
“chess correspondent” to contribute reports
(1922) when he was probably still contribut-
when there were newsworthy events. Simi- ing chess articles to the Daily Telegraph, his
larly, Du Mont, who is named by Whyld as last column.
Yates’s successor, may only have been “chess
correspondent” in the same sense until some stint as the newspaper’s chess columnist, un-
time after the Second World War. Searches in broken since September 1955, had just “over-
the digitized archive have shown that it was taken the old record of 60 years and six months
on 28 April 1949 that Du Mont first published set by Tom Widdows, who wrote weekly for
a numbered problem. The fact that it was said the Worcester News from October 1945 until
to have been specially contributed by T. R. April 2006.”
Dawson (1889–1951), the eminent problem Since the articles of The Observer are to
composer, is a sure sign that this marked a sig- be found in the same database as the Guard-
nificant event in the Guardian’s coverage of ian, it deserves a mention, although there was
chess and should be counted as the start of no chess column prior to the end of the First
the true column. It may also be noted that Du World War. This London Sunday newspaper
Mont’s commencement of this column roughly is now part of the same publishing group as
coincided with when he ceased to be Editor The Guardian. Originally it was separate, and
of British Chess Magazine, as discussed in the indeed it has a longer history, having been
next chapter. founded in 1791. Its chess column by Brian
Chess in the Manchester Guardian con- Harley ran from 30 November 1919 to 15 May
tinued on subsequent Thursdays for many 1955, publishing 1909 problems. Harley died
years, though later switching to different days on 18 May and an announcement that Harry
of the week. In September 1955, when Du Golombek would replace him appeared on 5
Mont became incapacitated, Leonard Barden June 1955.
took over. In his hands this became a superb Golombek’s first column (12 June) made
column which still continues, now on Fridays the significant statement that he intended to
(formerly Saturdays), and can be read online. cater to players because problems were well
On 26 October 2016 The Guardian, quoting covered elsewhere, and so he published game
a report on the ChessBase website, announced positions instead. This began a trend which
that Barden had set a new record. His 61-year had completely taken over by the late 20th
118 British Chess Literature to 1914

century. Composed mate problems are mostly Abbott had enjoyed a tenure even longer
the preserve of specialist journals and some than that of Staunton himself. When the Il-
websites nowadays, though they still have a lustrated London News of 18 August 1923 an-
following and there are annual national and nounced the death, it said that Abbott “was
international competitions. Golombek re- almost the solitary surviving representative
mained nominal chess correspondent of The of the great days of English chess when Lon-
Observer up to the end of the 1978/9 Hastings don drew to its centre the leading masters of
tournament (final report 7 January 1979) but all countries.” The column continued with a
his weekly column last appeared on 6 Decem- new anonymous editor. Abbott was succeeded
ber 1970 and several weeks were missed in the by H. J. Menzies, who died in late 1927, after
last three years. Later chess correspondents which the column went into decline. Once
were Michael Stean and Jon Speelman. It was again the chess editor was named posthu-
Speelman who wrote Golombek’s obituary in mously. The issue of 7 January 1928 ended by
1995. announcing with regret the death “of our
Chess contributor, Mr. H. J. Menzies, who
passed away on December 28 [1927] after a
sudden and short illness…. The arrange-
Later Years at the Illustrated ments for the carrying-on of the feature will
London News be announced in due course.” Like Abbott
and most of his predecessors, Menzies never
The other major chess column to run had a byline during his lifetime.
regularly throughout the First World War was In view of the Christmas holiday it is
that in the Illustrated London News. Searches likely that Menzies had contributed the 7 Jan-
in the digitized archive of the Illustrated Lon- uary column. Chess articles with no byline
don News enable definite statements to be then appeared on a fortnightly basis from 28
made about the history of the column, whereas January, 11 and 25 February, 10 and 24 March.
Whyld’s book left many details unclear. As These were almost certainly contributed by
noted in the previous chapters, the succession Kelville Ernest Irving who first had a byline
of I.L.N. chess editors, after the early anony- on 7 April 1928, when he published Problem
mous period, was Staunton, Wormald, Duffy, 4024 and answers to correspondents, together
and then Abbott, who had taken over in April with a game and some news. Irving is hard to
1888. The approximate date Whyld gave for trace, perhaps because he rarely used his un-
the end of Abbott’s tenure as chess editor was usual first name, which is sometimes mistran-
“c. 1924” but it is now known that he died the scribed as “Melville.” His dates appear to have
previous year. His decades in charge of the been 1877–1953 and he appears in the 1911
column are not of great interest since his cov- census as a boarder in a house in Sculcoates,
erage of national chess events was patchy. He Yorkshire. His occupation is described as
reduced the column to not much more than “Musical Director Theatre,” which suggests
the house organ of the City of London Chess he may have been working for a traveling
Club. Yet the column remained in his hands repertory company. His chess career is other-
until he died, on 5 August 1923. He left an es- wise unknown.
tate valued at £7347 11s. 10d. and probate was On 28 April Irving wrote that chess
granted to his son Howard Staunton Abbott, would appear weekly in future “when space
a grocer.37 His name implies that Abbott had allows” and, starting from that date, a fort-
recognized a debt of gratitude to the founder nightly series of “Game Problems,” which he
of the column he inherited. described as “positions of interest from actual
 4. Latter Years of the Chess Column 119

play.” In the alternate weeks he continued to first column was published in the March 1980
publish mate problems, maintaining the old issue and his series continued until Nunn’s
numbering from previous chess editors. His final column appeared in November 1986.
column, though, did not last to 1935, as Whyld
believed; it was discontinued in 1932. Prob-
lem 4098 was published on 22 October 1932
and Irving’s final contribution was on 5 No-
Chess Columns in More
vember 1932 after which there was no regular Recent Days
chess series in the I.L.N. until after the Second
World War. In the mid–1960s, when the author was
On 30 April 1949 the I.L.N. announced starting to play competitively in England, there
the revival, to commence the following week, were still several thriving chess columns. A
of two old favorites from before the war, one visit to the school or public library at the
of which was “A Page for Collectors” by Frank weekend was a chance to catch up with some
Davis, which had been halted “for obvious excellent chess writing. The weekly column
reasons” especially the shortage of paper. The in the Conservative-leaning weekly The Spec-
return of chess was also announced by “Mr. tator was begun by International Master C. H.
B. H. Wood, a well-known figure in the Chess O’D. Alexander in 1968 but ended in 1970 if
world.” So on 7 May 1949 the impressive by- Whyld is correct. A later column followed
line of “Baruch H. Wood MSc” appeared for which ultimately came into the hands of
the first time in the pages of the I.L.N., who grandmaster Ray Keene who also writes on
began his series with the words: “It is a pleas- chess for The Times and (until recently) The
ure to resume the Chess Notes for which The Sunday Times.* Leonard Barden’s column in
Illustrated London News was famed for so the Financial Times, he informed this author,
many years.” Barry Wood, editor and pub- began around April 1974 after Alexander’s
lisher of the famous Chess magazine based in death, and was still continuing in the summer
Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham since 1935, of June 2017. There was also a column in The
was to continue as chess editor for over 30 Listener, a magazine published by the BBC for
years. its more intellectual audience. According to
The I.L.N. switched from weekly to Whyld (page 250, naming no editor) this ran
monthly publication thirty-two years before only from 1959 to 1964 but was good in its
its ultimate decease in 2003. The issue of 24 day. Barden informed this author that he wrote
April 1971 (volume 258 number 6873) was this for a time.
followed by volume 259 number 6874, date- The most idiosyncratic of the weekly
lined “May 1971.” In the later years of Wood’s columns in its day was that conducted in a
weekly tenancy (1960s and 1970), the chess left-wing weekly, the New Statesman, by “As-
column was sometimes omitted through pres- siac” (Heinrich Fraenkel, 1897–1986). Whyld,
sure on space, a fate common to most col- on page 301, was uncertain about the dates of
umns, especially when they were in decline. the editors of this column, and the subject de-
Wood continued as chess editor when the serves some investigation. Possibly Du Mont
paper switched to monthly publication, until began the column, but another of his sources
his last column appeared in the October 1979 says it was Fraenkel from the start, in 1949; he
issue. After a brief hiatus, Wood was suc- was certainly conducting it in the 1960s and
ceeded by grandmaster John Nunn, whose much of the 1970s, ending on 24 September

*In the summer of 2017, grandmaster David Howell replaced Keene on The Sunday Times.
120 British Chess Literature to 1914

1976 if Whyld is right. Tony Miles succeeded and is just a daily puzzle like so many syndi-
Fraenkel, and then others conducted it for a cated ones. Nevertheless Barden and Walsh
time, but it was the endgame studies one re- vie for the record as the longest-running
members. Each week there would be three, columnists, having overtaken the marks set
the first of which would be easy, with compe- previously by Helms and Koltanowski.
titions for solvers. The numbers of people playing chess
Leonard Barden’s feat at running some and the readership of chess columns have at
long-lasting columns simultaneously have al- all times been much greater than the mem-
ready been mentioned. He is the heir to Guns- bership of chess clubs. One factor was that
berg and Hoffer in that respect but we shall women and older children could read about
probably never see another like him. Also, in chess in the columns. For men also, the peri-
Dublin, the Irish Times column conducted by odical literature provided a leisure option that
J. J. Walsh set a new world record for a daily did not require leaving home. Through the
column on 27 October 2015, exceeding the press, readers belonged to a virtual chess club.
61 years and four months duration set by Her- Correspondence matches and tournaments,
mann Helms in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle organized by many columns in the second half
between 1893 and 1955. Jim Walsh, who of the 19th century, also offered a competitive
played for Ireland in the 1956 Moscow Chess option for experienced players and novices
Olympiad, first wrote for the Irish Times on 5 alike. The vogue for chess problems, again
July 1955. This was a weekly column at first from the 1840s onwards, also provided a form
but when chess increased in popularity after of intellectual exercise and a way for people
the Fischer–Spassky match, Walsh’s column to enjoy the game even if they lacked a con-
became daily although it rarely carries news genial opponent for regular play.
 5. A Short History of
Chess Magazines Up to 1914

The principal aim of this chapter is to ers; there were rarely enough of them. There
provide a chronological overview of the Brit- were also probably few advertisers, although
ish and Irish magazines of the period, with a it is hard to be certain because binders of Vic-
more detailed examination of some of them. torian periodicals frequently omitted the cov-
A few of the more important magazines from ers, where advertisements were placed.
other countries, especially the U.S.A., are also The majority of chess magazines in nine-
mentioned where relevant, particularly in one teenth and early 20th century Britain had short
section dealing with magazines of the 1870s life spans and probably never broke even fi-
and 1880s. Chapter 6 deals separately and in nancially. Some failed after only a handful of
much more detail with the first important issues. Even the few that did survive through
magazine, The Chess Player’s Chronicle, founded several volumes are unlikely to have generated
by Staunton in 1841, and the subsequent suc- enough subscriptions and advertising to pro-
cessors to that title. For reference purposes, a vide a living income for their editors, except
brief summary of the most important infor- in a few good years. For those who had asso-
mation about British and Irish chess maga- ciated sources of income, such as from writing
zines of the period may also be found in the chess columns, running a magazine could be
alphabetical list in Appendix II. a useful adjunct.
There are some preliminary points to be A few other editors were gentlemen of
made, and also a warning about the inaccurate leisure, or clergymen, who could edit a mag-
or incomplete information readers are likely azine as a hobby and afford the associated fi-
to find in bibliographies and earlier histories nancial losses. Selling chess sets and other
of the field. Economics have always dictated paraphernalia of the game was probably the
that publishing a magazine wholly or largely best way to make a chess magazine pay. Few
about chess is no way to get rich. The history chess magazine publishers seem to have ex-
of chess magazines in general, nowadays as ploited that marketing opportunity in the
much as in the 19th century, shows much en- 19th century but in the mid–20th century
thusiasm but often little staying power. En- Baruch H. Wood of Sutton Coldfield per-
glish chess magazines had to rely chiefly on fected this business model.
subscriptions purchased by middle-class play- Even the world champions Steinitz, with

121
122 British Chess Literature to 1914

his International Chess Magazine (seven vol- Any attempt to survey the field of nine-
umes in New York, 1885–1891), and Emanuel teenth and early 20th century chess maga-
Lasker (nine volumes of Lasker’s Chess Mag- zines is fraught with difficulty. Previous writ-
azine, also New York, 1904–1909) did not ers and bibliographers who have attempted
enjoy longterm success. There were some to do so have made errors and omissions, and
heroic failures along the way, including vari- the present writer apologizes to readers should
ous attempts to serve the tiny Irish and Scot- it turn out that he also has done so. Problems
tish markets. The world record for longevity with Di Felice’s bibliography Chess Periodicals
among chess periodicals was long held by the have already been discussed at some length
Deutsche Schachzeitung (founded in Berlin in in Chapter 1. Philip Sergeant in A Century of
1846) but it ceased publication in 1988, and British Chess mentioned in passing the most
although it lived on for another decade in a important chess magazines but overlooked
merged publication, the ancient name finally others and did not attempt any systematic
disappeared from the cover in 1998. The one list.1 He was, of course, much more interested
gritty survivor from the 19th century is the in the principal personalities and competi-
British Chess Magazine, which began in 1881 tions in the world of chess and for him the
and (as of March 2018) has never missed a magazines were a source of information rather
month, despite the bombing of the editor’s than a topic of interest in itself. In the last
home (1940), a national printer’s strike (1959),
and the sudden death of its typesetter/busi-
ness manager (1980).
Yet even B.C.M. was not really run on a
commercial footing until Brian Reilly (1901–
1991) took over and adopted Wood’s model
in the 1950s, having himself worked at Sutton
Coldfield for a time. Until then B.C.M. was
largely or wholly supported by unpaid con-
tributors in its early decades, and indeed that
is how it was able to survive. For sixty years
B.C.M. was, as a former editor Bernard Caf-
ferty once described it, “a cottage industry”
(though not in his time).* After another crisis
threatened the existence of the magazine in
2010 or 2011, B.C.M. returned to those ama-
teur roots, at least for a time, no longer able
to compete with the coverage of international
master chess provided since the mid–1980s
by the Dutch-published New in Chess. More
recently, British Chess Magazine has entered a
partnership agreement with Serbian-based
Chess Informant in January 2016 and appears
to have entered a new phase of its existence,
Philip Walsingham Sergeant, author of A
which is beyond the scope of this book. Century of British Chess. His method, at least
for the 19th century, was a year-by-year trawl
*In a talk to members of the Ken Whyld Association through the chess magazines. This photo-
at Norwich, April 2012. graph was the frontispiece of his book.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 123

thirty years or so, however, historians have other games of combination,” its editor-in-
put publications themselves under the micro- chief was Paul Journoud. In between the
scope. Saint-Amant series and this, there had been
Many years ago, G. H. Diggle (who jok- La Régence (1849–1851), published by a “so-
ingly called himself the “Badmaster”) wrote ciety of amateurs,” then a second series of La
a two-part article about “British Chess Peri- Régence (1856–1857), edited by Journoud,
odicals of the Nineteenth Century” for British and also Journoud’s La Nouvelle Régence
Chess Magazine (December 1980 and January (1861–1864).
1981). Although containing some interesting There were also early chess magazines
observations on the magazines Diggle had in several other countries, notably Germany,
read, his survey was far from complete, as is the U.S.A. and the Netherlands, but the
evident from his statement in the second French came first and then the English. The
paragraph that The Chess Player’s Chronicle British chess scene was more successful than
was the earliest magazine. It had in fact two the French in sustaining the existence of a
predecessors. There were also other minor least one chess magazine from 1841 onwards.
magazines which Diggle failed to mention, Yet there were some periods of a year, or more,
perhaps because he was unaware of their ex- when there was no magazine, until the sum-
istence. To be fair to him, in those days before mer of 1863, since when there has always been
online library catalogues and the publication at least one monthly magazine published in
of the Betts bibliography, it doubtless was the country, and often at least two.
hard for him to know what he was missing and The first chess magazine in the English
harder still to access rare items. language was The Philidorian, subtitled “a
magazine of Chess, and other scientific games,”
edited and published by Walker. He realized
The Earliest Chess Periodicals from the start that there would probably be
insufficient material, and insufficient interest
The earliest chess magazine was in fact from the public, if he devoted the magazine
published in France: Le Palamède, Revue to only one game. In the opening article, Walker
Mensuelle des échecs was edited in Paris by wrote: “In consecrating a magazine solely to
de la Bourdonnais (the strongest player in the domestic games, we open up ground entirely
world at that time) with Josef Méry, first ap- new. We believe and trust the soil will prove
pearing in 1836 and continuing for two fur- fertile…. We raise our banner in the name of
ther years until the fourth volume ended Philidor, whose ashes rest in England.”2 Even
abruptly, with no index, in 1839. The some- so The Philidorian lasted for only six numbers,
what curious title derives from an old legend from December 1837 to May 1838. In fact a
that wrongly ascribed the invention of chess reader of his column had already suggested
to Palamedes who was among the Greek lead- in 1836 that a chess magazine might be
ers involved in the war against Troy. The launched, and this had been his reply:
Palamède had a big advantage: wealthy aris- If L. be so confident as to the success of a Chess
tocratic subscribers. Subsequently, after the Magazine, why does he not try it himself ? We
death of de la Bourdonnais, a second series of believe there would be found no encouragement
Le Palamède ran from 1841 to 1847 under the for any thing of the sort. The aristocracy don’t
like Chess, because, when they meet with Tom
editorship of P. C. F. de Saint-Amant. A third
or Jack, they get beaten. How many noblemen
series, unconnected but with a similar title, are to be found in the list of subscribers to the
appeared in 1864 and 1865: Le Palamède London or Westminster Chess Clubs? During
Français. Described as a review of chess “and the war, Chess was more played by the upper
124 British Chess Literature to 1914

classes: they were immured in the tight little is- Gambit, followed by rules for playing a ver-
land, and like Stern’s starling, “they couldn’t get sion of four-handed chess, which some read-
out.” The yachts, and similar enjoyments, have
ers may have seen. The board is extended
beaten poor Chess half-way down-stairs though,
among the middle classes, its votaries increase with 8 × 3 sections on each side; and played
daily.3 with white, green, black and red men. Finally
the number included a bibliographical cata-
The first issue of The Philidorian included logue of works on chess which Walker com-
articles on Polish draughts (the Continental piled.
version of checkers, played on 100 squares) Walker himself explained afterwards, in
and on two card games, Whist and Écarté, as his column for Bell’s Life, that The Philidorian
well as reviews of books on cards and chess. was stopped after six issues because it:
There were also articles on chess theory (the
Cochrane Gambit in the Petroff Defense, and … did not pay; and the proprietor (who was also
the editor) did not choose to burn his fingers
a line in the Double Muzio Gambit), new chess
beyond skin-deep. All the Chess players praised
problems and some games actually played but the work, but to praise a thing and to purchase
with the players not identified. In later issues, were found to be two things. It might, perhaps,
including some games by foreign players (Szén have been carried on by subscription, but, if we
and Boncourt), they were named. know anything of the Editor thereof, he is one
The January 1838 number mostly con- who would rather take a broom, and sweep a re-
spectable crossing, than turn beggar of his
sists of a fanciful chess story by Walker Vin- friends for shillings.4
cenzio the Venetian which had been first pub-
lished in French in Le Palamède and was later This implies that Walker tried to sell his
included in Walker’s 1850 essay collection magazine through newsstands and bookshops.
Chess & Chess-Players. Issue 3 was more var- Selling advance subscriptions to finance print-
ied, similar to the first. It included notes on ing was at that time becoming an obsolete way
Continental chess players and clubs, men- to finance book publication, but it was to be-
tioning some correspondence matches. Issue come and has remained to this day the prin-
4 for March included many chess endgames, cipal way of financing specialist journals, in-
draughts (both kinds), écarté, and some chess cluding chess magazines.
games with players identified. The greater The next venture into chess periodical
part of April’s issue 5, which also included publishing in England evolved very differ-
cards, chess problems and checkers, consisted ently. It was really only a sideline for John
of Caïssa Rediviva, a long poem on a chess Henry Huttmann (1805–1868), a chess café
theme, written by the Rev. Alexander D’Ar- proprietor who in the early 1830s, and after,
blay, which had previously been printed in had started a chess café which led to his being
only a few copies for private circulation. The connected with the foundation and manage-
poem is about the McDonnell and de la Bour- ment of the original Westminster Chess Club.
donnais matches, with some names disguised. Now he was trading under the name Garrick
D’Arblay was the son of Frances Burney (the Cigar Divan at 4 Little Russell Street near
diarist and novelist) and her émigré husband. London’s Covent Garden fruit and vegetable
The poet had already died on 19 January 1837, market. In January 1840 he printed the first
not forty years of age. Walker noted that Mr. of his Curious Chess Problems. Later numbers
D’Arblay “received the odds of the Rook from included chess gossip below in small type. In
Mr. McDonnell.” March Huttmann began a weekly series of
The final issue of The Philidorian began sheets, each bearing a chess game and small
with an article on a sideline in the Evans notices.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 125

The best account of Huttmann’s venture Walker, on 16 January 1842. By then Hutt-
comes from Professor Charles Tomlinson, mann appears to have already been in prison
who looked back from a decade later in his for nonpayment of debts. On 7 December
The Chess-Player’s Annual for 1856.5 The chap- 1842 his name appeared on lists of Insolvent
ter “A Reminiscence of Mr. Huttmann’s Chess Debtor’s Petitions, the first move towards dis-
Soirées” said Huttmann’s little magazine was charge from prison.
at first sold for sixpence, advertised as “includ- In January 1843, Walker complained that
ing two of the finest Havannah [sic] Cigars,” Huttmann was “still a resident of White-cross
or “a fine Havannah and a delicious cup of cof- Street prison”; his conduct was “unimpeach-
fee.” The problem solutions were withheld for able” but some people owed him money. The
a week “and it was quite a contest who should London Gazette of 20 January listed Hutt-
be the first to anticipate the printed solution.” mann as one of several men who would have
Then Huttmann became more ambitious. He discharge hearings on 13 February.9 If any
advertised in Bell’s Life in London on 10 May creditor opposed the discharge they were re-
as follows: quired to appear in court that day to make
… Published at the above address every Wed- their application. The Morning Post of that
nesday, Curious Chess Problems, price 1d., and date listed Huttmann’s as one of the applica-
every Saturday, Games of Chess, price 1d. Both tions that would be opposed. Apparently that
can be sent in one envelope, to any part of the hearing was adjourned for a week, perhaps
kingdom, for the additional expence [sic] of a because Huttmann asked for time to produce
single postage.6
money he now expected to receive. The
In an earlier advertisement, on 5 April in Morning Advertiser of Tuesday 21 February
the same newspaper, he had offered samples carried the crucial information missing from
free except for postage, saying the object was other accounts, although it did not state what
to put him “in communication with the chess sums were being claimed by the creditors:
clubs and chess players in the kingdom, prior I NSOLVENT DEBTORS C OURT, F EB 20. In re
to bringing out a New Chess Periodical” and John Henry Huttmann.—This insolvent, the
he solicited suggestions and contributions. “A chess-player, was opposed by Mr. Cooke, for a
diagram, beautifully printed, accompanies Mr. Hemsworth; as also by Mr. Sturgeon, for a
each problem.” creditor named Ridgway. He was supported by
Mr. Nichols. The court eventually discharged
Walker wrote in Bell’s Life on 26 Septem-
the insolvent.
ber 1841 that “our old friend Huttmann has
just re-commenced his modest little Chess On 5 March 1843 Walker reported that
miscellany under the old title of the Pala- after 14 months Huttmann was finally free.
medes. Twopence for four pages of valuable That is sometimes stated to be the date of his
Chess matter is cheap indeed.” This publicity release. In order to have been reported that
did not help; the last issue appeared on 23 day, he must have been free a few days previ-
October 1841.7 One difficulty was that he was ously, and perhaps he was even released im-
now competing with a proper magazine ed- mediately after the hearing of 20 February.
ited by Staunton. The chief problem, though, There are insufficient grounds for stating
was that Huttmann had ambitiously moved categorically, as Whyld and others have done,
his chess divan to larger, more expensive prem- that the sum Huttmann owed in 1843 was pre-
ises, which failed.8 “Circumstances, temporar- cisely £5 6s. The London Gazette does not ac-
ily insurmountable, have compelled Hutt- tually say how much was owed, or to whom.
mann to discontinue the publication of his The origin of that figure appears to be Walk-
little chess sheet,” wrote his greatest supporter, er’s saying that it “seems a monstrous anomaly
126 British Chess Literature to 1914

that a man should be kept so long in prison According to lists compiled by Whyld, im-
because he cannot raise the five or six pounds proved by Gillam and Serruys, the sequence
necessary for the lawyer’s fees.”10 The refer- was as follows. The first four Curious Chess
ence is to the money needed to obtain legal Problems appeared monthly between January
representation in the Insolvency Court. This and April 1840 and then continued weekly on
was probably forthcoming in early 1843 as a Wednesdays starting with number 5 on 6 May,
result of some comments Walker had made up to number 19 on 12 August. There were
on 29 January and 12 February, calling on 22 numbers of Games of Chess published
chess players to repay money owed to Hutt- weekly on Saturdays between 21 March and
mann. His original debts were probably of a 15 August 1840.12 Then they were merged
business nature, the money most likely being into a four-page, two-penny periodical called
owed to landlords or suppliers. From Tom- The Palamede, “a magazine devoted exclusively
linson’s account and various references to to the game of chess, conducted by J. H.
Huttmann in the press, it seems likely that Huttmann, founder of the Westminster Chess
Huttmann’s debts arose from his unwise move Club.” The numbering was consecutive with
from one address to another in Russell Street Games of Chess, starting at 23 on 29 August.
(he was also briefly at 35 Craven Street, It continued fortnightly for a short while, with
Strand). This was by no means his only busi- number 24 on 12 September 1840. Gillam
ness failure. He had also been in debtors’ was unable to find copies of numbers 25 and
prison for a shorter period in 1838.11 26 but Serruys was later able to provide fur-
This author has seen only a few exam- ther information. Those two issues of The
ples of Huttmann’s work; if any complete sets Palamede were published on 26 September
survive they are in the vaults of private col- and 10 October 1840 respectively. There was
lectors. Whyld was able to provide a little in- then a break of almost a year until Huttmann
formation in his August 1989 “Quotes and relaunched his publication, as noted above,
Queries” column in B.C.M. but it is not en- with number 27 dated 11 September 1841 and
tirely accurate. Recently two chess historians the address was now 15 Russell Street. The
(Tony Gillam of Nottingham and Henri Ser- series continued with number 28 on 25 Sep-
ruys of Belgium) have succeeded in greatly tember, 29 on 9 October and number 30,
extending our knowledge of Huttmann’s life, which Serruys believes was the last to appear,
career, and publications. Their findings have on 23 October 1841. Whyld and Ravilious, in
so far been published only in The Chess Chess Texts, stated that the last was number
Stalker’s Quarterly, the now-discontinued 32 but Serruys points out that the final date
members’ magazine of the Ken Whyld Asso- given in that bibliography is the same as the
ciation,* and anyone seeking more details date he has been able to confirm for number
about the content of Huttmann’s publications 30.13 Serruys also investigated, in two further
should look there. It is clear from what Ser- articles, both Huttmann’s chess and business
ruys writes that very little of the content was career, and also tried to trace (with some lim-
original, and that it is rather stretching a point ited success) the fate of various collections of
to call them a “chess magazine.” Huttmann’s publications.14
Publication of Huttmann’s “slips” (as Serruys’s articles did not, however, nar-
Walker called them) was at first fairly regular. rate any more chess involvement by Huttmann

*As of January 2018, the Ken Whyld Association officially changed its name to The Chess History and Literature
Society (CHLS), in order to reflect its purpose more clearly. Despite the name change, its web address remains
as www.kwabc.org and the webmaster informs that the pdf archive of The Chess Stalker’s Quarterly will remain
available to members.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 127

after his release from prison. So, as a coda, it eral changes of editor and publisher and vari-
may be noted that by early summer Huttmann ations in the title, not to mention several in-
was back in the chess café business, in a small terruptions to publication. Indeed the word
way. He no longer attempted to compete in “Chronicle” was the only element in common
the chess magazine business. Walker wrote on through the successive incarnations. How-
4 June 1843 in Bell’s Life in London: “We never ever, historians have usually found convenient
smoked finer Havannahs than Huttmann has to refer to it generically as the “Chronicle” or
got at his modest little Chess room in Hand- by the abbreviation “C.P.C.”
court.” On 2 July 1843 Walker mentioned his Enough will be said in this chapter to
chess rooms again in passing. The same paper orient the reader who needs to be aware of
carried a front page advertisement on 23 July what magazines were being published at any
1843 as follows: particular date. From the Chronicle’s inception
CHESS. MR. HUTTMANN’S CHESS EVENINGS in May 1841 until the summer of 1851, it faced
are held No. 10, Hand-court, Holborn, nearly no competitors in the English language, ex-
opposite Chancery-lane. Visitors get the use of cept for one short-lived magazine published
an extensive Chess Library, including the cur- in the United States and generally known by
rent periodicals of France and England; also an its short title, The American Chess Magazine.
opportunity of playing with amateurs of every
degree of strength. Members of Provincial Clubs During this period there were also magazines
are respectfully requested to make the above ad- in a few countries on the European continent;
dress a point of union during their visits to Lon- those in France have already been mentioned.
don. Cigars, Coffee, and other refreshments of Unsurprisingly, German was the next language
the best quality, and at a moderate charge. in which a chess magazine was launched—in
On 20 August 1843 Walker replied to a 1846. Germany was by no means a united na-
correspondent mentioning Huttmann. Fi- tion at that time, and in fact two separate mag-
nally on 26 November he reported that Aaron azines were launched in 1846. The one which
Alexandre (1766–1850), now resident in En- originally bore the name Deutsche Schach -
gland, who had some “curious chess books” zeitung was published in Leipzig and ran for
for sale, could be contacted at Ries’s Divan in three years, ceasing publication in 1848. Also
the Strand or Huttmann’s rooms in Hand in 1846, the Berlin Chess Club launched its
Court. Walker did not mention current activ- own magazine with Ludwig Bledow as first
ities by Huttmann after that; so late 1843 was editor. The original title was Schachzeitung der
probably the last time Huttmann was active Berliner Schachgesellschaft which was only
in the chess world. changed to Deutsche Schachzeitung with the
27th volume in 1872. In the meantime there
had been a split, when the Neue Berliner
Early Rivals to the Chronicle Schachzeitung was launched, which ran for
eight years from January 1864. The original
The first chess magazine that can be con- editors were Adolf Anderssen and Gustav R.
sidered a success, at least in its early years, was Neumann but Zukertort succeeded Neumann
The Chess Player’s Chronicle, founded and ini- as coeditor for the four final volumes which
tially edited by Staunton, the leading player ended in late 1871. A few months later, Zuk-
of his day. Because that magazine’s publica- ertort immigrated to London.
tion history was extremely lengthy and com- Two chess magazines were founded in
plicated, detailed coverage of it is postponed 1847. One was in the Dutch language and
to the next chapter. During its many different need not concern us beyond noting that
series between 1841 and 1902, there were sev- Sissa (the name of the mythical Indian prince
128 British Chess Literature to 1914

sometimes associated with the birth of chess) ducted the first two American chess columns
was a monthly magazine published in Wijk bij and later he wrote an important column in a
Duurstede and ran for 27 annual volumes Manchester weekly paper between 1860 and
until 1874. The other was in English but sur- 1862 during his final period of residence in
vived for only one volume, covering 1847 Britain.15 Stanley’s origins and personal life
only. This was billed on the title page as The are quite confusing. English genealogist and
American Chess Magazine: a periodical organ chess historian John Townsend made a few
of communication of American Chess-Players for discoveries about him, but could not estab-
the arbitration of disputed points and doubtful lish his birth details with certainty. Townsend
questions arising in the study and practice of The also pointed out, for example, that this Stan-
Game of Chess. For the instruction of young ley had sometimes been confused, even by
players, and the amusement of all. some contemporaries, with a Charles Stanley
The editor, C. H. Stanley, was an En- of Brighton.* There was also a Henry Stanley
glishman who spent much of his adult life in Preston, Lancashire, active in chess in the
in the United States and eventually took 1840s.
American citizenship. He had already con- In the late 1840s, before the rise of Paul
Morphy and the arrival from Europe of the
Paulsens and Löwenthal, Stanley was prob-
ably the strongest chess player in the New
World, as shown by his results, and in partic-
ular his match victory against Eugène Rous-
seau (of New Orleans) in late 1845. As Stanley
wrote hopefully in his Introduction, the rela-
tively recent introduction of a weekly chess
series in the New York Spirit of the Times had
awakened “an interest and spirit of inquiry,
amounting almost to a public thirst for infor-
mation on all subjects connected with that
noble game.” Nevertheless, the American
market for a magazine must have been very
small at that time and the publisher R. Martin
probably hoped for some British sales, also
naming Wiley & Putnam of London as asso-
ciate publisher. Each issue includes Lessons
for Learners, games, problems and miscella-
neous items.
The level of chess activity in America in
Charles Henry Stanley, editor of the first
American chess columns, and of the Ameri-
the 1840s, although increasing, remained
can Chess Magazine (1847), and later (from however, rather low and restricted to principal
1860–1862) of a column in a Manchester cities, with the rest chiefly involved in corre-
newspaper. spondence matches. Ultimately the American

*John Townsend, Historical notes, pages 91–107. C. H. Stanley’s period in Manchester when he edited a chess col-
umn in 1860–1862 was discussed in the first chapter of the present author’s biography of Blackburne; there it was
suggested that the Stanley who returned to America in April 1862 was the chess player and that the last few articles
in his column (up to early May) were probably written by James Kipping, thus resolving the contradiction pointed
out by Townsend.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 129

Chess Magazine* constituted one fairly sub- 1. e4 e5 2. f4 e×f4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4

stantial volume but there was insufficient sup- 5. Ne5 Be7
port to justify its continuation for a second In a game by correspondence, it would
year. Its cost would have been one factor lim- have been better judgment to have acted on
iting its potential circulation in Europe. Partly the now more generally approved system of
because of shipping costs, a single 32-page defense, playing 5. … h5 etc.
issue cost 2s. 6d. in England, whereas C.P.C. Reichhelm: “Very like him. He proceeds
cost one shilling for 100 pages.16 to blaze a path through the gambit all for him-
Stanley seems to have been well in- self.”
formed about chess in some of the Atlantic 6. Bc4 Far better than taking Pawn with
seaboard states and also in Kentucky but he Knight; in which latter case, second player
also included games and other material from should win. 6. … Nh6 7. d4 d6 8. Nd3
Europe. Thus Stanley’s magazine reported B×h4† 9. Kf1 f5 We do not remember to have
on matches between Norfolk (Virginia) and seen this mode of defense adopted by other
New York, between Philadelphia and Boston, players; it may be sound play, but it certainly
and matches by Lexington against both St. appears risky. 10. e5 Mr. V. probably acts ju-
Louis and Louisville. In the latter match, a diciously, in declining to capture any of the
dispute arose over a clerical error made by pawns so kindly left at his disposal. 10. …
Lexington, which was referred to Stanley for d×e5 11. N×e5 Bg5 12. Qe1 Kf8 13. c3 Qf6
judgment.17 Some of the inconveniences of Mr. S’s defense
He also included a correspondence game begin now to appear. 14. Rh5 Bd7 15. N×d7†
he had lost two years previously, with his N×d7 (see diagram)
name lightly disguised. Typical of the play of
that era, here it is, with Stanley’s own notes rDwDwiw4
supplemented by comments from others. He 0p0nDwDp
identified the players as follows: “Played in wDwDw1wh
the year 1845, by Correspondence, between After DwDwDpgR
Mr. C. V. of Philadelphia, and Mr. C. H. S. of 15. … N×d7 wDB)w0pD
New York.” The game was republished in Dw)wDwDw
B.L.L. 23 April 1848 but Walker gave White’s P)wDwDPD
name wrongly as “Vernon.” It was later re -
printed, with identification of the players, in
$NGw!KDw
the book Chess in Philadelphia (ed. Reich- 16. Qe6 Stanley: This is, without doubt,
helm, 1898), pages 66–67. the deciding move of the partie; from this
point, Mr. V’s game is to all intents and pur-
C. Vezin–C. H. Stanley poses won. Walker: A really fine move. 16. …
Correspondence, USA 1845 Qg6 17. R×g5 Reichhelm: Good play. Mr.
Kieseritzky Gambit (C39) Vezin had well calculated how he could es-
American Chess Magazine (1847), pages cape from his apparent danger. 17. … Q×g5
202–203. Notes are by Stanley unless 18. Q×d7 Qh5 19. B×f4 Qh1† 20. Kf2 g3†
otherwise stated. 21. Kf3! Qh5† 22. Ke3 Re8† 23. Kd2 Nf7

*Coincidentally, 170-some years later a new quarterly titled the American Chess Magazine began publication in
the U.S. by Chess Informant. A large format heavily illustrated glossy magazine of about 152 pages had by mid–
2017 seen three issues of deeply annotated games, columns by such as Vassily Ivanchuk and general chess news
of events in the U.S. and abroad.
130 British Chess Literature to 1914

24. Q×f7† Reichhelm: With a sure advantage it must have done well enough to be contin-
for the end game, but it requires staying to ued. Volume 2 began on 3 January 1852. It was
win. 24. … Q×f7 25. B×f7 K×f7 26. B×c7 in that year that Kling opened his chess coffee
Re7 27. Be5 R×e5 28. d×e5 Ke6 29. Ke2 h5 house in New Oxford Street and sales there
30. Nd2 K×e5 Walker: Mr. Stanley could not may have helped the magazine to keep going.
reasonably expect to win such a game as this. It may be noted on page 168 of this volume
He seems to have treated his opponent quite that a reply to a correspondent styling himself
too carelessly, like a spoilt child, intoxicated Simple Simon reads: “The prejudice in favour
by the deep draughts of victory he has im- of the old notation is so great that it is vain to
bibed in every American city he has visited attempt any new scheme.” Although Kling
since he left England. 31. Nf3† Kf4 32. Rh1 and Horwitz would have been brought up on
The American Chess Magazine had a final note algebraic notation, they must have recognized
to the game, but the indication letter to show that only a minority of English chess players
the position to which it should relate was understood it and so they had to adapt to the
omitted. This seems a likely point. “The game custom of the country where they were liv-
might as well have been abandoned at this pe- ing.
riod, as it is utterly hopeless to contend, under The Chess Player later subsided to monthly
such circumstances, against Mr. V’s well- publication. Volume 3, begun on 14 August
known good generalship and great precision 1852, had 330 pages. However, after the fourth
of play.” 32. … Re8† 33. Kf1 Rh8 34. Rh4† number, dated 4 September, it becomes hard
Ke3 35. Rd4 Re8 36. Ne1 Re4 37. Nc2† Kf4 to see where new issues begin and they began
38. Rd7 h4 39. R×b7 Kg5 40. Nd4 h3 to use inferior paper, which was a bit heavier
41. g×h3 1–0. and rougher in texture. The fourth volume
began in June 1853 and had only 188 pages,
From 1848 to mid–1851 The Chess Play- the final issue appearing in November. In 1971
er’s Chronicle had no competitors in the En- Gillam paid homage to Kling and Horwitz by
glish language. Then on 19 July 1851 The starting a series of periodicals called The Chess
Chess Player was launched in London. Its Player with a later series likewise called The
German-born editors were Kling and Hor- New Chess Player.
witz, and the publisher was R. Hastings who Sterner competition for Staunton arrived
had been the publisher of the first few vol- in January 1853 with the launch of The Brit-
umes of the Chronicle. Kling and Horwitz in ish Chess Review, so that for the first time
the same year also collaborated on a book en- there were (albeit briefly) three chess maga-
titled Chess Studies, chiefly concerned with zines in London. The Review represented not
endgames, which will be discussed in Chapter only a commercial rival for the Chronicle but
7. It is indeed for their high-class analytical a wholly different editorial viewpoint, hostile
work on endgames that these two are now to Staunton’s virtual domination of the En-
principally remembered. glish chess publishing market at that time.
Publication began weekly in the summer (Previously only Walker’s Bell’s Life column
of 1851 to take advantage of the interest oc- was his chief critic.)
casioned by the great tournament and pres- The editor of the Review was Daniel Har-
ence of foreign masters in Britain. In all there rwitz (1821–1884), but with some involve-
were four volumes, running to November ment by Samuel Standidge Boden, Charles
1853 (although the Betts bibliography says French Smith and others. Several of Smith’s
December). It cannot be said that The Chess games appear in this volume, some of them
Player was a successful magazine but initially against his old rival Bird. As Townsend has
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 131

Previously they competed at the chess board; now in 1851 they were rival editors: Howard
Staunton (left) and Bernhard Horwitz, as published in the Illustrated London News, VIII (7
February 1846), page 100.

discovered, Smith (who had been a most prom- died; his late “derangement” was blamed on
ising young player in the late 1840s) missed blindfold chess play. The anti–Staunton tone
the tournament year of 1851 because of men- became increasingly clear during 1853, but
tal illness but was active again a year or two readers who know this magazine only from
later, which roughly coincided with the first digitized volumes lacking the covers (for ex-
postal chess tournament, which he won. When ample, in Google Books) will miss some of
Boden died in 1882, Potter went so far as the fun. This is because the “answers to cor-
to give him most of the credit for the edito- respondents” section, where Harrwitz and
rial work, saying: “The veteran in question Staunton started wrangling over the former’s
would, we imagine, admit being almost a challenge for a match, were mostly printed on
nominal co-operator.”18 That was perhaps an the inside back covers. In August, for example,
exaggeration. one can read:
The first volume of The British Chess Re- “T.M.”—There is nothing surprising in the an-
view, which ran to 384 pages, is well worth nouncement to which you call our attention.
reading; the second (six issues only, totaling Chess-players are now beginning to be aware of
186 pages) rather less so. The games included the shifting, delaying, and humbuging system
were played mostly at the London Chess Club by which the ex–Champion now seeks to main-
tain his remnant of reputation.
and the Divan, “two sources which Staunton
had often ignored” according to Diggle. On In December, there were two separate
page 191 it was reported that Kieseritzky had replies devoted to attacks by Harrwitz on
132 British Chess Literature to 1914

Staunton. The first made negative comments postponed the playing of the closing game of
about both the I.L.N. column and the Chron- his memorable match with Mr. Lowe.”
icle. Who, he asked, now read these “for any Staunton’s side was conducted in the Il-
other purpose than to enjoy a laugh at the lustrated London News. After Harrwitz de-
gross vanity of their Editor, or at the petty feated Löwenthal in their protracted match,
malice of his attacks upon those players who he had the temerity to challenge Staunton
have beaten him?” Lower down, concerning himself. The debate between the two masters
some comments in the I.L.N. about stakes to can also be seen on pages 381–382 where Har-
which the questioner had alluded, Harrwitz rwitz wrote that Staunton himself played for
replied: “it would be more becoming if the shillings and even sixpences not long ago. “It
scrupulous writer of them were to pay the is against his principles to play for money,—
stakes of the match which he lost with Mr. when he fears to lose.” The arguments con-
Lowe some years ago.” Since the latter point tinued into the second volume in 1854 where
perhaps called for some explanation, this the final breakdown of negotiations for a
appeared on page 26 of the January 1854 Staunton–Harrwitz match can be seen.
number, where he spoke of “the courageous Diggle’s account of the British Chess Re-
determination with which that gentleman view is well worth reading, except that he did
not discuss the extent of Boden’s involvement,
mentioning only Harrwitz as editor. Diggle
explained how the closure of the Review came
about in the summer of 1854 after Harrwitz
fell ill. As he wrote to a friend in July (in a let-
ter that surfaced 30 years later in British Chess
Magazine), Harrwitz went to the Isle of Wight
to recover and resolved to give up the maga-
zine unless he could find somebody to carry
it on, which he was unable to do. Soon after-
wards Harrwitz left England and went to Paris.
In this section, it should also be men-
tioned that the Betts bibliography lists four
chess periodicals published in the United States
during the 1850s: items #7-5 through #7-8 on
pages 34–35. According to Betts, the Bulletin
of the American Chess Association (1858) was
intended to be half-yearly but only one issue,
of eight pages, was produced. There were also
just two issues of The Philidorian, produced
in Charleston, South Carolina, in July and Au-
gust 1859. We have seen neither of those pub-
lications. We did see all five issues of The
Gambit, a weekly published in New York be-
tween 22 October and 19 November 1859. It
Daniel Harrwitz, editor of The British Chess
Review, 1853/4, and previously of a chess col-
was printed on quite large paper and was ed-
umn in The Family Friend. His tenure of the ited by Theodore Lichtenhein, who had won
editorial chair at the Chess Player’s Magazine the third place play-off in the first American
lasted precisely one issue in 1863. Chess Congress of 1857.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 133

The only one of the four to be of any of the Third Series of the Chronicle. Then
great significance was The Chess Monthly: An came the launch in July 1863 of a new title
American Chess Serial, edited in New York by which in many ways imitated its predecessor.
Daniel Willard Fiske up to the end of 1860 It is understandable that Diggle regarded it as
and with Paul Morphy involved from 1858. a revival of the Chronicle although really there
This magazine began in January 1857 and four was no connection. The Chess Player’s Mag-
volumes came out under Fiske’s supervision, azine was in essence an attempt to recapture
although he said on page 384 of volume four the original style of the Chess Player’s Chron-
that he was not managing editor for “a few icle in its Stauntonian heyday; in this it was
months of the present year, during which I quite successful. In all it ran for five volumes,
was obliged to devote myself to other duties.” in two series, covering just over four years and
On the same page he announced that he was ceasing publication in October 1867. One of
ceasing to be editor, since he had insufficient the errors in Diggle’s article for B.C.M. was
leisure, and also said “I am requested by Mr. to say that Löwenthal edited the magazine
Morphy to announce at the same time the throughout. Some other secondary sources
withdrawal of his name from the title page.” (including the Betts bibliography and the Ox-
The title page of volume four (1860) said the ford Companion to Chess, whose editors should
magazine had been edited that year by Mor- have known better) have put the same mis-
phy and Fiske (in that order) with the prob- take into print, making it all the more impor-
lem department supervised by Sam Loyd, tant to provide a full discussion that corrects
who is best known as a problemist and setter the record.19 Di Felice’s Chess Periodicals bib-
of non-chess puzzles, but who became a strong liography correctly names Löwenthal as edi-
enough player to compete in the 1867 Paris tor from 1865 to 1867 but names nobody for
international tournament. Both Fiske and the first two volumes, which carried no byline
Morphy said they hoped to continue to con- on their title pages or leading articles. Indeed
tribute copy to the magazine. On the same the second series was explicitly stated to be
page, there was a brief publisher’s announce- edited by Löwenthal, but what about the first
ment, signed W. C. Miller, saying that “Ar- two years? Philip Sergeant was broadly cor-
rangements have been made with a gentleman rect in his account, but what he wrote in Cen-
of distinguished ability, who will, with the tury may usefully be supplemented by what
commencement of the year, assume the edi- appeared about the magazine in various con-
torship of the Monthly.” This author has not temporary chess columns. A prospectus ap-
seen any of volume 5; Betts says that five is- pears to have been issued and the following
sues were produced, up to May 1861, but does announcement appeared in The Field chess
not state who the new editor was. The out- column of 27 June 1863 on page 623.
break of the American Civil War on 12 April
1861 must certainly have put an end to any NEW CHESS PERIODICAL.—Readers and cor-
respondents will be gratified to learn that a new
hopes of this magazine’s continuing. monthly periodical devoted to the game of chess
is to appear on July 1 next. It is to be entitled
The Chess-player’s Magazine, is to have Herr Har-
The Chess Player’s Magazine rwitz as chief editor, and will be published by E.
Owen of 67, Strand. Amongst other features
Following the end of the London Chess worthy of notice we may mention that the new
chess serial is to contain occasional portraits of
Congress of 1862, there was a hiatus of about famous players (from photographs by Mayall),
11 months when no British chess magazine and that Mr. Healey has undertaken the super-
was being published, following the cessation vision of the problem department.20
134 British Chess Literature to 1914

It has never been made entirely clear who The Harrwitz of 1853 (the British Chess
“The Proprietors” were, who signed the open- Review days) might have been an excellent ed-
ing article of the first issue, which ran to 32 itor, and Walker said he had high hopes for
pages. Sergeant pointed out that the publisher the new publication with Harrwitz at the
named on the title page of the first volume helm; the reality ten years on was different.
was E. Healey of 27, Change Alley, Cornhill, Instead, the outcome tended to support the
in the City of London (close to the London acerbic view of Staunton which appeared in
Chess Club’s premises), and he wrote that this the Illustrated London News on 11 July after he
was Edward Healey, “one of the two brothers read the prospectus. “We have no faith in its
Healey of whom we have heard as playing at stability,” he sniffed. “A well managed English
Kling’s and at Starie’s Chess Rooms; for he is Chess Magazine, edited by an Englishman of
known to have had a business in the City.” Ed- competent literary ability and knowledge of
ward Healey was the elder brother of the em- the game, would supply an admitted want.”
inent problem-composer Frank Healey and it Perhaps Staunton was already thinking of
is likely they were the initial, if not chief, starting such a periodical? On the other hand
movers behind the magazine’s launch. he considered that a magazine professing to
Since title pages of volumes were printed be “the organ of English Chess”—this was in
only upon completion of each volume of a pe- quotation marks and so was probably a phrase
riodical, so the publisher of its early numbers from the prospectus—but “edited by a for-
might have been different from that listed lat- eigner and produced under foreign auspices,
terly. The chess column of the Newcastle Jour- has, however, been already tried, and the re-
nal on 6 July 1863, welcoming the new arrival, sult was not such as to warrant a repetition of
named E. Owen of 67, Strand, as the pub- the experiment.” Staunton’s xenophobic opin-
lisher. Several other columns also named ion is in no way surprising; what is a little puz-
Owen, while an advertisement in The Era on zling is his reference to “foreign auspices.” Did
25 October named both Healey and Owen as he know, or believe, that the new magazine
publishers. Owen’s name was evidently on a had foreign money behind it? That is not
prospectus, but disappeared at some stage be- proven to have been the case, unless Falkbeer
fore the end of 1863. was one of the backers, which is possible.
The Newcastle Journal added: “The analy- Critical notices of the first issue soon ap-
ses and notes to the games are by Herr Harr- peared. When the chess editor of the New-
witz, and the problem department is under the castle Journal actually obtained a copy of the
supervision of Mr. F. Healey. These names are magazine, he was disappointed, to put it
a sufficient indication of the ability engaged in mildly and said that of some items “it is im-
the management of the new candidate for the possible to say anything in commendation.”21
favour of English Chess players.” Moreover the Löwenthal, writing in The Era, on 12 July,
Dublin Daily Express of 9 July named not only found several things to like in the new maga-
Harrwitz and Healy [sic], but also said that zine but added “We trust, however, that in the
“Messrs. Kling, Horwitz, Zgtognski [sic], and future the Editor will take more pains with
others have promised to contribute a series of the analysis. There are no notes, whatever, to
instructive end games.” Bell’s Life in London, re- several of the games.” The selection had begun
viewing the first number on 26 July, confirmed with all seven games of the match between
that Harrwitz was the editor, backed up by Steinitz and Deacon, but only the last of those
Horwitz and Kling, with the problem depart- had been recently conducted, after a suspen-
ment handled by “the chief English professor sion of play that had lasted five or six weeks.
of that ingenious art,” Healey. The first six match games had been played be-
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 135

tween 27 April and mid–May, and had all pre- the discreditable way in which the first number
viously appeared in various columns. Further of the Chess Player’s Magazine has been made up.
Although I am the appointed editor, some in-
games in the magazine were by the Prussian
competent persons have taken upon themselves
nobleman Tassilo von Heydebrand und der to exclude a great portion of the matter which I
Lasa, and also by Anderssen, Morphy, Har- had destined for this month’s number, and to in-
rwitz and Löwenthal. sert in its place games that have gone the round
The fullest discussion of what happened of the papers some three months since. I would
next is to be found in The Field but whom to no more think of telling the subscribers to a
chess magazine that “chess is played by two per-
blame must be left to the reader to judge. On sons on a board of sixty-four squares” than the
11 July the following lengthy review appeared, Cornhill Magazine would devote any of its pages
no doubt written by Boden, which in turn in- to instruct its readers in the art of spelling. At
troduced a letter of complaint from Harrwitz the same time, I beg to assure the subscribers
himself. that steps have been taken to prevent the recur-
rence of such obtrusive interference. London, 3
Loth as we are to write any statements or pub- July. D. HARRWITZ.
lish any opinions detrimental to the career of the
new Chess Magazine, justice and impartiality The steps that were taken, unsurpris-
compel us to confess that an inspection of the ingly, involved the proprietors removing the
first number has resulted in no little disappoint- man who had called them incompetent. They
ment. As we believe that few chess players will
accuse the Chess column of THE FIELD of any
sent a letter to The Field, a paraphrase of which
want of impartiality, we shall make a few remarks appeared in that paper the following Saturday,
and suggestions with freedom, doubting not that as follows:
they will be taken as they are meant—rather as
We have received from the proprietors of the
hints than fault-finding—especially as the faults
Chess Player’s Magazine a letter explaining the
and defects of the inaugural issue are such as an
circumstances which prejudicially influenced
intelligent publisher could easily correct and
the compilation of the first number of the new
remedy in a second number.
chess periodical. They show that there has been
The English composition of the Introduction,
no disposition on their part to ill treat Mr. Harr-
and indeed of the whole number, is, although
witz, nor to undervalue his services, but they
clear and ingenious, clearly that of a foreigner,
state that the matter supplied by Mr. Harrwitz
and should have been, before printing, revised
did not reach the printer’s hands until too late
by some English writer of experience. Where
for “magazine day,” and that the said matter was
games have appeared previously in English news-
not eligible in the mass. This state of affairs
papers, they ought, upon republication in a chess
would obviously necessitate hasty recourse to
magazine, to be accompanied by a statement to
such matter, or “copy,” as could be had. The pro-
that effect. The heading of the two games be-
prietors of the Chess Player’s Magazine add that
tween MM. De Riviere and Morphy, considering
they regret having to state that Mr. Harrwitz’s
that these parties originally appeared a month
connection therewith has ceased. We have ab-
ago in the Illustrated London News, is particularly
stained from printing the entire letter from the
absurd, not to say outrageous.22 As we wish not
proprietors of the new magazine, solely from a
to detract from any measure of success likely to
reluctance to increase (possibly) already existing
attend this literary enterprise of certain lovers
misunderstandings.23
of chess, we shall only further observe that its
appearance and getting up are in good taste and The Dublin Daily Express of 7 August
style, and that the problem department looks ex-
ceedingly promising. Its shortcomings appear to
said that the second number was a great im-
be more strongly felt by its chief editor than by provement, and mentioned the sacking of
ourselves, as the following letter testifies. Harrwitz. “The editorship has since been un-
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FIELD. dertaken by a committee of the finest players
Sir.—Permit me, through the medium of your of the day resident in London.” That sounds
Chess column, to repudiate all responsibility for like the wording of a press release. Wormald
136 British Chess Literature to 1914

reviewed the first two numbers in The Sport- Times from 1857 to 1859. Prior to that he had
ing Gazette on 15 August, saying that although edited the first short-lived Wiener Schach-
the new periodical “does not exactly fulfil the zeitung, which ran for nine numbers in 1855.
somewhat pretentious promises of its open- Sergeant says nothing about Harrwitz’s abor-
ing address, nevertheless possesses many in- tive involvement at the start, but that is con-
teresting features, and starts in life with a fair sistent with the fact that in his book he does
prospect of success.” The problem depart- not often refer to historical chess columns,
ment and the second issue’s portrait and bi- perhaps because he had no access to them.
ography of Morphy were praised, “but the The first volume of The Chess Player’s
games, on the whole, are scarcely up the mark, Magazine consisted of six numbers, each of
and, what is worse, are carelessly printed and 32 pages, making 192 in total. The second vol-
annotated.” The two pages devoted to Les- ume, for 1864, continued in the same vein
sons for Beginners were “ridiculous.” Wormald until a major upset occurred in the fall. The
also noted that “Herr Harrwitz, who was orig- proof that Löwenthal was not in fact the edi-
inally announced as editor” had “retired from tor of the magazine until 1865 soon becomes
that office on the appearance of the first num- apparent to anybody who reads the last three
ber.” issues of volume 2 closely. Moreover, there is
Staunton had noted on 25 July that the clear evidence elsewhere that Falkbeer had
proprietors of the new magazine “intend to been in charge. Bell’s Life in London for 10 De-
intrust the editorship of their periodical to an cember 1864 carried the following paragraph:
Englishman in future.” It was probably their
CHESS PLAYERS’ MAGAZINE.—We have a letter
failure to do so that prompted a typical Staun-
from Herr Falkbeer, stating that his connection
tonian outburst to “A Subscriber” on 15 Au- with this periodical as editor ceased in Septem-
gust: “A chess periodical so inefficiently con- ber last, and that he is about to settle in Vienna
ducted as the one named is a misfortune, for, to fulfil an engagement connected with the press
while there is no hope of its doing anything there. We presume this will account for the delay
to promote the interests of English players it- in the publication of the December number of
the magazine. From the 1st of January Herr
self, it serves, perhaps, to retard the publica- Lowenthal takes the editorship … and assuredly
tion of a magazine which would represent and no man is better fitted for the post.
further those interests in an able and effectual
manner.” Others were more easily satisfied. It is hard to understand how so many
The third number was praised in the Newcas- writers have got this wrong because Sergeant
tle Journal of 8 September, and The Field of 12 explained what had happened in his widely
September considered that this issue “is a read Century of British Chess. The background
great improvement in all respects on its pred- to the events of September 1864 is that the
ecessors.” book of the 1862 Chess Congress (edited
Sergeant judged that “From other sources, chiefly by Löwenthal with contributions by
though never in the magazine, it may be gath- George Medley) was very late in appearing.
ered that the editor-in-chief was Ernest Falk- The delay was due (Löwenthal claimed) to
beer.” This is probably true; at least for issue “many of the foreign games having been inac-
three onwards in volume one and most of vol- curately and unintelligibly written down,” so
ume 2. The Austrian master Falkbeer was res- that he had had to write many letters abroad
ident in London at this period, he certainly seeking clarification about what had actually
wrote some signed articles in the magazine been played. Another factor was probably the
and he had prior editorial experience, having major dispute that had arisen concerning the
conducted the chess column of The Sunday judging of the problem composition tourney.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 137

The book of the Congress was finally pub- Knights and Kings, pages 81–82; originally in
lished early in 1864. The exact date is uncer- I.S.D.N., 9 January 1886].
tain but advertisements appeared in late Feb- Neither MacDonnell nor Sergeant fully
ruary saying it would be published “in a few explained who was responsible for the final
days,” price six shillings.* The Field reviewed issues of the 1864 volume but most likely the
the book on 26 March 1864 but by late sum- Healey brothers undertook this, chiefly using
mer still no review had appeared in the C.P.M. whatever copy was in hand. The November
A member of the St. George’s Chess Club number ends with answers to correspondents,
wrote in to ask why not, and received the fol- one of whom was told: “You are right with
lowing reply on page 284—which can be cal- reference to the misprints in our last number.
culated to be part of the September number They were caused by the prolonged absence
(there being 32 pages in each issue) although of the editor from town.” Two other replies
Sergeant said it was October. confirm that Löwenthal would take over in
The review of the work you mentioned has been January; this was evidently a current rumor.
unavoidably delayed. The difficulty of the task, “The December issue is obviously just thrown
and the desire of doing justice to the editors, together,” commented Sergeant. It also in-
Messrs. Medley and Lowenthal, with fairness cluded on page 384 an announcement, signed
and impartiality, must serve as an apology to our
shortcomings in this respect. It shall be given “The Proprietor” (singular this time), that
shortly in extenso. Löwenthal would take over the editorship of
the magazine in January.
For his information about what happened Sergeant does not speculate about where
next, Sergeant credits MacDonnell’s book Löwenthal found the money to buy out the
Chess Life-Pictures but in fact the passage con- original owners, but it almost certainly came
cerned was in his later book, The Knights and from the testimonial that had recently been
Kings of Chess in a biographical article about raised on his behalf by the St. George’s Club,
Falkbeer. Like most of that book, the anec- in recognition of his services to chess. The
dote first appeared in the Chess Chat section Field of 6 August printed a long subscription
of The Illustrated Dramatic and Sporting News. list showing that that about £300 had already
This is what MacDonnell wrote: been raised. That was a very substantial sum
He was ejected from the Chessplayer’s Magazine in those days (equivalent to at least £27,000
by Löwenthal who, having learned that an un- sterling today) and would certainly have been
favourable review of his book of the 1862 Con- more than sufficient to buy the magazine from
gress, from the pen of Brien, was about to appear
its shareholders. Whether Falkbeer was sacked
in that publication, went to the proprietor thereof,
bought up the magazine, took possession him- or just decided to quit is unknown. On the
self of the editorial chair, and of course sup- title page of volume 2, the publishers were
pressed the hostile article† [G.A. MacDonnell, named as Kent and Co. of Pasternoster Row

*For example, advertisements in Bell’s Weekly Messenger on 27 and 29 February 1864. A review in B.L.L., 9 April,
explained that first prize in the problem tourney had been awarded to Joseph Campbell, but then an error in one
of his set of problems was discovered and he was disqualified, but only after the prize money of £20 had been
sent to him. He refused to refund it “on principle.” Walker added that “He has, however, not stated, and neither
we nor the committee are aware what the ‘principle’ may be.”
†I.S.D.N., XXIV (9 Jan. 1886); reprinted verbatim in MacDonnell, Knights and Kings, pages 81–82. Sergeant’s ver-
sion is in Century, pages 135–136. Sergeant also points out that the October number of C.P.M., in a review of the
newly-relaunched Palamède, defends Löwenthal against an “unjust misrepresentation” in the French magazine.
Sergeant, on page 136, is unclear whether this defense was written before or after Löwenthal bought up C.P.M.,
but that is because of his confusion over the date of the reply to the St. George’s member. Perhaps Löwenthal had
already bought the magazine in September.
138 British Chess Literature to 1914

and E. Healey, with no mention of Owen, and of 1866 or during the current year. Our engage-
the Healey name disappears in 1865. It is pos- ments are so numerous that we feel it impossible
to give the time required for a superior chess pe-
sible, though, that Frank Healey continued to
riodical. It would ill become us to be content
conduct the problem department; there are with reprinting articles which have appeared in
certainly problems by him in the volume. other Chess magazines. Originality we have ever
The Field did not comment on the edi- been determined to have, and, if that failed, to
torial change but the Western Daily Press of 10 give up our organ. For original writing in a pe-
January 1865 noted that a “new and improved riodical we have no longer the requisite leisure.25
series” had begun at the start of the year under Wayte’s memoirs in B.C.M. (1888) told
the editorship of “Herr Lowenthal, the distin- a different story, saying that part of a later tes-
guished player” and expected the magazine timonial in 1874 “went to clear a debt on the
“to eclipse even the deservedly high character Chess Players’ Magazine, which commercially
it has hitherto enjoyed.” To the first issue was not a success.”26 What Löwenthal’s “nu-
Löwenthal contributed a review of chess in merous engagements” may have been is un-
1864 and an address “To Our Readers.” clear. He now had no chess magazine and no
Also towards the end of 1864, Manches- chess column, and would not acquire new
ter businessman T. H. Hopwood (known in ones until Pardon passed on Young Men of
the chess world by his nickname “Toz”) Great Britain in 1868. Perhaps, since becom-
planned a magazine aimed principally at ing a British citizen by naturalization in 1866,
novices, with assistance from Blackburne. and losing the Era column around the same
However, he chose a bad time to launch it and time, Löwenthal had acquired new (non-chess)
found no welcome from Staunton who had sources of income which involved much of
plans of his own. Unsurprisingly, the House- his time. It is true that he did have in hand the
hold Chess Magazine was a big flop, just last- task of compiling a book, The Transactions of
ing three issues in 1865 ( January to March).24 the British Chess Association for 1866 and 1867,
Löwenthal edited the Chess Players’ Maga- which included the B.C.A.’s 1866 competi-
zine for just over two and a half years. It lasted tions and the Dundee congress. Almost cer-
just long enough to report on the Paris 1867 tainly he was receiving some official stipend
tournament, on the judging of the B.C.A. as manager of the B.C.A. (up to June 1868)
Problem Tourney (in the September issue), and some private financial support from a
and briefly on the Dundee congress (in the benefactor, specifically the Rev. William George
final issue, for October). In that number, an- Ward, of Ware in Hertfordshire, who was
nouncing the discontinuance, he claimed that chairman of the committee of the St. James’s
the monthly circulation had been increasing, Chess Club in London.27
a fact “attested by the railway stalls, as well as
other offices.” He admitted that a chess mag-
azine “cannot look for a very large circulation; The Chess World
its editorship must be assumed in the interest
of the public or for the love of art.” He put a The Chess Player’s Magazine might have
brave face on the closure, trying to pretend lasted longer if it had had no competitors. The
that the reasons were not financial, saying: British chess world was too small to support
two or three rivals, but Staunton thought oth-
It is indeed a cause for regret that a Magazine in-
erwise. Two of his comments (already quoted)
creasing in circulation should appear to collapse
as if upon a sudden emergency. No such emer- show that in 1863 he must have been thinking
gency has occurred; the simple question was about starting a new magazine. Apart from his
whether we should stop the Magazine at the end column in the Illustrated London News, Staun-
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 139

ton had been inactive in chess for several years He made medieval and foreign compar-
and had otherwise largely devoted himself to isons. He claimed English chess used to be
Shakespearian scholarship. Then in March national and strong, but now it had become
1865 he (along with the publisher Trübner) cosmopolitan and weak. Without giving a
launched his second magazine, The Chess date, but probably thinking the good time
World, subtitled “a magazine devoted to the started to become bad in the 1850s, he made
cultivation of the game of Chess, etc.” One of the claim on page 2 that:
his aims, and those of such supporters as he Years ago, when the game in this country was of
retained, was to oppose what he saw as the a thoroughly national type, we could boast of an
foreign element dominating London chess independent school of players, represented by
and the British Chess Association, not least Lewis, McDonnell, Staunton, Cochrane, and
his one-time protégé, but now despised (and Buckle, second to none in originality, in bril-
liance, and in power. Chess, both in theory and
ultimately defeated) enemy, Löwenthal.
practice, was here in its zenith; the game enjoyed
The Chess World ran for four volumes, a vitality unprecedented in any other country;
whose publication dates do not correspond individual players of eminence sprang up in all
to calendar years: the magazine appeared be- directions throughout the provinces; and no
tween March 1865 and March 1869. The con- fewer than 140 Chess Clubs were at one time in
tent is on the whole tedious reading but this active operation. But from the time when the
wholesome national feeling first degenerated
magazine first appeared at a time when there into a spurious universalism, we may date the
was little significant chess activity to report. gradual decline of English Chess. Player after
This situation improved greatly later, espe- player seceded from the arena; no new genera-
cially during its second and third volumes. tion arose to supply their place; club after club
Steinitz’s matches with De Vere, Anderssen, was closed, until at the present day scarcely forty
British Chess Societies remain alive, and unhap-
Bird and Fraser are all covered, as are the great pily many of these exist only in name.
tournaments in the summer of 1867: Paris
and Dundee. As the tournament book of the The Chess World appealed to the aid of
Paris congress is of course in French, it is cer- its countrymen and aimed to arrest “the prog-
tainly helpful to have had many of its game ress of this lamentable decay.” It probably did
annotations translated in this magazine. not help either magazine that at this time
The first number of The Chess World, for there was not a great deal of high-level chess
March 1865, began with an introductory ar- activity to report. It did not help, in Staunton’s
ticle entitled “To our Readers,” an unattrac- view naturally, that not only the Chess Player’s
tive piece of little–Englandism signed by “The Magazine but also the so-called British Chess
Editors,” as if they numbered more than one. Association (now being revived in 1865 after
Staunton began by saying on page 1: a lull) was largely in the hands of J. J. Löwen-
thal. Staunton did not have a good word to
The want of a Magazine which shall faithfully say about the British Chess Association since,
represent the interests of English Chess has long
been felt. It has been the fashion of late years to
in 1862, it had published a rival code of laws
descant with complacence on the so-called cos- instead of adopting those which he had pub-
mopolitan character of the game, and theoreti- lished in Chess Praxis. He also did have some
cally we admit the general correctness of this support, notably from Silas Angas (“Alpha”),
view; but practically the history of the game a Tyneside amateur who had competed in
teaches us that the existence of every individual the Provincial Tournament in the 1851 con-
School of Chess must depend on the preserva-
tion of a separate and distinct nationality, the gress. Pages 87–93 ran a lengthy letter by
loss of which is the immediate forerunner of “Alpha” complaining about the B.C.A. chess
decay. code.
140 British Chess Literature to 1914

The fourth issue began on page 97 with cess. Also Staunton may have had some hand
another moan about the decay of chess in En- in silencing his chief opponent, since he had
gland. The following issue reported on plans seen Löwenthal lose first his Era column and
for the Dublin Chess Congress, to coincide later his magazine. As noted, when the Era re-
with the international exhibition there. Staun- vived its column, Staunton appears to have
ton said chess events should be held sepa- been involved.
rately although his own 1851 tournament had Volume 3 of The Chess World (covering
been staged to coincide with the Great Exhi- March 1867 to March 1868) is probably the
bition. Xenophobia again, or possibly just a most interesting of the four, covering as it
personal dig at Steinitz, was to be seen in this does the two major international tournaments
sentence: “It is a most objectionable system played in the summer of 1867. It also includes
to pay the expenses of foreign players, in order articles on Philidor by George Allen and Von
that they may come over to compete for the der Lasa (also to be found in Allen’s book on
prizes offered by English amateurs.”28 Never- Philidor). This volume begins with a typically
theless when the Dublin Congress actually Stauntonian essay on “the influence of chess
happened, it was judged to have been a small upon the character.” Here is a taste:
success on the whole. Its admirers and teachers are of every nation,
The September number carried a “De- rank, profession, and trade. It has a dignity pe-
cease of the B.C.A.” letter from “Alpha” and a culiarly its own. The distinctions which it con-
complaint from W.S. Pavitt that the “dummy fers are coveted by the monarch, the noble, the
pawn” (a feature of the B.C.A.’s version of clergyman, the lawyer and the scholar. Ladies
give many hours to it and consider it time well
the pawn promotion rule) was adversely af- spent…. Prove yourself a great chess player and
fecting problems. In the February 1866 issue, you are accepted as having those talents which
another letter from “Alpha” on the “Pseudo- well used have made men great in every other
Management of the British Chess Associa- game of life…. Chess is not only an amusement,
tion” especially attacked George Medley who but the one most in harmony with the ordinary
pursuits of clever men.
had announced in a journal that the B.C.A.
was to be reconstituted. “Alpha” also de- Then on page 2 Staunton warned that
scribed Löwenthal as “being in the peculiar “for an amusement to become an all absorb-
position not merely of being a Chess ‘Cham- ing passion would be a misfortune and per-
pion’ who will not play, but of a Chess ‘Editor’ haps a disgrace.” Shilling sharks or “men who
who cannot write….” Since Staunton was let themselves out to play matches for other
also a champion who did not play, that was a people’s money” are pitiful, he continued, but
little daring, but Staunton was certainly able (thinking of Steinitz no doubt) “happily there
to write. are not many of these black sheep, and for the
By the mid-point of the second volume most part they are not English.” They are like
of The Chess World, Staunton’s position in the street musicians. Staunton admires not such
chess world was looking stronger than it had gladiators but rather wants to see “the har-
for many years. He held (for a year and a half mony of these pursuits with solid work … in
in 1866/67) a prominent position in a new the quiet country mansion” or “in the study
metropolitan chess club, the Westminster, but of the literary man making a pleasing relief to
this revival in his chess fortunes did not last. the more arduous toil of the brain,” or in the
Staunton even forced Steinitz out of the West- home of the merchant. If chess, he said, re-
minster, before a new dispute led to Staun- flecting the “rational recreation” ideas of the
ton’s quitting the club himself early in 1868 Victorians, “is often in the cottage of the in-
and forming a new one, which was not a suc- telligent workman, filling up the vacant hours
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 141

which else he might have spent less wisely, it intimated, to restore the diminished and fast
is doing good service.” diminishing reputation of the British School
of Chess. How far during its career of nearly
The closure of the C.P.M. meant that for
three years it has contributed to this end, is
just a few months, the field of chess magazine now well-known; but it is not known that all
publication was left free for Staunton. It can- which it has accomplished has been done, in
not be said that he made good use of the brief the main, at the expense in time and money
lack of competition. Then volume 4 of The of two or three individuals. But this is the fact,
Chess World, for April 1868 to March 1869, and those already acquainted with it feel, as
doubtless others will when it becomes known
was duller still and included some fictional to them, that it would be ungenerous in the ex-
items. Not only was little exciting chess being treme for this state of things to continue. An
played until late in 1868 but, most serious of organ exclusively devoted to the game is found
all, since Staunton’s resignation from the to be indispensable wherever Chess is much
Westminster Club he was now irretrievably practiced, and the expense of its maintenance
should be shared by those who participate in its
out of touch with the real “chess world,” ex-
advantages. By the energy and liberality of the
cept for a few ever-loyal friends like Wormald. gentlemen alluded to, The Chess World has al-
In the first half of this volume Staunton pub- ready taken a position which warrants our as-
lished more games from Paris 1867. Towards suming that, with very little encouragement
the end he could include games from the from those whose cause it has espoused, it will
B.C.A. championship which was won by Black- shortly become self-supporting. To ensure this,
about 200 or 250 additional subscribers are all
burne shortly before publication ceased. that are really required. Of that number about
Staunton may have become bored with the 40 have already signified their desire to sub-
editorial responsibilities and it is known his scribe. Amateurs wishing to follow their exam-
health was deteriorating. Moreover, his own ple, are requested to sign and transmit the an-
financial position was probably not strong nexed Form, addressed to “H. STAUNTON, Esq.,
DULWICH, S near London,” who has undertaken
enough to sustain a magazine that was losing
to become Treasurer. We have the honour to be,
money. He in turn was faced in 1868 with new Sir, Truly yours, THE EDITORS OF THE CHESS
competitors, one of which (discussed in the WORLD.29
next section) appealed greatly to metropoli-
tan players while the other, The Chess Players’ Apparently this rather pitiful appeal was
Quarterly Chronicle (discussed in Chapter 6), doomed to meet with little response. Actual
was geared to the tastes of provincial gentle- subscription figures and the identities of Staun-
men and appears to have received more sup- ton’s backers can only be a matter for specu-
port. lation. After the March 1869 issue the Chess
In a last attempt to sustain the magazine, World closed. There was no final announce-
Staunton issued a circular in December 1867, ment and the termination of publication ap-
probably sent out with that month’s issue, pears to have been passed over in silence by
though how it was otherwise circulated is un- chess columns. Perhaps the magazine never
known. It said that a single specimen number had many readers. For any chess magazine,
would be forwarded on receipt of 12 stamps getting new subscribers was difficult enough
(i.e., stamps to the value of one shilling.) The and keeping them could be just as hard. Sev-
circular, which was headed with the address eral years later, in his column, Potter recalled
66 Paternoster Row, London, did not state a barrister friend who could well have af-
what the cost of annual subscription would forded to continue his subscription to the City
be. The text read as follows. of London Chess Magazine but didn’t take it in
The Chess World Magazine was established, as any more because he could read it at a friend’s
a Prospectus which heralded its appearance house.30
142 British Chess Literature to 1914

The Westminster Papers And so on for a few more stanzas. Fur-

ther satires and attacks on Staunton followed
As mentioned already, one of Staunton’s in subsequent issues. The members respon-
new competitors was the Quarterly Chronicle, sible for the first volume invented (for the
which chiefly appealed to the clergy and provin- June number) a fictional editor, “Telemachus
cial gentlemen. A more direct threat, both to his Brownsmith” who was occasionally named on
circulation and to his pride, was a metropolitan the title page up to the March 1869 number
rival: The Westminster Chess Club Papers, which completed the volume. The Papers was
launched in April 1868 by a team headed by not exclusively a chess magazine; its title page
Thomas Hewitt and Boden along with Duffy also mentioned “whist, games of skill, and the
and others. Staunton himself had cofounded the drama.” The first volume of the Papers was
Westminster club in 1866 but fell out with its amateurish, and it seems that most of the orig-
managing committee the following year and for- inal writers including Hewitt and Boden had
mally resigned at some point early in 1868.* The no interest in continuing the magazine. No
appearance of a new magazine from this quarter issue for April 1869 was published.
was a stab in the back with its anti–Stauntonian Nevertheless, the magazine was re-
tone struck from the very first page. launched in May 1869 with Duffy in charge
The opening article in the Papers, pur- of the chess while the overall editor from
porting to state the magazine’s policy, was a volume 2 onwards was attorney Charles
satirical attack on Staunton’s conduct of his Mossop, whose interest was chiefly in whist.
own magazine and the I.L.N. column. Diggle, Mossop was friendly to chess, and perhaps
in his article for B.C.M., says this article was recognized that a magazine devoted to cards
written by Boden but from the style we sus- alone had even less chance of success. He
pect that either the “guilty party” was Duffy, brought in some new contributors (includ-
or else it may well have been a collaborative ing Henry “Cavendish” Jones on cards),
effort. Since Diggle already quoted a large dropped the word “Club” from the title to
part of that prefatory article, it’s worth point- give the magazine wider appeal, dispensed
ing out that the poem on page 3 also targets with the services of the mythical Brown-
Staunton. It begins as follows: smith, and retitled the monthly as simply The
Who taught me how to play at chess, Westminster Papers. Thus the magazine be-
And laud my genius to excess. came a quirky hybrid dealing with various
Ban others’ play and mine own bless? recreations of a gentleman about town. Chess,
My Master. though, always came first in each issue and
Who showed me how foes might be lower’d— Mossop allowed the chess department great
Though victors o’er the chequered board? autonomy.31
How lost games in my favour scor’d? Organizing the chess content, and writ-
My Master. ing much of it, was mostly in the hands of
Who taught me, if I’m asked to play Duffy with contributions by Zukertort (after
By champions “eager for the fray,” he came to London in 1872), Potter, and
To answer “Yes,” though meaning “Nay?” some others. Mossop’s aim seems to have
My Master. been to keep the magazine going on a break-

*Harding, Eminent, pages 67–69, had some discussion of this and, in a note, quoted Staunton saying in the I.L.N. of
20 June 1868 that he had withdrawn from the club. It is unknown when he formally resigned but it had probably
occurred quite early in the year and at any rate before the first issue of the Papers was written. Sergeant, Century, note
2 on page 146, mentions that the May 1868 number of The Chess World includes one of his notorious “anonymous”
letters, attacking the committee of the club. This was evidently his response to the opening article in the Papers.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 143

A page from the September 1876 number of the Westminster Papers.

144 British Chess Literature to 1914

even basis, paying small amounts to the pro- the price of each issue had been kept to six-
fessional writers on chess. The magazine was pence so that working men could afford it and
never published with the aim of making money, stated that “the work was done by lovers of
but after the 1869 transformation it became games for love alone, and never for profit.”32
a very good source of information about chess That was the amateur spirit in which nearly
in London and environs, without being bor- all British chess magazines were produced,
ing. As before, the chess pages in the Westmin- until B. H. Wood’s launch of Chess in 1935 was
ster Papers were often opinionated and sarcas- literally a game-changer. Mossop did have to
tic, sometimes even vitriolic (especially when endure some criticism of his decision not to
Duffy was holding the pen and his target was offer somebody else the chance to continue
Steinitz), but the magazine was also lively and the Westminster Papers. He replied to Bland,
informative and published the cream of Brit- the Design and Work chess editor, as follows.
ish chess during its lifetime—and was the (It was later explained that he had not in-
only British chess magazine to publish for the tended the letter for publication, but fortu-
whole of the year 1876. nately it was, on 31 May 1879, page 527, so we
Another noteworthy service the maga- have an insight into his thinking.)
zine performed came in its final volume, when Dear Sir,—I thank you heartily for the kindly
the Papers (which normally carried only a notice of the Westminster Papers. You say there
small ration of games in each issue) published was some hitch in the Whist department. This
a large number of the games played in the simply is that I have worked eleven years for the
cause of Chess and Whist, and eleven years is, I
great Paris 1878 international tournament, for
think, sufficient time to devote to such an amuse-
which the French had failed to produce the ment. Some of the writers say I might give up
tournament book it deserved. Eventually the the Whist; but then, first of all, Whist is my de-
Berlin archivist Emil Schallopp edited a book partment. Whist gave me more pleasure than
of that tournament, using the Papers as one Chess. With whist-players I made friends, with
of his sources, but several games remain lost chess-players I made nothing but enemies; and
until the Papers died I did not know that anyone
to posterity. outside our own circle cared for our existence.
Gradually the card-playing element had The lesson for chess players is this.—If they get
largely taken over at the parent club, which a paper they care for they must say so, and if they
chess-lovers tended to dismiss as “The Whist- want a paper that will pay its way they must ex-
minster.” Finally, on 26 June 1875 Wormald tend their indulgence to other games, because
without other games Chess cannot pay. For ten
reported in the I.L.N. that the Westminster
years I tried hard to get a good Chess paper. I
Club had ceased to exist, being absorbed into was never satisfied with it, and as no one else
another club. The Westminster Papers contin- seemed to be I gave up the Psapers, feeling that
ued for a little longer: a club magazine which I had failed to gauge the thing which chess-
had eventually become detached from its club. players wanted, and believing that a chess game
The Papers eventually ran for 11 volumes dur- and problem was all that they wanted.—Yours
very truly, CHAS. MOSSOP.
ing some of which it could even be seen as the
principal chess magazine in the world, despite Bland agreed that 11 years “is sufficient
the fact that about a third of its content (on time for a man to work in the way he has
average) was about other leisure activities in- done” for those games. But he wrote that the
cluding even croquet. Issues varied in length, Papers did get much praise and he saw no ev-
with the chess content sometimes excellent, idence that the Papers did not pay its way. He
occasionally perfunctory. added:
Suddenly Mossop called a halt in April Though chess players are, as a body, very apa-
1879. He boasted in his farewell editorial that thetic respecting chess publications and columns,
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 145

we think they are not quite so bad as our corre- W. N. Potter–H. Coburn & Dr. W. R.
spondent implies. When a man makes nothing Ballard
but enemies at Chess the cause cannot be far to
seek. Perhaps his associates are at fault, perhaps Consultation game, London 1874
not. There is nothing in Chess to create ill- Dutch Defense (A81)
feeling. That there are spites and jealousy in From the City of London Chess Magazine
Chess circles there is no doubt. We believe that volume 1, pages 36–37. Comments
more ill-feeling exists in metropolitan Chess cir-
cles now than ever; and they are not generally inside quote marks were by Steinitz.
considered beds of roses. 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nh3 d6
5. f3!?
Bland said he had never made anything
This move spoils the modern appear-
but friends at Chess. Sergeant, in his 1942 re-
ance of Potter’s previous choices! Steinitz
view of old periodicals for B.C.M., surpris-
however did not criticize it in his notes. Now-
ingly wrote that the “extinction” of the West-
adays Nh3 would normally be followed by
minster Papers was “no great loss to chess
Nf4 at some point, with the bishop left unob-
literature” but that was not the view of Bland
structed on its diagonal. Potter, however, is
or its loyal readership, and nor is it this au-
thinking in terms of preparing e2–e4.
thor’s. The chess historian can learn a lot about
5. … g6
British chess in the late 1860s and 1870s from
So we now have an anticipation of the
a close study of its pages.
Leningrad Dutch!
The closure of the Westminster Papers
6. c3 Bg7 7. Na3 Be6 8. Nf2 The point
created an opportunity for a new magazine,
of move 5 but Steinitz preferred Ng5.
which was soon taken up by Hoffer and Zuk-
8. … Bf7 9. e4 f×e4 10. f×e4 Qc7
ertort, but before discussing their magazine
11. Be3 Nbd7 12. Qe2 0–0 13. 0–0?!
there were other titles in the 1870s that must
Steinitz indicated 13. Nd3 to meet 13. …
be reviewed.
e5 by 14. d×e5 N×e5 15. N×e5 d×e5 16. Bc1.
13. … e5! 14. b3 a6 15. Rac1 Kh8
16. Rfd1 Rfe8 17. Nb1 Rad8 18. Qd2 Potter
The City of London Chess can only wait.
18. … d5 19. e×d5 B×d5 20. Bg5 B×g2
Magazine 21. K×g2 e×d4 22. c×d4 Nb6 23. Na3 Rd5
24. Nc4 Ne4 25. N×e4 R×e4 26. Re1 N×c4
One short-lived magazine of the mid– 27. b×c4 Rd×d4 (see diagram)
1870s was of more significance than most and
deserves close attention from historians of the wDwDwDwi
period. This was The City of London Chess Dp1wDwgp
Magazine which also began as the house pDpDwDpD
magazine of a club but always aimed at a After 27. … DwDwDwGw
broader audience. It first appeared in Febru- Rd×d4 wDP4rDwD
ary 1874. Although it ran for only just over DwDwDw)w
two years, in Potter it had an excellent editor. PDw!wDK)
He included few games of his own over the Dw$w$wDw
two years but perhaps felt it necessary to show
one example early on, so he modestly pre- 28. Q×d4 “A capital resource.” 28. …
sented the following draw and got Steinitz to R×e1 “If 28. … B×d4 White gains at once two
write the notes. rooks for the Q with a fine attack by 29. R×e4;
146 British Chess Literature to 1914

and if 28. … R×d4 White replies by 29. Re8† cent discoveries will be elucidated; and it is our
followed by Rf1 with a winning position.” intention, from time to time, to give a few useful
hints to the receivers of odds, whereby they may
29. Qa7 Re8?
avoid many of the pitfalls into which they are ac-
“The allies here missed an opportunity customed to fall. Thirdly, the Magazine will be
of winning the game by checking first: 29. … published at a cheap price, so as to be within the
Re2† when if 30. Kg1 (or Kh1) 30. … h6 reach of the humblest income. It would seem de-
must have won with the pawn ahead, and if sirable to add that our purposes are not in any
Kf1 or Kh3 Black could then have retreated way local, or even merely Metropolitan; on the
contrary, we aspire to be, if possible, the organ
the Re8 with greater effect, threatening a for- of all English Chess circles, and, therefore, shall
midable check with the Q.” hope for the generous support of the provincial,
30. Re1! Qf7 30. … R×e1?? would of as well as of the London players.
course allow mate in 4 by 31. Qa8†. 31. Q×b7!
Potter asked rhetorically whether there
Beautifully played, observes Steinitz.
were sufficient players of the game to support
31. … Q×b7 32. R×e8† Bf8 33. Bh6
such a magazine and he observed not only
c5† 34. Kg1 Qb1† 35. Kg2 ½–½. “Black can
that chess was growing in popularity in mid–
do no more than draw the game by perpetual
Victorian Britain, but that the level of play was
check, for if he attempt to take the a-pawn,
rising, especially among the very young.
White would escape with K to h3 and even
win the game.” However, we can scarcely, we think, be ac-
Potter’s gifts as a game annotator were cused of exaggeration, if we fix the number of
Chess players in the United Kingdom at about
on display in the Westminster Papers from
100,000. Assuming this figure, or even, out of
about 1868 onwards, but he saw a need for a deference to pessimists, dividing it by two, it is
different type of magazine, one which gave no clear that the amount of Chess provender at
space to other games such as cards and bil- present provided for such an important body is
liards. At the start of the first issue, after a lit- altogether insufficient; and the force of this con-
erary flourish of Shakespearian allusions typ- sideration is strengthened by the fact that the
Chess player, unlike his brother of the cue, re-
ical of the era, Potter got to the point: quires a great amount of literary nourishment….
The first point upon which we claim the support Another important fact is that Chess players,
of the public is, that our Magazine will be de- as a body, belong to the middle and upper classes;
voted entirely to Chess; and we say this without and there must be few among them to whom
any disparagement of our contemporary, the such a small subscription as that charged for this
Westminster Papers, which, while it appeals to a journal can be any object whatever…. We are
more general class of readers than is contem- amongst those who would be glad to see the an-
plated by us, nevertheless, never ceases to be- cient game burst through the barriers of social
stow the greatest possible attention upon that rank and gladden every walk of life, so that the
portion of its pages which is devoted to Chess…. handicraftsman and the labourer, after the day’s
Secondly, we shall publish, every month, a varied toil, might find pleasure in a recreation which
selection of games, by the finest players of the would give them no headache next day, and
day, and which will be annotated by some of the would leave their pockets in a satisfactory con-
most competent of living authorities. Our prob- dition….
lems will be by British and foreign composers Still it is a fact, and this more concerns our
of the highest standing; while our Chess intelli- present object, that Chess, as a game, is becom-
gence will be, as far as unsparing effort and un- ing extensively practised, and is making gigantic
tiring energy can make it so, a succinct but com- strides in the public esteem; so much so, that it
plete résumé of all the doings in “our petty has upon more than one notable occasion of late
burgh”; and we intend taking especial pains to aroused the general attention of society, and
collect for that purpose all kinds of interesting compelled the not very willingly accorded min-
and useful information. We shall also publish istrations of the daily press.
analyses of the openings, in which the most re- It is a curious concomitant circumstance, and
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 147

one not necessarily to have been expected, that sixth (check).” By dispensing with the full
the level of Chess strength has correspondingly stops, using numerals and abbreviating checks,
risen…. It is comical to watch a Chess playing Potter saved a lot of space and effort.
Rip Van Winkle struggling in the grasp of some
stripling, innocent altogether of facial vegeta- The City of London Chess Magazine, dur-
bles. Amusing, but painful, is the contrast pre- ing 1874, included games of all kinds: amateur
sented by the aimless wanderings, feeble little against amateur, amateur against master, ex-
dodges, and blind gropings of the one, in com- hibition and correspondence and tournament
parison with the scientific precision, ingeniously games, and also some classic games. These in-
conceived combinations, and clear-eyed fore-
cluded a previously unpublished win by Mor-
sight of the other. No fact is more obvious to the
observing mind, than that we of this generation phy against Boden in 1858. Cochrane, now re-
shall find ourselves sorely tried ere long by the tired and returned to London from Calcutta,
young knights who are now putting on their ar- sent in some previously unpublished games
mour. he had played against his regular sparring
The very first contribution published by partner, Moheschunder Bannerjee, who was
Potter was the first part of a series “Analytical probably the first Indian to master the West-
Excursions” by Zukertort, dealing with the ern form of chess.
Giuoco Piano at a fairly elementary level. This
series kept popping up through the year, John Cochrane–Moheschunder
sometimes postponed by the pressure of space. Bannerjee
Problems followed, and then some games. King’s Indian Defense, Four Pawns Attack
As with all magazines discussed in this (E76)
chapter, game scores were of course presented Notes based on those by Steinitz and
in the English descriptive notation, with the Potter in the City of London Chess
moves tabulated and annotations appended Magazine, vol. 1, pages 39–41.
as footnotes. The abbreviations † for check,
– for “to” and x for captures were unknown in 1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 “The Indian player
those days and Kt (not N) was employed for seems to be thoroughly aware of the strategi-
knight. Thus instead of PxR they would write cal principle often ignored by strong players
“P takes R” and instead of Q–B5† the fashion of the present day, that P to K3 cannot with
was “Q to B5 ch.” The use of punctuation an- advantage be played in combination with P
notations such as ! and ? was not employed to K Kt3.”
in The City of London Chess Magazine or other 3. c4 “This move renders the Queen’s
English publications at this period. Likewise, Pawn very weak. 3. c3 is much to be pre-
the numeral 1 was not used for the back rank; ferred.” Modern theory does not agree with
f1 for example was regarded as the king’s that appraisal.
bishop’s square so if the queen went there it 3. … Bg7 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. f4 0–0 6. Nf3
would be “Q to B sq” and possible ambiguities Bg4
could be resolved thus “R from K sq to K7.” Not the most critical move, yet this po-
Nevertheless, compared with the way games sition sometimes arises even today. White
were written in the 18th century (e.g., “the should break the pin with 7. Be2 after which
knight of the king to the seventh square of the he is threatening 8. e4–e5. Steinitz and Potter
bishop of the king”) the chess notation of the failed to remark on this.
1870s was fairly efficient shorthand. Even in 7. Bd3? e5! They did see that this is “A
the space of a few years, notation had simpli- good move, breaking up White’s centre.”
fied. For example, in 1866 The Chess Player’s 8. f×e5 d×e5 9. d5 N×e4!?
Magazine used such forms as “Kt. to K. R. “A very bold sacrifice but we question its
148 British Chess Literature to 1914

A page of problems from The City of London Chess Magazine, volume II (1875).
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 149

soundness.” 10. B×e4 would have given White great fertility of resource is displayed by the
the better game claimed Steinitz and Potter: Indian player.”
10. … f5 11. h3 f×e4 (11. … Bh5 12. g4 f×e4
13. N×e4) 12. h×g4 e×f3 13. g×f3 Qf6 After the games, an item entitled “The
14. Rh3. To a modern eye, it is not that clear Month” dealt with chess news, including the
that White is safe here and Cochrane’s choice announcement of the establishment of two
could be just as good. new metropolitan chess clubs, one of which
10. N×e4 f5 11. Neg5 e4 12. Ne6 e×f3! was the Athenaeum Chess Club which still
(see diagram) survives today and is London’s oldest chess
“Played in fine style; losing the ex- club.
change, but obtaining an enduring attack.” Coverage of the London–Vienna corre-
spondence match took up nearly the whole
rhw1w4kD of one issue, but regular reports resumed in
0p0wDwgp the summer of 1874. Apart from Blackburne’s
wDwDNDpD visit to Holland, the death of Staunton was
DwDPDpDw After reported, news of various American matters
wDPDwDbD 12. … e×f3 was included (including the genealogy of Paul
DwDBDpDw Morphy) and even news from Australia. An
P)wDwDP) inter-colonial match between New South
$wGQIwDR Wales and South Australia was to take place,
the third of its kind, and a chess tournament
13. N×d8?! was being held in Adelaide.
We do not know how Moheschunder A fair amount of space in the magazine
intended to continue after 13. g×f3 Qh4† was devoted to problems, to book reviews and
14. Ke2 and the magazine’s annotators neglect to games played at odds. It was common for
to mention this possibility. Black obviously masters to concede odds of queen’s knight to
has a lot of possibilities for piece or exchange amateurs and handicap tournaments were
sacrifices. The heavy defensive commitment held. In one such case, a Mr. Cohen employed
this would have imposed on White would not the French Defense against Zukertort who an-
have appealed to many 19th century players. swered (1. e4 e6) 2. f4 d5 3. e5 and won in 29
Objectively, however, Black’s play may be un- moves. Potter observed of Black’s first move:
sound. This defence is much favoured by receivers of
13. … f×g2 14. Rg1 B×d1 15. Ne6 Bg4 the above odds, and the reason is obvious.
16. N×f8 Thereby they avoid the dangers of all the gam-
Maybe 16. N×g7 (as Cochrane said later) bits and obtain an apparently equal position
was better but Black then remains a pawn with a piece ahead, but what is the frequent, if
not the usual result? The strong player, pushing
ahead.
all his pawns on the King’s Side, is able to deploy
16. … K×f8 17. R×g2 Nd7 18. Bf4 Nc5 his forces behind them with rapidity and effect,
19. Kd2 Rc8 20. Kc2 Bf3 21. Rf2 N×d3 while on the other hand, the weaker player’s ad-
22. K×d3 Be4† 23. Ke3 b5 24. c×b5 B×d5 vantage on the Queen’s side is slower in devel-
25. Rd2 Bc4 26. Rad1 Bf6 27. Bh6† Kg8 oping, and its conduct requires a nicety of cal-
28. Kf4 Re8 29. b3 B×b5 30. Rc1 Be2! culation such as one who receives the odds of a
Knight can scarcely be expected to possess.
Threatening 31. … Re4† followed by 32. …
g5. This logic is hard to fault and the para-
31. Re1 Re4† 32. Kg3 Bh4† 0–1. “An graph shows the clarity typical of Potter’s ex-
exceedingly interesting game, and one in which positions. A “movement” was “set on foot” to
150 British Chess Literature to 1914

raise and present a substantial testimonial to On the contrary, the prevailing type of play here
Löwenthal, who had been seriously ill. The would, in all probability, be miserably unscien-
tific and barbarous.
initial subscription list included several emi-
nent names from the chess world and public On the question of Staunton’s character,
life, including Lord Randolph Churchill (fa- however, Potter was not afraid to be negative.
ther of Sir Winston). The same issue carried The deceased often acted, not only with signal
a laudatory three-page obituary of Staunton, lack of generosity, but also with gross unfairness
which began: towards those whom he disliked, or from whom
he had suffered defeat, or whom he imagined
The eventful career of the late Howard Staunton likely to stand between him and the sun. His at-
has naturally been the chief topic of the past tacks upon Anderssen, Williams, Harrwitz,
month, and very divergent views have been put Lowenthal and Steinitz must ever be considered
forward concerning him. The Westminster Pa- as a sad misuse of his vigorous intellect, espe-
pers, Glasgow Herald, and Liverpool Albion, con- cially as they were often conducted in a manner
cur in considering the deceased, in his prime, to not at all consistent with a truthful spirit; nor
have been the finest player of his day. The Figaro were his innuendoes concerning Morphy other-
places him in the very foremost rank of Euro- wise than an utterly unworthy means of getting
pean players. Land and Water expresses no opin- out of an engagement, which he could have ei-
ion upon the point; while the Field considers ther declined with a good grace at first, or after-
that Buckle was Staunton’s superior. We our- wards have honourably asked to be released
selves usually place our faith in results; they are from.
sometimes fallacious, but explanations of them Nevertheless, all said and done, Staunton was,
in a vitiating sense are usually much more so. as we have often heard a distinguished enemy of
From 1843 to 1851 Staunton defeated all oppo- his say, emphatically a MAN. There was nothing
nents whom he came in contact with, and during weak about him, and he had a backbone that
that time he was continually engaged in playing never curved with fear of any one. Of him may
matches; moreover, during the same period, it be averred, what was said of the renowned Duke
was claimed for him by his friends, and, as it of Bedford by Louis the Eleventh, when the
would appear, was the general opinion, that he courtiers of the latter were venting their depre-
was the strongest living player. It was open to ciatory scoffs over the tomb of the great Eng-
any one to question that proposition in a prac- lishman, “There lies one, before whom if he were
tical manner; some, in fact did, and they were still alive, the boldest amongst us would trem-
decisively defeated. Appearances, therefore, ble.” For the rest we consider that Staunton was
would seem to indicate that at this time there beginning of late to change for the better in his
was no stronger Chess expert than Staunton, if pen and ink dealings with others, and might, had
indeed, there were any so strong. life been spared him, have attained to a softened
and mellow old age.
From 1851, Potter admitted, Staunton
could no longer be considered pre-eminent. The next issue reported on the Chicago
However, he served chess in other ways, not Congress, won by Captain George Henry
only as organizer of the London 1851 tourna- Mackenzie (1837–1891), a Scot by birth, who
ment but also as a writer. was a professional soldier in his youth and had
As an author, Staunton’s influence upon Chess
immigrated to America to fight on the Union
play in this country has been immense, and it is side in the Civil War. Presenting Mackenzie’s
no exaggeration to say that his literary labours win against the tournament runner-up, Hos-
are the basis upon which English Chess Society, mer, Potter credited the Hartford Daily Times
as at present constituted, stands. Had it not been as the source of the moves. Other items from
for the educating influence of his many and im-
that journal were often quoted in the maga-
portant Chess works, the practice of the game
would have been far from attaining to the high zine. It seems that Mrs. Gilbert of Hartford,
order of excellence by which it is now charac- Connecticut, was a good source of American
terised amongst English Chess players as a body. chess information for Potter.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 151

The final issue of the first volume (for that any real useful “self-registering board”
January 1875) included a lengthy and critical was possible before the invention of the com-
review by the now- retired Löwenthal of puter and modern sensory board! Later in the
George Gossip’s large book The Chess-player’s year, the magazine published a letter from two
Manual. That same issue reported that from Dutchmen who had been called upon to give
February 1 the magazine would be enlarged an independent report. It seems that the pieces
from 24 to 32 pages with the same price as had to be placed in holes in the center of each
before. Subscribers in the United Kingdom square, making a mark on a piece of paper, the
paid 6 shillings (post free), with single num- same size as the board, to be placed between
bers sixpence each. The price for the Euro- board and table. Then a knob at the side of
pean continent, the colonies and America was the board had to be turned before a move for
seven shillings and sixpence. A cloth-bound the opponent could be registered. At any time
volume 1 could be ordered for seven shillings. after the game, the marks on the paper could
It appeared at this stage that Potter’s venture be transcribed to create a game score in the
was prospering. Then the February 1875 issue, usual notation. The verdict seems to have been
the first of volume 2, included in the news that the invention was ingenious and did work,
items the following intriguing paragraph. but was perhaps not very practical, especially
for match games played with clocks.
A self-registering Chessboard has long been a
want in the chess world, but if the information A few issues later, a second and lengthy
we have received on very good authority be cor- appreciation of Staunton’s career was con-
rect it need be so no longer. We are informed tributed by Von der Lasa, editor of the Hand-
that Dr. G. F. W. Baehr, Professor at the Poly- buch des Schachspiels, who stressed Staunton’s
technic School, Delft, Holland, has, after much health problems in the early 1850s at the time
trouble, succeeded in inventing a board which
they met for some friendly games. It is note-
registers each move as it is made. Its mechanism
is so simple that it is not likely to get out of order worthy that neither Potter nor Von der Lasa
even with rough treatment, and the cost price make any reference to Paul Morphy, which
will be low enough to enable all lovers of the may surprise those who were brought up on
game to purchase it…. We shall be glad to hear the view that Staunton ducked a match with
of the invention having been properly tested by the young American genius in 1858. On the
competent judges, and a report made, so that the
Chess public may have a guarantee that it will contrary, it is clear from their accounts that
satisfactorily answer the intended purpose…. such a match was never a serious possibility,
We think there is nothing like bringing such given the state of Staunton’s health and the
claims to a practical issue…. That such a Chess- literary work he was engaged upon in the late
board would be an inestimable boon to match- 1850s.
players is clear enough, while even in ordinary
The second issue of volume 2, from
games the players would like such an easy method
of scoring their moves, so that they might play pages 42–44, reported the death of Cecil de
them over afterwards and see where they had Vere, who died of tuberculosis in his 30th
gone astray. Not the least advantage to be de- year, alcohol probably being a contributory
rived from the invention, if it answer its purpose, factor to his early demise. Potter called this “a
would be the preservation of beautiful and in- serious loss to the English chess world,” say-
structive games played by great masters such as
are now daily lost for want of being registered. ing De Vere was one of the players who “have
raised so high the reputation of this country,
It would have been a wonderful inven- being as they were the exponents of a school
tion, had it really been so easy as it sounded, of Chess, which, as we believe, for soundness,
but the technology of 1875 could not have depth, accuracy of calculation, and breadth of
been up to such a task. It is hard to imagine grasp cannot be matched anywhere, Germany
152 British Chess Literature to 1914

certainly not excepted.” De Vere had won the lacking in news of events in their own coun-
first official British Chess Championship at tries.
the age of 21 and had performed creditably in There must be Chess events of interest happen-
the Paris 1867 and Baden-Baden 1870 inter- ing each month in the Empire of Austria such as
national tournaments. “In playing he was pa- one would suppose both home and foreign read-
tient and considerate to his opponents, and ers would like to hear about, but they go un-
was one who would have scorned to play any recorded. It seems to occur to none of them that
the daily life of Chess requires the stimulus and
trick or take any mean advantage of them.” As
encouragement of a public recognition.
chess correspondent of The Field, he proved
less successful, as noted in Chapter 3. Anno- It seems that these publications concen-
tating one of his games, Potter spoke of De trated on problems and master games, ne-
Vere’s “usual straightforward style. He always glecting the amateur sphere that Potter was
chose the nearest road to the end, and was not serving so well in Britain. The corollary of this
one to delight in elaboration where none was was that the City of London Chess Magazine
required.” The same issue also carried a re- frequently gave space to games of low quality,
view of the second edition of Wormald’s Chess although they contained episodes instructive
Openings, consideration of which is postponed to the weaker player when pointed out by
to the chapter on chess books. good annotators like Potter himself and Zuk-
Several issues of The City of London ertort. However, some sparkling master
Chess Magazine carried articles by Potter in games and occasional quality amateur games
his series “A few hints to receivers of odds,” were included too, making a well-balanced
which is of no relevance to players of today magazine.
but other magazines also sometimes included There was also a fair amount of space
such articles. Potter occasionally played given to political wranglings within London
matches against amateurs conceding odds, chess, including disputes over the rules of
usually with success. The news items also, the City of London Club which was semi-
being ephemeral, would probably not be of associated with the magazine. Potter himself,
interest to any general reader nowadays, and unwisely but perhaps inevitably, became
yet an historian might find within these pages dragged into this. A special general meeting
some snippets of interest. In May 1875 the of the club was held on November 12, with a
news section included a somewhat sarcastic large attendance. There were at least three
observation about the principal French chess contentious issues, which the present author
magazine of the day. “La Stratégie for April is has dealt with in another book.33
not very interesting to those who expect to If not for these disputes in the parent
find some account of French Chess doings. club in the second year, The City of London
We suppose this is because here is nothing Chess Magazine might have continued to be
going on in France worth recording. Chess, published for much longer. The same Decem-
in fact, seems struck with paralysis in the ber 1875 issue that carried the announcement
country of Philidor.” That was a bit sarcastic! of the Potter–Zukertort match (played in No-
Later in the year Potter was able to report that vember and early December), was also the
the seaside resort of Trouville was popular penultimate number of the magazine. The lat-
with French chess players for their summer ter part of the second volume of the magazine
holidays. Potter also commented on various gave good space to this match, and rightly so.
journals he received, including the Oesterre- In view of the preponderance of 1. e4 e5 in
iches Schachzeitung which he finds (like other the Magazine (still the fashion among most
unnamed Continental magazines) strangely players at this time), it is interesting that both
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 153

masters employed closed openings. It carried be said to have been without some effect in
on its final page the following announcement, clearing away any lingering hesitation as to
whether or not we could not have managed,
which was probably no surprise to most of the
though it would have been at a great sacrifice, to
readers after the report of the special general remain at our post.
meeting of the City of London Club. Potter With respect to the Problem Prizes offered by
may also have had other reasons for wishing us, we shall take means to have the decision of
to step down, but the resignation of several of the judges announced in the various Metropol-
his friends (including his principal contribu- itan Chess columns, after which they will be duly
given as awarded. We have nothing more to say
tor) from the club would have made contin- at present, but next month we shall very likely
uing as editor very difficult. Without directly have a few words to add by way of farewell to
blaming these difficulties, Potter wrote: our readers. We have always looked upon them
We beg to announce that, after the appearance as our friends, as likewise masters, whom we
of the January number, which will complete the were proud to serve. We shall part from them
Second Volume, The City of London Chess Mag- with regret, and there will be for some time a
azine will cease to exist. The reason of its fairly vacuum in our thoughts which it will be difficult
prosperous career being brought to a close is, to fill; but as it is, so it is, and next month we
that it has become impossible for us any longer write—FINIS.
to spare the time which hitherto we have will-
ingly devoted to the service of Caissa. Our in- The final issue began with the result of
tention to retire upon this account from the Ed- the Zukertort–Potter match, and then went
itorship of the Magazine was formed some time on to other news, of London chess clubs in
ago, and has been known in our own circle. Of particular. Also mentioned was that Skipworth
course it did not necessarily follow that the pub-
lication of the Magazine would be discontinued,
was standing down as editor of the Chronicle
for there might, perhaps, have been found some and his successor was to be Jenkin, as narrated
one with sufficient time and inclination to whom in the next chapter. Potter did indeed post a
we might have resigned our pen. However, the short closing message at the end of this issue,
Proprietors, upon our giving them notice of our but his real farewell was the foregoing an-
being obliged to retire from our Editorial posi-
nouncement. This issue also discussed at some
tion, have not seen their way to continue the
publication of the Magazine, and it must there- length on page 357, as follows:
fore be discontinued.
Very sad news comes from America—viz. that
The City of London Chess Magazine does not
Morphy has become insane, and is confined in
go down under any pecuniary difficulty. Though
a lunatic asylum. This intelligence does not sur-
the result of its two years’ working may or may
prise ourselves at all, for about two years since
not show any profit—that appears to be at pres-
a Chess-player well known in this country, who
ent uncertain—yet it has paid its expenses, and
was then lately from the States, gave us an ac-
the small capital which the Proprietors invested
count of a visit he paid to the great American in
therein will be returned to them, without any
New Orleans. According to our informant Mor-
deduction. Neither have the internal dissensions,
phy presented the appearance of a man out of
which, unhappily, have been fermenting in the
his mind, and his mother, who was present at
Metropolitan Chess world, been the cause of
the interview, trembled at hearing the visitor at-
dissolution; though how they might have af-
tempt to engage her son in conversation, for the
fected the prosperity of the Magazine, if it had
game was never allowed to be mentioned in
continued to appear, would have remained to be
Morphy’s presence, nor was there a Chess-board
seen. We think it very likely, however, that they
kept in the house, and, in fact, he had not played
would have caused us to consider the advisabil-
a game for years….34
ity of our present step, apart from the primary
necessity imposed upon us by our own private
concerns; and certainly the fact of such dissen- Potter went on to reject the suggestion
sions prevailing, and of our having become, un- that blindfold play might have been the cause
fortunately, personally involved in them, cannot of Morphy’s illness.
154 British Chess Literature to 1914

Chess, of course, may have been the cause of

Morphy’s mental fall; he may have loved it not
Other English Magazines
wisely but too well…. However, the disaster of the 1870s
which has overtaken him may be accounted for
in another way. Success came to him too early
and was too complete. So far as Chess was con-
Two minor English magazines that ap-
cerned he had conquered the world, and hence- peared during the lifetime of the Westminster
forth he had no motive in life. Papers must also be mentioned. The first of
these to appear was the Amateur Chess Mag-
In terms of balance and quality of infor- azine: A Monthly Miscellany of General Lit-
mation and games, The City of London Chess erature, which began in June 1872, published
Magazine could be seen as a model for chess in London. Its editor at first employed an un-
magazines to come, and indeed it is likely usual notation using the letter T (for tower)
that it was regarded as such by the propri- instead of the customary R for rook, and S
etors of The Chess-Monthly a few years later. (for German Springer) instead of Kt for
Potter himself was to show his journalistic knight. The first numbers included articles by
skill again when he took over the column in a Dr. James Kendrick about early chess pieces
Land and Water a few months after the mag- discovered by archaeologists. Correspondence
azine closed. tournaments were organized for both chess
Yet this was not the final word on The and checkers. In all, three volumes of the Am-
City of London Chess Magazine. Some people ateur were published between June 1872 and
wanted to continue it into a third volume, June 1874, after which it ended without warn-
maybe even Steinitz, but eventually Wisker ing.
got the chance. However he only managed to There had been a significant change with
produce one issue, for March 1876, which is the ninth issue, in May 1873, when it was reti-
quite rare. This was probably a financial risk, tled The Amateur: A Monthly Magazine of Gen-
although he too was a strong player who, only eral Literature and Miscellaneous Amusements.
a few years previously, had won the Gold Cup This carried an explanation “to our readers”
of the British Chess Association by his tour- explaining that “we have received several
nament victories in 1870 and 1872. He had hints, that our Miscellany had ceased to be
also run a more than competent column in entirely devoted to Chess, and therefore could
The Sportsman for over a year, in addition to scarcely be still termed an Amateur Chess
taking over that of Land and Water from Löw- Magazine.” The checkers contributor was
enthal. The problem was that his health was named as F. Bownas. The original monthly
breaking and in early April he had to with- publication schedule was reduced to quarterly
draw from all chess activities, soon sailing for shortly before the end.
Australia, where he died some years later. Several issues included lists of subscribers
There is little to be said about the one issue who were called “members” and some of the
he produced; it had some coverage of the one- names may seem quite significant to histori-
sided Blackburne–Steinitz match, played in ans of chess. Among the early members were
February, but it was clear that Wisker lacked Charles Benbow of Birmingham (who later
the energy to annotate the games thoroughly became a chess editor in New Zealand), Fran-
as he might have done a few years earlier. The cis Charles Collins (noted in the problem
upshot was that two magazines failed in the world and later chess editor of Brief), C. J.
same month (both the City of London and the Lambert (a prominent player from Exeter for
Chronicle), leaving historians with a serious several decades), Thomas Long of Dublin (a
paucity of sources for the rest of 1876. chess author), Major C. Minchin of Penzance
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 155

(brother of J. I. Minchin of the St. George’s in 1875, three years before he graduated with
Club), William Nash of St. Neot’s (later an a B.A. degree—a reversal of the normal se-
important organizer of postal tournaments), quence. So he may have begun theological
Mary Rudge of Leominster, and some others college in London before going to Cambridge.
whose names crop up in other contexts over While at Cambridge he played against
the next ten or twenty years. What they Oxford in three university matches (1876 to
thought of the magazine is unknown but the 1878), being Cambridge captain on the last
Westminster Papers remarked that the second occasion. Chatto was ordained a priest of the
number “has disappointed the very moderate Church of England in 1879 and then went to
expectations engendered by the first.”35 north-east Yorkshire where at first he was cu-
Something more should be said about rate of East Coatham, near Redcar, and assis-
the man behind this magazine, James Thomas tant master of Coatham High School, up to
Chipperfield Chatto (1854–1907). Although 1881. Then he became vicar of a Dorset parish
prolific, he can probably be reckoned as con- and various other clerical positions in differ-
sistently the least successful of Victorian chess ent parts of England followed, culminating in
editors and postal tournament organizers. his becoming rector of Blunsdon, Wiltshire,
Chatto began his journalistic career as a young in the diocese of Bristol, in 1900.
adult when at some point in 1872 he was the Other minor columns followed, with as-
chess editor of Puzzler’s Manual which only sociated postal tournaments. In 1874, while
lasted one issue. He began the Amateur Chess still a Cambridge undergraduate, he started a
Magazine in June the same year and ended it correspondence tournament in Lads of the Vil-
shortly before going to university two years lage.37 In 1875 the City of London Chess Mag-
later. azine referred to Chatto as “an old worker in
Some details of James Chatto’s family Caïssa’s orchard,” the editor (Potter) probably
can be gleaned from the 1861 census, when he being unaware that Chatto was barely 21 years
was said to be six years old. His father Robert, old. The London and Brighton Magazine (a six-
a London curate, was then 55 and the house- penny monthly) was to start a chess column
hold included a half-sister Elizabeth Chatto, in 1876, with a 64 player postal tournament,
a 21-year-old teacher. James’s mother, 26- but that was cancelled when the magazine
year-old Catharine Chatto, was (unusually for closed.38 There were just three chess articles.
a middle-class married woman of that time) Chatto entered the first Bow Bells tournament
in employment; she was said to be an account- in 1874, as did several others who later played
ant in the Gray’s Inn Road, near their St. Pan- in the Postcard Match against the United
cras home. Possibly her husband was in poor States, but lost his first round game on time.
health and the household needed her income. He was nevertheless a strong player and won
In 1867, Chatto’s father died. With this back- the only game that has survived of his four
ground it is perhaps unsurprising that he had against America.39
to amuse himself for many hours and became While a curate at Redcar, he began a col-
interested in chess and other games. umn and postal tournament in the Royal Ex-
Family circumstances may also have had change and Weekly Journal of Social Topics, an
something to do with Chatto’s delay in going upmarket buy-and-sell and what’s-on maga-
up to Cambridge University as a student. He zine. This was possibly part of a late attempt
matriculated in the Michaelmas Term of 1874 to attract new readership or reposition the
when he was already 20 years old, which would journal in the market. Chatto soon relinquished
have been about two years older than most that column to another editor, Palmer.40 In
freshmen.36 However, he was ordained deacon the 1880s he tried his hand at chess editing
156 British Chess Literature to 1914

again, with a revived column briefly in the Fi- The February 1873 number of The Hud-
garo from 2 July to 15 October 1887. Next dersfield College Magazine carried a review:
Chatto ran the column in the Norwich Mer-
We have received the first number of a new pub-
cury from 15 February 1888 to the end of lication, entitled The Recreationist, which “is in-
1889, during which time he managed to com- tended to be a magazine of general sports and
plete two tournaments. The first had eight pastimes, and a medium of communication be-
players but the second had only four entrants, tween admirers of the scientific games of Chess
two of whom withdrew. His last column was and Draughts.” We can speak favourably of the
Chess department, which contains a couple of
probably in the West London Advertiser from
correspondence games, now becoming so pop-
24 February 1894 to 25 January 1896. While ular, but for which we confess we have not much
it is easy to make fun of the Rev. James Chatto, liking… . The Draught section is remarkably
Philip Sergeant, who met him on several oc- able, and on the whole we think the new venture
casions, had a good word to say of him: deserves the support of those who delight in un-
ravelling the tangled skeins which other minds
[He was] a most versatile person. He had stud- have ingeniously twisted. The magazine will be
ied medicine and law, as well as theology and published monthly, and its price is threepence.
chess. At chess, for which he used to visit my fa-
ther occasionally till early morning hours, he Volume 1, which had 12 issues, ran from
was a player of the old school, and abnormally January 1873 to January 1874. Whyld lists “B.
slow. At the same time he was a great enthusiast, S. Barrett” as editor but this name is not to be
and worked hard for the game in Hammersmith
and Kensington.41
found in this author’s notes. When The Recre-
ationist was started in Southampton, F. J. B.
The Recreationist only requires a brief Peters was overall editor, with James White
mention, but since the entries for it in both (of Leeds) contributing the chess content
Whyld’s Chess Columns and Betts’s bibliogra- (and organizing correspondence tourneys)
phy are somewhat misleading, more details and J. Hedley, the checkers section. There was
are given here. Firstly, it needs to be said that no May 1873 issue, publication then being
this was primarily a checkers magazine and transferred to White in Leeds. The June 1873
has very little interest for chess historians. number was announced as a “new series,” with
There were also puzzle pages. In its second the price raised to fourpence. The issue num-
volume there was no chess at all. bering and pagination continued from April.
This author read The Recreationist in the The subtitle was now changed to the more ac-
Royal Dutch Library many years ago. Their curate description: A Monthly Magazine of
copy has a bookplate from the Brooklyn Pub- Draughts, Chess and Puzzles.
lic Library, the volume having been presented Peters and White were coeditors from
to them by W. T. Call (author of the Literature June 1873 to the end of volume 1. In Novem-
of Checkers bibliography). Meindert Niemeijer ber the subtitle was shortened to Draughts,
seems to have acquired it somehow, as it is in Chess and Puzzles. In volume 2 (which had
the 1955 printed catalogue of the Dutch col- only ten issues, from February through No-
lection. The only public library in the U.K. to vember 1874), it was a checkers magazine
hold The Recreationist is probably the Mitchell only. White was named as publisher with
Library in Glasgow, as part of the extensive Hedley as editor and there was no more men-
Hillhouse Collection of checkers literature. tion of Peters. Some articles in the second vol-
The Recreationist is also listed in the Cleveland ume, prompted by some comments by Edgar
(Ohio) public library catalogue as part of the Allan Poe, made comparisons between chess
John G. White Collection but it is unknown and checkers which were unfavorable to the
whether their holdings are complete. former.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 157

Hoffer and Zukertort’s

Magazine
One of the most important Victorian
chess magazines, The Chess-Monthly, ran for
a highly respectable 17 volumes beginning in
September 1879 until it closed with the Au-
gust 1896 issue. The editors from the start
were the immigrants Hoffer and Zukertort;
then it was Hoffer only from Zukertort’s death
towards the end of volume 9 in 1888. For the
first three years Hoffer could devote most of
his energies to the magazine, but from volume
4 onwards he was also conducting the chess
column of The Field and must have been very
busy.
Leopold Hoffer, drawn by Wallis McKay for
The closure of the Westminster Papers in
Chess Life-Pictures.
the summer of 1879 had created a vacuum
which the launch of this magazine was de- spoke of the causes of failure of former mag-
signed to fill, but in style and content it fol- azines conducted by amateurs. He pointed
lowed the pattern of The City of London Chess out that both the Westminster Papers and the
Magazine with a good balance between news, City of London Magazine “enjoyed a good cir-
games, problems and various articles. More- culation, and brought not a pecuniary loss but
over, with their extensive Continental con- a reasonable gain to their respective propri-
tacts, Hoffer and Zukertort were well placed etors.”42 The following week Duffy wrote dis-
to report on developments throughout the missively in his column of 23 August in the
chess world, but the coeditors of The Chess- Illustrated London News:
Monthly, even before they started, had two
difficulties to contend with: they were both We have received a prospectus for a new period-
ical, entitled the Chess Monthly, the first number
foreigners and professionals. The prospectus
of which is announced to be published in Sep-
they issued in August 1879 already drew some tember next … at the price of a shilling. Seeing
fire from the British amateur brigade, headed that London has already a Chessplayer’s Chronicle
by MacDonnell in the Illustrated Sporting and issued monthly at half the cost, there does not
Dramatic News. appear to be any good reason for attempting to
“Mars” in his Chess Chat on the 16th establish another magazine running on precisely
the same lines—news, games (original and se-
had said of the editors, rather unfairly: “As for lected), problems and reviews, etc. It is, however,
their fitness for such work, I know little or a matter for the consideration of the promoters
nothing, but the little is not over favourable of the new adventure whether or not there is a
to them.” It is true that Hoffer, at the start, genuine demand for their wares. It concerns the
was not well known outside London and had public only, as suggesting the reflection that a
great deal of talent must be unnecessarily dif-
not yet a track record in chess literature. Prin-
fused, which if concentrated might serve to pro-
cipally MacDonnell objected to some of the duce a chess journal worthy of the Victorian age.43
language in the prospectus (which appears
not to have survived) which he considered In the Introduction to their first issue,
somewhat supercilious, especially when they Hoffer and Zukertort indirectly replied to
158 British Chess Literature to 1914

these comments. They stated that their inten- tially thought it would “prove unsuccessful.
tion was to produce “a high-class Chess Mag- The magazine has not got a very cordial re-
azine.” They were “not over-sanguine” in their ception from its English rivals, and the price
expectations of making much money from it will not contribute to increased circulation.”45
and “we are actuated not altogether by mer- Nevertheless, it received enough sup-
cenary motives.” Against the objection that port to continue, as the editors noted at the
they were not English, they wrote that “We start of the August 1880 issue. “Trusting to
are Chess-players, and the Chess-Monthly shall the kind support of all lovers of an impartial
be the organ of the Chess World, and not of publication devoted entirely to Chess, we
a nationality or clique.” Fortunately for them, pledge ourselves to increased energy, and shall
the third principal London weekly columnist, strive to elevate the Chess-Monthly to the high-
Potter, was much fairer and waited until he est standard of excellence.” They said they had
had the first issue in his hands before giving broken even financially and thanked the play-
an opinion. He said that its strength was games ers, writers, club secretaries and problem com-
annotated “by the most capable of living an- posers who had supported them. The maga-
alysts,” but the magazine was rather lacking in zine was here to stay.
news and “phraseological liveliness.” The ed- Particularly in the matter of games and
itors took note and the news section was soon international news, the Chronicle could not
enlarged. As for the language, Hoffer (like compete. Its editor, the Rev. Charles Edward
Löwenthal before him) wrote in clear and Ranken (1828–1905), though well-meaning
functional English but dry, without any pre- and a competent amateur player, was a country
tensions to style. As for what Duffy and Mac-
Donnell had said, Potter’s view was:
While we remain steadily adherent to the opin-
ions we have often enough expressed that the
foreign players resident among us can have no
claim to be our rulers, though they are welcome
to be our guests, we do not share in the appre-
hensions felt by some that a chess magazine ed-
ited in England by foreigners is necessarily a step
towards the assertion of an alien predominance.44

Potter also indirectly met Duffy’s sug-

gestion that the Chess Player’s Chronicle was
adequately supplying the needs of chess play-
ers. He said that the September number of
that magazine had plenty of chess intelligence
“though in that dry, statistical style which the
Chronicle affects. The game department is
weak, as it always has been in this periodical.
There is not a single original game in the en-
tire number.” This indeed put the finger on
the matter. The meat of The Chess-Monthly
was to be its reports on major matches and Johannes Zukertort, coeditor with Hoffer of
tournaments, and while Zukertort was alive, The Chess-Monthly. The picture is a sketch
readers could be assured of high quality analy- entitled “A Chess Apostle” in the Westminster
sis. Nonetheless, Dundee master Fraser ini- Papers, IX ( June 1876) facing page 25.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 159

gentleman living in a small Worcestershire signed from The Field in 1882 and Hoffer took
town, far from the cities where the best chess over the column. It is doubtful whether Hof-
in the country was being played and without fer had engineered the ousting of Steinitz, but
contacts to chess players abroad. A more con- that is what the latter chose to believe. Later,
scientious editor than Skipworth had been, he in America, Steinitz used the pages of the In-
would eventually come to recognize that the ternational Chess Magazine to attack Hoffer
Chronicle was not good enough for the 1880s who, especially after Zukertort’s death, was
and after The Chess-Monthly had survived its equally culpable. This culminated in the first
first year and was prospering, Ranken was to issue of volume 11 (September 1889) when
join forces with those who sought to produce The Chess-Monthly carried a defamatory poem
a better English magazine. The British Chess punning on Steinitz’s name and comparing
Magazine was launched in January 1881 and him to eggs of a louse inhabiting a pig-sty. The
yet the Chronicle struggled on in new hands. poem is included in full in Landsberger’s bi-
So from 1881 onwards there were often ography. Readers with access to the Moravian
three chess magazines in England and the ri- Chess reprint of the magazine’s Volume 11 can
valry became intense. Moreover they also had compare the original pages 7–9 (at the back
in some years some serious American com- of the book) with the replacement pages that
petition, as discussed in the next section. Hoffer was obliged to send out for inclusion
There were no clear winners in the battle for in bound volumes.
circulation, with probably nobody making One has to wonder whether all the space
any money from their publications, but the given to these analytical controversies and,
chess consumer had a wide choice and per- later, personal attacks helped the circulation
haps some of the better-off players even sub- of the magazines concerned. Did the sub-
scribed to all of them. Somehow The Chess- scribers look forward to reading the latest
Monthly did find and for a long time retain a twists or take out their chess sets to see
readership, although after Zukertort died in whether they agreed with one party or the
1888, Hoffer struggled to keep it going; in other in their analytical disagreements about
1896 he stopped after 17 volumes. some detail in a game? Or would they rather
The editors, from time to time, showed have read something more useful? Perhaps
poor judgment in allowing their magazine to when the time came to renew a subscription,
be dragged into controversies, which, especially many switched their allegiance from The Chess-
where Steinitz was concerned, were arguments Monthly to the British Chess Magazine.
he could not win. The first “Ink War” as Whyld Zukertort’s success in the London 1883
liked to call it, broke out in the December 1881 international tournament represented the high
number after they printed a six-page letter from point for the magazine. However, this meant
Steinitz in which the chess editor of The Field that increasingly he was in demand abroad and
complained about criticisms that had appeared his extensive traveling put a strain on the mag-
of his annotations to some games from the azine schedule, and also on Hoffer who some-
Blackburne versus Zukertort match earlier that times had to apologize for delays in publication.
year. The following issue carried no fewer than Then after his loss in the world championship
14 pages of rather intemperate reply by Hoffer match Zukertort’s health broke down.
and so it continued. Steinitz’s biographer, Kurt One excellent feature was introduced to
Landsberger, devoted several pages to the bick- the magazine after the death of Zukertort.
ering that followed.46 From the start of volume X onwards each issue
Personal attacks between Hoffer and began with “Our Portrait Gallery”—a monthly
Steinitz became more bitter after the latter re- profile of a prominent player or eminent
160 British Chess Literature to 1914

amateur with his photograph on the front. magazines circulated in North America and
These pieces would usually be accompanied to a limited extent the reverse was also the
by a career summary and a selection of their case. The present author having no preten-
best games. The first person to be honored in sions to expertise on American chess publi-
this way was Isidor Gunsberg (1854–1930), cations, the following is primarily biblio-
in the September 1888 number. graphical in nature.
The Chess-Monthly finally came to an end The first American Chess Magazine, ed-
in the summer of 1896. Readers of the June ited by Stanley, and some titles from the 1850s,
number were warned that the next issue would were already discussed early in this chapter.
be a double number in August because Hoffer The Civil War and its aftermath effectively
was going to be away for a month. The very curtailed chess publication in the next decade
last issue was a double number for July and Au- and it was not until 1870 that the next chess
gust, reporting on the Nuremberg congress. periodical emerged in the United States: The
“It is the second time in seventeen years that Dubuque Chess Journal, begun by Orestes Au-
the Editor has been compelled to take the lib- gustus Brownson, Jr. (1828–1892). This and
erty of breaking the regular issue of The Chess- associated titles had a complex publishing his-
Monthly.” Nothing was said about closing. tory which is not well reflected by the sum-
Readers were still informed about subscription mary in Betts, where it falls under the entries
rates and asked, if in arrears, to send in the #7-14, 7-22, 7-24, and 7-26. On a 2007 visit
money due, but the magazine never appeared to the John G. White Collection in Cleveland,
again. After that, Hoffer concentrated on Ohio, this author made a careful memoran-
newspaper columns, which he accumulated. dum of what was found there. This, supple-
A curiosity is that Hoffer silently changed mented by later inspection of some of the vol-
the title of the magazine for its last four vol- umes at the Royal Dutch Library, is the basis
umes, dropping the hyphen. From its launch of the following bibliographical analysis.
in 1879 it was called The Chess-Monthly (per- The Dubuque Chess Journal was started
haps to distinguish it from the earlier Amer- by Professor Brownson in 1870 and he stopped
ican magazine with which Morphy had been it after number 73 in summer 1876. So far all
associated) but the hyphen was last used in is straightforward. Brownson did not wish to
volume 13, the August 1892 number. From continue as a chess editor, or was unable to
the start of volume 14 (September 1892) the do so, and he thought he had sold the rights.
title page and running headers (also on page The next editor was W. S. Hallock of Hanni-
32 referring to subscriptions) just said “The bal, Missouri, who, not being in Dubuque,
Chess Monthly” and so it remained hyphen- changed the title to The American Chess Jour-
less to the end. It appears that Hoffer took a nal. Hallock numbered his issues consecu-
definite decision to drop the hyphen but did tively from Brownson, starting with number
not draw attention to this by any explicit state- 74. This publication is #7-22 in Betts. The
ment in the magazine. problem department was by Sam Loyd.
The Cleveland library held Hallock’s se-
ries in two books, one complete and one not.
Initially, Hallock’s first volume was reviewed;
American Magazines of it began in June 1876 and ended with March
the 1870s and 1880s 1877. The curators of the John G. White Col-
lection then found a box marked American
This is a good point to have a lengthy di- Chess Journal 1876–77 which was complete
gression about the Americans. The English and also in better condition than the other
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 161

one. All the Hallock issues are bound in that in 1901.47 Later, on page 232, the Hartford
one book. The last three numbers (compris- Globe is quoted as saying that Brownson sold
ing his incomplete volume 2) were bimonthly. out to Hallock “and the terms were rather
Hallock’s final issue, for November and De- mixed and not complied with by either.” Now
cember 1877, was very short and announced that Brownson was out again, Hallock had is-
the sale of the title to Dr. C. C. Moore. sued a circular accusing him of bad faith and
This is where things began to get com- publishing some details. To this, Brownson
plicated. Hallock did not pay Brownson (or replied at length saying the Dubuque Chess
at least that is what Brownson said) so Brown- Journal was sold to Russell and Hallock, “never
son restarted his magazine as Brownson’s Chess to Hallock alone.” On page 234 Brownson
Journal in February 1877, also resuming with said: “We may give the JOURNAL away some
number 74, as Betts says on page 36. Here day, but hope not to be swindled out of it.”
Brownson wrote: He called the rival the Hannibal Journal.
FEBRUARY, 1877. No 74. Last April we supposed
Dr. Moore transferred publication to
that the Dubuque Chess Journal establishment New York with Loyd continuing as problem
was sold, as per announcement on page 246 of editor. Because of moving everything to an-
the May number, but difficulties having arisen, other city, there was a delay and the new series
we are again before the chess public, pledged to of The American Chess Journal only began in
work for Caissa, and anxious to regain the CHESS
March 1878. Meanwhile, having re-established
JOURNAL’S former proud position.
his rights, Brownson stopped with number 85
The volume continued to December (also March 1878). Dr. Moore wrote in his
1877 with 344 pages. On page 14, Brownson August number on page 128 that the profes-
observed on the flourishing chess culture in sor’s health would not permit any renewal of
Hartford, the state capital of Connecticut. the Dubuque Chess Journal yet. Brownson re-
… eminently the chess city of the United States. sumed editing only many years later.
The chess column in the Hartford Globe is the Moore produced just one volume, which
most extensive and the most interesting weekly ended in July 1879. In his Valedictory state-
chess paper that we have seen this many a day; ment, on page 387, he revealingly said “we
for true wit, kindly humor and genial cussed- have never printed less than 300 per month,
ness, the editor is ahead of his comic, good
hearted, sarcastic rival. In this city dwells also
the largest part of which were subscribed for.”
Mrs. J. W. Gilbert, the best lady chess player liv- Apparently criticizing Hallock, but maybe re-
ing; here, too, Capt. O’Farrell, and a host of ferring to an unnamed third party (perhaps
other strong chess players congregate, and even the Russell named by Brownson?), Moore
the historic Charter Oak has been taken for went to say:
Belden’s chess pieces. Happy is the travelling
chess player that can stop over at Hartford. It is unnecessary to allude to the shortcomings
of the past management… . Mr. Loyd would
It sounds from this that Brownson was never have joined in purchasing the magazine
not on good terms with John G. Belden, who were is [sic] not agreed that he should confine
conducted the column in the rival Hartford his labours to the problem department; the
Weekly Times. There do seem to have been party who was to to have assumed the editorship
was totally unable to meet his obligations, and
factions in the city, one loyal to Belden and the burden fell upon Mr. Loyd….
the other to the Globe editors. Mrs. Ellen
Gilbert (née Strong) was becoming famous Loyd “determined to get on as best he
for her successes at postal chess, while Patrick could.” Then an offer came from Emanuel
O’Farrell (formerly of Belfast) was to go on to Barbe in Chicago, whom Moore had known
win the championship of Washington, D.C., for a long time “as a promising player, a clever
162 British Chess Literature to 1914

Orestes Brownson and his wife playing chess, from the Dubuque Chess Journal.

problemist and an able solver.” Believing that October 1880 was headed “vol. 1 no. 5” on
Barbe (“an invalid with plenty of leisure and the title page, but it should have been the
means”) had the leisure and ability to produce first number of volume 2, as Barbe realized
a worthy magazine, Moore agreed to hand it subsequently. So when he produced his next
over. Barbe did his best to continue The Amer- issue in January 1881 he headed it volume 2
ican Chess Journal as a quarterly; his series is number 2 but numbered the pages consecu-
Betts #7-26. Perhaps, though, he was more se- tively from the October issue. The next, for
verely disabled than Moore knew when ac- April 1881, is the last issue in the Cleveland
cepting his proposition.48 At Cleveland, the book; blank pages follow. Betts is probably
large bound volume titled American Chess right that no more were published. If there
Journal March 1878–April 1881 has both the had been more issues, we can assume John G.
Moore and Barbe series. White would have obtained them since he
Betts wrote that Barbe ran “Vol 1–vol 2, was already active then. After the end of
no 3 (Oct. 1879–April 1881).” The careful Barbe’s series there were no more Journals for
reader will note an anomaly. The number for five years.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 163

Then Brownson resumed in April 1886, However it only lasted two issues, in 1875, the
taking up his old numbering so that the first first being in April. The City of London Chess
issue of his new series was number 86. Fraser Magazine had reported on its first two issues.
wrote to James White on 8 July about Brown- Potter found the first disappointing, with too
son: much reprinted material, but the second was
It is amusing by the way to see the reappear- a great improvement (less so in the problem
ance of the Journal after a lapse of 8 years. I department). The game annotations by James
had a note recently from him, in which he men- Mason were especially commended “for he
tioned that he had been severely hurt by his brings not only ability but conscientious hard
horse, some years ago, which laid him aside for work to the task.”49 However, the second issue
a long time.
was also the last.
Brownson’s latest version of his maga- The next chess magazine produced in
zine, which had ugly large print, was just called America could have had a big international
Chess Journal. Some of the late issues, which success if it had been a little less ambitious,
this author has not studied closely, are called and more soundly based financially. Brentano’s
Brownson’s Chess Journal. The last to appear Chess Magazine, begun in May 1881, had
was number 160 which was “third series June sprung from a chess column in a general mag-
1892” although Gaige’s Personalia said Brown- azine, Brentano’s Monthly. The editor was
son had died on 28 April. Perhaps his widow H. C. Allen, with G. Reichhelm in charge of
put together a final issue from his papers or the games department, J. N. Babson of the
his death had delayed it at the printer. problem department, and they also had the
The various American chess journals, services of an artist, G. R. Halm, so that this
whether by Brownson or others, are not of magazine was better illustrated than the norm
great interest to the British chess historian, for chess periodicals. It was far too lavishly
but there are nuggets of information and the produced. Initially this magazine was on a
historian of American chess would do well to grand scale never seen before, but the pub-
work through them. Some other American lishers gave too much value for money. There
chess periodicals of the 1870s also should be were over 620 pages in the first volume but
noted. Betts lists as #7-16 The Chess Record, the second volume of Brentano’s Chess Maga-
edited in Philadelphia by Gustavus Reich- zine was much skimpier. The magazine col-
helm from 1873 to 30 November 1877, which lapsed after the August-September 1882 num-
we have not seen. Then his #7-19 was the ber, having lasted less than a year and a half.
Maryland Chess Review, edited from January Had Brentano’s continued at the standard set
1874 to December 1875 by J. K. Hanshew. As in the first volume, it would hardly have been
chess historians have already discovered, this possible for both the British Chess Magazine
magazine has considerable interest, both from and The Chess-Monthly to survive the compe-
its organization of the first correspondence tition. One or the other would probably have
tournament on round-robin lines, and for failed. Duffy observed that the magazine was
the information it includes on Theophilus “from the first, well supported in England, but
Thompson, an early African American chess it failed to secure the subscriptions of Amer-
expert. ican amateurs.”50 Potter said in his column
Next on Betts’s list of American period- that two-thirds of the subscription money for
icals (item #7-21) is a second American Chess the year would be returned.
Magazine, launched in April 1875 by the men As that one closed, another American
responsible for the Hartford Globe column, magazine was launched in October 1882: the
together with contributions by James Mason. Brooklyn Chess Chronicle (#7-29 in Betts),
164 British Chess Literature to 1914

edited by the Munoz brothers. It was a decent Early Years of the

magazine and ran for five years but would not
have been a threat to the British magazines British Chess Magazine
on their home territory since its European
games and news were mostly borrowed from The origins and early history of the
their pages. Also of largely American inter- world’s oldest surviving chess periodical,
est were the American Chess Review (seven British Chess Magazine, was researched and
issues in 1886–1887), the Columbia Chess written up for its centenary by Alfred (Freddy)
Chronicle (1887–1890, the organ of the Co- Reilly, who was the son of the then editor
lumbia Chess Club in New York), and further Brian Reilly, and was business manager and
magazines from the 1890s onwards (not con- typesetter of the magazine. Freddy Reilly died
sidered here). suddenly in June 1980 but the article he had
The most important chess magazine to prepared, “Our First Hundred Years, 1881–
be published in the 1880s and early 1890s was 1980,” was published in the December 1980
American, not British, and so any detailed issue which completed the 100th volume.
consideration falls outside the scope of this In Chapter 3 it was shown that the his-
book. To omit any mention of it, though, tory of B.C.M., as it is universally known, can
would be seriously misleading. Steinitz, hav- be traced back to the chess column in the
ing definitively immigrated to the United States Huddersfield College Magazine. As the foreign-
in 1883, launched The International Chess edited Chess-Monthly was nearing the end of
Magazine in 1885 and with his authority as its first volume in the summer 1880, moves
world champion (from 1886) it commanded were afoot behind the scenes, especially
worldwide attention. The seven volumes he among amateurs in the north of England, to
edited and published in New York between challenge it with a home-grown periodical
1885 and 1891 are still worthy of close atten- that would have wider appeal than the Chess
tion today. Player’s Chronicle. Ranken was now well into
Steinitz combined objective coverage his fourth year of editing that journal and was
of major chess events, including of course perhaps looking for an exit strategy; his final
his own matches, with personal reflections words to the Chronicle readers will be quoted
of a highly subjective nature that included in their proper place in the next chapter.
many attacks on Hoffer, as already noted. He Meanwhile Watkinson definitely wanted to
received regular reports from London, sup- satisfy broader ambitions. Waiting until Jan-
plied mostly by his loyal ally James G. Cun- uary 1881, when the staff and contributors of
ningham (1838–1905), but these reported the Chronicle could feel released from their
events were covered already in the British obligations to that title, was a good policy. A
press, so it is hard to know how many British new start, combining the best of both publi-
players would have subscribed to this maga- cations and drawing on the subscription base
zine. The same was probably true of Lasker’s of both, must have seemed attractive, espe-
Chess Magazine, edited in New York by Dr. cially if the main contributors to both would
Emanuel Lasker, the second world champion. agree to join forces. The title eventually set-
It went through nine volumes, running from tled upon, namely British Chess Magazine, had
November 1904 to January 1909. Lasker had three advantages: it was new, it was national,
to compete with the American Chess Bulletin and it subtly hinted at its difference from The
which began its 60-volume run in June 1904 Chess-Monthly.
but which would have had less interest for Eu- In his valedictory article in the Hudder-
ropeans. sfield, Watkinson had written:
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 165

In glancing through our Chess columns we can- A short introductory article in the initial
not but feel proud at the array of brilliant names issue of B.C.M. said that the magazine would
who have given us of their best in all branches
aim at variety and should not be judged on
of the royal game. Standing outside of the cliques
into which a portion of the Chess world is un- the contents of a single issue. Also “we are not
happily divided, we have been able to secure all sanguine of achieving anything very large
contributions from all quarters of the horizon. in the way of circulation.” Ranken’s experience
The experiement has been tried—and we hope as an editor “has taught us that the majority
not without success—of attaining a certain of players are quite content with a glance at a
amount of liveliness and entertainment without
having recourse to personalities or attacks on
Chess periodical at the club room, and never
private character. dream of investing a few shillings in it them-
selves.” They announced at the start that the
The same article had announced that the aim was to break even and one major concern
new magazine would have “the valuable co- was the size of the magazine: too many pages
operation” of Ranken, Wayte, and Andrews. and the printer’s bills would be back-breaking,
These three were all key members of the but too few would mean dissatisfied sub-
Chronicle team in 1880: Ranken and Wayte for scribers and insufficient space for all the mat-
annotating games and sharing the editorial ter that the editor and his team wanted to in-
work, while Andrews was one of the leading clude. At first they said they expected to
experts on chess problems in Britain. The title average 28 pages per issue but might some-
page of the first volume of B.C.M. also names times have four pages more or four fewer. The
G. B. Fraser, Thomas Long, J. H. Finlinson, W. first two issues each had 32 pages.
T. Pierce, A. E. Studd, and W. R. Bland as peo- The February number included on page
ple who cooperated in the work. Of these, 36 a letter from Long, proposing what he
Fraser in particular had long been a contribu- called a “sustentation fund” but which came
tor of analytical pieces to the Chronicle but ini- to be known as the B.C.M. “enlargement fund.”
tially he had not been impressed by the B.C.M. The idea was that subscribers who could af-
Fraser, who was a wine merchant and so ford a little extra would donate extra money
accustomed to the bureaucracy involved in to help pay for additional pages beyond the
international shipments, was a purchasing 28 pages which the editors could draw on
agent for the Cleveland, Ohio, lawyer and when they had long articles to include. Long
book collector John G. White. They had a re- started the ball rolling by subscribing one
vealing correspondence lasting decades. guinea (which he soon increased), and in the
White’s letters to Fraser are unknown, but the March issue Ranken made it clear that dona-
Scotsman’s communications are preserved in tions would be used solely to pay for extra
Cleveland and have been microfilmed. In a pages and not to defray losses. Thanks to
letter to White on 5 January 1881, he said that money that already had come in, they were
“Watkinson’s magazine came out punctually able to have 40 pages in both the March and
on 1st, but it does not look quite so good as April numbers; the latter on page 133 listed
I expected.” Later, writing on 31 December he 11 donations so far received, totaling £10 13s.
told White that: “The Chess Player’s Chronicle 6d. By the end of the year the fund had raised
is a rather lively Journal, much more so than £16 6s., and the complete 1881 volume had
the British Chess Magazine. They would re- 400 pages, an average of just over 33 pages
quire to have the editors ‘mixed up’ in order per issue.
to improve both.” He added, presciently, that The first two or three years must defi-
Brentano was “well got up but probably won’t nitely have been a struggle for survival, eased
pay and will be discontinued.” somewhat when Brentano’s failed and the
166 British Chess Literature to 1914

Chronicle also suspended publication for the B.C.M. was faced with a new crisis to-
early months of 1883. B.C.M. survived be- wards the end of 1886, which was only re-
cause its writers and editors did not expect solved the following year. Reilly’s centenary
payment, and so it was able to subsist where article gives only a bare hint of what hap-
others failed. A low point was reached around pened. There was talk of a rival being
May 1882 when, as Reilly noted in his article, launched. The International Chess Magazine
“We say now very decidedly that unless things for December 1886 (page 365) had informa-
alter, the present year will, so far as we are tion, though Steinitz probably received and
concerned, see the last of the British Chess published the news with some time lag. He
Magazine.” In October (page 333) readers reported:
were informed that, including the fund, they
A new monthly Chess magazine, under the title
had only enough money for 40 pages to com- The Yorkshire Chess Magazine, is projected if a
plete the volume, so instead of issuing two sufficient number of subscribers can be found.
numbers of only 20 pages each they had de- The subscription price five shillings per annum,
cided to issue a single 40-page number about and applications should be directed to either Mr.
15 November, and then bring out the January James Rayner, Secretary of the Yorkshire County
Chess Club, or Mr. Brown, Secretary of the
1883 number for Christmas. The editor and Leeds Chess Club.
his co-operators called on readers to help ex-
tend the circulation. The final issue of volume This would have undercut B.C.M.’s sub-
two in fact only had 36 pages plus separate scription price by a shilling. Since Watkin-
November and December title pages to con- son was himself a Yorkshireman, this insur-
clude the “almanac” that had been running all rection on his home territory certainly suggests
year. On page 379, the editor announced that some growing dissatisfaction with the way
“although we have been requested by several he was doing things, though grievances were
subscribers to raise the price of the magazine,” not aired in public, so it is hard to know
they wished to keep it at 6 shillings per year what exactly was the issue, except probably
as a minimum, “leaving it open to those who that chess in Yorkshire and Lancashire was
can afford to add what they think proper for not receiving sufficient coverage. Also there
our enlargement fund.” was a “generation gap”; the new men who
The January 1883 issue, of 40 pages, an- would come were all born between 1856 and
nounced that Edward Freeborough (1830– 1859, and so were more than twenty years
1896), whose column in the Hull Packet had younger than the founding generation. On 4
come to an end, had now joined the B.C.M. February 1887, Fraser wrote to White men-
staff. At the end of the year it could be seen tioning a prospectus for the Northern Chess
that 12 distinct issues had been produced with Magazine and said he had put him down for
a total of 432 pages, of which 40 pages had a subscription, and in a letter of 21 February
been paid for out of the Enlargement Fund. Fraser says the literary editor of the Northern
There had been an average of 36 pages each Chess Magazine may have a portrait of Eger-
month, and Ranken was able to report that ton Smith. Since Smith (the first chess colum-
“the circulation of the magazine has steadily nist) was a Liverpudlian, this is a strong clue
increased during the year and was never so that the unnamed editor was also from that
large as it is at present.” In January 1884 the city, and so most likely Robert Frederick
first photographic plate went out with the first Green (1856–1925).51 The last heard of the
issue of the fourth volume, at considerable ex- rival publication was on a postcard of early
pense as Reilly notes, but in subsequent years April to White, where Fraser wrote: “the New
the magazine continued to grow. magazine has been absorbed by the B. C.
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 167

Magazine—all the staff going over to the latter selfishly for the Magazine during so many
journal.”52 This was confirmed by a circular years.” Bland wrote to express his regret that
(reprinted in the delayed April B.C.M. on Watkinson was retiring.
pages 158–159) sent out by the promoters of Green began his tenure in 1888 by thank-
the proposed Northern Chess Magazine to ing Watkinson and announcing the “perma-
their supporters. nent enlargement” of the magazine in a bumper
There had been negotiations behind the issue running to 76 pages. This was by no
scenes, facilitated circumstantially by the sud- means typical, of course; presumably he wanted
den death of Andrews on 26 February. Wat- to make an immediate impression. He asked
kinson said that the proposal to amalgamate every reader to try and enlist one new sub-
was made by the B.C.M. staff. The resulting scriber. February’s number had 52 pages but
vacancy in the problem department was ac- later issues were more normal in size and at
cepted by James Rayner (1859–1898), and the end of the year volume 8 weighed in at
(though this is not stated in April) most likely 492 pages, an average size of 41 pages per
a promise of the succession was made to issue. Freeborough, Ranken and Wayte con-
Green. Finally in November (on page 436) tinued to contribute, although the former two
Watkinson announced his retirement “owing were probably now also working on the first
to the increasing pressure of other engage- edition of their openings book which was first
ments.” Green would take over as editor while published in 1889.
orders for the magazine in 1888 were to be In 1889 J. H. Blake joined the editorial
sent to I. M. Brown, who in turn became team and he would continue to annotate games
Green’s successor after a few years. The title for several decades. Reilly’s article noted that
page of volume 7 (which would, per normal in 1892 some modernization was evident in
practice, have been issued at the end of 1887) the presentation of game scores. The former
bears the names of Brown and Green along somewhat verbose notation was compressed,
with Rayner and the old team. so that “P tks P” became “PxP” and “P to K
Rather surprisingly, Chatto had also Kt4” was now “P–KKt4.” A real revolution was
been planning to launch a new monthly chess that annotations to moves began to appear
magazine in September, as announced in within the score instead of at the end where
the Illustrated London News on 18 June. The hitherto they always languished in all chess
subscription price was to be 5s. per annum books and columns, with miserable indica-
and, according to the Dublin Evening Mail of tions (sometimes omitted or misplaced) to
23 June, the intended title was Caïssa. That show where they belonged.
was a different project and did not material- In 1891 the annual subscription rose for
ize. the first time, to six shillings, and in 1898 it
Back at B.C.M., the changing of the went up again to eight shillings, but readers
guard commenced as the end of volume 7 ap- were not getting substantially larger magazines
proached. Green had some editorial experi- than in the early 1880s. Then in 1893 Green
ence from conducting the column in the Liv- gave up the editorial chair, after just five vol-
erpool Weekly Courier since November 1885 umes, and control passed back to Yorkshire
and he continued it until January 1889. Mean- with Brown’s assumption of the editorial chair
while Long and Studd, in brief letters pub- he was to continue occupying until after the
lished in December, announced their retire- end of the First World War, although he would
ment from the magazine. In the December probably have gladly given it up sooner. Ray-
1887 number, Watkinson signed off, thanking ner died in 1898, having handed over the
his “co-operators who have laboured so un- problem department to the able B. G. Laws
168 British Chess Literature to 1914

who continued in that role until well into the is somewhat amusing to read. It said Golom-
postwar era. bek resigned the editorship to join the Royal
The great London international congress Artillery when he was actually posted to do
in 1899 was the last tournament in which secret work in Bletchley Park alongside Alex-
Steinitz and Henry Bird competed, and it was ander, P. S. Milner-Barry and other chess mas-
also the last time that many famous masters ters and experts. At least once during the war
were seen in England. As such, it forms a when he had leave to play in a chess match,
watershed. No master tournament of any sig- he turned up in an army officer’s uniform.
nificance was held thereafter in the United One almost suspects it was the only time he
Kingdom until 1919, and really there was no wore it.
tournament in Britain of comparable strength As announced in October, B.C.M. briefly
until the 1930s. British chess, and the maga- recalled Griffith as acting editor, but the De-
zines that served it, became increasingly cember number said that Du Mont was now
parochial. It took the arrival of B. H. Wood’s general editor from that issue, which also
Chess magazine in 1935 to shake things up mentions the loss of records due to bombing.
with a really 20th century style but that is be- Du Mont was to continue until 1949 but was
yond the scope of this volume to consider in no businessman and debts accumulated; he
any detail. had disagreements with the board and de-
To summarize, Brown retired as editor cided to quit. Brian Reilly was invited to re-
in 1920, and was succeeded by Richard Clewin place him and having edited the magazine as
Griffith (1872–1955), coeditor of Modern Chess an employee for a few months, in 1950 Reilly
Openings. In 1937 B.C.M. became a limited bought the magazine.53 He remained editor
company. Harry Golombek was appointed in until his retirement at the end of August 1981
1938 but eventually he was called up for war after ownership was taken over by the British
service. The September 1940 B.C.M. editorial Chess Federation and he was succeeded by
Bernard Cafferty (who joined as deputy edi-
tor in January 1981) for about ten years. It is
probably fair to say that B.C.M. remained
rather staid and strait-laced by comparison
with Chess until the editorial reign of Cafferty
began. Ownership changed again when grand-
master Murray Chandler bought B.C.M. and
moved it to London, and there have been sev-
eral changes since then.

Other Late Victorian

Magazines
Some magazines were primarily pro-
duced to serve local chess communities. The
Blackfriars Chess Journal, was a curiosity
published between 23 February and 26 July
Isaac McIntyre Brown, editor of British Chess 1884, and is very rare because of its unfortu-
Magazine from 1893 to 1920. nate history. It is unclear why Whyld included
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 169

this publication in his Chess Columns bibliog- umn in the Brighton Guardian (begun in
raphy since this was a magazine not a column. 1881). It included an advertisement for But-
Moreover he misprinted the date as 1936 per- ler’s window ticket-show card business; he
haps because that was the publication year of was a commercial artist, calligrapher and busi-
his source, P. H. Bannock’s History of the Nor- ness printer. It seems he was too busy to do
folk and Norwich Chess Club. On page 20, Ban- any more literary work for a time, but he
nock named F. & J. Howitt as editors, and brought the correspondence and problem
wrote of this journal: tourneys of the Guardian to a close and also
There were twelve fortnightly numbers, the ed- (according to the magazine’s second issue)
itors then being boys in the school in St. George’s, Butler took over running the postal tourney
Norwich. The journals were lithographed by that Thursby began in the Burnley Express.
Messrs. Fletcher & Sons, where the boys’ father There were 13 issues between 22 No-
was an artist. A complete set is in the Norwich
vember 1882 and 9 May 1883. While the con-
Public Library; Mr. John Keeble owns a single
copy, and another single copy is in the Cleveland tent was mostly local, there were also chess
(U.S.A.) library in the John G. White collection. short stories: How Frank Won his Wife by
These are the only copies known to exist. F. J. Russell (of Glasgow) and My Game with
Howitt’s own set was destroyed by his mother Stranger by James Pierce. This magazine is not
during a spring-clean. available in any of the research libraries in-
The issue held in Cleveland was number dexed by the COPAC union catalog, but is
7 for 17 May 1884 and the British Library has held at the Royal Dutch Library and in Cleve-
a copy of number 8 (shelfmark P.P.1831.add), land, also probably (as a photocopy perhaps)
dated 31 May, which was perhaps the copy in a Sussex archive. Mead stopped editing the
Keeble used to own. The old Norwich Public magazine when he obtained a weekly column
Library had been replaced in 1963 by a new in the Southern Weekly News, which ran from
Central Library in 1963 but on 1 August 1994 19 May 1883 to 21 December 1889 and pro-
it was destroyed by a fire and thousands of vided excellent coverage of south-east English
historic documents were lost, including records chess news.
of the school and the only known complete Just before Mead’s column ended, the
set of the Blackfriars Chess Journal. Whyld’s Sussex Chess Journal was launched. This and
book said a set is held at the school but this its successor title, The Southern Counties Chess
is doubtful; there does not appear to be a sec- Journal, both published in Brighton, are treated
ondary school of that name (St. George’s) in as one magazine by both Betts (item #7-39)
the city today. It is not known if a full set now and Di Felice. Probably only Cleveland has a
exists anywhere. complete set of the original issues but it has
Probably the most important series of been microfilmed, with the two titles on sep-
local magazines were produced in Sussex, arate reels. The Royal Dutch Library has
which was the first region of southern En- some issues from volumes 2 and 3 of the first
gland to establish a county chess association series and only a few issues from volume 7 in
(on 21 October 1882). They arranged for local the second series.
events to receive thorough coverage in the The Sussex Chess Journal was produced
press, which was sometimes done by means in four volumes and 48 numbers from No-
of a magazine and sometimes through the vember 1889 until December 1892. Volume
medium of chess columns. The Sussex Chess 1 had no page numbers. It was fortnightly for
Magazine (item #7-30 in Betts) was edited a while; then monthly in volumes 2–4. The
by Walter Mead in Brighton. The first issue first Cleveland microfilm actually starts with
expressed regret at the ending of Butler’s col- the Programme of the Sixth Annual Sussex
170 British Chess Literature to 1914

A two-page spread from the Sussex Chess Magazine showing local news and advertisements,
including one for H. W. Butler’s business.

Chess Association Congress, held 5–6 May Sussex players being very active in both de-
1893. Next comes the first issue of the Journal partments as well as ahead of most other re-
whose original title was Sussex Chess Associa- gions of England in the promotion of women’s
tion Official Monthly Report and Programme, chess. Issue 28 for April 1890 reported on
volume 1, no. 1 (November 1889), and dealt page 48 that as a “momento” [sic] of Mrs.
with the launch of the new headquarters of Arthur Smith’s achievement in winning both
the association. The second issue adopted the Handicaps restricted to lady players, “she has
title Sussex Chess Journal. The fifth issue (3 been presented by [sic] a beautifully hand
February 1890) named Butler and F. Monk painted plaque by Mrs. W. J. Baird, who, it
as the editors. would appear, is as clever at this interesting
Volume 2, which started at No. 23 (3 art as she is at composing chess problems.”
November 1890) adopted page numbers and The Baird family was now living in Brighton.
monthly publication. The subscription price Page 98 in the October number 98 listed 25
was 1s. 6d. per annum post free. This is an im- paid-up women members of the association.
portant volume which historians of the period In 1892, as issue 37 reported, the first
should try to see. As before, both over-the- steps were taken to forming the Southern
board and postal chess events were reported, Counties Chess Union. This was at a time
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 171

when the second British Chess Association This second series ran from vol. 4, no.
was collapsing and the Sussex president, the 49 ( January 1893) to vol. 7, no. 4 ( January
Rev. Arthur Mackreth Deane (who used to 1896). On the Cleveland microfilm, between
write to chess editors as “East Marden”), had numbers 53 (May) and 54 comes the program
long ago argued that a national body should of the 6th annual Sussex Chess Association
be built from the bottom up not the top congress at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, 5–
down.54 Meanwhile, the Counties Chess As- 6 May 1893, including a ladies’ handicap tour-
sociation held one of its last congresses in nament. Arthur Smith was to referee the first
Brighton that August, and it included a strong class tournament. Jasnogrodsky would play a
ladies’ tournament. 20-board simultaneous display on the Satur-
Issue 32, for August, reported that Butler day, followed by six games blindfold. Reports
wanted to resign as county secretary due to followed in the next issue.
work pressure, unless someone would share Number 56, for August, said the editor
the work. Eventually he agreed to remain as “wishes it to be understood that he is not re-
they found somebody to take over the trea- sponsible for the reports and comments on
surer’s role. The August issue also reported the Sussex matches in British Chess Magazine.”
that Butler got help to continue the journal. Number 61 for January 1894 reported on a
There were reports on the Counties Associ- recent five-board match between Brighton
ation meeting and progress to form the South- Chess Club’s men and Sussex Ladies’ Branch.
ern Counties Chess Union and hold a North The men won 6–3, only one game being
versus South match. played on the top board. On board 3, Mrs.
Number 45 (for September 1892) was Zantzig, who lost both her games, was surely
the first number of the Sussex Chess Journal the Miss Florence Down whose feats in the
under joint proprietorship with the Rev. Ed- days of the Ladies’ College Club in Holborn
ward Ilbert Crosse; the annual subscription were reported in the press about 15 years pre-
price was raised to 2s 6d. This issue noted that viously. She was probably long out of practice.
Emanuel Lasker had launched the London Later, in a Sussex tournament for women, she
Chess Fortnightly (see below) which it de- finished fourth of ten competitors.
scribed as “the Chess Player’s Chronicle in an- Moving on to 1895, numbers 10 and 11
other guise” but commented that Lasker’s of volume 6 both had a blank second page
price was too high at 6d. a copy for a magazine with the message: “This page to let for adver-
about four times the size of their own journal. tisements,” which suggests financial problems
It was compared with the better value British for the Journal. Number 12 gave notice of a
Chess Magazine. price increase to 3 shillings for next year un-
The October number reported that the less paid in advance. Volume 7, number 3 (in
Southern Counties Chess Union was formed December) warned that due to the poor health
at last. After the end of the year the title was of the secretary, Crosse, he was giving up all
changed to Southern Counties Chess Journal his engagements to play simuls. The next
to reflect the broadening of scope as this was issue, number 4 for January 1896, was the last.
now to be the organ of the S.C.C.U. The num- The Journal collapsed and a few months later
bering of volumes and issues was continued Crosse died by falling off a cliff at Bourne-
to reflect the continuity but, Butler having re- mouth, probably a case of suicide. Hoffer’s
signed as editor, the magazine was now con- obituary mentioned that Crosse had suffered
ducted by the Rev. Crosse and F. W. Womer- a serious accident in 1894 and lost an eye.55
sley (of Hastings) with the cooperation of W. Two unusual magazines were published
V. Wilson. in Dublin in the mid–1880s. Manuscript
172 British Chess Literature to 1914

magazines were the “desktop publishing” of Also the original has on pages 7 and 8 infor-
that decade, utilizing duplicating machines mation about an Easter meeting in Dublin
that made copies from wax stencils on which which is not in the reissue. There was also
one wrote with a stylus. The result looked un- some topical news on pages 33–34 not repro-
professional but one could produce for sale duced in the reissue. The handwriting in the
short-circulation documents that were uneco- reissue is said to be clearer to read so it was
nomical to print. The best known system was probably by a different hand.
the cyclostyle, invented by David Gestetner The content is chiefly of interest for Irish
in 1881, while an earlier version was the try- historians, but it may be noted that it includes
pograph introduced in London by Eugenio the following game by Steinitz that is not to
Zuccato in 1877. Handwriting was necessary be found in any collection of his games pub-
because early stencils could not withstand the lished up until now. “His youthful opponent
impact of the heavy keys in early typewriters. is now one of the most promising players of
By 1887 or 1888 this problem had been solved, The St. Patrick’s Chess Club.” Morphy (whose
leading to stencils that could be typed for use original surname was probably Murphy) later
with Edison’s mimeograph and later Gestet- opened a Chess Divan in one of Dublin’s prin-
ner’s automatic duplicator (1891).56 Earlier cipal thoroughfares, Grafton Street, but after
versions of this technology existed, since the a few years it failed and he emigrated, joining
Bristol Draught Player (1872–1874) mixed Brooklyn Chess Club.
manuscript and letter-press.57
The St. Patrick’s Chess Club Pamphlet, in W. Steinitz–J. Morphy
1885, was the first Irish chess magazine and Dublin simultaneous, 1881
probably the first manuscript magazine deal- King’s Gambit (C38)
ing with chess. It was reissued as a booklet in Notes from St. Patrick’s Chess Club
1887 (with some editing) “in compliance with
Pamphlet 6, pages 50–51.
popular demand.”58 Fortunately both are held
at Cleveland and they have microfilmed the 1. e4 e5 2. f4 e×f4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7
1885 original; possibly some other copies sur- 5. 0–0 d6 6. d4 Nc6? 7. c3 h6 8. g3 g4
vive. The St. Patrick’s Chess Club had been 9. B×f4! g×f3 10. Q×f3 Qe7 11. Nd2 Bd7
launched to coincide with the formation of 12. b4? N×d4! 13. c×d4 B×d4† 14. Kh1
the Irish Chess Association and this magazine B×a1 15. R×a1 0–0–0 16. Rc1 Nf6 17. Be3
was its organ. It was produced weekly from Underrating the novice Steinitz found himself
No. 1 (23 March 1885) to No. 7–8 (undated smashed up with surprising cleverness. 17. …
but possibly May). The original manuscript Ng4? 18. B×a7 Be6? 19. Be2 Ne5 20. Qc3
was said to have been reproduced by trypo- f6 21. Bb6 Rh7 22. Qa3 c6 23. Qa8† Kd7
graph. The editor was not named but internal 24. Q×b7† Ke8 25. Bh5† Bf7 26. Q×e7†
evidence suggests that the Rynds, father and K×e7 27. B×d8† K×d8 28. B×f7 R×f7 A fal-
son, were possibly responsible. tering came however which reduced Black to
This author was able to see only the reis- a desperate plight. 29. Nc4 Ra7 30. N×e5
sue but received a report from somebody who f×e5 31. R×c6 Kd7 32. Rc2 Ra3 33. Re2
was able to compare the two versions after the Ra4 34. Rb2 Kc6 35. Kg2 Kb5 36. Kf3 h5
original was returned to Cleveland following 37. h3 Ra3† 38. Kf2 h4! 39. g×h4 R×h3
microfilming.59 The original has 92 pages, the 40. Kg2 R×h4 41. Kf3 Rf4† 42. Ke3 Rh4
reissue only 74, perhaps because the pages are 43. Rd2 Rh6 44. Rb2 Rh3† 45. Kd2 Rh2†
slightly larger. The content is very similar, but 46. Kc3 R×b2 47. K×b2 K×b4 48. Kc2 Kc4
some game notes were omitted in the reissue. 49. a3 Black’s cleverness has again given him
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 173

a winning advantage. By playing 49. … Kd4 Five issues of his Chess Review were pub-
now he could have won. If then 50. a4 Kc4 lished in Manchester, with a hiatus after the
wins the pawn, and if 50. Kb3 K×e4 and Black first two numbers. They were dated as fol-
can stop and win White’s a-pawn and after- lows: September 1892, October 1892, then
wards Queen his own d-pawn. 49. … Kc5? February, March and April 1893. The British
50. Kc3 d5 51. e×d5 K×d5 ½–½. Library has only three of these, which misled
The Irish Chess Chronicle, edited and Sergeant when researching his article on “Brit-
published by Alfred S. Peake, was launched in ish Chess Periodicals” for B.C.M. in 1942,
the early months of 1887. It aimed more am- where on page 198 he refers to this magazine.
bitiously to be a national chess magazine. The He wrote: “There seem to have been only
first series, like the St. Patrick’s Pamphlet, was three issues, for the third, that of April, 1893,
a duplicated manuscript magazine, and may is marked in the British Museum copy with
be found in Cleveland or on the microfilm the words ‘no more received.’ I do not remem-
made from their copies. There were seven is- ber that I found anything of interest in it.” He
sues from No. 1 (10 January 1887), no. 2 (1 failed to notice it was numbered 5. At least
February), fortnightly (it used the term “bi- Sergeant did mention this and some other
monthly” incorrectly) to no. 7 (15 April). The minor magazines, whereas Diggle’s article in
Illustrated London News said that it was “in- 1980 did not mention this or several other
teresting but rather difficult reading” and ad- lesser titles. In fact there are complete sets in
vised them to “get into print as soon as pos- Cleveland and in the Royal Dutch Library
sible.”60 From 1 May to 15 December 1887 it and Moravian Chess has made a reprint. Di
was printed fortnightly in London, in a tiny Felice follows Betts in wrongly stating, “Not
page format. Both series contain much infor- published during the months Nov. 1892–
mation on developments in Ireland and the March 1893” which probably means he never
chess world at large. The printed series is saw it.62
available in Cleveland (also on microfilm) and Despite the erratic publication there are
at the Royal Dutch Library (shelfmark KW some items of interest in Miniati’s magazine.
350 F56). The first issue included a report on the Dres-
Chess Review: A Monthly Journal for den international, Winawer’s first tournament
Chess and Whist was edited by Nicholas since Nuremberg 1883. Whist and solo whist
Theodore Miniati, the son of Greek-born Sal- occupied a few pages at the back of this and
ford merchant Theodore Miniatis. In the late every other issue but it was mostly about
1880s and early 1890s, N. T. Miniati was one chess. Issue 2 is mostly about chess in Liver-
of the strongest players in Manchester and pool and Manchester, and mentions the start
had played in the 1889 British Championship of the former club’s correspondence match
run by the B.C.A., scoring a respectable 5½ with Glasgow which had begun in December
out of 10 including a win against Mason. 1891. “Soon after the game commenced Mr.
Miniati was a member of the local committee Burn left England, and after the tenth move
that organized the 1890 Manchester Congress the Liverpool Club was deprived of his assis-
and it is a little surprising that he chose not tance,” wrote Miniati. This is more specific
to enter the subsidiary tournament then. He than what Forster wrote in his Burn biogra-
might even have been a candidate for inclu- phy, viz., that Burn was on the playing com-
sion in the international tournament had it mittee, but his influence over the develop-
not been so heavily over-subscribed. In the ment of the two games was limited.
late 1890s Miniati appears to have given up The third issue still claimed to be a
chess but he lived until 1943.61 “monthly journal” despite the gap since the
174 British Chess Literature to 1914

previous number. An apology on the inside 12 pages, “its original size,” and that the mag-
front says that “owing to the extreme indispo- azine would now be published on the 14th
sition of the editor it was impossible to bring and 30th of each month. However, number
out the missing issues, and instead subs will 18 did not appear until 14 July, with an an-
be extended.” Single copies were priced at 8d. nouncement that the delay was caused by “dif-
each, postage extra. An annual subscription ficulties connected with the affairs of our late
was seven shillings payable in advance, a bad printer.” Maybe he had not been paid? That
deal for anyone who took it up. This number issue did indeed have 16 pages but two of
had lots of news of northern and midlands them bore only advertisements and the last
chess, including the Bird–Heywood match in was blank. The final issue only had 13 pages
Newcastle, and also some London news. of text. Moreover the contents are disappoint-
The bibliographies mentioned above ing.
say “April issue enlarged” but actually it was Since Lasker was not even in London for
issue 4 for March that was substantial, with much of the time the magazine was published,
about 30 pages of chess and little whist. The one wonders who was really in charge and
principal report was about the first North– how much of the content was written by him.
South match played on 21 January 1893 at the The magazine announced on page 31 that
Great Western Hotel in Birmingham. Miniati Lasker had sailed for America on 28 Septem-
played board 16 for the North on that historic ber for a month-long engagement at the Man-
occasion and drew with Nelson Fedden of hattan Chess Club and probably would not
Bristol. The main organizers were I. M. return until after Christmas. In fact he stayed
Brown for the North and L. P. Rees of Surrey across the Atlantic far longer. Later contents
for the South. Miniati says the chess was well show that he also visited Montreal and Ha-
arranged but the waiters inefficient and thus vana (where he arrived on 16 January 1893),
many played hungry, having arrived just be- and then New Orleans and elsewhere. During
fore the start at 1:15 p.m. The final issue of the 11 months the Fortnightly was being pub-
his magazine, however, was short and rather lished he spent very little time in England. No
dull. doubt the magazine was a commercial failure
The London Chess Fortnightly was ed- and Lasker was primarily interested in raising
ited by Emanuel Lasker, but this was not one the stakes for a title match against Steinitz
of his finest displays. Published between 15 which finally came to pass in 1894.
August 1892 and 30 July 1893, it could almost
be described as a fraud upon its subscribers.
Its single slim volume of 19 numbers com-
prised only 178 pages, some of which were
Other Edwardian Chess
full page advertisements. Issues varied greatly Magazines
in size (the first two each had only eight pages)
and the publication did not even keep to the The Four-Leaved Shamrock, the Irish
promised schedule of an issue every two weeks. chess magazine, was edited by Mrs. Rowland
Number 8 (14 December) appeared 29 days between January 1905 and July 1914. Origi-
after its predecessor and was followed by a nally subtitled “An Irish monthly paper devoted
double number (9 & 10) of 28 pages a month to the royal game of chess,” it was actually some-
later. Two double numbers (13 & 14, 15 & 16) times bimonthly, sometimes quarterly, and
had only 12 pages each, and then number 17 increasingly irregular. Usually there were
(30 April) announced the “permanent en- four pages (as the title indeed indicated); but
largement” with 16 pages per issue in lieu of there were some double issues and occa-
 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 175

sionally photographs on extra sheets. The and his successor as editor is unknown. From
National Library of Ireland has a bound vol- October 1916 until at least September 1923,
ume that is almost complete. The Royal Carslake Winter Wood (who died in February
Dutch Library appears to have all issues, in 1924) conducted the introductory News and
two volumes (request number KW 64 B 24). Notes pages. Problem composer T. R. Daw-
There is a partial set at the B.L. (fortunately son conducted News and Notes from October
including the parts missing in Dublin) and an 1925 to March 1927, but much of the writing
incomplete set in Cleveland. The content in the magazine was anonymous.63
mostly concerns Irish chess and the various In total there were 24 volumes of the
problem and correspondence tourneys run by Chess Amateur, starting in October 1906 and
Mrs. Rowland. ending in June 1930, all volumes beginning in
The Chess Amateur was a successful October and running into the following year.
monthly magazine, launched by the British These have been reprinted by Moravian Chess.
Chess Company and published by Harry From the start they organized correspondence
Harmer up to volume 7, based in Stroud, chess tournaments.64 In 1908 they were claim-
Gloucestershire. Afterwards the publisher ing to have twice the circulation of British
was named as the Stroud News Publishing Chess Magazine. Clearly The Chess Amateur
Co. and in the last years it was Hollings. The found its niche but it has little to offer histo-
first editor was William Moffatt (1842?–1918), rians. It managed to keep going throughout
though he was not named initially. In the last the First World War but from April 1916 they
two years of his life he was in failing health had to use inferior paper due to government
restrictions on imports. Towards the end, a
Mr. Hamblin ran its correspondence chess
league while it is a special point of interest
that William Fairhurst (the bridge designer
who later represented Scotland internation-
ally) ran the games pages. In the early years,
though, games were often quality amateur ef-
forts or games that had already been pub-
lished elsewhere, and the layout of pages was
unattractive.
However circulation was low and the
April 1930 issue, on page 149, announced im-
minent closure because “for a long time the
expenses of production have not been cov-
ered by the receipts.” Readers had been in-
vited to make suggestions to improve the
magazine but opinions were so diverse it was
hard to form a clear judgment. The magazine
finally closed in June 1930, the 285th issue,
leaving B.C.M. free of serious competition for
a few years. Sergeant commented in his 1942
Mrs. Frideswide Rowland (née Beechey) in
later life when she edited her magazine The article:
Four-Leaved Shamrock and chess columns in Possibly this magazine’s title was one cause of
the Weekly Irish Times and Cork Weekly News. its limited success, as it invited the accusation
Picture from The Chess Bouquet (1897). of its contents being “amateurish,” to some
176 British Chess Literature to 1914

extent justified. There was some good matter in Arthur William Daniel–W. D. Barrow
it, however, of which I remember chiefly the British Chess Company correspondence
contributions of Philip Williams. I am not much
interested in Problems, but I had a sincere liking tourney, 1907
for Williams, and was always diverted by his cap- Queen’s Gambit Declined (D51)
and-bells style of comment on chess and other Notes, The Chess Review, 3 August 1907.
subjects.65
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5
The Chess Review: A Fortnightly Mag- Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Bd3 Qa5 7. B×f6 N×f6
azine was edited and published in Manches- 8. Nge2 d×c4 9. B×c4 Bd6 10. f4 Nd5 11. Qd2
ter but only ran for three issues, dated 3, 17 f5 12. 0–0 0–0 13. Rf3 Bd7 14. Raf1 b5
and 31 August 1907. Each had eight pages 15. Bb3 Kh8 Loses time; 15. … b4 is worth
making a total of 24. Copies are very rare but considering. 16. h3 Qb6 17. g4 g6 18. g5 a5
it is available in Cleveland, Ohio, and in the 19. h4 a4 20. Bd1 Rf7 21. h5 Ra7 We fail to
Royal Dutch Library. It was conducted by F. see why. 22. Rh3 Kg8 23. Ng3 Be8 24. N×d5
Baird and E. Millins, while the American ed- c×d5 25. Qh2 Rg7 26. h×g6 B×g6 27. Kh1
itor was said to be Alain C. White, and the A wasted move; 27. Bh5 is better. 27. … Be7
editor of a column in the Esperanto interna- 28. Rg1 Bd8 29. Rh6 Rac7 30. Nh5 Rgf7
tional language (in each issue) was C. T. Blan- 31. Qh4 Rc1? 31. … Qb7. 32. Nf6† B×f6
shard. A correspondence tournament was an- 33. g×f6 R×d1 34. R×d1 Qd8 35. Rc1 Q×f6
nounced in the second issue but the third said 36. R×g6†! 1–0. Black Resigns: 36. … h×g6
they were keeping it open as they still needed (or 36. … Q×g6 37. Rg1) 37. Rc8† Rf8 (37. …
a few more players. This final issue said noth- Kg7 38. Qh8 mate) 38. Q×f6.
ing about the magazine’s stopping. The first The British Correspondence Chess As-
issue of the magazine included the following: sociation Magazine was a members’ organ

A two-page spread from the manuscript magazine The Chess Board.

 5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914 177

entirely devoted to postal play. This author them, because he published in the Bulletin
has in a previous book told the history of this games provided to him for the B.C.C.A.’s own
(still-existing) association up to recent times.66 magazine. The launch of the Bulletin appears
The magazine was published in London and to have been a bid to start a rival postal chess
begun in 1909 (probably October), rather league, probably foredoomed since apart from
than in 1906 as stated by Betts. Some early is- the B.C.C.A. there were also the tournaments
sues are unavailable and publication became being run by the Chess Amateur.
irregular from 1914 onwards. Finally, The Chess Board was a manu-
The British Chess Bulletin lasted just script magazine produced in Edinburgh be-
four issues published in London between Oc- tween 1913 and 1915 by J. Stewart. This is ex-
tober 1910 and January 1911. Priced at two tremely rare. This author has seen some issues
pence, it was edited by H. T. Dickinson, who from volume two which are in the possession
had been a founder member of the B.C.C.A. of Edinburgh Chess Club and knows of an
and had been joint editor of a few of the early English collector who picked up a copy of vol-
issues of their magazine. However the min- ume 1 as a bargain a few years ago. In some
utes of that association’s meeting of 15 Octo- issues at least, the board diagrams were hand-
ber 1910 show that he had fallen out with colored, truly a labor of love.
 6. The Saga of the
Chess Player’s Chronicle

In the 1840s and early 1850s the Chron- magazine. The word “Chronicle” was the only
icle was the most important chess magazine element in common through the successive
in Britain, if not the world, but thereafter it incarnations which began in 1841 and finally
generally played second fiddle (or even third came to an end in 1902.
or fourth) to competitors. The genesis of the magazine was almost
The publishing history of The Chess an accident. Staunton, who by 1841 was be-
Player’s Chronicle, and its successors in name, coming established as England’s leading chess
was extremely complicated. The full story has player, had literary aspirations. He had briefly
probably never been told without some seri- conducted a chess column in the Court
ous inaccuracies or omissions, partly because Gazette during 1840 but this publication af-
the late volumes were very hard to find. Re- forded him little scope. His next venture into
cent reprints by Moravian Chess and the publishing did not begin more promisingly,
availability of some volumes online at Google but after a months it provided him with an
Books have eased the situation somewhat but unexpected opportunity that he seized.
there is still no complete set readily available.
Tracing the history of the C.P.C. through its
various editors and publishers who succeeded
Staunton has been a challenge. There remain
The Short Life of
some unanswered questions, or at least ones The British Miscellany
with answers that are “best guesses.”
The subject is indeed confusing. The This opportunity arose from the launch
Chess Player’s Chronicle title had only apparent on 2 January 1841 of a new literary maga-
longevity. With successive relaunches, sub- zine, The British Miscellany. It was published
title and format changes, different editors by R. Hastings, of 13 Carey Street, and the
and proprietors, and long periods of non- editor-proprietor was James Hemming
publication, it can hardly be considered one Webb.* Knowledge of the background to this

*In view of the failure of the original Miscellany and bankruptcy of its proprietor, the address of its publisher
might seem ironic but it was only later in the 1840s that the London bankruptcy court moved to Carey Street
and the phrase “on Carey Street” came to mean one was insolvent.

178
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 179

magazine is based chiefly on examining the azine … price 5d. (to be released in monthly
one volume of The British Miscellany held by parts)….” In February, however, they re-
the British Library, but it has been enhanced turned to the originally envisaged price of six-
by the researches of Townsend who presented pence per number.
his discoveries about Webb and the magazine The statement about “weekly and
in his self-published book on Staunton.1 monthly” would have been clear to early Vic-
Advance advertisements for the maga- torian readers though it may seem confusing
zine began to appear in December 1840, the to us today. The price of five pence referred
first this author found being placed in The to each weekly number. Many periodicals of
Era of Sunday 13 December. It read as fol- that era offered the choice between buying a
lows: single number with a few pages each week (or
sometimes fortnight), or waiting until the end
A NEW WEEKLY AND MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
of the month to buy the whole part (compris-
On Saturday, Jan. 2. 1841, will appear. No. I.
ing four or five numbers) together. Several
of a Weekly Publication, price 6d. (to be issued
in Monthly Parts), beautifully printed, and illus- parts would make a complete volume (cover-
trated with fine Engravings on wood, entitled ing usually a year or half-year, but sometimes
THE BRITISH MISCELLANY; which will be sup- bridging calendar years). It was up to the pur-
ported by the First Writers of the day. London: chasers to organize hard binding of each vol-
R. Hastings, Carey-street; H. Hooper, Pall-mall; ume if they so wished, once it had been com-
and all Booksellers and Newsmen in Town and
Country. pleted. Binders often discarded the wrappers
from the weekly numbers and monthly parts,
Another advertisement on the eve of so making it hard for modern readers to de-
publication, placed in The Times of 30 De- termine where each number began and ended,
cember 1840 (and possibly in other newspa- or the exact date of publication of particular
pers), announced a small price cut and prom- articles. Six of The British Miscellany articles
ised articles by “Dr. Maginn, Miss Strickland, are available free at the Chess Archaeology
Leigh Hunt, P. Tritton, J. Hemming Webb, website, dated there 23 January, 6 February,
etc.” Tritton was apparently F. Tritton, author 13 February, 20 February, 13 and 20 March,
of the first article in the first number after the but those dates are not necessarily correct.
editor’s introduction, on the subject of “An- See Appendix IV for an analysis of when the
cient Philosophy and Modern Learning.” A articles appeared.
later advertisement stated that Part I con- The British Library holds what may pos-
tained an article by Dr. Maginn but it is hard sibly be the only surviving complete set of the
to identify which it was since it must have Miscellany, in one bound volume of 310 pages.
been one of those published under a pseudo- The binder, lacking a title page (never issued)
nym or with no name attached. Nevertheless for volume One as a whole, retained at the
we can accept that Irish-born William Maginn front the blue cover for April, Part III, on which
did write in the Miscellany since he was a pro- a librarian some time in the past has written
lific journalist contributing to many papers. “No more published,” and also the contents
The announcement in The Times dif- page for Part III. At the end of the contents
fered from the Era advertisement in lowering list it says a blindfold game played by Bilguer
the price by a penny, and also in saying that did not arrive in time for inclusion.
the Miscellany was about to appear on the Since the binder discarded the covers
31st of December (though the nominal date from the first two Parts, it has been a tricky
was probably still 2 January). It repeated that exercise to work out when each Staunton
it would be “a new weekly and monthly mag- contribution first appeared. Even Whyld was
180 British Chess Literature to 1914

misled, writing, in an interesting but inaccu- The reader may find a detailed account
rate article about the history of the Chronicle, of the Miscellany in Appendix IV together
that The British Miscellany “had three num- with the basis for calculations of when the
bers only, around February and March 1841.”* chess articles were published. A summary is
He should have said three Parts only. given here. Part I contained 120 pages, made
So far as can be ascertained by scrutiny up of five numbers of 24 pages each, which in
of the British Library volume and of advertise- theory would each have appeared on one of
ments for the Miscellany, the initial plan for the five Saturdays in January 1841, before
weekly numbers was never really carried out, being collected together to complete the first
even in January and February, as there appear part for those readers who preferred to wait
to have been double or even treble numbers and purchase it in that form.
in the first month while Part II in February The breaks between the numbers mostly
consisted of two numbers of 40 pages each fall in the middle of an article or poem. This
and the other two of only eight pages apiece. strongly implies that the weekly schedule may
Then the title page of Part III states, “Our Sub- not have been followed in practice, with some
scribers are respectfully informed that ‘The missed weeks alternating with double or tre-
British Miscellany’ is now Published only in ble numbers. This hypothesis can only be
Monthly, price 2s.” From April, then, it was to confirmed if a set of the Miscellany turns up
be just a monthly magazine, but sales were in- somewhere complete with the weekly covers
sufficient to justify continuation. showing exactly what was published on what
date. A tentative analysis of the publication
schedule is as follows.
Part 1 (starting in January, complete part
issued on 1 February): #1 January 2, pages 1–
24; #2 January 9, pages 25–48; #3 January 16,
pages 49–72; #4 January 23, pages 73–96; #5
January 30, pages 97–120, soon followed by
the complete Part I for those who preferred
the magazine in that format. Then Part 2,
which was nominally four weekly numbers of
uneven size, but actually #6 and #7 together,
respectively pages 121–160 and pages 161–
168, known to have appeared on February 13;
#8 and #9 together, consisting of pages 169–
208 and 209–216, probably issued on or after
February 20; with the complete Part II adver-
tised as having been published on February
27 but dated March. Finally, no weekly num-
The picture of Staunton that was published bers appeared during March but Part 3 (pages
with his obituary in the Illustrated London 217–310) appeared together on 1 April as ad-
News, LXV (4 July 1874), page 17. vertised.

*Q.C.H. 8, pages 458–462. Nominally this volume was dated 2002 but actually it appeared much later so Whyld’s
article was published posthumously, and he did not have the opportunity to make any corrections. It is unknown
whether Whyld had seen a collector’s copy of the Miscellany; he would hardly have written what he did had he
carefully inspected the British Library copy. The present author is grateful to Tony Gillam for comparing notes
on the B.L. copy.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 181

Probably The British Miscellany, entering affords a gratifying proof of the refined taste and
a crowded market, was a commercial risk improving intelligence of the age. This depart-
ment of the British Miscellany is under the aus-
from the start, despite having some distin-
pices of the leading Chess-clubs in the King-
guished writers. A brief notice in the Morning dom; and with the view to render it, in every
Advertiser of 14 January said it contained sev- aspect, deserving the attention of Chess players,
eral essays on interesting subjects and “on the arrangements have been made to secure the co-
whole, it is a cheap desirable new work.” A operation of gentlemen, eminent for their prac-
more lengthy but pointed review of the first tical knowledge of the game, whose contribu-
tions will consist of remarks on the origin and
number in The Era of 10 January had been antiquity of Chess, anecdotes of distinguished
more discouraging. It remarked on the new- individuals who were Chess players, a general
comer to “our editorial table covered with the record of proceedings at the various institutions
periodicals which pour in on the 1st day of devoted to the game, and, as a leading charac-
the month.” The critic continued: teristic, ORIGINAL GAMES AND PROBLEMS, by
the most celebrated Chess professors and Ama-
Now, when a party is already a little too full, teurs in Europe.
where seats are all occupied, an unexpected
guest must look for a little supercilious exami- During the short life of the Miscellany,
nation; and unless he has some very particular only a very small part of this prospectus was
attraction, or the power of being himself quite fulfilled, but we may view it as the brief which
at ease and making himself pleasant to others,
Staunton had agreed with Hemming Webb,
he must count on being voted a bore by the rest
of the party. Our new guest comes in a modest and which he subsequently set out to accom-
yellow surtout….2 plish when he became editor of the Chess
Player’s Chronicle. So far as the problems in
There was no mention of chess in the the Miscellany are concerned, they are not of
early advertisements and no chess appeared special interest except as they reflect the tastes
in the first two numbers (or first double num- of the day. Thus Problem 1 on page 90 (see
ber) of the magazine. The editor, Hemming below), composed by the Rev. Horatio Bolton
Webb, was interested in chess, and after that (1793–1873), who was regarded as a leading
review he may have decided he needed “some problem composer of the day, had a typically
very particular attraction” to make his maga- convoluted task for problems of that era:
zine stand out from its competitors. This pre- “White, with the advantage of playing first,
sumably led him to introduce this new feature checkmates with pawn in 13 moves.” More
in the hope of broadening the Miscellany’s ap- will be said about the evolution of problems
peal.3 Staunton’s first, small, chess article is to in Chapter 7, when discussing books about
be found on pages 90–91, towards the end of chess problems.
the fourth number (or rather in the middle of
what is believed was a treble number) so we
can tentatively assign a date of 16 January
wDKDkDq4
1841 to its appearance, or possibly 23 January. DwDwDwDw
There was no byline for the chess article, the wDw!p)w0
inclusion of which Webb justified by intro- DwHwDwHw
ducing it as follows: w$wDwDpg
GwDwDwDw
CHESS. In conformity with our professed object,
to combine solid with pleasing information, we
wDwDwDwD
purpose giving a series of articles, illustrative of DwDwDwDw
this intellectual and deservedly attractive recre-
ation, the popularity of which, at the present time, White to move and win (see text)
182 British Chess Literature to 1914

The area in which the Miscellany chess White’s plan is hard to comprehend as
column did carry out the “leading character- he abandons his extra pawn without obtain-
istic” of its plan was in publishing recently ing any attack and then unsoundly sacrifices
played games by leading experts of the day. In the exchange. He appears to have miscalcu-
all, seven games were published in the Miscel- lated, overlooking that Black’s 20th move at-
lany and since most of them are not to be tacks his queen.
found in current databases, they are all in- 18. … B×e5 19. R×e5? N×e5 20. Qf4
cluded in this chapter. The first game to be N×d4 21. Q×d4 N×d3 22. Q×d3 Bc6 23. Ng4
published, with an introduction on Miscellany Kg7 24. Nd4 e5 25. Nf3 Rf5 26. Re1 Kf8
page 90 and the bare score (no annotations) 27. Nh4 Rf7 28. Qe3 e4 29. Qh6† Kg8
on page 91 was the following. It was a game 30. Qg5 (see diagram)
played at odds by de la Bourdonnais, who had
come to England for a chess engagement late wDwDrDkD
in 1840, but became gravely ill and died in 0w1wDrDp
London on 13 December, leaving an English w0bDwDpD
widow.* Five of the seven chess games in the After DwDpDw!w
Miscellany were played by de la Bourdonnais; 30. Qg5 wDwDpDNH
the other two involved Staunton himself. The Dw)wDwDP
first to appear in The British Miscellany was in-
P)wDw)PD
troduced as follows:
DwDw$wIw
The following fine game was among the last
played by De La Bourdonnais. His opponent on White is beginning to fight and threatens
this occasion was the Honorary Secretary of the knight forks on both f6 and h6. His opponent,
London Chess Club, a gentleman who has de- perhaps due to his ill health, has let him back
servedly attained the reputation of being one of
the most accomplished players of the day. La
into the game but would still stand better after
Bourdonnais gives the odds of Pawn and move. 30. … Kh8.
30. … Kg7? 31. Nh6?
George Perigal–L. C. M. The threats of 32. N×f7 and 32. N4f5†
de la Bourdonnais are easily parried, whereas 31. Qh6† Kg8 (not
London 1840 31. … Kh8? 32. N×g6†) 32. Qg5 would repeat
Remove Black’s f-pawn the position.
31. … Re5?
The British Miscellany, pages 90–91.
Better 31. … Rff8! 32. N4f5† Kh8 and
Notes by Tim Harding.
White’s attack runs into the sand.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 32. Qe3 Rf8 33. Ng4 Re6 34. Qh6†?
5. Bd3 Nge7 6. Nf3 g6 7. Bg5 Bg7 8. Qe2 34. Qd4† would have forced Black to re-
Qb6 9. d×c5 Q×c5 10. Nbd2 Bd7 11. Be3 turn the exchange.
Qa5 12. Nb3 Qc7 13. Bd4 Nf5 14. 0–0 0–0 34. … Kg8 35. Qg5 Qf4
15. Rae1 b6 16. h3 Rae8 17. Nh2 Rf7 Now the queens should come off and
18. Qg4? Black is winning once more.

*Bell’s Life in London also published some of the Frenchman’s last games. It had on 20 December 1840 carried a
long letter to the editor from Walker about the funeral of de la Bourdonnais and launched an appeal for his English
widow. Then in B.L.L. 10 January 1841, Walker published his own last game with the Frenchman, saying that he
left “left no papers that could be fashioned into a pamphlet for the sake of his widow, but not a jot, not a scrap of
Chess paper did he bequeath us. His Chess was all in his head.” On 13 March 1842 Walker was able to report that
the widow had married a wealthy Cornwall merchant, James Budge of Cromartin, near Truro.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 183

36. Nh6† Kg7 37. N6f5† ond chance to gain favorable attention from
In a lost position, Perigal prefers to give critics and a wealthier class of reader who
up more material in order to retain his Queen. could afford to lay out half a crown at one
The Miscellany does not specify which Knight time instead of sixpence. The Miscellany was
moved to f5 first. noted by a critic for Bell’s New Weekly Messen-
37. … R×f5 38. N×f5† Q×f5 39. Qe3 ger on 7 February, who began by saying: “A
g5 40. b3 Rf6 41. c4 d×c4 42. b×c4 Kg6 new literary candidate for public favour con-
43. Rd1 Qc5 44. Qe2 Rd6 45. Re1 Rd4 ducted with talent and spirit; and containing
46. Qg4 Qf5 47. Qg3 Rd2 48. h4 Qf4 several well written articles by popular au-
49. h5† Kh6 0–1. “And the first player re- thors.” It then quoted a section of an article
signs.” by Leigh Hunt to give a flavor of the magazine.
In 1840 de la Bourdonnais was only a A reviewer in The Era on 14 March, which had
shadow of his former self, but nevertheless his Part II to hand, did not mention the chess ar-
fame among chess lovers was such that acquir- ticles, however, but quoted from the Cabman
ing the scores of his last games was a selling memoirs. The reviewer noted, “This is but a
point for the Miscellany, although some had young periodical, but it gave promises at its
already been published in Bell’s Life. So the birth which bid fair to be realized in its after
next set of advertisements to appear promot- life,” and then continued with a prophetic
ing the Miscellany mentioned chess and de la warning on the mortality of periodicals which
Bourdonnais prominently. Their appearance “die of course of the natural diseases inciden-
was timed to coincide with the reissue of the tal to literature.”
early numbers as the first monthly Part, and The advertisement in the Morning Chron-
with the early numbers of Part Two. Adver- icle on Friday 12 February stated that number
tisements this author has seen, with similar 7, now priced at sixpence (a 20 percent in-
wordings, appeared in The Times on 6 Febru- crease!), would be published next day, “con-
ary, the Morning Chronicle on 6 and 12 Feb- taining the Confessions of a Cabman—Susan
ruary, Bell’s Life in London and the Era on 7 Rouslie [sic]—The Piraeus Street—My
February, and the Morning Post of 8 February. Brother’s Grave—Sonnet by Major Calder
For example, the wording in the notice on the Campbell—Chess etc. etc.” without mention-
front page of Bell’s Life was probably geared ing de la Bourdonnais. However, since the
to the fact that this was the only paper at that Morning Chronicle advertisement on Friday
time with a well-established weekly chess col- 12 February stated that No. VII would be is-
umn: sued next day, mentioning many of the items
TO CHESS PLAYERS.—LAST GAMES OF BOUR- from Part VI, it is most probable that 6–7 was
DONNAIS . T HE B RITISH M ISCELLANY , price a double number, and that there had been no
6d., published weekly. The whole of the unpub- weekly publication on 6 February, in order
lished games played by this celebrated professor chiefly to give more time for the stocks of the
will appear in the British Miscellany.—Also the
monthly Part I to sell out. Number 7 itself (ac-
CONFESSIONS of a CABMAN, with notes by the
Waterman, Christopher South. Part I, contain- cording to printers’ marks) was only of eight
ing articles by Dr. Maginn, Agnes Strickland, pages so hardly long enough to be sold on its
Leigh Hunt, Hemming Webb etc. etc. was pub- own for sixpence. Later, an advertisement in
lished on Feb. 1, price 2s. 6d.—London: R. The Times on 27 February said that Part 2 had
Hastings, 13 Carey-street, and all Booksellers.4 been completed and Part 3 would be issued
This meant the numbers from January on 31 March.
were now available as a complete part. The The chess content of Part 2 may be found
appearance of Part I gave the magazine a sec- on pages 132–133, 160–161 and 189–190. If
184 British Chess Literature to 1914

an analysis of publication dates is correct, too brief sojourn in this country. The subjoined
the implication is that Staunton was asked to specimen of masterly Chess-skill was played,
only a few days before his decease, with Mr.
provide three articles for Part II but a late
P—t, the strongest opponent whom he encoun-
change of editorial plan meant that two of tered on this occasion of his visiting England.
these appeared on the same date, separated La Bourdonnais gives the odds of pawn and
by other articles. Page 132 is only half about move.
chess, containing a poem followed by Prob-
lem II, which “occurred in play, and is taken William Popert–L. C. M.
from the choice collection of unpublished de la Bourdonnais
Chess MSS, in the possession of Mr. [Wil- London 1840
liam] Lewis.” The stipulation is that: “Black, Remove Black’s f-pawn
having to move, captured the adverse Queen, The British Miscellany, page 133.
and White then gave checkmate in six moves.”
This author has not been able to identify 1. e4 Nh6 2. d4 Nf7 3. Bd3 e6 4. Nf3
the source of this game. The reader may d5 5. e5 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. 0–0 Qb6 8. a4 Bd7
wish to do so, and perhaps to solve the posi- 9. Bc2 Be7 10. Qd3 0–0–0 11. d×c5 Qc7
tion from the diagram below without moving 12. b4 g5 13. Na3 Nc×e5 14. N×e5 N×e5
the pieces or resorting to computer assis- 15. Qg3 h5 16. f4 h4 17. Qe1 Ng4 18. Nb5
tance: Qb8 19. h3 a6 20. Nd4 e5 21. h×g4 g×f4
22. Nf5 Rde8 23. c4 h3 24. c×d5 h×g2
rhwDwDri 25. K×g2 f3† 26. R×f3 e4 27. B×e4 Qh2†
0pDwHpDp 28. Kf1 B×c5 29. b×c5 Qh1† 30. Ke2 Rh2†
wDwDw0wD 31. Kd1 R×e4 32. Q×h1 R×h1† 33. Kc2
DwDwDwDw R×g4 1–0. “At this point, from physical ex-
wDwDw)wD haustion, La Bourdonnais was compelled to
DwDwDw!w resign the game.”
P1wDwDP) On page 160, a set of answers to corre-
Dw$wDRDK spondents was provided, followed by Prob-
lem III, another from Lewis’s collection:
Black to move (see text)
rDwDwDwD
The second game appeared on page 133, 0pDwDp4w
followed by—and this is a typical Staunton wDwDpDwg
touch—a quotation from a famous book for Dw$NiwDp
the education of aristocratic youth in Tudor w!wDwDnD
times, The Governour: “The Chess of all games,
DwDwDwDb
wherein is no bodily exercise, is most to be
commended, for therein is righte subtile en-
nDwDw)wD
gine, whereby the wit is made more sharp and
DwDwDwIw
remembrance quickened.”—Sir Thomas Elyot, White to win in five moves
1534.5 The introduction to the second game
published in The British Miscellany was as fol- This was followed on page 161 by Game
lows: III, followed by another quotation from liter-
The recent death of the great Chess-player, La ature. Here readers received the first actual
Bourdonnais, has attached a melancholy interest item of chess news, because the game was in-
to the last few games played by him, during his troduced as follows:
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 185

A match of Chess between Messrs. P——t and Against Rives at Brussels in 1853, Staun-
St——n, two of the first Metropolitan play- ton was to prefer 10. Qb3 and won quickly.
ers, which has excited much attention in Chess
10. … Nf6
circles, was concluded last week. The games in
this contest have been obtained exclusively for In 1842, Eugene Rousseau here played
the British Miscellany, and will appear, con- 10. … f6 against Saint-Amant and won the game.
jointly, with those last played by De La Bour- 11. e5 d×e5 12. N×e5 N×e5 13. B×e5
donnais. 0–0 14. Nc3 Ng4 15. Bg3 Qg5 16. Rae1 Bf5
17. Qb3 Nf6!?
Because of the uncertainty over the date This sacrifices a pawn and leads to sharp
of publication, we cannot be sure whether play. In another game from the match, Popert
“last week” refers to the end of January or played 17. … c6 and drew in 59 moves.
the start of February, since the game may 18. Re7 (see diagram)
not have appeared precisely on the date
Staunton expected. Nor we can we know at rDwDw4kD
what point in the long match between the 0p0w$p0p
two men this game actually was played,
wgwDwhwD
since “Game III” on the page refers to the
numbering in that magazine not the sequence
After DwDwDb1w
in the contest. No result was published at
18. Re7 w)BDwDwD
the time, but the Chronicle for 1859 says on )QHwDwGw
page 194 says that the match was for the wDwDw)P)
first to win 11 games and that Staunton won DwDwDRIw
by the odd game. The result was probably
11–10 with about six draws, and the match 18. … Bg6 19. B×c7 Ng4?
is likely to have begun in the fall or early This vacillation costs Popert the game.
winter of 1840, but the evidence is incon- Both last move and here Black had various
clusive. The score of the following game may ways to obtain strong counterplay, especially
be found in ChessBase’s Mega Database 2017 19. … Ne4.
but is there attributed incorrectly to the year 20. Nd5 B×c7 21. R×c7 Rae8?
1842 and with an additional move added at This just loses by force. 21. … Be4 was
the end. Staunton did not annotate this game the best practical chance. If 21. … b5?!
in the Miscellany but did add some light notes 22. B×b5 N×h2 23. Re1 (not 23. K×h2?!
when reprinting it in C.P.C. volume 2, page Be4).
179. 22. Qg3 h6 23. f4 Qf5 24. Ne7† R×e7
25. R×e7 Qf6 26. Q×g4 Q×e7 27. Q×g6
Qe3† 28. Kh1 Q×a3 29. Qe4 Qc3 30. h3
Howard Staunton–William Popert Rc8 31. Bd3 Rd8 32. Rf3 g6 33. Bc4 Rd1†
Staunton–Popert match, London 34. Kh2
1840–1841 The Miscellany here had a misprint “Kt
Scotch Gambit (C44) to R. second.” This mistake was corrected
The British Miscellany, page 161. Notes by when the game was reprinted in C.P.C.
Tim Harding. 34. … Qe1 35. Q×g6† 1–0.
The final chess content of Part II is on
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 e×d4 4. Bc4 pages 189–190, beginning with Problem IV
Bb4† 5. c3 d×c3 6. 0–0 c2 7. Q×c2 d6 8. a3 from the Lewis manuscript, with the stipula-
Ba5 9. b4 Bb6 10. Bb2 tion “White to win in seven moves.”
186 British Chess Literature to 1914

wgwDw$wD K×d7 27. Rf7† Ke6 28. Rf6† Ke7 29. Bh6
1pDwDw0k Rg6 30. R×g6 h×g6 31. b3 Nb6 32. R×c8
wDwDw0w0 This is the winning style; the first player
has now the great advantage of a “passed
DwDB$w4P pawn,” and can well afford exchanges.
wDwDPDND 32. … N×c8 33. Kg2 Ke6 34. Kf3 Kf5
4whwDwIw (see diagram)
wDwDwDwD
Dw!wDwDw wDnDwDwD
0wDwDwDw
White to move (see text)
wDwDwDpG
The fourth game to appear in the Mis-
After DpDp)kDw
cellany was the following, described as: “Fine
34. … Kf5 wDw)wDwD
Game, played a few weeks since, between M. )PDwDKDw
De La Bourdonnais and the Honorary Secre- wDwDwDw)
tary of the London Chess Club. The former DwDwDwDw
giving the odds of ‘Pawn and move.’”
35. h3?
Not criticized by Staunton, but White
George Perigal–L. C. M. misses the chance to immobilize the knight
de la Bourdonnais by 35. Bf8! and if 35. … a6 36. Bc5. Thereafter
London 1840 Black will eventually run out of moves and be
Remove Black’s f-pawn forced to allow the White king to advance, e.g.,
The British Miscellany, pages 189–190. 36. … Kg5 37. Kg3 a5 38. b4 a×b4 39. a×b4
Notes by Howard Staunton. Kf5 40. h4 Ke6 41. Kg4 Kf7 42. Kg5 Kg7
43. e6 etc.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Bd3 Qa5†
35. … Ne7 36. Bf8 Nc6 37. Bc5 a5 38. a4
5. Bd2 Qb6 6. Qh5† Kd8
b×a4 39. b×a4 Kg5 40. Kg3 Kf5 41. h4 Nd8
The celebrated player, Deschapelles,
42. Bb6 Ne6 43. Kf3 g5 44. h×g5 K×g5
when giving the odds of “Pawn and two moves,”
45. Ke3 Kf5 46. B×a5 Nf8 47. Bb6 Ke6
frequently adopted this mode of opening the
48. a5 Kd7 49. a6 Kc6 50. a7 Kb7 51. Kd3
game, permitting the check from the adverse
Nd7 52. Bc5 1–0
Queen, and then playing his K to Q’s sq.
7. Nc3 Bd7 After a few more moves, La Bourdonnais re-
signed. His play in these, his last efforts, al-
The b- pawn could not be safely cap- though unquestionably lacking the vigour and
tured. invention which so peculiarly characterised his
8. Nf3 c×d4 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. Nf×d4 N×d4 games in earlier and brighter times, still affords
11. Qh4† Be7 12. Q×d4 Q×d4 13. N×d4 amazing evidence of his almost matchless pow-
Bc5 14. c3 Ne7 15. Be3 B×d4 16. c×d4 Nc6 ers at Chess.
17. a3 Rc8 18. f4 Na5 19. 0–0 g6 20. Rac1 So far as we can tell from the contents of
Ke7 21. g4 the British Library volume and from newspa-
Played with commendable boldness; per advertisements, the original plan of weekly
when the Queens are gone, these pawns may publication completely collapsed in March
generally be advanced without danger. and that no weekly issues of the Miscellany
21. … b5 22. f5 g×f5 23. g×f5 e×f5 were published that month. It only appeared
24. B×f5 Rhg8† 25. Kh1 Nc4 26. B×d7 in monthly Part form. Significantly, no adver-
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 187

tisements for the Miscellany appeared in early part says “Printed by J. Truscott, Blackfriars-
March, a pretty sure sign that no weekly num- road, London.” (It was a legal requirement for
bers were issued. a publication’s printer to be identified.) After
In an attempt to relaunch the publica- the failure of the Miscellany, and the change
tion, the word chess was added to the title. A to a chess magazine, the printer was changed.
notice to potential advertisers appeared on Part III begins on Page 217 and the chess
Wednesday 17 March, and again on the 19th, elements were not all placed together, being
22nd and 24th, saying that ads and bills “for found on pages 256–257 and also on pages
insertion in the April Part of The British Mis- 283–286, in addition to the article on the au-
cellany and Chronicle of Chess must be sent to tomaton that preceded the last games in the
the Publisher by the 26th instant.” It stated magazine. The fifth game to be published in
that “as agents are appointed for the sale of the Miscellany appeared on page 256 (with
the British Miscellany in the principal towns some notes on page 257). Most likely it (and
of England, Ireland, and Scotland, it will be indeed all these games involving de la Bour-
found a favourable medium for advertising.” donnais) was played at the London Chess
If advertisements were in fact placed, in this Club. Apparently the French master, having
or earlier numbers, they must have been in succeeded in giving Perigal the normal odds
pages of the outer wrapper which were not of pawn and move, now attempted the larger
preserved by the binder of the British Library odds of pawn and two. Staunton introduced
volume. the game thus: “Brilliant Partie, played a few
The decision was also taken to reduce weeks since, between M. De La Bourdonnais
the price of the monthly Part from half a crown and the Honorary Secretary of the London
(2s. 6d.) to just two shillings. A review (which Chess Club.” His annotations do not reflect
did not mention the chess content) appeared the actual state of the position as de la Bour-
in the Morning Post on 29 March which wel- donnais was lost long before the end.
comed the switch to monthly. “This we can-
not think but a considerable improvement, as George Perigal–L. C. M.
the work will thereby, we are sure, gain many de la Bourdonnais
contributors who would not have liked to London 1840
have been under the necessity of furnishing Remove Black’s f-pawn from the board
matter weekly.” However, this was not to be The British Miscellany, pages 256–257.
and the appearance of Part III was probably
Notes by Howard Staunton.
the end of Hemming Webb’s involvement.
An advertisement in the Morning Post on 1. e4 AND 2. d4 e6 3. Bd3
Wednesday 31 March (also in The Times of 1 The adversary having no king’s bishop’s
April and Morning Chronicle of 2 April) shows: pawn, this move is one of the most attacking
The April Number (price 2s.) of THE BRITISH that can be made at this point of the opening.
MISCELLANY and CHRONICLE OF CHESS con- 3. … c5
tains, among other Articles … [various literary This is not an advisable mode of defence
contributions listed] … The Automaton Chess- against the “pawn and two moves” attack. The
player, Chess Games and Problems, Critical No- first player might have taken a pawn, or played
tices, etc., etc.
his KP one square, in either case obtaining a
Notwithstanding the advertisements strong offensive position.
men tioning chess in the title, the running 4. d5 d6 5. c4 Nf6 6. f4 e×d5 7. e×d5
header on pages is always simply “The British Be7 8. Nf3 b5 9. b3 Nbd7 10. 0–0 Nb6
Miscellany.” Also throughout last page in each 11. Bb2 a5 12. Nbd2 a4 13. Qe2 0–0 14. Ng5
188 British Chess Literature to 1914

h6 15. Ne6 B×e6 16. Q×e6† Kh8 17. Qf5 Also on page 257 there was this unusual
Qd7 18. Qg6 Qe8 19. Rae1 Q×g6 20. B×g6 problem (Problem V) with no byline.
Ra7 21. Re6 a×b3 22. a×b3 Ra2 23. Bc3 b4
(see diagram) wDwDwDwi
DwDwDwDw
wDwDw4wi wDwDwDwD
DwDwgw0w DwDwDKDP
whw0RhB0 wDwDwDwD
Dw0PDwDw After DwDwDw$w
w0PDw)wD 23. … b4 wDwDwDwD
DPGwDwDw DwDwDwDw
rDwHwDP)
DwDwDRIw White to move (see text)

The task stipulated was: “White to check-

24. Ra1
mate in eight moves without moving his king.”
Boldness indeed! We should have pre-
It is ingenious but not a good problem by
ferred however 24. B×f6 as safer, and we be-
modern standards because the order of White’s
lieve, much better play.
first two moves is immaterial and he has sev-
24. … b×c3 25. R×a2 c×d2 26. R×d2
eral moves of equivalent value at 3 and 6.
Nc8 27. Ra2 Nd7 28. Ra8 Ndb6 29. Rb8
The final chunk of chess in the volume
Bd8 30. Re8 R×e8 31. B×e8 Bc7 32. Rb7
was more substantial, running from page 280
Bd8 33. h4 Kg8
to page 286. This began with the first part of
Labourdonnais appears here to have over-
an article entitled “The Chess Automaton,”
looked the advantage of winning the K. R. P.
which was much enlarged in the C.P.C. proper
(Staunton means 33. … B×h4, but then
later in the year. If Part III had originally been
34. Bf7 should soon lead to a decisive win of
intended to be just one very large number,
material for White by means of Be6 followed
the material would probably have been or-
by Rb8.)
ganized differently. As it is, there were three
34. Bf7† Kf8 35. Be6 Ne7 36. h5 Ke8
separate articles by Staunton, with games
37. g4 Na8 38. Bd7† Kf7 39. Rb8 Bb6??
“Throwing away the game!” exclaimed and problems. It is likely that the article
Staunton, but Black is lost even without this about the “automaton” was written by Wil-
help-mate. liam Lewis, who at one point in 1818 had
40. Be6† Kf6 41. Rf8 mate (1 – 0). been the master concealed inside operat-
Staunton added this comment: ing the machine. On page 283 there was
“chess intelligence” (various news items) and
The interest attached to these last relics of La more answers to correspondents. One of
Bourdonnais’ skill, is mainly ascribable to the
these (to G.C.S. on page 284) has the flavor
melancholy circumstances connected with them.
As specimens of play, they appear to us, upon of later Staunton put-downs, and while the
examination, to afford but a very imperfect and target may have been Walker, this is not en-
unsatisfactory notion of the pre-eminent powers tirely clear. Staunton also said that Cochrane
of invention and combination, which this dis- might send a collection of games that were
tinguished player at one time exhibited. In the
“played by the Brahmins of Hindoostan” and
game before us, he omits to seize the most ob-
vious advantages, and, even when his opponent that there was a new chess club in Bath. Also,
had sacrificed a piece, permits the victory within on page 283, there was another peculiar task
his grasp to be wrested from him. problem.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 189

wDwDwDwi This is not considered to be so good a move

DwDwDwDw as 2. f4.
w0w0w$wD 2. … Nc6 3. c3 e6 4. d4 d5 5. e5
By transposition, the Advance Variation
DpDpDRDw of the French Defense has been reached.
w0w0wHwD 5. … Bd7 6. Bd3 Qb6
DKDQDNDw At this stage of the defence, Lewis, de la
wDPDwDwD Bourdonnais, and other first-rate players, invari-
DwDwDwDw ably bring out the Queen thus.
7. Bc2
White to move (see text)
Nowadays White would usually castle,
offering the d-pawn as a gambit.
For this ingenious and elaborate stratagem we
are indebted to the kindness of the Rev. H. 7. … g6
Bolton. White engages to checkmate the adver- ChessBase has a different game said to
sary with his pawn in 44 moves, without taking be between the same players where the same
any of the adverse pawns, or permitting them to position arose via 1. e4 c5 2. c3 e6 3. Nf3 d5
be moved. 4. e5 Nc6 5. d4 Qb6 6. Bd3 Bd7 7. Bc2 and
Apparently this can only be done by Black now played 7. … Rc7, Popert winning
advancing the c-pawn on the final move, dis- in 23 moves.6
covering a horizontal or diagonal check, but 8. 0–0 Rc8 9. a4 a5 10. Na3 c×d4
whether any reader has the patience to check 11. c×d4 Nb4 12. Qe2
this problem and determine whether it is By this move the first player loses a pawn.
sound, we rather doubt. Computers can hardly 12. … N×c2 13. N×c2 Qb3 14. Ne3
be of any assistance. There followed two B×a4 15. Nd2 Qb4 16. Qg4
games. Threatening N×d5.
The sixth game to be featured in the Mis- 16. … Bd7
cellany was another “played in the match just Instead of moving this Bishop, 16. … h7–
concluded between Messrs. P—t and St—n.” h5 might have been played.
As often in Staunton’s publications, he assigned 17. Nf3 h5 18. Qg3 b6 19. Bd2 Qe7
the Black pieces to the player who made the It would have been injudicious play to take
first move. This and the following game were the b-pawn.
reprinted in volume 2 of the Chess Player’s 20. Rac1 Bc6 21. Rc2 Qd7 22. Rfc1
Chronicle since, as he wrote, many of Staunton’s Ne7 23. Ng5 Bh6 24. h4 0–0 25. Qf4
new subscribers would not have seen them be- For the purpose of advancing g2–g4.
fore. Most of the notes are by Staunton, but the 25. … Bg7 26. Nf3
present author has added comments to the He was compelled to retire the Kt. from ap-
opening and computer-checked analysis of the prehension of his opponent playing f-pawn.
fascinating minor piece ending. 26. … f6 27. Qg3 f×e5 28. d×e5 Bb7
If the second player had now advanced
William Popert–Howard Staunton 28. … d4 he would speedily have lost all the ad-
Staunton–Popert match, London vantage acquired at the beginning of the game.
1840–1841 29. Nd4 R×c2 30. R×c2 Rc8 31. R×c8†
B×c8 32. Qg5 Kh7 33. g4 Bh6 34. Qf6 Ng8
French Defense (C02)
35. Qf3 h×g4 36. Q×g4 Qa4 37. Kg2 Ne7
Notes in italics are by Staunton.
38. Kg3 Nc6
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 We should have preferred 38. … Nf5†.
190 British Chess Literature to 1914

(This note was not in the Miscellany; Staun- aggressive play was necessary, viz. 51. Nc7! b4
ton presumably found this idea when re- 52. e6! holds the position, because of 52. … b3
examining the game.) (52. … Kf6 53. Nd5† and 54. N×b4) 53. e7 Bd7
39. N×c6 Q×c6 40. h5 Qe8 41. h×g6† 54. Ne6†!! Kf6 (54. … Kf5 55. Nd4†, and not
Q×g6 42. Q×g6† K×g6 43. f4 Bf8 44. f5† 54. … B×e6?? 55. e8Q) 55. N×f4 b2 (55. …
Well played; by the disunion of these valu- Bc6 56. e8Q) 56. Nd5† and Nc3.
able pawns, the strength of [the opponent’s] po- 51. … Bb7?
sition is materially diminished. There are five winning moves for Black
44. … e×f5 45. N×d5 Bc5 46. b4 a×b4 (including the natural 51. … Kf5) but this is
47. B×b4 not one of them. Black takes his eye off the e-
If 47. N×b4 not 47. … B×b4 but 47. … pawn which could now be used to create a di-
Bb7. version. The other moves that do not spoil
47. … B×b4 48. N×b4 (see diagram) the win are Kg4, Bd7, Be6 and Bf5.
52. Nc2?
wDbDwDwD Passivity fails. The last chance was 52. e6!!
DwDwDwDw Kf6 53. Nd3 f3 54. Nc5 Bc6 55. Nb3! K×e6
w0wDwDkD 56. Nd4† Kd5 (56. … Kd6 57. N×b5† B×b5
DwDw)pDw After
58. K×f3) 57. N×f3 b4 (57. … Kc4 58. Ne5†
Kc5 59. Nd3†) 58. Ke3 (not the only move
wHwDwDwD 48. N×b4
to hold) and White is able to stop the b-pawn.
DwDwDwIw 52. … Bd5 53. Ke2 Kf5 54. e6
wDwDwDwD 54. Nd4† would have been useless, because
DwDwDwDw if 54. … K×e5 55. N×b5 he must have lost his Kt.
54. … K×e6 55. Kf2 Ke5 56. Ne1 Be4
An instructive seven-man endgame has 57. Ke2 Kd4 0–1.
now arisen which the Lomonosov tablebase After a few defensive moves, the first player
at tb7.chessok.com/probe assesses as drawn resigned. His efforts to recover the advantage
with best play. Of course it might be difficult which his adversary obtained in the opening of
even for masters of today to find all the best the game evinced considerable skill, and ought,
moves, especially if short of time, but there probably, as they at one period promised, to have
were no time-limits in the early 1840s. drawn the battle.
48. … Kg5 49. Nd5? The seventh and last game to appear in
Now Black can win by force. The table- the Miscellany was introduced by Staunton
base finds two moves that hold the game, the thus: “The following was the last game De La
clearest being 49. Nc6 (49. Nd3 is the other Bourdonnais ever played, giving the odds of
adequate, but less forcing, move.) 49. … b5 a rook. His opponent on this occasion was a
50. Nd4 b4 (50. … Bd7 51. e6 Be8) 51. e6 Kf6 very promising player in the London Chess
52. e7! Kf7 (52. … K×e7 53. Nc6† and Club.” Black was called just “Mr. W,” but
54. N×b4) 53. Kf4 Bd7 54. Ke5 K×e7 55. Kd5! Walker later named him as “Mr. W*v*ll.” This
b3 56. N×b3 Be6† 57. Ke5. is sufficient to identify Marmaduke Wyvill
49. … b5! 50. Kf2 f4? (1815–1896), who was then only 25 years
50. … Be6 was correct. old.7 In 1851, when a Member of Parliament,
51. Nb4? Wyvill played with surprising success in the
It is understandable that Popert wanted to 1851 tournament and, helped by a favorable
blockade the pawn with his N on a dark square draw, took the second-place prize. Although
but now he cannot save his own pawn. More he was defeated despite receiving heavy odds
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 191

in this game, he played quite well until the the surplus material, although Black should
complications became critical. still win. 18. … d5 is best, or 18. … h5 to pre-
This game had in fact already been pub- vent White’s next.
lished, in Bell’s Life in London on 27 December 19. Nh5 Qg6 20. Rg1 Q×e4 21. R×g7
1840. Walker dated the game precisely to Nf5 22. Rg3 N×g3 23. N×g3 Qe7 24. d5
Wednesday 9 December and provided more Rde8 25. Nf5 Qe4 26. d×c6
circumstantial details. The previous day Walker “Here we find the hand of the master,”
had played some games against the French wrote Walker. “Anything to make a break that
master, which he published in his column on his genius may have room to work.”
3 and 10 January 1841. Walker says the game 26. … b×c6?
with Wyvill (whom he named when reprint- “Perhaps not the best answer” observed
ing the game in his collection Chess Studies) Walker. 26. … Q×f5 27. c×d7 Re7 is playable
was played at de la Bourdonnais’ lodgings, No according to the engines.
4, Beaufort-buildings, on a board which was 27. Q×d6† Kd8 28. Bd3!?
Walker’s property and using chessmen be- 28. B×a7 threatens mate in two but then
longing to Mr. Ries, proprietor of the Divan Black has at least a draw by perpetual check
in the Strand. The move order in the Ency- playing obvious moves: 28. … Q×c2† 29. Kf3
clopædia of Chess Games is the same as that in Qe4† 30. Kf2 Qe1†, and could play for a win.
Bell’s Life and Walker’s Chess Studies.8 Here is 28. … Qh1 29. Qb4 (see diagram)
Staunton’s version of the score. Here Walker was effusive: “A coup de
repos of the highest order. As fine a move as
L. C. M. de la Bourdonnais– the annals of chess can show. A last beam of
Marmaduke Wyvill the setting sun; the expiring taper flash of ge-
London, 9 December 1840 nius.” 29. B×a7 would be the engine prefer-
ence but La Bourdonnais, wanting to win the
The British Miscellany, page 286. Notes
game, probably saw no way forward after
by Tim Harding. Remove White’s
29. … Qe1† 30. Kf3 Qa5 so he gave Black
rook from a1. some rope to hang himself.
1. e4 e5 2. f4 e×f4 3. Bc4 Qh4† 4. Kf1
g5 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. d4 d6 7. Nf3 Qh5 8. Nd5 wDwirDw4
Kd8 0wDnDpDw
Here Walker wrote: “Second player car- wDpDwDw0
ries out his opening with great correctness; After DwDwDNDw
playing all the best moves.” 29. Qb4 w!wDw)wD
9. h4 c6 10. Nc3 h6 11. Kf2 Bg4 12. h×g5 DwDBGwDw
B×f3 P)PDwIwD
“Very well played move; quite out of the DwDwDwDq
style of Rook players,” wrote Walker.
13. g×f3 Q×g5 14. Ne2 Nd7 15. B×f4 29. … Rhg8?
Qf6 16. Be3 Kc7 17. f4 Ne7 Now the game should be drawn. Black
In Walker’s version, Black’s 16th and could retain good winning chances by return-
17th moves are reversed but the difference is ing one of his two exchanges: 29. … Qh2† (or
insignificant. Black, as Walker observed, links immediately 29. … R×e3) 30. Kf3 Qh3†
his rooks and is playing quite solidly. 31. Kf2 R×e3 32. Qa5† Ke8 33. N×e3 Qh2†
18. Ng3 Rad8? 34. Kf3 Rg8. Neither Staunton nor Walker
Criticized by Walker. This loses some of pointed this out.
192 British Chess Literature to 1914

30. Qa5† Nb6 31. B×b6† a×b6 papers at the weekend) which began with the
32. Q×b6† Kd7 33. Qb7† Ke6 word CHESS in bold type.
Since Walker was an eyewitness to the
CHESS.—Just published, No. 1, price 6d. (to
game, it seems likely that Staunton “corrected”
be continued weekly) of the new series of the
the finish for the Miscellany (and also in his BRITISH MISCELLANY, and Chess Player’s Chron-
republication in C.P.C., II pages 169–170). In icle, containing, besides other matter, original
the version given in Bell’s Life, Walker’s Chess chess games, problems etc. The Chess Chronicle
Studies and O.E.C.G, Black now blundered is published under the auspices of the principal
with 33. … Kd8?? allowing 34. Qb8† Kd7 chess clubs in Great Britain. It is conducted by
one of the most distinguished professors in Eu-
35. Qd6† Kc8 36. Ba6 mate. Walker’s final rope….9
note in Bell’s Life was: “The last mate of the
greatest player of the age cannot be contem- This “most distinguished professor” was
plated without feelings of peculiar interest. In not named. The chess columnist of the Bath
chess, he dies, as he has lived, a conqueror.” and Cheltenham Gazette, Elijah Williams, had
He also said de la Bourdonnais “began a sec- seen an early issue of the Miscellany. He said
ond game, but could only play a few moves, the chess editor was “a gentleman not un-
severe indisposition coming on.” known to us, who is understood to be one of
34. Qb3† Kf6?? the finest chess-players in Europe”: meaning
Walker pointed out that if 34. … Qd5? Staunton. Then on 8 June, Williams noted
White wins by 35. Bc4. Neither Walker not that “the proprietors have been induced to re-
Staunton examined the consequences of 34. … model the plan of the work,” the chess editor
Kd7!, probably not wanting to spoil a good being “aided by Mr. [William] Lewis, the em-
story. Computer engines give the assessment inent chess-professor, and the leading ama-
0.00, but we can be sure that de la Bourdon- teurs of the Metropolis.”
nais would have tried to win from here be- So it was, in fact, on 1 May 1841 that The
cause there are still opportunities for his op- British Miscellany and Chess Player’s Chronicle
ponent to go wrong, e.g., 35. Qb7†! Ke6 first appeared, on a weekly schedule, and later
36. Bc4†! K×f5 37. Q×f7† Kg4 (Black had to it also became possible to buy it in monthly
find three “only” moves.) 38. Be6† Kh4! (After Parts.10 The printer was now William Stevens
38. … R×e6 39. Q×e6† the master might yet of Bell Yard, Temple Bar, but R. Hastings was
achieve something in the queen endgame.) still the publisher. It may be that Hastings was
39. Qf6† Kh5 when White has various ways
in some way protecting his investment by
of forcing a draw but nothing better than that.
transforming the magazine and bringing in
35. Qc3† Ke6 36. Qe5† Kd7 37. Qd6†
Staunton to replace Hemming Webb, but no
Kc8 38. Ba6 mate (1–0).
actual details of the financial arrangements
Staunton wrote that “The game is ad-
are known. The Morning Post of 31 July 1841
mirably contested throughout, but the play of
carried an appreciative review of the new
De La Bourdonnais at the latter part of it, is
magazine, which began as follows:
especially commendable.”
We have before us several numbers of a new pe-
riodical entitled The Chess-Player’s Chronicle, de-
The Early Years of voted almost exclusively to this most ancient and
renowned of games. The ability and judgment
Staunton’s C.P.C. with which it is up got up merit the acknowledg-
ments of all chess amateurs, and as these have
The Times of 3 May 1841 carried an ad- now become a numerous class it ought to obtain
vertisement (similar to those in other news- extensive patronage….
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 193

Some further good reviews followed, for the practice (with many Victorian periodi-
example in the Morning Advertiser of 3 Sep- cals) of issuing to subscribers a title page and
tember: index along with the first issue of the subse-
We have perused several numbers of this work,
quent volume, and the title page sometimes
illustrative of the sublime game in which great had the new year on it instead of the one in
men have delighted, and we are convinced that which the contents had actually appeared.
all chess-players who will be persuaded to spare Whyld pointed out that volumes IV, V, VI and
a glance at the work, will thank us for recom- IX of C.P.C. all had the year of binding rather
mending it to their attention, as a valuable stan-
than that of publication on the title page,
dard of elementary instruction and practical ref-
erence. while volume XII had XI printed in error on
the title page. Murray apparently at first be-
That could have been useful, not only lieved that the “1841” on the title page of vol-
for gaining new subscribers, but also adver- ume 1 was an error of this type.
tisers for this exciting novelty, a chess maga- Whyld established that volume 1 of The
zine. A few weeks later, Bell’s Weekly Messenger British Miscellany and Chess Player’s Chronicle
added its own commendation: had 26 numbers and ran to 23 October 1841.
This is a very useful work for chess-players; the This can be confirmed by the advertisement
problems are very ingenious, and the one on the which appeared in the Morning Post on 20 Oc-
cover we have not been yet able to solve. It has tober saying that:
afforded us so much amusement and instruction
in the game, that we can strongly recommend On the 30th … will be published Vol. 1 of THE
this work to all lovers of chess. CHESS-PLAYER’S CHRONICLE, illustrated with an
Engraving of the celebrated Automaton Chess-
The early issues contained some non- Player, and 50 Diagrams of Critical Positions
chess articles, which soon disappeared, and by the leading Players in Europe. This work may
be had in Weekly Numbers, price 6d., and in
after volume one The British Miscellany tag it-
Monthly Parts.
self was dropped. Staunton’s profile in the Ox-
ford Dictionary of National Biography states in- Early issues in the first volume contained
correctly that the start year of the Chronicle several lengthy articles unrelated to chess
was 1840, but this may eventually be corrected which presumably had been written or com-
in the online edition of the dictionary. This missioned for the Miscellany. Hemming Webb
error used to be prevalent in old sources but himself wrote on the philosophy of education
it is surprising now to see it repeated in an and there were some unsigned articles, for ex-
eminent reference work. ample on the life of Galileo. When these were
Several other newspapers carried early exhausted, Staunton filled space by reprinting
advertisements for the new magazine, such as lengthy chess-historical articles by the anti-
Bell’s Life and The Era on 2 May, the Morning quarians the Hon. Daines Barrington (1727–
Chronicle on 15 May, with more following in 1800) and Francis Douce (1757–1834) as
June. The new publication may have been of well as by Sir Frederic Madden of the British
specialist interest but in the present case, this Museum; these had originally been published
was an advantage. It was thus distinguished long before in the journal Archaeologia. Re-
from the ordinary run of literary weeklies and printed, these now became available to a wider
monthlies among which Hemming Webb had audience.
failed to find a niche. Volume 1, as it is usually to be found
As Whyld noted in an article in Q.C.H.8, today in original volumes or reprints, includes
the dates on the early volumes of the Chronicle near the front this engraving depicting Kem-
are often stated incorrectly. This arose from pelen’s “automaton” and a much enlarged
194 British Chess Literature to 1914

version of the article about it that had ap- detail, and seen how it came to succeed where
peared in the Miscellany. The pages contain- a more conventional literary predecessor had
ing the article are Roman numeraled from iii failed. It is not necessary to examine his sub-
to xviii, ending with a game Lewis played sequent volumes in any great detail, but some
when he was operating the machine. He was highlights will be picked out for mention. Vol-
almost certainly the author, or wrote it in con- ume 2, which had 27 numbers, then ran from
junction with Staunton. While it is not en- 30 October 1841 to 30 April 1842 while vol-
tirely clear when this article actually appeared, ume 3, which had 26 issues, ran from 7 May
it was not mentioned in the early advertise- to 29 October 1842. This schedule provided
ments, and the reviews cited below suggest a break which left Staunton with two free
that it was the final number of the volume in months to travel to Paris for his great match
October. If so, it was well judged as a bonus against the French champion, Saint-Amant.
to encourage subscribers to renew. Also some Subsequent volumes were published on a cal-
new readers may have bought a complete vol- endar year basis. Staunton was to continue ed-
ume as a result of this advertisement. iting the magazine for another decade.
The conclusion of the first volume also As he was to do later when he took the
led the Morning Advertiser, on 5 November, helm at the Illustrated London News, Staunton
to repeat its recommendation of the Chronicle. made good use of the Notices to Correspon-
As well as saying that the numbers before dents section in most issues of the Chronicle.
them “maintain the previous reputation of Historians should always pay as much atten-
their predecessors in all problems of the game,” tion to these as to the formal articles for they
but the addition of this detailed account of sometimes contain snippets or clues unavail-
the automaton player “will be read with great able elsewhere. Some of his replies are of
interest by many who may not be adepts of course rather tedious, being no more than ac-
the royal game.” The Morning Post, next day, knowledgments of private communications,
agreed that the 27 first numbers now made or those that comment on attempts to solve
into a volume presented “perhaps the most the problems in the magazine. Several, though,
interesting treatise that has yet appeared on provide basic factual information which it is
the subject of the famous game to which it is useful to know, for example that “The sub-
devoted.” The extensive collection of actual scription to the London Chess Club is three
games contained therein, especially those be- guineas per annum; no entrance fee.”11 Or that
tween McDonnell and de la Bourdonnais, the Chronicle went to the press on Wednes-
gave to the work “a freshness and spirit quite days, and that by paying eight shillings per
distinct from the formality of ordinary trea- quarter to the publisher, it could be received
tises.” The review column of The Era on 7 No- by post on the morning after publication.12
vember also praised the work, noting that On the same page as the latter, Staunton in-
“foreign contributors lend their aid to perfect forms “Subscriber” of the score of games played
the good design, by forwarding problems for between Stanley and himself at the odds of
solution.” The reviewer noted that the editor pawn and two moves. Other replies relate to
had met the objection that chess was too ab- historical queries from readers while some en-
sorbing a game, and quoted from Staunton’s courage the formation of chess clubs, for ex-
reply to “A Young Student” in which he re- ample in Brighton (early in volume two). Staun-
minded that “Chess is unquestionably the ton often comments on submitted games or
finest game known; but still it is only a game.” problems, which sometimes are said to be not
Thus far we have followed the origin and up to the mark. He advises, usually patiently
development of Staunton’s venture in some on rules to novices, for example, “A piece can-
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 195

A two-page spread from the first volume of The Chess Player’s Chronicle, specifically the number
which Whyld dated to 11 September 1841. Note the running header in which The British Mis-
cellany is still mentioned, and the reply to “Post-Captain” (evidently William Davies Evans)
in which Staunton attacks Walker.

not be taken during the act of Castling.”13 is not worth castigating.” Usually, though, it
Sometimes he gives advice to players, as when is a good guess that Walker is the target for
(volume 2, page 317) he tells “R.G.” that, whom Staunton delighted in inventing new
other things equal, “two Bishops are better at terms of abuse.
the latter end of a game than two Knights.” By 1841 Staunton had surpassed Walker
Occasional items are quite spicy, when as a player and his increasing journalistic ac-
Staunton turns his acerbic wit on a target, al- tivity created professional rivalry. An anony-
though they can be tantalizing when it is un- mous pamphlet early that year made fun of
certain who that target may be, as well as the the new edition of Walker’s Treatise.14 In the
correspondent’s own identity, disguised by very first issue of The British Miscellany and
initials or a pseudonym. Here are some exam- Chess Player’s Chronicle, Staunton drew atten-
ples. On page 191 of volume 2, Staunton replied tion to this in sarcastic terms, in two different
to an “old friend,” self-styled “Veteran,” that replies to correspondents, using language
“The drivelling, despicable puppy he mentions, more scathing than the jocular tone of the
196 British Chess Literature to 1914

pamphlet itself. He spoke of “the egregious but the context in which the editor was work-
conceit and deplorable ignorance which this ing must be remembered. Staunton was trying
Titmouse of Chess professors exhibits in his to fill his pages with varied material of interest
lucubrations upon the game” and whose to gentlemen of leisure and at the same time
“puerilities” were laughable.15 We can also in- he needed to work out for himself what bal-
stance this reply to “R.A.” on pages 10 and 11 ance of material a chess magazine should con-
of the first volume. tain—a task that Walker had failed in a few
years previously. Compared with the material
The new Chess Club may probably exist for
twelve months; but no Club can take a lasting available to magazine editors even one decade
stand while its interests are made subservient to later, Staunton was working at a time when
the vanity and caprice of any individual. The there was a great dearth of quality games to
person holding the situation alluded to is pecu- publish and indeed of chess news in general
liarly unfitted for the office;—no Club in which to be reported. It was not until 1849—his tenth
he has been permitted to take an active part, and
we remember several, has ever obtained a per-
volume—that there was a chess tournament
manent establishment; and none, we feel con- in England on which he could report. That
vinced, subjected to such influence, ever will. was the knockout tournament held in Ries’s
Divan early in that year.
Walker is not named there, but he had Match play, rather than tournaments,
been involved in the Percy Club in the 1820s and correspondence games (very popular in
(well before Staunton’s time), and then the the early 1840s when the Penny Post was still
Westminster Chess Club in the 1830s, which a novelty) provided much of the available ma-
went through some vicissitudes, Staunton terial, together with games played in the past
himself sometimes involved. Most recently and casual games. In many of the games there
Walker had started the St. George’s Chess was a wide divergence in strength between
Club which, when first established in 1840, the contestants and odds were frequently given
soon failed. However the St. George’s, when to equalize the chances of success between
re-established in 1841 at the Polytechnic In- opponents of widely differing skill. So the
stitute, before transferring elsewhere, was to games available for publication were often of
outlive Staunton. poor quality, although in volume 3 at least
A passage on page 31 of volume 2 of the Staunton had a wealth of material available in
Chronicle shows that Staunton was constrained the many games he played against John Coch-
in his attacks on Walker by the laws of libel, rane, then back in London on furlough from
and perhaps had been warned about this by his work in India. Then on page 127 of volume
his printer and publisher, who would have 4, early in 1843, the Chronicle reported that
been codefendants if any writ had been served. Cochrane had departed for his second spell
QUID-NUNC’s Account of the Formation and Dis- in India.
solution of the Westminster Chess Club would sub- It was not unusual in the 1840s to pub-
ject us as he must be aware to an action. Divested lish games without giving the names of the
of many inadmissible personalities, his descrip- players in full. Just looking at the early pages
tion would be well deserving a place in our Mag-
azine.
of the Chronicle’s second volume shows that
Staunton was inconsistent about this, or per-
The second volume of the Chronicle is haps he followed rules not quite familiar to
considerably more interesting than the first us. Sometimes there is no indication of names,
from the point of view of a practicing chess for example “Between two Amateurs of the
player, and provides more information about Berlin Chess Club” on page 21 of volume two,
the chess activity in Britain in the early 1840s, whereas de la Bourdonnais and Alexander
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 197

McDonnell, being both deceased, are named icle as the source, and moreover calling it a
on page 26. Often Staunton as in the example match (for which there is no evidence). There
from the Miscellany cited above, would print are at least three plausible opponents but the
only the first initial of his opponents and most likely candidate is the man who, de-
identify himself as “St——n.” Zytogorski is scribed as “Mr. J—B——N, Temple” con-
named in full on page 5 although he loses the tributed problems published on pages 145
game (to Staunton). The Bristol player Wil- and 158 of this same volume, and some “prob-
liams also had his full surname printed. It is lems for young players later.” Townsend has
possible that Staunton asked people whether identified him as the barrister Joseph Brown
they minded having their full name pub- QC, whom Staunton’s obituary in the West-
lished. minster Papers was to name as one of his early
Sometimes the last letter of a surname opponents. On balance, he is probably right
was also printed, or ancillary information pro- though there can be no certainty.17 Here is one
vided, which enables the reader sometimes to of their games.
work out who was involved. For example, P—
—T was likely to be Popert, while Cochrane J. Brown–Howard Staunton
played numerous games with Staunton and is London 1841
generally identified as “Mr. C——E.” In the C.P.C., II, pages 97–98.
case of a game on page 4 of the second volume
we are told it was between “Mr. M——n, the “Game CLXXXI between Messrs. B—n
President, and Dr. M——n, another skilful and St—n; the latter giving the Pawn and two
Player, of the Liverpool Chess Club.” Just a moves.” Remove Black’s pawn from f7; White
casual acquaintance with the chess personal- makes the first two moves.
ities of the day is probably sufficient for the 1. e4 AND 2. d4 e6 3. Bd3 c5 4. d5 d6
reader to guess that White was Augustus 5. c4 e×d5 6. c×d5 Nf6 7. Nc3 Bg4 8. f3 Bh5
Mongredien, Sr., the economist, while refer- 9. g4 Bf7 10. Bf4 a6 11. a4 Be7 12. Nge2 0–0
ence to the membership list of the Liverpool 13. Qd2 Nbd7 14. Ng3 Bg6 15. Nf5 Ne8
club may lead us to the conclusion that Mon- 16. Ke2 Ne5 17. B×e5 d×e5 18. h4 (see dia-
gredien’s opponent was Dr. W. T. Morrison,” gram)
since J. S. Edgar’s Short Sketch of the Liverpool
Chess Club shows Morrison was elected a rDw1n4kD
member in 1840.16 There are not many such DpDwgw0p
club membership lists. pDwDwDbD
Volume 2 of the Chronicle has numerous After Dw0P0NDw
games by Staunton, especially against Coch- 18. h4 PDwDPDP)
rane, but sometimes one has to guess, or it DwHBDPDw
may be impossible to determine, who was his w)w!KDwD
opponent. There are several games in which $wDwDwDR
he gave odds of pawn and two moves to a Mr.
“B——N,” and Staunton even lost one of them. 18. … Nd6 Black might have gained the
He became notorious for not publishing his Rook’s Pawn by taking the Knight, but in
losses but was fairer when it came to players doing so at this point he would have strength-
he liked or respected. The first two of these ened the enemy’s position. 19. b3 19. h5 would
games were reprinted in the Oxford Encyclo- have been better play.
paedia of Chess Games on page 74, giving the 19. … Rc8 20. Bc2 B×f5 21. g×f5 B×h4
name of White as “Brown, J.” and the Chron- 22. Rag1 Nf7 23. Rg4 Bg5 24. Qe1 h6
198 British Chess Literature to 1914

25. Qg3 c4 26. b4 Qb6 27. R×g5 N×g5 Jaenisch’s French language openings work
28. Q×e5 Rce8 29. Qg3 Q×b4 30. f4 Qb2 (discussed in Chapter 7). There were also
This move was certainly stronger than some elementary opening articles and end-
playing the Knight. game articles.
31. f×g5 Q×c2† 32. Kf1 R×e4 33. N×e4 The magazine took a two-month break
Q×e4 34. Rh2 R×f5† 35. Rf2 Qb1† 36. Ke2 while Staunton went to Paris, where his vic-
Qb2† “After a few moves White abandoned tory over Saint-Amant in Paris established
the game.” 0–1. him as the premier player, though certainly
There was little chess news as such in the not world champion as some have claimed on
Chronicle. However, as with the chess col- his behalf, for there was no such champion-
umns in periodicals and newspapers, careful ship in the 1840s. On his return to London,
reading of the answers to correspondents Staunton switched to monthly publication
often reveals useful snippets of information, with volumes covering a calendar year, start-
such as that another match between Staunton ing with the first issue of volume 4 in January
and Popert was envisaged. In a chess maga- 1843. He did this for four years although vol-
zine nowadays one would expect to find open- ume 6 was the last to have the name of R.
ing theory articles but these would not be a Hastings as publisher on the title page. The
feature until volume three. There were, how- content gradually became more varied, but
ever, some elementary endgame articles. There the expectations of a gentleman’s education
were also explanations of how to win with two remained high. Pages 151–155 of volume 5
bishops, or with bishop and knight, against a consisted of Saint-Amant’s reply to Staunton
bare king. Later the ending of queen against in Le Palamède, about a possible return match,
two knights was discussed, correctly saying “without comment and in the original French,
this can be impossible to win if the knights despairing of doing justice to this unique pro-
defend each other. Then the method of draw- duction in a translation.” The matter was dis-
ing with bishop against rook was presented. cussed in English on pages 124–128 and 159–
One indication of the level of education 160 (the latter, signed “An Englishman,”
expected of readers was that numerous pages, perhaps being one of Staunton’s famous
in several successive numbers, were devoted “anonymous” letters of support that he wrote
to Vida’s poem Scacchia Ludus in the original himself.)
Latin. William Lewis (from his book First Se- Eventually Staunton traveled to Paris,
ries of Progressive Lessons on the Game of Chess) leaving London some time in October 1844.
contributed the text of the laws of chess “as By this stage he had either published, or left
lately revised by a committee of the London with the printer, the greater part of that year’s
Chess Club,” saying that an attempt had re- volume, with the November issue either out
cently been made (presumably in one of early or ready to be distributed in his absence.
Walker’s books) “to introduce into the Chess He presumably had some assistants in Lon-
Clubs some new, and, I venture to add, ridicu- don to handle business, if not editorial mat-
lous laws.” ters, during an absence which he probably ex-
In volume 3 (May to October 1842) pected would be of only about four weeks. He
Staunton translated an opening theory article probably hoped, indeed expected, to fill the
by Kieseritzky, taken from the Palamède, deal- final issue of the year with an account of a new
ing with a new way of handling the Queen’s victory over Saint-Amant, but it was not to
Gambit Accepted for Black: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 be. Bell’s Life in London had reported on 13
d×c4 3. e4 f5!? 4. e3 Be6. Later in the volume October that the match was to start on the
came a review, by a German contributor, of 17th but probably not all details had definitely
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 199

been settled about the terms of the new match until February or March. Staunton and Saint-
before Staunton’s arrival in the French capital. Amant set to debating, in their respective
On the 20th Bell’s Life said that “Mr. Staunton magazines, their self-justifications for why the
has been in Paris some days, and conditions match had never taken place and what condi-
are being arranged,” with the match now ex- tions each had been demanding.
pected to commence the following week. The respected veteran Harry Wilson,
Staunton had hoped that Captain Evans (of who had accompanied Staunton to France for
the gambit) could accompany him as second part of the 1842 match, wrote on 7 February
but when Evans was unavailable, “Mr. Wilson 1845 from the Isle of Wight to Saint-Amant a
at once dashed off ” to Paris to act as umpire letter which the latter published in his maga-
and secretary, only to find Staunton in his zine Le Palamède in both French and En-
sickbed at the Hotel de Lille. On the 27th of glish.18 Wilson apologized for “a hasty and in-
October Bell’s Life reported that “Mr. Staun- temperate expression” used by Staunton in
ton caught cold on his journey to Paris, and the last issue of the Chronicle, namely the
has had a severe attack, in consequence, of in- word “violate.” Wilson said that “to witness
flammation on the lungs.” Staunton fell gravely such a scurrilous attack as is made upon you
ill with pneumonia in France and then, after in the last number … must be sensibly felt
appearing to recover in early November, he and deplored by every English gentleman,
had a relapse. He was finally out of danger but and if all entertain the same opinion as I do,
warned not to travel. When reading these ac- they will never open another page of such
counts, we must bear in mind the time lags printed indecencies.” The passage Wilson ob-
for news to travel by horse-drawn carriage and jected to actually appears near the end of vol-
ship between the two capitals. This was a ume 5—that is, in the issue that was nomi-
decade before the cross- channel telegraph nally for December 1844, on page 393, where
was instituted and the post then took several Staunton had written (in a letter to Saint-
days each way. Amant) at an uncertain date during Novem-
Staunton, convalescing. removed to the ber 1844:
home of an American resident in Paris, My sole object, however, in visiting Paris, was to
Thomas Jefferson Bryan, where he stayed play the match; and although you have thought
until some time in January 1845. There were it proper to violate your oft-repeated promises
still hopes early in the New Year that the to modify the unjust and one-sided conditions
match might take place, but the Illustrated of our former contest, I am still most anxious to
carry into effect the purpose for which I came
London News reported on 18 January 1845
here.
(which is before Staunton took over that col-
umn) that the English master, still weak after The sixth volume of the Chronicle covers
illness, would play only in a private room with the year 1845 but the fact that the title page
seconds but Saint-Amant refused, so Staun- says 1846, for reasons explained above, has
ton went home. led several historians into new error. A clear
Arguments were to continue in the En- example can be found on page 124 of Gaige’s
glish and French press for many months af- Chess Personalia, where he gives the date of
terwards about whether Saint-Amant had any death of the Irish player Charles Forth (who
real intention of playing the “revenge” match died in 1845) as 27 July 1846, giving as his
he had sought. It is fairly clear from reading reference “C.P.C. 1846, p. 281.” This is a trap
the final issue of volume 5 that it cannot have that any historian working with Victorian
been published until late in January 1845, with publications must be aware of.
the publication of volume 6 not commencing Early in volume six, on pages 63–64, we
200 British Chess Literature to 1914

find Staunton’s announcement that the pro- a hotel-keeper, and at the start of volume 8
posed re-match is definitely off. “After three (1848) Staunton began to publish the games.
months’ residence in Paris, the debility con- Then Staunton lost the match and never pub-
sequent on his alarming illness, has com- lished the later games which he had promised
pelled Mr. Staunton to seek his native shores to do. This gave new ammunition to his ene-
again, without the satisfaction of accomplish- mies in the chess world and occasioned the
ing the purpose of his journey.” Staunton re- publication of a small book by a friend of
peated his challenge to Saint-Amant to play Löwe, which related the saga and included the
another match in England, but also averred games Staunton had lost.22
that the Frenchman “has vainly tried by every The title page for volume 7 of the Chron-
subterfuge to avoid an encounter he has icle (1846) names H. Hurst as the new pub-
neither the skill nor courage to undertake,” lisher. Then in volume 8 for 1847 Staunton
which (whatever you think of Staunton’s own experimented with a return to weekly publi-
rather devious character) may well have been cation, for reasons which are unclear but were
true.19 possibly a commercial decision dictated by
When Staunton attended the meeting of Hurst. The pagination of that volume is com-
the Yorkshire Chess Association in Leeds on plicated but Whyld worked it out in detail.23
14 May 1845, he traveled up from London Most numbers had eight pages and were priced
with Bryan, and took the opportunity of his at three pence, but the 52nd, dated Christmas
speech at the Leeds dinner to thank Bryan Day, was double the size but priced at nine
profusely for his care during his illness “which pence. Presumably this change cannot have
brought him to death’s door.” For a month been a success, at least from Staunton’s point
Bryan had watched by his sickbed: “No day, of view, because page 412 announced that “to
scarcely for an hour, was this true Samaritan enable the proprietors … to carry out the im-
absent from his sick room.” 20 Then Bryan provements they contemplate in the Maga-
tended Staunton in his own home for two zine, it has been found desirable to discon-
months, and finally “he boldly took up his tinue the Weekly Numbers.” The next issue
pen in defence of his cause against the mis- would appear on 31 January 1848.
statements of his opponent” by writing a Staunton thus returned to monthly pub-
pamphlet (in French) about it. Bryan was lication in 1848, with Hurst continuing as
loudly applauded at the meeting and replied publisher, but the title page for volume XI
briefly.21 announces C. J. Skeet as publisher. This
On 22 February 1845 Staunton also began change must have occurred in 1850 or 1851.
to conduct the chess column in the Illustrated In the year 1851 the organization of the Lon-
London News, where he obtained a wider and don chess tournament consumed many of
indeed almost worldwide audience, but for Staunton’s energies, and this together with, in
nearly another decade the Chronicle was the 1852, his book of the tournament, made him
principal organ in which he could conduct his some new enemies. His enthusiasm for con-
personal feuds. One of his difficulties was that ducting a chess magazine was probably less-
after Cochrane’s return to India, Staunton had ening after a decade of this fairly intensive
no regular sparring partner with whom he was type of work.
on roughly level terms as a player, having in- The first run of the Chronicle continued
stead to give odds to inferior players to keep to the end of volume 13 in 1852. While there
in practice. Late in 1847, for example, he com- was no apparent reason from the content itself
menced a match, giving his usual odds of why a New Series should be announced, a
pawn and two moves, against Eduard Löwe, change of publisher must have been the rea-
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 201

A two-page spread from volume XI (1850) of The Chess Player’s Chronicle, showing a typical
presentation of a game between two experts in Staunton’s day.

son. Skeet was now publishing the rival British ings. Negotiations with Routledge had prob-
Chess Review (see previous chapter), requiring ably taken some time and Staunton would
a new start from Staunton. The title page for have needed to prepare and show them some
the first volume of the new series (incorrectly completed work, perhaps more than one play,
dated 1854) names W. Kent as publisher. before obtaining their agreement.24
This volume, with monthly issues of 32 However there were probably two other
pages, was actually published during 1853 in reasons why Staunton did not quit the Chron-
direct competition with Staunton’s great rival, icle at an earlier date. Firstly, rather than just
Harrwitz. This was Staunton’s last full year as close it (which would be an unacceptable fail-
editor as he became increasingly involved in ure), Staunton wanted to find a reasonably ca-
his Shakespearian studies. However, his con- pable successor, and moreover one who
tract with the publisher Routledge to edit would pay money to acquire the title from
Shakespeare’s complete plays was dated 28 him. Most important of all, though, Staunton
April 1856, which shows that he wished to di- first wanted to see through to the end of the
vest himself of the magazine long before then, competition from Harrwitz and it was only
relying on his income from the Illustrated Lon- after the Review closed down that Staunton
don News and perhaps other occasional writ- was ready to retire from the magazine.
202 British Chess Literature to 1914

Brien’s Tenure of the sidiary to the international tournament. This

was a knockout competition, arranged as mini-
Chronicle matches for the best of three games, draws not
counting. In the first round Brien defeated
The life and career of Howard Staunton John Salusbury-Trelawny, M.P. for Tavistock
is very well known; the same cannot be said in Devon (and heir to a baronetcy), by 2–0.
of his chosen successor, Brien, whom the ed- As there were five first-round winners but
itors of Oxford Companion to Chess did not only four prizes, lots were then drawn to see
deem worthy of an entry. The reference work who should play an extra elimination round;
Alumni Oxoniensis 1715–1886, which gives Ranken and Deacon were drawn, and Ranken
brief details of men who attended Oxford was successful.
University during that period, provides a little In the first semifinal, Ranken defeated a
background information on him. Brien was Mr. Hodges of Reading, probably W(illiam?)
said to be the son of a gentleman from Cler- Hodges junior, then honorary secretary of the
kenwell, London, but Townsend has further Reading and Berkshire Chess Club.27 Brien
discovered that Brien went to school at St. was paired with the strong amateur Samuel
Paul’s College and that his father was a naval Standidge Boden and managed to draw the
officer.25 first game with Black. He was then the bene-
Brien matriculated on 7 June 1845 at the ficiary of an extraordinary blunder as, in the
age of 18. Unusually, he appears to have second game, Boden failed to notice that
changed colleges, because Balliol was given at Brien’s 10th move Ne5 attacked his queen on
his college for matriculation, but by the time d7. Boden then got down to business and won
he took his BA in 1850 Brien had migrated to Games 3 and 4. He then beat Ranken 2–1 in
Lincoln College. In 1853 Brien took his MA the final.
there. This did not require passing any exam- Brien and Hodges played off for the third
inations but meant he was now a senior and fourth prizes. After a draw, Hodges won
member of the university, entitled to vote in the second and fourth games while Brien won
certain elections and no longer subject to game three, so the young Oxford man had to
the discipline of the university proctors. be content with fourth prize. The tournament
Brien also joined Lincoln’s Inn in 1853 (pre- book was to comment on page lxxi: “The fault
paratory to training as an advocate), but he in these games was a merit when contrasted
never was called to the Bar, because if he had with others in the Tournament. They were
been, his name should appear in the Black played too rapidly.”
Books of the Inn. In the mid–1850s, after coming to Lon-
Brien had been one of the founder mem- don, Brien was a frequenter of Kling’s Chess
bers, during 1847, of the Hermes, Oxford Uni- Rooms, in New Oxford Street, and its succes-
versity’s first chess club, which was centered sor, the McDonnell Chess Club and played
on, but not confined to, Lincoln College.26 numerous matches in the mid–1850s. Cana-
During the academic year 1847–1848 the dian chess historian and statistician Professor
Hermes Club played a correspondence match Rod Edwards has calculated that Brien was
against Trinity College Cambridge, winning already of FIDE Master strength in the early
one game and drawing the other. This match 1850s, reaching International Master level
was reported in the Chronicle and that may be by 1854 and gives him a peak rating of 2465
how Brien and Staunton first came into con- in 1858. Brien won a match 11–6 (with six
tact. In 1851 Brien was one of ten competitors draws) on level terms against F. G. Jans-
in the Provincial Tournament that was sub- sens, and was approximately level with both
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 203

Ernst Falkbeer and Adolphus Zytogorski in over, he made a financial contribution also.
long series of games. Whereas in 1850 Brien The list of subscribers to the expenses of the
scored 8–5 against Williams in two short tournament (on page lix of the book) shows
matches in which he received pawn and two that Brien also contributed a one guinea
moves from the Bristol expert, by 1853 only donation in addition to his one guinea entry
Löwenthal and Staunton could give Brien fee.
odds, and by no means with success all the Brien’s involvement in chess increased
time. A match on level terms between Brien after his time in Oxford was over. In 1853
and Löwenthal was contemplated at one point, there were some curious items in the press
says Sergeant. concerning a testimonial being subscribed for
So Brien’s playing qualifications to be a Staunton. On 30 October, an answer to cor-
chess magazine editor, while certainly not respondents appeared in Bell’s Life saying that
equal to Staunton’s, were by no means negli- the money collected for him “was paid to that
gible. He liked writing, as a letter in the Illus- gentleman, at his own request, in the month
trated London News on 27 December 1851 of September, 1852, at which time the board
shows. There he argued in favor of time limits containing the list of subscriptions was re-
being imposed on players, pointing out that moved from the place it had occupied for
there had been calls in the French parliament more than a year on the chimney-piece of a
to limit the duration of speeches and that uni- room in the St. George’s Chess Club, and the
versity examinations were subject to definite affair was then considered finally settled.” Yet
time schedules. Brien’s writings are best re- now it seemed, new subscriptions were being
membered, though, for the polemics he wrote solicited, and the treasurer of the fund was
in support of Staunton and the 1851 tourna- Brien, at the St. George’s Club. A somewhat
ment. The pen of “Oxoniensis” (as he styled disingenuous confirmation of this appeared
himself ) was always ready at Staunton’s serv- in the I.L.N. on 12 November 1853 saying:
ice. For example, on page 26 of the 1851 vol- “The present treasurer to the fund is R. B.
ume of the Chronicle, he wrote a letter in sup- Brien, Esq., of the St. George’s Chess-club, a
port of the tournament from the point of view note to whom will obtain you all of the par-
of a provincial player. A game won by him was ticulars; which we cannot furnish, knowing
printed by Staunton on pages 65–66. Later, nothing whatever of the details.”
when Staunton’s plans for the tournament This mysterious matter of the testimo-
met with hostility from the London Chess nial, or testimonials, to raise money for Staun-
Club, “Oxoniensis” was one of several allies ton have received little or no attention in the
whom Staunton rallied to the cause (on pages past, not being mentioned by Sergeant for ex-
91–93 of the same volume). Subsequently, it ample, and it remains unclear who instigated
is clear from page lxiii of the Introduction that the subscription(s) or how much money was
Brien wrote substantial amounts of the tour- raised. Brien’s role at the St. George’s Club is
nament book concerning Staunton’s part in also unclear. At some point, on Staunton’s
the project “to relieve me from a duty that proposal, Brien was elected as the new hon-
could not with propriety be omitted, and was orary secretary of the St. George’s Chess Club,
yet difficult for me to discharge without a which had hosted the tournament. From 1
measure of egotism that might be unbecom- January 1854 the club had moved to premises
ing.” In short, while Silas Angas of Newcastle in St. James’s Street, its previous lease having
may have been for many years the leader of expired, and at this point Löwenthal took
Staunton’s orchestra, Brien was certainly the up a paid position with the club, although
loudest player in the trumpet section. More- the details are somewhat unclear due to a
204 British Chess Literature to 1914

contradiction in Sergeant’s account of the of literature have, we believe, led to his determi-
matter. * A few months later Brien became nation. At the same time, we may state with sat-
isfaction that the new managers have established
proprietor and editor of the Chronicle. Per-
the most friendly relations with the retiring ed-
haps a career in the law would have been suit- itor. He has placed at their disposal much valu-
able for Brien but it is doubtful whether he able matter, and has intimated his intention of
ever made much effort to qualify as a barris- continuing this kind assistance from time to
ter. It seems he preferred to play chess and to time.
assume the honor and responsibility of being On our side, as representing the proprietors,
we may promise that our best endeavours will
Staunton’s successor, although he was far from be used to preserve unimpaired the honour of
being Staunton’s equal as a player nor could the Chess Player’s Chronicle. We shall imitate the
he match his eloquent style as a writer. fearlessness of the late editor. We should not de-
Townsend has shown that it was in July serve the name of journalists, if, by the adoption
1854 Staunton sold the Chronicle magazine of any other standard save that of merit, we were
and signed over the copyright to Brien.28 The to select games for publication, or afterwards
subject them to criticism. In analysis, we trust
first issue under the new editorship was there- to show patient painstaking and unwearied in-
fore that for August 1854 which included the dustry, of which few appreciate the labour, but
following announcement of Staunton’s retire- all reap the advantage. The scientific character
ment on page 225, headed Address To Our of the game will be developed in accordance
Readers. It was either written by Brien, or per- with new discoveries, and with the exactness
with which it deserves to be treated. We shall
haps a text was agreed by the two men:
also occasionally intersperse with the more se-
A change in the proprietorship and manage- rious matter lighter topics, such as reports of
ment of the Chess Player’s Chronicle obliges us to meetings affecting the interests of chess, and
make a few remarks to our readers. For nearly similar subjects.
fifteen years Mr. Staunton has been the sole ed- Every contribution that we receive will be
itor, and for most of that time the proprietor of carefully considered, and not dismissed without
this periodical. It is not too much to say, that it a searching examination; but we must once for
has been mainly through his ability and tact that all beg it to be understood that we cannot un-
the Chess Player’s Chronicle has been supported dertake to return rejected communications, nor
with undiminished vigour for so many years. yet to assign reasons for their rejection. We have
There has arisen frequently the competition of under our consideration several methods of en-
friendly rivals; sometimes a passing acrimony hancing the interest of this periodical, which will
has stirred up an enemy, but experience has be suggested as the time seems ripe for their dis-
proved that the old magazine has had lasting cussion. We may however close these prefatory
claims upon the chess community, and that remarks by observing, that we meditate carrying
other periodicals, whether through the freak of out the idea entertained by the late editor, and
fortune, or through inattention or even incom- intend either to give our subscribers occasion-
petency, have not met with equal favour from ally an extra half sheet, or to reduce the price of
the public. the magazine. The latter alternative, it is obvious,
It is therefore with deep regret that the pres- cannot be adopted this year, on account of the
ent proprietors announce Mr. Staunton’s re- arrangements which have been made with old
tirement from his editorial labours. Declining subscribers, and which of course must be re-
health, increasing business, and a more assidu- garded as paramount to any other considera-
ous devotion to the higher and nobler portions tion.

*Sergeant, Century, page 88 (citing the contemporary C.P.C. of 1854 and a differing account in the Westminster
Papers, written much later) says that Brien became Hon. Sec. when the club left the Polytechnic for St. James’s,
with the reservation (in a footnote) that the club may have had a temporary home elsewhere for a time. However,
in a reply to a correspondent of the I.L.N. on 11 March 1854 Staunton says 53 St. James’s Street, Piccadilly, is the
address of the St. George’s. Yet on page 92 Sergeant says that when the St. George’s Club moved from the Poly-
technic to St. James’s “Löwenthal was appointed paid secretary, Brien retiring from the honorary post.”
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 205

So the Chronicle continued with Brien at other leading organ in the chess world of the
the helm, and the character of the content did time, the column in the Illustrated London
not greatly change, with one important excep- News. Sergeant is correct in identifying this
tion. The covers (available for many of the is- article as a slightly veiled attack on Staunton,
sues at the British Library) continued to carry who tended to write in his columns things dis-
lists of the chess clubs of England with con- paraging of the current state of English chess.
tact details, which was a most valuable service Since Brien gave no specific examples, we
that Staunton had begun a few years earlier. have to hunt for them, and they can be found.
The exception was that Brien, who appears at Thus on 1 September 1855 in reply to “An Old
some point to have severed his connection Spectator,” Staunton had written “There has
with the St. George’s Club, gave increasing been a great increase of third and fourth rate
coverage to play elsewhere in London, and players of late years, but a serious falling off
distanced himself more and more from his old of higher grades…. There are not above three
mentor. Close study of the volume for 1855 players, if so many, in the United Kingdom to
is most revealing in this respect. On page 67 whom a first-rate player like Labourdonnais
Brien even had the temerity to publish a game could not give the Pawn and two moves and
he had won in only 20 moves from Staunton, win without much difficulty.”
admittedly receiving the latter’s favorite odds Now de la Bourdonnais, it is true, was a
of odds of pawn and two moves, following an- player of great talent (probably the greatest
other game at the same odds which was drawn. who lived between Philidor and Paul Mor-
The implication was that Brien was telling his phy) but the above statement is preposterous
readers he was close to being able to engage and must have seemed so to Brien and his
Staunton on level terms. A few weeks later, friends at the McDonnell Club. The following
there is another pair of games and they win week, when Staunton published a game he
one each. had won against Stanley, he included a note
More seriously perhaps, for Staunton that referred to “the palmy days of Chess
was quick to take offense, Brien began to write when the present games were fought.” The in-
things to which he may have objected. On troduction to this game implied that there
page 104 he wrote “There is no room for a were not games of interest being played today
ROBESPIERRE in Chess.” Later on the same so it was better to print old ones. It is fairly
page he announces that in the match between clear from reading Staunton’s column of this
him and Staunton at the usual odds, Brien period that Brien was not attacking a “straw
leads 3–1 with one draw and “the match has man” but really complaining about a genuine
been suspended through the indisposition of trend in Staunton’s writing. Indeed, further
Mr. Staunton.” Brien’s third win appears a few on in his article, Brien quoted that very phrase
pages later. Then on page 176, in a brief obit- “the palmy days.”
uary of Perigal, Brien credited him with fos- Brien’s article went on to say that stan-
tering Staunton’s career; Sergeant identified dards in Chess were in fact rising and new
this as the beginning of the breach between men were appearing “upon the muster-roll of
the two men. Staunton probably considered fine players.” The eyes of the “contemporary”
he owed Perigal nothing. did not see this. “His eyes always turn to the
These, though, were perhaps unintended good old times in which Mr. STAUNTON gave
slights. The same cannot be said of the article ‘the Pawn and two moves’ to other English
beginning on page 363 of the 1855 volume players.” What was wrong with even play,
entitled “Senile illusions and delusions” which mocked Brien. It was a “mere matter-of-fact
referred to “our contemporary,” meaning the expression” whereas (here hinting at Staunton’s
206 British Chess Literature to 1914

work on Shakespeare, in case anyone had Manchester 1857 and Birmingham 1858 tour-
missed previous hints of who the writer’s tar- naments did not receive contemporary cov-
get might be) “the Pawn and two moves to erage in a magazine. Most regrettable of all,
the best players of the day might woo a listen- though, is the absence of any magazine re-
ing Desdemona.” porting on Paul Morphy’s first visit to En-
Coming directly to the point, Brien gland and his negotiations with Staunton over
wrote that Staunton’s play was in clear decline. the match that never took place.
He could have spared himself the remainder
of the article which only hammered home the
same points less subtly. Brien may have felt The Third Series
he had scored a victory but he may well have
lost himself dozens of subscribers thereby for At the start of 1859 the Chronicle was re-
his next volume. After this the magazine went vived for the so-called Third Series. It was
into decline. The fourth volume of the New proudly announced in an advertisement on
Series came to an end after eight issues in Au- page 16 of the 2 January number of The Era,
gust 1856. This included on page 225 a brief the same Sunday newspaper where Löwen-
notice: “TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS. As this thal’s column regularly appeared. The history
number will close the present series of the of that series, which ended in July 1862, re-
Chess-Player’s Chronicle, we take this oppor- mains somewhat confused. Readers were in-
tunity of thanking our contributors for their formed:
valuable assistance.”
This day, Price One Shilling, No. 1 of the CHESS
Was the breach with the St. George’s PLAYER’S CHRONICLE (Third Series). Con-
Club, and with Staunton, which led to the tents:—Introduction.—The American Stars and
Chronicle’s failing on Brien’s watch, cause or the English Lions.—Six Games of the Match be-
effect? The downfall of the magazine is usu- tween Morphy and Anderssen.—Two Games of
ally attributed to Brien’s ill-health, possibly of Löwenthal and Falkbeer, played at the Birming-
ham Chess Tournament.—Two Consultation
the alcoholic variety. Tomlinson, in his mem-
Games, Staunton and Alter against Löwenthal
oirs published at the end of his life in British and Barnes.—Games of Brien and Campbell.—
Chess Magazine, mentioned “Brien’s indul- Campbell and Wormald.—Morphy and
gence in a bad habit.” Philip W. Sergeant said Barnes.—Zytogorski and Falkbeer, etc., etc., and
Tomlinson meant drinking to excess.29 If so, Four Problems by F. Healey, Esq., and R. B.
Brien had originally chosen a career at the Wormald, Esq. London: Published by J. H.
STARIE, Philidorian Chess Rooms, 46 Rathbone-
legal bar but ended up frequenting bars of a place.*
more liquid variety. Alternatively, given the
easy availability of laudanum and other opi- Starie was a bookseller, not a chess player
ates in Victorian London, he possibly in- of any note. An eight-page “list of cheap
dulged in other drugs. Can anyone be certain books” he offered for sale for cash, and dated
it was (only) alcohol? Is there other evidence? April 1859, was bound (following page 128)
For more than two years, until January in the New York Public Library copy of the
1859, there was no English chess magazine: 1859 volume of C.P.C. which has been digi-
the longest break. This was of course extremely tized by Google Books. He had previous his-
unfortunate, not least because the important tory as a publisher, having in 1850 published

*Rathbone Place is a street running north-west from the eastern end of Oxford Street in London, not far from
where the entry to Tottenham Court Road subway station is now situated. “Alter” was a well-known nom-de-guerre
of the Rev. John Owen. Löwenthal’s name lacked umlauts in the advertisement, presumably because they were
not in the printer’s font.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 207

A Guide to the British Museum by Henry War- and the impossibility of finding, at the last
ren; at that date Starie’s business address was moment, successors with proper qualifica-
59, Museum Street. As early as 1837 he pub- tions, were necessary causes of our temporary
lished a periodical entitled Materials for Think- retirement from the scene of action.”32
ing , Extracted from the Works of Ancient and Tantalizingly, the article continued by
Modern Authors, “By an investigator.”30 To- stating that “an accomplished Cambridge
wards the end of 1858, Starie had become also scholar” (possibly William Wayte?) was will-
the proprietor or business manager of the ing to undertake “for a time” the management
Philidorian Rooms, more or less as a sideline of the magazine “if coadjutors could have been
it seems likely. found.” Evidently they had not been found
Löwenthal’s review of chess in the year and so the period of silence ensued, and the
1858 (published in The Era on 26 December) missed opportunity to report on the Euro-
noted that: “The Philidorian Rooms have pean visit of Morphy, and important past
been opened in Rathbone-place, and among events and games, some of which the adver-
the stars who shine in this new sphere are tisement had mentioned. In his column of 9
Messrs. Brien, Falkbeer and Zytogorski.” The January, Löwenthal welcomed the magazine’s
chess rooms were located upstairs above Starie’s revival “as it cannot fail of benefiting the cause
bookshop, as a July 1889 memoir for B.C.M. of chess in England.” He had one reservation,
shows. Norwich attorney and chess writer adding “If conducted with impartiality, it will
John Odin Howard Taylor (1837–1890) de- no doubt command the success which we
scribed how during his time as a law student heartily wish it may obtain.” This was an in-
in London, from about the latter part of 1859, direct reference to the divisions in the capital’s
he used to frequent the Philidorian as it was chess life around the person of Staunton.
close to his lodgings: In reply to an inquiry from a correspon-
dent, Löwenthal wrote in the Era of 15 May
There was a little book shop below, where one
could buy the Chess Players’ [sic] Chronicle or 1859, that the Chronicle “is edited by the am-
Greco. One went up a modest staircase and ateurs frequenting the [Philidorian] rooms,
turned to the right, entering a small room not among whom Messrs. Brien, Wormald and
over well supplied with chess boards and men, Zytogorski are the chief.” This appears to con-
but where some of the greatest players of that firm that Brien was certainly connected with
day were wont to meet, sometimes vanishing
into an inner chamber for whist…. The place it at least initially. After all, it was he who
being Anti-Stauntonian was “not fashionable”; owned the title after buying it from Staunton,
nor had it the glory of the “Divan”…. Among with whom he had subsequently fallen out.
the frequenters were Zytogorski, Harrwitz, Falk- Brien at some point sold it on to Starie or li-
beer, Campbell, Wormald, Healey, Kling, and censed it. Therefore the Third Series can be
Duffy, and many strong and enthusiastic ama-
considered a true successor to the original
teurs….31
Chronicle. Zytogorski, too, had had a falling-
No editor was named at the start of the out with Staunton; only Wormald of those
Third Series. Later accounts of the editorship named above was a lifelong friend of Staun-
vary but it seems probable that there were ton’s.
changes during the three and a half years the As Sergeant said, several of the regulars
series lasted, and we discuss this question in at the Philidorian Rooms—including the
detail a little further on. In the first issue, the three above and some of the others listed in
unsigned introductory article looked back on the advertisement (Falkbeer, and Campbell
the preceding years, and explained that: “The especially)—were members of a coterie known
illness of those engaged on the first two series, to have frequented Starie’s establishment in
208 British Chess Literature to 1914

preference to the Divan, and who in the mid– Illustrated News of the World etc. is informed
1850s had been patrons of Kling’s chess rooms. that there is a regular Editor for the C.P.C., so
It might be added that when those closed, that any future inquiries on the subject he can
having failed financially, some of them founded answer satisfactorily.” Either this was deliber-
the McDonnell Chess Club. ate obfuscation, or we must take their word
Diggle stated vaguely that the editorial for it.
was “under Kolisch, Zytogorski and Kling” Since “he” was not named, inquiries
but admitted in his B.C.M. article that he “had would have had to be addressed to “the Edi-
not succeeded in obtaining access” to the tor.” The mystery has never been satisfactorily
Third Series, so presumably he was relying on resolved; there is no conclusive evidence to
Sergeant for that misleading information. The settle the question. Failing the invention of a
involvement of Kolisch only began in May time machine, the following analysis of the
1861 when there was a clear statement of ed- question is offered as being the best hypoth-
itorial change, which probably signaled the esis available. There would appear to be three
end of Brien and Wormald’s involvement. The or possibly four candidates for the editorial
view that the editorship was initially a collab- chair prior to May 1861, those named by
orative effort also seems to have been Philip Löwenthal. Falkbeer was the only other in the
Sergeant’s judgment on the question. He was, group with journalistic experience and he was
of course, far closer in time than we to the
events and personalities of those days, but he
was unable to find out who the editor might
have been. In a footnote on page 104 of his
Century of British Chess, we may read a partial
answer to the question:
It would seem that the editorship was in com-
mission for rather more than two years. (In the
resuscitated magazine we read of “the impossi-
bility of finding a qualified successor” to R. B.
Brien.) In May, 1861, when “Herr Kolisch and
Mr. Zytogorski” appear on the magazine-cover
as editors, with “Herr Kling” as in charge of the
problem section, we read of “the gentlemen who
have managed this present series”; but no names
are given. Kolisch’s and Zytogorski’s names dis-
appeared off the cover after the May issue, only
Kling’s being retained.
What exactly Sergeant meant by “in
commission” we are not entirely sure; the
meaning of the phrase may have subtly
changed since the 1930s. We take him to be
saying that for the first two years Starie had
delegated the editorship to a group of peo-
ple—but that is just what Löwenthal was told Ignaz Kolisch, whose role in the third series
of The Chess Player’s Chronicle may have been
was not the case. His reply to a correspondent overstated in the past. He appears to have
mentioning a triumvirate received the follow- made a major contribution to only one issue,
ing refutation on the inside cover of the May and perhaps a smaller one for a few later
1859 Chronicle: “The Chess Editor of the Era, numbers.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 209

certainly in London for at least part of this pe- does not tell us who had been the editor when
riod but nobody seems to have suggested he Zytogorski was manager. A likely candidate is
was editor of the Third Series. Robert Bownas Wormald, profiled in Chapter
The recent biography of the aforemen- 3 in connection with chess columns he edited.
tioned Ignaz Kolisch, by Fabrizio Zavata- It is true he was never explicitly credited in
relli, plumps for Zytogorski, saying (on page obituaries with a role on the Chronicle; per-
97): “He [Zytogorski] was the editor of the haps it had been forgotten because never pub-
third series of the Chess Player’s Chronicle, to licly acknowledged at the time. For example,
which he called to collaborate Kolisch, too.” the brief portrait of him in the October 1876
Sadly there is to be found in this book no fur- Westminster Papers (only a few weeks before
ther discussion of the extent, if any, of his death) does not say anything about it.
Kolisch’s role at the Chronicle, beyond that Wormald, though, was an old friend of Brien’s
single issue in May 1861 in which he was from their Oxford University days; he went
named. to the same college as Brien (Lincoln) just a
Zytogorski’s precise involvement in the few years after the older man graduated and
Third Series of the Chronicle has also never helped continue the Hermes Chess Club there,
been made entirely clear. Is it even true that of which Brien had been cofounder. Wormald
he was, as Zavatarelli implies, the editor was a man of many parts in the world of sports
throughout the third series? In the 1861 En- journalism. The labor involved in editing a
glish census, taken on the night of 7/8 April monthly magazine would have left him time
Zytogorski stated his occupation as “writer to do many other things—including writing
on the periodical press,” which is supporting his book on Chess Openings, which appeared
evidence for the claim that he was at least at in 1864 and is discussed in Chapter 7. In fact,
that date writing for the Chronicle.* Perhaps editing the Chronicle for a reasonable salary
the most authoritative evidence we have that would have been an ideal job to have while
his role changed was that on 20 April 1861 writing a book of that kind.
Charles Stanley’s column in the Manchester Brien can be ruled out as having re-
Weekly Express and Guardian reported that: turned to the editorial chair. An article headed
“We are pleased to learn that this popular pe- “Editorial Qualifications” in the May 1861
riodical will henceforth be edited by Herr number referred to a “change of management”
Kolisch conjointly with its late manager Mr. although Starie was still the publisher. Some-
Zytogorski.” What is to be understood here thing else had changed. Here are some ex-
by “manager”? Our supposition is that Starie cerpts from that article, probably written by
looked after the actual printing and circula- either Zytogorski or Starie:
tion, the un-named editor selected and cor- A Chess Magazine is not exempt from the vi-
rected copy to make it ready for the press, and cissitudes which its literary contemporaries en-
Zytogorski did whatever else was necessary counter…. In Chess a succession of real ability
while also writing some articles. is not found so readily. Specialities there are in
One is definitely inclined to accept Stan- the world, and such there always will be. When
therefore a change of management takes place
ley’s account since he was an experienced
in the Chess Player’s Chronicle, it behoves its pro-
journalist who kept in touch with all chess moters to bestow the utmost attention upon a
events and would have known all the people matter of so extremely delicate a nature. Pecu-
concerned personally. His statement, however, niarily the Magazine has never aimed at trade

*Regarding Adolphus Zytogorski, aka John A. Hanstein (1812?–1882): see Harding, Eminent, pages 41–42 for a
summary of this author’s discoveries. In 1861 Zytogorski was, for matters literary and non-chessical, using the
surname Hanstein, which has been wrongly transcribed by ancestry.co.uk as “Haustein.”
210 British Chess Literature to 1914

success; intellectually, it has been content with ries after May 1861 to its demise a year later,
the adhesion of the Chess-playing public…. and what exactly was Kolisch’s role?
The able player, who first edited this paper,
Zavatarelli has shown that the Hungar-
did not quit his post, until he had inspired a suc-
cessor…. That successor, the same spirit breath- ian master first arrived in England on 29 May
ing on him, preferred to see the Magazine sus- 1860, originally intending to stay only a month,
pended for a time, to beholding it in unworthy but eventually remaining in Great Britain
and incapable hands…. To whom was the man- until November, when Kolisch returned to his
agement [of the Third Series] to be confided? former residence, Paris. During these few
The article went on to say that “weighty months he showed he was more than the equal
reasons” precluded the “old lion” (Staunton) of any British resident, defeating (among oth-
from resuming his labors, while Brien (though ers) both Harrwitz and Horwitz in matches.
not named, he was of course the successor), Whether he had any connection with the
although he “endeavoured to remove imped- Chess Player’s Chronicle during that year is un-
iments out of her way, and afford us partial clear, but there is no evidence he did.35 But
co-operation,” was unwilling to undertake “so by early February 1861 he was back in London
laborious a revival.” The article went on to where he spent most of that year, although he
thank “the gentlemen who have managed the spent a few weeks in France in early March
present series,” without naming them, but before returning to London.
went on to say “we have constantly been on Kolisch’s input is certainly evident in
the look-out for ability of the highest order. that May 1861 number. The second article in
That, we rejoice to say, we have at length se- the issue concerns Kolisch’s challenge to Mor-
cured.” The article went on to praise their new phy that year to play a match and the forma-
contributor, whom subscribers should wel- tion of a committee of backers to help him
come: “The accession of genius, combined organize it; but ultimately the American de-
with practical ability in the person of Herr clined to play him in Europe or for any finan-
Kolisch, will be as welcome to them, as it was cial stake.36 Then on pages 132 to 138 there
to us.” Also mentioned was “that great master are annotated games between Kolisch and
of invention, Kling,” who was to take charge George Maude, of the London Chess Club,
of the problem department.33 Kling appears where Kolisch gave odds of a knight. Other
not to have been in London at the start of the annotated games in the magazine were prob-
Third Series, but by the time of the 1861 cen- ably contributed by Kolisch also, and perhaps
sus he was living in St. Pancras with his some in subsequent issues but it is hard to tell.
Norwich-born wife Rachael and described All this is certainly consistent with Kolisch
himself as a “Professor of music.” having a brief, but only brief, involvement
In his memoir, already quoted above, with the magazine in the summer of 1861.
Howard Taylor went on to say of the chess re- Kolisch, a professional chess player at
sort in Rathbone Place: “Through that room that time in his career, was probably glad of
I made the acquaintance of the lamented the paid work. This was not least because his
Baron Kolisch….”34 In the May 1861 C.P.C., Russian friend and patron Baron Kushelev-
Kolisch had been named on the cover and al- Bezborodko, who accompanied Kolisch to
though he was not actually named as editor London on his early 1861 visit, had returned
in the article on editorial qualifications, but to Russia in March. So the money Starie would
the implication was that raising the quality of have paid him was welcome but it is not evi-
game annotation and analytical work would dent to what extent Kolisch actually partici-
be his responsibility. We are now left with the pated in the magazine. Conducting an exten-
question of what happened with the Third Se- sive tour of northern England (in June) and
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 211

narrowly losing a match with Anderssen in include Professor Long, Doctor MacIvor,
London (in July) might not have left Kolisch Behnes, Sartorius, Captain O’Millan, Mr.
much time or energy to work on the Chroni- Grumble, and Herr Miller. Towards the end
cle. Professor Kling himself appears, and perhaps
As already noted by Sergeant, from June he wrote these pieces.
1861, only Kling’s name remained on the cover Most likely, the responsibility for the
of the magazine. The tentative conclusion Third Series was left towards the end of 1861
seems to be that Kolisch just worked on arti- in the hands of Kling, and in 1862 it only
cles and games when he could, submitting struggled on long enough to report the con-
some contributions by post. Kolisch finally clusion of the London Chess Congress, the
returned to Paris by December, after his last issue being nominally that for July but
lengthy and inconclusive match against Louis probably actually published in August. The
Paulsen. Therefore Kolisch’s involvement in failure of the Third Series meant the end of
the Chronicle lasted at most six months. It is what could be called the “apostolic succes-
even possible that after a short period he re- sion” from Staunton to Brien, and on to whom-
signed, or was sacked. It is also not clear ever Brien passed the rights. Whyld says that
whether Zytogorski’s involvement in the Third “was effectively the end of the periodical but
Series lasted until its abrupt end. its name lived on.”
The big change announced in May had Starie’s chess rooms continued for a
not really materialized. If Zytogorski had per- while longer. Bell’s Life in London announced
suaded Starie to bring in Kolisch with the big on 22 October 1864 that the chess rooms in
fanfare, only to be disappointed, then Zyto- Rathbone Place had closed: “Apply to the ed-
gorski’s own position could have been under- itor of the Chess Player’s Magazine for partic-
mined. The last suggestion that he had an ulars of a new chess room on moderate terms
active role came in the Era report on 8 Sep- of admission, recently opened in Charlotte-
tember 1861 that Zytogorski and Healey were st.” In fact Walker’s news was well out of date
chosen to be the secretaries at the Divan for because the September Chess Player’s Maga-
the telegraph match played against Bristol on zine said that the Philidorian Rooms “were
Saturday 12th, as part of that year’s B.C.A. closed several months ago,” and gave the ad-
congress. The last year Zytogorski competed dress of the new rooms as 48 Charlotte Street,
in chess events was probably 1862 but he did not far from Fitzroy Square.37
not play in the Handicap at the London Con-
gress and may have left the capital for a time.
An aspect of the 1861 volume which his-
torians rarely remark upon, but would do well
Skipworth and the Quarterly
to read closely, is the series of imaginary Chronicle
dialogues, “Horae Matutinae,” Latin for
“morning hours.” These are mostly set in the The later publications with Chronicle in
Philidorian Chess Rooms, where a group of the title had only family resemblance to the
characters, drawn from life, meet and talk original periodical. The Chess Players’ Quar-
about current events in the chess world, in- terly Chronicle was the first of these, and plans
cluding the appearance of new columns, and for it appear to have been put in place in the
the dearth of activity among leading players. fall of 1867 soon after the closure of The Chess
The author of these articles has never been Player’s Magazine was announced. A circular
identified and it would be an amusing game notice was printed to encourage subscriptions
to try to identify the dramatis personae: these and this was probably circulated through chess
212 British Chess Literature to 1914

clubs.38 This confidently worded document Being a quarterly, the annual cost of sub-
(especially by comparison with the contem- scribing was significantly less than for the
poraneous circular for The Chess World, monthlies that had preceded it, and when the
quoted in the previous chapter) named an magazine proved a success, it was changed to
impressive list of supporters, with a strong bimonthly publication.40 The Field of 4 Janu-
northern flavor. It read as follows: ary 1868 reported on chess in the provinces,
THE CHESS PLAYERS’ QUARTERLY CHRON- mentioning that a match between the West
ICLE will appear early in 1868, and be issued and North Ridings of Yorkshire had been
Quarterly. 4s. per Annum, Post-free. Single played in Leeds on 18 December. At the social
copies forwarded on receipt of thirteen postage meeting that followed, Mr. Werner of Brad-
stamps.
ford (then one of the strongest players in
This magazine is brought out under the pa-
tronage and support of Lord Lyttelton, Lord Yorkshire) made a speech in which he “men-
Ravensworth, and other Members of the St. tioned the influential and extensive support
George’s Club, London; Lord Benholme; A. already promised to the magazine.” Already
Mongredien, Esq., President of the London Club; 50 copies had been ordered for two Yorkshire
the Rev. J. Owen; Herr Löwenthal; Herr Hor-
towns alone. A curious bibliographical detail
witz; Members of the Hull, Lincoln, Birming-
ham, Sheffield, Manchester, Bradford, and Hal- is that the placement of the apostrophe had
ifax Clubs; Members of the North Yorkshire changed, making the third word (Players’)
Chess Association; and numerous amateurs plural instead of singular. Whether this was
throughout the kingdom. deliberate or careless has never been clarified,
All Games, problems, or Notices intended for
but the singular was restored in 1876.*
the First Number must be sent in on or before
January 15th, 1868, to the Editor of The Chess Diggle, in his 1980 article for B.C.M.,
Players’ Quarterly Chronicle, Gazette Office, York, correctly stated that the Chronicle “was never
to whom all Communications must be addressed. again … the leading British chess periodical.”
Subscriptions payable by Post office Order to: He was inaccurate when he went on to say
Mr. James Lancelot Foster, Gazette Office, York. that apart from a small break in 1876, it “lived
From its launch in February 1868 until through a long and peaceful old age from
1875, and perhaps until 1880, the Chronicle 1868 right through to 1902.”41 This was far
was not under professional editorship. The from being the case from 1882 onwards. More-
circular did not name the editor, perhaps be- over, Diggle wrongly implied that Ranken had
cause his identity was yet to be finally de- continued his connection with the Chronicle
cided, but more likely because it was not yet to the end. Presumably Diggle never saw the
general practice to always name editors. Skip- late volumes discussed below and made an
worth, the man in charge, was originally from unwarranted assumption of continuity.
Lincolnshire, and would soon return there, The first volume of the Chess Players’
but at this point he was Vicar of Bilsdale, a Quarterly Chronicle, covering 1868 and 1869,
small village in the North Riding of Yorkshire. was published by John Sampson in York, in
His career has been narrated by this author in association with Bell and Daldy of London.
a previous book.39 It was indeed a quarterly: there were just eight

*An article (Kibitzer 146) this author wrote for the Chess Café website in 2008 credited John Hilbert with
pointing out that during Skipworth’s reign the apostrophe in the title he used for C.P.C. implied a plural: Players’
instead of Player’s as under the other editors. That article also noted that Sergeant’s footnote on page 169 of
Century appears to make the same point but is an exact reversal of the true situation. Moreover, Sergeant’s footnote
on page 168 says Ranken “started the C.P.C. once again in 1867” and on the facing page he has “The magazine
did not appear again till January, 1887.” In both cases it should have been 1877. (Hilbert’s article, like this author’s,
is no longer online nor was it included in his printed essay collections.)
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 213

issues in the two years. Skipworth did not aim A notice at the top of the first page of the Feb-
to be comprehensive in his coverage of chess ruary 1872 issue said that “As this magazine
events and anyone wanting deeper analysis has long ceased to be a quarterly publication,
and news of master chess had better read the it will henceforth appear as the Chess Players’
Westminster Papers instead. Chronicle.” The running headers were now
The second volume, with the same pub- changed to The Chess Players’ Chronicle.
lishers, also covered two years, 1870 and 1871. By early 1872 Skipworth had moved back
However, it now appeared bimonthly al- to his native Lincolnshire after obtaining an
though “Quarterly Chronicle” was still stated appointment to do with education in the Lin-
on the running headers of each page. This is coln diocese. At the start of the year it was an-
some measure of success although the sub- nounced that the British champion, John
scribers were mostly from the provinces as lit- Wisker, had joined as coeditor,42 and probably
tle attention was paid to metropolitan chess. he expected to be paid something for his work.
This volume consisted of 12 issues from Feb- He appears to have contributed some games
ruary 1870 to December 1871. during the year and news of events in London.
The printer for the first three volumes As no editors were announced on the covers
was stated to be J. L. Foster of York. The third or title pages it is unclear how long he re-
volume, for 1872 and 1873, likewise had 12 mained, perhaps only that volume. At the end
issues and the publishers remained the same. (inside back cover of the December 1873 issue)
it was announced that “Mr. Löwenthal has
kindly undertaken to assist the Editors during
the coming year.” There were also promises
to be more punctual and it was stated that the
magazine would no longer be printed in York.
The fourth and final volume of the
Chronicle ran from February 1874 to Decem-
ber 1875. There was a slight change to the
publication arrangements as indicated by the
title pages of the individual issues. Bell and
Daldy had become George Bell & Sons, an
imprint that continued well into the late 20th
century. The former copublisher, Sampson of
York, was replaced by James Williamson of
High Street, Lincoln, also named as the printer.
An announcement on the back cover of the
first number shows that money had probably
been owing to the old printer, which would
have accounted for the delays:
The debt upon the last Volume having been most
unexpectedly cleared off by the liberality of a
friend, who desires to remain anonymous, more
help from various quarters being promised for the
future, and universal regret having been expressed
at even the possibility of the discontinuance of
The Rev. Arthur Bolland Skipworth: auto- this Magazine, we have pleasure in continuing the
graphed photograph from MacDonnell’s book work, and in now issuing the February number
The Knights and Kings of Chess. of the seventh year, No. I of Vol. IV.
214 British Chess Literature to 1914

While Skipworth was in charge, he filled Fraser was added in February. The problem
its pages mostly with games and problems. department was conducted by John Crum of
The chess editor of the Glasgow Weekly Her- Glasgow.
ald, John Jenkin, complained that: “in a jour- Clearly Jenkin intended to publish 12
nal solely devoted to chess we are entitled to issues a year but he failed financially. That
expect a pretty complete summary of the do- subtitle cannot have helped its chances of ob-
ings of the chess world generally, and in this taining metropolitan subscribers against com-
respect the Chronicle has been lamentably petition from the Westminster Papers, although
deficient.”43 Skipworth eventually gave up ed- if he could have lasted a little longer the failure
iting the Chronicle when he obtained a com- of the City of London Chess Magazine might
fortable living as Rector of Tetford in Lin- have gained him some subscribers.
colnshire. At the end of October 1875 number Jenkin’s newspaper column was good
he announced, “There will be a change of ed- and he had some ideas to enliven the content
itorial staff of this Magazine after this year. of the magazine—too many probably. The
Mr. Skipworth regrets that he has not suffi- readers of the sleepy Chronicle of those Skip-
cient leisure to enable him to give sufficient worth years may well have been shocked by
attention to the work.”44 the change of tone. His account of the 1875
Counties Chess Association meeting, held in
Glasgow, was amusing, if rather long after the
The Jenkin Interlude event. Sergeant noted in Century that “It was
evident from the first number that candour
Jenkin, who had been so critical of Skip- was to be the dominant note of the new C.P.C.”
worth, was keen to show that he could do bet- and he quoted some controversial sentences
ter, but when he had his turn in 1876 as editor from the second and third issues.46 Perhaps
of volume 5 (continuing Skipworth’s number- Jenkin might have made a success of the jour-
ing) his interlude at the helm was so brief that nalistic side had he been more effective as a
it has sometimes been overlooked. Whyld’s businessman and recognized that therefore he
article in Q.C.H.8 said nothing about a Chron- could not afford to offend subscribers, espe-
icle in 1876 but mistakenly said that the Jan- cially at the start. Sergeant highlighted the
uary to April 1877 issues were published from items in the second and third issues submitted
Glasgow, “ed. Jenkin?” In fact Jenkin produced by Jenkin’s London correspondent “A Looker-
three issues, for January to March of 1876.45 On” (possibly the same anonymous writer
Unlike most of the Chronicle volumes up to who later contributed London letters to the
the 1880s, for a long time it was not reprinted, Glasgow Weekly Herald) might have irretriev-
until it was taken on by the Moravian Chess ably damaged his prospects of sales in the cap-
reprint house, where it is now available. ital. This can be seen especially in Jenkin’s
Publishing of the magazine was now final issue, for March, which managed to of-
based in Glasgow, but only in 1876. The apos- fend everyone by insulting both Steinitz and
trophe was moved so that the title reverted to Blackburne when reporting on their match:
The Chess Player’s Chronicle and a subtitle was Of course, the great Chess match—I beg par-
added: A Monthly Record of Provincial Chess. don, the “momentous match” (vide Field)—has
The title page of the January number named been our one all-absorbing topic of conversation
during the last three weeks. Well—it ought to
Jenkin as editor, “with the co-operation of ”
have been—but, as a matter of fact, it has not. I
the clergymen Skipworth, Ranken and Wayte, never remember a match hang fire so terribly.
and Andrew Hunter, who was a leading player Beyond the sacred precincts of the West-End
in the west of Scotland. To these the name of Club it has scarcely ever been mentioned, and
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 215

the apathy which has been manifested in Chess being again the editor. “It will be satisfactory
circles as to the result has been somewhat extra- to have a monthly periodical which really rep-
ordinary. I am utterly at a loss to account for this,
resents chessplayers; but to do this Mr. Jenkin
except on the supposition that the “hole and cor-
ner” manner in which the contest originated, must alter the tone of his London correspon-
and the thoroughly mercenary spirit in which dence,” he warned. Fraser, a contributor to the
this latest exhibition of professionalism was con- Chronicle for many years, explained to John
ducted throughout, has heartily disgusted all G. White that an attempt was being made to
true Chess players. But the fact remains— amalgamate with a failing competitor, the City
Steinitz has achieved the feat of winning a “love”
match, and Blackburne has apparently no excuse
of London Chess Magazine (discussed above).49
to offer in extenuation of his shameful defeat. Evidence of the small budget, and little pros-
His friends allege that he “was not in form,” but pect of profit, involved in these magazines is
if this were the case, one would think, he must Fraser’s remark that Jenkin “writes me that he
have been aware of the fact previously, and why, has lost £25 on last three Nos, which is rather
therefore, did he consent to play at a time when
too much for him.”50 The planned merger
he knew he was courting defeat? I cannot, how-
ever, accept this explanation, for the simple rea- failed but later a rescue was arranged. On 30
son that, in every game, with the exception of October 1876 Fraser wrote that the magazine
the first and, perhaps, the last, Blackburne had was to be edited next year by Ranken, “whose
a manifestly superior, and more than once an ac- love for the game will I think keep matters
tually won position at the time of the adjourn-
ment; but after dinner, he, in every case, went
hopelessly to pieces. Was it the cuisine, or the
wine, or the salmon, or—can you suggest any
other obfuscating agency? It is really beyond my
fathom….47

The John G. White Collection in Cleve-

land includes, among his many letters from
Fraser of Dundee, a printed slip which Jenkin
had mailed out to subscribers in April. Fraser
scribbled some words on the back and for-
warded it to White. Jenkin’s announcement
reads as follows:
DEAR SIR, For several reasons it has been found
necessary that I should withdraw from the man-
agement of the “Chess Player’s Chronicle,” and
as arrangements for the continuance of the Mag-
azine under proper guidance have not yet been
completed, it is probable that this month’s num-
ber may have to be dropped. I have therefore to
crave your kind indulgence for a short space.
Should the negotiations now pending come to George Brunton Fraser, who contributed to
nought, and it be decided to stop the Maga- the Chess Player’s Chronicle for many years
zine, those Subscriptions which have been paid and subsequently to British Chess Magazine.
in advance will be returned. Yours faithfully, J. He had briefly been a columnist in the Dundee
JENKIN.48 Courier and Argus from 1862 to 1864. From
the 1870s to early 1900s, Fraser was John G.
In the Figaro of 5 July 1876 Löwenthal White’s purchasing agent in Europe. Un-
said it had been announced that the Chronicle dated photograph by J. Abbot (courtesy
would probably reappear in August, Jenkin Cleveland Public Library Special Collections).
216 British Chess Literature to 1914

going very smoothly. It is to be published in 1868 right up to 1902” and that it “remained,
London and I expect this will yield a good under the steadier direction of Ranken, chiefly
deal more support than it has enjoyed under assisted by Wayte.” Diggle must have over-
provincial management.”51 looked Ranken’s resignation in 1880 and ap-
pears not to have been familiar with the later
issues, as he showed no awareness of the many
The Ranken Years breaks in publication detailed below. It is im-
probable that Ranken had any involvement in
The January 1877 number of The Chess the later years, as this was never stated in the
Player’s Chronicle (New Series) restored the magazine or his obituaries. Moreover, he joined
original title and monthly publication but the the editorial board of B.C.M. and Wayte was
volume numbering was reset to one. The title also associated to some extent with B.C.M.
page says the 1877 volume was published after its foundation.
jointly by Dean & Son of Fleet Street, London, Ranken oversaw four volumes and the
and Thos. Murray & Son of Buchanan Street, Chronicle improved somewhat. Presumably
Glasgow. Communications about the maga- thanks to a private income, he had retired
zine were requested to be sent to Ranken in some years previously from active Church
Malvern, except for the Problem department ministry (“without cure of souls” as he styled
which was run by J. Crum in Glasgow. As this his occupation in the 1881 census). Ranken’s
was the second “New Series” and the fifth “vol- time was, unlike Skipworth, not taken up with
ume 1,” any confusion is perhaps forgivable.52 parish work or local politics; also Ranken
Anyway this is where Diggle made one took a less active role in the Counties’ Chess
of his most serious mistakes in his B.C.M. sur- Association than his colleague. He was more
vey. Diggle wrote that the Chronicle then conscientious as an editor than Skipworth,
“lived through a long and peaceful old age from though perhaps not as strong (and certainly
not as original) a player.
On 10 March 1877 Fraser told White the
Chronicle “is getting on very well, as regards
subscribers & I believe will soon pay its way.”
In November, Archibald Murray appealed for
more subscribers but at last they found a com-
mercial publisher.53 The name of Thomas
Murray disappears from the title page in 1878
and while Dean remains, he has a subsidiary
role to W. W. Morgan of 67 Barbican, whose
name is in larger type.54 Also on the last page
of each issue readers are told that all commu-
nications respecting subscriptions are to be
addressed to Morgan, described as the pub-
lisher. Ranken now had to concern himself
only with the editorial matter.
Then at the end of 1880 there was a
wholesale defection of editor and contributors
(all unpaid volunteers) to the project that
The Rev. Charles Edward Ranken, editor of became British Chess Magazine. Ranken also
The Chess Player’s Chronicle from 1877 to 1880. wanted to reduce the quantity of his chess
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 217

The front page of the July 1880 number of The Chess Player’s Chronicle, then edited by Ranken.
218 British Chess Literature to 1914

work, as he said in his final, December, edito- Perhaps the B.C.M. founders had expected
rial.55 On 16 October 1880 the Rev. G. A. that the Chronicle would be allowed to die qui-
MacDonnell (under his pen-name “Mars”) etly but the publishing company asserted its
wrote in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic right to continue the title. On the first page of
News that the Chess Player’s Chronicle was very the December 1880 issue, above Ranken’s ed-
good that month but rumors were flying about. itorial, it was stated that: “It is requested that
The facts so far as he could discover were that in future all communications for this Maga-
zine be sent direct to the Publisher, W. W.
At the end of this year the present staff of the
Chronicle will associate themselves with Mr. Wat- Morgan, 23 Great Queen Street, London, W.C.”
kinson, under whose editorship a new monthly Readers reliant for their history on
journal will be started. But this desertion of the Sergeant’s Century of British Chess would re-
Chronicle will not necessarily terminate the ex- main in ignorance of the history of the Chron-
istence of this magazine; on the contrary, I un- icle from 1881 onwards. Perhaps even its au-
derstand that it will very probably be continued
under very distinguished management.
thor had forgotten about the sequel. Sergeant
said on page 179 that the Chronicle “under the
Ranken said farewell to his readers in his editorship of the Rev. C. E. Ranken had come
December editorial, announcing that “With to an end with its issue of September, 1880.”
the present number the Editor and his Co- Not only was that the wrong month; the af-
operators close their connection with this terlife of the Chronicle was entirely ignored by
magazine.” He thanked Wayte, “who has acted him. This can perhaps be taken as a sign that
all along as a sort of co-editor,” and specially serious amateur chess players were concerned
acknowledged Fraser (who had contributed only with the British Chess Magazine and The
articles on chess openings), and “Messrs. Chess-Monthly thereafter.
Crum, Pierce, and Andrews, who have succes- Morgan is a shadowy figure in the history
sively undertaken the management of the of British chess publishing, overlooked by
Problem Department.” Ranken said that his Sergeant. Actually “figures” is more correct
principal reason for retiring from the chair was because they were namesakes, father and son,
“to have in the future a less engrossing, and both associated with the late years of the
less laborious amount of Chess work than he Chronicle. Gaige conflated the two in a mini-
has had in the past.” Defection to a rival mag- mal entry on page 290 of Chess Personalia.
azine was not mentioned, nor did he encour- William Wray Morgan, Sr., who was born
age readers to follow his example, but it was about 1833, described himself as a printer in
probably fairly common knowledge by now censuses of 1861 and 1871; his son of the same
that he would be writing for the newcomer. name was born in 1855. In the 1881 English
Properly, Ranken did conclude by saying that census, taken soon after the Morgans took full
the Chronicle “will be henceforth carried on by control of the Chronicle, the father and his
other hands, and we trust that it will meet with wife Mary Ann, also W. W. Morgan, Jr., and
the same amount of acceptance and support his siblings were living together in Islington.
in the future which it has received in the past.” Most likely they ran the Chronicle together
and their occupations as stated in that census
give a good clue to their respective roles. The
Morgan Takes Over in 1881 father, aged 48, described himself as a jour-
nalist and it was now the son, aged 26, who
On 30 October 1880 MacDonnell told called himself a publisher. It is Morgan junior
his readers that C.P.C. would reappear next who is described as such on the title pages of
year in weekly numbers at twopence each. all the later volumes.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 219

On 15 November William Morgan, Jr., the notes. Frank Healey was doing the prob-
married Emma Grace Baxter, daughter of a lems.
pawnbroker from Harrow; on the marriage One topic in the new series of the mag-
certificate young Morgan is described as a azine makes it clear that MacDonnell could
printer. In the 1891 census he had his own not have been the editor. Whether seeking
household, with wife and children aged eight controversy or not, the Chronicle and Journal
and four. Long before, the younger Morgan soon launched itself into the topic of money
may have been completely in charge. The ad- in chess. A leading article in only the second
vertisements for sales of chess books and issue was headlined “Chess Playing and Chess
other chess goods, which become increas- Gambling.” The writer argued that Chess held,
ingly prominent as the editorial content re- among games of skill (instancing billiards and
duces, are in his name. In the censuses of 1901 whist for comparison), a special and elevated
and 1911 Morgan junior described his occu- status which was in jeopardy because of the
pation as a printer; he died on Christmas Day practice of offering money prizes in compe-
in 1926. titions among amateur players, though he rec-
The Morgans relaunched the Chronicle ognized that there was a place for profession-
in January 1881, making radical changes. It be- als whose role was to “impart the knowledge
came a weekly, with larger format pages. The they have been at the pains of acquiring, and
full title became The Chess Player’s Chronicle these cannot be expected to enact the rôle of
and Journal of Indoor and Outdoor Amusements, teachers without something in the way of
although the non-chess content was minimal. honorarium.”56 In amateur tournaments, the
Despite the physical and other changes, Mor- prizes should be anything but money, for ex-
gan called this volume number five, to follow ample cups or chess sets.
Ranken’s four, and thus perhaps retained some The Chronicle expanded in its issue of 18
subscribers from the previous years. The January on “The Amateur and Professional
opening editorial, thanking the late Editor Question.” When a man of independent
and his staff (naming Ranken, Wayte, An- means, or who earned his living from business
drews, Fraser, Pierce, and Skipworth) was all or a profession, took up a particular pastime
part of the policy of maintaining an illusion he does not need income from it. On the con-
of continuity. trary, “he loses caste when he competes pub-
The usually well-informed Fraser told licly for a money profit, and, what is still more
White, in a letter dated 5 January 1881, that important, he lowers the game of his choice
MacDonnell was editor but he was almost from an innocent pastime to a species of gam-
certainly wrong in that belief, which is incon- bling.” The writer did not object to private
sistent with various statements MacDonnell games of whist or chess played for a money
made in his column early in 1881. On 22 Jan- stake “if they think it will give interest to their
uary he reviewed the new C.P.C. saying the combat.” He did think that public play for a
12-page first issue covered other cards, cricket, money prize “should be made a disqualifica-
football, billiards, and pedestrianism in addi- tion from taking part in every future non-
tion to chess. * He said “I have not yet had professional tourney.” A letter from an anony-
time to examine the games,” but commended mous amateur, published in the 25 January

*“Pedestrianism” was the usual term in Victorian Britain for all forms of athletic competition on foot, whether
walking or running, and frequently involved endurance feats performed for money prizes or as the subject of
wagers. In the case referred to (4 January 1881 on page 9) the magazine reported that the celebrated pedestrian
Gale had attempted to accomplish 2,500 miles in 1,000 hours but had failed by just under 95 miles to do so. He
had previously set a record of 1500 miles in the same time.
220 British Chess Literature to 1914

number, supported the author of this edito- half a century. The “shilling shark” was frowned
rial. upon by some if that particular expert were a
The context of their view was that only foreigner like Steinitz, while a blind eye might
a few months earlier (on 24 April 1880), the be turned if his name was Blackburne or Bird,
Amateur Athletic Association had been who was a “shamateur” if ever there was one
founded to distinguish gentleman athletes in chess.
from professional pedestrians. At the start of Further articles related indirectly to the
the 19th century, the term amateur usually professionalism issue and then the leading ar-
just had its literal sense taken from the French ticle on 8 February was explicitly headed
language, namely one who loved a particular “Chess amateurs and professionals.” This
game or pastime. Participating in almost any began by admitting the difficulty of defining
game or sport in those days, whether as par- an amateur in chess. “There is, in fact, a kind
ticipant or spectator, almost inevitably in- of intermediate state of amateur-professionals
volved money to some extent. The rise of the or professional-amateurs,” and their position
urban middle classes, many from a noncon- had been criticized in the Glasgow Weekly Her-
formist Christian background, and consequent ald. MacDonnell replied to all this at length
gradual redefinition of what it was to be a gen- in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News
tleman changed perspectives on the matter. on 12 February, under his byline “Mars.” He
In particular, mid–Victorian England, the asked, what is a professional chess player?
1870s and 1880s, was greatly concerned with “That is, in what respect does he differ, and
respectability. therefore ought to be distinguished from, an
As is well known among sports histori- amateur?” This question was now being fre-
ans, middle-class Victorians were obsessed by quently discussed in clubs and journals and
the amateur- professional issue and similar the arguments were often contradictory aris-
amateur bodies were being formed to organ- ing out of varying use of the terms:
ize other sports, notably rowing where the de- A professional is one who adopts a profession,
bate was particularly intense. Henley Royal and a profession is a vocation or calling, not mer-
Regatta’s regulations excluded not only those cantile or mechanical. It follows then as the day
who rowed for money as part of their employ- the night, that a chess-professional is one who
ment (such as Thames watermen) but even adopts chess as a means of earning a livelihood.
anyone “who is or has been by trade or em- Openly avowed professionals delighted
ployment for wages a mechanic, artisan or in calling first-class amateurs professionals,
labourer.” Such a definition makes it abso- and insult and degrade them by so doing. The
lutely clear this was a class issue. In chess, line between reimbursed expenses and fees
though, matters were much more complicated for exhibitions could be blurred. “Mars” said
and to this day it has rarely been easy to make he was opposed to the adoption of chess as a
a clear distinction between amateurs and pro- profession but held “that circumstances might
fessionals. In 1881 there were still probably arise which would justify a player in becoming
not many tournaments with money prizes, a professional for a time.” Here he was prob-
but the practice of playing games in chess ably thinking of Henry Bird who was at the
cafes and divans, and even in clubs, for a six- time officially prevented by bankruptcy from
pence or shilling stake had been common for practicing his profession as an accountant.*

*Bird’s biographer, Hans Renette, has shown that the chess master became bankrupt in 1870–1871, as the result
of the failure of an accountancy partnership. He may have practiced illegally from 1879 and he was finally dis-
charged from bankruptcy in April 1883. See Renette, H.E. Bird, pages 117–118, 228 and 276.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 221

MacDonnell said he disagreed that play- The rising star Gunsberg was however
ing for a money prize in a match or tourna- named as games editor in volume six (1882),
ment after a day’s work in itself made you a and may have had a larger role throughout.
professional. He followed Buckle in support- Fraser told White that the Chronicle “is a
ing the small stake that makes a man play more rather lively Journal, much more so than the
carefully. “He may or may not care for the British Chess Magazine. They would require
money in itself, but he does not like to see his to have the editors ‘mixed up’ in order to im-
opponent taking and carrying off the coin prove both.”57 Publication ceased after two
which is the token and proof of his defeat.” At years and Gunsberg was not named again in
the City of London Chess Club, play for money this role on the resumption, perhaps because
between individuals was strictly prohibited, he was getting busy as a columnist for various
“but matches and tourneys are organised by publications, and as a professional player for
the committee” with handicappers classifying a few years. It is likely, though, that he con-
players. He concluded that it was absurd to tinued his association with the magazine, at
say a man who plays for a stake and always least through the younger Morgan. The proof
loses is a professional. Also playing chess for is in Gunsberg’s naturalization papers at the
money was not gambling. British National Archives, which show that in
On 22 February the Chronicle in its lead- 1908 Morgan junior gave him a testimonial,
ing article explicitly addressed the arguments saying he had known Gunsberg for thirty
offered by “Mars.” In particular, while agree- years. Moreover at the time of the 1901 census
ing that playing chess for any other game for Gunsberg lived in the next street to Morgan
money did not necessarily amount to gam- in New Barnet. Gunsberg frequently changed
bling, nevertheless “playing for money is the his residence and he may well have moved de-
basis of all gambling.” On 5 March, “Mars” de- liberately to be adjacent to Morgan to facili-
bated the professionalism issue with the tate their collaboration on literary work.
Chronicle again, making the telling point that The revived Chess Player’s Chronicle was
on the 22nd the magazine absurdly says it is very erratic and usually of low quality, with
“public playing for money that marks a profes- numerous advertisements. Much of the time
sional.” On this definition, said Mars, “a man it was just a digest of news and games re-
who plays for money regularly but only in pri- printed from periodical chess columns and
vate houses and clubs would not be a profes- other sources, though with some original con-
sional!” This virtually ended the debate, and tent. Neither the British Library nor the Royal
this comment in particular makes it clear that Dutch Library has complete set of these late
MacDonnell was not then (or probably ever) volumes, but we eventually established that
editor of C.P.C. only two issues were missing in London.
Perhaps he had been offered the post, Eventually we saw them in Cleveland, Ohio.
but in fact from now to the end nobody was As information about these late volumes is
ever named in its pages as editor. Further con- hard to come by, a detailed list of what was
fusion for chess historians has been caused by published now follows.
the listing item #7-23 on page 37 in Betts’s The Chronicle had begun a correspon-
bibliography for the last series of the Chroni- dence tournament in 1882; there was no men-
cle. That names an unknown and probably fic- tion of this when the journal was revived with
titious person, “C. C. Weekly,” as the last ed- volume 7, which began with issue 153 on 6
itor. This appears to be a misunderstanding June 1883. The relaunch was to coincide with
based on poor note-taking, as publication was the London international congress since the
sometimes weekly. Morgans must have perceived that interest in
222 British Chess Literature to 1914

chess should now grow, but from now on the past we are quite satisfied, while if we fail to do
younger Morgan seems to have been in charge. so in the future it will be from inability rather
than lack of desire on our part.
Thereafter the volume numbers of this series
did not correspond to calendar years, although It did not get much better. Issue 340 was
the issue numbers do help to trace what hap- dated “November 1887”and issue 341 was for
pened. The Chronicle was now purely a chess “January 1888.” Issues 342 and 343 were for
magazine although the subtitle remained until February and March but number 344 did not
the end of volume 10. appear until 17 October and the content of
The last issue of volume 7 (number 207) these issues is almost worthless. Number 345
was dated 16 June 1884, and then volume 8 for 24 October was more interesting and to
ran from 23 June 1884 (issue 208) to 3 June the end of the volume there was some attempt
1885 (issue 256). Volume 9 was 10 June 1885 at regular publication although the intervals
(issue 257) to 7 July 1886 (issue 308). From varied from one to three weeks. This was fol-
the summer of 1886 onwards, publication be- lowed by numbers 346 (7 November), 347
came irregular, issues thinner and even more (21 November), 348 (28 November), 349
rarely included original matter. (12 December), 350 (19 December), 351 (2
Volume 10, which is the start of chaos, January 1889), 352 (9 January), 353 (16 Jan-
was the last with the long-winded “Journal of uary), 354 (23 January), 355 (13 February),
Indoor and Outdoor Amusements” subtitle. 356 (20 February), 357 (27 February), 358
From this point the dates and issue numbers (6 March), 359 (13 March) and finally issue
in Whyld’s Q.C.H. 8 article do not correspond 360 on 20 March 1889.
with the present author’s findings, having Number 340 in volume 10 saw the com-
traced all the succeeding issues in various li- mencement of an intermittent series of arti-
braries. Volume 10 began on 14 July 1886 with cles on “Chess at Odds of Pawn and Move:
issue 309 but did not end until March 1889.* Examples of Openings” arranged mostly in a
There were issues on 21 and 28 July 1886 but tabular format. Play at odds had been very
only one in August, because of holidays. popular earlier in the century, when Staunton
Weekly publication then resumed in Septem- had devoted much of one book (The Chess
ber and continued up to issue 330 on 29 De- Player’s Companion, 1849) to advice on the
cember 1886. No magazines were published subject. This series may be a sign that such
for the next three months. Issue 331 was dated handicap play persisted in many clubs and
6 April 1887 after which weekly issues ap- was not being catered to elsewhere in the
peared up to issue 338 of 25 May. Then num- chess literature.
ber 339, which reported on the Frankfurt in- This series was afterwards turned into a
ternational tournament (played from 18 July book entitled Chess at Odds of Pawn and Move
to 2 August) was headed the “June–Septem- which went through two editions (1890 and
ber 1887” issue. On page 241 the anonymous 1891), although Betts observed on page 183
editor apologized for the irregularity of pub- that an advertised companion work on the
lication; pleading ill health etc.: pawn and two-move odds appears never to
Our wish has always been to interest our sup- have been published. As to the byline “Baxter
porters; if we have succeeded in doing so in the Wray,” it is reasonably evident that the author

*The box in the British Library containing this volume says it contains numbers 309–359 but actually it also con-
tains number 360, which corresponds with Whyld’s list, but he was wrong to say the volume ended on 20 March
1887; the last digit was presumably a misprint. It should also be noted that there are Google Books pdfs for some
of these late volumes but they can omit some of the issues as they were scanned from imperfect volumes in some
libraries.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 223

was actually W. Morgan, Jr., “Wray” was his refused to admit as members some NCOs
middle name and “Baxter” was his wife’s from the adjoining army depot at Walmer.
maiden name. The Deal civilians would not have the military,
Volume 11 was also very long-drawn-out and rejected their applications by a very large
and spanned May 1889 to March 1891. It majority… . The event has called forth some
began with numbers 361, 362, and 363 for 1, very strong comments, not only from civilians,
but also from commissioned officers of the Serv-
8 and 15 May 1899. As Whyld pointed out in
ices, who in a very large majority of cases are
Q.C.H., the 15 May issue was wrongly dated known to favour the association of officers and
8 May. There was then another hiatus until 3 men in all sports and pastimes. It is such absurd
August which was followed by issues on 10, distinctions and insults as these which keep
17, and 24 August after which three weeks good men out of the army, and makes it shunned
were missed. Perhaps that is when the Mor- by those would really prove a benefit to it.
gans took a family holiday because there was Volume 12 covered April 1891 to May
a similar break at this time the following year. 1892, numbers 413 (4 April) to 446. They
The run continued with numbers 368 to were trying to publish every Saturday at the
372 at weekly intervals from 21 September to price of three pence per issue but as there
19 October 1889 inclusive. There was then a were only 34 issues there were gaps again. The
very long gap until number 373 on 22 March book in the British Library appears to be com-
1890. Then 374 came out on 12 April, fol- plete but the currently available Google Books
lowed in successive weeks by three more is- pdf file is missing several issues.58
sues. But number 377, published on 3 May, The first issue of this volume commenced
announced the next issue would be on 17 May publication of an Index to the Chess Openings
but actually it appeared on 7 June. Numbers by Signor C. Salvioli of Venice “which we have
379 and 380 followed on 14 and 21 June be- long desired to place before our readers”—in
fore another hiatus. The reason for the irreg- a tabular format which has to be read across
ularities could have been financial or the spreads. It began with the French Defense.
health of Morgan, Sr., but nothing was ex- Extra illustrative games had been added by
plained. the Chronicle. It was clear that they were try-
Publication resumed with numbers 381 ing to make a new start and cater to the ele-
to 384 on 2, 9, 16 and 23 August and then the mentary standard player who was keen enough
three-week break as in 1889. The Chronicle to want a little magazine weekly rather than a
was back on 20 September with number 385, fat one monthly.
announcing the opening of the metropolitan Weekly publication continued up to
chess season. In a somewhat remarkable feat number 426 on 4 July but there was then a
of endurance, given the Morgans’ track record break until 15 August, when it was announced
hitherto, weekly publication was thereafter that the office had moved from Medina Road,
sustained throughout the winter up to the Holloway, to Bulwer Road, New Barnet. This
close of this volume with number 412 on 28 may have happened because Morgan needed
March 1891. There is little in volume 11 of to move closer to his ailing father. More weeks
great note, as most of the facts and games started to be missed in the fall. There was no
therein can probably be found elsewhere, but publication on 5 September and 3 October,
a paragraph from number 406 (14 February 31 October and 7 November. Then Number
1891) is worth quoting. On page 363 the 437 was dated 21 November. A break followed
anonymous editor rightly deplored a note- and then 438 appeared on Wednesday 16 De-
worthy example of class snobbery at Deal, in cember, beginning with an article on “rapid
Kent. The local chess club, recently formed, play” which deplored the “system of slow play
224 British Chess Literature to 1914

which finds favour” with many players. The Number 447, commencing volume 13,
article continued: appeared on 13 March 1895 with the follow-
ing announcement on page 1:
Happily the practice of slow play seems to be
losing the firm hold it once possessed on ama- The present appears a particularly opportune
teurs of the game, and in no few quarters efforts moment for restarting the Chess Player’s Chron-
are being actively pushed forward with the view icle, in view of the increased popularity of the
of inducing a better state of things, “lightning,” game, and possible international tournament in
“express,” and other forms of fast play being in- London next year…. It is nearly three years since
troduced with marked success into Club tour- we last had the pleasure of addressing the Chess
naments and individual encounters. A move a world through the medium of the CHRONICLE.
minute, or thirty moves within the half hour, and
other restrictions equally lively are making their Number 448 appeared the following
way into public favour….59 Wednesday, 20 March 1895, although Whyld
pointed out that this was wrongly numbered
An advertisement at the start said the “vol XII no 445.” The British Library copies
magazine was now to appear every Wednes- had no covers, but Whyld was apparently re-
day. It did not. The next published was num- porting on a set of volumes in the library of
ber 439 on 24 February 1892, weekly issues the late grandmaster Lothar Schmid which
following until number 444 on 30 March. had formerly been in Whyld’s own possession
The volume then lurched to its conclusion so that he was familiar with this mistake. Then
with numbers 445 and 446 on 27 April and No. 449 of Wednesday 27 March 1895 in the
4 May 1892. Nothing was said about publica- British Library does have a cover, so confirm-
tion ending but C.P.C. did not resume until ing the numbering. The price of a single issue
March 1895. The British Library volume had was still three pence.
a pencil note at the end saying no more pub- Publication of this volume continued in
lished until March 1895, “see letter rec 8 Aug. an orderly fashion through the summer and
1894.” So the old British Museum library fall without missing any weeks. Number 460
management had made some effort to contact on 12 June reported (page 159) on the origins
the publisher inquiring why it had not re- of the London Ladies’ Chess Club started by
ceived publications due to it under British Miss M. W. von Sandau and others in Elgin
copyright law, but the letter itself is perhaps Crescent, London, under the name the “Eq-
not preserved. The note on page 37 of Betts uitable British and International Club for
saying “Publication suspended June 1892– Ladies.” Its prospectus said chess should be
February 1895, March 1896–February 1899,
… more than merely a pastime for women: we
July–December 1899” is therefore not quite want to gather all women of intellectual tastes,
accurate. and especially we wish to give a continued op-
It is probable that the letter received by portunity to our sex of a training in logical think-
the British Museum explained that the hiatus ing and mathematical accuracy … essential as a
in publication had been due to the ill health, counterpoise to woman’s more universally de-
signed emotional tendencies.
and eventually the death, of the elder Morgan,
which occurred in Barnet on 23 June 1893.60 This volume continued up to number
No digitized probate record for him was found 483, published on 20 November 1895, and so
online and it may be that if he died intestate covered the important period of the Hastings
complications over his estate could have made international congress when general interest
it difficult for his son to relaunch the maga- in chess activities were at their height. Whyld’s
zine. Equally there could have been financial posthumous checklist in Q.C.H.8 stated the
or other business reasons. range of this volume as numbers 447–482
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 225

dated 13 March until 13 November 1895 but nouncement in number 488 strangely echoes
the British Library’s copy shows there was his editorial at the start of number 447 four
this one further issue in volume 13, and so years previously. The first few phrases are
the next volume begins with number 484 and identical and were evidently copied.
not 483 as he thought. Perhaps the set he used The present appears a particularly opportune
to own had not been made up correctly. moment for restarting the Chess Player’s Chron-
Volumes 14, 15, and 16 (covering 1896– icle, for in the course of a very few weeks we shall
1900) are very disappointing. The British Li- see the commencement of two important tour-
naments in London … and generally there are
brary holdings are in one book in very bad
signs of great activity in the Chess world. When
condition and missing two numbers. Volume we discontinued our labours in this direction, in
14 in fact consisted of only four issues, num- February 1896, we had so many calls on our time
bers 484 through 487, all published in Febru- that it was absolutely necessary to give up some-
ary 1896 (on the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th of thing.
the month). There is one curiosity in the last This short volume ran weekly up to
issue, on page 40, saying that The Vegetarian number 501 on 14 June. Then publication
had started a chess column edited by Miss ceased once more for six months. Volume 16,
Field, daughter of the late Frederick Field and the last to be called The Chess Player’s Chron-
niece of Sir Frederick Abel; this column could icle, ran from 3 January to 7 February, and
not be found. (In 1897 Gertrude Alison Beat- then a final issue on 21 March 1900, compris-
rice Field competed in the first Ladies’ Inter- ing numbers 502–508. The British Library is
national Tournament in London and in May lacking numbers 505 and 506, though they
1898 she married Donald Anderson, a promi- are not of great interest. The only complete
nent member of the British Chess Club. As set this author has found as yet is in the John
Mrs. Anderson, she twice won the British G. White Collection at Cleveland Public Li-
Ladies’ Championship.) brary, but presumably there are other sets in
After those four issues in February 1896, private hands.
publication of the Chronicle again ceased
abruptly. No more appeared until 1899. So
there was nothing at the time of the Ladies’ The Final Series
International. After August 1896, when Hof-
fer ceased publication of The Chess-Monthly, The final series was entitled simply The
the British Chess Magazine was left with the Chess Chronicle and published in two small-
field virtually to itself for a decade. When Ser- format volumes from 4 September 1901 to 25
geant remarked in Century on the end of Hof- June 1902. Despite the change of format, it
fer’s magazine, he made no mention of the continued the volume numbering (17 and 18)
Chronicle’s erratic reappearances. It is not clear and the issue numbering, commencing with
whether he saw any of the post–Ranken vol- #509. The back cover of the first issue boasted:
umes. “The only weekly paper devoted to the game
Volume 15 ran from numbers 488 to of chess.” It was indeed a much better maga-
501, between 15 March and 14 June 1899. zine than its immediate predecessors, indicat-
Both the British Library and the Royal Dutch ing there was a new editor, but he was never
Library have volume 15 but the latter is miss- named. Morgan still had advertisements in it,
ing one issue. The restart was timed to coin- including the front cover, right up until the
cide with the London international tourna- end in 1902. These were for chess books and
ment. Morgan was full of unrealized good stationery; he did not seem to be selling chess
intentions throughout the final years. The an- sets any longer.
226 British Chess Literature to 1914

This final series was, we suspect, con- ing committee at first, he soon withdrew and
nected with the British Chess Club Company it is likely that Mills (later several times Scot-
and possibly under the editorship of Hoffer, tish champion after he moved north) had to
who was one of the directors of that com- do much of the analytical work. At any rate,
pany.61 It is necessary here to explain about the British were severely outclassed, chiefly
the complex history of the British Chess Club, because the Russian end of the match was
which lasted 17 years and was reformed at largely in the hands of M. I. Chigorin, the
least three times, albeit with Hoffer’s constant strongest correspondence player of the 19th
involvement and support. The British Chess century.
Club had originally been founded on 12 No- The British Chess Club’s change of prem-
vember 1885, when Wordsworth Donisthorpe ises in January 1887 was due to the expiry
was chairman and Daniel Yarnton Mills was of its lease at 49 Leicester Square. It moved
honorary secretary. Later the Earl of Wemyss to 37 King Street in Covent Garden (the for-
& March accepted the presidency.62 mer home of the Fielding Club) and was re-
With a subscription of one guinea for established as a private company, rather than
town and half a guinea for country members, an ordinary voluntary association like most
the British Chess Club aimed at national sta- chess clubs. Whereas most chess clubs rented
tus, and its name linked it to the recently- their rooms for a few evenings or afternoons
reformed British Chess Association. Renette’s each week, the British now offered all the fa-
biography of Bird makes that point and also cilities of a gentleman’s club, which involved
explains that the club’s closing time of mid- a much bigger financial undertaking. The
night, instead of 11 p.m. at the Divan, was de- chess loving publisher George Newnes, who
signed to draw support away from that tradi- had moved to London from Manchester in
tional chess resort.63 An attractive program of 1885 after being elected an M.P., became pres-
early competitions early in 1886 helped the ident and he purchased the lease and furni-
new club become popular, aided by the pub- ture. In his sketch of Hoffer, Gunsberg noted
licity that Hoffer (whom Sergeant describes that he seemed able to persuade Newnes to
as its “moving spirit”) gave it in The Chess- give generous monetary support to chess en-
Monthly. The British soon attracted many terprises, and Newnes “bore the brunt of the
strong amateur players, as well as veteran cost of establishing and maintaining the
problem composer Campbell, and it awarded British Chess Club on a scale of splendour
honorary membership to Bird, Blackburne and comfort unknown before.”64
and other masters. It was to the club’s rooms at King Street
In the 1880s and 1890s the British Chess that Zukertort was brought after he collapsed
Club organized several interesting tourna- at the Divan on the evening of 19 June 1888.
ments and matches. It became a serious rival Zukertort was transferred to the Charing
to the long-running City of London Chess Cross Hospital but died next morning.65 In
Club, providing an alternative venue in the 1896 the British Chess Club inaugurated the
West End. If one’s work was not in the City, series of transatlantic cable matches against
or one wanted a club that was open six days a America, following a private match on 9
week, then the British was more suitable. Some March 1895 against the Brooklyn Chess Club
players were members of both clubs. During which involved amateur players only and had
late 1886 and early 1887 they challenged the received little publicity. In subsequent years
St. Petersburg Chess Club to a correspon- guest players were brought in on both sides
dence match, with moves transmitted by tele- and the contest assumed the character of a
graph. Although Bird was on the club’s play- true international match, or at least an inter-
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 227

city contest.66 On Wednesday 21 July 1897 the Alexander Beaumont of South Norwood, a
club had to move again because the lease at captain in the army, who had long been asso-
King Street had expired. It moved to new ciated with chess organization in Surrey. Two
premises at Carrington House, 4 Whitehall of the other directors were also prominent in
Court, and changed its status again. Hoffer the chess world: William Ward Higgs, a solic-
explained in The Field that the old club was itor, and businessman Frank G. Naumann
dissolved “and reformed with such alteration who a few years later became president of the
in the constitution as required by the new British Chess Federation. The other directors
condition of things.” He said that chess was were Major General Minto Elliott, John Sid-
the main thing but the premises also had a ney Smith (a solicitor), Meyler H. Dunn (a
magnificent billiard room, cozy card room, merchant) and Thomas Edward Vickers, said
and a reading room.67 Thus the British Chess to be an ordnance manufacturer. Another list
Club reverted to being a voluntary association of directors, dated 22 January 1902, shows
of members but perhaps this proved unsatis- that Elliott and Smith were no longer active
factory in the long run; it was never quite as but a new (seventh) director was civil servant
thriving as in its Covent Garden heyday. Nev- Hubert F. Lowe. The final list of directors,
ertheless it retained some strong amateur dated 20 June 1902, names (in this order)
players as members, including E. V. Jones, Vickers, Beaumont, Ward Higgs, Naumann,
James Mortimer, and George Edward Wain- Hoffer, Lowe and Dunn. The registered office
wright.* of the company was said to be 5 Whitehall
The fourth and last “avatar” of the club Court, London, which was the club’s meeting
came into being four years later, and once place.
more a change of premises was involved. For The directors were also shareholders. A
the second time in its history, a British Chess list of them in the file, dated 22 January 1902,
Club Company was formed, as a file in the showed that Hoffer had 10 shares, Beaumont
National Archives at Kew show. Again it was 50 shares, and the wealthy Naumann (who
a private limited company (shares not being died in the sinking of the Lusitania in the First
offered to the general public) and it was reg- World War) had 212, so had perhaps taken up
istered on 2 September 1901, following an ap- all the remainder of the thousand shares that
plication for incorporation on 30 August. Eight did not find other buyers. The membership
directors were named and signed the form, target had not been achieved. Among the or-
among whom was Hoffer, chess correspon- dinary shareholders were the prominent am-
dent of The Field. Newnes was a notable ab- ateur player George Wainwright, said to be a
sentee; he had transferred his allegiance some civil servant from Guildford, who owned
time since to the City of London Chess Club, three shares. Some of the other shareholders
of which he was now president, and the loss are recognizable as having names that appear
of his financial backing may have been ulti- from time to time in chess columns but the
mately fatal to the British Chess Club.68 great majority were just ordinary club play-
The first name on the list was Captain ers.

*The Field, LXXXXVII (30 March 1901), page 430 reported on matches between various London clubs and a joint
Oxford and Cambridge university team which included some past members. On 25 March the university team
beat Metropolitan Chess Club but next day lost to the British, whose team of 20 was headed by the three named
experts, followed by blind Kent expert P. Hart Dyke and William Ward Higgs. This “university week,” in the days
leading up to the varsity chess match and Boat Race, was a traditional event at this period but may have come to
an end in the late 1960s (unless it was later revived). In 1967 there was just one match (in which this author
played): Oxford and Cambridge versus the Metropolitan Chess Club at St. Bride’s Institute, which no longer
exists.
228 British Chess Literature to 1914

The Articles of Association, filed with The British Chess Club Company, limited, has
the other registration documents, show that been registered, with a capital of £1,000, in £1
shares with objects as indicated by the title. The
the principal aims of the company were:
number of Directors is not to be less than five;
a. To establish a club called The British the first are the Officers and two members to be
Chess Club… b. To lease the premises at appointed by the company; remuneration as
Whitehall Court… c. To undertake any fixed by the Company.
business the undertaking whereof may seem Number 521 of 18 December 1901 an-
to enhance the comfort or convenience of the nounced the sad news that the Rev. John
members… d. To buy, sell, and deal in to- Owen, vicar of Hooton in Lancashire “until
bacco, cigars, and provisions of all kinds … he retired about two years ago,” had died at
and to print and publish any books, papers, the age of 74. Until very recently he had been
and periodicals…. playing at the British Chess Club and had
This last point is not conclusive, but to- been its top board player in the 1895 cable
gether with the coincidence of the opening match. This detail, which did not appear in
and closing dates of The Chess Chronicle with The Field’s obituary of Owen, may be taken as
the fate of the company, is strongly sugges- an indirect confirmation of the association be-
tive of a connection. The third issue of The tween The Chess Chronicle and the British
Chess Chronicle, dated 18 September 1901, an- Chess Club. Hoffer said of him: “Mr. Owen
nounced: was a true type of a sturdy Englishman of the
old school, and will always be remembered as
an ardent devotee of the game and a chival-
rous opponent.”69 Owen’s death meant that
Ranken alone remained as the last of the
“fighting reverends” of mid–Victorian En-
gland, while Blackburne was now the only
surviving player from the 1862 London tour-
nament.
Betts said the last issue of The Chess
Chronicle was number 537 but in fact (judging
from the volume at the British Library) it con-
tinued until number 540, published on 25
June 1902, although that did not include any
announcement to say it was to be the last.
Such was the fate of many magazines that
died.
Morgan was neither a director nor a
shareholder in the British Chess Club Com-
pany. The impression, therefore, is that Mor-
gan (who had held the rights to the Chronicle
title) had come to an arrangement with the
Company which wished to publish a magazine
in connection with the relaunch of the club.
Leopold Hoffer, known to be a director of the
British Chess Club Company. Was he also the Either he leased them the title or sold it to
editor of The Chess Chronicle? Photograph them, but he received advertising as part of
from MacDonnell’s book The Knights and the deal. Whichever it was, the magazine was
Kings of Chess. never relaunched after the company closed.
 6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s Chronicle 229

In the spring of 1902, the British Chess “the present home of the members of the
Club as usual hosted the Oxford v. Cambridge British Chess Club, who have amalgamated
university match and the transatlantic cable with the above club.” After this the British
match, but it was for the last time. On 16 July Chess Club passes into obscurity.
1902 an extraordinary general meeting of the Meanwhile, on 8 November 1902 the
British Chess Club Company was held, at Shoreditch Observer pondered over who would
which the following resolution was adopted: now organize the cable matches against Amer-
That it had been proved to the satisfaction of ica, and in fact the City of London Club as-
this meeting that the Company cannot by reason sumed this role from 1903. The Shoreditch
of its liabilities continue its business and that it paper said:
is advisable to wind up the same, and accord-
ingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily To chess-players, however, an almost equally in-
and that Frederick William Lord of No. 60 teresting matter is the claim of the City to be
Watling Street EC be and he is hereby appointed considered the premier chess club. The honour
Liquidator for the purposes of such winding has hitherto attached to the British Chess Club,
up.70 but that organization having blended with an or-
dinary social club there is an undoubted va-
Probably the club recruited too few cancy. Many of those interested in the matches
members and the magazine had too few sub- would like to see an organisation really repre-
scribers. The Field briefly noted the demise of sentative of the whole country take its place.
the British Chess Club. Arrangements were The final document in the file at Kew is
made for it to merge with another club, but a brief “Return of Final Winding-Up Meeting
that meant its name came to an end after more of the British Chess Club Company, Limited”
than a quarter of a century. Although the in a standard form submitted to the Registrar
company was now ended, the lease had pre- of Joint Stock Companies. Signed by the Liq-
sumably been paid up to the end of Septem- uidator, F. W. Lord, it states:
ber so that the premises remained available
I have to inform you that a Meeting of the British
to members for a few weeks longer. Hoffer re- Chess Club Company, Limited, was duly held
ported on 27 September that: on the thirtieth day of December 1904 (pur-
The members of the British Chess Club have suant to Section 142 of “The Companies Act,
amalgamated with the present Pall Mall Club, 1862”) for the purpose of having an account laid
12 St. James’s-square, Piccadilly. We understand before them showing the manner in which the
that the name of the club is to be changed in con- winding-up of the Company has been con-
formity with the new arrangement. A farewell ducted, and the Property of the Company dis-
dinner was given in the old premises on Wednes- posed of, and that the same was done accord-
day, and on Thursday the members emigrated ingly.
to their new quarters.71
Thus ends the saga of a once proud chess
The new quarters was the Pall Mall club, as well as that of a chess magazine which
Club—a grand but misleading name for a never recaptured the importance of its first
club not actually in that street, and had been decade and, refusing to be put out of its mis-
owned by a James Edgcome, who was running ery, died a painful and lingering death. Few
it at a loss. A court case in June 1902 resolved attended the funeral. So eventually the club
to liquidate that company.72 Presumably some- closed, the company failed and the magazine
body bought it with a view to amalgamation came to an end, but what was cause and what
with the chess club, after which the name was was effect is hard to determine. The exact
changed. On 10 January 1903 Hoffer pub- connection between club and magazine, and
lished a game he had played against “Mr. X” the extent of Hoffer’s involvement, may re-
at the Blenheim Club, 12 St. James’s Square, main unconfirmed but it seems likely that he
230 British Chess Literature to 1914

was the guiding hand in the publication, though details of what might be a competitor; he does
he may have been too busy with his other not refer to British Chess Magazine either at
roles in the chess world to be its full-time ed- this period. Hoffer, in The Field at least, did
itor. Hoffer’s almost complete silence about not state that he was a director and he never
the club in The Field during 1901 and 1902 is mentioned The Chess Chronicle. It was prob-
somewhat puzzling but he may have felt con- ably an episode of which he was not very
strained from mentioning in one publication proud and the less said about it, the better.
 7. A Century and a Half
of British Chess Books

This chapter provides an overview of fetched in book auctions shows that certain
chess books published in the United King- rare classics—especially those about chess
dom from early times to the First World problems—can be highly sought after by col-
War. Firstly it must be admitted that few, if lectors, assuming of course that the copies are
any, books published before 1914 are of prac- in good condition. The present work is chiefly
tical use to 21st century players seeking to im- concerned with what historians can learn
prove their play. Chess knowledge and prac- from studying old books, which will depend
tice has developed, especially in the computer on what is relevant to their particular research
era, so much that, bar a few classics, only interests. In this author’s view, early chess
books published in the last 25 years or so books are of much less value than chess col-
should be consulted where opening theory is umns, or even chess magazines, in terms of
concerned. Nearly all old English-language the factual information they can provide. One
books use the now obsolete descriptive nota- is relatively unlikely, for example, to find a
tion, which presents a barrier to younger game score or a result in a book (tournament
chess players today and will be an increasing books excepted) which had not previously
problem for future generations. Even in the been published elsewhere, although there are
1970s, the chess book publisher Batsford felt of course exceptions to all such generaliza-
obliged to publish its earlier titles in descrip- tions.
tive notation until, from about 1976, editions On the whole, old chess books are prin-
in algebraic began to appear. British Chess cipally of value for what they can tell us about
Magazine abandoned descriptive notation the mentalities of the past, rather than for
from the January 1976 issue onwards; its what they can tell us about the game itself.
problem articles had been using algebraic Cultural history, which has become increas-
(with “S” for knight) for many years previ- ingly influential in academic history depart-
ously. ments worldwide since the late 20th century,
For an historian or a book collector, the seeks to understand the past through evidence
factors mentioned above are beside the point. of how people then viewed their lives and
From their point of view, few old books are times, and expressed themselves. This might
entirely worthless. The high prices sometimes be in unwritten forms (such as monuments

231
232 British Chess Literature to 1914

and architectural forms) but more accessibly Earliest British Chess Books
in what they wrote and said. Sports history
(including chess history), which has over- While actual printed copies of many of
whelmingly, until recent times, been obsessed the early English chess books mentioned
with seeking out results of competitions and below may be very rare, they can be found as
the life stories of leading players, still has a page images in scholarly databases like Early
long way to go, although a start has been English Books Online and the Eighteenth
made. There is certainly scope for the chess Century Collection Online. In several cases
historian of the future to raise new questions many slightly different editions have been
and seek answers through finding new preserved in this way. For a fuller discussion
sources, or making unexpected use of familiar of early books and their social context, we rec-
sources. ommend Chapters 3 and 4 of Chess: The His-
Perhaps the main reason collectors con- tory of a Game by Richard Eales.1
tinue to value early books about chess prob- The first work listed in the Whyld and
lems more highly than most other types is Ravilious bibliography is Caxton’s The Game
that the content “dates” much less quickly and Playe of the Chesse, a translation of Jacopo
than books on practical play. For the chess da Cessole’s De ludo scacchorum, which can
historian, nearly every old chess book has the be classed as a morality of chess rather than
potential to be evidence. Even those long- an instructional work. The first edition was
outdated openings textbooks can teach us printed in Bruges in 1475. Caxton’s second
something about the development of the edition, published in Westminster in 1483 (or
game, and the way our ancestors approached possibly 1482), is generally reckoned the first
it. Prior to the 19th century, just about every book of any kind to be printed in England. A
chess book could be classed as a general man- facsimile reprint of that was produced in Lon-
ual, explaining rules, giving practical advice, don in 1855 and further reprints were made
showing some openings and maybe problems. since.
What they did not include were game scores The first book in English to actually give
of complete games between identified per- instruction about playing the game was pub-
sons, and indeed it is generally supposed that lished in 1562 under the title The Pleasaunt
many of the examples were contrived for ef- and Wittie Playe of the Cheasts Renewed.2 Chess
fect. grew in popularity during the reign of Queen
It is possible to draw up a simpler clas- Elizabeth I, which began in 1558; she enjoyed
sification of types of 19th century chess book playing it with her courtiers. Treatises giving
than that devised by Betts, though some books practical advice to players had become avail-
overlapped his categories. There were some able from the continent, and this was the first
problem books that also included games, for to be translated into English. Publisher James
example. In the first half of the century we can Rowbothum says he “founde it translated out
find elementary works and general manuals of Frenche into Englishe” but the Preface to
(including chapters on openings), collections the Reader is unsigned. Whyld and Ravilious
of games, chess problems and studies, trea- said the translation had probably been made
tises on chess openings and some miscella- by Ralph Lever, archdeacon of Northumber-
neous works. From 1850 onwards there is a land, although Richard Eales (page 89 of his
greater variety of works including some tour- history) was of a different opinion. Row-
nament books, and there were also more bothum, who made a second edition in 1569,
openings books and more collections of prob- dedicated the book to Robert Dudley, flatter-
lems. ing the future Earl of Leicester that he could
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 233

play as well as the French, Italians and Span- distorted to “Biochimo” in the subtitle. Eales
iards, and recommended the game’s use for further points out (page 97) that publishing
military training: the book with its provocative subtitle during
the rule of Oliver Cromwell “was clearly in-
Whiche game as it is kinglye and honest, and
meete for divers sortes of men, so is it (in manye
tended as a gesture of political defiance….
mennes judgement) not altogether unprofitable Perhaps a book on chess, while harmless in
for Captains, Conductors of armies, and com- itself, seemed an ideal vehicle for a literary re-
mon Soldiours. For out of those wooden men assertion of the royalist cause.” Eales also
may some knowledge bee had how to marche points out that the book had no imitators and
and sette furth Soldiours in the fielde, how to
Greco’s work did not appear again in English
garde a King, and what forces ought to be in the
sides of ye battaile.3 until 1750. Although the manuscript on which
Beale based his book is lost, at least two other
Leonard Wright, in 1589, expressed a Greco manuscripts of this period do survive
similar opinion to Elyot and Rowbothum. He in England. One shows the cumbersome (al-
even hinted that just studying chess, without beit already quite abbreviated) notation that
actually competing with an opponent, could he used. Thus the move Bc4×f7† was ren-
in itself be interesting: “for recreation of the dered as: “Bp of ye Kg takes ye p: of ye contr:
mind Chesse play is much commended, as a Kgs Bp & checks.”9 All this was of course mod-
delectable pastime, a pleasant study, and a ernized in Lewis’s 19th century translation.
princely exercise….”4 Early in the 17th cen- The very attractions of chess meant it
tury, the game met with the disapproval of could be taken to excess. A correspondence
King James I,5 but this did not prevent the player, who always has some games in prog-
publication in 1614 of the second English ress, would recognize the psychological truth
book on chess (third if you count Caxton), in a 1648 diary entry by the Rev. Ralph Jos-
The Famous Game of Chess-Play, attributed to selin: “Wheras I have given my minde to un-
Arthur Saul.6 Further editions followed in seasonable playing at chesse, now it run in my
1618, 1640, 1652 (edited by Jo. Barbier) and thoughts in my illnes as if I had been at chesse,
later. Historian Richard Eales noted of this I shall bee very sparing in the use of that recre-
work that it “contained only the absolute min- ation and that at more convenient seasons.”10
imum of technical information and had much Chess, and games in general, also encountered
more to say about the etiquette and social ad- some criticism from Puritans. One killjoy
vantages associated with the game.”7 wrote: “That student that needeth Chess or
A work offering more technical advice Cards to please his Mind I doubt hath a carnal
appeared in 1656: The Royal Game of Chess- empty mind.”11
Play, which was based on a translation of a As those words hint, more serious for
lost manuscript by Giacchino Greco (1600– chess’s popularity was Restoration and Geor-
1634), which he wrote for a rich patron while gian England’s fondness for gambling games.
visiting England in 1622–1623. In 1624, after Chess for a time was mostly featured in vari-
returning to Paris, Greco produced a final ous literary compendiums. Charles Cotton
version upon which the 1669 Continental (1630–1687), in his much-reprinted The
version of his book was based; it was not pub- Compleat Gamester,12 had known a game to
lished in his lifetime.8 Some useful informa- last a fortnight. His book testifies to the de-
tion about this book may be found under cline of chess in those times: “the tediousness
•1656-2 in the Whyld and Ravilious bibliog- of the Game hath caus’d the practice thereof
raphy, which notes that the name of Greco to be so little used….”13 Editions of Cotton
nowhere appears, his forename having been continued to appear up to 1734 and a rival
234 British Chess Literature to 1914

Left: Title page from Lewis’s translation of Greco, with the signature of Professor Mountifort
Longfield of Trinity College Dublin, who was honorary secretary of the Dublin Library Chess
Club. Right: A page from Lewis’s translation of Greco. The diagram (from Greco’s First Game)
shows the position after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 e×d4 6. c×d4 Bb4†
7. Nc3 N×e4 8. 0–0 N×c3 9. b×c3 B×c3 10. Qb3 B×a1 11. B×f7† Kf8 12. Bg5 Ne7 13. Ne5.

work was The Court Gamester by Richard Sey- appeal to the most authoritative work on games
mour from 1719 to 1732; the later editions of (even into the 20th century), but not where
Cotton up to 1754 were edited by him. A few chess was concerned.
gamesters did have a reputation for winning Notwithstanding the popularity of vari-
money at chess, notably Major-General Field- ous card games, the ancient board game re-
ing, whose “talent lay much in Chess and tained some adherents. Slaughter’s Coffee-
Backgammon, which two games have often House, in London’s St. Martin’s Lane, emerged
lin’d his Pockets with large Sums of Gold, got as a favorite meeting-place for players during
from Persons of Quality who were mere the 1730s. When Captain Joseph Bertin’s book
Novices… .”14 Eventually Cotton and Sey- The Noble Game of Chess appeared in 1735, it
mour were superseded by the numerous edi- was said to be sold only at Slaughter’s.15 Eales
tions of Edmund Hoyle’s books on games observes that this book was some advance on
(from about 1744 onwards) in which chess Greco and, although soon superseded, was
had to take a back seat to card games. The “the first original chess book of any size to be
phrase “according to Hoyle” came to mean an printed for a century.” Some private libraries
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 235

no doubt held manuscripts, such as the Caze an opponent of master strength who could
manuscript of 1706, now in Cleveland, which contend with him on more or less equal terms
at this time would have been at Blenheim and so force him to reconsider his ideas or de-
Palace and which Bertin (a Huguenot army velop them further. A large number of his
officer) had possibly seen.16 known games were played by him under a
The next step forward was taken by handicap: material odds, or blindfold, or both.
Philip Stamma of Aleppo, who had come to In 1748, Philidor composed his first trea-
England from France in 1739 when a patron tise on chess, probably in the Netherlands
found him a job as interpreter of Oriental lan- where he obtained numerous subscriptions
guages to the British Government. It remains for it, before returning to London in 1749 to
a curiosity that his book, The Noble Game of arrange for publication. In the preface, he pro-
Chess (1745), used algebraic notation, more pounded for the first time his thesis that cor-
than two centuries before that became the rect play of the pawns is the basis for attack
norm in British chess publishing. Earlier edi- and defense in the game.* The book appeared
tions of Stamma’s book had been in French.
Eales sees the greatest significance of his book’s
being in the rejection of many of Greco’s ideas,
especially the King’s Gambit, thus opening the
way to new ideas. It was not long before these
were to arrive, also from France.

The Era of Philidor

The young music composer François-
André Danican Philidor (1726–1795) com-
fortably defeated Stamma in a match during
his first visit to London in 1747. The terms
were that drawn games counted as wins for
Stamma, but Philidor was victorious by 8–2,
only actually losing one game. He also beat
Sir Abraham Janssen by four wins to one.17
Thereafter he defeated all comers (though he
never met the leading Italian players) and
dominated, at the board and in print, the
chess worlds of France and England until long
after his death, in London in 1795.
Philidor was a child of the 18th century
Enlightenment and he brought a more ana-
lytical approach to the game, including some
advances in the analysis of certain endgames. Title page from one of the editions of Phili-
After his youth he never had to contend with dor’s book.

*The saying “Pawns are the soul of chess” is usually attributed to Philidor. In the French edition, page xix, he used
the word âme, which can fairly be translated as “soul,” but in the first English edition, pages ix–x, pawns are called
the “Life of this Game.”
236 British Chess Literature to 1914

first in French, as L’Analyze des Echecs, dedi- this club, formed in 1774, was to engage Phili-
cated to the Duke of Cumberland, whom he dor as (essentially) a professional to visit Lon-
had met in Eindhoven and who underwrote don annually for a season of about four months
50 copies. The subscription list included other (between February and June). This was briefly
noblemen, officers and gentlemen, several a fashionable club to which people who had
ladies and clergymen from many countries, no special interest in chess were keen to be-
including the Primate of Ireland, who sub- long; the historian Gibbon was among them.
scribed for eight copies.18 Perhaps because of the stimulus of the
In 1750 the Italian edition of Greco was club, Philidor decided to extend and reissue
translated into English and published as Chess his chess book around this time. In 1777 it ap-
Made Easy, but in the same year the first edi- peared both in French and English, the latter
tion in English of Philidor’s first book also ap- being under the title Analysis of the Game of
peared. The General Evening Post (a London Chess; A New Edition, Greatly Enlarged. The
newspaper) of Saturday 24 November 1750 English edition was for general sale but the
advertised that “this day was published,” price French original (also published in London)
three shillings, Philidor’s Chess Analysed. The was issued by subscription. Several women
original French edition was also available at were on the list of underwriters, including
3s. 6d., which is roughly £21 for the English Caroline Howe,20 whose chess games in 1774
or £24.50 for the French version in 2017. and 1775 with Benjamin Franklin had been
In the next few years Philidor traveled partly a cover for her brother Earl (Richard)
between England, Germany, and France where Howe’s attempts to avoid an American war.21
in 1755 he established himself as the best Confusingly, advertisements appearing from
player by winning a match against Legall, who 3 October 1777 in the Gazeteer and New Daily
had been the foremost player in Philidor’s Advertiser speak of the third edition, which is
youth and whose chess pupil he had been. also how that of 1773 had been described.
Philidor married in 1760 and thereafter family The price was lower, 2s. 6d., about £15 in
life and professional success in music held 2017, and cheap compared with the price of
him in France. He next returned to London tickets to his concerts.
only in 1772, according to his biographer The high point of Philidor’s musical ca-
Allen, who surmises that a visit of the Saxon reer in England was the period 1779–1785, es-
aristocrat Count Brühl (1736–1809) to Paris pecially the first of those years, but press cov-
may have led to an invitation to meet a new erage of Philidor’s chess feats in the early
chess circle based in the Salopian coffee 1780s may reflect a gradual change back to-
house.19 Allen claims Philidor spent a month wards the game in his priorities. He attempted
in England then, and at some point in the more ambitious exhibitions, perhaps as a
early 1770s, Philidor certainly did visit Lon- counterweight to a decline in his musical fash-
don. The diary of the novelist Fanny Burney ionability. Revising his book was perhaps less
records that he presented a letter of introduc- of a strain than his blindfold exhibitions. No
tion from the philosophe Denis Diderot to her chess reports appear in the Burney Collection
father, Dr. Charles Burney, who helped him of newspapers for the years 1784 through
with translation. 1786, but Philidor gave at least one blindfold
Philidor returned to London in 1775 exhibition in 1787. This may have helped to
after arrangements were made for an exclusive promote the new English edition of the Analy-
new chess club, limited to 100 members, to sis which appeared that year (confusingly
be formed at Parsloe’s in St. James’s Street. called the fourth edition, as it was really the
The main, or at least a principal, purpose of fifth) and also the first volume of Richard
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 237

Twiss’s Chess which included Philidor’s biog- “Rousseau’s playing chess in this coffee-house
raphy. The final, and important, edition of attracted so many people that the Lieutenant
Philidor’s book was published in 1790. At the de Police was obliged to place a sentinel at the
end of his preface, Philidor struck a new note door.”
when he wrote that “I … flatter myself of hav- The second of the three books to be
ing brought to some degree of perfection the received is a standard copy of Twiss volume
theory of a game, that learned authors, such 2, but with a few cuttings pasted in front and
as Leibnitz [sic] and others, have classed back. The third was a Douce scrapbook, where
among the sciences.” Chess was becoming the a note near the front says: “Mr. Twiss made
subject of scholarship and not merely amuse- several extracts from this volume, reprinted
ment. them in his Miscellanies, vol. 2, 1805.” Some
Richard Twiss was a general writer on items in the scrapbook are dated as late as
travel and other topics, and it must be said 1827. Our impression, therefore, is that Douce
that his reputation for accuracy is not high. had no input into the first volume of Twiss,
He wrote on chess in two volumes (1787 and but did his best to ensure that his friend’s
1789), compiling a large amount of diverse subsequent writings on chess were accu-
material, and added some more about chess rate and Twiss included items supplied by
in his later Miscellanies (1805). This is some- Douce.
times all dismissed as anecdotage. In Twiss’s
defense it must be said that he was a friend of
the more scholarly Francis Douce, who be-
queathed the whole of his library to the
Sarratt and Cochrane’s
Bodleian in Oxford. He did this, despite being Treatises
keeper of manuscripts at the British Museum,
because he learned that in Oxford his bequest The market for elementary and general
would be kept together as the Douce collec- works on chess was far larger than for any
tion. Whyld and Ravilious, in their entry other type of book in the first half of the 19th
numbered 1787-7, quote two 19th century century, if only because nearly everyone who
sources saying that Douce was a major con- played chess was a relative novice; there were
tributor to Twiss’s work on chess. too few advanced players to make a market
This seems to be an exaggeration and re- for more detailed and specialized works. This
quires some clarification. Researchers wish- began to change only in the early 1840s when
ing to investigate this matter need to go to Ox- postal chess became popular, after the intro-
ford and call up Douce SS457 and Douce duction of the penny post, and the number of
SS458. They should receive three bound chess clubs in towns greatly multiplied. A gen-
books. The first is volume 1 of Twiss inter- tleman with only a casual interest in chess
leaved with a lot of comments and correc- might have one or two books on the subject
tions, so apparently Douce had his copy spe- in his library, if only to help his children learn
cially bound in this way in order to annotate the game. Any such book needed to teach the
it. For example, facing page 6 where Twiss basic rules and moves of the pieces, perhaps
mentions Voltaire, Douce adds “Mr. Wilbra- proceeding to some coverage of openings or
ham told me that he had played at chess with other matters.
Voltaire & beat him. V. said ‘I must go to Paris Many of the elementary works listed by
to learn chess.’” Just below, regarding Rous- Whyld and Ravilious were dependent on
seau, Douce has added: “The author of Le Philidor for their material. Peter Pratt issued
Voyageur a Paris [Tome 1 p37] says that numerous editions based on Philidor under
238 British Chess Literature to 1914

the title Studies of Chess between 1803 and of Chess, published in 1808.24 In his intro-
1825. Gaige’s Personalia says Pratt was born duction, Sarratt claimed that his book im-
about 1770; Bell’s Life in London, 11 June 1837, proved on its predecessors by dealing with
said “This gentleman, unfortunately, died last how the second player should open the game,
winter.” Walker was very dismissive of his and with pawn endings, which Philidor had
book: “The work contains some clever things, largely neglected. Sarratt begins with a review
but they are sadly overlaid in rubbish.” Books of earlier chess literature and then teaches the
by Montigny (translated from French), and rules, being at pains to stress that stalemate is
William Stopford Kenny, author of the Prac- a draw, contrary to the rule at Parsloe’s in
tical Chess Grammar (first published in 1818), Philidor’s time. Sarratt follows Continental
also feature in the bibliography, but the most practice: “In France, Italy, Germany etc. stale-
important original works of the early century mate has always been considered a drawn
were those by Jacob Henry Sarratt (1772?– game.”
1819) and John Cochrane. Sarratt’s book runs to well over 600 pages
Sarratt, a Jerseyman, was the first En- and makes rather tedious reading, partly be-
glish expert to write a major work on how cause of the laborious way in which the ex-
to play chess well. Until quite recently, there amples had to be set out. The amount of in-
was very little biographical information avail- formation contained in the book could today
able about this man. He was the leading En- be compressed into far fewer pages with mod-
glish player of his generation, and just old ern notation. The description of each move
enough to have met Philidor and even draw a was long-winded, e.g., “The Q.B.P. one step”
game against him. The Oxford Companion to for c2–c3. Moreover there were very few
Chess has a short article about Sarratt, and diagrams of game positions (as opposed to
then a bit more was revealed in the article for problems) in chess literature until the mid-
the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, century, so the location of each piece had to
which chiefly dealt with his second wife, the be written out.
singer Camilla Dufour.22 The fullest life of After the rules, Sarratt deals for nearly
Sarratt is to be found in a 30-page chapter in 200 pages with the openings from White’s
Townsend’s book Historical Notes on Some point of view, giving mostly 1. e4 openings
Chess Players.23 Townsend seems to have used but also some examples of the Queen’s Gam-
completely different sources, not mentioning bit. These are presented in 31 main opening
either essayist William Hazlitt’s recollections “games” with subsequent variations which,
of Sarratt (in his “Table Talk”) or the O.D.N.B. following Philidor’s example, are called
article, so he does not address the claim in the “back-games.” The final section of the first
latter work that Sarratt had been a prizefighter. volume offers puzzles, the solutions to be
The word may have been a misunderstanding given in the second volume: “Seventy-Five
of Hazlitt’s remark that Sarratt was “one of the Critical Situations, won or drawn by brilliant
fancy,” which certainly meant that he followed and scientific moves.” This can be seen as a
the fight game but not necessarily that he ever modern didactic touch, an advance on Phili-
stepped into the ring. dor. Also it was also good marketing by the
Sarratt is said to have taught chess for a author and publisher, to encourage the pur-
guinea a lesson, which only a rich man could chase of the second volume. For example, on
afford in those days; it would be as if a grand- pages 268–270 of the first volume, the follow-
master charged $100 today. He described ing “situation occurred lately while playing
himself as a “Professor of Chess” on the title against a Gentleman, who bids fair to be a
page of his two-volume A Treatise on the Game first-rate Player.”
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 239

wDrDwDwi in 46. 2. … Kc3 3. Kf4 Nd3† The only cor-

0p1wDw0w rect move. 4. Kf3 Nde5†?? The knights should
rDwDwDw0 regroup to defend the king after it is forced
towards the corner. The computer suggests
DwDwDwDw Nd2, Na3, Nc1, and Ndb2. Also paradoxically
wDwDwHbD 4. … Kb4 holds because there is a knight fork
DwDQDn)w after 5. Q×d3. 5. Ke4! The only winning
P)wDw)RD move; mate in fewer than 20 moves in all vari-
DKDRDNDw ations. 5. … Kb3 6. Kd4 Best. 6. … Kb4
7. Qb7† Ka4 8. Kc5 Ka3 9. Qb4† Ka2
“The White having the move, played 1. Nh2.
10. Kd5 Ka1? 11. Qb3 and wins. Sarratt does
What ought the Black to play?” (The solution
was in the second volume on its page 348.)
not mention the tricky attempt 10. … Nb2,
setting up a knight fork, when the win is by
11. Qa5† Kb1 (11. … Kb3 12. Qb5† and cap-
Volume 2 begins with advice to Black on
tures the knight next move.) 12. Qe1† Kc2
the openings, in 27 games, including a little
(or 12. … Ka2) 13. Q×e5 winning.
on the Queen’s Gambit. Starting on page 102,
Sarratt continued by showing how to
elementary mates are discussed: with the rook,
draw with two bishops against queen and
with both bishops, with knight and bishop.
then some cases of how to win with rook and
Then the method of drawing with knight
bishop against rook. Next he dealt with queen
against rook, or bishop against rook. The next
against pawn on the seventh rank. Starting on
example (starting on page 131) is faulty but
page 160 he discusses a case which a previous
Sarratt can be forgiven for not having access
writer got wrong.
to a computer tablebase which shows that the
start position is drawn with best play. He
wDwDwDwD
could not have known that the general case
of this endgame is now considered drawn.
IwDQDwDw
The example is still quite good as showing the wDwDwDwD
approach the stronger side may adopt. DwDwDwDw
wDwDwDwD
QDwDwDwD DwDwDwDw
DwDwDwDw piwDwDwD
wDwDwDwD DwDwDwDw
DwDwhwDw White to move
wDniwDwD
DwDwDwDw 1. Qd4† Kb1 2. Qg1† Kb2 3. Qg2†
wDwDwDwI Kb1 4. Qb7† Ka1?? “Salvio directs this move;
DwDwDwDw it however occasions the loss of the game.”
Sarratt points out that 4. … Kc2 draws (as
White to move does 4. … Kc1). 5. Kb6 Kb2 6. Kc5† Kc2 Or
6. … Ka1 7. Kb4 Kb2 8. Qg2† Kb1 9. Kb3 etc.
1. Kg3 Kd3?? The tablebase shows that 7. Qg2† Kb1 8. Kb4 a1Q 9. Kb3 and wins.
Black should choose among Nd3, Nd6, Ne3, From pages 165 to 227 Sarratt has the
Nb2, Kc5 and Kc3. 2. Qd5†? It is understand- promised discussion of elementary king and
able that Sarratt wants to improve the Q po- pawn endgames, which is much more compre-
sition but this should not win. 2. Kf4 mates hensive than that by any previous author. The
240 British Chess Literature to 1914

final section discusses the solutions of the sit- by the Italian writers on chess as the subtitle
uations given at the end of volume 1. In the of his book shows. It deals with a wider range
middle-game position shown above, Black of openings than Sarratt’s. Briefly discussing
wins by 1. … Bf5 which wins the queen unless 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4, Cochrane wrote: “I
2. Q×f5 is played, in which case Black has two shall call it by that name which among some
different ways to force mate in four moves. Sar- players in England it is already known by, ‘THE
ratt prefers the flashy queen sacrifice 2. … QUEEN’S PAWN TWO GAME.’ On the propri-
Qc1† but 2. … Nd2† first is equally effective. ety or elegance of this appellation I can have
In 1813 Sarratt published a book about little to say in defence….” Ironically, after the
the works of Damiano, Ruy Lopez and Salvio London Chess Club adopted this against Ed-
on chess, and in 1817 another about the chess inburgh in the correspondence match of 1824,
works of Gianutio and Gustavus Selenus. Near the opening became known as the Scotch! (It
the end of his life, Sarratt started to rewrite his is true that Edinburgh subsequently adopted
manual completely as A New Treatise on the the opening themselves as White.) London
Game of Chess, on a Plan of Progressive Improve- had achieved a winning position before
ment, also in two volumes.25 It includes a Cochrane sailed for India to take up a legal ap-
question-and-answer section for beginners, pointment; months later he found out that his
but it is likely that Sarratt’s death more than a teammates had spoiled the game and lost it.29
year before publication means that the work Cochrane also, starting on page 260,
did not appear in the form the author intended. gave detailed consideration to what he called
The lengthy preface preceding the introduc- the “King’s Pawn One Game,” i.e., the French
tion to the Treatise proper (which starts on Defense, but it was not yet called that. He said
page 1) includes several examples critical of it had been “hastily passed over as bad by al-
previous writers and Sarratt did not commence most every writer.” They had not given it
on giving the elementary rules until page 29. proper attention: “it is a game entirely of po-
Since the previous matter requires some de- sition, and, consequently, one of extreme dif-
tailed knowledge of chess, an impression of dis- ficulty,” remarking that Captain Bertin had
organization had already been created, con- mentioned it but his example was not well
trary to the “progressive” promise of the title. played. After examining some variations where
It is likely that William Lewis, probably Lon- White over-extended his position, Cochrane
don’s strongest player after the death of Sarratt, remarked that the defense is “perfectly sound”
saw it through the press. Lewis then went back although he made this admission with “con-
to Sarratt’s 1808 edition and reorganized it as siderable reluctance.” He said that those who
a single-volume work, including a table of con- adopt this defense “seek to weary out an an-
tents (which the original had lacked), and put tagonist with whom, in open combat, they
this out with a different publisher in 1822.26 could not, for a moment, contend.” He rec-
Murray noted in one of his manuscripts that: ommended his readers not adopt the French
“It merely adds a couple of unimportant vari- because it was “sterile.”
ations by Sarratt, one by Lewis, and alters the
play in the First Defence game.”27
In the same year, Cochrane’s own treatise
was published.28 He and Lewis had visited
General Manuals from
Paris in 1821, where they played against the Lewis to Staunton
leading French masters and probably im-
proved their skill considerably in the process. In the 1830s and early 1840s there were
Like Sarratt, Cochrane had been influenced two principal authors of general manuals on
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 241

From left: William Lewis, author of several chess books; George Walker, chess editor of Bell’s
Life, and rival author to Lewis; Augustus Mongredien, president of the London and Liverpool
chess clubs. From Edge’s book about Morphy’s European tour.

chess, Lewis and Walker, and a price war de- After his edition of Sarratt and some minor
veloped between them, as Richard Eales has books, Lewis issued his own first original
noted in his Chess: The History of a Game.30 work, Elements of the Game of Chess, in 1822.32
There were also a few other chess authors of This was not a complete manual, but was in-
less significance, such as the Rev. Henry tended to complement Sarratt’s treatment of
Wood (1834).31 Eventually both Lewis and the openings. Apart from giving the rules and
Walker were undercut by writers of very moves of the pieces, Lewis taught the meth-
cheap editions aimed at working men with ods of winning various endgames. This book
smaller budgets, and ultimately Staunton featured what was potentially a major advance
wrote a book which effectively “retired” Lewis in chess publishing: the use of diagrams to il-
and Walker from the market. lustrate positions. These were used sparingly,
Lewis, who was already a strong player no doubt because they were expensive to pro-
by about 1820, was the most prolific author duce individually in woodcuts. For most of
of that decade but the younger Walker grad- the book, positions were describe in the usual
ually caught up to him. Many of their early laborious way.
books have been made available in pdf on By 1830 Lewis had obtained a post with
Google Books or similar online services, as the Family Endowment Society. Advertise-
part of the preservation projects undertaken ments show that he still gave lessons some-
by many major libraries in conjunction with times but he also had the leisure to write more
Google. Lewis retired from active play early books. The first fruit, in 1831, was A Series of
in the 1830s and from that time Walker was Progressive Lessons on the Game of Chess, aimed
more in touch with current developments. at beginners. Lewis followed up in 1832 with
242 British Chess Literature to 1914

the more important work, A Second Series of himself, or by his friend W. B. (Bone), several
Lessons on the Game of Chess, aimed at readers by Hirsch von Silberschmidt of Brunswick,
who had absorbed that work or were already and others by various Continental composers.
more advanced in skill. Some editions had At just three shillings (about £12.79 today),
this bound with his Fifty Games, published in according to an advertisement in The Exam-
the same year (discussed below). An adver- iner, on 20 May 1832, this was considerably
tisement in the Morning Post on publication cheaper than Lewis’s rival work, although not
day, 21 May 1832, showed that the price of the as good. Longer print runs would have made
combined volume was one pound (the equiv- for economies of scale, enabling prices to be
alent of £85 in 2017) or the 50 Games could much lower. Previously Lewis’s publishers
be bought separately for five shillings. The could charge whatever the market would bear.
Second Series discussed the openings in more Now Walker’s competition drove down prices.
detail than the first series had done, beginning An advertisement in the Morning Post on 25
with Philidor’s beloved Bishop’s Opening January 1833, and headed “Cheap Books,”
(1. e4 e5 2. Bc4) before moving on to open- said that Lewis had authorized the publishers
ings with 2. Nf3. One variation analyzed in to sell his chess works at half the original
some detail was 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 prices, but they still looked very expensive.
Nf6 4. Ng5 N×e4, after which discussion His First Series of Lessons still cost ten shil-
moved on to the more usual 4. … d5 and then lings. By 1835 Walker was also advertising in
to 3. … Bc5, and finally the Scotch, 3. d4. the press that he gave private chess lessons at
Then on page 133 Lewis introduced his own house or that of the pupil.
“Capt. Evans’s Game,” 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 A second “enlarged and improved” edi-
3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4, including some variations tion of Walker’s Treatise appeared in 1833, ad-
which Evans had personally supplied him.33 vertised in the Morning Chronicle of 8 July for
This was the first chess book to mention the 5s. 6d. (about £24 in today’s money). It was
Evans Gambit and the analysis continued to indeed an improvement, being better organ-
page 150. It is somewhat curious in mention- ized and having a table of contents, and ten
ing, as one of the motives for the gambit, to pages on the Evans Gambit were included.
deflect the Black bishop from the a7–g1 di- Walker also issued his own elementary trea-
agonal in order to advance f2–f4 as quickly as tise Chess Made Easy in 1836 (at 3s 6d.), to
possible after castling, as in the variation (which compete with Lewis’s Chess for Beginners
stems from Evans himself ) 4. … B×b4 5. c3 which first appeared in 1835. Walker undercut
Ba5 6. 0–0 Nf6 7. Ng5 0–0 8. f4. This is not him with the 111-page Chess-board Companion
an idea which later formed part of the main- for 2s. 6d. in 1838. By comparison, Wood’s 72-
stream theory of this popular gambit, but page New Guide to Chess cost just 1s. 6d. in
players may have started playing 5. … Bc5 in- June 1834, roughly comparable at £6.62 with
stead of 5. … Ba5 in order to rule it out. the price of a small paperback today, but the
In the same year of 1832, Walker (whose content was far inferior to the works by Lewis
father was a publisher) entered the lists with and Walker which, as Eales said, were the first
A New Treatise on Chess, which apart from in- to be an advance on Philidor. A few years later,
structional matter included “a selection of Pinnock’s A Catechism of Chess was being rec-
fifty chess problems never before printed in ommended by Walker as a suitable book for
this country.”34 Some of these were by Walker mechanics, at nine pence a copy. The writers

Opposite, top: Title page from the 1842 edition of Hoyle’s Games. Bottom: Chess advice from
the 1842 edition of Hoyle’s Games.
244 British Chess Literature to 1914

A page spread from Staunton’s Chess Player’s Handbook (1847) analyzing the position after
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d4 e×d4.

of chess books also had to compete with New Treatise was first published it came under
Hoyle’s Games, an antiquated compendium attack from a 20-page pamphlet issued by an
(1842 edition on page 331: “the king, who is anonymous “Society of Amateurs,” chiefly ob-
stale-mated, wins the game in England, but in jecting to the laws of chess as stated there by
France this situation makes a drawn game”). Walker.36 As an item on page 10 of the first
In 1841, when the third and “much en- issue of The Chess Player’s Chronicle mentions
larged” final edition of Walker’s New Treatise this, there is a strong suspicion that the pam-
was published, it ran to nearly 300 pages and phlet’s authors were Lewis and Staunton.
retailed at eight shillings, equivalent to about Staunton’s The Chess Player’s Hand-Book
£33.50 in 2017.35 This would be the best aimed to be, as an advance advertisement stated
single-volume general chess treatise available in the Illustrated London News of 2 January
until Staunton’s Hand-Book came out six years 1847, “the most comprehensive synopsis of
later. Nevertheless, it still had to compete with the various methods of opening and playing
reissues of Lewis’s books: a revised edition of the game which has yet been published.” It
one, under the title First Series of Progressive was published in June that year and at over
Lessons, was issued in 1842. When Walker’s 500 pages in one volume, written by the best
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 245

known and strongest English player of the ity in the cultivation of Chess-playing has been
day, it was assured of success. All previous the introduction of many changes in its elemen-
tary formulæ. Certain systems of attack which
manuals became instantly out-of-date. Staun-
were thought to be irresistible a few years ago,
ton’s book provided just what a beginner or are now regarded as defective, and some lines of
weak club or social player required to improve defence which the best authorities then deemed
his game. It was reprinted countless times, impregnable, are found to have their vulnerable
with the final word of the title eventually trun- points.
cated to Handbook. It would be many decades Staunton’s Praxis was also a useful work
before anyone would attempt to rival it in the but did not meet with the success he hoped
English language. The only area the Handbook for, at least in respect of the code of chess
did not cover was the playing of chess at odds, laws, a subject dear to his heart for twenty
a subject (important at that time) to which years. As already noted, he had by 1860 made
Staunton devoted a separate book, The Chess- himself so unpopular that the British Chess
Player’s Companion in 1849. Association rejected his laws and drafted an
The royalty system that developed later alternative code. Staunton’s final book, Chess
was still in its infancy. Staunton made the ter- Theory and Practice was not completed at his
rible mistake of selling the copyright to his
Handbook outright to the publisher so that he
made no money from the many reprints. In
those days pages of a book had to be labori-
ously made up in metal type by compositors
but a publisher could stereotype the pages of
a successful book so that reprints were easy
and cheap to produce, while the original type
could be broken up and re-used. Early in
1888, Steinitz said he had found out that the
total sales of Staunton’s Handbook by then
amounted to 50,000 copies; if Staunton had
been paid for the book on a royalty basis he
would have lived comfortably all his life.37
Staunton himself eventually issued in
1860 Chess Praxis: A Supplement to the Chess
Player’s Handbook. That book consisted of
three main sections: (a) A new code of laws
with discussion of same; (b) An update of the
openings coverage in the Handbook with il-
lustrative games from recent years; (c) An ap-
pendix of games by Paul Morphy. Staunton’s
Preface says the Handbook had come out 12
years earlier.

In the interval, through the medium of period-

icals and Associations, a knowledge of Chess has
been so widely diffused, that the game now oc-
cupies perhaps a more prominent position among A page from Staunton’s Handbook showing
sedentary recreations than at any former pe- his favorable opinion of the Sicilian Defense
riod…. One consequence of this enlarged activ- prior to the London 1851 tournament.
246 British Chess Literature to 1914

death and although Wormald saw it through against a strong player, I select a game in which
the press, and it went through a few editions, Miss Hook holds out with great credit.”40
it made little impact now that Staunton was The next publication of actually played
no longer alive. games, apart from a few in newspapers and
periodicals, was in connection with the his-
toric Edinburgh–London correspondence
Early Game Collections match (1825–1829), about which this author
has written at length elsewhere.41 Both Lewis,
The first game collection to be pub- for London, and the Bailie Donaldson, for Ed-
lished, in 1817, was compiled by merchant and inburgh, gave their opinions on what had
economist John Cazenove (1788–1979), who transpired. A few years later, Lewis published
was probably a member of the London Chess a collection of 50 games, mostly but not en-
Club.38 This little book was published anony- tirely by himself; there were some by Captain
mously “for private circulation.” The British Evans. Again the players were not identified
Library’s copy was destroyed. The copy in although in later years Walker and others re-
Cleveland bears a handwritten inscription on vealed the identities of some of the players.42
the title page saying: “H. Lawson Esq, with This book also included Lewis’s account of
John Cazenove’s kind respects.” The game chess in the village of Stroebeck, Germany,
scores were only printed on the recto pages; which was often reprinted thereafter.
the players and occasions unidentified. There Lewis was also responsible for the first
are some notes on verso pages. A note in ink selection of games to be published from the
on the inside back cover shows that George series of matches in 1834 between “an English
Walker had purchased this copy from a book- Amateur of first rate skill” and de la Bourdon-
seller in 1831. The first game has “GW poor nais.43 He said he “was not at liberty to pub-
game” written at the head in ink and pencil. lish” Alexander McDonnell’s name. He ran
There are other such ink marks. Walker evi- into some criticism for not including some of
dently used this copy when compiling his the best games. Some of them had also been
own game collection Chess Studies many years published anonymously in Bell’s Life in Lon-
later. don where Walker defended the practice of
In 1820 a collection of 50 games played anonymity: “Gentlemen do not like to be
in London by the “automaton” was published.39 dragged unnecessarily into print, and they are
This may be found in Google Books. The pre- right in this feeling.”44
face is signed “W.H.” In these games the After McDonnell’s death, another book
human expert concealed within the machine appeared, collected by W. Greenwood Walker
invariably conceded odds of pawn and move. (no relation to George), who was the hon-
Some of the players were partially identified orary secretary of the Westminster Chess
by the first and last letters of their surnames, Club. It had many games by McDonnell in-
others were left completely anonymous. Game cluding an almost complete record of the
21 was lost by a woman after a good fight: Pro- matches between the French master and his
fessor Charles Tomlinson, in his memoir for Irish rival.45 An appendix included three
British Chess Magazine written shortly before games played between Lewis and the enig-
his death, remembered the automaton’s visit matic Deschapelles in Paris in 1821 but neg-
and says it was then operated by Mouret. He lected to mention that the Frenchman (who
included that game in his article: “As it was lost one game and drew the other two) had
thought impossible in those days for a lady to conceded odds of pawn and move in each
conduct a game with any chance of success case.
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 247

One incidental reason why historians until the final phase of his career. The final,
have shown an interest in early chess books is and most important, edition of his book was
that many include subscription lists that can published in 1790 and had included a dedi-
be revealing about who was buying books, cation to Count Brühl and some actual games
what clubs existed at the time, and other use- for the first time: “several parties, played by
ful details. Soliciting advance purchases, some- the author blindfold, against three adver-
times by means of a prospectus, was quite a saries.” Yet most of Philidor’s games remained
frequent way for chess authors to raise the unknown to the general public until Walker’s
money to have their books printed, and sub- book in which 47 of the 74 games in the book
scribers would hope to receive the first copies, were by the French master.
perhaps at a discount. This also offered au- It was a Cambridge mathematician and
thors the prospect of a profit if the subscrip- pupil of Philidor, the Rev. George Atwood
tions were sufficient to pay for the original (1745–1807), who recorded many of the mas-
batch of printed and bound copies. The im- ter’s games; the earliest is dated 1788. At-
pressive subscription list for the book of Mc- wood’s manuscripts finally came to light in a
Donnell’s games shows about 300 pre-paid book sale in 1833, when George Walker pur-
copies including the names of Andrew Jack- chased them in a sale. His preface details the
son (USA: presumably the president), the circumstances by which the games survived
Duke of Wellington, Deschapelles, Saint- and came into his hands.4 6 It is unknown
Amant, Captain Evans, and many other minor whether any of Atwood’s notebooks still sur-
celebrities and chess clubs. Quite a large num- vive.47 Walker, who spoke with players who
ber were subscribed by members of the Bel- had known Philidor in their youth, stated that
fast, Dublin Philidorean and Edinburgh chess he “never met with an opponent who could
clubs. It needs to be borne in mind that some- attempt to play even with him, and his utmost
times subscribers might prefer to receive the energies were, therefore … never put in req-
loose printed sheets, which they could then uisition.”48 To make an assessment of Phili-
have bound to their own taste and expense. dor’s qualities in chess is therefore much more
Different copies of the same edition might be difficult than to assess his merits as a musical
found, in different libraries, at different page composer.
sizes, depending on how the original owner The first time that a great quantity of his-
decided to have the sheets cut down and toric games were published was in 1844 when
bound. George Walker issued his misleadingly-titled
In the meantime, during 1835, George Chess Studies containing no fewer than 1,000
Walker had filled a serious void by publishing game scores, including all the games from the
virtually all the known games played by Phili- aforementioned books, crammed tightly into
dor and his contemporaries in London in the the pages with a fairly abbreviated notation.
late 18th century. Up to that time it was not Since Walker had been publishing games al-
customary for players to record the moves of most weekly since January 1835 in Bell’s Life
chess games they played, and it was rare for in London he was in the best position to issue
bystanders to do so. The illustrative games a work of this kind. Walker’s book in many
that were included by Philidor in most of his places named the players whose identities had
editions were idealized examples of his strat- hitherto been concealed. Chess Studies was
egy, chosen and edited for their instructional reissued in 1893 in a photographic reprint,
value; no names of players or occasions of with an introduction by E. Freeborough, ac-
play were stated. Consequently there are no knowledging the assistance of Wayte.49 The
authentic records of games played by Philidor introduction assessed the state of chess at the
248 British Chess Literature to 1914

date the book was produced, stressing it plagiarized from) Philidor. From that point,
was shortly before Staunton’s Handbook. The and the subsequent publication of Staunton’s
following assessments sound as if they were book of the 1851 London tournament (the
Wayte’s opinions. “Whether Staunton was first of its kind), there is a much greater em-
so strong a player as his two predecessors phasis on current practical play, and the
is questionable. He was certainly a steadier variety and number of chess books greatly
and surer player than McDonnell, if less ele- increases up to 1914. Some of these changes,
gant in his style than Labourdonnais,” was though, were prefigured from the 1820s as
one judgment. They also commented: “St. Europe emerged from the chaos of the
Amant was a fine player, sagacious, ingenious, Napoleonic wars and interaction between
and careful, but slow in his movements, and leading players of different countries began.
in this respect very different from Labourdon- British chess, though, was at first influenced
nais.” by the French only (as it had been in Phili-
Once Walker had opened the floodgates, dor’s day).
it became more usual to publish games. In During the 1840s, chess in the German-
1845 a collection of games played by mem- speaking part of the European continent,
bers of the Bristol Chess Club appeared. It which had its own strong development at
was anonymous, but is usually attributed to the same time, and in Russia, also made an
Elijah Williams.50 The editor’s preface states: impact on English chess—initially through
publications and only afterwards through per-
A very large proportion of the games was played
within the last six months; and he believes none sonal contact. Carl Jaenisch’s openings book
of them have been published before, with the was published in two volumes (1842 and
exception of three or four, which were printed 1843), in French. The 1847 English edition
in the Bath and Cheltenham Gazette newspaper is discussed in detail below.51 Jaenisch’s book
a year or two ago. This circumstance the editor was influential for a while, but more sig-
was not aware of until it was too late to be reme-
died.
nificant in the long term was the Handbuch
des Schachspiels, the first (1843) edition of
Since it is supposed to be Williams who which was written by P. R. von Bilguer and
also conducted the Bath and Cheltenham col- his associates in Berlin. Bilguer died before
umn, this may be disingenuous—or perhaps the book was complete but thanks to his
some of the work on the book was done by friends (chiefly Von der Lasa), it became his
others. There is no index of players, although, memorial. This first Handbuch began a major
like several of the books already mentioned, series of systematic works and would certainly
there is a list of subscribers’ names: 147 indi- have received close study by Staunton and
viduals and also the clubs of Edinburgh, other English experts, though it was never
Dumfries, Liverpool, Maidstone, Plymouth, published in translation. Both these books
and of course Bristol. were hugely influential as nothing like them
In the second half of the 19th century, had been previously written, although the
subscription lists are rarer, and books more general treatises by Lewis and Walker had
uniform, as authors instead put their books covered some of the ground. By the time of
into the hands of publishers like Bohn and the 1862 London tournament, the interna-
Trübner. There is a clear watershed at the tional cross-fertilization of chess ideas which
point where Staunton’s The Chess- Player’s had received a big boost in 1851 was fully
Handbook (first published in 1847) takes over under way and we can trace the beginnings of
from the older style of manual which was today’s global chess culture back to those two
often modeled upon (and not infrequently great chess congresses.
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 249

Jaenisch on the Openings that Black may take the pawn and hold it to
the end of the game, but in practice to do is
Carl Andreyevich von Jaenisch (1813– very difficult:
1872) was the author of the first chess book Still the great superiority of position on the side
devoted to openings, published in French of first player so narrows the line of defence, and
during 1842 and 1843.* It was then translated so multiplies the sources of attack, that the
into English and rearranged, by George Walker, King’s Gambit, although really hazardous, may
in 1847; his introduction says he compressed be fearlessly played, even in a game by corre-
spondence. This opening gives rise to the most
the text but retained all Jaenisch’s moves. ingenious and complicated combinations that
Walker’s edition of Jaenisch’s treatise provides can arise in Chess.54
some idea of how the principal openings were
viewed in the 1840s prior to Staunton’s Hand- The name Sicilian Defense was not yet
book. A practical difficulty with this, as with in use, and when Jaenisch was writing there
many other early books, is the absence of po- was little theory on it or practical examples,
sition diagrams, so that all variations had to except for a few games by Philidor and nearly
be played through from the be-
ginning.
Jaenisch gave a lot of at-
tention to the French Defense,
which was beginning to acquire
that name after its use by the
Paris Chess Club to defeat West-
minster in their correspondence
match which began in 1834.52
In his introduction he remarked
that the defenses 1. e4 e6 and
1. e5 c5 were commonly called
“irregular” but far from being
irregular, they furnished a safer
defense than 1. …e5 because
they exposed the king less and
led to a much slower game. In
particular, the author warned,
“There exists, in our opinion, Carl Friedrich Andreyevich von Jaenisch (1813–1872), left,
and Alexander Dmitrievich Petroff (1794–1867) from Rus-
no completely satisfactory man- sia; it was Jaenisch’s pioneering book on openings that
ner of evading the King’s Gam- revealed Petroff ’s analysis of 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 to the world.
bit.”53 His introduction to the (Composite engraving, courtesy Cleveland Public Library
analysis of that opening says Special Collections).
*It would be good to find a primary source to establish Jaenisch’s correct second forename. He was an officer in
the Russian army engineers and the title page of his book in French calls him “Major C. F. de Jaenisch”; Walker’s
English edition does not state what the second initial stood for. Wikipedia, at the time of writing, says “Ferdinand”
which is probably wrong but one wants to see proof. Gaige, Personalia, has “Carl Friedrich von,” implying ancestry
in the German nobility, while the Oxford Companion added his Russian patronymic but dropped the preposition,
calling him “Carl Friedrich Andreyevich,” as did Golombek’s encyclopedia. The Russian Encyclopaedia (edited
by Karpov) and Sunnucks’s encyclopedia just have his patronymic with no second Christian name. (Also, Petroff
or Petrov does not seem to have had a second Christian name. Jaenisch calls him “A. de Petroff ” while modern
works drop the “de” but have D. for his patronymic, Dmitrievich.)
250 British Chess Literature to 1914

twenty by de la Bourdonnais against McDon- the same position, continuing 6. … e5 7. Be3

nell. Nevertheless Jaenisch wrote (in 1842) a6; Anderssen tried to improve with 7. … f5
that “1. …c5 is, according to us, the best pos- against Morphy. The correct move 7. … Nf6
sible reply to 1. e4.”55 Jaenisch came to the seems to have been played first in 1878 by Jo-
conclusion that 2. Nf3 was not the best reply, hannes von Minckwitz (editor of the Deutsche
but that the Wing Gambit, 2. b4, might favor Schachzeitung) against Adolf Schwarz. Even
Black with correct defense, and so in Walker’s after these setbacks, Anderssen did not aban-
English edition he recommended 2. d4. don the Sicilian entirely, but switched to play-
Staunton had already begun to play the Sicil- ing 2. … e6 and after 3. d4 c×d4 4. N×d4 Nf6
ian by 1840, in his match against Popert, and or sometimes Paulsen’s 4. … a6.
tested it many times against Cochrane in 1842 Where Open Games are concerned,
before employing it against Saint-Amant. The Jaenisch noted that after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 the
Sicilian became extremely popular among ad- reply 2. … Nc6 “presented, as the best, by the
vanced players in the 1840s and was much great masters of Italian Chess” had by now
employed in the 1851 London tournament, supplanted Philidor’s recommendation 2. …
but we can already begin to see, in embryo, d6. One of the most important sections of
the modern development of theory. In the Jaenisch’s work, for English players at least,
second round Szén defeated Anderssen in a was his coverage of what became known as
game which began 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 the Petroff Defense, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6, al-
c×d4 4. N×d4 e6 and now Szén introduced though he called it the Début des deux Cava-
his novelty 5. Nb5. This gave rise to new in- liers du Roi. It was Jaenisch’s Russian con-
vestigations, chiefly by his fellow Hungarian, temporary and friend A. D. Petroff,56 the
Löwenthal, in the Report of the 1857 Man- dedicatee of the work, who, Jaenisch said, im-
chester tournament. Eventually Anderssen proved on Cozio’s cursory examination of this
abandoned what is now called the “Taimanov opening by showing that the best reply to
Variation” after losing two more important 3. N×e5 is 3. … d6 and Petroff had also ex-
games against 5. Nb5, one against Löwenthal amined the 3. d4 variation. Before the second
at Manchester in 1857 (where Anderssen tried volume of his book appeared in French,
5. … a6) and then against Morphy in 1858. Jaenisch had sent analysis of the defense to
The latter game was annotated by Kasparov Saint-Amant, who published it in the Palamède
in the first volume of his My Great Predeces- of April 1842, after which some improve-
sors, where he expressed surprise that the ments for White had been found. By 1843
modern tabiya that arose after 5. … d6 6. Bf4 Jaenisch was having doubts, with which Walker
(see diagram) was already known in 1858. concurred, about the value of 2. … Nf6, but
ever since the Petroff Defense has remained
rDb1kgn4 a serious option for Black and has been em-
0pDwDp0p ployed in World Championship matches.57
wDn0pDwD After 2. … Nc6 Jaenisch considered that
DNDwDwDw After it was the Scotch “which, in our opinion, is de-
wDwDPGwD 6. Bf4 cisive of the grand question as to whether 2. …
DwDwDwDw Nc6 presents a defence entirely satisfactory.”
P)PDw)P) He meant the Scotch Gambit, meeting 3. …
$NDQIBDR e×d4 with 4. Bc4, because he thought 4. N×d4
well met by 4. … Qh4, a move (invented by
Kasparov appears to have been unaware Wellington Pulling of the London Chess Club)
of the Szén game which had already reached that Walker had probably told him about.
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 251

Walker added in a footnote that Jaenisch orig- nell and de la Bourdonnais, but his coverage
inally thought the Scotch too strong but “in a was only brief. After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
note appended to his work Jaenisch recants this Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 he remarked that “We will not
opinion.” Jaenisch later believed he had found deign to notice the insignificant move 5. d3.”
a defense, based on 4. … Bc5 5. c3 Nf6 (trans- He chiefly examined 5. d4 e×d4 6. e5.
posing to the Giuoco Piano), although he also
briefly mentioned 4. … Nf6, which is what
most people would play nowadays, transposing
Problems and Studies
to the Two Knights Defense. Chess problems are almost as old as
Jaenisch’s discussion of the motive be- chess itself, though their nature has changed
hind the Ruy Lopez (on page 165 of Walker’s a good deal. Books on chess problems were
English translation) was quite sophisticated. not issued in the first half century in such
After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 he advised great numbers as would later be the case, and
White not to play the Exchange Variation, as we have not had the opportunity of examining
the Italian authors prescribed, but rather most of them in any detail. In 1827 William
4. Ba4 “and the pawn will then have been ad- Lewis issued his first book of problems col-
vanced without effect, for 4. … b5 would give lected from numerous sources (#1827-8 in the
them a bad game by weakening their flank, Whyld and Ravilious bibliography) and there
and replacing your B upon his line of attack.” was a reissue in 1833 (#1833-5).
Jaenisch believed that doubling Black’s pawn Then in 1844 R. A. Brown of the Leeds
when he could recapture with the d-pawn was Chess Club issued his own collection, which
not advantageous but playing it when the b- was dedicated to Staunton who may have
pawn must recapture was a good idea, and helped it to get published, since it was printed
therefore Black should avoid an early QP ad- by the same company that printed The Chess
vance. Steinitz had a different opinion about Player’s Chronicle at that time.58 The book in-
that many years later. Jaenisch discussed 3. … cluded 100 modern problems by various peo-
Bc5 and then on page 167 he recommended ple including Angas, Kling and the author; it
as the best defense 3. … Nf6, “as indicated by also included the games of the recent Leeds
M. Der Lasa,” and this became the principal versus Liverpool correspondence match in
weapon Kramnik used to dethrone Kasparov. which Brown had been involved. The sub-
In reply to 4. d3, Jaenisch suggested 4. … Bc5 scription lists names 106 people, buying 121
(with which Kramnik beat Ivanchuk in 2001) copies, including Staunton (who bought six),
and if then 5. 0–0 Nd4, which has been suc- and Cazenove’s name is on the list.
cessful in some modern master games! Since Then in 1845 Kuiper, a German chess
Jaenisch had little or no examples of practical teacher, issued a small book (62 pages) of orig-
master play on which to base his judgments, inal problems.59 Chess Texts says its contents
his perspicacity is admirable. Anderssen evi- were 60 problems by himself and 60 by Adolf
dently studied his book carefully; in 1851 he Anderssen of Breslau, who at this time was
used this very variation to win a game as Black much better known as a problemist than a
against Löwenthal. It is a pity that Jaenisch ar- player. The bibliography adds: “Kuiper is said
rived in London too late to compete in the by Anton Schmid to have been a resident of
tournament himself. Leipzig.” He was resident in England by the
Jaenisch also discussed the Giuoco Piano. time the book appeared. His name appears sev-
He did know of the Evans Gambit, from eral times in Bell’s Life in London, starting on
Lewis’s 1832 book and because it had been 11 May 1845 when Walker said he was living
employed in some games between McDon- at Chichester, “preparing for the press the
252 British Chess Literature to 1914

problems of Anderssen” and intending to in- During 1849 there appeared The Chess
clude many “ingenious chess stratagems” of his Euclid, a collection of 200 problems and end-
own. His name was given as D’Orville Kuiper. games by Kling, which he explained was orig-
During 1846, Walker often puffed him inally intended to be a supplement to a larger
as a teacher of chess. Kuiper was offering to work on endgames that he was engaged upon
play correspondence games for two guineas with Horwitz. “My professional avocations
plus postage, and in September he was giving have so long delayed the completion of our
lessons in the Yorkshire seaside resort of Scar- labours” that he decided to issue the problems
borough. On 1 November, Walker advised, first. The diagrams in this book are rather at-
“Kuiper gives twelve chess lessons, of about tractive, with the dark squares printed in blue
two hours each, for two guineas. He lives 2, ink and the “black” pieces in red. It must have
Tavistock-row, Covent-garden. Gentlemen been expensive to buy. In Bell’s Life on 14 Oc-
who want the rust taken off in secret, should tober 1849, Walker praised it as “the best orig-
get a polishing from Mr. Kuiper.” On 6 June inal collection of problems ever published.”
1847 the column said Kuiper played daily at Kling and Horwitz’s important coau-
Goode’s Divan on Ludgate Hill. Kuiper was thored work on endings finally appeared in
still receiving recommendations from Walker 1851. Despite the possible confusion with the
occasionally up to 1848 and finally on 19 No- similarly titled game collection by Walker,
vember 1848 he wrote that Kuiper “has left Chess Studies really was the appropriate title
England for Germany, the land of his birth. for it and this is the book that gave rise to the
His return is more than doubtful.” term “endgame studies.”60 It was (metaphori-
Another overseas visitor, Alexandre, also cally speaking) a quantum leap in the theory
issued a problem collection and was publi- of endgame play, being the first really useful
cized by Walker. In 1837 he had issued his En- and systematic study of a wide range of
cylopédie des échecs, a very large work with text endgame positions. Most of Kling and Hor-
in English, German and Italian as well as witz’s findings are still correct and some can
French. By the late 1830s, at least, he was liv- be found in modern books on the endgame.
ing in England, promoting his book and at- Here are two examples which, with slight mod-
tempting to make a living as a chess profes-
ifications, are in the modern classic, Dvoretsky’s
sional, as various references to him in Bell’s
Endgame Manual (fourth edition) and Dvoret-
Life show. A letter from Samuel Newham of
sky used some of their other positions too.
Nottingham, in that paper on 24 July 1842,
makes it clear that Alexandre in his seventies
was “far from first-rate” and had become des- wDwDwDwD
titute. Then in 1846 Alexandre issued a mon- DwDwDwDw
ster collection of more than 2,000 problems wDwDwDwD
entitled The Beauties of Chess, printed in Paris. Dw0wDwDw
On 25 January 1846 Walker recommended wDP0wDwD
English players to buy it “as the last honour- DwDKDw)k
able effort of a veteran nearly eighty years of wDwDwDw)
age, whose whole life has been spent in the DwDwDwDw
cause of Chess, to furnish a resource in the last
hours of that life.” Alexandre died in 1850. White to play and win*

*Position XIV on page 14. In fact White can even win by the same method with the three queenside pawns and
WK occupying the b and c files although it requires some additional triangulation with the king. See Dvoretsky’s
Endgame Manual, 4th edition, #1–153.
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 253

1. Ke4 Kg4 2. h4 Kh5 3. Kf4 Kh6 4. g4 variation here. They left it to readers to infer
Kg6 5. h5† The tablebase says this is slightly from previous examples, or calculate, that
inexact and that 5. g5 checkmates two moves 1. … B×g7 2. Kg6 Be5 3. Re7 Bd6 4. Re8†
faster in the main variation. 5. … Kh6 6. Ke4 Bf8 5. Rd8 wins by zugzwang. Similar posi-
Kg5 7. Kf3 Kh6 8. Kf4 Kh7 9. g5 Kg7 10. g6! tions in the safe corner (Kh8, Bg8) are drawn
The crucial moment; 10. h6† only draws. because of stalemate. 2. Rf7! This is not lit-
10. … Kh6 11. Kg4 Kg7 Now all is optimized erally “the only move to win” as they said,
and the WK must now leave the square of the since White can play some other rook or king
Black passed pawn and make his dash to the moves first and still win, but essentially they
finish line: 12. Kg5 d3 13. h6† Kh8 14. Kf6 were right. The method is correct: the black
d2 15. Kf7 d1Q 16. g7† Kh7 17. g8Q† K×h6 king must be trapped in the dangerous corner
18. Qg6 mate. and then White gets rid of the pawn which is
Not only did they analyze basic, and some in his way: 2. … Bd4 3. g8Q†! K×g8 4. Kg6
advanced, pawn endgames, but Kling and Dvoretsky explained that White plans Rd7
Horwitz also examined many cases of unbal- with the double threat Rd8 mate or capturing
anced material. They showed several posi- the bishop. 4. … Bg1 This move holds out
tions, for example, where two bishops can win longest; the bishop hides in the “shadow” of
against a knight (without pawns) and that is the White King. 5. Rf1 Bh2 6. Rf2 6. Rh1 is
now known to be the expected result in the one move quicker to mate according to the
general case with that material balance, al- tablebase. 6. … Bg1 7. Rg2! and wins.
though Reuben Fine (in Basic Chess Endings,
90 years after them) believed otherwise.
Here is another example that Dvoretsky Miscellaneous Works
(example 11-1) took from Kling and Horwitz,
page 88. In their diagram the Black King is on In 1820 two satirical/political pamphlets
h8 but it makes no difference to the solution were issued concerning the attempt by King
as after the first move by each side the posi- George IV (the former Prince Regent) to di-
tion is the same. Where they fall short of what vorce his wife Queen Caroline. A plate by the
a modern endgame manual would do to help famous engraver Robert Cruikshank was a big
the reader is in not explaining the reasoning. selling-point for The King the avowed enemy
In this case, the point is that there is a safe and of the Queen.61 This little work purported to
a dangerous corner for the defending king in describe “a new royal game of chess, played
such situations. for half-crown stakes,” in which the move-
ments of the King are “very irregular, now
wDwDwDkD proceeding headlong forward, now shifting
DRDwDwDw obliquely or sideways, but he never takes any
wDwDwDPD grand or noble step.” As for the object of the
DwDwDwDK game, this was a reference to George’s refusal
wDwDwDwD to allow her attend his Coronation: “At the
side of the King is a place, where a player of
DwgwDwDw the old-fashioned game would say that the
wDwDwDwD Queen ought to be; but the very spirit of the
DwDwDwDw new game is to keep her out of it.” A lesser-
known satire on the same theme, The Queen
White to move
and her pawns, was in the form of a poem, also
1. g7! Kh7 Kling and Horwitz gave no accompanied by an engraving.62
254 British Chess Literature to 1914

Detail from the cartoon engraving accompanying the 1820 political poem The Queen and her
pawns against the King and his Pieces.

Engraved political plates on a chess theme, There were two chess books published
even without accompanying texts, were seen in India early in the 19th century. The first, in
in later years also. The John Johnson collection 1814, was Essays on Chess adapted to the Euro-
of ephemera at the Bodleian Library includes pean mode of play by T. Shastree, translated
a series of political cartoons by “H. B.”63 In the from Sanskrit and printed in Bombay (Mum-
first, which was associated with the Reform bai).64 It is currently available at the British
Bill of 1832, Earl Grey, at the chess table, says Library and in Google Books; many years ago
“I check the king” and William IV concedes: a copy was reviewed at Manchester Central
“I don’t know how to move, the game is yours.” Library but it is only a curiosity. The other,
On 29 September 1837 Moritz Retzsch’s lith- printed 15 years later in Madras (Chennai) is
ograph of Satan playing at chess with a man rarer, and deals with two subjects: the corre-
for his soul was adapted to depict Irish re- spondence match between Madras and Hy-
former Daniel O’Connell getting the better of derabad, and an analysis by the Indian author
Lord Melbourne, the prime minister, while of a variation of the King’s Gambit that came
Britannia palely looks on. The chess theme re- to known after him as the Ghulam Kassim
curred on 20 October 1837 for “The Queen in Gambit.65 When this author first saw this in
danger,” a cartoon showing Victoria with Mel- the British Library, it was in the form of large
bourne and Lord Palmerston. Finally, “You unbound sheets, but there is a good bound
may give perpetual check, but I defy you to copy in the National Library of Ireland, Dub-
win the game” (6 August 1840) featured a lin, which bears some marginal manuscript
game between Lord Russell and Sir Robert notes. Signed on the back of the title page is
Peel, then leader of the opposition at Westmin- “Robert Travers” with some writing in an In-
ster. The cartoonist expected the general pub- dian language, also saying “This little work is
lic to understand the term “perpetual check.” for the exclusive benefit of Ghulam Kassim.”
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 255

Continuing in the vein begun by Sarratt, 12 March 1848 that he thought it “more than
there were some editions of ancient authors probable” that Letters on Chess was the work
such as Lewis’s edition of Greco (1833), while of Lewis himself and said he was duped into
Sir Richard Penn’s Maxims and Hints (1833) paying four shillings for this “volume, or rather
contained pithy advice for anglers, but also pamphlet.” The debate about the authorship
for chess players. George Walker’s Chess and continued in Fiske’s Chess Monthly in 1857/8
Chess Players (1850) contained essays pub- (when Lewis still alive). Later Murray seemed
lished years previously in various magazines more confident that Lewis was responsible al-
and periodicals, but chiefly in Fraser’s Maga- though Whyld and Ravilious’s bibliography
zine for Town and Country, which is still well is tentative on this. Murray gave two reasons
worth reading today. for his opinion: Lewis is praised in the Letters
Most curious of all, however, is Letters and the book discusses Lucena’s manuscript,
on Chess published in 1848, which was prob- which Murray said was unknown in 1834 in
ably Lewis’s last chess book.66 This purports Germany. Also Murray noted that Walker was
to consist of letters about chess literature, not discussed in the letters.67
dated at the latest 1834, to a German from his
friend Vogt (a fictitious person, it is said)
whose widow let the translator “U. Ewell” Later Game Collections
have the letters. The introduction laments the
lack of games between the leading players of and Tournament Books
old, even Sarratt, and says (on pages 2 and 3): (1851 onwards)
How often have we both regretted that the great
players of former days have not transmitted to The first tournament book ever pub-
us the games of the principal matches played be- lished was Staunton’s collection of the games
tween them…. As it is one can alone judge of played in the London tournament; it came
the skill of former players either by their works
out in 1852, but to a mixed response.68 Instead
or by the estimation in which they were held by
their contemporaries; and it is difficult even with of concentrating on just the games, Staunton
these helps to form a correct judgment; for, with dragged up the disputes about the organiza-
regard to the reports of others, we must first as- tion of the Congress that had occurred be-
certain their degree of skill before we can place tween the St. George’s Club and the London
reliance on their testimony; then, as to written Chess Club (with which Walker was involved).
works, it is very possible for a man who has
much patience and diligence to analyse and write
This provoked a response in the form of a 26-
tolerably well on the subject, and yet be but a page booklet by an anonymous member of
moderate player; and, on the other hand, it is the latter club, attacking Staunton’s behavior
well known that a few confessedly first-rate play- and character. This booklet may be found in
ers have left but sorry specimens of their skill in Google Books, and Cleveland has a copy, but
the works they have composed.
the British Library’s copy is destroyed.69
On page 109 Sarratt’s work is said to be The next tournament book to appear is
“superior to Philidor’s from its variety and not mentioned in Betts’s bibliography. This
greater accuracy, and being written on a better was the Report of the 1857 Manchester meet-
system it is more instructive to beginners,” al- ing of the British Association; it was anony-
though the writer says it contained very little mous as to editor, presumably Löwenthal who
original matter and Sarratt’s translations were was the association’s principal organizer.70
unworthy. Three letters about Lewis’s Lessons The 42-page booklet included several game
discussed some opening variations. scores, some of which were annotated. Next
Walker wrote in Bell’s Life in London on came the 1862 London Congress, which was
256 British Chess Literature to 1914

A two-page spread from Staunton’s book of the London 1851 tournament. Observe the com-
ment about Williams’s slow play in the asterisked note three-quarters down page 161.

very well reported, with a detailed (though actions of the British Chess Association. The
delayed) official tournament book by Löwen- first, for 1866 and 1867, covered the British
thal and George W. Medley, and also a slim Chess Association’s first Challenge Cup tour-
tournament book in German by Suhle. Some nament of 1866 (won by De Vere) and the
game scores were lost and are not included in 1867 Dundee international. The volume for
either book, which was frequently the case 1868 and 1869 dealt with the second Chal-
with 19th century tournament books. The lenge Cup tournament (won by Blackburne)
English book included a section by Medley and associated events. After that, no British
about the history of the (British, originally congresses had books until the London con-
Yorkshire) Chess Association. By a strange gress of 1883, when the editor, J. I. Minchin,
error, it omitted any mention of its Leeds included every game from the principal tour-
meeting in 1850, although Saint-Amant had nament—and that book made a small profit.
attended and it was reported in France, as well The reprint made by B.C.M. in the 20th cen-
as in some English newspapers. tury omitted the selection of games from the
Over the next few years there were few supporting Vizayanagaram tournament.
tournaments to report, but Löwenthal was Next came Skipworth’s Book of the Coun-
again responsible for two volumes of Trans- ties Chess Association, issued in three slim parts
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 257

but very incomplete. The first (1885) was a tion too. Elijah Williams compiled a wide se-
very poor attempt to report on the Hereford lection of games played at Ries’s Divan in the
international tournament of that year, many Strand, in the late 1840s and early 1850s. He
games from which have not survived. Part 2 published these in 1852, in a useful book en-
(1886) included some more Hereford games, titled Horæ Divanianæ (Hours at the Divan);
some games from the Nottingham 1886 in- copies were mostly sold there.71 Its subscrip-
ternational and a few others. The final part tion list included Kieseritzky, Lewis and Cap-
(1887) had more Nottingham games and some tain Evans. The collection includes early games
from the Counties Chess Association meeting by Bird and by Buckle, as well as by Williams
in Stamford. Likewise the 1888 Bradford in- himself and many others, but the book lacked
ternational tournament was not properly re- a player index. Also one of a kind, much later
ported. Despite the fact that separate booklets in the century, was G. B. Fraser’s collection of
were issued by B.C.M. and by the Chess Player’s 200 games played in various postal tourna-
Chronicle office (Morgan), once more many ments that he had organized in the 1880s and
games have been lost to posterity. In 1890 1890s. He did not include the results of the
Morgan published a booklet on the Manches- various tournaments or say which competi-
ter international (won by Tarrasch ahead of tions the games were from, which one would
Blackburne) but it contained only a small expect from such a collection nowadays.72
fraction of the games played. Very few books dealt with just the games
At least the tournaments of Hastings of one player. The earliest was Löwenthal’s
1895 and London 1899 were well recorded in collection of Morphy’s Games (1860). Mor-
handsome volumes and with a complete record phy’s career was also dealt with, from a jour-
of the games played. The London 1900 tour- nalistic point of view, by his one-time secre-
nament run by the City of London Chess tary Frederick M. Edge in a book that appeared
Club was also preserved in a small booklet in- in two slightly different editions. The version
cluding all the game scores. Booklets were published in England, in 1859, was entitled
also published of the 1897 and 1898 Counties Paul Morphy, the Chess Champion while that
and Craigside tournaments, played in Llan- published the same year in New York was
dudno in North Wales, but with only a few called The Exploits and Triumphs in Europe of
games in each. No British tournaments played Paul Morphy, the Chess Champion. Betts notes
between 1901 and 1918 had tournament books, that according to Philip Sergeant the text is
although two of the British Championships identical except for a few additions in the En-
were fully recorded in B.C.M. So a very large glish edition.
number of potentially valuable games have ei- The only other major single-player game
ther been lost to posterity, or have with luck collection of the period was Mr. Blackburne’s
and diligence been rescued from newspaper Games at Chess, issued in 1899. Lesser ones
archives by Gillam and others. As for game included Frideswide Rowland’s Pollock Mem-
collections other than tournament books, ories (1899), a compilation of games and
there were a few booklets of match games, writings by and about the Cheltenham-born
some published by Morgan, including one master Dr. William Henry Krause Pollock
about Gunsberg’s matches with Chigorin and (1859–1896), whose medical studies had
Steinitz. Two separate booklets were pro- been undertaken in Dublin, and who was
duced in England on the first match between Steinitz’s secretary for a time from 1892. Nei-
Steinitz and Lasker in 1894, one by Bird and ther book is a systematic career study.
the other by Cunningham. There were several collections of games
There were other types of game collec- by many players, often concentrating on games
258 British Chess Literature to 1914

with attractive finishes. Henry Bird’s Chess tronized at one juncture by Staunton, he was
Masterpieces (1875) was one of the earliest but subjected afterwards to scathing attack from
it has few annotations. His subsequent Bird’s that master of invective, but he bore it with
Modern Chess and Chess Masterpieces (1887) dignity, and resisted the desire to retaliate.”
was issued as a part-work and is organized by The obituary of Boden (pages 156–161), re-
openings. Howard Taylor was responsible for ferring to the inheritance mentioned in Chap-
two books of this type. The first, early in his ter 3, says “circumstances had delayed his se-
career, was entitled Chess Brilliants; a quarter rious devotion to art until too late in life for
of the games in it were played at odds.73 It con- conspicuous success; he passed the good; at-
sisted of just an introduction, followed by the tained not the great” and in chess “he had
game scores, without diagrams or notes, but seen the rise of an alien school.”
there were 16 diagrammed finishes at the Other game collections are those by
back. Twenty years later, Taylor’s Chess Skir- Blanshard referred to in Chapter 4, the 132-
mishes, published shortly before he died, also game selection Chess Exemplified by the New-
included articles he had written over the castle player William John Greenwell (1890);
years, including several obituaries of chess Chess Sparks (1895) by the Rev. John Henry
masters, penned mostly for American pa- Ellis, and Memorable Chess Games (1913) by
pers.74 William Moffatt, editor of The Chess Amateur.
Howard Taylor’s memoirs are the most (This is far from a complete list; section 24
valuable part of his book for posterity. Several of Betts has more.)
are worth quoting because many masters at
one time or another had been his guests in
Norwich and visited the chess club there. Tay- Later Books about Problems
lor regretted, though (pages 23–24), that he
never saw Paul Morphy. Looking back on his Chess problems, as already noted, were
chess career in the Preface, Taylor wrote a principal element in nearly all chess col-
(page iii) that: “Published analyses have prac- umns and the sole element in several. Every
tically annihilated some delightful and chival- chess magazine also featured problems to
rous debûts. Strategy has undergone revolu- some extent. Mate problems evolved hugely
tion. The comments of Steinitz and Zukertort from the 1840s onwards with the principal
revealed new principles of attack and de- emphasis being on two-movers and three-
fence.” On page vi he mentions Bolton, the movers. Through the 1850s and early 1860s
problemist, and “his successors in art,” J. A. the style of chess composition was becoming
Miles and John Keeble. On pages 140–141 more subtle than the multi-move tasks beloved
Taylor wrote that Löwenthal was courteous of Bolton and his predecessors. The famous
to a fault, but lacked stamina: Indian problem by the Rev. H. A. Loveday
He excelled in the openings, and had studied
(1845) made a strong impression on contem-
end games profoundly. In the middle there was poraries, although its solution was not unique.
absent that even level of skill which is so neces- Such thematic problems, often promoted in
sary to success in match play…. A disastrous The Chess Player’s Chronicle, and the studies
nervous excitement marred his play and cost of Kling and Horwitz, were having a strong
him many a game fairly won—but alas! not
influence on other composers in the 1850s
scored.
and 1860s. These decades are known as the
Taylor added that Löwenthal was an ad- “transitional period,” and were characterized
mirable chess editor, writing “notes and analy- by the first public competitions for compos-
ses of rare value to the diligent amateur…. Pa- ing. The judging was usually based on sets of
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 259

problems rather than choosing the best single Some composers of problems in the mid-
problem. century hid behind pseudonyms and one of
The vogue for problems was not just a these was “J. B. of Bridport,” now known to
British phenomenon; problems were interna- be John Brown (1827–1863). After Brown’s
tional. Indeed many of the major composers untimely death, Staunton called for a collec-
of the 19th century were from the European tion of his problems to be produced in the Il-
continent and North America. The number lustrated London News. Rainger wrote to Staun-
of skilled composers at any one time could ton offering his services in editing the book
perhaps be numbered in the dozens, but there for the benefit of his widow. The rather mis-
were thousands of regular solvers eager for leading title chosen was Chess Strategy. How-
new puzzles to test their wits and occupy their ever, as Howard Taylor complained, in his
time. These included many women, who until Chess Skirmishes, although Staunton had prom-
late in the century usually had little or no op- ised Rainger an acknowledgment of his serv-
portunity to frequent chess clubs or other re- ices in the Preface, this was neglected. “No
sorts; their names can be seen in the lists of reference whatever to his [Rainger’s] labours
solvers published in chess columns. A few of was made, and his connection with the work
them became notable problem composers has remained unknown.”75 In 2011, Brian Gos-
too. Although some particularly challenging ling edited a new collection based on the old
problems were sometimes discussed in clubs one, entitled John Brown: The Forgotten Chess
and divans, the majority of solving—and Composer.
probably all composition—was done in the Frank Healey, whose connection with
quiet of one’s home, or perhaps (using a pocket the Chess Player’s Magazine we noted in Chap-
set) to distract from the tedium and discom- ter 5, was one of the leading problem com-
fort of a long railroad journey. posers of England in the mid-century and his
The chess problem was increasingly seen 1866 Collection of 200 problems included
as an aesthetic exercise rather than an intellec- prize-winning compositions from several of
tual test with the principal aim of finding a the early competitions. Increasingly, two-
practical playing solution. During the 19th move and three-move mate problems became
century, mate problem settings became in- the dominant forms, as they are in the 21st
creasingly detached from natural game-like po- century, although in 1884 Horwitz issued a
sitions, although endgame studies, with a small new edition of Chess Studies (without ac-
number of pieces and more naturalistic set- knowledging then deceased Kling as coau-
tings, did have a small following. Of the large thor) to which a further 201 endgame studies
number of books about chess problems that by Horwitz for The Chess-Monthly were added.
were published in this period, just a few will His omission was rectified in a posthumous
be mentioned (the present author claims no second edition, edited by Wayte in 1889, who
expertise in this department and has examined restored Kling’s name as coauthor of the first
only a few). Betts devoted sections 30 through part.
42 of his bibliography to different types of Endgame studies were brought to gen-
works on problems, which probably seems ex- eral attention again when, in 1910 and 1911, a
cessive to readers whose interest is mostly in two-volume collection of a thousand studies
chess playing. Some of these books were just was published, compiled by C. E. C. Tattersall
collections of problems by one or several com- (1877–1957).76 Tattersall was a strong player
posers. Others, especially towards the latter who had competed in the two major tourna-
part of the 19th century, sought to teach the ments held in England in 1904: the City of
composing and solving of mate problems. London Chess Club’s national tournament,
260 British Chess Literature to 1914

followed by the first British Championship anyone wishing to delve into the history of
run by the British Chess Federation. There- chess problems and the types of composition
after he turned his attention to composition in favor at that time. Some comparable but
and produced this anthology. His principal smaller works that sought to educate readers
claim to fame, though, was as an expert on in the topic were probably aimed at a chess
Persian and British carpets. Tattersall worked playing readership. The Problem Art by the
for the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kens- Rowlands is one example.78 We shall look at
ington and later wrote several books about one such book in detail.
carpets. James Rayner, mentioned above as the
Checkmate problems were the main fash- problem editor for several years of the British
ion, not just in Britain but also on the conti- Chess Magazine, wrote a book aimed at re-
nent and in America, where Loyd was still ac- cruiting more enthusiasts to his favorite branch
tive as well as many significant composers in of the game. His Chess Problems: Their Com-
the next generation. Four of the principal En- position and Solution was published in the se-
glish composers, led by Dr. Charles Planck ries “The Young Collector” and went through
(1856–1935), combined in 1887 to produce two editions.79 In his Preface, he stated that
The Chess Problem, a “text book” illustrated his purpose was to popularize the solving and
by 400 compositions from the coauthors.77 composing of problems among young chess
This work is probably still of interest today to playing “problematists,” coining a word that
probably never really caught on. His Preface
outlined the nature of mate problems, and the
approach to them from both aspects (those
of the solver and the would-be composer),
citing instances from the problems that made
up the body of the work.
“The chief requisites of a problem are
possibility and soundness,” Rayner wrote.
Possibility meant that a position could legally
occur—it might be highly implausible with
wildly misplaced kings or material imbalances
that would induce resignation from the weaker
side in games. Soundness principally meant
uniqueness of solution. Possibility and sound-
ness, though, were just a sine qua non; a prob-
lem required elegance and a point that was
more than just finding the quickest check-
mate. Old-fashioned problems such as many
of those by Bolton and involving, for example,
a long sequence of checks, were called “obso-
lete” by Rayner.
The Victorian era of problem composi-
Dr. Charles Planck, problem composer, tion really began with two-movers and three-
author and briefly chess editor of The Bo-
hemian. (Undated photograph by Emberson
movers (occasionally four-movers but almost
& Sons, Chertsey, with his autograph, cour- never more) embodying strategic ideas. Ray-
tesy Cleveland Public Library Special Col- ner instanced Healey’s 1861 prizewinning
lections). “Bristol problem” and the further develop-
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 261

ment of the strategic school led by Healey and in which every move was immediately an-
John Brown. Later, said Rayner, came the swered by checkmate. The solver’s task, then,
multitheme problem, for example by Planck. was to find a key move which did not ruin that
Rayner’s preface continued to introduce the situation, though of course some of the mates
main points with great clarity, chiefly for the would change. On the other hand, if Black had
benefit of young solvers. He classified direct one move that was not provided for, the prob-
mate problems into two kinds: attacking and lem would be classed as an “incomplete block.”
waiting-move, explaining that the solver pre- Attacking problems, he went on to say, are
sented with a new position should seek first harder to solve, but it helps the solver to know
to determine which category this problem fell that in a two- mover, the key move must
into. This could be readily done by examining threaten checkmate. He said that the average
the situation of the Black king: did it have any number of variations in a two-mover is four
legal moves? If so, were mating replies already in an attacking problem, and six in a waiting
provided for in the position? If so, it was a problem.
waiting-move problem; if not, the key must Four-movers, on the other hand, are the
be an attacking move, creating a threat. All “most majestic and most difficult” of prob-
this might seem elementary to the sophisti- lems, said Rayner. They take considerable
cated problem aficionado of the present day skill and hard work to compose, skill and pa-
but it was good advice nevertheless. tience to solve. Three-movers he considered
Rayner went on to say that two-movers ideal. “Nearly all the themes known to com-
cannot display much depth in strategy. Ex- posers can be presented in three-move form,
perts, such as the leading composers Loyd and many to greater advantage” compared
and Laws, could, he said, solve two-movers with two- or four-movers. Classification of
“almost as soon as they are put in front of three-movers is harder, Rayner wrote. There
them.” He might have added that the great are problems which have the character both
master Blackburne could generally solve two- of waiting and attacking settings. For the
movers blindfold without being told the po- solver of three-movers he had the following
sition of the White king—this partly, perhaps, advice:
being due to the fact that finding an ideal
square for the White king was often the last (a) Try the effect of checks to see how the
detail the composer of a problem decided problem composer has dealt with them.
upon. (b) Beware attacks on White. If Black can
Regular solvers, by the latter part of the give check in two moves, then White’s
19th century, would know that a good prob- second move is likely to be a check.
lem would not have what Rayner called an (c) Look carefully at the position of the
“objectionable” key, such as a check, capture, White pawns. They should all have a
castling or promotion, or “obviously powerful reason for their existence and placement.
and active” moves, and so would not look at (d) Be prepared for sacrifices.
such tries. The exception, he noted later, was
(e) Notice inactive pieces. Why are they on
in “judging tourneys,” where new problems
the board?
submitted by novice composers might be
marred by such defects. (f ) Be patient.
The solver should start by trying to make (g) When you think you have found the
a move, not for White, but for Black. The ex- solution, recheck. For example, a key that
treme example of the waiting-move problem, threatens mate in one is inartistic and
Rayner explained, was “the complete block” may have a hidden refutation.
262 British Chess Literature to 1914

For the would-be composer of three- mostly be trusted and indeed this book is a
movers, Rayner advised that the aim was orig- mine of information about personalities of
inality not difficulty. Difficulty should arise the period. Gittins did not include some sig-
from the theme. There should be a novelty of nificant chess editors because they had died,
ideas or of treatment, but now that problems so there is no Francis Collins or James Pierce
had greatly developed, finding a distinctly (though his brother is included), no Bland or
new idea was almost unattainable. Themes in Mott. Also Blackburne was not included, al-
chess problems, he said, should be “piquant though known as a composer, perhaps be-
and well presented.” Freedom of action and cause he was a professional or because Gittins
fertility of resource for the defense were im- saw him only as a player. Sir John Thursby was
portant characteristics. Also the final mating not included either; he was very much alive
position should be “pure”: no square in the but perhaps no longer composing and his col-
Black king’s vicinity is attacked or occupied umn had ended long before.
more than once. The composer should use On 16 November 1907 The Field re-
just sufficient force and use it to the fullest ex- ported that Gittins was “in straightened [sic]
tent. circumstances” and that P. H. Williams had
The subsequent development of prob- launched a testimonial appeal for his benefit.
lems would perhaps have surprised Rayner. On 15 January 1910 Hoffer reported that Git-
“Suicidal problems” were already one cate- tins planned a second volume of The Chess
gory in the 1862 London tourney but nowa- Bouquet and in The Field of 6 August he said
days there is a clear distinction between self- that Gittins announced One Hundred British
mates and help-mates. In the former, White Chess Players and Chess Bouquet, volume 2. Fi-
must force his opponent to checkmate him; nally on 17 June 1911, The Field said that Git-
in the latter they cooperate. Retrograde analy- tins was going to issue The Chess Bouquet in
sis problems became a specialty of one of the monthly parts. However, this new edition is
most famous Edwardian composers, Mrs. not listed in Betts or the main library catalogs,
W. J. Baird (née Edith Elina Helen Winter so the presumption must be that in fact it
Wood, 1859–1924), whose The Twentieth never appeared.
Century Retractor (1907) was a sumptuously John Keeble (1855–1939), whose career
produced coffee table book printed in color.80 bridged the last decades of the 19th century
In recent times, the late Raymond Smullyan, and the first third of the twentieth, was an-
an American mathematician, produced some other member of the rich school of Norwich
masterpieces of retrograde analysis, wrapped amateurs. He has left a little puzzle of a dif-
in stories from the Arabian Nights and Sher- ferent kind for chess historians to solve, if they
lock Holmes. can. Between 1908 and 1910 his column in
The Chess Bouquet, compiled by Freder- the Norwich Mercury ran a competition for
ick Richard Gittins (1867–1948?) and pub- self-mate problems. He then edited a book of
lished in 1897, has been mentioned several the best problems from it, which he called The
times in connection with chess columns, but Caduceus, but also printed a special limited
also deserves further elucidation.81 His book edition of it on tinted paper with a different
is a compilation of biographical articles about title page, which he called Vive la Beauté, and
problem composers and chess editors (cate- gave copies as Christmas presents to selected
gories that definitely overlapped), illustrated recipients.82 There were ten copies on pink
with photographs in most cases and including paper and ten on lemon paper. The lemon was
several examples of their compositions. As a bad choice, since it always seems to fade to
Gittins consulted the people included, it can white. The puzzle is firstly to identify all the
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 263

original recipients, and secondly to find out this author has circulated queries about this
where those copies are now. When the huge mystery for several years, the whereabouts of
Schmid collection is finally sold or redistrib- some copies have not come to light. Moreover
uted, perhaps more answers will emerge. it is also known, more or less for certain, that
Keeble swore his recipients to secrecy in some of the original twenty copies no longer
his lifetime, and eventually when the problem exist because of the depredations of the Blitz.
composer T. R. Dawson wrote about Vive la Keeble told White he was keeping number 2
Beauté in B.C.M., he only knew half the of each set, and it is also known that he be-
truth.83 Dawson received a pink copy but was queathed his library to the British Chess Fed-
not told about the lemon ones, a piece of mis- eration. That was almost certainly held in the
chief by Keeble that remains unexplained. National Chess Centre at the John Lewis de-
Betts’s bibliography (item #40-10) only re- partment store in Oxford Street, which was
peats what Dawson told the world after Kee- bombed by the Luftwaffe and burned out in
ble’s death, although some recipients knew 1940. As the letter to White shows, Keeble
there were two sets. Problem specialist Alain also intended to give the last copy to the
C. White received one of each, but in August British Museum with a list of all 20 recipients,
1917 he gave his lemon copy to American col- but that copy (believed to be pink copy num-
lector Charles Willing, whose collection ended bered 5B) is also shown in the British Library
up in the Philadelphia Free Library. (Their catalog to have been destroyed. So his list is
catalogue says it is a pink copy, which may be lost and at most 17 books survive. This author
a mistake, or possibly Willing later acquired has seen the copies in Oxford and The Hague,
one of the other pink copies.) We know what and received reports on some others. The
White was told because American collector pink copies have P on the spine (for Pink, not
David DeLucia eventually acquired White’s Private as Dawson speculated) and the Lemon
pink copy, numbered 1A, and has revealed the copies have L. Added in pencil by J. K. (Kee-
contents of a letter from Keeble that accom- ble) on the Bodleian’s copy 7A are the words
panied it84: “Nos. 1, 3, and 8 are in America.”
This morning I received from the Binder the It would not be right to reveal here the
copies of Vive la Beauté and I am mailing 2 lots names of individual collectors who own copies,
to you tonight…. One parcel contains 2 spe- especially as that information could anyway
cially bound copies in which I have written your go out of date, except that DeLucia made his
name. I am keeping 2 exactly similar. I have also possession of a copy public knowledge. At the
had 4 sets bound up in cloth in order that you
may see what they are like. I am also sending a
time of writing the situation seems to be as
set of those, thinking perhaps you would like Mr. follows. Pink copies: 1A. Alain C. White
J. G. White to have them. I told you I would re- (later De Lucia); 2A. Keeble (presumed de-
serve 3 copies of each in sheets besides the calf stroyed); 3A. John G. White (now in his col-
bound ones which I send tonight. I am number- lection at Cleveland); 4A. J. W. Allen (now
ing the title page of each book. No 1.A to 10.A
with a British collector); 5A. British Museum
the Pink ones; No. 1 B to 10 B the Lemon. I shall
keep the British Museum set back until I can in- (destroyed); 6A. Unknown (Dawson was not
sert the original owners of the 20 books. I have told the recipient.); 7A. Bodleian Library, Ox-
sent you No.1 and am keeping No.2 set…. The ford (the original owners); 8A. E. B. Cook
real meaning of the word [Caduceus] seems to (now in Princeton Library); 9A. unknown
be a Herald or messenger and this is very appro- (Lothar Schmid duplicate sale); 10A. Dawson
priate to the book.
(now with an English collector). Lemon
Another part of the difficulty may arise copies: 1B. Alain C. White gave to Willing
from the secrecy of some collectors. Although (Philadelphia Free Library); 2B. Keeble (pre-
264 British Chess Literature to 1914

sumed destroyed); 3B. John G. White (Cleve- later a book, was by Duncan Forbes, a profes-
land); 4B. Planck (current owner unknown); sor of Oriental languages at King’s College in
5B. and 6B. unknown; 7B. E. Cordingley (now London University, but his History also came
in the Royal Dutch Library, so had presum- in for much criticism by later, more scientific,
ably been purchased by Niemeijer); 8B. E. B. writers.88 The Brunswick-like Dutch scholar
Cook (now Princeton?); 9B. Harold Murray Antonius van der Linde, who wrote three
(now in Bodleian Library); 10B. unknown. books on chess history and literature, had a
One confusion is that (according to De Lucia’s low opinion of Forbes’s work.89
first book), Keeble told White he would send Harold Murray’s mammoth History of
the British Museum a lemon copy but he Chess, published in 1913, was the culmination
seems to have changed his mind and sent of about twenty years’ research, but chiefly it
them a pink one instead. Since one copy, pos- covered the Asiatic origins of chess, medieval
sibly 9A, was auctioned among Schmid’s du- and early modern chess in Europe, and just
plicates in 2014, this means that Schmid had about stopped with the 1851 London tourna-
another copy. ment.90 Murray had envisaged it as two vol-
umes, each complete in itself. The actual writ-
ing of the book seems to have begun around
History and Culture of Chess 1906 but only on 13 September 1910 was he
ready to write a formal letter to the secretary
During the 19th and early 20th cen- of the University Press, Oxford, offering his
turies, there was considerable interest in the book for publication.91 Murray said that the
history and early culture of the game, though first volume (dealing with the origin of chess
much of what was published in books and ar- and its development in Asia and Russia) was
ticles would not satisfy today’s standards of ready in typescript for them to inspect at his
scholarship. The first, and largely anecdotal, father’s house in Oxford should they wish to
History of Chess in English was published in do so. The second volume, dealing with chess
1764 by a country clergyman, Lambe, draw- in Europe, was approaching completion. He
ing in part upon a book in Latin by Dr. Hyde estimated an overall length of 450–500 pages
of Oxford.85 Towards the end of the 18th cen- but the final result was a single-volume work
tury, British involvement in India led to greater about twice that size. The treatment of the
appreciation of the Asiatic origin and variants 18th century might have been better but the
of chess, led by the Bengal judge Sir William Press urged Murray to complete the manu-
Jones (1746–1794) and Eyles Irwin (1751– script and then did nothing with it for months.
1817), an Irishman who worked for the East Eventually it took about two years for the
India Company.86 Their writings, and other book to complete the publication process: or-
learned papers from the journal Archæologia ganizing illustrations, proofreading and so on.
and elsewhere, can sometimes be found re- The present author, being no expert on
printed in the mid–19th century in The Chess the periods and sources chiefly dealt with by
Player’s Chronicle, and there was also consid- Murray, will pass no opinion on the reliability
erable interest in early European writers on of its content, assuming that much of it has
chess. In the 1830s Sir Frederic Madden, who been revised by more recent scholarship. It
worked at the British Museum, took a special cannot be said that Murray wrote with style
interest in chess history and wrote about the in his books, though his meaning is always
Lewis chessmen.87 clear. The reader has to put in some work. By
The first attempt to put some order on today’s standards, it is surprising that the
this, in articles (for the I.L.N. and C.P.C.) and scholarly apparatus in Murray’s 900-page tome
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 265

is so flimsy. His early work with his father on about the club’s 1860 dinner, which is bound
the first Oxford English Dictionary, where with 20 other disparate small items about Liv-
everything possible had to be abbreviated to erpool in a volume at the British Library.96
minimize the number of lines taken by a head- There were two humorous sections, the
word while maximizing the content, must first (of three pages) being an address deliv-
have imposed a discipline on Murray that he ered (apparently before the meal) to members
found hard to shake off. Even so, his index and of the chess club by Mr. Frederick Partridge.
footnotes are skimpy in the extreme and a From this we learn that Schüll and Roose
bibliography is nonexistent. Nevertheless the were recently married and that many of the
manuscripts and typescripts that Murray be- club sets were in need of repair. Also three
queathed to the Bodleian contain a lot of po- pages long and in verse form, was the Laye of
tentially valuable material for the games his- Ye Tournament, by Mr. C. H. Deekens. This,
torian, and more will be said about this in the which probably amused the members greatly
final chapter. over the port, was an account of a five-a-side
Henry Bird’s Chess History and Reminis- Liverpool versus Manchester match (by tele-
cences has more interest for the latter sections graph) in which each game was described:
than the former. Bird gave many indications Along the line the signal ran
during his career that he was incapable of In wild electric flashes—
writing an authoritative and well-organized The lots are drawn, and man to man
work although there are some glimpses of Into the combat dashes…
gold among the dross in his several books.92
Also largely anecdotal, but much more read- The first result came when Sparke (the
able, are MacDonnell’s two books drawn from Liverpool secretary) beat Cohen. Then Szabo
his Chess Chats as discussed in Chapter 3. (rhyming with “Dab O”) beat Birch. Schüll
It would be interesting to find out more (rhymes with “cool”) lost to Hammill, and
about early chess clubs, but much of what has Smith beat Duval. Finally Soul drew with Kip-
appeared was in the 20th century, based on ping in very long game (“rosy streaks pro-
such old records as survived. There are a few claim the dawn before the strife is ended”).
contemporary accounts. The Oxford Univer- So Liverpool won 3–1 with one draw.
sity Chess Club, refounded by Ranken in the The Philosophy of Chess (December 1857),
late 1860s with Sir Winston Churchill’s father by Lancashire surgeon William Cluley, argued
an early member, produced a booklet of its that “The main object to be aimed at in the
history in 1885, based on its minute books.93 cultivation of chess ought not to be eminence
In 1873 the club had printed its rule book. as players, in which many would be disap-
Bristol chess was featured in two books. The pointed, but a skilful training of the mental
early collection by Williams has already been faculties, in which all would be gainers.”97
mentioned; then in 1884 there was a second Almost harking back to the medieval morali-
book by John Norman Burt (1834–1888).94 ties of chess, Cluley included some religious
Also the Liverpool Chess Club is especially references here and there. He wrote on page
well represented. Some of their early dinners 12:
were reported at length in the C.P.C. and in … We have in chess an illustration of the prin-
the 1890s one of the club’s secretaries com- ciples daily operating in the great economy of
human life, especially those of truth and justice
piled a club history, the Short Sketch, to com-
… and the sure retribution which awaits their
memorate the club’s first 60 years including a disregard … the importance of keeping con-
complete list of past and present members stantly in view the relation between chess and
and officials.95 Less well known is a pamphlet life cannot well be overrated.
266 British Chess Literature to 1914

In a lengthy reply to a correspondent on least that is to the point. Most of the book is
30 January 1858 in the Illustrated London rubbish and fails to distinguish between the
News, Staunton mocked this book and quoted author’s own text and quotations, and when
some long- winded passages but there are terms like King, Bishop, etc., are being use in
some other sections that seem quite modern. a chess sense or not.
For example, Cluley sometimes anticipates
Steinitz’s principles in saying that a game
starts equal and a win is only possible when Books on the Openings
the balance is disturbed by a mistake. There
are two ways of looking at this book: as a pre- Comparing the chess literature of today
tentious attempt by an amateur unqualified with what was published in the 19th century,
to write on the subject, or an effort by a rather or even the first half of the 20th century, most
perceptive individual who was unafraid to striking is the absence of opening monographs
challenge authority. Staunton may have in the old days. Victorian openings books at-
thought some of the section On the Advance- tempted to deal with the whole field, though
ment of Chess (from page 102) was an attack the coverage they gave to openings which
on his editorial practices, and indeed they began other than 1. e4 e5 was in most cases
may have been intended as such although limited to a few pages. That is because most
Staunton is not named and Cluley was prob- 19th century amateurs played open games al-
ably thinking of other columns too which fol- most exclusively, and even if they were in the
lowed the same pattern. minority who sometimes opened differently,
In this section, Cluley complained about they mostly had to meet 1. e4 when they were
the “curt editorial (magisterial) notices to cor- Black.
respondents which at present appear [in chess A question was raised some years ago in
columns and magazines], but, which, so far as the History section of the English Chess
the public are concerned, might frequently be Forum, asking “when did the first books about
as well transmitted privately.” Space given to individual openings, as opposed to general
“those unnatural positions—so-called prob- openings guides” start being published, in the
lems” would in Cluley’s opinion have been U.K., in English anywhere, or published any-
better given to “unabridged communications, where in any language? (Three different ques-
embracing questions of scientific interest.” tions.)
Then on page 108 he wanted better annota- General openings treatises are dealt with
tions to games, tracing the roots of error to in section 13 of Betts’s bibliography and works
their sources, instead of “meagre commen- on specific openings or classes of openings
taries.” are dealt with in sections 14 to 17. The prob-
Much less worthy of respect is a book of lem in answering the first two parts of the
1905, Chess Humanics, which also sought to question, therefore, is not so much in finding
put forward a philosophy of chess.98 This is a the basic information, but rather of deciding
very strange book, by an unknown player whether a 23-page or similar-length pamphlet
named Nevill, essentially being a compilation counts as a book. If so, item #15-7 in Betts,
of quotations. On page 232 there is a quote namely The Rice Gambit by Samuel Lipschütz,
from Samuel Smiles’s famous book Self-Help would be first. Against that, there were earlier
(though we are not told which edition): “It is works which had sections of a similar length
the close observation of little things which is on one opening variation although it was not
the secret of success in Chess, in business, in the sole topic of the work. In that respect,
art, in science, and in every pursuit of life.” At Ghulam Kassim’s book (already mentioned)
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 267

was first, and then there was the appendix on these lines. The inclusion of Kasparov in the
the Muzio Gambit in Chess Studies by Kling title (and short final chapter) must have been
and Horwitz. something of an afterthought because the
The work with the greatest claim to be publication date is much too early to include
the first English book on an opening might be openings innovations from the greater part of
Pierce Gambit, Chess Papers and Problems by his career. Since the greater part of that book
the brothers Pierce in 1888 (item #15-6 in covered 20th century openings, only the first
Betts), which is a substantial work of 226 five chapters (about a third of the book) are
pages. The problem here is that the section relevant here. Keene there concentrated on
on the opening variation is only about a third early writers’ views of the Philidor Defense,
of the book.99 Leonard Barden’s 1963 study the French Defense (including quoting at
of the Ruy Lopez was certainly one of the ear- length from the Cochrane treatise mentioned
liest full-length works devoted to a single above), early views on gambit openings, some
opening, and it started a new trend in English debates about the Ruy Lopez from the 1880s
chess publishing, but there were some exam- and 1890s, and Tarrasch’s search for “a perfect
ples between the two world wars. Probably, defense to the Queen’s Pawn Opening.” That
therefore, the best answer to the first part of was all very interesting so far as it went. He
the question is J. du Mont’s 1919 work on the included selections from a few early authors
Scandinavian Defense (Betts #15-2) which is including Cochrane, George Walker’s 1846
reasonably long (75 pages) and all about one treatise and some of Staunton’s writings.
opening.100 It would be interesting to undertake fur-
As to the second part, books published ther investigations along these lines, and re-
in English although not in the U.K., a case ally trace the development of certain open-
might be made for Steinitz’s Modern Chess In- ings in detail, but whether they would yield
structor, which was published in America and ideas of practical value for today’s players is
was not solely a book on openings, though somewhat doubtful. Should it happen that a
chiefly it dealt with the analysis of several of strong move discovered by the ancients be-
them. Betts included it in Section 14: Open came forgotten, a computer by now would
and semi-open games; Part 1 (1889) is #14-1 have rediscovered it.
and the incomplete Second Part, covering the Such a study might show, however, that
Ponziani and Giuoco Piano (1895), is #14-6. the strongest players and most perceptive
Really, it must be stated that no single writers of the 19th century were deeper think-
opening had a book completely devoted to it ers than the majority of games of the period,
in the English language up to 1914. Therefore and myths about Victorian chess, might sug-
the answer to the third part of the Forum gest. Many chess players believe, for example,
question, so far as we are aware, is that the that in the 19th century gentlemen accepted
earliest openings monograph along modern sacrifices as a matter of honor; many years of
lines was an 80-page work in German: Die research have not turned up one statement to
Wiener Partie by Curt von Bardeleben, written that effect in primary sources. Players cap-
in 1892 and published in 1893 in Leipzig, tured “poisoned pawns” because of book rec-
dealing with the Vienna, 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3. ommendations, or because they believed that
In a book published in 1985, grandmas- “the only way to refute a gambit is to accept
ter Raymond Keene attempted to cover a it,” or they miscalculated. They did not risk
large subject: The Evolution of Chess Theory: defeat for the sake of outmoded chivalry. Vic-
From Philidor to Kasparov but there is cer- torian experts recognized that the strategic
tainly a lot more that could be done along Ruy Lopez opening was the hardest to defend
268 British Chess Literature to 1914

against, and gambits such as the Evans were ing, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3, which as he said
in fact sometimes declined. It is true that was first seriously examined in Staunton’s
many amateurs enjoyed risky attacking play, Handbook. One of the lines he considered was
probably because of what sociologist Norbert Fraser’s piece sacrifice 3. … Nf6 4. d4 N×e4
Elias called the “quest for excitement.” He de- 5. d5 Bc5, which in recent years has been
scribed industrialized societies as “unexcit- claimed by some to be virtually a refutation
ing” by comparison with their predecessors, of the Ponziani, but on the basis of 6. d×c6
by which he meant “the type and degree of B×f2† 7. Ke2 Bb6 (a novelty proposed by N.
restraint which is imposed in our type of so- Ntirlis) instead of the continuations consid-
ciety upon the spontaneous, elementary, and ered for Black in the 19th century. Wormald’s
unreflected type of excitement, in joy as in discussion of the Ruy Lopez ran from pages
sorrow, in love as in hatred.”101 73 to 85, first pointing out that after 1. e4 e5
Anyway the present work is not the place 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4, the
to enlarge on Keene’s project, and ideally it German Handbuch had neglected to examine
would require a collaboration between an his- 5. … e×d4.
torian and a grandmaster. Here we shall just Next Wormald discussed the Evans
outline some suggestions about how the task Gambit, which would more logically have
could be undertaken. Among the openings been placed immediately after the Giuoco
that would be worth surveying in this manner Piano. Pages 86 to 132 were devoted to this
would be the Ruy Lopez (especially prior to gambit. His overall opinion was that although
the period Keene considers), the Scotch and theory might indicate that White “can recover
Italian Games (in view of their 21st century the pawn at the cost of a slight inferiority of
popularity), the Evans Gambit, the King’s position,” the practical chances were “greatly
Gambit, and of course the Sicilian Defense. in favour of the gambit player.” Wormald de-
After Walker’s edition of Jaenisch’s book, voted much of his coverage of the Evans to
players without access to the German Hand- the position arising after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
buch would have relied mostly on Staunton’s 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 B×b4 5. c3 Bc5 6. d4 e×d4
Handbook, and later his Praxis, for advice on 7. 0–0 d6 8. c×d4 Bb6 (and other move or-
the first phase of the game. The next English ders) which later came to be known as the
book to deal exclusively with this subject was “Normal Position” though Wormald did not
the first edition of Wormald’s book simply en- use that term. This is a line of defense that
titled The Chess Openings, published in 1864.102 was tested in numerous games by Anderssen,
This 299 page book, with 50 problems com- Morphy, Chigorin and other elite players of
posed by the author, mostly dealt with open the 19th century, and in numerous published
games. Wormald introduced references to re- analyses, but nowadays is very rarely played.
cent games and some new analysis to update In some cases Wormald’s variations went be-
what previous works had covered, so in this yond move 20, which was rarely the case with
respect his book would have been useful to other openings in his book.
players as collecting up-to-date ideas in one The Two Knights Defense, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3
place. He also sometimes included previously Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 was considered in Chapter
unpublished suggestions by some of his friends. IX, from pages 133 to 140. Wormald pointed
He began with the Philidor and Petroff De- out that Black’s third move had been known
fenses, before moving on to the Giuoco Piano for centuries but had received very little at-
and the Scotch. tention until “Bilguer’s masterly analysis.”
From pages 56 to 72 Wormald covered Then after brief discussions of the counter-
what is nowadays known as the Ponziani Open- gambits 2. … d5 and 2. … f5 Wormald pro-
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 269

ceeded in Chapter XI (page 146) to the openings it was totally inadequate. However,
Bishop’s Opening, beloved of Philidor, and a serious flaw to modern eyes is that position
then 2. d4. The King’s Gambit, in its many diagrams were only used for the problems;
forms, was analyzed from pages 163 to 248. there were none in the analytical sections.
Starting on page 198, Wormald applied the From 1870 onwards books on openings
term “The Great Gambit” (translated from appeared more frequently. A little book of that
Italian authors) to the line nowadays named year by F. W. Longman of Balliol College, Ox-
after Kieseritzky: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 e×f4 3. Nf3 g5 ford, would probably not have been published
4. h4 g4 5. Ne5. Then from page 218 he con- had the author not been a member of the pub-
sidered the Bishop’s Gambit, 3. Bc4, saying it lishing family.103 He was hardly a player of any
“has undergone a complete revolution within note. However, as his material was quite well
the last few years,” referring to Jaenisch’s organized and less detailed than Wormald, it
analysis in the early 1850s in the Chess Player’s would have served readers who wanted a
Chronicle. quick overview of the main variations then
Openings other than 1. e4 e5 were dis- current in amateur play. As with Wormald,
missed briefly, between pages 249 and 264. there were no diagrams.
There were five pages on the Queen’s Gambit, Then in 1871 Long, later a senior Dublin
dealing first with 1. d4 d5 2. c4 d×c4 and then civil servant, issued the first of several books
with the gambit declined, 2. … e6. Then the and charts that he produced up to 1894 aimed
French Defense (“French Game” as Wormald at elementary coverage of openings for novices.
called it) received two pages; this was inade- His 191-page Key to the Chess Openings had
quate but reflects the unpopularity of the one big advance on its predecessors in this
opening in England. The important variation field: the use of diagrams.10 4 Evidently his
nowadays named after Winawer, 1. e4 e6 2. d4 printer had moveable type with which to
d5 3. Nc3 Bb4, was already known before the make them up, a great advance on the wood-
Paris 1867 tournament but Wormald did not cuts of earlier books. Sometimes Long re-
even mention 3. Nc3. In Chapter XXIV, on sorted to a trick he often used later: he printed
the Sicilian Defense, which was five pages a piece sideways in the diagram in order to
long, he reported that 1. … c5 was now con- show that it was the most recent piece moved,
sidered inferior to 1 … e6. “The high estimate or was significant for some other reason. Vari-
formerly entertained of this opening has of ations seldom went beyond move 10, and
late undergone a complete revolution, owing often not that far, but for the class of player
to some recent discoveries by which the force for whom his book was intended, that was
of the attack has been considerably aug- probably a great advantage.
mented.” He cited the improvements by Szén The next major work on openings was
and Löwenthal mentioned above. Wormald The Synopsis of Chess Openings by William
was probably reflecting the current opinion Cook (1850–1917), a Bristol accountant who
of his friend Staunton who in the 1840s had was also associated with Birmingham Chess
been one of the earliest regular practitioners Club during his career.105 He was the first
of the Sicilian. British chess author to adopt the tabular sys-
To sum up, Wormald’s book was quite tem of presenting opening variations which
good where 1. e4 e5 openings were concerned, had been employed by the German Handbuch
and would have served to bring readers of ever since its first edition of 1843. There was
Staunton’s books up to date if they had not a difference, however; the Germans presented
being following developments in the chess the move sequences horizontally, as Conti-
columns and periodicals, but for all other nental works down to the late 20th century
270 British Chess Literature to 1914

Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings have done. which would have been better inserted in the
Instead Cook used a vertical arrangement main text. The British Library has the first
which subsequent British authors have used edition; its copy of the second edition is de-
ever since, until databases rendered such works stroyed but this may be found in Google Books.
virtually redundant. Reviews were generally There was a third edition in 1882, an Ameri-
favorable with rival author Wormald admit- can version of which appeared in 1884 with a
ting that the tabular form of notation “strikes supplement by J. W. Miller in 1885. The
us as being at once both simple and concise, fourth edition, in which Cook was assisted by
and a great improvement on the method gen- Frank P. Wildman, was published in 1888, and
erally employed.”10 6 This arrangement of Cook wrote further books on the openings in
Cook’s work was quite successful and in his the early 1900s. One of these, The Evolution
second (1876) edition, he omitted the illus- of the Chess Openings (1906), attempted to
trative games in order to increase the number trace the origins and development of the prin-
of synoptical tables. The edition was some- cipal openings and variations popular during
what delayed, however, so that he had to in- Cook’s long career, and should certainly be
clude in a two-page appendix some updates consulted by anyone attempting the kind of
historical survey of chess openings proposed
earlier in this chapter.
While the tabular system enabled a clear
tree-like relation between variations to be
shown, it did not allow for much detailed ex-
planation of the history of opening develop-
ment and the ideas behind the openings.
Wormald, in the second edition of his Chess
Openings (1875), followed the same method
of exposition as he had a decade previously,
but now with the addition of diagrams, which
made the book much easier for readers to fol-
low. This is the book that drew a hostile re-
view from Steinitz—unprecedented in the de-
tail with which particular opening variations
in a book of this type were dissected by any-
one, let alone a leading master.* The review
may not have harmed sales of the book, but
it certainly would have done nothing for
Wormald’s poor state of health and it certainly
increased the animosity against Steinitz among
the majority of English chess writers and met-
ropolitan players.
Other openings works also appeared in
Title page from the fourth edition of Cook’s the mid–1870s. The first edition of The Chess-
Synopsis. Player’s Manual by George Gossip also ap-

*The hostile review of Wormald’s book appeared in the City of London Chess Magazine II (November 1875 and
December 1875), pages 297–304 and 331–336. For the reaction to Steinitz’s review see Harding, Eminent, pages
178–179.
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 271

A two-page spread from the fourth edition of Cook’s Synopsis, showing the tabular layout
employed for the first time in an English chess book.

peared in 1875; it was 884 pages long, mostly far the most superb chess-book ever,” aiming
consisting of games arranged by openings, but to fill the Staunton Handbook gap since “no
the author’s qualifications for writing the book master of the game showed any disposition
were rather thin. Wisker’s review in Land and to undertake the task.” He went on: “We are
Water was particularly scathing about it. It sorry to say the public expectation has been
started in an ironical tone by saying: wholly disappointed. The want remains un-
supplied.” Land and Water joined in the gen-
The great interest excited by the appearance of
this work is a significant mark of the progress of eral condemnation, especially of the title page
chess as a popular amusement. Time was when with Gossip’s supposed credentials. The con-
a treatise on this subject would only be written tents by no means answered to the descrip-
by a player who could find no prospect of remu- tion. Endings were wholly ignored: just one
neration in any other way, and could be pub- page. The author’s explanations, for example
lished only by subscriptions, which took more
or less the form of charity.
of perpetual check, were said to be unintelli-
gible to a beginner.107
Wisker went on to say that a publisher Then in 1877 Bird’s The Chess Openings,
(Routledge) had taken the risk of issuing “by Considered Critically and Practically, which he
272 British Chess Literature to 1914

had been writing while in America, appeared publication was blatant dishonesty by the
on the market. As usual with Bird, it was not publisher. No editor was named, and Blake,
a very systematic work. On 20 July 1878, the reviewing the edition for B.C.M. in June 1910,
Land and Water column (now in Potter’s hands) said it had very little revision, and that he and
complained that there were now three English Atkins had no part in its production.
books on openings (Cook, Wormald, and The last work of the period that requires
Bird) but none give “the reasons why” of the a special mention is Modern Chess Openings,
moves. Such tuition would be “difficult if not which was to go through numerous editions
impracticable,” he admitted, but he thought by various editors until quite recent times. It
some attempt should have been made. was sometimes known as “the chess player’s
Nevertheless, as chess competition in- bible.” The first edition, edited by R. C. Grif-
creased, amateurs wanted to keep up with de- fith and J. H. White, was published in 1911,
velopments and authors kept trying to satisfy soon followed by the second edition of 1913.
the demand. Undeterred by the previous crit- Betts records that the third edition was
icism, Gossip tried again with Theory of the in 1916. White died on 18 November 1920,
Chess Openings (1879), whose preface in- run over by a truck while cycling. His name
cluded an attack on his critics. A second edi- still appeared on the fourth edition of 1925
tion followed in 1881, while Bird also went to
press again with Chess Practice (1882) and
later the more interesting, though of course
disorganized, Modern Chess of 1887.
The next entrants to this increasingly
crowded field were two of British Chess Mag-
azine’s regular contributors, Freeborough and
Ranken. The first edition of their Chess Open-
ings Ancient & Modern appeared in 1889; this
was a tabular work along similar lines to
Cook’s Synopsis but, at 256 pages, nearly dou-
ble the size and so much more detailed. The
same year saw the first part of Steinitz’s In-
structor. Gunsberg and Mason were to jump
on the bandwagon later, and some lesser works
also appeared over the years, including the
Rev. E. E. Cunnington’s little Chess Openings
for Beginners of 1900, last revised (by Du Mont)
in 1951 and kept in print until 1960.
The second edition of Freeborough and
Ranken was published in 1893, the third in
1896 (the year of the former’s death). There
was also a fourth edition in 1910, five years
after Ranken’s death, where the title page
claimed “numerous original variations and
Title page from the “dishonest” fourth and
suggestions” by the British champion, Atkins, final edition of Freeborough and Ranken’s
and also by D. Y. Mills (“Scottish Champion” openings book. The principal authors and
but he too was long dead, in 1904), J. H. Blake Mills were long dead while both Atkins and
“and numerous other eminent analysts.” This Blake denied being involved in the revisions.
 7. A Century and a Half of British Chess Books 273

but it was M. E. Goldstein who assisted Grif- and articles by other people. Next came W. R.
fith with the revisions. The fifth edition was Bland of Derby, whose initial aim was to com-
in 1932, with P. W. Sergeant joining the edi- pile a full list of the chess clubs in Britain, to-
torial team, and the sixth appeared in 1939 gether with other information. His Chess Club
with openings arranged alphabetically. This Directory for 1880 was criticized for not in-
was a coproduction with an American pub- cluding Ireland or Scotland, but it did get the
lisher and Reuben Fine was the principal re- ball rolling and more information came into
viser. Revision for the seventh edition of 1946 him. His more ambitious Chess Player’s An-
(the first published by Pitman) was by W. nual and Club Directory of 1882 was on similar
Korn who remained in charge for several lines but included more articles, including an
years. He was also responsible for the eighth interesting one by Thomas John Beardsell
edition (1952) and, with J. W. Collins, the (1841–1886) about chess clubs.
ninth of 1957. The last recorded by Betts is Bland did not compile a third edition
the tenth edition of 1965, “completely revised but later passed on the rights to the Rowlands,
by Larry Evans under the editorship of Walter the Irish-based chess editors, who revived the
Korn.” series in 1889. Their first, called the third edi-
The eleventh edition came out in 1972, tion, included “A Glance at 1888,” Notations,
with a reprint in 1976, and the twelfth edition Laws, Problems, a list of first class players
was in 1982, still under Korn’s name, but now available to give exhibitions, lists of chess as-
published by A. & C. Black. This was the last sociations and clubs, and other information.
in descriptive notation. The thirteenth edi- The Rowlands produced further editions in
tion (1990) was said to be edited by Korn (for 1890, 1891, 1892 and finally an edition for
the last time) but revised by American grand- 1893/4 after which the series ended. On the
master Nick de Firmian, by which time Bats- continent, Bachmann was issuing his Schach-
ford was producing rival compilations, the jahrbuch series from the mid–1890s, with re-
first edited by Keene (with some input by views of each year and a selection of games,
Kasparov, 1982 and 1989) and subsequently but there was nothing comparable in English
the much better Nunn’s Chess Openings (1999). for many years.
Since then De Firmian was responsible for the The third and final pre-war annual series
14th edition (1999), which in Britain was is- in Britain was The Year-Book of Chess, begun
sued in 2000 as Batsford’s Modern Chess Open- by E. A. Michell in 1907, which apart from re-
ings after a change of ownership at Batsford. porting on the events of 1906 also included a
Wikipedia says there was also a 15th edition club directory.108 Subsequent volumes ap-
by De Firmian published in 2008 by Random peared in 1908, 1909 (when Frank Hollings
House. became publisher), but publication increas-
ingly ran late in succeeding years. The 1911
volume appeared in June and the 1912 volume
Annual Works and Directories in July that year, which included the Chess
Lover’s Kalendar [sic], a list of birth and death
There were at various times attempts at dates of chess personalities, compiled by Miss
annual publications, of which the first, Charles Clara Millar of the Manchester Ladies’ Chess
Tomlinson’s, lasted only issue: The Chess- Club. The cover of the 1913 Year-Book says it
Player’s Annual for the year 1856, which has al- was “founded by E. A. Michell” and Frank
ready been mentioned in connection with Hollings was now the owner. This volume was
Huttmann in Chapter 5. That book includes published only in mid–1914 with an adden-
miscellaneous items including games, poems, dum covering January to May 1913. Michell
274 British Chess Literature to 1914

contributed the “General Review of the Year,” Stevens and published in 1915, after which he
after which (according to Michael Clapham left for military service. The last in the series,
who has made a study of this series) he “pur- the “war number” for 1915 and 1916, was ed-
sued his career as a concert director.” The ited jointly by W. H. Watts and A. W. Foster
Year- Book for 1914 was edited by H. W. and appeared in 1917.
 8. On Doing Chess History Today

This final chapter offers personal obser- very time-consuming and expensive. Some,
vations on the objects and methods of chess though not all, of the works read in this way
history, together with some tentative advice are now available in word-searchable online
for anyone thinking of making a start in the databases, although to read them you gener-
subject. Modern tools (digitized texts, game ally need access through a major university or
databases and analysis engines) are discussed library or else a personal subscription. Nowa-
as to how these are changing the nature of a days there is also a lot of “chess history” on-
chess historian’s work. The author’s own in- line, in Wikipedia and elsewhere, of vastly un-
tensive work in chess history and print culture even reliability. Anyone who relies too much
began at a period when nearly all text sources on what is available online is not doing a thor-
had to be read in the original hard copy, which ough job as an historian.
often meant newspaper bound volumes that There is not really one subject called
crumbled away as you turned the pages, how- “chess history” and no “right way” either of
ever carefully. Even today you sometimes have doing chess history. Much sports history, in-
to handle such volumes, if they are issued at tended for ordinary fans, consists of a compi-
all. Sometimes the source is available on mi- lation of results together with narratives of
crofilm which is not ideal either, depending some famous events and biographies or anec-
on how well the filming was done and what dotes of famous players. There are of course
type of machine was available on which to now some academic sports history works
read it. Nowadays there are much better dig- which address the social context of games, but
ital microfilm readers, although for a quick the majority of published sports books are
scan through a film to find a particular item, popular biographies and histories, written by
they can sometimes be less satisfactory than journalists, fans, players, or former players.
the older type of machine. Source citations and bibliographies are a rar-
At the turn of the 21st century, just a few ity or perfunctory in such books.
newspaper titles (chiefly The Times of Lon- A prevalent but mistaken view is that
don) and a few chess ancient books had been recording and analyzing results are the central
digitized. The hunt for missing volumes in a task of the sports historian. A classic example
periodical series more than once has involved is a book by Clive Everton, who was, among
visiting three different libraries in two coun- other things, a well-known television com-
tries, which was part of the fun but was also mentator on snooker. The author apologized

275
276 British Chess Literature to 1914

for all the statistics, there having been no pre- quality work on American chess history, where
vious work on the subject, and he did prodi- John Hilbert was a pioneer.
gious research into the leading players, their To see what has changed it is only nec-
matches and techniques.1 Everton was the ac- essary to compare Hannak’s life of Emanuel
knowledged expert on the technicalities and Lasker, published in the 1950s, with some
personalities of the games but his book lacks books published half a century later.3 Hannak
any social context. Results are the raw mate- included 100 games, very lightly annotated,
rial of history; a mere compilation of results which he collected from a variety of sources.
and statistics is not history. The social history His narrative of Lasker’s life is anecdotal with
of billiards and other table games in 18th and no sources cited. In recent years, a massive
19th century Britain awaits an author. cooperative effort among several historians
Chess is a special case in the field of led to the publication of a very large scholarly
sports history because the notation used to book in the German language on Lasker; now
record games enables them to be preserved in a new edition in English is in preparation
print and computer databases for future study, though we may have some time to wait before
an advantage it shares with checkers. This it is completed. In English, the game-changer
partly explains why much effort has gone into was Richard Forster’s gigantic, and fully-
finding game scores and tracing the technical referenced, study of Amos Burn which dis-
development of chess masters rather than ex- cussed his life in some detail, while managing
ploring the social context of the game. It has to find almost every serious game he ever
been done because it is possible, unlike the played.4 That book (published by McFarland)
situation with most sports before the inven- is widely considered to be somewhat over-
tion of film and video. This author’s first ven- the-top: did Burn really deserve such a big
ture into chess history, in the late 1970s and book, given that his life was rather dull and
1980s, was almost entirely a game score–seek- his achievements somewhat below the élite
ing exercise of the old kind, to collect the most of the time? Nevertheless this huge
games of the early Correspondence Chess labor of love by Forster did set a standard for
World Championships.2 This also served as future writers to follow and also established
an introduction to some periodicals and to his own reputation.
interesting contacts with some great postal
players, some of whom were met personally
as a result.
Biography and history are not the same
On Archives, Libraries and
in their approach to their subject matter but Private Collections
the biographer needs both the research skills
and objectivity of the historian combined The principal distinction between ar-
with some degree of imagination sympathetic chives and libraries is that the former preserve
to the person who is the subject of the study. unpublished material, so their holdings are
Until quite recently, chess “biographies” usu- usually unique, whereas libraries mostly hold
ally just record a master’s performances; many printed matter, although they may also have
have been merely game collections. Typical some other media (such as photographs and
master game collections tend to contain vir- prints) and also hold manuscripts. In Britain,
tually no biographical material, and did not most major cities and counties have their own
pretend to be biographies: Golombek’s book archives, but in some cases the archive may
on Réti is a typical example. This began to be part of the local studies department of the
change about twenty years ago including some principal library. The county archives run a
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 277

joint system called the County Archive Re- nationalarchives.ie), based in Dublin, is the
search Network (CARN) so if you obtain a official archive for the Republic of Ireland and
CARN card at one of them, this will give you in practice has a lot of documents relating to
access to the others without having to bring the whole island of Ireland, as does the Na-
your proof of identity documents for separate tional Library of Ireland (www.nli.ie) which
registration at each one. Also noteworthy is is also in Dublin. Note, however, that the only
the London Metropolitan Archives in Cler- census household records available for Ire-
kenwell. To read original documents there land as yet are those of 1901 and 1911 because
you will need to obtain their History Card. previous ones were destroyed during the Irish
The largest U.K. archive is the National Civil War. Those two censuses were digitized
Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) at a few years ago and are freely available for
Kew, not far from the botanical gardens and searching.
accessible via the District Line of the London While it may be possible to undertake
subway. From central London, allow an hour certain chess history projects without ever
to get there: 45 minutes on the “tube” and visiting an archive, most researchers will need
then a ten minute walk. Kew does have its to undertake at least part of their research in
own reader registration system which is quite one or more libraries. There are three major
rigorous so be sure you are familiar with what libraries in the world that have, through do-
they require, and that you really need to go nations and purchases, built up major collec-
there first. The National Archives used to tions of material relating to chess, and some-
have a separate family research center in Is- times other games, in the English language
lington. They closed it some years ago be- (and other languages). The largest in the
cause so much data was becoming available southern hemisphere, it is said, is the State Li-
online that the number of visitors dropped brary of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. For
markedly; everything was moved to Kew. A information go to https://www.slv.vic.gov.au.
useful search engine is Access to Archives It is also worth noting that there are excellent
(discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk) where you collections of digitized Australian newspapers
can see what may be of interest to you in ei- online.
ther Kew or other archives in England and The largest public chess collection of all,
Wales. For some genealogical information, at least as far as manuscript material is con-
such as copies of birth, marriage and death cerned, is the John G. White Collection in the
certificates, you may need the General Reg- Cleveland Public Library, in Ohio. White, al-
istry Office (https://www.gro.gov.uk/content/ ready mentioned in Chapter 1 and elsewhere,
certificates) while for wills and probate records was one of the City Fathers involved in plan-
go to www.gov.uk/search-will-probate. ning the library building, which is situated
North of the border in Scotland, its na- downtown at 325 Superior Avenue. He en-
tional archive merged with the General Reg- sured that the Special Collections reading
ister Office in 2011 to form the National Rec- room on the third floor has a magnificent view
ords of Scotland (https//www.nrscotland. across a park towards Lake Erie, slightly
gov.uk) in Edinburgh. Family and historical spoiled in more recent times by the erection
research can be carried out at 2 Princes Street. of a modern sports stadium. Unusually for a
The Public Record Office of Northern major public library, this building is even
Ireland (PRONI) relocated a few years ago to open on Sunday afternoons in the coldest
2 Titanic Boulevard; its website is https:// months of the year, which gives more options
www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni. to visitors. It can be extremely cold there, even
The National Archives of Ireland (www. in April, if the wind blows down from Canada
278 British Chess Literature to 1914

across the lake. This author experienced three It is very cheap and that way you support the
different seasons in one week. Upon arrival, work of the library even if you do not visit for
it had just finished snowing and the scheduled a whole year.
Cleveland Indians baseball game was post- The establishment of this collection was
poned. On the last day it was sunny and more the initiative of Dr. Meindert Niemeijer (1902–
than 20 degrees Celsius. 1987), who in 1948 donated his collection to
A pilgrimage to this library at least once the Royal Library (where it was already stored
in your life is a must for all serious chess his- during the war years) on condition that it be
torians. You could spend a month there and merged with the collection they had already
still come nowhere near exhausting what they acquired in 1876 from Antonius van der
have to offer, especially if you are interested Linde. Before leaving Holland to become a li-
in material other than chess. None of the spe- brarian in Wiesbaden, he sold his library of
cial collection material is on open shelves, so some 750 volumes to the K.B. for 3,000
you need to order everything in advance or guilders (about £62,000 in 2017). Since
during your stay, but the people there are al- Niemeijer’s day, it has remained a priority of
ways very helpful. You may even be invited to the K.B. to keep its collection up to date by
give a talk there about your research. It is also subscribing to all journals and buying as many
possible to buy copies of much of their mi- of the new chess books as possible, and of
crofilmed material, but copies are only made course they accept donations to fill gaps in
to order and can take several weeks to arrive; their holdings.
in some cases you may be disappointed by the
image quality or what you receive may not
match the catalog description.
For up- to-date information about the
Cleveland library and John G. White Collec-
tion, please visit https://cpl.org/ and follow
links to Special Collections. For their impres-
sive Digital Gallery, which includes many
downloadable photographs of chess players
(jpg format) and chess columns and docu-
ments (pdf format), go instead to cplorg.cdm
hostwww/.
The largest chess collection in Europe,
which cannot be recommended too highly, is
at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Dutch
Library) at The Hague, Netherlands. The
K.B. is a modern building centrally located
next to the Dutch national archives, just a
short walk from a side entrance of Den Haag
Centraal railroad station. You can be there
within 90 minutes of landing at Amsterdam’s Antonius van der Linde, who wrote the first
Schiphol airport. The staff are very helpful books on chess history in the Dutch and Ger-
man languages. His library laid the founda-
and of course everybody speaks English. For tions for the splendid chess collection at the
information about the library go to https:// Royal Dutch Library. Photograph (1875) by
www.kb.nl/en. It is best to obtain your annual G. Schmuckler, Berlin (courtesy Cleveland
reader card in advance and keep it renewed. Public Library Special Collections).
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 279

Until about 2005 there was a separate lot of research to do, those are the best days
chess reading room, but everything has been to visit.
reorganized more than once since then. Since The British Library, now based on Lon-
about 2014 the chess books have been in their don’s Euston Road close to St. Pancras rail-
own area on the ground floor, and arrange- road terminus, only formally came into being
ments were most satisfactory. The most pop- as an institution in 1973, its principal ancestor
ular chess reference books, biographies and being the library department of the British
periodicals are available on open shelves, Museum. That collection goes back to 1753
which is not the case anywhere else. Unless a but the famous domed reading room of the
volume is away for rebinding, which can hap- Museum (which accommodated Dickens,
pen, you will find immediately accessible the Lenin, Marx and George Bernard Shaw among
complete runs of the British Chess Magazine, others) opened in 1857. An Act of Parliament
Chess, The Chess-Monthly, Deutsche Schach- in the early 19th century provided that a copy
zeitung , New in Chess and magazines from of every U.K. publication had to be given by
many other countries, including of course the the publisher, in order to establish copyright,
Dutch ones dating back to the early issues of to the British Museum. Such gaps as there are
Sissa. This immediate availability of so much in British Library holdings (other than news-
chess reference material is of tremendous papers) are chiefly due to war damage. Some
value to researchers in a hurry, especially if books included in its catalog (carried over
you just want to check lots of things in a va- from former catalogs of the library when it
riety of different sources. Many other libraries was at the British Museum) turn out to be
will restrict how much you can order from the casualties of the World War II bombing of
stacks in one day. Most of the material not on London. It is only when you are a registered
open shelves can be received on the day you reader and try to order them that you will see
order. Manuscripts and rarer books are deliv- they are marked “destroyed.”
ered to their special collections room. Their Gaining admission to read at the British
holdings are not as strong on manuscripts in Library requires some preparation, though
English as Cleveland, however. There is also they have made it easier in recent years. You
quite a lot of chess material on microfilm in will need proof of identity and residence and
cabinets where you just go to find what you to show that you need to see holdings that are
need. not readily available in other libraries. As with
Copying is cheap at the Royal Library. many other research libraries, it is essential to
There (as at Cleveland) you are also allowed make lists and to order what you need at least
to use your own camera, even in the special two days in advance if you wish to consult ma-
collections room. So in fact you should not terial that is stored offsite.
need to pay anything except for copies printed In general, when planning a visit, even
from microfilms. Another advantage of the months ahead, it is a good idea to make lists
K.B., especially in winter, is that the building of the works you wish to prioritize. You are
opens early. You can prepare for your visit only allowed to order ten items per day,
in the locker room, and then go to have cof- though one item may be up to six consecutive
fee or even breakfast in the restaurant before volumes (or microfilms) of the same period-
the reading room opens at 10 a.m. Lunch is ical. The catalog program has a personalized
also a good value there. If you take a break feature called My Basket in which you can
later in the day, just walk to the station. On store up to 30 items that interest you, without
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays the li- your having to specify when you want to see
brary stays open until 8 p.m. so if you have a them. Later, after you order them for a specific
280 British Chess Literature to 1914

date and reading room, they are released from the 1930s which was later expanded. As an ar-
My Basket to free up more space there. ticle by Fiala in an early number of his Quar-
The British Library should in theory terly for Chess History describes, a visit to Col-
hold every British chess book and magazine, indale could often be a frustrating adventure.
although there are some gaps. Some small Opening hours were shorter than in the main
publishers who do not buy ISBN numbers be- British Library and few of the desks had
cause they sell through their own channels are power points for computers.
able to evade this obligation. It should also be Within the last ten years, British Library
noted that they only receive free the books management took the decision to close the
which are published in either the U.K. or Ire- Newspaper Library, moving nearly all its
land; overseas publications have to be pur- holdings to purpose-built storage at their sec-
chased if they so decide. So the B.L. does in ondary site at Boston Spa in Yorkshire, where
fact have some of the chess books published they also have a small reading room. There
in America, but not all of them. was a hiatus of a couple of years when many
The British Library was constructed on bound newspapers were unavailable to re-
an abandoned railroad marshalling yard, the searchers. The finding of asbestos in one of
closest large site to the British Museum that the storage buildings at Colindale meant that
could be found, following objections to an- most 19th century provincial titles could not
other large building’s being situated in the be accessed during the final months there.
crowded Bloomsbury district near the Mu- Then the move of the bound volumes to
seum. In 1988 the Thatcher government would purpose-built storage buildings in Yorkshire
provide sufficient funds for a building only meant that no hard copy papers were available
two-thirds of the size originally planned. Con- at all for another year except for some of the
sequently, although the Library (which Queen more popular journals, such as the Illustrated
Elizabeth II opened in 1998), is a wonderful London News, which were moved to St. Pan-
resource, it is often overcrowded, especially cras.
since a decision was taken some years ago to Colindale finally closed on 8 November
grant reader passes to London university un- 2013. After a hiatus of several months, a new
dergraduates. In particular it can be hard at reading room (the Newsroom) was opened at
certain times of the year, if you don’t arrive in the main British Library site, giving access
the morning, to find a seat in the Humanities again to the microfilms. Several more months
One reading room although the Newsroom elapsed before it was possible to read bound
(the reading room for newspapers) has not newspaper volumes there. Bound volumes
yet been seen full. Further expansion of the now have to be ordered more than 48 hours
library is planned, as you can read about on in advance from Yorkshire to London, instead
the British Library website, https://www. of being available within an hour as they were
bl.uk/. in Colindale, if you were lucky. In practice it
Special mention needs to be made about is a good idea to order them for the day before
the British Library’s treatment of newspapers, you expect to be reading, as everything will
since this is of special relevance to chess re- be held in St. Pancras for three days. In other
searchers. The project to archive old British respects, the situation for researchers is much
newspapers began shortly before the First improved, not least because the Newsroom
World War when a storage building was es- remains open in the early evenings. The use
tablished at Colindale in north London. Ini- of cameras is allowed and in the case of mi-
tially there was no facility for readers to do re- crofilmed newspapers, it is a simple matter to
search, but a reading room was opened during make copies of articles on the Newsroom’s
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 281

digital readers and email them to yourself at rian publications is patchy because there were
no charge at all. Therefore the prospects for probably long periods when items were not
future researchers are bright. claimed, and periodicals received may not
It should also be noted that there are sev- have been retained when no longer current.
eral other copyright libraries besides the Brit- Nevertheless it is a great resource for Irish
ish Library which are entitled to receive every scholars, while visitors to Dublin should also
British publication, so if you have access to check out the National Library of Ireland
one of these then you may find it more con- which also has a few chess items of interest.
venient than going to London. These are the The English Chess Federation (formerly
National Library of Scotland (https://www. British Chess Federation) some years ago ac-
nls.uk/) on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh, cumulated quite a large collection of chess
the National Library of Wales (https://www. books, periodicals and other material, through
nls.uk/) on Penglais Road in Aberystwyth, bequests and donations. This collection has
Cambridge University Library (www.lib.cam. had a long and sad history. After not being
ac.uk) on West Road, the Bodleian Library in available to view anywhere, this “National
Oxford (various locations but principally off Chess Library” was housed for a few years in
Broad Street), and the library of Trinity Col- Hastings, at the local branch of the University
lege Dublin. The last is somewhat anomalous of Sussex. This was an inconvenient location
because Dublin has not been in the U.K. for for the majority of people who might have
almost a century now, but by a reciprocal been interested. From Dublin, for example,
arrangement Irish publishers must send their or even a northern or central city like Birm-
books and periodicals to the U.K. copyright ingham or Manchester, Leeds or Newcastle,
libraries. it was probably easier and hardly more expen-
In practice storage pressures mean that sive to go to the British Library or The Hague.
some of the copyright libraries do not claim Eventually the University of Sussex declined
all the specialist non-academic publications to house the collection any longer; at the time
they are entitled to receive, so do not assume of writing everything is back in storage and
that they will have what you are looking for, no decision has been made yet about what to
but check their catalogs and make inquiries if do with it. By the time this book is published,
appropriate. This author has never used the the collection may be available again at the
libraries in Aberystwyth or Cambridge, but English Chess Federation premises in East-
has paid a short visit to the Scottish library bourne, Sussex. For up-to-date information
(found to be excellent) and has extensive ex- search www.englishchess.org.uk. It is possible
perience of doing research in the other three. that the collection includes fascinating and
Like the British Library, the Bodleian receives important manuscripts but nobody seems to
a copy of everything published in print in the know because although the books were cata-
United Kingdom and Ireland, and has done logued, the manuscripts were not really inves-
so (under copyright legislation) since the tigated by an expert.
1820s or earlier. In practice, many old items Since not all books, and certainly not all
may be unavailable, and the collection of chess manuscripts, are available in public or
chess literature is probably less complete than university libraries, an important issue for
at the B.L. For more advice about the Bod- chess historians is the question of coopera-
leian, see the separate section below about the tion with private collectors. Some of the lat-
Murray collection. ter are extremely helpful; others are secretive
Trinity College Dublin is the only copy- or perhaps do not even have a catalog of what
right library in Ireland. Its holdings of Victo- their holdings are. The late grandmaster
282 British Chess Literature to 1914

Lothar Schmid was in the latter category and other notable players. Whoever has this man-
until his collection, probably the world’s uscript, or who eventually acquires it, is urged
largest, is finally broken up and sold, the to make the contents available to chess histo-
whereabouts of many rare books and impor- rians. The game score in question is printed
tant manuscripts may not be known, let alone below, though of course without Hübner’s
their being made available to historians. De- notes. It would have been number 62 in the
spite the efforts of the Ken Whyld Associa- Blackburne biography; internal evidence
tion (now The Chess History and Literature strongly suggests that the score is probably
Society) to foster good relations and cooper- authentic. One guessed that editors did not
ation among all people interested in chess- consider it worth publishing because Steinitz
historical matters, the situation is far from sat- made a bad blunder; this turns out to be con-
isfactory. firmed.
One example of this will show the nature
of the problem. In this author’s biography of W. Steinitz–J. H. Blackburne
Blackburne, published during 2015, we ex- Third match game (probably), December
plained that several games of his first match 1862
with Steinitz (played from December 1862 to Sicilian Defense (B40)
January 1863) could not be included because
Caïssa 2016/1, from an unidentified
they were never published. The first issue of
manuscript.
the historical magazine Caïssa, published in
Germany in 2016, had as its “headline act” an 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c4
article by Robert Hübner about the first match 5. Bd2 Nc6 6. Be2 Bb4 7. 0–0 Nge7 8. e×d5
between Blackburne and Steinitz. e×d5 9. b3 c×b3 10. a×b3 0–0 11. Na2 Bd6
It was certainly interesting to have the 12. c4 Bg4 13. Bc3 Re8 14. Nc1 Rc8 15. h3
eminent grandmaster’s annotations to the Bh5 16. Nd3 Bb8 17. g4?! Bg6 18. Re1 h5
known games but his article sprang one big 19. g×h5 B×h5 20. Nfe5 B×e2 21. Q×e2
surprise. Hübner had seen a manuscript note- d×c4 22. b×c4 N×d4 23. Qh5 g6 24. Qg4
book which included the score of the only Ndf5 25. h4 Nh6 26. Qg2 Nef5 27. N×g6?!
game in that match which Blackburne had f×g6? After 27. … Kh7! White would struggle
won. Hübner hinted that this manuscript had to draw; now he should win. 28. Q×g6† Kf8
changed hands in a large sale in the 1920s. It 29. R×e8† Q×e8 30. Qf6†?? Qf7 31. Qg5
is plausible that the game score was recorded Q×c4 32. Rc1 Qe6 33. Kh1 Kf7 34. Be1
by J. W. Rimington Wilson, or perhaps by Qd5† “and won” (0–1).
Löwenthal, whose manuscripts were acquired
by Wilson in 1876. The present author sought,
in vain, more information from the Caïssa ed-
itor, pointing out that it is normal in academia
The Murray Collection
for anyone citing an unpublished manuscript in Oxford
to say in whose possession it is, and to provide
provenance to show its authenticity. The Bodleian library in Oxford is one of
This manuscript may be one from the Britain’s oldest research libraries and the most
late Lothar Schmid’s collection which has not famous. (Readers with no opportunity or
in 2017 come on the market. There are con- need to do research there can skip this section
cerns that the same manuscript book, or oth- if they wish.) It is not as straightforward to
ers like it from the same collection, may con- gain access as it is for the British Library, un-
tain further unpublished games by Steinitz or less you are an Oxford University graduate.
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 283

The family of lexicographer Sir James Murray (with the large white beard). His eldest son,
the future chess historian Harold Murray, is to the left, with the black handlebar moustache.

The Bodleian is very much a working library libraries and archives, it is important to read
for the staff and students, so it is better to visit the information pages at their website so you
out of term if possible (between July and Sep- do not have a wasted visit. Some of the fol-
tember for example) when there is less pres- lowing information may help you if you want
sure on the library staff, desks, and ordering to consult the material that Harold Murray
systems, although the opening hours are left to the Bodleian.
shorter. In practice, we have found the staff Just finding out what Murray papers are
unfailingly helpful and it is a very pleasant held by the Bodleian takes a little know-how,
place to do research once you find your way and here the results are shared of investiga-
around. You should visit their website (http:// tions that took this author much time over ten
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/) and especially check years ago. Perhaps some of the information is
the pages about admissions requirements and now more readily available online, at least if
their online SOLO catalog. That includes you visit Oxford, but it is always good to do
items held in some other local libraries, in- as much advance preparation as possible be-
cluding college libraries which may be closed cause time in archives is precious and you
out of term, so it may be better to search with want to be sure of ordering the files that are
the option “All Bodleian libraries” rather than likely to be of most use to you. The start-
“all libraries/collections.” ing point is the Summary Catalogue of Post-
The standard reader’s ticket does not Medieval Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian
allow access to manuscript materials so you Library.5 Many big libraries should hold a
need to convince the admissions office that copy of this and from it you can see a sum-
you have a real need to see their holdings and mary list of the Murray collection with call
can be trusted to do so. In order to prove a re- numbers. For more detailed information,
search need, a track record in published work, there is a detailed catalogue held only in the
or a letter from your publisher or your uni- Bodleian itself, which has a number “R. Ref
versity department (if you have either or 722” and is kept in the wonderfully restored
both) will help open doors. As with all major Duke Humfrey Library in the Old Bodleian.
284 British Chess Literature to 1914

Even this is still not a complete description that Murray, author of The History of Chess,
of contents and does not indicate when sev- also wrote a History of Board Games Other
eral catalogue numbers are actually together Than Chess (Oxford 1952) and a Short History
in one box. While some items are bound, of Chess was published posthumously with ad-
others are just loose folios numbered by an ditional material of inferior quality by other
archivist and put into large envelopes. writers. Many of the materials held in the
Apart from the letters and draft articles, Murray manuscript collection relate to the
Murray also collected scrapbooks of chess Board Games book rather than to chess.
columns in the form of cuttings and galley The following table may be of use to any
proofs (many of them still loose). These were serious researcher who needs to look at the
taken especially from W. S. Branch’s column Murray papers, although it should be used in
in Cheltenham and John Keeble’s in Norwich. conjunction with the full catalogue. This au-
For some unknown reason, these items were thor has examined few of the manuscript
catalogued along with Murray’s book collec- boxes up to number 50 because the catalogue
tion rather than the manuscripts but should shows they mostly contain material relating
not be called up by anyone inexperienced in to ancient and mediaeval chess. After that,
handling delicate material. most boxes were inspected (some in great de-
These and the book collection are listed tail), except those relating to problems, the
in a manuscript catalogue called “Printed knight’s tour, and checkers, which were given
Book Handlist 265.” These items are all in the a cursory examination. Since writing an arti-
Bodleian’s online catalogue, which can be cle for the Chess Cafe website in 2006 (which
viewed by anyone, but it can be convenient is no longer freely available online), two fur-
when actually doing research to have the little ther research sessions were spent among the
booklet to hand. Readers are probably aware Murray papers.

MS HJR# Description of File Contents

1–39 Miscellaneous transcripts from old MSS held in libraries or owned by collectors
40–41 Miscellaneous transcripts re modern chess (includes Caze MS transcript in #40)
42–48 More transcripts from MSS
49 References to chess in literary works
50 Extracts from Rowbothum
51 Extracts from the notebook of W. Lewis then in the Von der Lasa library. Mostly
game scores written in pencil with hand diagrams (see #59b for typescript)
52–53 Miscellaneous transcripts
54–58 Problem collections
59 (a) Games of John Cochrane in Calcutta 1855–1861, from a MS now in J.G.W.C.?
59 (b) Typescript transcript of Lewis notebook #51 (important file)
60–61 Games by Adolf Anderssen (should all be available in databases)
62–63 “Chess miscellanies” (not of much use; #62 includes an index of opening names)
64–66 Handwritten collections of miscellaneous early games (mostly English)
67–68 Tabulated variations of chess moves from various books and MSS, with interesting
Captain Evans material (#68 comes in a small envelope with #67)
68 Small collection of games (apparently noted by Atwood at Parsloe’s, late 18th cent.)
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 285

(MS HJR# Description of File Contents)

69–71 Games played by Murray himself
72–73 Murray collected papers (including typescripts of his articles for B.C.M.); #73 similar
but includes Murray game selection
74 Chess maxims from various authors in small bound booklet
75 Primitive Chess and a History of the Baring Victory: various articles on Murray’s debate
(1908 onwards) with German writer Johannes Köhtz, dated Birmingham 1915.
Murray opposed his theory propounded in Deutsche Wochenschach etc.
76 Material relating to Seyferth’s theories about primitive chess. Oriental chess notes
77 Problem notes and queries; starts with Arabic mansubat etc.
78 References to chess and games in Irish and Welsh literature
79–80 Collections of references to chess in literature of various countries (both items to-
gether)
81 “Slips containing definitions of chess terms in English and Latin”
82–86 Miscellaneous papers and notes that come in one box. #83–84 is a history of prob-
lems and H. M. articles. #84 includes notes on the history of pawn promotion, MS.
#85 contains translations and conjectures about chess in Iceland; #86 is in German,
about medieval German chess terminology
87 Miscellaneous translations from Schachzeitung about chess in Europe mid–19th
century.
88 The Louis Rou MS mystery (in two parts)
89–91 Cuttings, transcripts and translations (#89 relates to problems, #90 critiques articles
by Branch on chess history in the Wolverhampton Journal; #91 about Asiatic chess)
92 Transcribed article by Amelung, re: chess in the Baltics
93 Transcribed articles, re: educational value of chess (first item is in German)
94 Index to chess items in Notes and Queries up to 1923, compiled by John Keeble
95 Transcript of article in German by Köhtz on the medieval European problem
96 Transcribed article re: chess in Asia by A. MacDonnell in the Journal of the Royal Asi-
atic Society, January 1898
97 Typescript of Köhtz correspondence
98 Collections for bibliography: typescript list of chess columns. Earlier date than items
in #99. Apparently typed 1915 with some later hand corrections possibly by J. G.
White. This and next appear to have been used by Whyld for Chess Columns
99 Card index of periodicals with chess columns (3 boxes of file cards)
100 Ditto: miscellaneous lists and articles. Includes separate list of chess columns with
some items not in #98 or #99
101–126 Knights tour stuff
127–129 Miscellaneous items, not seen by Harding
130–134 Miscellaneous checkers, not seen by Harding
135 Unpublished Murray article on checkers: The Riddle of the Ancestry of Western
Draughts; perhaps from ca. 1915. #138 has a later version
286 British Chess Literature to 1914

(MS HJR# Description of File Contents)

136–141 Miscellaneous items on checkers: these are in one box and #138 (dated 1916) is a de-
velopment of #135. Introduction relates to Alexander and Branch theory correspon-
dence into which Murray became drawn. Recent researches by Dutch historian Dr.
Arie v. d. Stoep appear to be very critical of Murray
142–152 Miscellaneous on other board games; #149 is mostly about merels, alquerque, Orien-
tal games (notes for Murray’s book on other board games)
153–157 Miscellaneous notes and references for History of Board Games
158 Miscellaneous correspondence about chess bound into a notebook, including letters
from Sir James Murray
159 Miscellaneous correspondence about chess, referred to in Bob Meadley’s online
“Letter to Bert” [Corneth]. Includes letter of 1911 from H. F. Cheshire about Go.
Irish and Welsh material from Eoin MacWhite and Frank R. Lewis. (Some of this
was discussed in Harding, “A Fenian Pastime,” Irish Historical Studies, available online
and fully cited in the Bibliography). Also letters from W. R. Thomas about Captain
Evans (some of which became displaced in #67)
160 J. Alexander correspondence on checkers, 300 leaves (NB: typescript is in #140)
161 Correspondence, mostly from Ernest Bergholt, Bertram Goulding Brown and Dr. Al-
brecht Buschke in Cleveland (some of this is interesting)
162 Correspondence, mostly from W. S. Branch of Cheltenham (320 leaves). Branch
comes across as a crank with various obsessions to do with the history of games. At
the end there is a copy of a reply Murray made to Branch, dated 18 September 1919
163 Correspondence from Chicco, G. L. Gortmans (about checkers) and Alexander
Hammond (about chessmen etc.)
164 Correspondence from John Keeble; handwritten and hard to read but some interest-
ing topics, including origin of the term “cook” and about Philidor
165 Köhtz originals (see #97)
166 Correspondence, including from Alfred C. Klahre, Cecil Purdy, H. Ranneforth,
Leonard P. Rees (B.C.F. secretary), Alain C. White, Seyferth (with copies of material
Murray sent in reply and comments)
167/1 Correspondence J. G. White to Murray 1900–1907
167/2 Correspondence J. G. White to Murray 1907–1927
168 Miscellaneous correspondence: from Bruno Bassi, Bidev (with some typed replies),
D. W. Fiske, E. Cordingley and many others

All the above files also have a catalog GB 161 MS. Eng. followed by c.2817, d.2370
number (49061 onwards) but unless arrange- and e.2719–2721, a total of five shelfmarks;
ments for ordering have changed, the call ref- the last three come together in one archive
erence for all the above is “MS H. J. Murray” box. The contents are very esoteric but might
followed by the file number in the first col- interest some problemists.
umn. Subsequent to the above files’ being After he became well known in the chess
processed, the Bodleian received five further world (and especially after the History of Chess,
Murray files, all of which have to do with appeared), it seems Murray was often con-
knights’ tours. The references for these are sulted on games matters and he seems not to
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 287

have thrown letters away. Reading Murray’s that when you have utilised it, you will return it
correspondence can be very boring for to me. Alain C White’s list was primarily based
on one I furnished him, which he supplemented
stretches and you have to accustom yourself
with his own knowledge and with very extensive
to many different styles of handwriting be- researches.6
cause only some of the letters he received
were typed. Then you suddenly find some- Just to what extent the variations he
thing of interest, but there is one very frus- found between their lists were really correc-
trating point. He almost never kept copies tions or are due to errors of transcription and
of his own letters so, with very rare excep- errors of the Norwich printer, he could not
tions, the boxes contain only the letters he re- say but he suspected omissions were due to
ceived. Of course this is not unusual but one A. C. White’s rearranging his own alphabeti-
would love to know how he replied. Then the cal ordering to geographical. “As my list was
next letter will thank him for his advice or cor- made from contemporary evidence I should
rections, but what exactly the advice or infor- rather trust it than the later recollections of
mation was can usually only be guessed at. dates twenty or thirty years old, even of the
The exception is the correspondence with editors of old columns.” John G. White admit-
John G. White, both sides of which are re- ted he may have misunderstood a statement,
tained in Cleveland, except that a letter from thinking it referred to the existence of a chess
White was lost in the post and he subse- column when it merely implied a chess item
quently sent his copy. That is the one part of in a newspaper which had no column.
the correspondence which is only to be found John G. White also mentioned how he
in Oxford. had been collecting scrapbooks of columns
over many years and gradually compiled his

Genesis of the Chess

Column List
The cataloguing of the British Library
(one of the two most important sources for
checking publication data of newspapers and
periodicals) has improved considerably since
Whyld was working, and so have the condi-
tions for researching British newspapers there.
For early British columns, as his introduction
shows, Whyld relied greatly on lists that were
compiled and exchanged between Harold
Murray, John G. White and Alain C. White
while others made amendments later. In par-
ticular, a letter dated 18 September 1916 from
John G. White to Murray sheds much light on
the genesis of the lists Whyld later found:
I am very pleased indeed to receive your list of
chess columns. You ask for corrections and ad-
ditions. I found occasion to make so many, that, Ken Whyld (1926–2003), chess historian
as the simplest way, I return you the list, hoping and bibliographer.
288 British Chess Literature to 1914

list from mentions of other columns in those present work it was thought best to follow the
which were in his collection. In a letter on 26 alphabetical arrangement used by Whyld, on
September 1916 he reported that many books the whole. In some cases where he had the
of chess columns he had sent to a binder last title wrong or an entry was misplaced, a cross-
February were not done and “they were all reference has been supplied to the correct title
burned last night.” Among the scrapbooks he under which the publication concerned is dis-
had lost were columns by Seguin (New Or- cussed. It should also be stressed that digi-
leans Times Democrat) and Hazeltine (New tized archives, especially the B.N.A., are con-
York Clipper). In another fire, years previously, stantly being expanded with new titles, and
he had lost The Kaleidoscope and Liverpool additional years of titles already included, so
Mercury columns nearly complete in a book. the reader may find instances where a digi-
He had just succeeding in replacing them after tized column is more extensively available
many years of search and they were burned in than is stated in Appendix I.
the new fire.
Of course Whyld did not have the bene-
fit of the digitized newspaper databases which
has made the checking of numerous of the en-
About Digitization and
tries in this book possible and led to the dis- Online Research
covery of some others that were not men-
tioned in the old lists. Another source for This author’s own work in chess history
checking publication data is the Waterloo Guide, began in 2004 when just a few newspaper ti-
discussed elsewhere in this book, compiled tles (chiefly The Times of London) and a few
under the editorship of John S. North at a chess books had been digitized, and most re-
Canadian university. This began with early search work had to be undertaken with mi-
printed editions and for Ireland and Scotland crofilms or the original crumbling newspaper
that is all that is available, but for English pub- bound volumes. The situation was, though,
lications in the 19th century the project has beginning to change as more information was
since been greatly extended into an online going online, though usually only available
database available to libraries by subscription. through subscription services aimed at uni-
The Waterloo Guide is imperfect in some cases, versity libraries and research institutes. In the
chiefly because researchers were reliant on last few years, digitization of old texts has in-
B.L. holdings for their information. Some pe- creased exponentially, although much of it
riodicals may have had longer runs than are still requires payment or access to a university
indicated or “chess” may be mentioned among or other major library.
the contents although there was no regular First it should be made clear that there
column. are different types of digitization. The simplest
In compiling and editing his List, Whyld and cheapest, though still useful, method is
recognized that “the most important item in to make page images of the original, usually
each entry is the publication’s title” but it is in jpg format. The reproductions of chess
far from an easy matter to get this right in columns at the Chess Archaeology website,
many cases. Titles change through mergers for example, are of this kind. Usually each page
and relaunches, as anybody who has done this is a separate file. One advantage is that you
type of research will be well aware. One can can use image editing software to crop or en-
certainly find cases where the title of a peri- hance the parts of a page that interest you.
odical on its masthead differs from that on its A more sophisticated format is a simple
running headers and editorial matter. For the pdf file, based on the page description format
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 289

created and developed by the Adobe software usually receive a pdf image of the whole page,
company. Twenty years ago this was still not just the article you are interested in. If you
something of a novelty but nowadays it is an have the full Adobe Acrobat program you can
international standard for document archiv- crop out the parts you do not want but the re-
ing. It is relatively simple to create pdf files, sults are not always satisfactory.
either from word-processing documents or Word searchable newspaper databases
with an image scanner. Multiple page docu- are very powerful tools as they enable you to
ments or even whole books can be combined look for the name or phrase (such as “Steinitz”
in one pdf file, so the vast majority of books or “chess tournament”) in a huge amount of
available online (for example in Google Books) raw data to find what you are looking for—
are of this kind. What is available tends to be though you probably need to narrow the search
constrained by copyright issues, and we have down to a specific date range or newspaper
found in the past that friends in North Amer- title or you will just have too many “hits” to
ica were sometimes able to download material read. Some academic digitization projects
from Google Books that did not show up in have also been created from old manuscripts,
searches made from Ireland. By late 2017 the where scholars have transcribed the some-
amount of chess books available on Google times almost illegible original texts to create
Books seems to be much smaller than it was a word searchable database that underlies the
around 2010–2012. The reason is perhaps page images, but apparently this has not been
that Google make deals with reprint publish- done with any chess manuscripts as yet.
ing houses to offer hard copy versions, after In practice the quality of word search-
which they withdraw the free pdfs. If you see able document databases varies a lot, although
that something you want is available as a free improvements are happening all the time.
download, grab it quickly and do new searches Part of the problem is the quality of the OCR
from time to time. work, but the efficiency and user friendliness
The most advanced digitization projects of the search engine is perhaps the most crit-
combine pdf with optical character recog- ical. If either of the two is poor, or the original
nition software (OCR) to create word- image quality is just too bad, your searches
searchable files. This used to be very expen- for “chess” will turn up far too many instances
sive to do, but the process is now much more of “duchess” and “cheese” for the exercise to
automated; if the printed text is sufficiently be useful. The more that you use these data-
legible a computer is able to “read” the words bases, the more familiar you become with
and create an index. The British Newspaper their peculiarities.
Archive, especially, is now working with the
British Library at Boston Spa. They issue tens
of thousands of newspaper pages most weeks
and they are increasingly adding pages from
On Websites and
the first half of the 20th century. Searches are Game Databases
free but looking at articles is not, unless you
access the service at a library which has an in- The hunt for game scores used to be one
stitutional subscription. An annual personal of the chief motivations for chess historians.
unlimited subscription to the B.N.A. currently Work in this area can still be important al-
costs about £80 but it is worth it as you can though commercial game databases are much
do a lot of chess history research from home. more complete and reliable than used to be
If you find what you want and download an the case. It is important to stress that a game
article from such an online archive, you will score in a database, even a major collection
290 British Chess Literature to 1914

such as ChessBase’s Mega Database series, of a letter, or diary or official document (for
can only be considered a secondary source, example of law court or parliamentary pro-
and often not a very reliable one. In the early ceedings) or (as with the kinds of source that
days of ChessBase and the internet, there was chiefly concern us in this book) it may be in
a rush by people to post games they had input a newspaper, periodical or a tournament book.
into free public collections. One of the largest It can also be nontextual evidence such as a
was the University of Pittsburgh Chess Club photograph or monument. Just because a
site, www.pitt.edu/~schach where a game source is considered primary does not mean
archive used to be maintained. The files posted it is trustworthy, but over the past 150 years
there were often full of errors as anyone could or so historians have evolved ways to test ev-
post there by FTP (file transfer protocol). idence for possible bias or other sources of
These versions then found their way into the error. Who created the document, why and
early commercial databases. when are usually the first questions asked.
Nowadays ChessBase appear to be tak- Where there is a conflict of evidence—for ex-
ing more care to check their pre–1945 games, ample two different versions of a game score
but more needs to be done. It did not take one printed soon after a tournament—the evi-
user long to spot a gross error in the 2017 edi- dence must be weighed. Sometimes it becomes
tion of its Mega Database. All the games clear which version of events is correct; other
played in the 1851 London Provincial tourna- times the historian must present both sides
ment attributed to Albert Beauregard Hodges of the argument and let the reader judge.
(who was not yet born) were actually played A secondary source is created at a later
by W. Hodges, Jr., honorary secretary of the time and it can take many forms. It need not
Reading and Berkshire Chess Club. This is be a published document; it might be a hand-
clear from various reports in the Illustrated written or typed account many years after the
London News. event. Again the historian must weigh the
Chess history on the Web is very much evidence and is more likely to believe an ac-
a case of caveat emptor! There is a greater like- count in a McFarland biography, which is
lihood that what you find there is reliable if backed up by citations of primary evidence,
you have indeed paid for it. Whoever relies too than in a popular book that cites no sources,
much on what is available online is not doing and more likely to trust a reference work with
a thorough job as an historian. Wikipedia, for a reputation for authority such as the Oxford
example, can be useful to consult for quick ref- Dictionary for National Biography than a single-
erence, chiefly to see what is the “conventional author encyclopedia published by Batsford,
wisdom” or “what the world knows” but never for example. Yet even the most impressive
take its statements for granted as an accurate works from Oxford University Press may, as
source of information. Wikipedia is more we have seen a few times in this book, contain
likely to be right about fairly recent events in questionable statements and sometimes down-
the chess world than about events and person- right errors. Where possible, checking as many
alities of the 19th century, but even this is by sources as possible is advisable, but some-
no means guaranteed. times there is only one source or an outright
All university history students are taught contradiction between two.
in their first term to distinguish between pri- Some issues just cannot be settled be-
mary and secondary sources. Many Wikipedia cause the necessary document that would
contributors have not learned this lesson. A answer the question appears not to survive:
primary source is evidence from the time that the contract for the Schlechter–Lasker world
an event occurred, which may be in the form championship match is perhaps the most no-
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 291

Letter from “Assiac” to the author about the Lasker versus Schlechter match.

torious example in 20th century chess. With- page, somebody may well have altered that ar-
out it we cannot be sure whether it was Lasker ticle to read entirely differently. That is the
or Schlechter who was obliged to play for a nature of Wikipedia.)
win in the fateful final game, and in the ab- Wikipedia contributors usually do cite
sence of proof there have been heated argu- some kind of sources but they are often sec-
ments in the past. Consider, for example, the ondary sources of no probative value (such as
copy of a letter this author received more than another website) when what is required is real
forty years ago from a chess writer who was evidence. If the view is taken that no such
present as a schoolboy and who spoke to Lasker source will be available to most readers, then
about it years later. He was convinced that this it is best to cite a secondary source (such as
really was a title match and that Lasker had to one of McFarland’s recent biographies) where
win the tenth game to equalize the score. Yet statements of fact about the past are backed
this letter is only a secondary source. It is ar- up by the necessary academic apparatus, thus
guably hearsay and inconclusive. The current at least directing the casual reader to a place
wording of the Wikipedia article in English where they can see the research that is sup-
about Schlechter takes the opposite view, porting the article. Anyone who has tried to
saying: “It is now generally accepted that fix mistakes in Wikipedia (as this author has
Schlechter needed to score +2 to win the occasionally done under a pseudonym) prob-
match and thus needed to win the tenth game.”7 ably knows the frustration of seeing later ill-
Generally accepted by whom, and on what informed “contributors” make changes to or
evidence? (And by the time you read this raise queries about corrections to pre-existing
292 British Chess Literature to 1914

articles on chess players and events that one by others, minor mistakes which almost in-
has taken a good deal of trouble to improve. evitably creep into more scholarly works be-
After this has happened two or three times, cause of their complexity, while making no
you will probably lose interest in editing Wiki- discrimination between such slips and gross
pedia and let others do their worst. errors in those carelessly written and some-
Discussion forums such as the English times plagiarized works which he does well
Chess Forum (www.ecforum.org.uk) can be to expose. The world of the chess historian
more useful, especially if you want to raise a would be well served if Mr. Winter decided
query which other users may be in a posi- to return to the production of major contri-
tion to answer. There are sometimes argu- butions to chess literature.
ments on that forum or on other websites
regarding comparisons between the play-
ing strengths of players in the past, either
with each other or with present-day masters.
The Uses of Genealogy
In those debates one often sees references
to Chessmetrics, the statistics site devel- In recent years the explosion of genea-
oped by Jeff Sonas since 2005 (www.chess logical information available online (usually
metrics.com/cm). He tries to go up to the through subscription services like Ancestry)
present day but often with insufficient data— has made an impact on chess history, and es-
notably for the early 1970s when FIDE ratings pecially on chess biography. This has been es-
were in their infancy and many tournaments pecially useful to historians doing research on
below the elite level were not FIDE- rated. the 19th and early 20th centuries, since the
One should rely more on the “Edo” ratings of civil registration of births, marriages and
Professor Rod Edwards from British Colum- deaths, and the digitization of censuses (1841
bia (www.edochess.ca) whose site currently every ten years through 1911 in the U.K.) pro-
goes up to 1922. vides much more detail than is available on
We cannot leave this section without other periods. For earlier periods there are
saying something about Edward Winter’s fewer, and less complete, sources; for more
Chess Notes (www.chesshistory.com/winter/ recent times, the censuses are still lacking and
index.html) which is probably the best- there are restrictions on what is available
known and arguably the most reliable place about living persons.
to go on the internet for information about For basic birth and death data on chess
chess history and personalities. The editor players, the principal source of reference has
makes good use of what appears to be an long been Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige,
extensive personal collection of texts and but there is a pressing need for this work to
photographs which in many cases we should be brought up to date, because it was pub-
not have available to us otherwise. He also lished in 1987. Many of the people listed who
benefits from a network of contributors were then living have since passed on, and of
worldwide, happy to do so in exchange for course there are very many new chess masters,
having their books promoted or just “see- writers and other personalities who should be
ing their name up in lights.” Chess Notes included. A few years ago the Ken Whyld As-
has a wealth of varied material but does not sociation launched a new project to update
engage in systematic research of the kind Gaige but perhaps it is not making much
this author believes should be the main aim progress. It needs a wide variety of people
of a chess historian. Some of his content in- from different countries to contribute data,
volves discovering and displaying errors made and perhaps they over-complicated the way
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 293

they were doing it. Some of the updates this All have their strengths and weaknesses. BMD
author submitted (plus a few recently discov- indexes tell you the quarter of the year when
ered entries and corrections) may be found somebody died, not the exact date. If you
summarized in Appendix V. want to know more you have to use the refer-
The Ancestry service was used exten- ence provided and pay for a certificate. Cen-
sively to research Blackburne’s biography and suses tell you the person’s age at the date of
build up an extensive family tree of his con- the census, not the year of birth; the later the
nections. It was also through this subscription census, the more information that is available.
service that contacts were made with relatives Death indexes tell you (usually) the age the
of Henry Bird, Captain Evans, Isidor Guns- person was but this is sometimes out by a few
berg, Arthur Skipworth, and Adolphus Zyto- years, and also the ages of Victorian women
gorski. By searching the public records avail- in the census was often “rounded down.” (In
able on such sites, a tremendous amount of Appendix V, compare the real years of birth
information useful to biographers and histo- of Mary Rudge and Frideswide Rowland with
rians can be found, but a lot of care is required what Gaige had.) Searches for marriages tend
with other users’ family trees some of which to come up with the names of about five peo-
are full of mistakes (usually due to finding the ple on the same page, so you cannot be sure
wrong person with the same name) and errors which of two or three people of the opposite
tend to get copied from one tree to another. sex your subject married. Sometimes you al-
Still, sometimes you learn something inter- ready know the surname; otherwise it is the
esting. Searching for the details of Harold Is- starting point for more investigations.
rael (1909–1984), who won the British Cor- Probate records, which have been digi-
respondence Chess Championship in 1949, tized and made public well into the 20th cen-
led to finding a photograph of him playing tury now, can be particularly helpful. There
chess and a biography written by a relative was not always a grant of probate because not
which looks reliable. everybody left a will (especially not women
Harold’s parents were teachers and he who were not widows) but when they can be
had a twin brother named Laurie, who be- found they provide an exact date and place of
came an architect. Except for his war service, death, and often other useful information, in-
when he won four medals and may have been cluding the amount of money they left and
at Dunkirk, Harold Israel lived his whole life who the executor was. (You cannot assume
in the same house in Willesden, north Lon- that the executor is necessarily the principal
don, and was a lifelong member of Hamp- beneficiary.) Sometimes there was a grant of
stead Chess Club and continued to play for administration to an executor in the absence
Middlesex until the mid-seventies. In his teens of a will. Apart from the sources mentioned
he won a scholarship to Cambridge Univer- above, there are also other reference materials
sity but stayed only one year: as the Ancestry available online, of which John Townsend, a
story says, “the environment may have been professional genealogist, in particular has
very uncomfortable for a Jewish boy.” He made good use.
worked as a buyer for Courtaulds in the West
End and after he retired he went back to uni-
versity and earned a BA in classics at Birkbeck A Few Final Words
College in London University.
The most useful public documents of During the course of this book, a few ac-
England and Wales are the birth, marriage and ademic or semi-academic publications have
death records, censuses, and probate records. been cited, and there is certainly some scope
294 British Chess Literature to 1914

for more in-depth research of this kind. Chess there are veterans of postwar British chess left
is becoming recognized in some universities to interview, oral history is a technique that
as a serious topic, although obtaining funding more authors ought to adopt. Also it would
for a project on chess is likely to remain a long certainly be good if more manuscript sources,
shot. Even if one is writing for a general read- in terms of letters and diaries, can be turned
ership, especially for the purchasers of Mc- up to illuminate the lives of people who were
Farland’s works, it is now recognized that involved in both chess and other areas. The
some scholarly apparatus is required because Anglo-Scottish master and bridge designer
readers will often wish to check and follow up William Fairhurst might be a good subject,
the sources a writer has employed. for example.
In terms of historical writing for the pop- Before taking your project very far, think
ular market, there are still opportunities for about who you are writing for, or ask whether
some thorough chess biographies to be writ- it is principally for your own satisfaction (which
ten, although few major 19th century masters is perfectly okay, by the way). Also what form
remain to be studied. We know somebody is should the output take, and how long will it
working on Isidor Gunsberg and hope he will be? Is it biography or history? Is it book length
some day produce the book to match his deep or article length or more suited to be pre-
knowledge of the subject. George Henry Mac- sented as a website where large numbers of
kenzie remains a potentially fascinating sub- color illustrations can be presented without
ject for a researcher with sufficient resources finance becoming a major limitation? Or if
of time and energy. Mackenzie spent periods your emphasis is on games, perhaps a down-
of his life in Germany, India and Ireland as loadable database (or a CD tucked inside the
well as in Britain and the United States, so he book cover) is a way to go.
represents quite a challenge! Above all, we urge you to produce some-
One area that really requires deeper re- thing. Your research should not be just your
search is the early chess clubs and associations pet project. You should be thinking from an
in Britain, with all the old clubs willing to early stage about how you will disseminate
open their archives. This might be done as a your findings. If the aim is to produce a book,
solo effort (by a young person!) or more likely then it is a good idea to negotiate a contract
as a collaborative effort with a coordinating with a publisher before you travel too far
editor. This task needs to be undertaken by down the road to change direction. They will
people living in England, and having histori- have suggestions that may improve your book
cal training to situate the chess material in its and help target your research. They will also
social context. Such a study has previously arrange a mutually suitable deadline with you,
been undertaken but not for Britain. H. J. G. although some slippage may occur (a few
M. Scholten several years ago earned his doc- months, not more than a year hopefully) and
torate with a study of 19th century chess clubs is usually acceptable so long as you warn them
in the Netherlands, but that topic was perhaps in good time and set a new target. Most pub-
more manageable for one person than a study lishers, to be frank, are not interested in chess
of chess development could be in a larger history books, because what they do is chess
country.8 improvement, but there are some—notably
Of course there are also many other pos- the publisher of the present book—who are
sibilities for future chess history research, and always on the lookout for new authors with a
as the 20th century recedes beyond living scholarly approach. Nevertheless, whichever
memory, more topics for investigation will route of disseminating your research that you
suggest themselves. In the meantime, while choose, do not expect to make any significant
 8. On Doing Chess History Today 295

money by doing it. Even if there is some fi- no-movers). There is a diagram per game and
nancial return in the end, you will probably light notes with some source credits. The
spend more money on the research (between book may have been updated since, but at the
travel, book buying and online service sub- time it appeared it was reported on the Chess
scriptions) that you eventually receive, even Café website to be “primarily a game collec-
before tax. tion of his mature years as a chess master, so
There are two great dangers to avoid. On it is very light on his early years and biogra-
the one hand, rushing into print, or on the phy.” The author has said that he had read the
other, procrastinating, hoarding, and failing article about Thomas in the Oxford Dictionary
to produce any output. Most publishers will of National Biography but did not reproduce
not let your work reach the world prema- biographical facts from it because he did not
turely, because they will reject your text or ask want to “parrot stuff.” So Paige produced a
for rewrites, but the self-publishing route is probably sound and thorough record of the
increasingly available. Nowadays it is quite mature years of Thomas, so far as it went, but
easy to produce a lazy book without much fi- he did not made sufficient effort to look in
nancial risk. This is the modern version of the some fairly obvious places for further infor-
old “vanity publishing.” By releasing your text mation and games. Just putting in a request
as an e-book, you can try to sell it yourself on- in B.C.M. and giving up when it does not pro-
line. There have of course been a few cele- duce a response is insufficient effort.
brated instances where a book that started Another man, who had in his youth
that way made it big (notably The Martian by known Sir George Thomas, was also collect-
Andy Weir which began selling at 99 cents on ing games and material for a biography. He
Amazon and ended up as an Oscar-nominated never finished it, probably in part because the
movie) but somehow it is hard to see a chess appearance of the Paige book discouraged
book replicating that success. The alternative him and made it hard for him to seek a pub-
to an e-book is the “print on demand” route lisher. D. John Rogers, the historian of the
which has been used by veteran Hampshire British Correspondence Chess Association,
player (and latterly Edinburgh Chess Club died in 2015 but it was a year later before any-
member) Roger Leslie Paige to produce sev- one in the chess world learned of this fact.
eral books, some of which relate to chess. Only in the fall of 2017, when one had feared
Those he produced of a chess history nature it was too late for someone to ask his widow
are unlikely to have been accepted by any whether she had his papers, she contacted the
commercial publisher. B.C.C.A. seeking help to publish her late hus-
The saddest case concerns Sir George band’s book. So at the time of proof-reading
Alan Thomas (1881–1972), who was British this book, we are hopeful that the material he
Chess Champion in 1923 and 1934, and was collected will not after all be lost to posterity.
one of the initial batch of players to whom It has come to light that a third man in En-
FIDE awarded the International Master title gland had also been collecting material and
when it was instituted in 1950. He was also a games by Thomas, but efforts to contact him
world class badminton player (and organizer) have as yet been unsuccessful. It is certainly a
and in lawn tennis he reached the final eight great pity that three people were separately
at Wimbledon on one occasion. He was the researching Thomas and were unable to co-
subject of one of Paige’s woefully inadequate ordinate their efforts.
books (though it is better than nothing, in- One lesson here is that chess research
cluding 1,041 games, of which about a hun- should be undertaken as a collaborative and
dred are incomplete or missing altogether— not competitive project, using online forums
296 British Chess Literature to 1914

and other networks to seek answers to ques- what should be done with your papers and
tions and help others with their queries. Mc- (importantly) your computer files in the event
Farland’s book on Blindfold Chess is a good you cannot complete the work. Name a liter-
example of how two researchers who origi- ary executor who might be willing to see to
nally worked independently on the same topic finishing your project or else nominate an in-
(Hearst and Knott) were able to join forces stitution such as the K.B. or the Cleveland
and produce a better book than either might Public Library which might be willing to take
have been able to write on their own, ensuring possession of your unfinished work so that fu-
that the discoveries that both had made could ture researchers can make use of your find-
be incorporated. ings. With regard to computer files, make sure
The second lesson is that while rushing that your executors know your passwords.
to publish is not ideal, cherishing a “pet proj- The International Correspondence Chess
ect” to your deathbed is a far greater calamity. Federation lost some of the records of its
If you really cannot bear to be parted from world championships when Reg Gillman (who
your research materials, and still do not feel was tournament director) died unexpectedly
ready to share them with the world while you and nobody was able to access his computer-
are able to do so, then please at least leave ized records.
clear instructions, perhaps in your will, as to
 Appendix I. British and Irish
Chess Columns to 1914:
An Annotated List

Tony Gillam has suggested the appendix hard copy volumes and microfilms at the
begin with a quotation from Whyld’s introduc- British Library and many other libraries.
tion to Chess Columns: A List (page 5): (d) Further corrections to Whyld’s book and
This book is not free from errors. Let me save lit- new information discovered by the author
crit bean-counters the effort by saying at once that in various digitized databases of newspapers
it could be the most error-strewn chess book ever and periodicals.
published. But that does not mean that its compila-
tion has been done carelessly. The data comes from
(e) Corrections to Whyld’s book discovered
many sources, none of which has proven entirely re- by the author through searches in the B.L.’s
liable. Some of the “corrections” that have been sent online catalog Explore the British Library. In
to me have proven wrong…. many of these cases it has not actually been
The same applies to this book, though it possible to see the periodical concerned.
would not be presented without a belief that This is sometimes from lack of time but in
considerable progress has been made, by “stand- many cases physical unavailability of the
ing on the shoulders of giants,” to borrow a item, since the catalog includes many
phrase from Sir Isaac Newton. The list below is newspapers and periodicals (and sometimes
surely incomplete and imperfect but it incorpo- books also) which are not actually available
rates all known chess columns from Britain and for readers to order.
Ireland published in the period 1811–1914, and The entries below also include some titles
a few post–1914 ones. It is based on the follow- which so far as is known do not have chess
ing: columns. The term “ghost,” coined by Whyld,
(a) Entries from Chess Columns: A List by Whyld, is applied to entries found in some sources
with permission of the copyright holder, which may actually not refer to genuine publi-
A. J. Gillam. (The genesis of Whyld’s book, cations or may mean it has not been possible to
and some of the sources he used for British find columns that actually ran in those titles.
columns, is discussed in Chapter 8.) There are also cases where Whyld’s title does
(b) Corrections to Whyld’s book supplied by not match any publication this author could
Gillam, and occasionally by others. trace, but in nearly all cases it has been possible
(c) Corrections to that book discovered in the to provide a cross-reference to what is thought
course of this author’s own researches in to be the correct title.

297
298 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

In addition to the abbreviations listed in B.L. holds only three issues (13 July to 10 Au-
the front matter, further abbreviations used only gust 1889), probably all that were published.
in this appendix are: A.J.G. = Tony Gillam; Each has a chess article by Rosario Aspa, an Ital-
N.L.I. = National Library of Ireland, Dublin; ian musician long resident in Leamington who
Whyld = Ken Whyld (ed.), Chess Columns: A was probably the editor of the whole magazine.
List; WAT = Waterloo Directory of English News- Amateur World. Compare Whyld, page 19.
papers and Periodicals (online database); WATIRL Monthly leisure miscellany edited in Norwood,
= Waterloo Directory of Irish Newspapers and Pe- south London, with chess by James T. Palmer
riodicals (printed book). from 1/1876 to final issue 5/1878. They ran four
In the case of newspapers published in postal chess tournaments. B.L. has only the first
Nottingham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne (only), issue, with no chess; complete set at J.G.W.C.
there is a generic entry preceding the listings for was seen.
specific titles, because of the complications ex-
plained in Chapter 3. The Argus: A Weekly Review of Politics, Liter-
ature and Social Science. Magazine published
A1 Illustrated. London magazine primarily for in Liverpool from 21 October 1876 until Vol-
juveniles, especially girls, published 1888–1890. ume 5, no. 219, 25 December 1880, according
Whyld, page 7 says Mrs. Rowland column March to WAT. Whyld, page 251, listing under “Liver-
1889 to June 1893 but the latter date is doubtful pool Argus,” says chess 5 November–25 Decem-
and it seems that the column started in early ber 1880. Design and Work, 15 January 1881 said:
1888. The British Library has only the third “Liverpool Argus comes to untimely end and
(and probably final) volume. An announcement with it the chess column by H.E. Kidson.” I.L.N.
appeared in the Irish Sportsman of 19 November described it as a weekly temperance paper.
1887: “A new weekly paper entitled A1 will Argus and Express. Weekly newspaper pub-
shortly appear with a chess column conducted lished in Ayr, Scotland; Whyld, page 30, incor-
by Mrs. T. B. Rowland of Irish chess fame….” rectly has Ayrshire at start of the title. Chess ran
Abergele and Pensarn Times and Visitors’ Rec- 6 April 1878 to 27 May 1882 (but irregular in
ord. Abergele, north Wales. Whyld, page 9, the final months). This column was said by
states there was chess in May 1909. Whyld to be “probably by Frank Norton,” with
“F. Morton” and “Whorton” given as alternates.
Academy. London periodical; Whyld, page 10,
However, the Postcard match United Kingdom
A.J.G. found chess 19 March 1904 to 25 June
versus USA in the 1870s was organized by Hugh
1904; edited by Gunsberg.
Bryan of Ayr who had previously conducted two
Accrington Observer and Times. Whyld, page columns in Glasgow papers. William T. Morton
10, says chess in 1890. of Ayr was on the team, but we believe Bryan is
Advertiser. North Shields. Whyld, page 11, says the more plausible candidate for editor.
chess in 1886. He provided insufficient infor- Around and About. Whyld, page 24, and infor-
mation to determine what title is meant; the mation from A.J.G.: only seven issues were pub-
British Library has no holdings at that period lished, in London, 15 November 1885 to 28 Jan-
of a paper with this title. uary 1886. Editor unknown.
Advertiser. Hartlepool: see Hartlepool Adver- Art and Literature. Glasgow monthly art mag-
tiser and Railway Time List. azine, 1889. Whyld, page 25. Column by T. H.
Amateur Chess Magazine (later The Amateur). Billington. A.J.G. says problems only.
Whyld, page 18, but, strictly speaking, not a col- Ashore or Afloat: A Weekly Review of Sport,
umn but rather a magazine with mostly chess Fisheries, &c at Home and Abroad. Minor Lon-
content. Edited by J. T. C. Chatto, 1872–1874 don weekly, published between 6 July 1883 and
(see Chapter 5 and Appendix II). 11 January 1884; compare Whyld, page 25. Sig-
Amateur Musician. Leamington Spa. Whyld, nificant only in that it included Steinitz’s last
page 18, says chess August 1889 to 1893 but the chess column in England, from the first issue
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 299

until his resignation was announced on 14 Sep- September 1887 and from October to Decem-
tember. These columns have been reprinted by ber the same articles appeared in the Belfast
Moravian Chess (see also Chapter 3). Weekly News [q.v.]. This column continued in
Auckland and County Chronicle. Bishop’s Auck- 1888 (still with no diagrams and no regular day
land, Durham. Whyld, page 27, hints at chess in of the week) until it settled down on Thursdays
or between 1883 and 1889. from 26 April. It also appeared in the Northern
Whig [q.v.]. Whyld correctly says a later chess
The Aylestonian. School magazine in Hereford- editor was W. J. Allen from 1911 to 1956. Whyld
shire with chess, ca. 1890, according to WAT, names Thomas Martin as editor in 1889, but
but not seen by this author and not in Whyld. that was probably a confusion with the Belfast
Ayrshire Argus and Express. Incorrect title in Weekly News [q.v.]. All columns were probably
Whyld; see Argus and Express. associated with the main Belfast chess club.
Bacup and Rossendale News. Lancashire paper; Belfast Weekly News. Published Saturdays and
compare Whyld, page 31. Chess by Ethelbert available digitized in B.N.A. (but not yet the
Holt for a few months in 1887 according to years 1899–1903 inclusive). From 29 October
Holt’s profile in The Chess Bouquet. 1887 to end of the year it reprinted the Belfast
Bakers’ National Association Review. Whyld, Chess Club column, identical with that in the
page 32, says this was a trade journal with chess Belfast News-Letter [q.v.]. A new column (with
between 1905 and 1907. diagrams) by Thomas Martin started 14 January
Bank Notes. Whyld, page 35, says chess in 1905. 1888 and ran to the end of 1901. There was no
chess in 1902.
Barnet Press. North London. A.J.G. says first
run of chess began at the end of 1893; Whyld, Belfast Weekly Post. Whyld, page 40, says 1861
page 36, cites a column in 1974. (no further details), citing Murray and the Era,
but almost certainly a ghost, or mistake for Bel-
Bath and Cheltenham Gazette. Bath weekly
fast Weekly News [q.v.]. The only Belfast Weekly
with column by Elijah Williams (mostly prob-
Post known to B.L. (and hence WATIRL) was
lems, some games) from 8 September 1840 to
published from 1882 to 1884.
21 October 1846, but with gaps; compare Whyld,
page 37. Belgian Times and News (also European Express
Bath Chronicle. Chess in 1906 says Whyld, page and Belgian Times and News); weekly; Whyld,
37. page 40, says chess by Zukertort in 1875. A.J.G.
says it doesn’t seem to be available in Brussels;
Bath Reporter and Guardian. Chess in 1913 B.L. has only 1901–1909.
says Whyld, page 37.
Bath Weekly Argus. Chess in 1888, 1893 etc., Bell’s Life in London, and Sporting Chronicle.
says Whyld, page 37. The first regular chess column in a London
news paper, discussed in detail in Chapter 2.
Bedfordshire Advertiser and Luton Times. Bell’s Life, a weekly in the years when it had
Whyld, page 39, but see Luton Times by which chess, has been digitized and is available in
title this paper was generally known in the 19th B.N.A. and elsewhere. Some of its chess articles
century. are available free at www.chessarch.com/excava
Belfast News-Letter. Belfast daily with Unionist tions/excavations.php/. Whyld, page 40, is mis-
readership, digitized by B.N.A. Column by Wil- leading. After occasional chess reports in 1834,
liam Steen on Thursdays began 19 March 1886 George Walker’s pioneering column started on
with news, games and some problems. This con- 4 January 1835, and with a major expansion of
tinued until 9 December; then Saturdays 11, 18 the newspaper on 12 October 1845, the column
and 25 December 1886; 1 and 8 January 1887 was expanded and problems introduced. Walker
then became irregular until it ended in June. retired in May 1873 but further articles ap-
Second series, initially by William Campbell, re- peared up to 30 August. There were also occa-
sumed in the News-Letter only from Wed. 15 sional chess items (mostly problems) later, e.g.,
300 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

10 and 18 October 1874; problem 839 on 12 June William Cook from 30 September to November
1875 was the last. 1882, transferred from the Birmingham Weekly
Berkshire Chronicle. Whyld, page 42, says chess News [q.v.].
on 28 January 1905. Birmingham Weekly Mercury. Chess edited by
R. J. Buckley, 9 March 1889–23 March 1907
Birmingham Advertiser. Whyld, page 46, states
stated in Whyld. A J.G.W.C. pdf (from a scrap-
2 August 1838. Just a one-off article about chess
book) may still available online from the Cleve-
was found, on the stated date.
land Public Library website; it only goes up to
Birmingham Daily Mail (later Birmingham Eve- 8 July 1893.
ning Mail). A.J.G. says chess ran 11 June 1887– Birmingham Weekly News. Birmingham, En-
10 June 1889; compare Whyld, page 46. There gland. Whyld, page 47, says William Cook col-
were also news reports of special events such as umn from 15 July 1882 to 23 September 1882
Blackburne’s visits. only, transferring to Birmingham Saturday Night
Birmingham Daily Times. Whyld, page 46, says [q.v.].
chess by R. Taylor from April to June 1887. Birmingham Weekly Post. Whyld, page 47, says
Birmingham Evening Despatch. A.J.G. corrects chess column 1898–1900.
the title of this entry: Whyld had his main entry Births, Marriages and Deaths. London weekly
under Evening Despatch on page 134 and a cross- published 1871–1872; chess column by Frank
reference from Birmingham Despatch on page Healey from 20 May 1872 (problem 1) to 30
46. A.J.G. says chess 13 October 1904 to 5 May September 1872. Columns are available free at
1905. www.chessarch.com/excavations/excavations.
Birmingham Gazette. Whyld, page 47, says chess php/ listed under “London Births, Marriages
from 21 June 1889 to 27 January 1904 edited by and Deaths.” Whyld lists under New Family
R. J. Buckley from 14 October 1896. A.J.G. says Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths but not
the subsequent column by W. Ritson Morry ran clear that is correct title. B.L. lists under the
from 30 August 1931 (Whyld had 18 January shorter title used here.
1930) until 13 September 1931 (Whyld had 4 Black and White. London illustrated weekly.
April 1931), and possibly later. Column by L. Hoffer, announced on 18 Febru-
The Birmingham Journal. Not in Whyld but ary 1893, ran from 4 March to 5 August 1893
found digitized in B.N.A. “A column for chess only. A second column by A. Emery from 3
players,” editor unknown, appearing irregularly November 1896 possibly continued (according
between 17 June 1865 and 26 December 1868 to Whyld, page 48) to 21 September 1907 or
(57 articles in total). later. The Hoffer articles and the later ones from
1896 only (so far) are available free listed as
Birmingham Mercury. Whyld, page 47, con- “London Black and White” at www.chessarch.
fused this weekly paper, which closed in 1858 com/excavations/excavations.php/.
and did not have the word “Weekly” in the title,
Blackfriars Chess Journal. Whyld, page 48, lists
with the later Birmingham Weekly Mercury [q.v.].
this as a column, but it was a magazine. See
The chess column by T. H. Lowe ran from 4
Chapter 5.
March 1854 to 6 December 1856 at least [1857
is unavailable], and he organized the second The Bohemian: An Unconventional Journal.
known correspondence tourney. London, 8 January–13 August 1887; magazine
edited first by Antony Guest (according to The
Birmingham News. See Whyld, page 47. Vari- Chess Bouquet) and then after six months by
ous, including contributions by “Captain King” James Mortimer with one or more (anonymous)
in 1913 to September 1914 and maybe earlier; chess editors. There were 32 issues; the second
F. R. Gittins ca. 1903 and probably to 1907. volume was never completed. Whyld, page 50,
Birmingham Saturday Night. Whyld, page 389, names various contributors, but probably the
lists under Saturday Night, saying column by problem editor Dr. Charles Planck was the chief;
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 301

the Dublin Evening Mail of 19 May 1887 said he 53; evidently a duplicate for Boy’s Illustrated
had ended the column. Weekly Newspaper which he listed on page 54.
Bolton Chronicle. Whyld, page 50, says chess The Boys’ Illustrated News. London; B.L. cat-
ran 1897–1914 with the same content as the alog says it was published 6 April 1861–31 May
Southport Advertiser [q.v.]. 1882. Whyld has an entry on page 54 attributing
Bolton Weekly Journal and District News. Lan- a column by J. P. Taylor. This has not yet been
cashire (now Greater Manchester); compare checked but it is fairly evident that the chess was
Whyld, page 50. The column by H. E. Bird (dis- NOT in this paper but rather in The Boys’ News-
cussed at length in Chapter 3) ran from 2 De- paper [q.v.] with which it was incorporated from
cember 1882 to 24 November 1883 inclusive. 7 June 1882 before both were subsumed in the
The same column appeared in the Sheffield and new title, Youth [q.v.].
Rotherham Independent [q.v.] and sometimes in The Boys’ Illustrated Weekly (News)paper.
other newspapers. The B.L. catalog shows that Whyld, page 54, says there was a column by J.
the subtitle “and Guardian” stated by Whyld was G. Cunningham in 1892 and later, which may
actually only adopted in 1893. be correct but this title cannot be found in B.L.
Boro’ of West Ham, East Ham, and Stratford There is also a duplicate entry on page 53 under
Express. East London; Whyld, page 427, says plain “Boys.”
chess by F. W. Markwick from 1904 to 1948. The Boy’s Journal: A Magazine of Literature,
Bournemouth Observer and Fashionable Visi- Science, Adventure, and Amusement. London-
tors’ List. Published in Bournemouth from 1875 published journal for adolescents, approx. 1863
to 1901. Whyld, page 53, said chess on Tuesdays to 1871, according to WAT, which names George
between 1893 and 1899. Frederick Pardon as a contributor. Chess was
Bournemouth Visitors’ Directory and Poole etc. already in the first issue and in this case he did
Weekly paper for East Dorset area (part of not call himself Captain Crawley. Checkers was
which was then in Hampshire) published be- also introduced in Volume 3 (ca. July 1864) but
tween 1868 and 1919. Whyld, page 53, said chess after October 1865 and throughout 1866 no
ran 1889–1906. B.L. catalog says the long title more chess or checkers was seen (n.b.: Whyld
varies. has the apostrophe after the s in Boy’s and places
the entry in the wrong order alphabetically).
Bow Bells. London weekly magazine which
started as Bow Bells (1862–1887) and was re- Boys’ News. 1887; Whyld, page 54. This may be
launched 6 January 1888 as Bow Bells Weekly, a a ghost arising from confusion with one of the
journal for the home (running until 1897). Bow similar titles.
Bells has been mostly (if not yet completely) The Boys’ Newspaper. London tabloid, pub-
digitized. Searches imply that in all there were lished 15 September 1880–26 July 1882. Whyld,
617 articles with Chess in the title, between page 53, lists under “Boys’ News” and queries
1873 and 1890 with two breaks. A long-running whether same as Boys’ Illustrated Weekly Paper
column commenced in December 1873 (Vol- (Whyld, page 54) but B.L. has no publication
ume 19, no. 490), continuing to December 1884 with that precise title. The chess editor was J. Paul
(Volume 41, no. 1064). After a year with little Taylor who was profiled in The Chess Bouquet,
chess, it was revived in December 1885 until 28 page 157. The column of 4 January 1882 included
December 1887 when chess editor C. F. Potts problem 68 so chess had probably been running
signed off, saying that his late father had started throughout but this remains to be verified. There
the puzzle page. After the 1888 relaunch, chess was no byline. The Boys’ Newspaper took over
resumed 26 July 89 and a correspondence tour- Boys’ Illustrated News [q.v.] a few weeks before
ney began on 31 January 1890! (There had been both were subsumed in the new paper, Youth
two in an earlier series.) The column ended [q.v.]—more or less as W. N. Potter explained in
abruptly after 26 December 1890. Land and Water, 5 August 1882, the old Boy’s
Boys. A very doubtful entry in Whyld on page Newspaper chess column transferring to Youth.
302 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Boy’s Own Paper. Volume 1 ( January–Septem- at least. This column is not in Whyld; discov-
ber 1879) in the B.L. is bound as Boy’s Own An- ered by Chris Williams who passed information
nual. Chess starts on page 80 and The Chess Bou- to this author who was researching Miss Eliza
quet, page 90, names German-born H. F. L. Thorold, who lived in Bridlington.
Meyer as editor; he contributed many problems Brief. London news digest (with various forms
and the first game. Volume 2 (October 1879– of the title). Chess by Francis C. Collins, mostly
September 1880) was published at the Leisure about problems but with some London club
Hour office and among the contributors were news, including early chess problems by Miss
listed “Captain Crawley” (who wrote on check- Beechey in 1880. According to Whyld the col-
ers), Herr Meyer, and Jules Verne. Whyld, page umn ran from 19 January 1878 until February
53, says Meyer wrote this column until 1925! 1881 (but 1878 was not seen by us). The origi-
Whyld says the column was continued by Edwin nal (1877) title was Brief: A Weekly Epitome of
Gardiner to 1935, and there was also a column Current News, Thought and Criticism which by
by J. B. Howson in 1964–1965 at least. 1879 had become Brief: A Weekly Epitome of the
Bradford Observer Budget. This was the weekly Press… and it incorporated The Week’s News.
edition of the Bradford Observer, published in Other title variations followed until it was con-
Yorkshire. (In 1901 that newspaper changed its tinued as Brief News & Opinion on 26 February
title to the Yorkshire Daily Observer and again in 1881, without chess.
1909 to The Yorkshire Observer.) Whyld, page 54, Brighton Guardian. Published weekly on Wed-
says the long-running chess column (with mostly nesdays. Chess column by H. W. Butler from 9
local content) in the Budget began on 13 May February 1881 (confirmed) to 15 November
1882 with D. Y. Mills as editor, succeeded (when 1882. Whyld, page 57, lists it under Brighton &
Mills left the city) by Hartwig Cassel (from Hove Guardian but when there was chess in the
1883 until his emigration to New York in 1889). 1880s the title was plain Brighton Guardian, The
He was succeeded by J. A. Woollard (an em- column was followed by the Sussex Chess Mag-
ployee of that newspaper according to The Chess azine—see Chapter 5.
Bouquet) until, at the end of 1910, the title was Brighton Herald. Column by W. T. Pierce (men-
changed to the Yorkshire Observer Budget [q.v.]. tioned in Whyld, page 57) was originally headed
Bradford Weekly Telegraph. Whyld, page 55, “Scientific, Athletic, and Other Amusements”
said chess from April 1893 to 31 December 1915, when it began 28 September 1878; chess was
edited by J. E. Hall. A.J.G. found chess began 7 only a weekly problem at first. Other featured
January 1893 but it has not been possible to sports in the early weeks included bicycling, pi-
check 1916 as the B.L. item “is too fragile.” The geon flying, croquet, athletics, and football. The
B.L. catalog shows the title of the newspaper column ran until 15 January 1881 when Pierce
was Bradford Weekly Telegraph until 12 April decided to stop “in order to rest from Chess for
1884, then Illustrated Weekly Telegraph until 29 a while.” Since 1880 is unavailable in the B.L.,
July 1889, after which the title reverted to Brad- 1879 is the only full year available. Some years
ford Weekly Telegraph. One notes also that in of this newspaper have been digitized in B.N.A.
1905 the full title on the masthead was Bradford but 1881 is the only one during the span of the
Weekly Telegraph and Shipley and Keighley Record column. By then it was only chess.
up to Saturday 17 June 1905. Then from Friday Brighton Society. Magazine published in
23 June publication moved to Fridays with the Brighton, Sussex. A.J.G. says chess 2 September
shorter title. The column in the Shipley Times 1893 (correcting Whyld, page 57) until 25 No-
[q.v.] appears to be identical, at least in some vember 1904. The first editor is unknown. The
years. From July 1920 the Bradford Weekly Tele- column was conducted by Dr. J. W. Hunt from
graph merged into the Yorkshire Observer Budget 15 December 1894 to 11 January 1902, accord-
[q.v.]. ing to Whyld, and thereafter by Max J. Meyer.
Bridlington Free Press. Syndicated column by Some articles in the series are available on a
the pseudonymous “Captain King,” ca. 1903–4 J.G.W.C. microfilm.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 303

Bristol Daily Post. Whyld, page 58, says 1861– Whyld, page 59. The chess column by Howard
1867. The column was mentioned on 14 April Staunton was the antecedent of the Chess Player’s
1861 in the Era. One of Whyld’s sources said Chronicle, discussed in detail in Chapter 6 of this
1862–1864 but Whyld (Hooper) says not 1864. book. Six of his articles are available free at www.
Only year available in B.L. recently was 1862: chessarch.com/excavations/excavations.php/.
Chess anonymous (but attributed to A. Hollo- British Realm. Whyld, page 59, says chess in
way), appeared on Mondays, usually page 2, 1897.
local news and games, no diagrams. Holloway
immigrated to Australia at some point and had Burnley Express. Lancashire weekly with col-
a column in a local paper there in the 1880s. umn by J. Thursby (while still a Cambridge un-
dergraduate, before he inherited the baronetcy
The Bristol Mercury. Daily paper, available in from his father, a local dignitary). Whyld, page
B.N.A. Whyld, page 58, but on page 266 he con- 61, says the column ran from September 1879
fusingly has a second entry under “Mercury and to June 1882 “and later.” We saw 1881 and the
Post.” The newspaper masthead often mentions column appeared to end with the 8 April article;
the Daily Post and other titles that had been ab- perhaps was revived later.
sorbed in 1878 (as shown in the B.L. catalog),
but “Bristol Mercury” was the main title. The Burnley Gazette. Not in Whyld, but found in
column by T. B. and F. F. Rowland (of Dublin) B.N.A. “Chess and Draughts by Captain King”
ran in the Saturday weekend supplement, from ran 28 July 1906 to 18 February 1911.
2 February 1884 (following a big overview ar- Bury Guardian. Bury, Lancashire; Whyld, page
ticle about the Bristol and Clifton Chess Asso- 63, says chess 1891–1894 by the Rev. W. Reyn-
ciation on 26 January 1884) until 26 December olds but the B.L. catalog shows that the word
1896. Articles include local material and some Weekly was not in the newspaper title.
copy that also appears in their Dublin Evening The Cambrian. Swansea, Wales. Weekly news-
Mail and (up to 1889) Sheffield Weekly Independ- paper; compare Whyld, page 64. One of the ear-
ent columns. Several times there are reports of liest Welsh chess columns, ed. James Glass (by-
current chess events on weekdays also, presum- lined) from 9 October 1891 to at least the end
ably contributed by a local reporter. There was of 1893, possibly to 1899.
possibly a 20th century column by somebody
Captain. Magazine for juveniles; Whyld, page
else.
67, says chess in 1907.
Bristol Observer. Whyld, page 58, says chess in
Cardiff Weekly Mail. See Weekly Mail, as Whyld
1913.
says.
Bristol Times & Mirror. Whyld, page 58, says
Cassell’s Family Magazine. Whyld, page 68,
chess from 1884. Perhaps only a few reports.
says problem tourneys in 1881. Chess did not
British Amateur. Whyld, page 58, tentatively continue here when the next listed title closed.
suggests this may have been a manuscript mag- Cassell’s Illustrated Family Paper. London
azine in 1872, with chess by James White. Not weekly published December 1853–March 1867.
found in B.L. or WAT. Chess column by Henry Cook Mott ran through-
British American Magazine. Whyld, page 59; out the life of this paper; contra Whyld, page 68,
A.J.G. says it was published in Toronto, Canada, it did not end December 1863. Mott organized
1863–1864. several correspondence and problem tourneys
British Deaf Times. Whyld, page 59, says chess through the column. J.G.W.C. has a scrapbook
in 1909. with all (or almost all) the chess columns, avail-
able on microfilm and possibly in pdf. This pe-
British Empire. Whyld, page 59, says chess at riodical is almost complete in the B.L., except
various dates. for Volume XIII (28 November 1863 to 21 May
The British Miscellany. Literary magazine pub- 1864), which was found in the Bodleian Library,
lished for three months in early 1841; compare Oxford). There are also some volumes in N.L.I.
304 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Cassell’s Popular Educator. Whyld, page 69, Cheltenham Examiner. Gloucestershire weekly
says there were some chess articles in 1899; paper; the original full title, which mentioned
there were probably some earlier also but no several other towns, changed in mid–1908 ac-
regular column. cording to the B.L. catalog; compare Whyld,
Cassell’s Saturday Journal. Whyld, page 69, page 73. The column was begun by Isidor Guns-
says chess 1885–1887. The Chess Bouquet named berg on 30 October 1889. His last article was
both Antony Guest (briefly) and especially J. probably on 19 November 1890 because the
Paul Taylor in connection with this column. next week it was reported he had sailed for New
Whyld mentions “Pierce, Rev. James” but it is York to play Steinitz. Local player W. S. Branch
uncertain if he was associated with the column took over the column which ran to the end of
and doubtful that he was ordained. publication on 25 December 1913. The B.L. says
the paper was then incorporated in the Glouces-
Celtic Times. Dublin weekly edited in 1887 by ter Journal. Branch’s column was revived a few
Michael Cusack, cofounder of the Gaelic Ath- weeks later in the Cheltenham Chronicle [q.v.].
letic Association. Chess known from July 1887 The B.L. holdings for 1890 are too fragile to be
to 24 December 1887 but possibly continued to issued to readers but Michael Clapham helpfully
the demise of the paper in January 1888; the last checked this paper in Cheltenham.
few issues are lost to posterity. The chess editor
Cheltenham Looker-On. Local magazine; com-
was Cusack’s nominal coeditor A. Morrison
pare Whyld, page 73. Available digitized in
Miller. The (not quite complete) set in Clare
B.N.A., showing an anonymous column begin-
County Library was reprinted in book form as
ning with problem No. 1 on 23 October 1909
The Celtic Times: Michael Cusack’s Gaelic Games
(also local and international news and games)
Newspaper (Ennis 2003). Whyld, page 69, hints
continuing until Problem 179 on 2 March 1912.
at a 7 July 1888 issue. If indeed the paper was
The column was explicitly discontinued on this
relaunched, which is unproven, it had no con-
date. Obituary 20 July 1912 of Col. George
nection with Cusack and probably had no chess
Forbes (ex–Indian Army) who died in his 76th
(according to the Northern Figaro, 16 June 1888).
year: “As a chess player he was not only a promi-
Chatter. Whyld, page 72, says chess in 1907. nent member of the Cheltenham Chess Club,
Cheadle Herald. Whyld, page 72, says chess Au- but had gained much distinction elsewhere as a
gust 1879 to March 1882. problem solver.” Possibly he had been the editor
but this was not stated?
Cheltenham Chronicle. Weekly paper available
in B.N.A. (except for missing issue of 19 Decem- Cheshire County News. Whyld, page 73, says
ber 1931). Whyld, page 72, correctly says there chess in 1909.
was chess by W. S. Branch from 28 February Cheshire Daily Echo. Whyld, page 74, says chess
1914; in effect this was a resumption of his Chel- in 1913: apparently a “Captain King” syndicated
tenham Examiner column [q.v.]. After news re- column.
ports of local chess activities (from 1911 at Chichester Parochial Magazine. Not in Whyld;
least), which also continued, the column ran A.J.G. says an issue about 8/1881 had the results
until 21 January 1933. That column included of a problem competition.
problem 996 and ended by saying the chess ed-
Church and Home Magazine. London; Whyld,
itor would not be able to resume next week fol-
page 77, says chess in 1901.
lowing an attack of bronchitis. Branch died the
next day (according to Whyld, verified in Falkirk City Press. London 1890–1893 says Whyld,
Herald of 1 February). The Chronicle ran an page 79, but The Chess Bouquet, page 226, says
obituary on 28 January. Occasional news re- that A.C. Challenger had a problem published
ports about Cheltenham Chess Club were pub- in that paper in April 1894.
lished after his death. Whyld mentions later Civil Service Observer. London; Whyld, page
columns (1952–1960 by D. Love and N. A. 79, says chess by W. O. Woodfield in 1913 at
McLeod 1961–1962). least.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 305

Clifton Chronicle and Directory. Published nounced on 18 January 1902 that the Cork eve-
weekly in Clifton, a suburb of Bristol. Contra ning paper had started a chess column.
Whyld, page 80, who gave a start date of March Cork Weekly News. Irish weekly; compare Whyld,
1882, the column was already running (with page 84, whose information is incomplete. A
local news and games but no diagrams) at the local column edited by Archibald Smith ran
start of 1882 so had presumably begun the pre- from 12 October 1901 to 6 September 1902. It
vious year, or earlier. No editor was named but resumed on 20 September 1902, probably con-
it was possibly the Rev. J. E. Vernon, a local ex- ducted by Richard Archer until 24 December
pert. Whyld said the column ran until 28 No- 1904. Between 1905 (4 February) and the end
vember 1896 and named two editors: H. M. of 1906 the column was by the British Chess
Prideaux (1886 to May 1890) and then H. H. Company (attributed to W. Moffatt on 23 Oc-
Davis to the end. A.J.G. queries the start, which tober 1905). From 4 January 1907 to the end of
he found to be 11 March 1885, so there was pre- April 1916 the editor was Mrs. Rowland; the
sumably a break between the original column content was often very similar to the Weekly Irish
and the re-start by Prideaux. The last editor, Times [q.v.]. From May 1916 the editor is un-
Henry Hosey Davis, was profiled in The Chess known (possibly a local Cork player). A closure
Bouquet, page 74. announcement appeared on 27 January 1917
Clifton Observer. Whyld, page 80, says 1891 but when the Irish correspondence tournaments
there is no such title in the B.L. So this (as sus- were taken over by W. J. Allen of the Belfast
pected by A.J.G.) is probably a ghost, arising News-Letter.
from confusion with the previous listing. Cork Weekly Times. Whyld, page 84, says chess
Clontarf Parochial Magazine. Dublin, ca. 1888– 1901 naming a Murray list as his source, but this
1890, edited by T. B. Rowland. This publication is a ghost. There was no such title at that date.
(a Church of Ireland local magazine) is unavail- See Cork Weekly News for the correct informa-
able but A.J.G. found two examples of the col- tion.
umn in a J.G.W.C. microfilm (from a scrapbook), Cornish and Devon Post. Chess in 1907, says
including problems numbered 11 (which can be Whyld, page 84.
dated January 1890) and 18.
Cornish Telegraph [and Mining, Agricultural,
Coffee Palace and Temperance Journal. Dublin and Commercial Gazette]. Penzance weekly,
temperance journal: WATIRL 1045, but with digitized in the B.N.A. compare Whyld, page
doubtful date and “Dublin” at start of the title. 84. “The Game of Chess” column (anonymous)
There was some chess, possibly 1888 to 1891; began 22 January 1902 and continued to 1914
compare Whyld, page 81, and the discussion at but became shorter and irregular towards the
the end of Chapter 3. The National Library of end.
Scotland holds one complete issue, and some
copies of this column appear to exist in a micro- County Express for Worcestershire. Whyld,
filmed scrapbook at J.G.W.C. page 87, says Chess from 1897 to 1905 G. E. H.
Bellingham.
Common Sense. Dublin monthly (WATIRL
722), not in Whyld. Successor to the Coffee The Court Gazette. No entry under this title in
Palace and Temperance Journal, published 1893– Whyld. See New Court Gazette (which was the
1901. A few issues (October 1895 and October later title).
1896 at least) included chess articles by W.H.S. Coventry Independent Journal. Whyld, page
Monck. 89, says chess from 1876 to 1879, naming C. G.
Cork Weekly Examiner. This title, not in Whyld, Gibbs as editor. The correct initials may have
is WATIRL 842. Chess from 8 February 1902 been J. C. Gibbs.
to 14 March 1903. Thomas Coleman was named The Cricket and Football Field. Sporting weekly
as editor in the Dublin Evening Mail, 15 March published in Bolton, Lancashire, and sometimes
1902, which had previously erroneously an- referred to by contemporaries as the Football
306 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Field. Chess 1892–1915 says Whyld; mostly prob- the summer of 1893, news reports began to ap-
lems and solving tourney lists but the paper or- pear more regularly, usually on Mondays and
ganized a correspondence tourney from 1908 with games. The Daily News column proper can
to 1910. Whyld names T. Taverner (aka “White be dated from 7 August 1893 when problems
Knight”) as the first chess editor with F. Baird were introduced, beginning with the first of a
taking over from 10 March 1906. B.N.A. has dig- series of eight original compositions by Black-
itized some years. burne.
Cromer and North Norfolk Post. Whyld, page The column later moved to Tuesdays and
90, says chess in 1906. gradually petered out early in 1902 (Problem 419
on 18 January) although occasional news re-
Croydon Guardian. Weekly in south London
ports appeared, e.g., about the Monte Carlo in-
suburb where the Surrey Chess Association was
ternational tournament. A new heading for the
started. Chess by Joseph Steele 1877 to 1885
column, “The Chessboard” instead of “Chess”
says Whyld. Correspondence tourneys 1882–
(but still with no byline) was adopted from Sat.
1885 but difficult to verify as several years were
14 June 1902 but the problem numbering con-
found to be unfit for use in B.L.
tinued as before. Whyld says A. Emery began a
Daily Chronicle. London; Whyld, page 93, new column from March 1904 to uncertain date;
mentions a Gunsberg column of unclear dates, this is confirmed as Thurs. 17 March 1904 was
but probably including late 1894. found to have problem 1. Emery was given a by-
The Daily Chronicle & Northern Counties Ad- line from Friday 26 May 1905. His column last
vertiser. Newcastle; the information in Whyld, appeared on Saturday 4 May 1912. New columns
page 93, is inaccurate. See below under “New- were run in the 1920s according to Whyld.
castle” for a summary of the chess columns in Daily Post. Liverpool. Whyld, page 96, says
the city, including this one. Also see Chapter 3 chess appeared ca. 1893–1899.
for a detailed discussion of the various newspa-
Daily Record & Mail. Glasgow. Whyld, page
pers in Newcastle.
96, says chess started some time in 1896 and last
Daily Express. Dublin edition: Whyld, page 94, appeared 7 May 1897.
cross-refers to the Dublin Evening Mail but it
The Daily Telegraph. London; compare Whyld,
seems likely there was no connection. Searches
page 97. This major national newspaper (sup-
in the B.N.A. show that the Irish Daily Express
portive of the Conservative Party) is not yet dig-
did carry occasional news reports on chess, es-
itized but is available in the British Library
pecially in the 1860s, but no regular column.
Newsroom on open access microfilms at refer-
The reports were partly of Irish chess activities,
ence MLD7. The Telegraph’s supposed 1867 col-
the rest being copied from English newspapers.
umn was actually a one-off article on 4 January.
Daily Mail. London national newspaper, with In 1899 a proper column began, originally in the
chess by J. Mortimer from 14 November 1906 Sunday Daily Telegraph [q.v.] before transferring
to unspecified date in 1908 according to Whyld, to the daily paper’s Saturday edition and possi-
page 95. He also mentioned columns from 8 Oc- bly continuing for decades without a break, but
tober 1919 to 4 May 1920 (by R. C. Griffith) and that has not been verified. Content was usually
by W. Hatton Ward from 14 October 1927 to minimal. Isidor Gunsberg was certainly con-
1935 and later, but A.J.G. says no column in 1929. ducting it until well into the 1920s; for further
Daily Messenger. Paris 1843. See Galignani’s details see Chapter 4. After Gunsberg’s retire-
Messenger. ment or death, F. D. Yates has been named as
Daily News. London. B.N.A. has digitized this correspondent from 1929 until his own death
as “London Daily News” up to the end of 1912 in 1932 but we found no regular articles. There
so the whole of the early chess columns are were later columns by B. H. Wood and others,
available online. Whyld, page 95, mentions chess as detailed by Whyld.
from 22 June 1896 (attributed to Gunsberg) but Dalton News. Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria;
there was already Problem 148 on that day. In Whyld, page 98, said this paper had chess in 1890.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 307

Darlington Chronicle. Whyld, page 98, men- Devon and Exeter [Daily] Gazette. Published
tions chess from 1893 (or earlier) until 1899 ed- in Exeter; digitized by B.N.A. as the Exeter and
ited by F. W. Downey. Plymouth Gazette, a title not used after 1885.
Darwen News. Lancashire; compare Whyld, Whyld, page 109, lists under Devon and Exeter
page 100. Chess by Ethelbert Holt, from 1889 Daily Gazette which was the title adopted in
to at least 1897, with the same content as the April 1903; prior to that “Daily” was not in-
Rossendale Free Press [q.v.] and some other local cluded. Whyld says chess from October 1898 to
papers in the county. December 1908 “and later,” by “King’s Rook,”
the nom-de-plume of a local player. Articles were
Daventry Express. Chess in 1903–1905 says usually published on Tuesdays until after the
Whyld, page 100. First World War, sometimes with weeks missed.
Derby and Derbyshire Gazette. This was the From 1920 and up to the end on 25 February
first column conducted by Fred Thompson of 1932 this column was published on Thursdays.
Derby. Whyld, page 103, said it ran from June Dewsbury Reporter. Yorkshire. Chess in 1893
1876 to 3 January 1878, after which it trans- says Whyld, page 109.
ferred to the Derbyshire Advertiser [q.v.] but this The Dial. London, nonconformist journal pub-
is not quite correct. Chess actually began 24 lished from 7 January 1860 to 4 June 1864. The
March 1876 and the last column to appear was Rev. Henry Solly was associated with The Dial
on 21 December 1877. It then transferred to the and his memoirs say something about its failure.
Derbyshire Advertiser [q.v.]. Whyld, page 109, says Löwenthal column from
Derby Mercury. Not in Whyld but found digi- January 1861 until 7 March 1863 but the latter
tized in B.N.A. Chess column edited by “Cas- date is incorrect. After 17 April 1862 The Dial
tledene” from 13 January 1897 until 5 May 1897. changed to a larger page format with fewer pages
On that date it announced suspension until the and next appeared on 26 April. It was now a
next chess season but it did not return. newspaper on Saturdays instead of a magazine
Derbyshire Advertiser. Weekly, digitized in the and chess was dropped. Early columns from 4
B.N.A.; full title being The Derbyshire Advertiser January 1861 to 22 February 1861 only are avail-
and North Staffordshire Journal. The chess col- able (listed as “London Dial”) at www.chess
umn by Fred Thompson transferred from the arch.com/excavations/excavations.php/.
Derby and Derbyshire Gazette [q.v.]. The first ar- Diss, Harleston, Bungay, Beccles & Eye Jour-
ticle was published on 4 January 1878 but was nal. Norfolk; Whyld, page 111, says chess by
datelined 3 January (which seems to have mis- John Keeble in 1912.
led Whyld, page 104). Whyld dated the end of Dover Express and East Kent News. Whyld,
the column incorrectly. In 1880 chess appeared page 115, says chess by R. F. B. Jones in 1898.
irregularly and never returned after 21 May Jones was in fact editor (and perhaps propri-
(datelined 20 May). See also Chapter 3 for more etor) of The Dover Express. Now digitized in
details. B.N.A. (though some years are missing). This
Dereham and Fakenham Times. Norfolk; shows that there were frequent chess reports
Whyld, page 104, says chess in 1907 by John prior to, and after, the start of a regular column
Keeble. with numbered problems which began on Fri-
day 9 December 1898, continuing to Problem
Design and Work. Weekly technical and scien- 116 on 9 October 1903. After that, the occa-
tific journal with well-regarded chess column by sional reports continued but the column proper
W. R. Bland (of Derby), running from 12 Octo- ended.
ber 1878 to 20 August 1881 as stated in Whyld,
page 104. Chess ended because the magazine Downham Market Gazette. Whyld, page 115,
was absorbed into Mechanical World [q.v.] which says chess in 1907 by Keeble.
dropped the column. See Chapter 3 for more Drawing Room & Dilettanti Review. London
details. publication, unknown to the B.L. and probably
308 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

lost to posterity. Whyld, page 115, mentions it. East Anglian Daily Times. Ipswich. Whyld, page
C.P.C. 1861 referred to it on page 2 and again on 120, says chess 1889–1890.
page 66 in its imaginary dialogues as a new six- The East Central Times. London weekly, a con-
penny paper with a good chess column. The tinuation of the Shoreditch Citizen [q.v.] from 17
chess editor was possibly R. B. Brien. August 1889 until 27 December 1890 when it
Dublin Evening Mail. Published six days a week, ceased publication. Those two papers for 1889
but the B.L. holdings and B.N.A. digitization are bound together in the B.L. The volume for
are incomplete as explained in the Irish section 1890 is deemed unfit for use by readers. The
at the end of Chapter 3. The chess column by column transferred in January 1891 to the Mer-
Thomas Rowland started 16 July 1885 and con- cury [q.v.], which was the successor to the Hack-
tinued on Thursdays until March 1900 when it ney Mercury and North London Herald [q.v.].
moved to Saturdays. The column ended on 29 East Lancashire Review. Whyld, page 120, says
March 1902, probably written latterly by Frides- chess in 1891. No such title in the B.L. catalog.
wide Rowland. Whyld’s information on page East London Observer. London weekly, pub-
116 is not fully correct: The Warder [q.v.] was lished in Tower Hamlets. Digitization by the
the title of the weekly paper which also carried B.N.A. has revealed a chess column (with prob-
the column, and there was no connection with lems and games) by Harry Bogdanor (not men-
the Daily Express. The Mail and Warder pub- tioned in Whyld) running with other items
lished the most important Irish column of the under the heading “Sports & Pastimes” 8 Feb-
late 19th century; running problem tourneys, ruary 1913–15 November 1913; other weeks had
five major postal tourneys and other postal some chess news.
matches with much British participation.
Eastbourne Gazette. Sussex; compare Whyld,
Dublin Mail & Warder AND Dublin Weekly page 121. Weekly paper with a chess column,
Warder. Ghosts arising from incorrect title in- from 24 January to 11 July 1894, bylined “Ta
formation from Whyld, page 117: see below Dhuibh” (“Dhuibh” is Irish for Black). This was
under W for The Warder. an early pseudonym (when he was 18 years old)
Dudley Herald. Worcestershire weekly. Chess of E. Aleister Crowley, subsequently a Cam-
edited by George E. H. Bellingham from 25 bridge University chess player and practitioner
April 1891 to 1 June 1895 when the discontin- of what he called “Magick,” who sometimes re-
uation of the column was announced; it was not ferred to himself as “The Great Beast 666.”
read beyond that year. Local correspondence The existence of this column and Crowley’s ca-
tournament in 1893–1895. Whyld, page 117, was reer in chess was revealed by the late Chris Rav-
incorrect in dating the column to 1897. A.J.G. ilious in an article for Chess (December 1997).*
says no chess in 1899. The text of the articles may be found at https://
www.100thmonkeypress.com/biblio/acrowley/
The Dundee Courier & Argus. G. B. Fraser col-
articles/articles.htm.
umn from 14 July 1862 to 23 May 1864. After-
wards news reports, e.g., in 1893 (when title was Eastern Daily Press. Norwich; compare Whyld,
just Dundee Courier), but no regular column, page 121. First column by John Odin Howard
contra Whyld, page 118. There is no mention of Taylor from 30 September 1871 to 28 December
any 1890s column in the Fraser–Whyld corre- 1872. Subsequent columns probably as listed by
spondence at J.G.W.C. The newspaper has been Whyld. The set in Norwich central library was
digitized by B.N.A. Some columns from 1862– destroyed by fire.
1863 are available free at www.chessarch.com/ Echo. London, according to Whyld, page 121:
excavations/excavations.php/. this was in fact the Weekly Echo [q.v.].

*C. P. Ravilious, “Aleister Crowley: A Life In Chess,” Chess (December 1997), pages 24–29. The author is grate-
ful to William Breeze, who is preparing a new edition of Crowley’s autobiographical Confessions, for a copy of this
article and some MS games by Crowley.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 309

Echo Americano. London. Whyld, page 121, says The Era. London Sunday newspaper which has
19 issues were published between 9 May 1871 been digitized in the B.N.A. Compare Whyld,
and 31 December 1872 (B.L. catalog agrees those page 130, and see Chapter 2 for more details.
dates); chess by H. F. L. Meyer from August The original chess column by J. J. Löwenthal ran
1871 to March 1872. The existence of the col- from 19 February 1854 with a byline in the later
umn is testified to in contemporary sources, in- years until the Era explicitly stated that it ended
cluding the Weekly Mail of 31 August 1872, which on 29 April 1866. Several articles are available
says it was a Spanish language magazine. Whyld at www.chessarch.com/excavations/excavations.
said there were English and Portuguese lan- php (listed as “London Era”). An anonymous
guage editions. B.L. has Echo Americano: Peri- column followed from 17 June 1866 to 6 January
odico illustrado but no sign of an English edition. 1867, but it was mostly fortnightly and missing
some weeks. A “new series” (numbering the
Edinburgh Citizen. Not in Whyld but A.J.G.
problems from #1) began on 10 February 1867
says chess 1912 to unknown date, by Francis
to 28 December 1873. Fraser attributed this to
Wenman.
Duffy, but Staunton was probably also involved
Edinburgh Magazine. Small magazine, ed. Alex- at some point.
ander E. Sutherland: July 1872 to June 1873. Essex Herald. Chelmsford 1873 says Whyld,
Contra Whyld, page 124, it was definitely pub- page 132.
lished in Edinburgh. Chess was by James White
(with correspondence tourney). Volume in B.L. Essex Times. 1904–1908 says Whyld, page 132.
lacks January to May 1873; it is unclear whether European Mail. Whyld, page 133, mentions
it was published in those months but internal chess from November 1870 into 1871 but this
evidence suggests that June 1873 was a failed re- has not been sought by us. The B.L. catalog
launch. It is in the Waterloo Directory of Scottish shows there were several differently titled edi-
Periodicals but not mentioned in A Checklist of tions of this publication, which appears to have
Victorian Periodicals in Edinburgh. No. 1 (edited been a digest of European news sent out to dif-
by K. J. Fielding, 1986) which probably means ferent colonial regions: India, South Africa, etc.
there is no copy in any Edinburgh library. Evening Despatch. Birmingham; see under Birm-
England, The Union and the Primrose Chron- ingham Evening Despatch.
icle. Full title supplied by A.J.G.; Whyld, page Evening Echo. Dublin (WATIRL #1317). The
127, said just England with articles by Locock in supposed chess column (1893–1899) in this
1890 and a column in 1891. The newspaper was paper, based on Murray and White’s lists, is
published under this title from 12 April 1890 to probably a ghost, due to a confusion with those
28 May 1898. in the Dublin Evening Mail and Evening Herald.
English Mechanic and World of Science. Lon- B.L. has from 17 February 1894 to 1 May 1895
don weekly published from 1865 to 1926; com- but we found no chess there.
pare Whyld, page 128. Its chess feature (mostly Evening Express. Cardiff, Wales. Whyld, page
devoted to problems) began on 7 June 1872, and 134, is vague, and appears inaccurate, saying
was still running until February 1907 at least. chess columns 1890 to 1899 and later, naming
Some columns from 1872–1873 are available at W. Heitzman as the editor and citing various
www.chessarch.com/excavations/excavations. sources for this information. In fact the column
php/ and some later volumes may be found in began on 3 October 1890 and continued every
Google Books. The early editors were J. W. Ab- Friday at least to the end of that year, but the
bott (7 June 1872–October 1876), then James bylined chess editor was George W. Lennox, an-
Pierce until his death in March 1892. The col- other prominent south Wales player of the pe-
umn resumed on 20 May 1892 with an anony- riod (originally Scottish). The first article did
mous editor, possibly J. P. Taylor (as named by feature a problem by W. Heitzman of Pontypridd.
Whyld) at some point. For more details see It is not known how long this column continued
Chapter 3. or whether it changed into Heitzman’s hands
310 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

later. This column is not mentioned in the Grif- 1878 but it last appeared on 13 June, ending
fiths history of Welsh chess. abruptly, because of the death on 17 June, of
Bryan’s only child, aged 16 months, which was
Evening Herald. (WATIRL 1321): Dublin, 1892–
reported in the Ayr Argus and Express, 22 June
1914 followed by a later column which began in
1878.
1922 and ran until the late 20th century. For
more details see Chapter 3. The column by J. A. Evening Post. London. As Whyld correctly stated
“Porterfield” Rynd began Saturday 5 March on page 136, Isidor Gunsberg started a column
1892 and continued until 15 August 1914, pos- on 9 February 1889 which ran from to 11 May
sibly with some interruptions. For most of this 1889, when two newspapers merged, his series
period (though not 1892) the masthead of the continuing in the new title Evening News and
weekend edition (where chess appeared) was Post [q.v.].
the Saturday Herald. Rynd’s column ceased in
Evening Press. Swansea, south Wales; Whyld,
1914 soon after war broke out. T. B. Rowland
page 137, says chess in 1892.
revived the Herald column on 9 December 1922,
and took back the organization of Irish Corre- Evening Standard. London; various mistakes in
spondence Chess Championship and postal some sources due to the complicated publica-
matches from The Belfast News-Letter. After he tion history are explained in detail in Chapter
died on 13 August 1929, the column (and the 4. Briefly, the original Evening Standard ran from
tournaments) were continued afterwards by 11 June 1859 to 13 March 1905. The title then
T. P. Donnegan and Jim C. Corby until at least became Evening Standard and St. James’s Ga-
the late 1990s when it was eventually replaced zette after a merger with the St. James’s Gazette
by a syndicated problem. [q.v.] and it ran a series of “chess cameos” (high-
quality problems) on Saturdays from 27 May
Evening News. London. This was a continuation
1905, continuing until at least the end of 1909,
from Monday 17 September 1894 of the Evening
contributed by the Rev. Arthur Cyril Pearson.
News and Post [q.v.], retaining Gunsberg’s col-
From 1916, this newspaper’s title became once
umn until at least the end of 1894. Whyld, page
more simply the Evening Standard.
136, mentions a column from 1910 to 1914 (in-
The B.N.A. purports to digitize this under
definite start and finish dates) which we have
the generic title London Evening Standard (up
not seen, and further columns from 1925 on-
to 1900) but that was a mistake by them because
wards.
the pages they show are all from the sister title,
Evening News and Post. London, was incor- the Standard [q.v.], which was published in the
rectly listed under the initial L (for London) in mornings. Whyld, on page 137 about the Eve-
Whyld, page 253. Gunsberg’s column in the Eve- ning Standard, says chess reports began 15 March
ning Post [q.v.] transferred as from 18 May 1889 1892 (“3 or 4 a week”) until the end of May
and continued to at least December 1894. 1892 but that, too, was a confusion with The
Whyld’s statement that “Probably changed from Standard. Hoffer, as chess correspondent of The
Post to News ca. 1890” can be clarified: the title Standard, sometimes reported for the Evening
changed to Evening News [q.v.] after 15 Septem- Standard on chess events taking place in Lon-
ber 1894. From 6 October onwards the column don, notably about the 1887 British Chess As-
shrank in size and included a checkers problem, sociation Congress between 30 November and
now being headed “Chess and Draughts.” It is 8 December. The modern Evening Standard had
not known whether this column continued into chess from the 1920s as detailed by Whyld, up
1895 and beyond. to the famous long-running column by Leonard
Barden from June 1956 (Whyld said 1955) until
Evening News and Star. Glasgow. (Listed by
30 July 2010. It continued online.
Whyld, page 308, as News and Star.) When the
Glasgow News of the Week [q.v.] closed at the Evening Standard and St. James’s Gazette.
end of 1877, Hugh Bryan’s column transferred Published under this title between 1905 and
to the Evening News and Star from 3 January 1916; see above under Evening Standard.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 311

Examiner and Times. Whyld, page 138. See was edited by Harrwitz; internal evidence sug-
Manchester Weekly Times and Examiner. gests he did not edit volume 1. A new (monthly)
Examiner-News. Probably a ghost in Whyld, series began in January 1862 with chess by “Herr
page 138, which says this was a Cardiff paper Loewenthal” for four issues up to April 1862; a
with chess in 1892, but there is no such title in May 1862 article was probably not by him. The
B.L. catalog. B.L. could not supply volume 2 ( July–Decem-
Excelsior Magazine. Whyld, page 138, says ber 1862) while volume 3 had chess only in Jan-
published in Guildford, Surrey, with chess in uary, March and April which Whyld (page 141)
February 1873 by F. C. Collins. attributed to G. F. Pardon. No more seen.
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. Digitized under Family Herald. London domestic magazine
this name but the correct title at the period in (weekly) which had two distinct columns sep-
question was Devon and Exeter Gazette [q.v.]. arated by decades. The early chess was in Vol-
umes 16–17, no. 783 for 1 May 1858 had “First
L’Exposition de Paris: Journal Hebdomadaire. steps in chess” by Charles Tomlinson, but he re-
Compare Whyld entries on pages 139 and 230. linquished the column to Löwenthal, from 19
A weekly published during the 1878 exhibition. June, whose last article was published on 28
Contrary to what the W.P. said, no chess column April 1860. The later column (Whyld says 1902–
was found by Rosenthal. Just one brief preview 1916) by “Expertus” ( J. Crake) was mostly
article. Check in the Bibliothèque Nationale, problems, but included a discussion about Cap-
Paris, as the B.L. holdings could be incomplete. tain Evans, for which see Harding, Eminent Vic-
Exposition Internationale. See Whyld, page torian Chess Players, page 23.
139; published in Paris in connection with the Family Newspaper. London 1882 says Whyld,
international exhibition, Paris, but the title is page 142.
wrong and it was 1878 not 1875. See entry above.
The Felstedian. Felsted school magazine with
Express and Review. Whyld, page 139, says he chess 1873–1875 says Whyld, page 143; B.L.
did not find it, but see Manchester Weekly Ex- holdings only begin 1883. The Rev. William
press and Review [q.v.]. Stanford Grignon was headmaster of Felsted to
Express and Star. Wolverhampton, Stafford- 1875; he had played in the first Trinity Cam-
shire; Whyld, page 139, says with chess 1890 to bridge v. Oxford Hermes correspondence match.
1893. Listed in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s Annual Felsted outclassed Norwich in their correspon-
under Wolverhampton Express and Star. dence games of 1874. (See also the Norvicensian.)
Falkirk Herald. Falkirk, Scotland; digitized by The Field. London sporting weekly published
B.N.A. Apparently twice weekly in most years since 1853 with various subtitles; Whyld, page
up to 1928 (but thrice weekly in 1895; only 144, summarizes its chess publishing record. In
weekly in 1929, 1932, 1936, 1937). Whyld, page the present work it is discussed in more detail
140, says chess column by A. J. Neilson began in the substantive chapters about chess columns:
April 1894 but in fact it commenced Wednesday for the first (1853–1854), by Elijah Williams,
10 April 1895 and is probably therefore all avail- see Chapter 2. For discussion of its revived col-
able online. Obituary and photograph of Archi- umn between May 1858 and the 1880s, includ-
bald Johnston Neilson in the paper on Wed. 22 ing the Steinitz years, see Chapter 3. For more
April saying he died the previous Friday (17 detail on its further history see Chapter 4.
April) aged 70. The last column he had prepared Chess resumed with S. S. Boden as colum-
appeared on 22 April with problems 4849– nist from 24 April 1858 to 28 August 1869,
4851. More tributes 29 April. when a hiatus followed. The column returned
Family Friend. London, originally fortnightly in January 1870 and for the next three years the
but weekly from June 1852, having chess May editorship passed from Boden to Cecil de Vere
1849 to 27 October 1854 (first 6 volumes). WAT to Steinitz with unclear transition dates. By the
classes it as a women’s magazine with Christian end of 1873 Steinitz was definitely appointed.
orientation. The chess column in volumes 2–6 He resigned following a war of words which
312 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

broke out soon after Vienna 1882. He was suc- Gentleman’s Budget. London. Whyld, page 165,
ceeded in turn by Hoffer until his death (August says chess by J. W. Richards in 1873.
1913) and then Amos Burn to November 1925. Gentleman’s Journal. Whyld, page 165. London
Subsequent editors were G. E. Smith (1925 to, weekly edited by George Frederick Pardon, with
probably, April 1946). Chess resumed on 14 a weekly column and monthly “recreational sup-
September 1946 with J. du Mont until about plement” which also included checkers. Pub-
September 1955, and then it was conducted by lished November 1869 to October 1872, ending
Leonard Barden (originally coeditor) from 1955 abruptly early in volume 6. Chess throughout
until the closure of the column, which last ap- life of the publication, in both sections usually.
peared in November 1994. In Barden’s latter H. Meyer was first named as chess editor in
years, The Field had changed to being a glossy April 1870; later “Henry Meyer” was seen.
monthly magazine.
Gentleman’s Magazine. Whyld, page 165, says
The Figaro. London twice-weekly satirical and perhaps a ghost arising from confusion with the
literary paper founded by James Mortimer; previous entry. A.J.G. says confirms there was
compare Whyld, page 145. Chess (mostly prob- definitely no column in 1874. The Chess Bou-
lems) from 17 February 1872 to 19 April 1882 quet, page 182, says that Charles White (“C.W.
and from 2 July to 15 October 1887. Title varies of Sunbury”) as a youth of about twelve com-
between Figaro and The London Figaro. The first posed a chess problem which appeared in the
column was edited by Löwenthal and, from Au- magazine “early in the forties” so there may been
gust 1876, by Steinitz; the 1887 column was by others then.
Chatto. A scrapbook of the columns is available
Glasgow Citizen. First Scottish column: June
in the J.G.W.C.
1847 to 31 January 1851 according to Whyld but
Football Field. This was the title ca. 1910; the that was not a publication day and 1847 is un-
original title (1884) was The Football Field and available in the B.L. Issues 1848 to 1851 were
Sports Telegram. See Cricket and Football Field examined but the last chess seen was 5 October
for details. 1850. However, chess was often replaced in late
The Freemasons. Whyld, page 153, implies there editions and the B.L. holdings do not have all
may have been a column in 1871. This is on the the articles that appeared. The chess editor was
strength of one line at the foot of W.P., III (Feb- A. G. McCombe, who emigrated to Australia.
ruary 1871), page 160, listing this among the Glasgow Herald. Daily paper with news reports
“papers received.” occasionally but no column until 1921; see
Galignani’s Messenger. Paris newspaper in En- Whyld, page 168. In 1921 the column (probably
glish. Carried reports on the 1843 match be- by C. Wardhaugh) was on Saturdays; see also
tween Staunton and Saint-Amant from 17 No- Glasgow Weekly Herald.
vember (page 4) until mid–December (n.b.: the Glasgow Weekly Citizen. Compare Whyld, page
19th game was published on 13 December. The 168; B.L. catalog shows that the title changed
score was said to have been wrong in some En- to plain Weekly Citizen at the start of 1891. Then
glish papers). from November 1896 the title changed to Sat-
Gateshead Observer. Earliest chess column on urday Weekly Citizen. Chess by G. E. Barbier, a
Tyneside; editor unidentified but possibly Silas Frenchman, from 19 March 1887 until his death
Angas. Regular chess articles began 26 August on 16 December 1895; the article on 21 Decem-
1848 (there were some games earlier but not on ber was also bylined Barbier. John Russell con-
22 July 1848, the date stated by Whyld, page tinued the column for another 14 months until
158). Chess appeared most weeks until 21 Feb- the last article on 27 February 1897.
ruary 1852 (Whyld). The title was Gateshead Glasgow Weekly Herald. Compare Whyld, page
and County of Durham Observer from 14 April 169, with the discussion in Chapter 3. The col-
1849 until 27 December 1851 and then changed umn was begun by John Jenkin on 2 November
back. 1872 and ran continuously on Saturdays with
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 313

various editors until 1915 according to Whyld, tershire Chronicle are digitized in B.N.A. and
page 169, or possibly later. It is unclear when there is no subtitle “and Directory.” There are
Jenkin ceased to be editor, possibly 1875. From occasional chess items in the 1880s and 1890s
January to March 1876 Jenkin edited the C.P.C., but no column.
but he may have continued editing the column. The Glowworm. London, column by J. J. Löw-
In August 1882, it was stated that there was a enthal from 27 October 1868—though Whyld,
change of reins as the old editor had left for Ed- page 171, says from 11 December—to the clo-
inburgh. Although James Marshall was named sure of the paper a few months later. The title
as the new editor, he probably soon handed over changed on 21 December 1868 to Glowworm
to Sheriff Spens whom Whyld credits for 1887 and Evening News, which was last published on
until at least 1897, although The Chess Bouquet 13 February 1869. The paper donated a prize
says he was editor from 1882. The Chess Bouquet for a tournament during the 1868/9 B.C.A.
says that David Forsyth (whom Whyld names Congress and more than one report on the Con-
for 1886–1887) assisted in editing the column. gress appeared in some weeks.
After Spens, Whyld names W. Black as editor from
ca. 1900–1906 and W. Gibson in 1914–1915. Golden Days. Whyld, page 171, based on lists
from A. C. White in the Norwich Mercury, indi-
Glasgow Weekly News. A ghost in Whyld, page cates short-lived chess 7 January 1888 to 4 Feb-
169; the 1878 column referred to was actually ruary 1888.
published in the Evening News and Star [q.v.].
Grantham Journal. Lincolnshire weekly. Whyld,
Glasgow Weekly Star. Column by John Jenkin
page 174, says chess 1890 and later. B.N.A. dig-
( January–May 1872) according to Whyld, page
itization shows that a column called “The Game
486, who lists under “Weekly Star.” He says it
of Chess” by The “King’s Knight” began 4 Oc-
transferred to the Glasgow Weekly Herald but
tober 1890 and run until 2 April 1892 when it
that column only started in November. Title un-
was discontinued.
available until 1874 in B.L. so this cannot be
checked, except perhaps in Scotland. Gravesend & Dartford Reporter. Mentioned in
Gloucester Citizen. Whyld, page 170, says chess Whyld, page 174, but no real column was found,
from 7 October 1903, mostly problems, but only some chess news reports in 1875–1876.
games from 27 March 1907. Partly digitized by Grimsby Herald. Whyld, page 176, says chess
B.N.A., showing the column was usually on around April 1878.
Wednesdays and (at least at the end of 1903) Hackney Mercury and North London Herald,
was a syndicated column “conducted by the The. North-east London local weekly newspa-
British Chess Company with the assistance of per which began publication on 4 July 1885.
Philip H. Williams, … L. Van Vliet … and C. T. Compare Whyld, page 179, and the discussion
Blanshard.” From 6 March 1907 it says it was in Chapter 4. The B.L. catalog shows that the
conducted by the editor of the Stroud-based title changed to The Mercury with issue number
Chess Amateur, who was William Moffatt. Some 117 on 24 September 1887 (and remained so
readers had asked for games but the proprietors until 1905) but it seems to have been generally
of the Citizen could not allow more space, so referred to as the Hackney Mercury nonetheless.
readers were asked to vote whether they would Searches at newspaperarchive.com show that a
like a game in alternate weeks. The first game chess column began in the first issue, which ap-
appeared 27 March, problem 222 on 18 Decem- peared to peter out in the summer of 1886, the
ber 1907. Not digitized from January 1908 to last seen being 31 July 1886 (problem 63, Games
November 1909 inclusive. The column was sus- 80 and 81). The focus was mostly on the North
pended for the summer on 24 April 1912 (prob- London Chess Club, and the very first game was
lem 450) and was not resumed. a game in which by Dr. Hunt gave odds of pawn
Gloucestershire Chronicle. The brief reference and move, but he was probably not the chess
in Whyld, page 171 (cross-referenced to Clifton editor at this date. The editor was anonymous,
Chronicle), is a ghost. Many years of the Glouces- but was possibly the C. E. Biaggini named in
314 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Whyld. The second column in The Mercury was ney. The column ended 6 April 1901 but the
by Dr. Hunt and ran from 3 January 1891 to 21 final few weeks of 1901 had some Hampstead
April 1894, as can be see from the (apparently Chess Club match reports, with no proper col-
incomplete) digitization at the (mostly Ameri- umn.
can) newspaperarchive.com. This was the col- Handsworth Herald. Birmingham; Whyld, page
umn which had begun in the Shoreditch Citizen 183, says chess by F. R. Gittins in 1907, syndi-
[q.v.] and had then run in the East Central Times cated from the Birmingham News [q.v.].
[q.v.]. Ha’porth. Whyld, page 178, citing the 6th edi-
Hampshire Advertiser. Southampton; Whyld, tion of the Rowlands’ Directory and other sources,
page 182, suggests chess in 1913. In 1914 (which says this was published in Halifax with chess
is in B.N.A.) a series of “Chess Notes” were from September 1890 to possibly 1893. The B.L.
found, consisting chiefly of reports of local club catalog has no such periodical but offers two
matches. (apparently connected) possibilities. There was
Hampshire Herald. Alton; Whyld, page 182, The Ha’porth published in London until 1892
suggests chess in 1913, possibly the same as the and succeeded by the London Comet in 1893;
previous entry. we found no chess in the London edition in
Hampshire Magazine. Southampton; Whyld, 1890. The alternatives, perhaps more likely since
page 182; chess in 1884 edited by E. J. Winter they are Yorkshire, would be The Huddersfield
Wood; one example was reviewed. Ha’porth (1891–1892, then succeeded by The
Huddersfield Ha’porth and Comet, 1893) and also
Hampshire Observer and County and Local The Bradford Ha’porth and Comet (1892/3).
Newspaper. Winchester; Whyld, page 182; says
chess in 1913. Harrogate Advertiser. Harrogate, Yorkshire.
Whyld, page 185, details chess columns from
Hampshire Telegraph and Post. Portsmouth 1886 to 1889 and from the 1960s.
weekly, digitized by B.N.A. Whyld, page 182,
Harrow Observer. Harrow, north London. Whyld,
says it has chess in many years, the earliest col-
page 326, says chess in 1907 by H. L. Stokes.
umn being from 15 March 1890. It continued
through 1891 and 1892 (missing a few weeks) Hartlepool Advertiser and Railway Time List.
but abruptly ended after 7 October 1899. Hartlepool paper, only published 1 February
1850 to 8 March 1851, with title sometimes The
Hampstead and Highgate Express. Local paper
Hartlepool Advertiser, Shipping Gazette, and Rail-
for north London suburb, with chess 7 October
way Time List. Whyld, page 12, lists under Ad-
1893 to May 1916 according to Whyld. The
vertiser and says chess 23 November to 21 De-
Chess Bouquet, page 68, says Philip H. Williams
cember 1850.
began the column but, being too busy, gave it
up; Whyld names the subsequent chess editors Haslingden Guardian. Lancashire 1899; com-
as R. C. Griffith (to December 1894), the Rev. pare Whyld, page 185. Chess by Ethelbert Holt,
J. F. Moon ( July 1895–December 1905), M. J. from 1889 to at least 1897, with the same con-
Meyer (to June 1914), and J. Schumer to May tent as the Rossendale Free Press [q.v.] and some
1915. The Saturday Westminster Gazette of 8 other local papers in the county.
August 1914 said that this paper had just an- Haslingden Observer. Lancashire. Whyld, page
nounced its 13th Problem Tournament for orig- 186, says chess in 1890 and that this was the
inal and unpublished three-movers. Haslingden edition of the Accrington Observer
Hampstead Record. Weekly local paper for the [q.v.].
same north London suburb. Its chess column Hastings and St Leonards Chronicle. Whyld,
(not mentioned in Whyld) began in 1899 be- page 186, says chess by Horace F. Cheshire from
cause 5 January 1901 had Problem 77, but 1899 16 August 1882 to 27 June 1883.
was unfit in the B.L. and 1900 in poor condition Hastings and St Leonards News. Whyld, page
so 1901 was earliest seen by this author. Hamp- 186, says chess by Henry Colborne from 3 Oc-
stead Chess Club news; correspondence tour- tober 1884 to 18 February 1887.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 315

Hastings and St Leonards Observer. Sussex pages (roughly A5). Whyld’s entry, page 193, is
weekly, digitized by B.N.A. Whyld, page 186, mostly incorrect. Chess started 1 December 1897
says chess edited by F. W. Womersley 20 Octo- and checkers began 16 October 1897. Chess
ber 1888 to 18 (actually 25th) May 1889, dealing continued almost weekly until suspended on 28
with Hastings Chess Club and Sussex chess; May 1910. Correspondence tourneys were run
then also 4 December 1897 to 11 June 1910. for both games. The early chess columnist was
Problems were only introduced in mid–1900s. Archibald K. Murray, who died in May 1906,
Another column ran postwar. but his successor is unidentified (possibly his
Hastings and St Leonards Weekly Mail and son).
Times. Whyld, page 186, says chess from 9 Feb- Holland Times. Lincolnshire; Whyld, page 193,
ruary 1901 to 25 May 1907 but with Brian Den- says chess from November 1880 to November
man adding: “Not in summer. Hardly a real col- 1882.
umn until 21 September 1901.”
Holloway Press. Holloway, north London; com-
Hastings Times. 1890–1891 Whyld, page 186, pare Whyld, page 194, who noted some early
cites Brian Denman for data on this column run- sources had said this was an American newspa-
ning 4 October 1890 to 1 August 1891. per. The full title between February 1875 and 28
Hereford Times. Weekly paper edited during August 1880 was The North Metropolitan and
this period by Charles Anthony, brother of the Holloway Press, after which it reverted to just The
former Oxford University player Edwyn A. An- Holloway Press until 1923. Its first column was
thony (1843–1932). Contra Whyld, page 191, edited between 17 November 1877 and 17 Oc-
there was no sign of a regular chess column in tober 1879 by A. B. Baxter, who was a member
1881; it began some time in 1885. The series of of the City of London and Camden Athenaeum
articles bylined: “edited by the author of The chess clubs. The November 1879 issue of the
Book of Chess etc.” (i.e., G. H. Selkirk) came to North Middlesex Magazine noted the ending of
an end on 10 December 1887. From 7 January the column “with sincere regret, for during its
1888 to 13 December 1890 Edwyn Anthony existence of two years the column did good serv-
conducted the column but this was only stated ice for the local Metropolitan clubs.” A later col-
when he gave it up, to be succeeded by the pro- umn by Edward Marks ran in the Holloway Press
fessional F. J. Lee, who was bylined from 20 Sep- from April 1889 to 24 January 1890 (dates ac-
tember 1890 (i.e., he started a week later than cording to A.J.G.), but this could not be verified.
Whyld says). According to Whyld, Louis van At present 1877 and 1878 may be ordered in hard
Vliet took over in July 1893 and continued until copy at the B.L., but 1879, 1889 and 1890 are all
1910. He also says that the Hereford column had restricted, being deemed too fragile.
the “same matter as the Perthshire Advertiser” Holloway, Hornsey and North Metropolitan
[q.v.] from 1890 to 1893 when Lee was in charge, Press. North London; listed in Whyld, page
but no precise dates are known for the Scottish 194, but the B.L. catalog recognizes no such
version. title. See the previous Holloway entry for the
Hertfordshire Express. Hitchin; Whyld, page correct information.
191, suggests there was chess from 1890 to 1899 Home. London. Whyld, page 194, suggests 1890
“and later”; no further details. to 1893; no further information.
Hexham Herald. Local paper in Northumber-
The Home Circle. London family magazine
land. Brian Denman informed us it had a short-
(weekly). Published in 10 volumes from July
lived column in 1868, with a few articles, the
1849 to June 1854; chess by H. C. Mott (with
last on 16 May.
assistance from J. Kling and B. Horwitz) through-
Historic Times. See Illustrated Historic Times. out. Organized the first correspondence chess
(The title had changed before chess content tourney. B.L. has nine of the volumes, lacking
began.) volume 10, which is available only at the John
Hobbies. London weekly printed on small-format Rylands Library, University of Manchester.
316 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Home Reader. Not mentioned in Whyld but indicates 26 September 1896 to 25 January 1897;
this magazine, briefly published in London and no further information.
Manchester in 1875 (according to the B.L.) may Hull and Lincolnshire Times. Whyld, page 197,
have incorporated the failed Lads of the Village indicates at least two series of chess articles: the
[q.v.]. B.L. mentions one issue of May 1875, first from October 1880 to November 1882 (by
shelfmark P.973/16. E. Freeman) and another from 10 October 1903
Horncastle News. Lincolnshire. Whyld, page to 1918, and another after an interruption due
195, dates the column by A. B. Skipworth (and to cessation of publication in 1919 due to post-
maybe W. H. K. Pollock) from January 1887 to war paper shortage.
March 1888 but this publication is unavailable Hull Bellman. Weekly magazine. Chess (ed. J.
in the B.L. Probably chess only in 1887; see entry Crake) from 7 September 1878 to 25 September
for the Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury 1880 when he resigned and Freeborough began
[q.v.]. chess in the Hull Packet [q.v.] instead. Whyld,
The Hornet. London; Whyld, page 195, but page 197, incorrectly states that the title was
now unavailable in the B.L. The column by G. changed from Hull Miscellany [q.v.] to the Bell-
H. D. Gossip ran August 1874 to March 1875 man. They were distinct titles, running simul-
according to A.J.G. (A Murray list says “still 9 taneously for a time.
Dec. 1875.”) Gossip was prone to making con- Hull Church Gazette. There was an active chess
troversial statements in this column which some- club in the Church of England at Hull and this
times met with firm rebuttals elsewhere in the was probably their parish magazine. Whyld, page
chess press. 197, says a column was edited by J. Crake from
House. London? Whyld, page 195, cites a refer- November 1880 to an unspecified date in 1881;
ence in B.C.M. 1898 page 522, and A.J.G. says it the July 1881 B.C.M. reported that the magazine
was published 1897–1903 but he “never man- had closed after nine months. The Brighton
aged to find this.” Guardian of 23 March 1881 mentions the col-
umn as offering a book of poetry as prize for
Household Magazine. Whyld, page 195. See
best endgame contributed during the year, and
Lett’s Illustrated Household Magazine.
possibly more prizes if there were many entries.
The Huddersfield Chronicle. Yorkshire; digi- Whyld notes that this magazine is unavailable
tized in B.N.A. Whyld, page 196, cites The Era in the Hull Public Library, which is where this
as saying “occasional” chess items between 1859 author read the Hull Bellman and the next item.
and 1861. B.N.A. searches confirm this, for ex-
The Hull Miscellany and Baker Street Pro-
ample, we found reports of meetings of Hud-
gramme. Weekly; the title in volume 1 was the
dersfield Chess Club and the West Yorkshire
Baker Street Programme and Miscellany: Saturday
Chess Association. Occasionally games were
evenings for the people. This periodical started as
published, as on 14 August 1858, 19 November
the program of a Saturday concert series in Hull
1859, and 3 March 1860, but there was no reg-
with additional material (captive audience!)
ular chess column. The subtitle mentioned by
and transmuted into a magazine that lasted to
Whyld, “and West Yorkshire Advertiser,” ap-
December 1883. Chess (ed. J. Crake) began Jan-
pears in very small print on the masthead below
uary 1878 (vol. 2) but on 31 August (vol. 3)
the main title.
chess (including a correspondence tourney)
Huddersfield College Magazine. Monthly mag- was transferred to the Hull Bellman, his checkers
azine of a Yorkshire grammar school, published column (which W. E. Leffler had begun in vol-
October 1872 to August/September 1880. This ume 1) remaining in the Miscellany. Not in the
magazine was the precursor to British Chess B.L. until 1881.
Magazine, edited by Watkinson from 1881. See Hull Packet. Newspaper. Weekly in most years;
pages 73–76 for a full discussion. digitized by B.N.A. Column by E. Freeborough
Huddersfield Weekly News. Whyld, page 197, from 1 October 1880 to 17 November 1882
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 317

(Whyld had said December) but there was no break before 15 October 1842. There were only
specific announcement about it terminating. occasional articles in 1844 until a new column
began on 16 November, but Staunton’s editor-
Ibis Magazine. Holborn, London. Whyld, page
ship commenced on 22 February 1845, contin-
199, says this was a privately circulating maga-
uing to his death in June 1874. The 4 July 1874
zine with chess by C. Redway, November 1887
issue in volume 65 included an obituary of
to January 1889.
Staunton separate from the regular column.
Illustrated Historic Times. London. Successor Whyld (page 201) indicates “Gaps, e.g., 1863”
title (from 20 January 1849) to the Historic but this is incorrect; there was a column every
Times: An Illustrated Christian Journal of Educa- week in 1863.
tion, Literature and General Intelligence. This was R. B. Wormald took over the column until
a Church of England publication. The date of his own death on 4 December 1876. Then P. T.
1856 in Whyld (page 192) is incorrect. Chess Duffy was editor until April 1888 when he in
by Elijah Williams began in Volume 2 (no. 44, turn died. The next editor, for a quarter of a cen-
16 November 1849), page 286. The last issue tury, was J. W. Abbott. He was followed in Au-
seen in the B.L. was 26 September 1850 (Vol- gust 1923 by H. J. Menzies, who died on 28 De-
ume 4, no. 89), with chess on page 189. This was cember 1927 but had probably written the
perhaps the final issue. Note that Whyld’s Illus- column that appeared on 7 January 1928. The
trated Historic News (immediately above, page column was next edited by K. Ernest Irving but
201) is a ghost. discontinued after 5 November 1932. A new se-
Illustrated London Magazine. Compare Whyld, ries, edited by B. H. Wood, began on 7 May
page 202; some volumes are available on Google 1949 and continued even after the I.L.N.
Books. This monthly magazine, edited by Rich- switched to monthly publication, in May 1971,
ard Brinsley Knowles, was launched in July 1853 until the October 1979 number. A final series,
with a chess column by Elijah Williams from by John Nunn, ran from March 1980 until No-
August 1853, but only in some issues. (Volume vember 1986.
1 has chess on pages 95–96, 141–142, and 188– The Illustrated Magazine. Compare Whyld,
190; volume 2 only on pages 105–106.) Wil- page 202; from volume 5 (which began in July
liams died in 1854 but the column was resumed 1855) this was the new title of the Illustrated
in the September number of volume 3, contin- London Magazine [q.v.].
uing each month until September 1855 after Illustrated News of the World and Drawing
which the column ended. The second chess ed- Room Portrait Gallery of Eminent Personages.
itor was anonymous but it was probably Joseph London. Chess began volume 2, 30 October
Kling as the content focused on games played 1858, after announcement 23 October that
at his chess rooms. The title was changed to The Löwenthal has been engaged. Apparently an in-
Illustrated Magazine [q.v.] in volume 5. ferior copy of his Era column; continued to 5
Illustrated London News. London weekly from September 1863 according to Whyld.
1842 to 1971 and then monthly until 2003; this Illustrated Science Monthly, The. See Science
was the most famous and widely-read chess col- Monthly Illustrated.
umn in the world in the 19th century, with a
global circulation. The early history of this col- Illustrated Society. Whyld, page 202. A ghost;
umn is told in Chapter 2, with the later phases see below for Society. The word “Illustrated” ap-
in Chapters 3 and 4. The whole of this publica- peared on some front pages but was not part of
tion has now been digitized and is widely avail- the formal title.
able in libraries or by subscription to the B.N.A. Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. Lon-
The following summarizes its history. don weekly, published on Saturdays. The chess
The first anonymous column ran in vol- column ran from 7 March 1874 (second issue
umes 1–3 from 25 June 1842 to 30 December of publication) until 22 September 1900 with
1843 but with missing weeks and a two-month three different chess editors known. The first,
318 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

R. B. Wormald, died on 4 December 1876 and Indoor Games and Amusements. Magazine ed-
there was no column on the next three Satur- ited by Horace F. Cheshire. Whyld page 211; up-
days but it resumed on 30 December. Whyld date from A.J.G. says there were eight chess ar-
gives the commencement date of the Rev. G. A. ticles, December 1911 to July 1912. Some issues
MacDonnell as 21 April 1879, which seems to are missing from B.L.
be a misprint (as that was a Monday). However, Information, a Weekly Journal for Everybody.
internal evidence strongly suggests that Mac- Whyld, page 212, states 10 November 1888 to
Donnell was Wormald’s immediate successor al- 26 January 1889 (only 13 issues published)
though the first “Chess Chat,” bylined “Mars,” chess anonymous but said to be by T. B. Row-
was published only on 21 June 1879. Material land. This author has seen those in 1888 and
from the “Chess Chat” items were the basis for agrees with the start date given by Whyld.
MacDonnell’s books Chess Life-Pictures and The
Ipswich Express. Whyld, page 213, indicates
Knights and Kings of Chess.
chess 19 October 1858 to May 1859, or possibly
MacDonnell retired through ill health in
later, by Charles White; no further information.
1896, when his final “Chess Chat” appeared on
8 August. Antony Guest possibly took over im- The Ipswich Journal. “Chess and Chess Players”
mediately, although he had no byline for several bylined the Rev. Dr. Owen Davies of Wickham
months and Whyld gives his start date as 16 Jan- Market, 22 April 1898 to 30 December 1899;
uary 1897. The column was regular until 1900 1899 has not (yet) been digitized but it was
when several weeks were missed. Whyld says available on microfilm in the B.L. The 30 De-
the last column by Guest was on 16 June 1900, cember issue stated that “the proprietors of the
and that was the last date that “Chess Chat” sec- Journal have decided to discontinue the chess
tion was signed “G,” but he may have continued column.” 1900–1902 have been digitized and
to contribute until the end. there is no column.
Illustrated Weekly News. Not in Whyld, but Irish Field. Whyld, page 214, said chess but only
may be found in B.N.A. This was a London Sat- one article was found, on 15 February 1902, not
urday paper, created 1861 running to 21 Octo- a regular column. (The Irish Field, which is still
ber 1869 (but title was Penny Illustrated Weekly being published, was a continuation of the Irish
News between 20 June 1863 and 12 January Sportsman [q.v.] but chess had already ended
1867). Chess column by an unknown editor be- there.)
tween 22 February 1861 (when Problems 1 and Irish Figaro. Dublin ( January–November 1897).
2 appeared) until 24 November 1866 (Problem Short-lived column by Mrs. Rowland. Whyld,
395). Many weeks had two problems. Column page 214, says chess from January 1897 to “1899
sometimes included games, mostly by amateurs and later”—the correct dates are actually 6 Feb-
identified only by initials. ruary–27 November 1897.
Illustrated Weekly Telegraph. Bradford: see Irish Fireside. Dublin. The Irish Fireside was a
entry for Bradford Weekly Telegraph. free supplement given away with the Weekly
Illustrated Western Weekly News. Plymouth; Freeman on Saturdays (changed to Wednesdays
Whyld, page 203, and see Chapter 4. Continu- in mid–1885) and sold separately on Mondays.
ation of “Chess Notes” by “Queen’s Knight” First column by George Frith Barry ran 2 July
(Carslake Winter Wood), transferred from the 1883 (first issue) until 16 September 1885. Brief
Western Morning News [q.v.] as of 7 March 1906. second series by Mrs. Rowland from 15 January
It is unknown when this column actually came to at least end of August 1887 (Whyld says Oc-
to an end, since Whyld saying “1921 and later” tober but volumes after 3 September are un-
may be because of confusion with another col- available in either the N.L.I. or B.L.).
umn. There is scope here for new research. Irish Sporting Times. According to the fourth
Imperial Review. Monthly. Whyld, page 210, (1890) edition of the Rowlands’ Directory, “…the
indicates chess in 1908; no further informa- first chess column that appeared in Ireland was
tion. in the Irish Sporting Times, some thirty years
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 319

ago” [i.e., about 1860]. J. A. Conroy was named Isle of Wight Observer. Ryde; Whyld, page 215,
as chess editor. There are references to it in says chess 1897 to 1901; no further information.
C.P.C.: 1861, page 361, and 1862, pages 4–6. Ap- Jersey Weekly Press. Whyld, page 217, says chess
parently there was a paper (or supplement) of (problems only) in 1905; no further informa-
that name but it seems to have been lost to pos- tion.
terity. See Chapter 3 for a full discussion of this.
Journal de l’Exposition (Whyld, page 230). See
Irish Sportsman [and Farmer]. Dublin weekly above under correct title L’Exposition de Paris.
(WATIRL 2044); Whyld’s details on page 215
are unreliable. See Chapter 3 for a fuller discus- The Kaleidoscope. Liverpool magazine, edited
sion; here is a summary. The first column by by Egerton Smith. See Chapter 1 for a full dis-
J. A. Rynd ran from 19 November 1870 to 18 cussion. This paper had the second chess col-
February 1871 with a final article 8 April 1871. umn ever in the world, not the first as Whyld,
After the title was changed to simply Irish Sports- page 223, erroneously wrote. Much of his other
man a few years later, the main column ran 8 statements about it are also questionable, though
December 1883–1890 with several editors, start- to be fair to him, until recently this was not an
ing with Thomas Rowland (assisted by Frides- easy publication to find. This periodical has now
wide Beechey, whom he married the following been digitized and also some columns can be
summer). After 21 November 1885 Alfred Peake seen at www.chessarch.com/excavations/exca
is named by Whyld as editor from 18 December vations.php/. There were occasional early and
1885, preceded briefly by teenager K. A. Rynd late chess articles but two main series of regular
from 28 November 1885. Peake’s editorship columns. The first series of problems entitled
ended 30 November 1886 but the column re- “The Beauties of Chess” began 13 July 1819 and
sumed under J. A. Conroy in January 1887, end- ran for over a year. The last was number 61 on
ing 22 March 1890 (no chess between 27 April 17 October 1820. After some articles about
and 13 July 1889 inclusive). Publication contin- checkers, chess returned in Volume 5, no. 210,
ued as the Irish Field [q.v.] in 1894 without reg- 6 July 1824, continuing until 1829 (employing
ular chess. algebraic notation).
Irish Times. Dublin daily paper. Many news re- Kent and Sussex Courier. Weekly published in
ports of chess events throughout its history. No Tunbridge Wells; digitized by B.N.A. except
regular column until James J. Walsh began weekly 1911. Whyld, page 226, says by W.M. Brooke ran
articles from 5 July 1955, becoming daily from 1905–1913 but the column (after many previous
September 1972 to March 2018 at least. This news reports about the local club) actually began
was the longest-running column in the world as on 30 November 1900. There were some sum-
of fall 2017. mer breaks, e.g., in 1905 it discontinued 14 July
until resumption of the chess season on 29 Sep-
Irish Weekly Mail and Warder. Published in tember. In 1914 the last solving tourney problem
Dublin from 1909 to 1919, being one of the suc- appeared on 26 June and the column was to be
cessor titles to The Warder [q.v.]. A chess col- discontinued (apart from solutions on the next
umn by Mrs. Rowland ran from 18 September two Fridays) until September. Presumably the
1915 to 1930 December 1916 inclusive, except outbreak of war prevented that from happening.
for 29 April and 6 May when the paper was not
published because of the Easter Rising in Dub- Kent Examiner. Whyld, page 226, says chess in
lin. 1888; no new information.
Irish Weekly Times. Whyld, page 215, a ghost. Kent Messenger. Whyld, page 227, says chess in
For the correct title and information, see Weekly 1913; no new information.
Irish Times. Kent Times. Whyld, page 227, says chess in 1893;
Isle of Wight Express. Ventnor; Whyld, page no new information.
215, says chess December 1888 to 1903; no fur- Kentish Express. Whyld, page 227, says chess
ther information. between 1890 and 1901; no new information.
320 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Kentish Mercury. Weekly newspaper published nitely a ghost. There was no such title. See Vis-
in Greenwich, south London; now extensively itor [q.v.] for the column.
digitized by the B.N.A. Whyld, page 227, says Knowledge. London weekly. Whyld’s page 232
chess between 1887 and 1903, and also in 1908 entry is questionable; there is no internal evi-
and 1909. The Chess Bouquet, page 58, names dence of Beechey or Fenton involvement. The
“Mr. Tinsley” as the editor. On 9 January 1903 original contributors were astronomer Richard
they ran problem numbers 1,966 and 1,967 and A. Proctor (the first editor and proprietor) and
said the column was by S. Tinsley; it was possi- “Mephisto” (Isidor Gunsberg) who was prob-
bly continued later by his son. ably chiefly responsible after the earliest issues.
Kidderminster Shuttle. Trade magazine for the First chess column was in issue 1 of 4 November
carpet industry, published in Kidderminster, 1881; chess ran through six half-yearly volumes
Worcestershire; chess from 1905 (according to seen by us and continued or returned later.
A.J.G.) until 1909 perhaps; certainly in part of Proctor died in 1888 but others continued the
1906. Whyld, page 229, adds a subtitle “& Wor- publication up to 1904. Later columns by Lo-
cestershire Mercury” which is not in the B.L. cat- cock, 1891–1904 according to Whyld who also
alog. The J.G.W.C. has a microfilmed scrapbook mentions R. F. Fenton (unverified by us). A.J.G.
covering October 1906–April 1909 said to be says a lot is available on Google Books. Some
from the Western Weekly Mercury [q.v.] but in columns from 1881 thru 1884 are available free
fact it appears (at least in 1906) to be the col- at www.chessarch.com/excavations/excavations.
umn of the Kidderminster Shuttle although some php/.
of the content may have been the same because Ladies’ Treasury. London. The publication
C. T. Blanshard was involved in both cases. He (which ran 1858 to 1895 according to WAT) is
was involved in the carpet trade and had moved now digitized, searches showing that the dates
to Bewdley in Worcestershire. Byline on 13 Oc- stated in Whyld, page 237, are incorrect. Whyld
tober 1906 says he was assisted by a man in was however probably right to say the chess ed-
Birmingham (Leonard A. Dutton). itor was first J. W. Abbott and then Frank Healey
Kingstown Monthly. Dún Laoghaire, Ireland (from 1886), both problem experts. One-off ar-
(WATIRL 2226). Published and edited in Kings- ticles were found on 1 November 1861 and 1
town by Thomas Benjamin Rowland, January July 1873. Then Abbott’s column began on 1
1894–March 1898, with some months missed, February 1876 page 125 in this magazine, which
then relaunched as Kingstown Society [q.v.]. was then a monthly. There were occasional
Chess by T. B. Rowland (or possibly his wife) news items, and in 1885–1886 games are some-
from second issue and appearing in most issues. times seen. The last column in the database was
Problem tourneys and correspondence events. 1 December 1893.
On microfilm at B.L. Lads of the Village. London weekly; problem-
Kingstown Society. Dún Laoghaire, Ireland atic for historians. This “magazine of universal
(WATIRL 2227). Successor to Kingstown Monthly, recreation” began 18 July 1874, edited by Wil-
published April 1898 until October 1907. Chess liam Watkins, “author of British Sports and Pas-
column by Mrs. Rowland until end of 1904; she times, The Boy’s Own Hand Books &c etc.” Chess
may have edited the whole paper. Problem tour- began on 25 July with an obituary of Staunton,
neys and correspondence events. Chess ceased lifted virtually verbatim from Land and Water,
in 1905 because she launched her magazine The 4 July. After unoriginal items 1 and 8 August,
Four-Leaved Shamrock. Statement in Whyld, chess returns on 5 September with what appears
page 230, about Kingstown Visitor is incorrect. to be the launch of Chatto’s column, but the
B.L. has a complete set for the years with chess, content cannot really be called a “column,” just
but the last three years have several issues miss- a few articles. The B.L. and WAT know of no
ing. The numbering of issues in later years does more issues. Possibly eight issues only. Whyld,
not make sense. page 237, cites a brief reference in the W.P., Oc-
Kingstown Visitor. This entry in Whyld is defi- tober 1874, page 106. There are, however, ref-
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 321

erences in the City of London Chess Magazine to Law Gazette. Whyld, page 240, says chess in
Chatto running a correspondence tourney dur- January 1893. Mentioned in the English Mechanic
ing 1875. WAT says that after eight issues ( July– 19 January 1894.
September 1874) Lads of the Village was incor- Leamington, Warwick and County Chronicle.
porated in another periodical called the Home Whyld, page 241, says chess in 1888–1889 at
Reader [q.v.] of which the B.L. has only one copy least.
(from 1875).
Leeds Budget. Whyld, page 241, says chess in
The Lady’s Newspaper and Pictorial Times. 1905, the same as the Bradford Observer.
London; compare Whyld, page 237. The Lady’s
Newspaper (which had no chess previously) in- Leeds Mercury [Weekly Supplement]. Compare
herited the chess column of the Pictorial Times Whyld, page 242. Extra section with Saturday
[q.v.] on their merger after 8 January 1848. edition of Leeds Mercury, 27 September 1879
Chess was continued to 25 October 1851. A new until the end of December 1905, edited through-
series, not mentioned by Whyld, ran 2 August out by James White. A few minor correspon-
1856–10 January 1857 (twenty problems). The dence events organized. Mostly Yorkshire chess
chess editor was probably male, perhaps still news and games. The paper also had a checkers
Lewis. column. Chess column ended when the supple-
ment ceased. There is (at the time of writing) a
Lady’s Pictorial. London. Columns almost every problem with the B.N.A. digitization of this
week from 18 May 1895 to 14 August 1897. Ed- paper: at least in the early years they have not
ited by “Mrs. Gunsberg” (née Miriam Clarke, included the Saturday supplement so the chess
second wife of the grandmaster) who died soon column is missing, although it was included in
afterwards. the original (much smaller) British Library News-
The Lancet. London medical weekly edited by papers collection.
Thomas Wakley and having chess in several Leeds Times. Whyld, page 242, says chess in
early numbers, 1823–1824, compiled from var- 1889, from 5 January to 21 September B.N.A.
ious sources. This series is discussed in Chapter digitization confirms the start but the last col-
1. There was no involvement by George Walker, umn was on 7 September.
contrary to what Whyld, page 238, and others
often state. Several articles may be found at Leicester Chronicle. Not in Whyld; found in
www.chessarch.com/excavations/excavations. B.N.A. “Chess & Chess-Players” (Edited by
php/ (listed as “London Lancet”). “Captain King”) from 23 November 1901 (with
gaps and also sometimes checkers) to 13 De-
Land and Water. Important London column, cember 1902 (with gaps); 3 October 1903 to 6
discussed in Chapter 3. Details in Whyld, page February 1904 (no checkers). Also previously
238, are largely correct: Löwenthal was the orig- from 28 September to 26 October 1901 without
inator, from 27 August 1870 to 27 December the byline.
1873. Whyld mentions Wisker, who may well
have assisted before Löwenthal retired from ill Leigh Chronicle. Leigh, Lancashire. Whyld, page
health. Wisker was next until ill health led to his 242, says chess in 1880 by H. Turner.
resignation also, when P. T. Duffy took over Leigh Weekly Journal. Leigh, Lancashire (now
from about April 1876 to November 1877. The Greater Manchester) but possibly a ghost as the
final editor was W. N. Potter to 29 August 1885; title had changed to Leigh Journal in 1875. Whyld,
a letter from Skipworth published on 12 Sep- page 242, said chess ca. November 1882 while
tember 1885 was the last chess item. A.J.G. told us it was by Henry Bird. We believe
Lantern and Titbits. Wrexham, north Wales. the column was in the Tyldesley Weekly Journal
Whyld, page 239, following the Preston Guard- [q.v.] which mentioned Leigh in the subtitle.
ian of 8 November 1882, says a column by The Leisure Hour. Long-running London
William Locke Holt began 4 November 1882 monthly. According to Whyld (page 244), Meyer
but this publication is unavailable in the B.L. was chess editor from November 1899 until
322 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

succeeded by J. A[rnold] Green in 1903. Only Liverpool. The B.L. does not have the Citizen
occasional chess articles until 1898 (at first in- for 1890 but their microfilm for 1891 shows there
cluded in the “Fireside Club” section). Regular was no chess that year.
competitions and column November 1899 until Liverpool Courier. Daily paper under this title
October 1905 (final issue). A.J.G. adds that during the period 30 September 1910 to 31 July
some years are available in Google Books. 1914 when it had a column on Fridays by Amos
Lett’s Illustrated Household Magazine. Whyld, Burn. This information is from Forster, Amos
page 195, lists under Household Magazine [Lett’s] Burn, page 682; compare Whyld, page 251, which
and says chess by J. G. Cunningham from May confuses it with the column by Greig in the
1883 to maybe 1886. B.L. (Which only has vol- (Liverpool) Weekly Courier [q.v.]. Forster says
ume 1 in its catalog) says it had the subtitle “a “in content it was mostly independent” from
complete encyclopaedia of domestic require- Greig’s column started four years previously.
ments.” This suggests it was a part-work, in Forster was unable to find the columns for July–
which case there is unlikely to have been more December 1911 and May–June 1912.
than one chess article.
Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury. Whyld,
L’Exposition de Paris see [L’]Exposition de
page 251, suggests there may have been some
Paris
chess in 1913.
Life. London. Whyld, page 248, says chess by
Antony Guest “for a short time” around Novem- Liverpool Mercury. Liverpool newspaper, even-
ber 1883. tually daily but a magazine-style weekly in the
early years, usually published on Fridays. It had
Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury. Con-
the first chess column ever to be published, July
temporaries sometimes referred to it as the
Stamford Mercury. Whyld, page 248. Chess by 1813 to July (or perhaps August) 1814 by the
A. B. Skipworth 6 January 1888 (probably trans- paper’s editor/publisher Egerton Smith. The
ferred from the Horncastle News) until at least B.L. holdings (digitized in B.N.A.) are incom-
26 December 1890. plete; Liverpool Public Library is believed to
have a full set. Whyld, page 251, said the last ar-
Literature. This weekly paper, published by The
ticle was on 20 August but that was a Saturday;
Times of London from 1897 to January 1902
no chess on 19 August. For the detailed story of
was the precursor to The Times Literary Supple-
this column and the man behind it, see Chapter
ment [q.v.] According to Whyld, page 250, the
1. For the new column which began in October
chess column by S. Tinley began on 17 March
1890, see Liverpool Weekly Mercury.
1900 but it possibly had identical content to his
column in The Times Weekly Edition [q.v.]. Liverpool Times. Whyld, page 252, said the ed-
Littlehampton News. Sussex. A few reports in itor (Baines) supported chess in the 1840s but
1890 says Denman, quoted by Whyld, page 251. apparently no regular column.
Liverpool Argus see The Argus Liverpool Weekly Albion. Chess by Amos Burn,
Liverpool Citizen. Whyld, page 251, mentions weekly (also the checkers column) from 12 Oc-
chess from September 1890 to unspecified date tober 1872 until 17 July 1875. Whyld, page 252,
in 1893 on Wednesdays, by Amos Burn, but this has the dates correct. Whyld also mentions the
cannot be right. Burn sailed for America in Jan- W.P. of June 1871 saying that the Liverpool Al-
uary 1892 but any column had ended long be- bion “is about to have a Chess column once a
fore. The B.L. catalog says this title was pub- week,” but it would be more than a year before
lished only from 1887 until 19 August 1891, and this actually happened. Forster, Amos Burn, gives
then incorporated with the Porcupine [q.v.]. Rich- 24 July 1875 as the final date, but only the check-
ard Forster, Amos Burn, page 682, refers to the ers column appeared that week. The 1873 pa-
“alleged” column by Burn in 1890 and believes pers are unavailable in neither the B.L. nor the
neither paper had chess. However, it seems pos- Liverpool main library, although they are pos-
sible that there were a few articles in Septem- sibly to be found in the private library of the
ber–October 1890 which can be sought only in Liverpool Athenaeum.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 323

Liverpool Weekly Courier. Liverpool, published the facts and Chapter 4 for the detailed expla-
under this title from 1867 until 1903 according nation.
to the B.L. catalog, then under the title plain The London Figaro see Figaro
Weekly Courier until 28 November 1925. Whyld
lists it under the latter on page 484 but for con- London Journal. Chess (mostly elementary les-
venience, to list titles from the same city to- sons) by “Captain Crawley” (George Frederick
gether, we place the substantive entry under Pardon) from 28 August 1858 to 23 July 1859.
“Liverpool.” Chess by Robert Frederick Green The dates in Whyld, page 254, are inaccurate.
(the editor of B.C.M. from January 1888) ran London Opinion. Whyld, page 254, says chess
from 7 November 1885 (problem 1 on the 14th) by C. Redway 1904 to 1905.
until 26 January 1889 when it was explicitly dis- London Standard. Whyld, page 254, has a cross-
continued. Then, after the title change, there reference from this but “London” was not in the
was a new column from about 1906 until 31 Jan- actual title. Instead see Standard; also the dis-
uary 1914 edited by Edwin A. Greig. The start cussion in Chapter 4 over the common confu-
year of 1906 is provided by Forster, Amos Burn, sion between the morning paper and the Eve-
page 682 (Whyld said 1911), while the end-date ning Standard.
is from Whyld. This was distinct from Burn’s
column in the daily Liverpool Courier [q.v.]. Lowestoft Journal. Whyld, page 255, wonders
if there was a column in 1880 and says in January
Liverpool Weekly Mercury. Whyld, page 252, 1907 it had the same column by Keeble as in
confirmed by The Chess Bouquet, page 112, and the Norwich Mercury [q.v.].
Richard Forster, Amos Burn, page 410. Column
by John Wild from 4 October 1890 until about Luton Advertiser. Whyld, page 256, cites the
February 1905. This column also appeared, until W.P. of January 1874, page 177, which is a refer-
April 1896, in the Saturday editions of the daily ence to a correspondence chess game in the
Liverpool Mercury. Luton Advertiser of 20 December 1873; no indi-
cation of whether there was a regular column.
Liverpool Weekly Times. A ghost: Whyld, page This newspaper (launched in 1869) had various
252, mentioned he had found a reference in the titles until, in July 1877, it merged with the Luton
1890 Deutsche Schachzeitung to a column by Times and Dunstable Herald, to form the Luton
Amos Burn the previous year, but added “I Times and Advertiser [q.v.].
doubt the authenticity” and Forster, Amos Burn,
has nothing to say on this. Luton Times. See previous entry; further title
changes were to follow and in 1894 this news-
London and Brighton Magazine. Sixpenny paper became the Bedfordshire Advertiser and
monthly with a brief chess column by Chatto, Luton Times. Whyld, page 39, says generally re-
who was then (according to the C.P.C. of Janu- ferred to as the Luton Times (and so this author
ary 1876) the honorary treasurer of the Cam- has seen it as well). Chess supposedly in 1888
bridge Chess Club. “Mr. Chatto enters upon his but B.N.A. has not digitized that year yet, al-
work with spirit. He announces problem, solu- though it does have some years with occasional
tion, and correspondence tourneys, and alto- chess reports.
gether leads us to expect an interesting addition
to the periodical literature of the game.” A.J.G. Lymington and South Hants Chronicle. Whyld,
says the column ceased after just three articles, page 256, says chess by John Keeble, ca. 1889.
January–March 1876. Macclesfield Advertiser. Whyld, page 257, says
London Evening News and Post. Whyld lists as chess in 1913.
such on page 253 but “London” was not in the Manchester City News. Whyld, page 260, says
title. See Evening News and Post. chess from 1911 (by R. J. Buckley initially);
London Evening Standard. Digitized by B.N.A. “mainly problems” (A.J.G.).
under this title but this was the result of a con- Manchester Evening Chronicle. Whyld, page
fusion: see Evening Standard for a summary of 261; A.J.G. now says J. P. Kenrick edited from
324 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

November 1897 for 16–18 months; later column tional report in the main paper about Paulsen’s
24 October 1934 to (perhaps June) 1936. visit.
Manchester Evening News. Whyld, page 261, 6 Manchester Weekly Express and Review. Con-
August 1887 to 19 August 1899 (by C. A. Dust tinuation of above column by C. H. Stanley to
until his death). After a hiatus, a new column by 19 (not 12 as Whyld states) April 1862; also on
Dr. Em. Lasker from 23 January to 24 December 3 May, final column in the supplement and re-
1901, articles available free at www.chessarch. port of Blackburne blindfold simul in the main
com/excavations/excavations.php/. Also post- paper. The last few articles may have been by
war columns as listed in Whyld. Despite looking Kipping or another, since other evidence sug-
in Manchester Central Library and searching gests Stanley sailed for America in April.
B.N.A., most of the articles by Dust could not Manchester Weekly Post. Column by C. A. Dust
be found although some do survive in scrap- from 3 November 1883 until the paper closed
books etc. Manchester chess historian Alan on 30 July 1887, when the chess editor an-
Smith says the chess was often dropped for late nounced that the stoppage of the paper will not
editions and so has mostly not survived in li- end the column, which transferred to the Sat-
braries and digitized editions. urday night edition of the Manchester Evening
Manchester Guardian. Digitized by Proquest News [q.v.]. Some years are unfit for use in the
Historical Newspapers, where searches show B.L. but the complete run of the column is avail-
the early dates in Whyld (page 261) are inaccu- able on microfilm at the Manchester Central Li-
rate. See Chapter 4 for further details. An anony- brary.
mous column on Fridays began 11 November
Manchester Weekly Times and Examiner. Col-
1904 (following a series of news reports and an
umn by A. Steinkühler from 4 January 1873 to
article on 5 November) and continued to 17
25 October 1873, ending without warning. Did
May 1907. (Whyld attributes some early columns
not continue to December as Whyld, page 261,
to I. M. Brown, which is plausible.) Reports on
stated. Subsequent columns were by N. T.
the 1907 Ostend international tournament and
Miniati (23 February 1899 to 29 May 1896),
the 1907 British Championship followed through
then A. Wahltuch (to November 1907), then
the summer. Then a bylined column by Isidor
V.L. Wahltuch until 1922, as in Whyld. B.N.A.
Gunsberg (probably the previous contributor)
has digitized some years (under “Manchester
ran on Tuesdays from 5 November 1907 to 4
Times”) but at the time of writing it had not yet
August 1914 inclusive. On 28 April 1949 J. du
done 1896 or 1897.
Mont began a new column which he conducted
until September 1955, when Leonard Barden Matlock Register. Matlock Bath, Derbyshire.
took over and was still writing it in the summer First Frideswide Beechey column from 8 De-
of 2017, making this the longest running weekly cember 1882 until November 1883 according to
column by a single writer. B.C.M. at the time. Mentioned in several con-
Manchester Times. Generic title used by B.N.A. temporary sources but copies remain untraced.
digitization. See Manchester Weekly Times but Therefore we cannot establish whether (as
sometimes it was bi-weekly. Whyld, page 264, says) content was the same as
in the Sheffield Independent; certainly the Mat-
Manchester Weekly Express and Guardian. lock column began first as it was widely noted
Column by C. H. Stanley from 25 August 1860 by contemporaries to have been the first chess
to the end in 1861, continued in the Manchester column edited by a woman.
Weekly Express and Review [q.v.]. Available in
Manchester Central Library (offsite storage so Mechanical World. No chess. Whyld, page 264,
must be requested in advance). Whyld, page correctly wrote “probably a ghost.” For the ex-
261, information is largely correct: the title was planation, see the entry for Design and Work.
Weekly Guardian and Express to 7 July 1860 (be- The Mercury. Hackney, east London: for the
fore chess began). Chess was in the supplement column by Dr. Hunt from 3 January 1891 to
but on 30 November 1861 there was an addi- 1894, see Hackney Mercury.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 325

Mercury and Post. Whyld, page 266: see Bristol Morning Post. London; digitized by B.N.A. up
Mercury and Post. to 1900. Column usually on Mondays; also nu-
Metropolitan Magazine of Sports and Pas- merous news reports. The date of 5 August 1874
times. Whyld, page 268, indicates nine issues mentioned by Whyld, page 279, seems to be a
only between 3 September and 29 October mistake, nothing was found in B.N.A. The col-
1892. It soon failed despite a warm recommen- umn conducted by Antony Guest began on Mon-
dation in the chess column of The Western Mag- day 28 May 1883 (not 27th) and ran until his
azine (quoted in Chapter 4). Not found in the death on 29 January 1925, continued briefly by
B.L. Alfred Emery to 30 May 1925. Whyld also men-
tions a new column by Brian Harley from 1931
Middlesex County Times. In 1911 (at least) this to 1937 according to The Encyclopaedia of Chess
paper had chess by “Captain King” (pseudony- by Anne Sunnucks (he cites 2nd ed., page 191;
mous syndicated column.). Whyld, page 269, not in first edition).
only mentions a later (postwar) column.
Morningside Mirror. Edinburgh; Whyld, page
Midland Counties Herald. Wolverhampton, 280, says chess by J. W. Mason from 18 April to
Staffordshire. Whyld, page 269, indicates a brief 16 July 1883 only.
column by O. H. Labone, commencing 25 Feb-
ruary 1897. A.J.G. says chess last appeared 8 Morpeth Herald. Morpeth, South Shields, North-
April 1897. umberland. Not in Whyld, but found in B.N.A.:
“Chess and Draughts. Edited by Captain King,”
Milky Way Magazine. London monthly; Whyld, starting 29 December 1911 to 4 April 1913.
page 269, says chess by A. Emery from April
Mumbles Observer. Mumbles, Swansea, south
1907.
Wales. Whyld, page 281, says chess by F. G.
Mill Hill Magazine. School magazine (Mill Hill Tucker from approx. 1889 to 1893.
School, London). Whyld, page 269, says chess
Nash’s Illustrated Weekly. London magazine.
from April to June 1880, but wrongly states that
Whyld, page 286, said Gunsberg column from
James Murray, the father of chess historian
10 January to 1 May 1920 and that is confirmed.
Harold Murray (then a young pupil), was head-
master of the school. He was a schoolmaster National Association Review. Not in Whyld,
there, but not the head. but mentioned in the Western Daily Mercury as
running a correspondence tournament in 1907.
Monetary Gazette. London; Whyld, page 275
(stating variant titles), says chess 29 March 1875 National Weekly Chronicle. London; Whyld,
to 3 May 1879, when title changed to British Em- page 288, says chess from 5 October 1889 to 21
pire [q.v.]. June 1890.
Morning. London; probably the Morning News New Age. London; Whyld, page 299, says chess
was meant? Whyld, page 278, said chess by by Noel E. Meares on 20 December 1906 (men-
L. van Vliet ran from 1894 through two title tioned in B.C.M. January 1907).
changes and that chess ended by February 1901. New Court Gazette. London weekly; compare
Whyld’s entry does not quite tally with the B.L. Whyld page 299. First column by Howard
catalog, which shows that The Morning Herald Staunton: 9 May to 5 December 1840; the title
(mentioned by Whyld) was formed on 24 April changed to Court Gazette on 3 October. All the
1899 by the amalgamation of The London Morn- columns (including Answers to Correspondents
ing and the Morning News; which of those had which were often on a different page from the
the column is uncertain. Then after 1 Septem- problem and games) may be found available
ber 1900 they were incorporated into The Daily free at www.chessarch.com/excavations/exca
Express. vations.php/ (listed as “London New Court
Morning Advertiser. London. Whyld, page 278, Gazette”).
says Gunsberg had a column in 1894; A.J.G. says New Family Record of Births, Marriages and
it also reported on 1892 tournaments. Deaths. See Births, Marriages and Deaths. A.J.G.
326 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

has this longer version of title but contemporary to W. Mitcheson and P. T. Duffy. This ended on,
references and B.L. catalog have shorter form. or soon after, 3 June 1867 (problem 200).
New Review. London monthly: compare Whyld, • Newcastle Weekly Chronicle. Published on
page 300. Eleven chess articles by Gunsberg Saturdays; the information in Whyld, page
were found from February to December 1894. 306, is not entirely accurate. The first column,
New Weekly. London; Whyld, page 301, says by John Charleton, began on 20 September
chess in January 1894. 1873 but space was very small until early in
1874 and this series ended February 1875. The
NEWCASTLE NEWSPAPERS [generic intro- main column was begun on 4 January 1890
duction]. As explained in detail in Chapter 3, (not 8th) by George Heywood, who died sud-
there are several confusions and inaccuracies in denly on 8 March 1895. Chess continued to the
Whyld about the various newspapers published end of 1896 at least and possibly as late as 1917
in Newcastle upon Tyne. Here we summarize, if Whyld is right. He named the new editor as
in alphabetical order by title, those Newcastle Mrs. Heywood. There were subsequent col-
newspapers which had (or may have had) chess umns postwar, at least from 1923 in the hands
columns prior to 1914. of E. G. Sergeant, according to A.J.G.
• The Daily Chronicle and Northern Counties • Newcastle Weekly Courant. This title was
Advertiser. Founded in 1858 (not 1764), this adopted from 4 July 1884 but the B.N.A. digi-
paper had the first Newcastle chess column tizes it as plain “Newcastle Courant.” The dig-
this author has discovered (by C. P. Lloyd). itization covers some relevant years up to 1900,
Running on Mondays from 14 November 1859 but not 1894 (available on MF in the B.L.) and
to 4 June 1860, it included 30 problems to- 1897 (which the B.L. lacks altogether). The
gether with games and local news. From 1864 second chess column (probably by local expert
the title of this newspaper changed to Newcas- H. W. Hawks, although he had no byline)
tle Daily Chronicle, which is the generic title began on Saturday 10 December 1892. From 5
used by the B.N.A. July 1902, this paper continued as the Newcastle
• The Newcastle Chronicle. The Newcastle Weekly Journal and Courant [q.v.].
Chronicle was a weekly paper. It had no chess • Newcastle Weekly Journal and Courant.
column until several years after the title changed This was the successor to the Newcastle Weekly
(in 1864) to Newcastle Weekly Chronicle [q.v.]. Courant [q.v.] and continued the chess and
• The Newcastle Courant. Whyld has no entry checkers columns. The issues for 1903 are un-
available in the B.L., but it seems that both
for the Newcastle Courant but it did have a
good columns ran throughout until 26 Febru-
chess column conducted by player William
ary 1910 when, as the B.L. catalog says, the
Mitcheson from 14 April 1876 to 27 December
paper ended with no successor.
1878. After 4 July 1884 the title of this paper
changed to Newcastle Weekly Courant [q.v.]. Newry Commercial Telegraph, published in
• Newcastle Daily Chronicle. B.N.A. indexes Newry, Co. Armagh, Ireland, on Tuesdays,
(and Whyld, page 306, cross- references) Thursdays and Saturdays; digitized by B.N.A.
under this title but the correct name during as Newry Telegraph. A series of items and games
the run of the chess column was Daily Chron- appeared nearly every week between 29 May
icle & Northern Counties Advertiser [q.v.]. and 5 October 1841, mostly concerning the Ar-
• Newcastle Daily Journal. Digitized by B.N.A. magh Chess Club, and probably contributed by
George Cochrane. See the Irish section at the
under “Newcastle Journal.” Chess from 1861
end of Chapter 3 for more details.
through 1867 said Whyld, page 306, but actually
there was a break. C. P. Lloyd’s second column News. Shields, Co. Durham 1886 according to
ran 18 February 1861 to 29 July 1861 but was ir- Whyld, page 307: see Shields Daily News.
regular in summer. A new column began at prob- News. A National Journal etc. London 1894,
lem 1 on 29 September 1862 and was attributed says Whyld, page 307.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 327

News and Star. Glasgow. Whyld, page 308, but Northern Figaro. Aberdeen weekly magazine
see under its correct title Evening News and Star. published from 8 November 1884 to 1903. B.L.
News of the Week. Glasgow weekly. Chess col- holdings begin 1888; National Library of Scot-
umn by Hugh Bryan began 2 November 1874 land also has a broken run but it includes the
(second issue of the title) and it later organized earlier years. Chess from 1 May 1886 (by A. J.
postal chess events. After publication ceased in McConnochie, according to Whyld). Declines
December 1877, the column transferred to the in interest in 1889 (new editor?) but chess con-
Evening News and Star [q.v.]. tinued to the end of 1891 at least.
News of the Week. London. Whyld, page 308, Northern Review. Middlesbrough. Whyld, page
says chess from 9 October 1897 to 13 October 317, says chess from October 1886 to 1887 by
1990 naming Gunsberg and S. Tinsley as editors Fred Downey and Jos. C. Abrahams.
involved. Northern Whig. Belfast daily; some of Whyld’s,
Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette. Whyld, page 317, data are incorrect. See Chapter 3 for
page 314, mentions a local chess column around fuller details. First column started ca. 18 March
November 1906 by J. G. Holmes. 1886 but closed by 1888. Revived about May
Norfolk News. Norwich weekly; Whyld, page 1888 by William Campbell (content same as the
314. Column by F. G. Rainger from 20 August Belfast News-Letter at this time) and continued
1859 to 30 May 1863 with good coverage of to about 1916. In 1911 W. Marks was named as
provincial chess in this period. Whyld’s refer- Whig chess editor. Compare the Weekly North-
ence to Taylor in 1872 was wrong: his column ern Whig.
was in the Eastern Daily Press [q.v.]. Northumbrian. Newcastle weekly. Whyld, page
North Devon Herald. Barnstaple. Whyld, page 317, says chess by W. B. Huggett from January
315, says chess in 1907. to July 1882.
North Devon Journal. Barnstaple. Whyld, page The Norvicensian. Magazine of King Edward’s
315, says chess in 1893. grammar school in Norwich started when a Dr.
North London Guardian. Whyld, page 315, says Jessop was Head Master; compare Whyld, page
chess in 1893 and 1894, perhaps later. 317. The first issue of November 1873 had with
no byline but problem 2 was by C. W. M. Dale,
North Middlesex Magazine. Whyld, page 316. who Whyld credits as chess editor. Dale was a
Monthly magazine, 20 issues published by Wal- senior boy during the first volume and then an
ter Pelham in north London from July 1879 to undergraduate at St. John’s College, Cambridge,
February 1881. Chess by Edward Marks ran from from October 1874. During 1874, the school
the second issue (August) until the end. See the played a postal chess match with Felsted, in
discussion in Chapter 3. which they were outclassed. (See Felstedian.)
North Wales Guardian. Wrexham. Whyld, page After the match ended, publication became ir-
316, says chess in December 1888–March 1889, regular and chess ended April 1876 (issue no
perhaps later. 9).
Northampton Mercury. Not in Whyld, but Norwich Mercury. Norwich paper, originally
Renette, H. E. Bird, page 288, discovered that weekly but from the 1880s twice weekly (Wed-
Bird’s syndicated column was also published in nesdays and Saturdays). The first column by J.
this newspaper. Searches in the B.N.A. show that T. C. Chatto ran from 15 February 1888 to 28
it appeared here first on 2 December 1882 but it December 1889 with two small postal tourneys.
was last seen on 23 June when there was no mate The Irish Sportsman noted on 9 November 1889
problem. Subsequently, in 1883, only reports of that: “the Norwich Mercury column is to be dis-
local chess events appeared in this paper. continued at the end of the year due to want of
Northern Counties Literary Gazette. Newcastle local support. We thought this was an exclusive
perhaps. Whyld, page 316, says chess by J. Irish failing.” B.N.A. has digitized this paper for
Charleton in 1877. 1888 and some other years in the 19th century.
328 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Chess problem expert John Keeble conducted • Nottinghamshire Guardian and Midland
a more important column in the same paper Counties Advertiser. Weekly, partially digi-
from Wednesday 1 January 1902 until 29 Octo- tized by B.N.A. up to and including 1900 but
ber 1913, but with a break between May and not 1888, 1890, 1891 or 1897. Bird’s column
early October 1911 according to Whyld, page (see Chapter 3) ran from 1 June 1883 to 23
317. So far the years 1900 through 1905 have November 1883. When he retired from writing
been digitized. it, the series was continued by anonymous
Norwood News. South London. Whyld, page local players until December 1903 at least—
318, says chess 1901 to 1914 “and later”; but no and possibly much later.
chess in says A.J.G.
The Observer. London Sunday newspaper. No
NOTTINGHAM NEWSPAPERS [generic in- chess column prior to 1919 but see Chapter 4
troduction]. A section of Chapter 3 explained for some information.
the somewhat complicated story of chess Observer and Series. A strange listing in Whyld,
columns in Nottingham, although their contin- page 326; see Harrow Observer.
uation in the early 20th century could do with The Old Cross. Quarterly magazine published
more research. The entry in Whyld’s Columns in Coventry; Whyld, page 328, says chess from
(p. 319) confuses two titles that include the May 1878 to February 1879 (complete run of
word Guardian, both of which had chess the journal).
columns, at least during part of 1884. The fol- Oldhallian. Old Hall School magazine. Not in
lowing summarizes the main discoveries about Whyld, but mentioned in WAT as having chess
chess columns in the city and county of Not- ca. 1880.
tingham.
Oldham Chronicle. Oldham, Lancashire; Whyld,
• Nottingham [and Midland Counties] Daily
page 329, says chess December 1890 to 1914.
Express. The first Nottingham chess column, Listed in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s Annual.
by Sigismund Hamel, ran from late 1871 (fol-
lowing Blackburne’s first visit to Nottingham in Oldham Standard. Oldham, Lancashire; Whyld,
October) until early 1884. Whyld, page 318, says page 329, says chess by J. Nield from 1890 to
chess began 22 June 1872, but as early as 20 Oc- 1905 at least. Not available in B.L. but in Old-
tober 1871 Hamel supplied reports and games. ham public library he said. Listed in the 1893/4
A.J.G. found that Hamel’s contribution appears Chess Player’s Annual.
to be weekly (mostly on Tuesdays) from 12 De- The Olio of Literature, Music, the Drama and
cember. Problem 1 appeared on Thursday 13 the Fine Arts. London magazine with 26 issues
June 1872 but Tuesday remained the normal published 1871–1872 according to the B.L.
day of the week for chess. By 1876 the same ar- Whyld, page 329, cites Westminster Papers IV
ticle was being repeated on Saturdays. Whyld (December 1871), page 132, which said “this
suggested an indeterminate date in 1884 for the new weekly paper contains a ‘Chess column.’
end date of this column. As explained in Chap- The number we have seen gives a good problem
ter 3, the series did peter out early in the year by F. C. Collins, and a game which, as it was
because of Hamel’s severe illness. 7 February anonymous, we confess we did not examine.”
1884 has been identified by this author as the Our Boys. London; Whyld, page 334, has incor-
last date when the column appeared. rect final date (1926). Column by the Rev. G. A.
• Nottingham Daily Guardian. Column by MacDonnell began in the first issue, 24 Novem-
anonymous local players on Thursdays from ber 1883, and continued to the end of the year
3 July 1884 until at least the end of April 1885. at least, possibly to the end (stated by B.L. as
Then a Gunsberg column ran from 5 Novem- being on 16 August 1884). There was at least
ber 1901 to 4 August 1914 (as stated by Whyld). one other journal with the same title later.
The title changed to The Nottingham Guardian Our Corner. London monthly, edited by Annie
from 10 October 1905. Besant for the Freethought Publishing Com-
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 329

pany, 1883–1888. Chess in the first volume ( Jan- News section, then start of a column (with prob-
uary–June 1883) was probably not by Gunsberg, lems 1 and 2) on 17 and 24 August 1896. This
contra Whyld, page 334. Gunsberg was involved is subsequently to be found within Sporting
from September to December as can be seen Notes, e.g., Problem 33 appeared on 5 April
from the digitized version. (See also B.C.M., 1897, Problem 157 on 29 August 1899 to prob-
Volume 3, page 385.) Digitized in British Peri- lem 1733 on 26 December 1899.
odicals Online, Collection I. Parlour Journal & London Magazine. Unavail-
Our School Times. Derry/Londonderry; com- able but see Whyld, page 338. Chess supposedly
pare Whyld, page 335. This was the magazine 1860–27 April 1861, including at least one cor-
of Foyle College, with a chess column by T.C.D. respondence tourney, but B.L. does not hold for
scholar W. H. S. Monck from September 1878 these dates. (Contemporary references in the
to March 1884; for full details see Appendix VI, Norfolk News show spelling “Parlor.”)
which lists the issues that contained articles Pelham’s Illustrated Journal see Walter Pel-
about chess. ham’s Illustrated Journal
Ours: A Fortnightly Journal. London 1886; not Pen and Pencil. Glasgow, column by T. H. Bil-
in Whyld. This is just a few articles about chess lington focused on problems: 29 October 1887–
in a MS magazine of the Jews’ Free School, Bell 21 December 1889, according to Whyld, page
Lane, East End. (Source: Jewish Museum, Cam- 340, although The Chess Bouquet said Billing-
den, London.) ton’s column commenced in 1888 and “had a
Oxford Chronicle and Berks and Bucks Gazette. run of about two years.”
Whyld, page 335, says chess in 1887 by J. H. Sel- Penny Illustrated Paper. London weekly, digi-
kirk, also in 1887 (unknown editor) and 1914 tized only to 1889 so far by B.N.A. Whyld, page
(Major Rawlings). A.J.G. says chess ended 31 340, stated Gunsberg column February 1894–
July 1914. 29 March 1902 but A.J.G. discovered it started
Oxford Times. Whyld, page 335, said chess in 6 January 1894 and this is now confirmed.
1914 but this column had begun in 1910 when Penny Illustrated Weekly News. See under
the British Championships were held in Oxford. generic title Illustrated Weekly News.
The Field, 17 June 1916, noted on page 966 that
W. L. Biggs was chess editor of the Oxford Times The People. London Sunday newspaper; Whyld,
and hon. treasurer of Oxfordshire county chess page 340. Chess by T. F. Lawrence from 18 Jan-
association. It is unknown when this column uary 1901 to outbreak of war in 1914. Also a col-
ended. Whyld also lists some post–World War umn from 1922 to 1924.
II columns in the paper. People’s Palace Journal. London (Tower Ham-
Oxford Undergraduates Journal. Oxford Uni- lets), continuation of the Palace Journal [q.v.].
versity. Whyld, page 464, listed incorrectly Whyld, page 340, says chess by Harold Cud-
under Undergraduate Journal. This was not a real more from March 1889 to August 1893. The col-
column, but it did have an article on 24 April umn is mentioned in The Chess Bouquet on page
1873 about the first varsity match against Cam- 50 where Cudmore was profiled. Historians
bridge, and there may have been others later. would need to seek copies in local archives.
Palace Journal. London (Tower Hamlets). People’s Weekly Journal. Norwich; Whyld, page
Whyld, page 336, says chess 21 November 1888 340, says chess in 1888 and 1907.
to 6 February 1889, transferring to the People’s Perthshire Advertiser. Whyld, page 341, says
Palace Journal [q.v.]. B.L. only holds 1887 so his- that from 26 November 1890 to 1893 ( July?)
torians would need to seek in local archives. there was a column by F. J. Lee, which had the
Pall Mall Gazette. London; Whyld, page 337, same content as in the Hereford Times. The rel-
says Gunsberg column ca. 1893–1912. The B.N.A. evant years are not in B.N.A.
digitization (to 1899) shows occasional para- Pictorial Times. London, published in 10 vol-
graphs about chess in the Sporting Notes and umes ending 8 January 1848; compare Whyld,
330 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

page 344. Anonymous chess began in Volume there was a column ca. 1882 but did not name
5, no. 101, on 15 February 1845 saying “We have the chess editor. This title is unknown to N.L.I.
engaged the assistance of an eminent player, a and WATIRL, while B.L. (St. Pancras) has the
member of the principal chess clubs…” (prob- first issue (September 1875) of Goulding’s Prac-
ably William Lewis as A.J.G. says). Merged with tical Farmer. This was probably the title meant
the Lady’s Newspaper [q.v.] in 1848; the num- but there was no chess in that number. Maybe
bering of chess problems continued according only one chess article appeared, in a later issue.
to G. B. Fraser, letters to John G. White 28 Jan- Present Etonian. Eton College magazine pre-
uary 1887 and 24 September 1887. sumably. Whyld, page 354, says chess 1888 to
Pictorial World. London; Whyld, page 345, March 1889.
says chess 1890 to 1893. The Chess Bouquet says Press World. London. Whyld, page 355, says
that James Pierce (who died 27 April 1892) was chess 1906 to 1908 by J. A. Leon.
chess editor.
Preston Guardian. Preston, Lancashire, column
Poole and Bournemouth Herald. Correct title
by J. T. Palmer from 12 November 1879 to 3 Oc-
at the time of chess column said to be between
tober 1883, running two correspondence tour-
1891 and 1899. Mentioned in the 1893/4 edi-
neys.
tion of the Chess Player’s Annual under this title.
See also next entry. Progress. London magazine for the blind. Whyld,
page 357, says chess 1907 to 1909.
Poole, Parkstone & East Dorset Herald. Entry
in Whyld, page 349; B.L. catalog shows title of The Puzzlers’ Manual. London, magazine ed-
previous listing changed to this in April 1895. ited by J. W. Richards, with chess by J. T. C.
Chatto. Whyld, page 360; A.J.G. says “one very
Porcupine. Liverpool Saturday magazine in early
short story in the only issue.”
1890s at least; compare Whyld, page 349. This
is probably a ghost. Whyld mentioned a chess Railway & Tramway Express. London; Whyld,
column by Amos Burn in 1890 (claiming to have page 363, says weekly at first, later monthly;
seen it in Liverpool Public Library) whereas chess from 12 December 1885 to 1 June 1886.
Forster’s Amos Burn, page 410, states that in Oc- Ramsbottom Observer. Lancashire. Whyld, page
tober 1890 the Porcupine just printed an an- 363, says 1890, with content same as Rossendale
nouncement that there would be a column soon Free Press. Listed in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s
in the Liverpool Citizen [q.v.] but he believes it Annual.
never started. On the other hand, this author’s
Rathmines School Magazine. Monthly school
research showed that the Porcupine of 27 Sep-
magazine published in Dublin; not in WATIRL.
tember and 4 October 1890 published contents
Chess by Thomas Long, in November 1872–
lists of the Citizen the previous Wednesday
June 1873 (except February), and in September–
which included Chess, so it seems likely there
October 1873 issues.
was briefly a column for at least two weeks that
fall. In August 1891the Liverpool Citizen ceased Reader. Manchester. Whyld, page 365, says
publication and merged with the Porcupine. chess Wednesdays, 1892 to 1893 and maybe
later.
Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette. Whyld,
page 350, says chess from 15 March 1890 to Reading Observer. Whyld, page 366, says chess
1892. 14 November 1896 to 1919 by E. Pearson Sharp
Potteries Mechanics Institution Magazine. and a column from 1923 onwards by T. F. Law-
Hanley; Whyld, page 351, says chess around rence.
1860, based on information from The Era. Not Reading Standard. Whyld, page 366, says chess
in B.L. but could be sought in Staffordshire per- October 1909 to 1914.
haps. The Recreationist. Monthly, 1873–1874; Whyld,
Practical Farmer. Supposedly Dublin, 1882; page 367, had two separate entries. This peri-
Whyld, page 352. Rowlands’ Directories said odical started in Southampton with F. J. B. Pe-
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 331

ters as editor, James White editing the chess and Routledge’s Magazine for Boys. London; not
J. Hedley the checkers. Publication was trans- in Whyld. Found by A.J.G. who says chess Jan-
ferred after four issues to White in Leeds. Peters uary to December 1866.
and White were coeditors from June 1873 to the The Royal Exchange. London; Whyld, page
end of volume 1 ( January 1874). In volume 2 381, speculates (incorrectly) if it was published
(February–November 1874), The Recreationist in Manchester. B.L. catalog has subtitle “A
was a checkers magazine only, with White as weekly journal of barter and sale” but by the
publisher and Hedley as editor; no more Peters. time chess started the subtitle was “and Weekly
This publication is not in the B.L. but a volume Journal of Social Topics.” Chess from 9 Novem-
is held by the reference section of the Mitchell ber 1878 to February 1879 (conducted by
Library, in Glasgow, Scotland; shelfmark REC Chatto), then continued by J. T. Palmer until
167003. The Recreationist is also held by the publication ceased 6 December 1879, when its
Royal Dutch Library in the Hague, as part of its postal tourney transferred to the Preston Guard-
Van der Linde/Niemeijer collection; Shelfmark ian [q.v.].
XSM 909. American readers can probably find
it complete in the J.G.W.C. Salford Chronicle. Greater Manchester; Whyld,
page 385 (from Alan Smith), says chess January
The Referee. London Sunday newspaper; Whyld, 1894 to April 1895.
page 368. Outside the timeframe of this book
but some information is provided in Chapter 4. Saturday Herald. Dublin; compare Whyld, page
389. See Evening Herald (Dublin).
The Review. London sporting weekly, subtitled
The Country Gentleman’s Journal. Correcting Saturday Magazine. London, 1841–1844: mis-
Whyld, page 373, this author found Chess by cellaneous and elementary articles by Charles
“Captain Crawley” (nom-de-plume of George Tomlinson, not a topical column. A.J.G. says in
Frederick Pardon) from 24 April 1858 to 10 July Google Books: “18 curious chess problems” be-
1859, also 24 July and 7 August, resuming 25 tween September 1843 and December 1844.
September until 17 December 1859 (close of Compare Whyld, page 389.
paper). Saturday Night. Whyld, page 389: see Birming-
Reynolds’s Miscellany of Romance, General ham Saturday Night.
Literature, Science, and Art. London weekly, Saturday Review. London; Whyld, page 390,
published by G. W. Reynolds. Whyld, page 375, says a chess column in 1905 and then four arti-
has inaccurate title and underestimates the long cles in October–November by Emanuel Lasker
run of this anonymous column, which went al- on his match with Janowski. Also a later column
most continuously from 4 December 1858 (in 11 November 1921 to 12 May 1923.
volume 21) to the end of publication (19 June Saturday Weekly Citizen. See Glasgow Weekly
1869) when George W. M. Reynolds announced Citizen [q.v.]; this was the title used in the last
that he was closing the magazine rather than sell years of the chess column (from November
it. The chess editor remains unidentified, but 1896).
column had problems, poor games and answers
to correspondents. Saturday Westminster Gazette. London maga-
zine which commenced in 1904; see Whyld,
Rochdale Nick- Nacks. Whyld, page 378. J.T. page 390. From at least 1913, and perhaps much
Palmer column in Lancashire, not in B.L. and earlier, it carried the same column by Hoffer as
untraced by this author. in the Westminster Gazette [q.v.]. On Hoffer’s
Rossendale Free Press. Rawtenstall, Lancashire; death, the column was continued by Dr. Jacob
compare Whyld, page 380, which says the col- Schumer even during the First World War when
umn ran ca. 1889–1899. The chess editor was it ceased to appear in the daily paper. In 1922
Ethelbert Holt; see The Chess Bouquet, page 201. the title changed to Weekly Westminster Gazette
The same column appeared in other newspapers [q.v.]. In 1928 Schumer produced a book, now
owned by the same proprietor. scarce, entitled Chesslets: Being a Miscellaneous
332 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Collection of Contributions to Chess and Chess Lit- Sharpe’s London Magazine. Whyld’s data on
erature Extending Over Many Years (Printing Craft page 399 are incomplete. The chess column ran
1928). from May 1855 to June 1857 (bar a few months)
Scholastic Globe. January 1892 to 1893? Col- beginning as “Chess Exercises by Kling and Zy-
umn by A.B. Skipworth, N/A in B.L.; never togorski.” It often included news and games
seen. Whyld, page 392, said no copies available from Kling’s chess rooms and from June 1856
in the U.K. Probably a magazine for schoolmas- only Kling was involved. During the period of
ters. Belfast Newsletter 12 May 1892 announced the chess column the full title was Sharpe’s Lon-
Problem Tournament of the Counties Chess As- don Magazine of entertainment and instruction
sociation, prizes 1st £2 2s, 2nd £1 1s, given by and it has been digitized by Proquest in its
editors of the Scholastic Globe, entries to the Rev. British Periodicals database.
A.B. Skipworth, Chess Ed., S.G., 110 Cannon Sheffield and Rotherham Independent. Daily
Street, London EC (which is different from the newspaper with a complicated publishing his-
address in Whyld). tory, as discussed in detail in Chapter 3. Many
School Guardian. London; Whyld, page 392, years can be found in the B.N.A. Whyld, page
says chess 28 October 1911 to 1914 and maybe 399, was confused about this paper and the next,
later (by W. E. Moffat in 1914). though he correctly said that “for part of the
time, at least” they had the same column. Chess
School World. London; Whyld, page 392, says began on 2 December 1882 with Bird’s column
chess in 1900. in the Saturday supplement. His last article ap-
The Schoolmaster. London professional journal peared on 24 November 1883 and from 1 De-
for teachers; Whyld, page 393, says chess 1889 cember 1883 a new series began which is known
to 1899 and maybe later. The column was listed to have been conducted by Frideswide Beechey
in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s Annual. Maybe avail- and Thomas Rowland who were married the
able at the B.L. (some years on microfilm.) but following June. On 29 March 1884 the publisher
not seen by us. The Chess Bouquet, page 50, says began the Sheffield and Rotherham Weekly Inde-
Harold Cudmore was on the staff of the maga- pendent Budget [q.v.] and the chess column then
zine and conducted a series of winter and prob- appeared for some time in both that weekly
lem tourneys for several years. paper and in the Saturday supplement of the
Science Monthly Illustrated. Compare Whyld, daily as before. Chess ended in the daily paper
pages 202 and 395. Three volumes, edited by after 5 September 1885 but continued in the
J. A. Westwood Oliver, were published in Lon- next title.
don, between November (?) 1883 and May 1885; Sheffield and Rotherham Weekly Independent
they are available in the B.L. Volume 1 (1883/4) Budget. Weekly paper which began publication
was entitled The Science Monthly, Illustrated and either on 29 March 1884, as the B.L. catalog
in the latter volumes the title changed to Illus- says, or more likely the previous weekend. It car-
trated Science Monthly during 1884. Running ried the same chess column as the daily Sheffield
headers on pages often show just Science Monthly. and Rotherham Independent [q.v.]. After 4 June
The chess column by Frideswide Beechey Row- 1887 the title changed to the Sheffield Weekly In-
land ran November 1883 to May (?) 1885 with dependent [q.v.].
problems, games and chess news. Sheffield Weekly Independent. Continuation of
The Scotsman. Edinburgh, since 1817; this news- the previous title from 11 June 1887 onwards
paper has been digitized and up to 1950 is now (until 1920). The Rowland column last appeared
available on subscription in B.N.A. It had no on 19 October 1889, its competitions transferring
regular chess column during that period (though to the Bristol Mercury [q.v.], and a local man re-
it possibly did later in the 20th century). Whyld, placed them in Sheffield from 26 October 1889.
page 396, notes are really about the Weekly Scots- Whyld says R. J. Buckley took over from 26 Oc-
man [q.v.]. There were some news reports in the tober 1891 (but perhaps it was already him in
daily Scotsman paper. 1889?) and continued the column to 1893 or later.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 333

Sheffield Weekly News. Whyld, page 399, says Gerard Killoran suggests that the anonymous
chess from October 1899 to 1922 (discontinued chess editor was John Edmund Hall (1853–1941)
in the summer months, 1900 to 1904). His list- of the Bradford Chess Club. If so, it seems likely
ing mentions a Sheffield Sunday News which that this was a syndication of Hall’s column in
A.J.G. says did not exist. the Bradford Weekly Telegraph [q.v.]. Certainly
Sheffield Weekly Telegraph. Commenced pub- they appear to have been identical in 1905, for
lication 1862 but the B.L. does not have hold- example on 25 August 1905 both newspapers
ings until 1884; thereafter a long run is digitized had Problem 651, the same games and the same
by B.N.A. (except for the years 1890–1893 in- news reports.
clusive). From 15 October 1887 the title changed Shoreditch Citizen and Hackney & Bethnal
to Weekly Telegraph. Under the later title, Whyld, Green Advertiser. London East End local paper.
page 486, says chess items appeared in the Sports Whyld (page 400) names the chess editors as
and Pastimes column from October 1883 to Dr. J. W. Hunt (who is mentioned in the column
1912 but this has not been checked in any detail. as a member of Shoreditch Chess Club) and E.
There does not appear to have been a proper Dale. Whyld gives the start date of the column
chess column. as 29 October 1887, which could not be verified
The Shields Daily News. Shields, Co. Durham, because we have been unable to trace any archive
at various dates. Whyld, page 400 (and compare that holds this newspaper. The B.L. has only a
his News entry on page 307) says 1885–1887 ap- few issues starting with number 213 of 13 July
prox. Now digitized in B.N.A., the column ran 1889, which indicates the paper had been run-
on Thursdays, beginning 15 October 1885 and ning since about June 1885, quite possibly with
last appeared, much truncated, on 14 July 1887, a somewhat different name. From 17 August
with an announcement that the contributor was 1889 the title changed to East Central Times
unwell. The Celtic Times column on 27 August [q.v.], bound in the same B.L. volume, with the
1887 said “The Chess Editor of the Shields Daily column continuing to the end of 1890 and af-
News has been obliged to discontinue the col- terwards transferring to The Mercury [q.v.].
umn in that paper owing to ill-health.” Shrewsbury Journal. Whyld, page 400 (from
Brian Denman told us that The Shields Daily A.J.G. information), said chess in 1887.
News had an earlier column (not mentioned by
Sligo Independent. Whyld, page 402, No chess;
Whyld) which began 17 October 1866 and was
see Sligo Times instead.
still running December 1868. He said chess was
then popular in the borough of Tynemouth. Sligo Times, Ireland. Chess by R. L. Clarke from
There was more chess in winter than summer 20 February 1909 (first issue) until 24 January
and it ended for a while on 10 December 1869; 1914 (final issue). Editor-in-chief was Glasgow
attempt to revive 4 March 1870 but summer journalist R. Smyllie, whose son, R. M. Smyllie,
break 28 April announced; no more seen by became a famous editor of The Irish Times from
Denman. Of this period, only 1870 is digitized 1934.
so far in B.N.A. The present author found chess Society. London illustrated weekly, or some-
on 4 March (Problem 120), 18 March (Problem times twice-weekly newspaper, ca. 1880–1901;
122), 24 March, 28 March (Problem 127) and compare Whyld, page 404, and see Chapter 3
29 September (Problem 128). for a detailed discussion and the complicated
Shipley Times [and Express]. Weekly paper ordering process necessary at the B.L., where it
published in Shipley, Yorkshire, from 3 March is available on microfilm only. This was the suc-
1905, continuing the Shipley Times and Airedale cessor to The Mail Budget which began in 1879;
Reporter. The newspaper has so far been digi- the title changed from Volume 2, no. 44, of 12
tized from January 1898 to the end of 1909 when March 1880. The chess column by Edward Marks
games 1838 and 1839 were published. Not men- (with some assistance from Gunsberg) began
tioned in Whyld, this is one of the columns that on Saturday 9 April 1881. It continued until the
has come to light through B.N.A. digitization. end of the London international tournament,
334 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

the last article being published on 30 June 1883. Southport Advertiser. Whyld, page 411, says
Whyld had a duplicate entry under “Illustrated chess 1897 to 1914.
Society” which claimed (implausibly) that Crake Sphinx. Student magazine in Liverpool having
had taken over the column in 1882. Society may chess only in February, April, and May 1894, by
have continued until 1901 but Whyld’s claims M. Kaizer, according to Whyld, page 413.
that there was chess until March 1889 also seems
Sporting Gazette. London weekly; the early full
doubtful.
title was The Sporting Gazette (Limited) but B.L.
South Devon Literary Chronicle. Plymouth catalog subtitle is “A town and country newspa-
monthly. Chess supposedly 1846 and 1847. Fee- per.” Whyld, page 417, has incorrect dates and
ble articles in 1847 (publication ended June); there was no apparent connection with the
1846 was unavailable in B.L. Daily Telegraph. R. B. Wormald’s column started
South Durham & Cleveland Mercury. West 8 November 1862 (only the second issue pub-
Hartlepool 1886 and later, says Whyld, page lished) and continued through 1863 and 1864,
408. Listed in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s Annual then into 1865 with many missing weeks; 6 May
as being published in Darlington. 1865 seems to have been the last chess problem.
Southampton Amusements. Whyld, page 409, There may have been occasional chess reports
says chess in April 1910 but it must have started in later years.
earlier. Repeated advertisements of 1907 were Sporting Life. London; Whyld, page 417, men-
found (in the Hampshire Advertiser) for “South- tions a Wisker column (no year stated) which
ampton Amusements. The popular penny weekly,” is doubtful (probably a confusion with The
with chess mentioned as one of the sporting Sportsman). This title only amalgamated with
items. Bell’s Life in London after chess had ended in the
latter.
Southend Standard & Essex Weekly Advertiser.
Whyld, page 409, says chess 14 April 1904– Sports Express. Hull; Whyld, page 418, says
1907. chess in 1907.
Southern Counties Chess Journal. Successor to The Sportsman. London weekly: Whyld, page
Sussex Chess Journal; discussed under magazines 418, has inaccurate dates. The full run was re-
in Chapter 5. viewed of the chess column edited by Wisker
from 5 August 1874 to 4 March 1876. A.J.G. sug-
Southern Daily Post. Hampshire. Whyld, page
gests possibly a later column starting 1895 (by
410, says chess 23 September 1911 to 27 January
Gunsberg).
1912 then transferred to the Hampshire Tele-
graph and Post [q.v.]. St. James’s Budget. London; compare Whyld,
page 419. This was a weekly edition (Fridays)
Southern Free Press. East Grinstead; Whyld, of the St. James’s Gazette [q.v.]. On 5 May 1893
page 410, says chess 29 March 1889 to 21 March it was announced that a column would com-
1890. Listed in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s Annual. mence next week under the direction of Mr.
Southern Times. Weymouth, Dorset. Notwith- Isidor Gunsberg, “one of the greatest chess-
standing the skepticism of some previous writ- players of our time, whose high reputation will
ers (e.g., Whyld, page 411) there was indeed at once place the St. James’s Budget in the very
such a column, probably conducted by C. T. first position in the estimation of chess-players
Atkins, between 12 February and 10 December throughout the world.” Entitled “Over the chess
1853. board,” Gunsberg’s series began 12 May 1893
Southern Weekly News. Brighton; see Whyld, (NOT 11th) and continued weekly until 27 July
page 411. Column by Walter Mead from 19 May 1900 (page 36). There was no chess in August
1883 to 21 December 1889. Excellent coverage 1900, perhaps a “collateral” casualty of the Boer
of south-east English chess news, bridging the War coverage?
gap between the Sussex Chess Magazine and the St. James’s Chronicle. London. Whyld, page 419,
Sussex Chess Journal. suggests chess in 1873.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 335

St. James’s Gazette. Published in London by A. ran the “Captain King” (syndicated) column in
Pearson from 1880 to 13 March 1905, after which 1913.
it merged with the Evening Standard [q.v.]. The Stoke Newington & Islington Recorder. Lon-
entry in Whyld, page 419, is a ghost; the chess don. Whyld, page 426, says chess from 1893 to
column was actually in the St. James’s Budget April 1906 by C. E. Biaggini.
[q.v.], although the Gazette did carry chess news
reports sometimes. Stoke Newington Register. Whyld, page 426,
says chess in 1906 but this is almost certainly a
St. Paul’s. London. Whyld, page 420, says five ghost, arising from confusion with the previous
articles only by Lasker in 1895: 11 and 25 May, title. There is no such newspaper in the B.L. cat-
13 June, 7 September, and 19 October. alog.
St. Peter’s Parochial Magazine. Chichester, Stratford Express etc. Whyld, page 427; see
Sussex. Whyld, page 420, says chess from 1 Oc- under the correct title Boro’ of West Ham, East
tober 1878 to October 1881 “and later” by Ham, and Stratford Express.
Sergeant-Major William J. McArthur.
Stroud News and Gloucestershire Advertiser.
Staff Gazette. Whyld, page 421, says chess in Whyld, page 428, says chess in 1903. Some ex-
April 1902. amples are on J.G.W.C. microfilm 17.
Staffordshire Sentinel. Hanley; Whyld, page Suffolk Chronicle, or Ipswich General Adver-
421, says chess in 1908 to 1914. The paper had tiser and County Express. Whyld, page 428,
both daily and weekly editions. says chess ca. 16 November 1889.
Stamford Mercury see Lincoln, Rutland and Suffolk Mercury. Ipswich. Whyld, page 429,
Stamford Mercury says chess in November 1873.
The Standard. London morning paper; confus- The Sunday Chronicle and Referee see Referee
ingly discussed by Whyld on both pages 137 and (details in Chapter 4)
423. As noted above in connection with the Eve- Sunday Daily Telegraph: London 1899. Whyld,
ning Standard [q.v.], the information on Whyld, page 432, says chess from 9 April 1899 to 21
page 137, actually relates to The Standard and a May 1899; A.J.G. confirms, saying he found only
similar confusion between the papers has been seven articles. Alan Smith says the column was
made by the B.N.A. For details of these mix-ups, by Isidor Gunsberg and then transferred to the
see the discussion in Chapter 4. The B.L. online Daily Telegraph [q.v.]. At this period the title was
catalog distinguishes between the papers cor- a Sunday edition of the daily and not a distinct
rectly. Whyld’s attribution to Hoffer of the col- newspaper.
umn that ran from 9 May 1892 appears to be
Sunday Referee see Referee
correct. There were some breaks or missed
weeks and the last column was published on 15 Sunday Special. London 1899 says Whyld, page
May 1905, after which a new series of problems 435.
soon started in the Evening Standard and St. Sunday Times. First column by Ernst Falkbeer
James’s Gazette [q.v.]. Whyld also mentions a in the Sporting and Agricultural supplement
later column from January 1912 to 1914 attrib- from 26 April 1857 until 6 November 1859; the
uted to Gunsberg. Samples were found on Sat- supplement ended the following week. Later
urdays in October 1913 headed “The Chess columns as in Whyld, page 437, starting with L.
World,” having news and an annotated game but Van Vliet 1899–1932 but unknown if this was
no problem or diagram. Publication of The Stan- continuous through World War I.
dard ceased in 1916. Sunderland Times. Whyld, page 438, says chess
Stirling Observer. Stirling, Scotland. Whyld, by James Stonehouse in 1878 and 1879.
page 425, says chess from 1902 to 1914 by A. Surrey Gazette. Not in Whyld but listed as an
Lindsay. active column in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s An-
Stockport Advertiser. Whyld, page 426, says it nual.
336 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Surrey Mirror. Redhill; Whyld, page 439, says began on 26 May 1893 when the column was
chess by L. P. Rees. B.N.A. shows the run went usually on page iii of the wrapper. The column
from 29 September 1911 to 19 June 1914. in Literature may have been identical. Whyld
Sussex Chess Journal. No “County” in title says the column was continued by his son E.
(contra Whyld, page 439). This was a chess Tinsley from 1903 to 1937 with E. A. Amphlett
magazine not a column. involved in 1914. From 31 January 1935 the col-
umn of The Times Literary Supplement [q.v.]
Sussex Gazette. In a Murray list but Whyld, transferred to this paper; the end-date of the col-
page 439, says Denman found no such title. umn is unknown but this newspaper closed in
Tablet. London; a religious magazine? Whyld, October 1951.
page 443, says chess at various dates, e.g., 1870, Timethrift. London. Whyld, page 453, says chess
1873, 1930, 1949, and 1965? in 1852 and 1857–1858. The B.L. catalog knows
Teacher. London. Whyld, page 446, says chess only issues 1–6 in 1851.
in 1904. Tinsley’s Magazine. London; Whyld, page 453,
Thetford and Watton Times. Whyld, page 449, says chess 1889–1891 but A.J.G. says it ended
says chess in 1888 and 1907. December 1890. The Chess Bouquet named
The Times. London. Whyld, page 451, says “No Antony Guest in connection with this column.
regular col. pre–1945, but good reporting.” The To-day’s Woman. Magazine, published in Dub-
Times has been fully digitized from its 18th cen- lin 1894–1896; chess 28 March to 19 December
tury beginning and it is possible to search for 1896. Whyld, page 454, misses the hyphen in
and read there about some of the late exploits the title and doesn’t name the editor. The col-
of Philidor. In Chapter 3 there is discussion umn was bylined Mrs. T. B. Rowland.
about Henry Bird’s claim to have been chess Torquay Directory. Whyld, page 456, says chess
columnist of The Times from 1878 to at least 22 November 1882 to 11 April 1883 by Carslake
1887 (he certainly made some unsigned contri- Winter Wood. A.J.G. found chess also in 1906–
butions). At some point in the early 1890s 1907.
Samuel Tinsley replaced him as supplier of news
Town Crier. Birmingham, England. Whyld, page
reports, but he had a regular column only in The
456, says chess by Dr. F. B. Feast; A.J.G. found
Times Weekly Edition [q.v.]. Some articles with
the correct dates of the run, mainly problems,
chess news and games from 1792 to March 1902 were 24 April 1902 to April 1903.
have been made available by Patsy D’Eramo at
users.zoominternet.net/~paderamo/. Toxteth Observer. Liverpool. Whyld, page 457,
says chess ca. 20 January 1883.
Times and Echo. London: Whyld, page 452. See
under the correct title Weekly Times and Echo Tyldesley Weekly Journal and Atherton News.
[q.v.]. Lancashire newspaper: Whyld, page 462. Syn-
dicated column by H. E. Bird from 6 January to
Times Literary Supplement. This paper, which 23 November 1883, with nearly all the same
began 17 January 1902, has also now been dig- content as the Sheffield and Rotherham Independ-
itized. Whyld, page 452, said the column by E. ent [q.v.] but occasional local items.
S. Tinsley transferred from Literature [q.v.] and
Tyneside Review. South Shields 1887–1889 says
this was probably the same column that had
Whyld, page 463.
started in The Times Weekly Edition [q.v.]. Chess
last appeared in the T.L.S. on 24 January 1935, Ulster Echo. Belfast, chess in 1904 says Whyld,
transferring to the following entry. page 464. The present author saw none; cer-
tainly no diagrams.
The Times Weekly Edition. London, published
from 1877 says the B.L. catalog though Whyld, Ulula. Manchester Grammar School magazine
page 453, gives the start year of publication as with chess in 1884–1885 says Whyld, page 464.
1847; that was a confusion with a different paper Undergraduate Journal. Incorrect title in Whyld;
called the Weekly Times. Chess by S. Tinsley see Oxford Undergraduates Journal.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 337

Vanity Fair. London illustrated magazine; com- 485. Chess by Löwenthal from 29 November
pare Whyld, page 468. A.J.G. says the column 1868 to 27 February 1869. Suggestions of a later
ran 1888 to 29 June 1889; problems only; editor column are doubtful.
possibly being J. A. Miles. Blackburne was pro-
The Weekly Echo. London newspaper, pub-
filed on 2 June 1888.
lished 25 October 1884 to 27 September 1885,
The Vegetarian. Chess column early in 1896, then merged with The Weekly Times (no chess)
said to have been conducted by Miss Gertrude to form The Weekly Times and Echo [q.v.]. There
Field (later Mrs. Anderson) according to the was a chess column by Gunsberg throughout
Chess Player’s Chronicle of 26 February, but not and it transferred to the new title. (Compare
traced. Whyld, pages 121 and 485.)
The Visitor. A monthly magazine published in Weekly Irish Times. Dublin, column by A. S.
Dublin, describing itself as “The Organ of the Peake from 25 January 1879 continuing through
Church of Ireland Temperance Society.” There 1880–1881 with some weeks missed, and fre-
were six articles by Mrs. Rowland, April–Sep- quency eventually reduced to fortnightly; later
tember 1904. Evidently this is what Whyld, page irregular and last appeared 18 March 1882. Whyld
474, was referring to with his ghostly Kingstown misleadingly says problem tourney 1882 (just
Visitor. an award for best problem published in 1881),
Wakefield and West Riding Herald. Yorkshire. and “irregular in 1886” (actually no chess column
Whyld, page 481, says chess in 1889. at all). A new column by Mrs. Rowland said
Walter Pelham’s Illustrated Journal. London; (e.g., in the English Mechanic) to be starting in
compare Whyld, page 481. Chess by Edward early 1889 did not happen, as shown by the elec-
Marks, 4 October 1879 to 19 February 1881. tronic database edition of the Irish Times. Later
Title changed to Pelham’s Illustrated Journal on there was a column by Mrs. Rowland which ran
22 January 1881. 23 February 1895 to August 1914 except for a
Walter Pelham’s Magazine. Whyld, page 481, hiatus during the Boer War. There was no chess
says chess in 1880. No such title; see Walter Pel- in 1900 or 1901; the column resumed Novem-
ham’s Illustrated Journal. ber 1902. For later run, compare Cork Weekly
News [q.v.].
The Warder. Dublin weekly paper; compare
Whyld, page 482. Until 5 November 1892 the Weekly Mail. Cardiff: weekly edition of the
full title was the Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail. Western Mail [q.v.]. This weekly title started
This newspaper started to reprint T. B. Row- publication on 12 February 1870 with a chess
land’s column in the Dublin Evening Mail col- column from the first issue, which is likely to
umn from 1886, continuing to 1902. See also have been a resumption of that which had run
Irish Weekly Mail and Warder. just previously in the Western Mail. (Whyld,
page 485, had incorrectly stated that this col-
The Week’s News. Whyld, page 483. See Brief.
umn started in May 1871.) The contributor was
Weekly Chronicle. South Shields. Whyld, page probably the Rev. Walter Evans, a leading Cardiff
484. Same as Newcastle Weekly Chronicle? Chess club member. A second column began on 1
edited by George Carm Heywood. March 1884, probably edited by W. Heitzman,
Weekly Citizen. Glasgow (title used from 1891 a German immigrant who lived in Pontypridd.
to November 1896): see Glasgow Weekly Citi- The end-date of this run is undetermined, but
zen. a third column by “Plutarch” (probably Heitz-
Weekly Courier. Liverpool, listed by Whyld, man) ran at least into early 1891; the end-date
page 484, under this title, but prior to January of this column too needs to be determined.
1904 it was the Liverpool Weekly Courier. For Weekly Northern Whig. Belfast: chess by anony-
convenience, the substantive entry is given mous editor [possibly W. Steen] from 1862 to
under that title. 1868, often weekly but with interruptions. Spe-
The Weekly Dispatch. London, Whyld, page cifically: first chess article 22 February 1862.
338 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

Column begins 8 March 1862, continuing weekly Weekly Westminster [Gazette]. Continuation
(bar some weeks) until 16 January 1864. Then of the Saturday Westminster Gazette [q.v.], the
20 February, 5 March, 2 April. Revived with title changing in February 1922 but Schumer’s
problem 100 on 29 October 1864 until 7 April column continued at least to the end of 1922.
1866 (bar odd weeks). Then 30 June, 7 July, reg- The title changed again to the Weekly Westmin-
ular 21 July 1866 to 22 December 1866. Returns ster from 3 November 1923 and continued until
26 January–2 March 1867, 16 March, 20 April– 30 January 1926 but it has not been ascertained
17 August (bar 8 and 22 June), then 31 August, whether the chess column lasted to the end.
19 October–23 November and 24 December Wesley College Quarterly. Dublin school mag-
1867. In 1868, only on 11 and 25 January, 7 No- azine; compare details about publication history
vember, 14 November and the last one 5 De- and holdings at the end of Chapter 3 with Whyld,
cember 1868. Whyld made no distinction be- page 489. Chess began mid–1888, with a prob-
tween the Northern Whig (q.v., which revived lem tourney and games. The final issue with
chess in 1886) and the Weekly Northern Whig, some chess was October–November 1897. The
listing everything under the former. chess editors at various times were R. F. Crook,
Weekly Telegraph. Continuation from 1887 of R. T. White (ca. 1891), A. T. Bassett (from Jan-
the Sheffield Weekly Telegraph [q.v.]. This news- uary 1892), and William E. Thrift (from August
paper has been digitized in B.N.A. from 1884 to 1893). No complete sets of this column are
1889 and 1894 to 1919 at least so further inves- known.
tigation into chess content could be undertaken. West London Advertiser. Whyld, page 491, says
There was also a Bradford Weekly Telegraph, it is chess in the West London News by Chatto from
unknown whether these titles were connected. 24 February 1894 to 25 January 1896 but that
Weekly Times and Echo. Sunday paper published title is wrong; the paper only became the West
in London. On 4 October 1885 Gunsberg’s col- London Advertiser and West London News on 21
umn transferred to this new title from the earlier February 1896.
Weekly Echo [q.v.]. Chess was usually on page 2 West Middlesex Standard. Ealing, London.
until it vanished; 11 April 1886 was the final col- Whyld, page 491, says chess ca. May 1893 by G.
umn this author found (with Problem 23) but K. Ansell. Listed in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s
perhaps it occasionally appeared later; A.J.G. Annual.
gives a final date of 4 November 1886.
West of England Conservative. Plymouth;
Weekly Scotsman. Edinburgh. Chess by David
Whyld, page 491, says chess 23 July 1851 to 17
Forsyth from 4 November 1893 thru 3 April
November 1852, then transferred to the Western
1897; Whyld, page 486, but also page 396, lists Courier [q.v.].
it under the Scotsman.
West Sussex County Chronicle. Chichester, chess
Weekly Star. Glasgow, Whyld, page 486: see
13 November 1878 to 31 December 1879. Title
Glasgow Weekly Star.
in Whyld, page 491, omits “County”; the chess
Weekly Telegraph. Sheffield. Whyld, page 486; editor probably always G. R. Downer though
see Sheffield Weekly Telegraph. Whyld mentions Sgt.-Maj. McArthur also. This
Weekly Times. Whyld, page 486, says see “The paper continued for a few weeks until 28 Janu-
Times Weekly Edition” [q.v.]. There had been a ary 1880 before merging with the Portsmouth
London paper called the Weekly Times (without Times.
chess) which in September 1885 merged with West Sussex Gazette & South of England Ad-
the Weekly Echo [q.v.] to form the next title. vertiser. Arundel. Whyld, page 491, says chess
Weekly Times and Echo. London. Formed in from 21 November 1895 to 12 February 1903
October 1885 by the merger of the aforemen- (by “Captain King” from 21 November 1901),
tioned titles; Gunsberg’s chess column ran to also from 1 September 1904 to 6 April 1905,
the end of 1885 (at least). Found at B.L. on the and a column from 1929 to 1932 by Bruce Hay-
Weekly Times microfilm. den.
 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914 339

West Sussex Times. Horsham. Whyld, page 491, 1912 and 1913. This author’s findings, discussed
says chess 7 January 1893 to 5 February 1916, in detail in Chapter 4, differ in some respects
originally (at least) by Bernard Reynolds. Listed from what is said in Whyld, page 494. To sum-
in the 1893/4 Chess Player’s Annual. marize: “Chess Notes,” usually said to be “spe-
Western Courier. Plymouth; Whyld, page 492, cially contributed,” began on 31 July 1890 and
says chess from 24 November 1852 to 12 Octo- usually appeared on Thursdays, being local news
ber 1853. with occasional games. From 22 April 1897 the
byline “QUEEN’S KNIGHT” appeared at the foot
Western Daily Mercury. Plymouth; see the dis- of the text; he (according to Whyld) was Cars-
cussion in Chapter 4 and compare Whyld, page lake Winter Wood. Diagrams began to appear
493. Chess content probably began in 1901– early in 1899. After 1 March 1906 the column
1902, edited by Philip Dancer, with C. T. Blan- transferred to the Illustrated Western Weekly
shard becoming involved later. From 1905 chess News [q.v.]. From 12 February 1921, chess re-
was by C. T. Blanshard and others, and in 1906 turned to the Western Morning News, by A.R.
it was explicitly stated to be by Blanshard, as- Cooper. The numbering of the problems indi-
sisted by W. Mears (solving editor) and, for west cates this was a continuation of the Western
country news, “King’s Rook” of the Devon and Daily Mercury [q.v.] column that he had taken
Exeter Gazette [q.v.]. On 20 November 1908 the over a few years previously.
byline changed to W. Mears with “foreign news
by C. T. Blanshard.” King’s Rook still con- Western Times. Exeter 1903. Whyld, page 494,
tributed the West Country news. So far 1912 says chess ca. April 1903 by W. H. Gundry.
(only) has been digitized by B.N.A. Whyld says Western Weekly Mercury. Plymouth; not men-
the column continued until 19 July 1914 and tioned in Whyld. See discussion of syndicated
that A. R. Cooper was chess editor from April columns in Chapter 4. “Chess & Chess Players”
1916 until 1921. At this point the column trans- by “Captain King” began in 1903, was suspended
ferred to the Western Morning News [q.v.]. for summer after 26 March 1904 and returned
The Western Magazine and Portfolio. Monthly on 8 October, continuing to the end of the year
miscellany magazine, with a Devon emphasis and maybe later. Be Advised: The J.G.W.C. has
and chess column by E. J. Winter Wood, pub- a microfilmed scrapbook covering October
lished in Plymouth from July 1888 to December 1906–April 1909 said to be from the Western
1892. See detailed discussion in Chapter 3 and Weekly Mercury but in fact it appears to be the
compare Whyld, page 493. The original title was column of the Kidderminster Shuttle [q.v.].
The Western Portfolio, and chess began with Western Weekly News. Plymouth. See listing for
Volume 2, no. 2, February 1889, continuing al- the Illustrated Western Weekly News.
most to the end of the publication. In 1892 the Western Weekly Post. Bristol; Whyld, page 494
magazine changed character, and the last chess (information from Richard Forster), says chess
(very small) was seen in October. ca. 10 July 1909 by H. Hosey Davis. The B.L.
Western Mail. Cardiff daily paper, commencing catalog says this paper ran from 1909 to 1914
publication in 1869; many years have been dig- (not published between 26 May and 26 June
itized in B.N.A. A.J.G. found a chess column not 1909). Although the B.L. does not say that it
mentioned by Whyld, running 4 December was a successor to the Bristol Weekly Mercury,
1869 to 29 January 1870. As this is just before Whyld was probably right because the Mercury
the start of the column in the sister paper Weekly had ceased publication on 12 June and the hia-
Mail [q.v.] believed to be by the Rev. Walter tus perhaps arose from a negotiated merger.
Evans, this was probably a precursor with the Westminster Budget. London weekly illustrated
same contributor. This was possibly the first magazine published on Fridays from 1893 to 4
Welsh chess column. November 1904. A column (possibly by Hof-
Western Morning News. Plymouth; digitized by fer) which began on 1 May 1896 was overlooked
B.N.A. from 1890 to 1949 inclusive except for by Whyld but mentioned by the late Chris Rav-
340 Appendix I. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914

ilious in B.C.M. July 2006 (page 386, in his lists this title under “Papers Received.” The B.L.
notice of Whyld’s posthumously published catalogue says this journal, edited by Hamilton
Columns). The articles from 1896 are available Hume and illustrated by J. Proctor, was pub-
at www.chessarch.com/excavations/excavations. lished from 28 February 1867 to 17 May 1871.
php/. Some earlier news reports in this paper Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard. Ciren-
may be found digitized in the American news- cester. Whyld, page 500, says chess 1898 to
paperarchive.com. The Budget column, at least 1906 “and later” by H. E. Norris; article about
by the end of 1902, seems to have had the same problem composer Mrs. Baird on 17 June 1905.
editor as the Westminster Gazette [q.v.]. Some-
times the columns in the two papers may have Wit and Wisdom. London. Whyld, page 501,
been the same. In 1904 at least, the Budget says chess (problems) from 28 August 1886 to
reprinted the column from its stablemate, the 1889, edited by H. E. Dudeney, but B.L. catalog
Westminster Gazette [q.v.], the previous Satur- implies “discontinued” after 1886.
day. The last Budget column had problem num- Wolverhampton Express and Star. Listed in the
ber 458: one less than that of the Gazette prob- 1893/4 Chess Player’s Annual. See Express and
lem next day. Star.
Westminster Gazette. Daily newspaper pub- Wolverhampton Journal. B.L. says Staffordshire
lished in London. Whyld, page 496, says Hof- monthly, 96 issues published January 1902 to
fer’s column ran 1899 to 1913. One microfilm December 1909, so not to be confused with ear-
was sampled at the point the Westminster Budget lier newspapers of this title. Whyld, page 502,
[q.v.] ended; e.g., on Sat. 5 November 1904 there says chess by H. N. Fellows in 1902 and 1903 at
was problem 459 so it was a long-running series. least, some examples being on J.G.W.C. micro-
The column on 30 August 1913 said Hoffer had film 17. MS H. J. Murray 90 (in the Bodleian)
died “after a severe operation” and that he had shows the column include unreliable articles
been their Chess Editor since the founding of “History of Chess in a Nutshell” by W. S. Branch
this paper. His successor was not named. The between October 1903 and April 1904.
last column to appear in the daily was on Satur- Womanhood. London monthly, volumes run-
day 8 August, just after Britain declared war, but ning December–May, June–November. Com-
Schumer’s column continued for many years in pare Whyld, page 502. Digitized by Chadwyck
the Saturday Westminster Gazette [q.v.]. in the Gerritsen Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs.
Wharfedale and Airedale Observer. Ilkley, west Mrs. Rhoda Bowles’s column started in issue
Yorkshire. Whyld, page 496, says chess 1888 to four (March 1899) and continued until the final
April 1889. The B.L. catalog does not have Free issue ( June 1907). There were seven issues in
Press in the title and gives the place of publica- the final volume. Correspondence chess tour-
tion as Otley rather than Ilkley, which is a few neys began in Volume V; six were played but the
miles to the west. However, there may have been result of the final group in the last one was never
local editions with slightly different titles as published. Answers to correspondents are some-
“variant titles” are mentioned. times on a different page from column.
Whitehaven Free Press. Cumbria. Whyld, page Woodbridgian. Suffolk school magazine. Whyld,
497, says chess 1889 to 1893 “and later.” page 502, says chess in 1882.
Whitehaven News. Cumbria. Whyld, page 497, Worcestershire Chronicle. Whyld, page 503,
says chess in 1889. says chess ca. April 1878 but contradictions in
Whitgift School Magazine. Croydon, Surrey. his sources.
Whyld, page 497, says chess May 1884 to Janu- Worthing Gazette. Whyld, page 503, said chess
ary 1885 “and later,” by Herbert Jacobs and from 18 December 1889 to 2 April 1890 (by T.
Joseph Steele. Dewe) and another column from 1962 to 1972.
Will-o’-the-Wisp. London. Whyld, page 500, Wrexham Lantern and Tit-bits. Wrexham; this
cites W.P. February 1871 page 160, which just title is unknown to the B.L. and WAT but perhaps
 Appendix II. British and Irish Chess Magazines: A Summary 341

can be found locally in a North Wales archive. Not page 506, says chess by G. H. D. Gossip from
in Whyld but according to the Preston Guardian, May to September 1872 “and later.”
8 November 1882, there was chess from 4 No- Young Men of Great Britain. London weekly (2
vember 1882 (edited by William Locke Holt). volumes per year). Whyld, page 506, simplifies
Yarmouth and Gorleston Times. Great Yarmouth the publishing history. Chess column begun by
1880, mentioned in Whyld, page 504. G. F. Pardon in issue 8 (ca. 22 February 1868)
Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds 1910 and later, was handed over to Löwenthal after a few months.
according to Whyld, page 505. It continued until Volume 7, no. 180 (originally
1871 but reissued 1878). Several correspondence
Yorkshire Observer Budget. Weekly paper pub- tourneys were run. After ten volumes had been
lished in Bradford from January 1911; succeed- completed in 1872, there was a break; the whole
ing the Bradford Observer Budget [q.v.]. The B.L. series was repeated starting in 1875.
catalog shows a break in 1911, as they have no
holdings, but https://www.bradfordtimeline. Young Men’s Review. London. Whyld, page 506,
co.uk/papers.htm shows the Yorkshire Observer says chess by A. Curnock from August 1890 to
Budget starting in 1911. According to Whyld, 1899 “and later.” Listed in the 1893/4 Chess
page 505, the chess column by J. A. Woollard Player’s Annual which says it was the organ of
continued (with some short interruptions in the the Hackney Y.M.C.A.
early 1920s). Woollard died in 1929 but Whyld Youth. Published London, 2 August 1882 to 25
shows the column continuing until 1935. April 1888; compare Whyld, page 507. This new
Yorkshire Times. Whyld, page 506, says this was paper for adolescents began publication on
mentioned in one source but is probably a Wednesday 2 August 1882, continuing the chess
ghost. column and other features from The Boys’ News-
paper [q.v.]. Whyld’s statement “Transferred ex
Yorkshire Weekly Post. Leeds newspaper: see Boys’ Illustr. Newsp.” is not correct. Problems
Whyld, page 506. Column by Gunsberg began started at number 98 as J. Paul Taylor had pre-
3 November 1900 and KW said continued to viously started the column in The Boys’ News-
March 1902, then new column by F. P. Wildman paper [q.v.]. According to The Chess Bouquet,
(4 October 1902 to 30 October 1910) and F. D. “the chess column survived all changes until the
Yates and others. paper was ultimately discontinued, Youth not
Young Gentleman’s Magazine. London; Whyld, being destined to grow into old age.”

Appendix II: British and Irish

Chess Magazines, 1837–1914:
A Summary
This is an alphabetical list of titles and sub- plete runs) exist in British or Irish copyright li-
titles, with an indication of date spans and edi- braries. Other information here is minimal. All
tors. Distinct series with the same or similar ti- the magazines are discussed in Chapter 5 or (in
tles are listed separately. Most titles begin with the case of the various avatars of The Chess
the word “The” so the definite article is omitted Player’s Chronicle) in Chapter 6.
here. In a few cases, no copies (or only incom-
342 Appendix II. British and Irish Chess Magazines: A Summary

Amateur Chess Magazine: A Monthly Miscel- the final avatar of the Chess Player’s Chronicle.
lany of General Literature. London (3 vols. Probably Hoffer was involved in some way.
from June 1872 to June 1874; retitled The Am- Chess-Monthly. London. September 1879–Au-
ateur after 5/1873; reduced to quarterly shortly gust 1896 (17 vols.). Ed. Hoffer and J. H. Zuk-
before the end). Ed. James T. C. Chatto. ertort; by Hoffer only after Zukertort’s death in
Blackfriars Chess Journal. Norwich (12 issues the summer of 1888.
edited by schoolboys F. & G. Howitt, February– Chess Player. London (4 vols., 19 July 1851 to
July 1884). Not 1936 (misprint in Whyld’s Col- November 1853 [Betts said December]; vol. 3,
umns). There may not be any complete set in from August 1852, and vol. 4 were entitled The
existence. New Chess Player). Ed. J. Kling and B. Horwitz.
British Chess Bulletin. London (four issues Chess Player’s Chronicle. The first series was
1910–1911). Ed. H. T. Dickinson. entirely edited by Staunton and ran through 13
British Chess Magazine. Huddersfield, later volumes until the end of 1852, sometimes weekly
London. Annual vols., monthly from January and sometimes monthly as detailed in Chapter
1881 to date. Edited first by John Watkinson; see 6. Staunton began a “New Series” in 1853, but
Chapter 5 for a full list of editors until recent from the August 1854 issue R. B. Brien became
times. the proprietor and succeeded him as editor. The
British Chess Review. London (2 vols., 1853– magazine closed after the August 1856 number.
June 1854). Ed. Daniel Harrwitz, with some in- The third series, published by J. H. Starie at the
volvement by S. S. Boden. Philidorian Rooms in Rathbone Place ran from
January 1859 until July/August 1862. The vexed
British Correspondence Chess Association question of who were the editors is discussed in
Magazine. London. Began in 1909 (probably detail in Chapter 6. This series was the last to
October), not in 1906 as stated by Betts. Some have any real connection with Staunton’s origi-
early issues are unavailable. Publication became nal magazine. Later magazines with a similar
irregular from 1914. Editors were: Platt & Dick- title (which began in 1868 with the launch of
inson (issues 3–4 at least); J. Jackson (issue 8 the Chess Player’s Quarterly Chronicle) should
at least), E. Griffiths #13–23 ( July 1918); H. E. be considered as a distinct publication, but the
Matthews #24–29 (1919–1923); #30 ( January British Library catalog conflates them.
1925) unknown; #31 ( June 1927) H. Bardsley,
and #32 ( June 1931) S. G. Duffell. A new mag- Chess Player’s Chronicle. New monthly series
azine was launched after the Second World War. edited by the Rev. Charles Edward Ranken, re-
setting the volume number to 1 and restoring
The British Miscellany and Chess Player’s Chron- the apostrophe to its original position. He ed-
icle. Vol. 1 (May–October 1841). Ed. Staunton ited four volumes, 1877–1880.
(successor to the The British Miscellany). Con-
tinued as simply the Chess Player’s Chronicle. Chess Player’s Chronicle: A Monthly Record of
Provincial Chess. This was the full title of the
Chess Amateur. Stroud, monthly (24 vols. start- Chronicle in 1876 when it was edited in Glasgow
ing October 1906, ending June 1930). The orig- by John Jenkin; only three issues appeared ( Jan-
inal editor was William Moffatt (to about 1915); uary to March).
later editors are unidentified. Publisher named
as Harry Harmer to volume 7; then Stroud News The Chess Player’s Chronicle and Journal of
Publishing Co. Indoor and Outdoor Amusements. New series
began January 1881, originally weekly and in a
Chess Board. Edinburgh, 1913–1915. Manu- larger page format, but continuing the volume
script magazine with hand-colored diagrams, numbering from Ranken. This series was pub-
ed. J. Stewart. Very rare; Edinburgh Chess Club lished by W. Morgan after the establishment of
has some issues from volume two. B.C.M; no editor was ever named but Gunsberg
Chess Chronicle. London (2 vols., numbered 17 was involved sometimes. There was a break early
and 18; September 1901–June 1902.) This was in 1883 and eventually the subtitle was dropped
 Appendix II. British and Irish Chess Magazines: A Summary 343

and the page size reduced. Publication became correctly) to no. 7 (15 April). Printed series
erratic with long gaps, as detailed in Chapter 6. (fortnightly) from 1 May to 15 December 1887.
Chess Player’s Magazine. London (5 vols., July London Chess Fortnightly. Ed. Emanuel Lasker,
1863–October 1867). First issue edited by Harr- 1 volume (15 August 1892–30 July 1893, irreg-
witz; the second by a committee. Falkbeer was ular towards the end). Lasker was mostly an ab-
then appointed but left at some point in the fall sentee landlord.
of 1864. The second series beginning January Palamede. London, 1840–1841, ed. J. H. Hutt-
1865 was edited by Löwenthal. Many secondary mann. Sold at his chess rooms and through the
sources incorrectly say Löwenthal edited through- post, incorporating his previous one-page
out. “slips” Games of Chess and Curious Chess Prob-
Chess Players’ Quarterly Chronicle. Edited by lems. See the detailed discussion in Chapter 5;
the Rev. A. B. Skipworth in York and later Lin- unavailable.
coln (1868–1875, but soon became bimonthly). Philidorian. London (6 issues, December 1837–
Chess Review: A Fortnightly Magazine. Man- May 1838). Ed. George Walker.
chester (three issues in August 1907). Eds. F. Recreationist. Only part of this magazine was
Baird and E. Millins. Perhaps only available in about chess. See under chess columns (Appen-
the J.G.W.C. and the Royal Dutch Library. dix I and Chapter 3).
Chess Review: A Monthly Journal for Chess
St. Patrick’s Chess Club Pamphlet. Weekly from
and Whist. Manchester (ed. N. T. Miniati; five
No. 1 (23 March 1885) to No. 7–8 (undated:
issues in 1892–1893).
May?). Manuscript magazine, for members of
Chess World: A Magazine Devoted to the the St. Patrick’s Chess Club, Dublin, around the
Cultivation of the Game of Chess, etc. London time the Irish Chess Association was founded.
(4 vols., March 1865–March 1869). Ed. Staun- Editor not named. Reproduced by trypograph.
ton. Reissued with some minor changes as a booklet
City of London Chess Magazine. London: 2 in 1887. See the detailed discussion in Chapter
vols., February 1874–January 1876, ed. W. N. 5; available in the J.G.W.C.
Potter; also Volume 3, no. 1 (only, March 1876) Southern Counties Chess Journal. Brighton;
ed. J. Wisker. continuing the Sussex Chess Journal after the for-
Four-Leaved Shamrock: An Irish Monthly Paper mation of the Southern Counties Chess Union.
Devoted to the Royal Game of Chess. Chess Betts’s bibliography lists them as one entry
magazine edited by Mrs. Rowland between Jan- (item 7–39, page 40). Ran from Volume 4, no.
uary 1905 and July 1914. Sometimes bimonthly, 49 ( January 1893) to Volume 7, no. 4 ( January
sometimes quarterly, irregular. Usually four 1896). Editors stated to be the Rev. E. I. Crosse
pages, but with some double issues and photo- and F. W. Womersley with the cooperation of
graphs. W. V. Wilson. There is a set in Cleveland and it
Household Chess Magazine. Manchester (3 is- has been microfilmed.
sues, 1865). Ed. by “Toz” (T. H. Hopwood) with Sussex Chess Journal. Brighton, 4 vols. (nos. 1–
assistance from J. H. Blackburne. 48, November 1889–December 1892). Editor
Huddersfield College Magazine. Only part of was H. W. Butler (at least for the latter issues).
this magazine was about chess. See under chess In Cleveland and has been microfilmed.
columns (Appendix I and Chapter 3). Sussex Chess Magazine. Brighton, 13 fort-
Irish Chess Chronicle. Two series in 1887, both nightly issues (November 1882–May 1883). Ed.
edited and published by Alfred S. Peake. Man- Walter Mead, who stopped it when he obtained
uscript series (reproduced by trypograph, a column in the Southern Weekly News. This
cyclostyle or similar device): Seven issues from magazine is held at the K.B.
No. 1 (10 January 1887), no. 2 (1 February), Westminster Papers. London (11 vols., May
fortnightly (it used the term “bi-monthly” in- 1868–April 1879; no issue for April 1869). The
344 Appendix III. Some Corrections to The Oxford Companion to Chess

title of the first volume was The Westminster was Charles Mossop. P. T. Duffy was the main
Chess Club Papers. Also included whist and chess editor (from volume 2 at least) with con-
sometimes other games e.g., croquet and piquet, tributions by W. N. Potter, J. H. Zukertort, and
and articles on the drama. The overall editor others.

Appendix III: Some Corrections

to The Oxford Companion to Chess

The Oxford Companion to Chess, by Whyld been made in the body of the text, so they are
and his coeditor, the late David Hooper, is a just summarized here. As page numbers differ
much-praised reference work, rightfully re- between the editions, they are listed by article
garded as far superior to the various other chess title.
encyclopaedias in English. There are two dis- Correspondence chess. This article fol-
tinct editions (with several additions, deletions lows Bruno Bassi in stating, as if fact, that the
and corrections between the first in 1984 and “golden age” of this form of the game was in the
the second in 1992). Because its articles are nec- early part of the 19th century. It has been argued
essarily very concise, it rarely states sources and in Harding, Correspondence Chess in Britain and
occasionally introduces comments that appear Ireland (pages 48–49), that this is an absurd
to be pet theories of the editors rather than view.
proven facts. So, despite the extensive research Lewis, William. An interesting article,
its editors undeniably undertook, one is never partly based on Murray’s articles about Lewis
sure whether it can be entirely relied upon. It is for B.C.M., but new research might be worth-
particularly unfortunate that some inaccuracies while. The Oxford Companion follows Sergeant
were included in the Oxford Dictionary of Na- (page 29) in stating categorically that William
tional Biography as the result of trusting state- Lewis was bankrupted in 1827 as a result of
ments in the Oxford Companion, sometimes in- speculation on a piano-making patent. The
troducing errors that were not present in the O.D.N.B. copied this, but it is improbable be-
original Dictionary of National Biography. cause “until 1841, the legal status of being a
Its value as a comprehensive historical ref- bankrupt was confined to traders owing more
erence work was also somewhat compromised, than £100” and debtors who were not traders
in the second edition especially, by a decision could not be bankrupt. It is not clear whether
to include new entries for living masters, which Lewis qualified as a trader. It is certainly plau-
meant that some earlier articles had to be sacri- sible that he lost money speculating on pianos
ficed. It is unlikely that a third edition will ever as the mid–1820s was a time of great technolog-
be produced, since neither editor is still alive, ical development in that instrument. Anyone
but if any book of this kind is attempted in fu- wanting to know more on the subject can look
ture, it would be a good policy to exclude all liv- at The Piano-Forte: Its History Traced to the Great
ing persons. Exhibition of 1851 by Rosamund Harding but
It is not the intention here to review the Lewis is not mentioned in that book. The Com-
Companion comprehensively but just to sum- panion article on Lewis implies he stopped giv-
marize some points where one might take issue ing lessons in the 1820s but there are newspaper
with its accuracy. Most of these points have advertisements showing he continued to do so
 Appendix III. Some Corrections to The Oxford Companion to Chess 345

in the 1830s, and it is not clear when he stopped Telephone Chess. The Oxford Companion
playing chess. wrongly says that the first documented tele-
Löwenthal, J. J. The Companion said phone chess match was played in Derbyshire, in
Löwenthal edited The Chess Player’s Magazine January 1878. In fact the people involved were
throughout. This is a clear factual error; he only well aware that there had been a previous tele-
edited the new series beginning January 1865. phone game in America and were only seeking
Either the editors forgot what Sergeant had writ- to play the first in Europe. Early in 1878, the Der-
ten or disbelieved him. The history of this mag- byshire Advertiser republished a game played in
azine is told in detail in Chapter 5. Hartford, Connecticut, which John G. Belden
Mortimer, James. The statement that the (of Hartford) and Fred Thompson believed was
Figaro “ceased publication when Mortimer went the first by telephone. Hartford Times, 3 January
to prison” is just untrue. The Oxford Companion 1878, said that game involving Mrs. Ellen
has misled several later writers on this point. Gilbert had been played over a private line the
When Jeremy Spinrad wrote an article about previous week. In fact a New York paper had al-
Mortimer for the Chess Café website in 2006, ready published a telephone game played “in the
he said “The Figaro went under as a result of vicinity of New York” about three months pre-
Mortimer’s imprisonment,” but in fact publica- vious to the Hartford game. The Chess Player’s
tion never stopped and this author has seen all Chronicle of February 1878, page 45, referred to
issues of that period. Mortimer was sentenced the real first game printed in the Turf, Field and
to three months imprisonment on 24 Novem- Farm, but did not state the date of publication.
ber 1879 and sent to Holloway Prison. He was American chess collector Andy Ansel has sent
released 11 days early by order of the Home Sec- information that it was 5 October 1877.
retary on 12 February 1880. Steinitz’s column Walker, George. Proved in Chapter 1 was
continued to April 1882. It has been suggested that the Companion article wrongly attributes
that Steinitz’s column ended because Mortimer the chess column of The Lancet to Walker.
sold the paper at that time; this is plausible but Whyld repeated the allegation in his two large
requires more research. Publication of Figaro bibliographies (Columns, and Texts) and it has
continued to the end of 1898. now gained wide currency, e.g., Vlastimil Fiala,
Newspaper columns. This article fails to “Short History of the Origin of Chess Tourna-
mention The Kaleidoscope and wrongly says ments,” in Quarterly for Chess History, XIII (Win-
there was a chess game in The Lancet in 1822 ter 2007), pages 7–35; here, page 23. The chess
which was before that magazine began publica- community needs to stamp out this error.
tion. Yates, F. D. Research by Stephen John
Steinitz, Wilhelm. Only in the second Mann and others has shown that his first name
edition (page 397) Hooper and Whyld sug- was simply Fred, and not Frederick as stated in
gested that there was a conspiracy, saying “The the Oxford Companion. P. W. Sergeant’s 1932
Field column was lost to him as a result of obituary for B.C.M. appears to have made the
manœuvres made while he was away.” This is original mistake and all subsequent writers (in-
not a clear error but questionable; Steinitz was cluding Gaige and the posthumous biography
paranoid about this. Since the article about by W. Watts and W. Winter) followed him. Yates
Steinitz in the first edition, page 331, had only appears to have adopted his middle name in
said “The Field column was taken over by Hof- adult life; it was his mother’s maiden surname,
fer, whose miserable annotations sometimes in- Dewhirst. So “Frederick Dewhurst” should be
flamed Steinitz,” we wonder what the editors replaced by “Fred Dewhirst.” See also Appendix
had found which led them to change the arti- V and Harding, Joseph Henry Blackburne, page
cle. 472.
346 Appendix IV. Contents of The British Miscellany

Appendix IV: Contents of

The British Miscellany
This appendix analyzes the content of The Parts 1 and 2 between them had a total of
British Miscellany which preceded the Chess 216 pages, indicating nine numbers of 24 pages
Player’s Chronicle. This information is provided each. Moreover Part I was larger than Part II be-
for reference purposes to avoid clogging up cause there were five Saturdays in January and
Chapter 6 with too much non-chess material four in February. There were 120 pages in Part
that may be of interest to only a minority of 1 and only 96 in Part II. This is confirmed by
readers, though scholars lacking access to the the appearance of page 121, which has “T HE
publication should find it helpful. BRITISH MISCELLANY” in large type at the top
The following is a tentative attempt, based and a printer’s mark “No VI” at its foot. It should
on the British Library copy, to establish where be noted that the size of numbers in February
each weekly number began and ended, but it is differed markedly from January, since numbers
subject to correction should a better copy of The 6 and 8 had 40 pages each, whereas numbers 7
British Miscellany, complete with covers, turn and 9 had each only eight pages.
up in another library or private collection. It appears from the analysis of the con-
The printing of the numbers would have tents, below, that there was a double number of
been done in “signatures” of four or eight pages, 48 pages issued on 2 January, followed by an-
so a break between numbers cannot have fallen other double number of 48 pages, and a single
at any page whose number did not have 4 as a number of 24 pages, making the total size of Part
factor, and probably if it did not have 8 as a fac- 1, 120 pages. Or if the argument above about
tor. not splitting articles is valid, then there was in
While it is possible that a poem or article fact a double number followed by a treble num-
falling across a number break could actually ber.
have been broken into numbers published in We cannot be certain of the exact dates of
successive weeks, it seems unlikely to a modern original publication but, on the assumption that
eye that an editor would have wished to annoy articles were not split between weeks, they were
his readers in this way, meaning that such a probably 2 January (numbers 1–2), and 16 or
break is an indication of a double number. How- 23 January (numbers 3–5).
ever, this argument may not be conclusive: per- The contents of Part I for February 1841
haps Victorian readers liked cliff-hangers so (comprising the contents of the numbers orig-
much that they were even accustomed to accept inally published in January) were as follows,
breaks in poems and nonfiction articles. beginning with the double number. That con-
As the title and contents page of Part III tained:
survive, we know that Part 3 appeared only in Pages 1–6: editor’s introduction; page 2
monthly form, and it was the last part to appear. refers to Prospectus and publication plans. No
Dated “April 1841,” it consisted of the material mention of chess in introduction. The first ar-
that was to have appeared in separate numbers ticle proper is “Ancient Philosophy and Modern
on the Saturdays of March, but was not so pub- Learning” by F. Tritton esq.
lished (or there would have been advertise- Pages 8–12: Horae Solitariae part 1 by
ments to announce their appearance). The main “Proteus.”
task, therefore, is to analyze the breakdown of Page 13: a poem by Agnes Strickland.
the items that appeared in Parts 1 and 2, trying Pages 14–22: The Inside of an Omnibus
to assign them to their correct numbers and by Leigh Hunt; also a small item Hope fills page
dates. 22.
 Appendix IV. Contents of The British Miscellany 347

Pages 23–30: “On the Popular Taste of En- Pages 77–79: The Ancient and Modern Epic
gland in the Nineteenth Century” by J. Hem- Muses by “Candidus” (a poetic dialogue).
ming Webb. At the foot of page 25, which is in Pages 80–85: The second, and concluding,
the middle of this article, there is a printers’ part of the Agnes Strickland story “The Smug-
mark which says “No II.” gler’s Sons” (with a line illustration at the start).
Pages 30–32: “Waifs and Strays,” no. 1; not Pages 86–89: essay “Old English Ballads.
bylined. This has nothing to do with chess al- No I ‘Sing Song.’”
though the title suggests it was possibly written Pages 90–91: Chess first appears, with a
by Captain Hugh Alexander Kennedy, who problem and a game, as described in Chapter
wrote a book Waifs and Strays: Chiefly from the 6.
Chess Board. This was an anthology of pieces Pages 92–101: a long essay On Poetic Ge-
collected from various publications for which nius, as Developed in Barbarous and in Civilized
he had written. Times, by “D.P.F.” Note that the identifying
Pages 32–33: contains a poem bridging the mark “No V” appears at the foot of page 97 in
spread, which proves the issue cannot have ended the middle of the article, probably indicating
on page 32. that numbers 3–5 were issued as a triple num-
Pages 34–38: “Our Continental Pantheon,” ber.
no. 1 about Charles Paul de Kock, with a brief Also on page 101: two sonnets by H. G.
poem to fill page 38. Adams.
Pages 39–48: Agnes Strickland story “The Pages 102–104: Grandfather’s Coach by
Smuggler’s Sons” concluded the first double “W.H.H.”
number. A double number would make good Pages 105–110: Our Continental Pantheon
commercial sense when launching a new publi- no. 2 about George Sand. Also on page 110,
cation. At the foot of page 49 a printer’s mark “Early years and late reflections” (musing on a
says “No III” which confirms that number II had book of that title)
ended on page 48. Pages 111–118: Critical Notices. To page
Numbers III–V (pages 49–120) was 116 on a play by Mrs. Gore, followed by a review
most likely published on the 16th or 23rd of Jan- of Narrative of a Three Months’ March in India,
uary. As before, one deduces it was a treble num- a memoir by an officer’s wife.
ber because of an article continuing from page Pages 119–120: The Present State of the
72 to 73 and another at the division between Drama by J. Greville Fennell.
numbers IV and V (pages 96–97). This enu- The contents of Part II for March 1841
meration does not mention all the minor filler (numbers originally published on the Satur-
items that appear on a few pages. Its main con- days in February) were as follows. Number
tents were as follows. VI began on page 121 and ran to page 160.
Number III begins on Page 49 with Sketches Pages 121–129: “A Portfolio—Horace Wal-
by Quiz, no. 1 “The Punctual Man,” which runs pole’s Letters—Vitalities of Death” by Leigh
to page 52. Then there was a book review of The Hunt.
Paston Letters (pages 53–60). Pages 130–131: Walks Round London, No
Pages 61–62: Ode to the Princess-Royal 1. Also on page 131, “Waifs and Strays, On the
translated from German. Custom of Countries: Oaths.”
Pages 63–64: Horæ Solitariæ part 2. Pages 132–133: a poem and then a page
Pages 65–68: Essay by W.H.H., “On High and a half of Chess: Problem 2 and Game 2.
and Low Wages, and Their Effect Upon The Pages 134–136: review of Poetical Reveries
Moral Character Of A People.” translated from French.
Pages 69–76: Essay on Beds and Bedrooms Pages 137–151: the start of the advertised
by Leigh Hunt. Note that page 73 with “No IV” series The Confessions of a Cabman. Note that
at its foot, indicating the break between num- Page 137 has Part VI printed at its foot, most
bers, falls in mid-article. likely indicating a double number was issued.
348 Appendix IV. Contents of The British Miscellany

Pages 152–159: a story Susan Ranslie by Part III for April 1841, the last to appear,
W.H.T. Traice, with an engraving on page 152. included a grey cover page and a Contents page
Pages 160–161: the third Chess article, with the list of articles in the part and the page
which falls across a break in numbers since page numbers where they commenced. There were
161 indicates the start of VII. However page 160 presumably similar Contents pages issued with
has “To correspondents” and the problem, the first two monthly parts, which have not sur-
while page 161 is the game so splitting this be- vived in the British Library binding although
tween two weeks would not greatly have incon- perhaps they do survive elsewhere. The whole
venienced readers, though it might have an- of the analysis in this appendix is necessarily
noyed Staunton. In this case, therefore, it is not tentative as, if other bound sets of the Miscellany
clear evidence of a treble number. Also on page can be found, they may provide more, and pos-
161 is a filler item: a quotation from Thomas sibly contradictory, evidence of the publishing
Browne. history of this rather strange magazine.
Pages 162–167: The Piræus Street by “S.E.” Part III had only 94 numbered pages (217
Page 168: Two poems, ending the very through 310) which might appear to contradict
short Number VII. However, since the Morning what was said above about the printing in sets
Chronicle advertisement on Friday 12 February of four or eight pages. The explanation is prob-
stated that No. VII would be issued next day, ably that this Part was printed in sets of eight,
mentioning many of the items from Number VI, but with the last eight being completed by the
it is most probable that VI–VII was a double un-numbered contents page and its reverse,
number. which was blank. That sheet, when cut, was then
No. VIII was the second long number in placed at the front for binding.
the month, beginning with Page 169, St. Valen- The contents of Part III, which contains
tine’s Day by Agnes Strickland, which ran to page several separate chess articles, will be summa-
177, which page also has a filler. rized more briefly as the kind of analysis given
Pages 178–179: Sketches by Quiz II. for the first two parts is not required. It begins
Pages 179–182: Waifs and Strays III. with an illustrated story by the editor, J. Hem-
Pages 183–184: Hymn to the Planet Venus ming Webb, Agnes Hamilton, the Clergyman’s
by Robertson Noel (a poem). Daughter, which runs from Page 217 to page 227.
Pages 185–188: “The English Ballads,” no There follow, using the contents page listing:
2. Page 185 also has “No VIII” at foot, perhaps Pages 228–232: “British Orators.—No. I.
the printer reassuring himself because if the Lord Chatham.”
sizes of January numbers had been followed Pages 233–234: Tales of My Landlord, no. 1.
then this page would have been the start of a Pages 235–238: Our Continental Pantheon,
new number. no. 3 about K. A. Varnhagen von Ense.
Pages 189–190 has the fourth Chess arti- Page 239. Friends and Flatterers and Im-
cle. promptu.
Pages 191–195 continued Confessions of a Pages 240–245: “Hours with the Old Poets”
Cabman. by H. G. Adams, no. 1. “The Pastoral Poets of
Pages 196–203: The First Mariner (abridged the Elizabethan Era: Edmund Bolton.”
by “S.S.” from the French of Gesmer). Also a Page 246. Sketch.
poem to fill page 203. Pages 247–254: The Vendeean by Agnes
Pages 204–207: “Fine Arts: the British In- Strickland.
stitution, Pall Mall.” Page 255. Sonnets to Mary Howitt, by H.
Page 208: “Recreations in Science,” no I. G. Adams.
This concluded number 8. Pages 256–257: Chess, Game 5 and Prob-
Number 9, which had only eight pages and lem 5.
ran from pages 209 to 216 consisted entirely of Page 258. The Stormy Night and a Sonnet
Critical Notices of various books. by Major Calder Campbell.
 Appendix V. Some Amendments to Gaige’s Chess Personalia 349

Pages 259–277: “The Life and Character Pages 283–286: Chess: Problem 6, Games
of Thomas à Becket” by John Wilson Ross. 6 and 7.
Page 278: Sultan Amurath’s Dream: Histor- Pages 287–295: Epithalamiums. Wedding
ical Sketch by Agnes Strickland. Days. Vivia Perpetua by Leigh Hunt.
Page 279: “Taking the Veil.” Page 297: Aphorisms from the German,
Pages 280–282: “The Automaton Chess by Karl Uschner.
Player.” Pages 298–302: “The Distinctive Die.” By
Also on page 282, The Maiden’s Fate, a the Author of Valentine Vox, Stanley Thorne etc.
poem by “H.W.H.” Pages 303–310: Critical Notices (five books).

Appendix V. Some Amendments

to Gaige’s Chess Personalia

This appendix sets out additions and cor- year first, then month, then day of the month;
rections this author has found for Jeremy Gaige’s Gaige used the reverse of that.
standard reference work Chess Personalia. It One area requiring more research, but
mostly deals with people mentioned in the pres- where some progress has been made, is identi-
ent work or who were active at the period it cov- fying the women, especially when they played
ers. Some dates are corrected from information chess both before and after marriage. For exam-
found in primary sources or by searching records ple, the first entry on this list is Mrs. Anderson,
available on ancestry.co.uk. In the DoB field, who won the British Ladies’ Championship in
“bp” indicates a baptism date where the date of 1909 and 1912, and tied first but lost the play-
birth is unknown. People are not included here off in 1921. As Miss Field she had played in the
if there is nothing to add or change from Gaige’s 1897 Ladies’ International Tournament in Lon-
book. don.
There are other places where one can look In the case of Mrs. Baird, the third entry,
for such information online. On Britbase and it is her place of birth that has been corrected.
the English Chess Forum, many forumites have She was a sister of Edward John and Carslake
collaborated with John Saunders to find out a Winter Wood, and daughter of Thomas Winter
lot of details about British amateur players, es- Wood. Mrs. Ludovici was née Rogers and Mrs.
pecially those who competed in the early Brit- Fagan was a sister of Dr. W. R. Ballard. Mrs. Her-
ish Championships of the 20th century. Some ring was née Gwilliam and Mrs. Rowland was
of the new information here is from those née Beechey. Organizer and writer Mrs. Bowles
sources, or from private emails received, or oc- was perhaps née Knott, but this is to be con-
casionally (e.g., for Cazenove) from reliable firmed. Alice Hooke, who never married, lost a
sources such as the Oxford Dictionary of Na- play-off for the 1930 British Ladies’ Champion-
tional Biography. ship. She was a sister of the well-known amateur
The Ken Whyld Association some years G. A. Hooke.
ago began an online project to which this author Notes on the following table: Gaige in-
contributed some entries: “the new Gaige”—at cluded Fred Brown but he was often confused
the time of writing it remains incomplete. Dates with his brother Frank who is also included here.
of birth and death are in the format they use: Hopwood used the pseudonym “Toz.” Zyto-
350 Appendix V. Some Amendments to Gaige’s Chess Personalia

gorski’s later literary works were published in Wonderland.” George Lyttelton was the
under the name John Hanstein, by which he also fourth Baron Lyttelton of Frankley; Gaige had
appears in the 1851 census. De Vere’s birth cer- his name slightly wrong. Recent contributions
tificate, showing his full name and correct year to Winter’s Chess Notes (e.g., CN 7143) have
of birth, was discovered many years ago by Owen revealed details of Legall’s family and that his
Hindle. No father’s name was mentioned; his correct title was Sire de Kermeur. The Puller
mother was Catherine Matthews. brothers, listed below, hyphenated their sur-
Contemporary references often mention name towards the end of their lives as Giles-
Lord Cremorne, who was later raised to a higher Puller, but originally Giles was one of their fore-
peerage as first earl of Dartrey; he is listed below names. Sources differ on the Winter Wood fam-
under his family surname, Dawson. Henry Lid- ily as to whether Winter should be part of their
dell was Lord Ravensworth and an uncle of “Alice surname or not.

Surname Forenames Born Place of Birth Died Place of Death

Anderson Gertrude Alison Beatrice 1875-11-28bp Lewisham 1924-09-06 Surrey
Archdall Thomas Hewan 1843 (Ireland) 1924-06-23 Tanfield?
Baird Edith Elina Helen 1859-02-22 Boulogne 1924-02-01 Paignton
Barrington Daines 1727/8 Shrivenham 1800-03-14 London
Barry George Frith 1836/7 Buttevant, Cork 1891-02-14 Dublin
Beardsell Thomas John 1841/2 London 1886 London
Bellingham George Edward Horton 1874-09 Dudley, Worcs. 1949 Wharfedale
Bird Henry Edward 1829-07-14 Portsea, Hampshire 1908-04-11 London
Blackburne Joseph Henry 1841-12-10 Manchester 1924-09-01 Lewisham
Blanshard Charles Thomas 1852-01-26 Leeds 1924-08 Devon ?
Blunden (bart.) Sir John 1814-12-21 Kilkenny 1890-01-17 Kilkenny
Bowles Rhoda Annie ? Dawlish, Devon ? 1931-12 ?
Brown Frank 1864? Dudley, Worcs. 1917-06-26 Dudley
Brown Frederick 1866? Dudley 1933-02-29 Dudley
Butler Henry William 1858-06-14 ? 1935-03-10 Thornton Heath
Cazenove John 1788-05-12 London 1879-08-15 London
Charleton John 1834 ? ? 1878 Newcastle upon
Tyne
Cluley William 1811? ? 1858-02-17 Ashton-under-
Lyne
Cook William 1850 or 1851 Bristol 1917-08-25 Bristol
Crosse The Rev. Edward Ilbert 1854 ? 1896-05-06 Bournemouth
Davies The Rev. Robert Owen 1857-08-18 Llanrwst, Wales 1929-01-07 Wickham
Market
Dawson Richard 1817-09-07 ?? 1897-05-12 London ?
De Vere Valentine John Cecil 1846-02-14 London 1875-02-09 Torquay
Diggle Geoffrey Harber 1902-12-06 Moulton 1993-02-13 Brighton?
Dilworth Vernon 1916-09-16 ? 2004-10-09 Manchester
Donaldson James (Bailie) ? (Scotland) 1848-12 Edinburgh
Douce Francis 1757-07-13 London 1834-03-30 London
Ellis The Rev. John Henry 1840-03-14 Clapham, Surrey 1912-11-21 Kensington
Fagan Louisa Matilda 1850-01-09 Naples 1931-08-11 London
Fedden Nelson 1835-10-21 Bristol 1915-05-07 Keynsham
Finn Kate Belinda 1870-12-16 Cork 1932-03-08 London
Fisher Bernard William 1836-12-17bp Derby 1914-04-10 London
Fonblanque Albany William 1793 London 1872-10-13 London
Forth Charles ? Co. Waterford ? 1845-07-27 Co. Carlow
Girdlestone Thomas Bolton 1848-02-01 Hanley, Staffs 1913-05-03 Clapham, Surrey
Gittins Frederick Richard 1867-07-09 Birmingham 1948? ?
Green Robert Frederick 1856-05-09 Liverpool 1925-01-25 Algiers
Griffiths The Rev. Evan 1874-07-18 Llangendeirne 1954-03-29 Lewes, Sussex
Hamel Sigismund 1823 Hamburg 1897-05-17 Radcliffe-on-
Trent
 Appendix V. Some Amendments to Gaige’s Chess Personalia 351
Surname Forenames Born Place of Birth Died Place of Death
Harrwitz Daniel 1821-02-22 Breslau 1884-01-02 Bozen
(Bolzano)
Harvey Ernest Louis 1866-03-31 Belfast 1900 ?
Hatton-Ward Walter 1874-05-09 Birmingham 1950-10-14 Hertford
Herring Frances Dunn 1857 Monmouth 1943-07-22 Reading
Heywood George Carm 1853-10-22 Winkleigh, Devon 1895-03-08 Newcastle
Hoffer Leopold [Lipot] 1842 Pest 1913-08-28 London
Holt William Locke 1852 Lancashire? 1907-11-?? Wrexham ?
Hooke Alice Elizabeth 1862? ? 1942-12-28 London
Hooper David Vincent 1915-08-31 Reigate 1998-05-03 Taunton
Hopwood Thomas Henry 1828-08-20 Manchester 1902-04-29 Prestwich
Israel Harold 1909-04-18 London 1984-01-25 London
Lambe The Rev. Robert 1711-08-15bp Durham 1795-05-07 Edinburgh
Legall François Antoine 1702-09-04 Versailles 1792 ?
Lennox George W 1860 ? Hythe, Kent 1908 Cardiff
Liddell Henry Thomas 1797-03-10 Ravensworth Castle 1878-03-19 Durham
Long Thomas 1827-06-15 Dublin 1907-05-10 Dublin
Löwenthal John Jacob 1806?-07-15 Pest 1876-07-20 St. Leonards
Ludovici Sarah Anne 1838 ? Staffordshire 1904-07-24 Wiesbaden
Lyttelton George William 1817-03-31 Hagley, Worcs. 1876-04-19 London
MacDonnell George Alcock 1830-08-16 Kilkenny 1899-06-03 London
McArthur Sgt.-Maj. William 1840 ? Glasgow 1888-03-09 Chichester
McDonnell Alexander 1798-05-22 Belfast 1835-09-14 London
Mears William Marcham 1880 bp Fetcham, Surrey 1919-12-27 Newton Abbot
Medley George Webb 1826-07-31 London 1898-11-29 London
Miniati Nicholas Theodore 1863? Manchester 1943 Bolton
Mitcheson William 1834 Newcastle upon Tyne 1888-07-04 Newcastle?
Mocatta Abraham 1831 (1830?) London ? 1900-12-25 London
Moffatt William 1842? ? 1918-10-16 Stroud
Monck William Henry Stanley 1839-04-21 Skeirke, Ireland 1915-06-24 Dublin
Morgan, Sr. William Wray 1833-05-26bp Hertford 1893-06-23 Barnet
Morgan, Jr. William Wray 1855 London 1926-12-25 New Barnet
Mossop Charles 1833-12 Long Sutton, Lincs 1896? ?
Mott Henry Cook 1818? Stepney, London 1875-03-25 London
Murray Archibald Keir 1834? Glasgow 1907-05 London
Nash William 1841-02-23 Barton, Bedfordshire 1922-03-22 Islington
Palmer James Thomas 1853-04-17 Sheffield? 1929-08-24 Rochdale ?
Pardon George Frederick 1824 London 1884-08-05 Canterbury
Peake Alfred Samuel 1856? Dublin 1915 Camberwell
Pearson The Rev. Arthur Cyril 1838-01-09 Essex 1916-11-08 St. Leonards
Penn Sir Richard 1784 ? 1863-04-21 Richmond
Pierce James 1833-07-01 Kentish Town 1892-04-26 Teignmouth
Pratt Peter 1770? London 1836/7 London?
Puller Arthur Giles 1833 ? 1885 Herts
Puller Charles Giles 1834 ? 1892-04-05 Herts
Reilly Brian Patrick 1901-12-12 Menton 1991-12-29 Hastings
Robertson Col. James Alexander 1804 ? Perthshire ? 1874-09-01 Edinburgh
Roche William Lewis 1902-07-25 London 1983 Bath
Rogers John 1833 Stafford 1905-08-13 Southampton
Rowland Thomas Benjamin 1850-06-01 Dublin 1929-08-13 Bray, Ireland
Rowland Frideswide Fanny 1845-04-18 Galway 1919-02-25 Bray, Ireland
Rudge Emily Harriet 1839 ? Leominster 1873-07-07 Leominster
Rudge Mary 1842-02-06 Leominster 1919-11-22 London
Rynd James Alexander 1846-04-06 Dublin 1917-03-19 Dublin
Rynd Kenneth Arley 1873-10-09 Dublin 1915-03-30 Dublin
Smith Charles French 1828? Waterford 1868-02-23 London
Smith Egerton 1774-06-19 Liverpool 1841-11-18 Liverpool
Thomas Edith Margaret 1852 London 1920-02-29 London
352 Appendix VI. The Chess Column of Our School Times
Surname Forenames Born Place of Birth Died Place of Death
Thorold Eliza Mary 1835-07 Blyth, Notts 1904-01-24 Bridlington
Wakley Dr. Thomas 1795-07-11 Membury, Devon 1862-05-11 Madeira
Winter Wood Edward John 1847 Brixton, Devon 1920-06-21 Paignton
Wood Baruch Harold 1909-07-13 Sheffield 1989-04-04 Sutton Coldfield
Yates Fred Dewhirst 1884-01-16 Birstall 1932-11-11 London
Zytogorski Adolphus 1807? Transylvania 1882-02-28 London

Appendix VI: The Chess Column

of Our School Times
This column is mentioned in Whyld’s bib- san School, Monaghan, where he started the
liography but unsurprisingly he had very little school magazine, probably in 1872 or 1873.
information beyond what was said in The Chess Monck appears on the Subscribers List for
Player’s Chronicle (February 1879, page 42), that probably the first time in the December 1874
“A Chess column has appeared in the London- issue (Volume 3, no. 1, page 7). In 1877 Hime
derry School Times, conducted by Mr. W. H. moved to Derry to become Head of Foyle Col-
Monck.” William Henry Stanley Monck, origi- lege, which in recent times amalgamated with
nally from Kilkenny, was mostly privately edu- other schools to become Foyle and London-
cated before becoming a scholar of Trinity Col- derry College, and it seems that he there re-
lege Dublin. He became a philosopher, amateur launched Our School Times. One bound volume
astronomer, and barrister. His connection was of the school magazine was found at the Dun-
probably with the school’s headmaster. creggan campus of Foyle College, and more
The correct title of the school magazine copies turned up subsequently. The magazine
was Our School Times. Following inquiries insti- seems to have continued until 1890 at least, and
tuted several years ago, copies of the magazine Foyle and Londonderry College is probably the
were eventually found by Robert Montgomery only place where copies of the magazine can be
on the Duncreggan site of Foyle and London- seen.
derry College, which is the successor institution The following issues contain articles about
to the original school, following a merger. Much chess, according to the information and photo-
of the information in this appendix is thanks copies supplied by Mr. Montgomery.
to his discoveries, which he shared with this au-
thor.* Vol. 6 No. 3, page 29, 1 September 1878:
Monck wrote for Our School Times on both “Chess” signed W.H.S.M., one page in length.
logic and chess between 1878 and 1884, at the Vol. 6 No. 4, page 42, 16 October 1878:
invitation of Dr. Maurice C. Hime. Monck’s “Chess Column,” between Mr. J. M. McConnell,
book An Introduction to Logic appeared in 1880, Melbourne, and Mr. Wright, Dublin. 1 page in
and in it the author states that logic articles in length, unsigned.
the school magazine were the basis for some of Vol. 6 No. 5, page 53, 1 November 1878:
it. Montgomery found that Dr. Hime had been Chess just under 1 page, signed W.H.S.M. Issue
Headmaster of the (Church of Ireland) Dioce- number 6 is missing from the bound volume.
*Inquiries were instituted during the author’s doctoral research period but the chess columns were not found
until it was too late to include a mention of them.
 Appendix VI. The Chess Column of Our School Times 353

Vol. 6 No. 7, page 77, 8 March 1880: “Our under 1 page, unsigned. (See Chapter 3 for this
Chess Column,” over 1 page unsigned. game.)
Vol. 6 No. 8, page 90, 24 April 1880: Vol. 7 No. 8, 12 October 1881 page 87:
“Our Chess Column,” on the Evans Gambit plus “Our Chess Column,” Roberts v Fisher, under
endgames. Cairns and Fisher, Capt. Melhado 1 page, unsigned.
and Mr. Cairns, City & County of Dublin chess Vol. 8 No. 1, 19 November 1881: pages 4
prize to Mr. Roberts; one & a half pages, un- & 5: “Our Chess Column,” re: Melhado v Pim,
signed. with Monck consulting. 1 page unsigned.
Vol. 7 No. 1, pages 4 & 5, 19 July 1880: Vol. 8 No. 2, 13 December 1881, page 17:
“Our Chess Column,” 1 page, unsigned. “Our Chess Column,” Pim v Melhado, with
Vol. 7 No. 2, pages 22 & 23, 15 October Monck consulting 1 page, unsigned.
1880: “Our Chess Column,” re: Mr. Nash, Monck Vol. 8 No. 3, 1 May 1882, page 81: “Our
v the Rev. C. E. Ranken, one & a half pages, un- Chess Column,” Shenele v Monck & Gossip v
signed. Monck. 1 page, unsigned.
Vol. 7 No. 3, pages 29 & 30, 20 November Vol. 8 No. 4, & No. 5 are missing.
1880: “Our Chess Column,” re: Evans Gambit Vol. 8 No. 6, March 1883, page 67: “Our
concluded. 1 page unsigned. Chess Column,” Staunton & Owen v Morphy
Vol. 7 No. 4, 20 December 1880: no arti- & Barnes 1 page, unsigned.
cle. Vol. 8 No. 7, June 1883: no article.
Vol. 7 No. 5, 4 March 1881, page 55: “Our Vol. 8 No. 8, March 1884, page 90: “Our
Chess Column,” Paul Morphy v the Rev. Dr. Chess Column,” Dublin v. Cork, under 1 page,
Salmon, under 1 page, unsigned. unsigned.
Vol. 7 No. 6, 3 May 1881: no article.
Vol. 7 No. 7, 13 June 1881, pages 77 & There are no articles in later issues of 1884
78: “Our Chess Column,” re: Herr Steinitz, and 1885.
This page intentionally left blank
 Chapter Notes

Chapter 1 erature which testified to the marked growth of popu-

larity of the game among many sections of British so-
1. Edward Royle, “Newspapers and Periodicals in ciety. The authorship of the article is uncertain.
Historical Research,” in Laurel Brake, Aled Jones, and 6. Some Victorian provincial papers were pub-
Lionel Madden (eds.), Investigating Victorian Journal- lished on two or three days of the week with the chess
ism (Basingstoke 1990), pages 48–59. column on one of those days.
2. Bernard P. Kiernan, “A History of International 7. John S. Hilbert, Essays in American Chess His-
Master Chess: 1851–1914: A Study in Modern Institu- tory (Yorklyn, DE: 2002); many of the chapters first
tional History” (Ph.D. thesis, American University appeared online in the 1990s and early 2000s.
1957), explained how this worked on pages 117–118. If 8. Tim Harding, Correspondence Chess in Britain
a match was said to be for £100, it was £50 a side, the and Ireland ( Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2011), pas-
backers of the winning side recovering their stake. The sim.
£50 from the loser’s backers was divided equally be- 9. Harold J. R. Murray, History of Chess (Oxford
tween the winner and his backers. Therefore of the 1913), page 587. A footnote showed the countries of
£100, the winner actually received £25 (unless he was origin of White’s list: Rest of Europe 419 (Germany
his own backer). From the 1866 Anderssen–Steinitz 120, Austria, 73); Asia, 12; Africa, 10; America, 428
match onwards, there was sometimes a small prize or (USA, 350); Australasia, 74. On the genesis of the lists
guaranteed expenses for the loser. compiled by Murray and others, see the further dis-
3. Compare Adrian Harvey, “Social Participation cussion in Chapter 8.
in the Game of Chess: A Recreation for Everyone,” in 10. Ken Whyld (ed.), Chess Columns: A List (Olo-
Caissa, 1/2016, pages 18–27. mouc: Moravian Chess, 2002).
4. John James Sharples, “‘I am a Chess-player’: Re- 11. Douglas Betts, An Annotated Bibliography of
spectability in Literary and Urban Space, 1840–1851,” Works Published in the English Language 1850–1968
in Sport in History, vol. 35 no. 2 (2015), pages 296– (Boston 1974; Moravian Chess reprint 2005).
321; Kiernan, op. cit., page 17. An objection to Sharples’s 12. Gino di Felice, Chess Periodicals: An Annotated
argument is that his main primary source, George International Bibliography, 1836–2008 ( Jefferson, NC:
Walker’s colorful 1840 article about the Café de la Ré- McFarland, 2010).
gence, Paris, reprinted in his book Chess and Chess- 13. In particular the B.C.C.A. Year- book series
players, forms no sound basis for challenging the some- (which began in 1907) is omitted altogether. See Hard-
what different positions about British chess held by ing, Correspondence Chess, for more details on the his-
the author and Dr. Adrian Harvey. John Sharples’s sec- tory of the B.C.C.A., especially pages 213–219.
ond academic paper on the subject, “‘This Dark World’: 14. Whitehall Evening Post, 23 February 1782. An-
The Blindfold Chess-Player in Victorian Literary and other report, in the Public Advertiser on 28 February,
Urban Culture, 1840–1851,” published online by Sport called Philidor’s feat “one of the greatest conceivable
in History, in April 2017, relates to another Walker ar- efforts of the Human Mind.” There is a well-known en-
ticle from the same book. A monograph by John graving of uncertain date, but published in the Sporting
Sharples, A Cultural History of Chess-Players: Minds, Magazine for March 1794, showing a blindfolded Phili-
Machines and Monsters, was published in August 2017 dor in the chess room at Parsloe’s club.
by Manchester University Press. 15. The Sporting Magazine, I:3 (December 1792),
5. The Quarterly Review, LXXXV ( June 1849), page pages 130–131, here page 131.
85; this article was a lengthy survey of recent chess lit- 16. John Townsend, Historical Notes on Some Chess

355
356 Notes—Chapters 1 and 2
Players (privately published in Wokingham, 2014), and London 1985), pages 275–292. Bostetter does not
based in part on papers of the first London Chess Club, mention the chess.
to be found at the London Metropolitan Archives. 29. David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld (eds.), The
17. Harding, Correspondence Chess, Chapter 1. Oxford Companion to Chess (Oxford 1984), page 224.
18. Inquiry from “F. S.” in Notes and Queries, 4th See Appendix III.
Series, VI (26 November 1870), page 458. 30. D.N.B., XX (London 1909), pages 517–518; C.
19. Much of the information in this section derives P.C., III ( June 1879), pages 121–124.
from Michael Perkin, “Egerton Smith and the Early 31. I.L.N., LXXIV (3 May 1879), page 427.
Nineteenth Century Book Trade in Liverpool,” in 32. W.P., IX (December 1876), pages 140–142.
Robin Myers and Michael Harris (eds.), Spreading the 33. This article was originally published in French
Word: The Distribution Networks of Print 1550–1850 in Histoire de l’Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles
(Winchester: St. Paul’s Bibliographies, 1990), pages Letters, V (1729), and reprinted in Le Palamède, I (1836),
151–164. That is the fullest account of Smith’s career, pages 138–145.
with source references. See also Barbara Whittingham 34. Gentleman’s Magazine, XII (1742), pages 77–78.
Jones, “Liverpool’s Political Clubs, 1812–30,” in Trans- Some of this publishing history may be found in
actions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Chesh- Whyld & Ravilious, Chess Texts, page 34, but the iden-
ire, 111, pages 128–133; R. McMillan, “Liverpool Wor- tity with the Sporting Magazine and Lancet articles has
thies: Egerton Smith: A Biographical Sketch of the likely not previously been pointed out.
Founder of the Liverpool Mercury,” a hagiography 35. Sporting Magazine, IV (August 1794), pages
which can be found in two parts in the Liverpool Weekly 255–258.
Mercury (13 December and 27 December 1890). 36. Articles dated 19 October 1823 and 9 Novem-
Smith’s obituary, and an account of his funeral, ap- ber 1823 through 7 December 1823, then 21 & 28 De-
peared in the Liverpool Mercury on Friday 26 Novem- cember 1823, 4 & 18 January 1824 & 28 March 1824
ber 1841, page 396. may be found at www.chessarch.com/excavations/
20. R. Derek Wood on the diorama in the quarterly excavations.php/ (listed as “London Lancet”).
journal History of Photography XVII (No. 3, Autumn
1993), pages 284–295; Perkin, op. cit., on the French
book. Chapter 2
21. According to Whyld’s Columns. 1. Whyld and Ravilious, Chess Texts (page 149)
22. Apart from the first article, issues to be sought got it right.
in Liverpool or elsewhere are those 30 July 1813, 10 2. B.L.L., 1 November 1840.
September 1813, 12 November 1813, 27 May 1814, and 3. B.L.L., 3 July 1842.
8 July 1814. We advise, if you are lucky enough to find 4. George Walker, novelist and publisher, in
a complete volume, to search through to the end of H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds.), Oxford
1814 in case there was any more chess content, because Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University
some weeks are missing from the B.L. and B.N.A. in Press 2004), LVI, page 841.
each month to the end of 1814. 5. Land and Water, XV (10 May 1873), page 337.
23. E. W. Jones, “A Note on the Kaleidoscope,” in 6. E. E. Kellett, “The Press,” in G. M. Young, Early
National Library of Wales Journal, no. 12 (1961-2), Victorian England (Oxford 1934), II, pages 62–63.
pages 54–57. 7. I.L.N., I (16 July 1842), page 155, corrected the
24. C. H. Timperley, Encyclopaedia of Literary and following week.
Typographical Anecdote (2nd ed., 1842, reprinted New 8. As with problem 24 on page 319.
York 1977, 2 vols.), II, page. 868. 9. In I.L.N., II (25 February 1843), page 131, the
25. B.L.L., 28 June 1840. Enfield chess club issued a challenge for a postal match.
26. The Lancet, I (2 November 1823), pages 19–20. 10. I.L.N., V (16 November 1844), page 320.
27. I.L.N., XIII (16 December 1848), page 379. Dr. 11. He was named again in I.L.N., LXIV (27 June
Adrian Harvey drew this quotation to this author’s at- 1874), page 619.
tention in an exchange of emails about the Lancet col- 12. Retitled the Court Gazette from 3 October. For
umn, and commented on the article in general. There more details, and the games published in the column,
remains a slight possibility that Cooper did have some see the article by Tony Gillam in Q.C.H., XVI, pages
input into Wakley’s articles but there is no evidence 51–75.
for it. 13. Court Gazette (21 November 1840), page 756.
28. S. Squire Sprigge, Life and Times of Thomas 14. I.L.N., V (2 September 1849), page 219.
Wakley (London 1897), pages 102–103. Sprigge was 15. I.L.N., VII (13 December 1845), page 378.
himself Lancet editor at that time. On Wakley, see also 16. I.L.N., VII (20 December 1845), pages 389–
O.D.N.B., LVI, pages 751–755, and Mary Bostetter, “The 390.
Journalism of Thomas Wakley,” in Joel Wiener (ed.), 17. Estimate from Dr. Adrian Harvey, “Finding a
Innovators and Preachers: the Role of the Editor in Vic- Place for Chess in the Recreational World of Nine-
torian England (Contributions to the Study of Mass teenth Century Britain,” in Caissa 2016/2, pages 36–
Media and Communications, Number 5: Westport CT 41, here page 38.
 Notes—Chapter 2 357
18. George Brinton [sic] Fraser, “Letters to John G. shot 2004), especially pages 114–115, 139 and 142.
White relating to Chess, 21 July 1875–16 May 1900,” King does not mention the chess column. The Home
MSS in the J.G.W.C. (Cleveland Public Library, Ohio), Circle publication details were usually printed on the
28 January 1887 and 24 September 1887. same page as the chess columns. Egan’s obituary in The
19. David Levy, Howard Staunton 1810–74 (Not- Times of 8 July 1880 gave an incorrect start date for
tingham 1974), page 122. The Home Circle, saying 1847 instead of 1849.
20. Mott had also been the editor of Kling and Hor- 33. Harding, Correspondence Chess, pages 78–83.
witz’s collection, Chess Studies, discussed in Chapter 34. A notice stated that the Cassell’s competitions
7. would continue to be conducted by the chess editor
21. The Home Circle, I (10 November 1849), page from his home address, but other chess publications
304. provide no evidence of the final events being com-
22. According to Richard D. Altick, The English pleted. By the 1871 census Mott had retired from the
Common Reader (Chicago 1957), page 351, citing the civil service on health grounds. He died in 1875 and
Report from the Select Committee on Newspaper Stamps his death certificate, mentioning “softening of brain 8
(1851), Qq. 2481–2551. Altick believed Heywood may years” implies a stroke or similar illness that probably
have massaged some of his figures. prevented him from carrying on his chess work.
23. Dundee Courier, 18 September 1850. 35. According to the in-house history, Simon
24. Munro was a Scotsman who collected every- Nowell-Smith, The House of Cassell 1848–1958 (Lon-
thing he could find to do with the French writer don 1958), page 122: “The change of name, the drop-
Dumas, Sr., who was an occasional contributor to The ping of the epithet ‘family,’ and the resumption of it
Home Circle. Translating foreign, especially French, lit- when after seven years Cassell’s Family Magazine
erature rather than commissioning more expensive emerged—all this is significant. The Family Paper had
new writing was one way the price of the Home Circle suffered from the competition of Charles Dickens,
was kept low for its quality. who in All the Year Round was triumphantly selling a
25. Egan, Sr., died only a few weeks after the Home higher grade of literature to Cassell’s, as well as to a
Circle launch. “He did virtually create modern sporting more intellectual, public…. The Family Paper circu-
journalism,” claims Brailsford’s profile of Egan, Sr., in lated in the back kitchens: Cassell’s Magazine must be
O.D.N.B., XVII, pages 984–985. John Cowie Reid’s bi- made to circulate above as well as below stairs.”
ography, Bucks and Bruisers: Pierce Egan and Regency 36. O.D.N.B., XLII, page 611, following the original
England (London 1971), argues that he was born later Dictionary of National Biography, XV (London 1909),
than 1772. He discusses Egan junior especially on pages 202–203, which has a little more detail on his
pages 170 and 184–185. Reid says father and son ap- career.
pear to have been close, but was also misled into think- 37. O.D.N.B., X, pages 493–495. See also Nowell-
ing he only edited The Home Circle for two years. Smith, op. cit., and John W. Kirton, John Cassell, His
26. The Waterloo Directory names only W. S. John- Life and Work (London 1891).
son as publisher but the final pages of issues in the early 38. O.D.N.B. identifies Pardon as editor of these al-
volumes state Egan to be publisher. Johnson was based though the Waterloo Directory names Cassell.
at Nassau Steam Press, next door to the Home Circle 39. The Review, the Country Gentleman’s Journal, II
office in St. Martin’s Lane. (14 May 1859), page 737. Though not quite reliable,
27. Frederic Boase (ed.), Modern English Biography, this gives some idea of how much a London chess
I (Truro 1892), column 968; O.D.N.B., XVII, page 986. columnist was paid around this time. On Boden, see
28. Home Circle, X (1854), page 424. Chapter 3.
29. Published with the index to the volume, i.e., in 40. Literature for boys and Brett’s career is dis-
June 1853. cussed in several articles, notably Louis James, “Tom
30. Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795–1854), judge Brown’s Imperialist Sons,” in Victorian Studies, XVII (no.
and playwright, agreed that his name could be used for 1, September 1973), pages 89–99, and John Springhall,
promotion and it appears on the title page of many late “‘A Life Story for the People?’ Edwin J. Brett and the
issues of The Home Circle. He was a dramatist and London ‘Low-Life’ Penny Dreadfuls of the 1860s,” in
friend of Charles Lamb, whose papers he edited. As Victorian Studies, XXXIII (Winter 1990), pages 223–
MP for Reading (1835–1841 and 1847–1849), he in- 246.
troduced the copyright act (1841) before being ap- 41. Reissues can usually be identified by the real
pointed to the bench in 1849. Boase, Biography, III date in small print near the foot of some pages.
(Truro 1901), page 874; O.D.N.B., LIII, pages 735–737. 42. Hans Renette, H. E. Bird ( Jefferson, NC: Mc-
31. Cassells at first used a larger page than most fam- Farland, 2016), pages 79–81.
ily papers, but this was reduced after volume one. Large 43. R. N. Rose, The Field 1853–1953: A Centenary
formats accommodated more advertising. The tax on Volume (London: Michael Joseph 1953), pages 44–
paper was not abolished until 1861. 45.
32. Information on the relationship between Egan 44. Rose, The Field, page 8.
and Johnson is from Andrew King, The London Journal 45. The Home Circle, X (March 1854), page 192.
1845–83: Periodicals, Production and Gender (Alder- 46. Law’s table in Brake & Codell, Encounters, page
358 Notes—Chapters 2 and 3
35, stops just before the Era chess column began, but found in Harding, Blackburne, page 125, because this
in 1851–1852 it sold 5,600 copies on average per week. was constructed after comparing the ones published
47. Jane W. Stedman, “Theatre,” in J. Don Vann & previously with all available result reports in primary
Rosemary T. VanArsdel, Victorian Periodicals and Vic- sources.
torian Society (Toronto 1994), pages 162–176; here, 14. James Mavor, My Windows on the Street of the
page 167. World (London & New York 1923), pages 79–80; see
48. Era, 29 April 1866; Philip Walsingham Ser- CN 8401 (17 November 2013) at www.chesshistory.
geant, A Century of British Chess (London: Hutchinson com/winter/winter112.html.
1934), page 140; Chess Player’s Magazine, II ( July 15. Harding, Eminent, page 121 and Renette, H.E.
1864), pages 217–218. Bird, page 227.
16. These diverse items on the second “Field” mi-
crofilm apparently all came from volume 13 of the
Chapter 3 Cleveland scrapbooks, call number 45490W.
1. Gaige’s Chess Personalia does not have his exact 17. Rose, The Field, page 11 (in the Preface); Walsh
date of birth in 1834 but an obituary said Wormald’s is the subject of Chapter VIII in that book.
first problem was published when he was only 15 years 18. Rose, The Field, page 62.
old, which would mean he was born towards the end 19. A Popular Introduction to the Study and Practice
of that year. of Chess. Forming a Compendium of the Science of the
2. Joseph Foster (ed.), Alumni Oxoniensis 1715– Game, By an Amateur (London: Charles Skeet 1851).
1886, vol. IV (Oxford: Parker & co. 1888), page 1609. 20. Harding, Blackburne, page 36, quoting The Field,
3. A fuller source for information about the Her- 26 July 1862.
mes Club is in Land and Water, 5 April 1873, which in- 21. Owen Hindle and Bob Jones, “The English
cluded an interesting letter from “An Old Oxford Morphy?”: The Life and Games of Cecil De Vere First
Chess-player,” possibly Wormald himself. On C. F. British Chess Champion (Exmouth: Keverel 2001),
Smith, winner of the Home Circle postal tournament, page 16.
see Harding, Correspondence Chess. Subsequently John 22. B.L. manuscript ADD 44919, ff 58–59, RDB to
Townsend traced the course of Smith’s sad life in his NF, 28 January 1874.
book Historical notes. 23. Westminster Papers, II (November 1870), page
4. Match results from www.edochess.ca/players/ 106.
p98.html. For more on Brien, see Chapter 6. 24. The Field, XLVI (20 November and 11 December
5. For more on the controversy, see Tim Harding, 1875), pages 567 and 656 respectively.
Eminent Victorian Chess Players ( Jefferson, NC: Mc- 25. Rose, The Field, page 107.
Farland, 2012), page 177, and Renette, H.E. Bird, pages 26. Kurt Landsberger, William Steinitz, Chess
169–170. Bird’s letter about the West End Club ap- Champion: A Biography of the Bohemian Caesar ( Jeffer-
peared in the I.L.N. on 30 October 1875, a few weeks son, NC: McFarland, 1993), page 124.
before his departure for a long stay in America. 27. Oxford Companion, 2nd ed (Oxford 1992), page
6. I.L.N., XCII (21 April 1888), page 416. 397. See further comment in Appendix III.
7. The Field, CXI (7 March 1908), pages 380–381. 28. This author’s original profile of this important
8. Huddersfield Chess Magazine, V (October 1876), chess editor, which some researchers may care to check
page 23: “THE ENGLISH MECHANIC. Mr. Abbott has out, was: Timothy Harding, “Ireland’s Queen of Chess:
relinquished the editorship of the Chess column in Frideswide Rowland and Her World,” in History Stud-
this interesting weekly, which he has conducted for so ies 6 (Limerick History Society 2005), pages 48–63.
long a period with such ability.” James Pierce was 29. The column begun by an unknown editor in the
named as his successor. Pictorial Times in 1845 transferred to the Lady’s News-
9. Harding, Eminent, pages 176–179 in the chapter paper when the titles merged on 15 January 1848, and
on Steinitz. continued until October 1851. To judge from the first
10. George Alcock MacDonnell, Chess Life-Pictures, six months in 1848, no women’s chess was reported
Containing Biographical Sketches, Caissana, and but women did send in queries.
Character-Sketches (London 1883); The Knights and 30. English Mechanic and World of Science, LIX (6
Kings of Chess (London 1894). April 1894), page 162.
11. Whyld said 3 August but that must be a mis- 31. J. J. Löwenthal (ed.), The Chess Congress of 1862
print; the byline “Mars” last seen on 8 August. Whyld (London 1864), page lxxi.
also gave 2 September 1900 as the date the column 32. J. I. Minchin (ed.), The Games Played in the Lon-
ended, another misprint. don International Chess Tournament 1883 (London
12. Whyld gives 1873 (no specific date) as the start 1884), page iv.
of Wisker’s editorship and this seems correct. It is un- 33. Brighton Guardian, 30 March 1881.
clear how much of the last few months in the year may 34. O.D.N.B. XXXIX, pages 933–938; K. M. E. Mur-
have been contributed by Löwenthal. ray, Caught in the Web of Words (New Haven and Lon-
13. Various crosstables of this tournament have don 1977): fascinating memoir by Harold Murray’s
been published but the most accurate is likely to be sister.
 Notes—Chapters 3 and 4 359
35. Huddersfield College Magazine, I, page 178. 47. https://www.milbrary.org and the physical ad-
Wikipedia gives 1839 as the year of foundation. In 1958 dress is 57 Post Street, San Francisco CA 941014.
the college merged with a technical school to form a 48. Harding, Blackburne, pages 54–55.
new grammar school, then in the early 1970s a further 49. Harding, Correspondence Chess, pages 152–160.
merger led to the creation of Huddersfield New Col- 50. C.P.C. 1861, page 361, and 1862, pages 4–6.
lege, a coeducational sixth form college. 51. F. F. & T. B. Rowland (eds.), Chess Player’s An-
36. Huddersfield College Magazine, I (October nual and Club Directory (4th ed., London & Dublin
1872), page 15. This is different from the 1885–1887 1890), page 32. G. A. MacDonnell said the same in
magazine of the same title identified (as of 4 Septem- Knights and Kings, page 168; these editors all knew
ber 2007) in the online edition of The Waterloo Direc- Conroy so this statement is probably correct.
tory of English Newspapers and Periodicals. 52. They have now dropped the hyphen and call it
37. Huddersfield College Magazine, VI (February the Belfast News Letter but at the time being discussed
1878), pages 119–121; here page 119. the masthead was hyphenated with a capital L.
38. Ken Whyld believed that the only payment 53. The magazine containing this game score only
many columnists received were proofs of their columns, came to light after the publication in Q.C.H. 14 of the
which they then exchanged with other editors. British author’s article about Zukertort and Steinitz’s visits to
Chess Magazine, CXXVI (2006), page 218. Dublin. The game against Monck was for a time on the
39. Timothy Harding, “Policeman on the Case: author’s website at www.chessmail.com.
Early Chess in Lancashire and the Preston Guard- 54. Coffee Palace and Temperance Journal, XII: 1
ian Chess Column, 1879–83,” in A. Brown & R. Spald- ( January 1899).
ing (eds.), Entertainment, Leisure and Identities (New-
castle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007), pages 50–
65. Chapter 4
40. The column in Sydney is a discovery by Renette; 1. Asa Briggs, Victorian Cities (London 1963),
Whyld does not mention a column by Bird in that pages 355–359 in the Penguin edition, especially page
paper. 357.
41. Other competitors had to replay drawn games 2. John Keeble in Norwich was an acknowledged
at the end of the first half of the tournament, so Bird expert on chess problems.
had a few days off. 3. Ross McKibbin, “Work and Hobbies in Britain,
42. Harding, Eminent, page 110. 1880–1950,” in Jay Winter (ed.), The Working Class in
43. Frideswide Rowland, “Reminisciences” [sic], Modern British History (Cambridge 1983), pages 127–
in The Four-Leaved Shamrock, I, no. 27–28 (Summer 46; here, page 144.
1910), pages 3–4. 4. Norbert Elias & Eric Dunning, Quest for Excite-
44. At the time of writing, the issues of the Sheffield ment: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process (Oxford
Independent from January to April 1885 and January 1986). Compare comments about Victorian views
to April 1887 are unavailable in the B.N.A. Several about accepting gambits in Chapter 7 of the present
years ago several bound volumes were in the old work.
British Newspaper Library at Colindale, north Lon- 5. McKibbin, “Hobbies,” page 145.
don, which have now been moved to the B.L.’s new 6. H. E. Meller, Leisure and the Changing City
Yorkshire storage location. The 1884 Sheffield and 1870–1914 (London, Henley & Boston 1976), page
Rotherham Weekly Independent Budget was in a bound 252.
volume with other titles, and started with 29 March, 7. Acknowledged here is the assistance of Chris
although advertisements in the daily paper suggest it Williams who first discovered the Captain King col-
actually began a week before that. umn in Bridlington.
45. Rob Ensor, “The Champion Club of the Midland 8. Newspaper Press Directory for 1903, page 65.
Counties”: A Social Study of the Nottingham Chess Club, 9. Rose, The Field, page 108.
1829–c.1904 (Master’s thesis, De Montfort University 10. The Field, CXXII (30 August 1913), page 507.
2016); especially page 10. Other important sources for 11. Particulars of Hoffer’s family were revealed in
Nottingham chess include MS675 at Nottingham Uni- Harding, Eminent, page 170.
versity Library (“Records of Nottingham Chess Club, 12. Harding, Blackburne, pages 327–328.
1842–1900”) and a MS at Notts. County Archive 13. B.C.M., CXXVI ( July 2006), in “Quotes and
DD/MI/248/1 (“Minutes 1875–84 of Nottingham Queries” on page 386, the column which Whyld pre-
MI, Re: coffee and chess room 3 October 1881–4. Jan. viously edited and which D. J. Morgan had begun.
1882”). 14. Dennis Griffiths (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of the
46. www.nottinghammechanics.com; www.not British Press 1422–1992 (London: Macmillan, 1992),
tinghampost.com/mechanics-heart-city-s-history- pages 459 and 529. See also pages 233–234 on the Eve-
community/story-23808167-detail/story.html (7 De- ning Standard.
cember 2015). The physical address is 3 North Sher- 15. It remains to be confirmed whether the “chess
wood Street, a modern building that has replaced the cameos” in the evening paper came to an end in 1910
Mechanics’ original home. when the paper was sold to Dalziel.
360 Notes—Chapters 4 and 5
16. Frederic Friedel at en.chessbase.com (25 Oc- 37. Abbott’s probate record on ancestry.co.uk which
tober 2016); The Guardian, 26 October 2016. also provides his date of death.
17. Obituary in The Field, CXXXVI (5 December
1925) page 973.
18. The Field, CXXVII (1 April 1916), page 531. Chapter 5
19. The Field, CXXXIV (6 September 1919), page 1. Philip Walsingham Sergeant, A Century of
335. British Chess (London: Hutchinson, 1934). Sergeant
20. The Field, CLXX (30 September 1923), page 492. later wrote a little more on the subject in his two-part
21. This author stopped checking after the end of article “British Chess Periodicals,” in B.C.M. LXII
1936. (September & October 1942), pages 172–173 and
22. Private message from Mr. Barden. 197–199.
23. Printed booklet at Oxf.Bodl. 38472 e4: “Rules 2. The Philidorian, pages 1 and 2.
of the Oxford University Chess Club; with a list of the 3. B.L.L., 17 April 1836.
members & officers of the club from its foundation” 4. B.L.L., 13 May 1838.
(Oxford 1873). 5. Charles Tomlinson, The Chess-Player’s Annual
24. The Chess Chronicle, II (no. 525, 15 January for 1856 (London 1856), pages 235–244 (here page
1902), page 35, said that Dr. Hunt was “compelled to 235).
relinquish” the column in Brighton Society, which 6. Huttmann’s earlier rooms had housed the West-
sounds unpleasant but perhaps he had personal rea- minster Chess Club in the 1830s.
sons. He was succeeded by Max J. Meyer, a man with 7. The Royal Dutch Library has the first number
serious physical disabilities. of Curious Chess Problems; the Cleveland collection
25. These are items #24-12, 24-14 and 24-16 in the has none. Other chess bibliographies and the Waterloo
Betts bibliography. Directory know nothing of these three titles.
26. These are items #13-57, 13-58 and 13-59 in the 8. Tomlinson, op. cit., page 237.
Betts bibliography. 9. B.L.L., 29 January and 12 February 1843. Nei-
27. For details of the Anglo-Bohemian postal ther the London Gazette nor Bell’s Life makes it clear
matches see Harding, Correspondence Chess, pages whether a discharged prisoner was absolved of old
208–209, and the articles by Vlastimil Fiala in Q.C.H. debts or had made arrangements with creditors.
14, pages 301–309, and Q.C.H. 15, pages 367–375. 10. B.L.L., 5 March 1843.
28. Jeremy Gaige, Chess Personalia: A Biobibliogra- 11. London Gazette, 14 September 1838.
phy ( Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1987). 12. Tony Gillam, “John Henry Huttmann’s Leaf-
29. For Gunsberg’s life and career in general, see lets,” in The Chess Stalker Quarterly 6 (December 2011),
Harding, Eminent, chapter 10 and the appendix about pages 3–11. Compare Whyld & Ravilious, Chess Texts,
Mephisto. pages 126–128 (items #1840:4 and 1840:5).
30. In the first volume of Our Corner, covering Jan- 13. Henri Serruys, “Huttmann revisited—part I,”
uary to June 1883, the chess editor was stated (page in The Chess Stalker Quarterly 8 ( June 2012), pages 17–
47) to be B. G. Laws, who contributed a problem and 23; compare Whyld & Ravilious, Chess Texts, item
introductory article. Steinitz was expected to help on #1840:13.
return from America. The May issue had a “Social 14. Henri Serruys, “Huttmann revisited—part 2,”
Chess” article by “Phibber” as well as a problem and in The Chess Stalker Quarterly 9 (October 2012), pages
some news. The only column not bylined Laws was 3–6; Henri Serruys, “Huttmann revisited—part 3,” in
June (pages 364–365) dealing with the London 1883 The Chess Stalker Quarterly 10 ( January 2013), pages
congress. September 1883 seems to have been the first 16–19; the last of these lists some of the games and
with Gunsberg’s name on it, dealing with the Nurem- problems that appeared in Huttmann’s publications.
berg tournament, and after 1883 there seems to be no 15. See Harding, Blackburne, Chapter 1, for more
chess in this magazine. on Stanley’s column which was important for docu-
31. Harding, Eminent, pages 289–290, for more de- menting the master’s earliest career steps.
tails. 16. Pictorial Times ( January/June 1847) page 251.
32. After the Steinitz match, Gunsberg conducted 17. American Chess Magazine, pages 44–46.
a column in the Sunday edition of the New York World 18. Land and Water, XXXIII (21 January 1882),
from 25 January to 12 July 1891 (which is listed by pages 55–56.
Whyld under “Sunday World”). These articles can be 19. Diggle in B.C.M., C (December 1980), page
found on the Chess Archaelogy website. 634; Hooper & Whyld, Oxford Companion (1st ed.),
33. The Times, 9 & 13 December 1916. page 194.
34. The Field, CXXVIII (23 December 1916), page 20. In fact the photograph of Morphy that later ap-
961. peared was bylined J. Stephenson.
35. Jacob Schumer, Chesslets. Being a Miscellaneous 21. Newcastle Journal, 21 July 1863.
Collection of Contributions to Chess and Chess Literature 22. The introductory paragraph, on page 20, stated
Extending Over Many Years (Printing Craft 1928). that the games had been played privately, adding “We
36. The Field, CVII (17 June 1916), page 966. shall, however, endeavour to procure such specimens
 Notes—Chapter 5 361
as we can, and present them to our readers from time Champion: A Biography of the Bohemian Caesar ( Jeffer-
to time.” So Boden was pointing to a clear case of sug- son, NC: McFarland, 1993), pages 108–112, and later
gestio falsi. pages indexed in that book. It is believed that Lands-
23. The Field, XXII (18 July 1863), page 76. The berger’s discussion relied heavily on a privately pub-
word “eligible” was probably a misprint for “legible.” lished pamphlet by Whyld which this author has not
Staunton notes in the I.L.N. of 25 July that the propri- seen.
etors had terminated Harrwitz’s engagement. Yet only 47. B.CM., XXI (1901), page 416. Captain O’Farrell
on 3 October did Walker say in his B.L.L. column that: had previously been champion of Belfast (in 1862) and
“We regret to find that M. Harrwitz has not now the of Connecticut. He sometimes contributed items to
editorship of this publication.” the chess column of the Weekly Northern Whig in the
24. On Hopwood and The Household Chess Maga- 1860s.
zine, see also Harding, Blackburne, page 52. 48. Brownson had written on page 294 of his 1877
25. Chess Player’s Magazine, n.s. III (October 1867), revived volume that Barbe was “paralyzed from head
pages 289–290, here page 289. to foot, being unable to move any limb.”
26. B.C.M., VIII ( June 1888), page 276. 49. City of London Chess Magazine, II ( July 1875),
27. See also Harding, Eminent, Chapter 3. The Era page 165.
column last appeared under Löwenthal’s name on 29 50. I.L.N., LXXXI (9 December 1882), page 606.
April 1866; on 17 July he swore the oath to become a 51. Green’s probate record and other supporting
British citizen. genealogical data were found at ancestry.co.uk, show-
28. The Chess World, I ( July 1865), pages 129–130. ing he died in Algiers (then part of France) on 25 Jan-
29. Circular letter found pasted in Thomas Long’s uary 1925, his executor being an unmarried daughter.
scrapbook, in the possession of Dublin Chess Club. 52. Fraser to White, 3? April 1887 (unclear post-
The reverse, which could not be seen, was presumably mark).
a subscription form and the cost of an annual subscrip- 53. Interview with Reilly in B.C.M., CI (September
tion was perhaps stated there. The going rate at this 1981), especially pages 360–361.
time would appear to have been one shilling per issue 54. Writing to Land and Water, 21 October 1882,
so the likely annual cost was 12s. Deane had said that if rifle corps are unorganized, then
30. Land and Water, XXXIII (22 April 1882), page form them into regiments, regiments into battalions,
293. the latter into divisions and so on until you have a na-
31. Land and Water, XXVII (12 April 1879), page tional army. Likewise, he argued, local clubs should
305, praised Mossop when the Papers closed. build county associations (as in Sussex) and then the
32. “Looking Back,” in Westminster Papers, XI (April basis for a national federation can be built, and of
1879), pages 249–251; here page 249. course this is eventually how the British Chess Feder-
33. Harding, Eminent, pages 176–178. ation came about in 1904.
34. City of London Chess Magazine, II ( January 55. The Chess-Monthly, XVII ( June 1896), page 299.
1876), page 357. 56. Darryl Rehr, “Early Desktop Publishing,” orig-
35. Westminster Papers, V (August 1872), page 51. inally published in The Office magazine, seen online at
36. John Venn & J. A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses www.deadmedia.org/notes/2/025.html on 23 Sep-
… Part 2 (1752–1900), volume 2, page 19; supple- tember 2007.
mented by searches on ancestry.co.uk. 57. Seen in the British Library; probably also avail-
37. City of London Chess Magazine, II (1875), page able in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
71. The British Library’s holdings of Lads of the Village 58. One is grateful to Maurice Carter for compar-
(just a few early numbers) include some chess but do ing the two versions in Cleveland Public Library, as
not mention a correspondence tournament. According the original was away for conservation during this au-
to the Waterloo Directory, no more issues were pub- thor’s visit in 2007 which saw only the reissue. A re-
lished, but they were presumably going by the London view of the reissued Pamphlet in the Dublin Evening
holdings and it seems there must have been further is- Mail on 7 April 1887 said, “The text of the work is pro-
sues that do not survive. See also Appendix IX on duced by a cyclostyle, or other similar copying appa-
Chatto. ratus as the original numbers were.” W. A. Murray’s
38. Glasgow Weekly Herald. 1 January 1876; Ama- hand-written advertisement for the reissue, of which a
teur World, II (April 1876), page 28. copy is kept with the Pamphlet in Cleveland Public Li-
39. Harding, Correspondence Chess, page 11. brary, includes the phrase “clearly printed with the try-
40. Venn, Alumni Cantab, II, page. 19. pograph.”
41. Sergeant, Century, footnote on page 146. 59. The author’s grateful to Maurice Carter for this
42. I.S.D.N., X (16 August 1879), page 546. report.
43. I.L.N., LXXV (23 August 1879), page 187. 60. I.L.N., XC (22 January 1887), page 105. Peake
44. Land and Water, XXVIII (6 September 1879), indicated in an early issue that about 120 subscribers
page 203. would be needed in order to do that.
45. Fraser to White, 5 November 1879. 61. Biographical information from research on an-
46. Kurt Landsberger, William Steinitz, Chess cestry.co.uk and correspondence with Greek chess his-
362 Notes—Chapters 5 and 6
torian Panagis Sklavounos. Theodore Miniati died on a member, though he had been one earlier and was to
10 July 1897. Nicholas Miniati’s year of death was given rejoin some years later. The club membership list
as 1909 in a German source but actually he died in (London Metropolitan Archive A/LCH/1) shows
Bolton, Lancashire, in 1943. N. T. Miniati’s elder Geo. Walker elected 1830, resigned March 1834 (pre-
brother Alexander T. Miniati also played some chess sumably because he was now at the Westminster Club)
locally in Manchester; he died in 1944 in Newcastle. and rejoined by 1850. See also Chapter 7 on the edi-
62. Betts #7-43 on page 40; Di Felice, Chess Peri- tions of Walker’s Treatise.
odicals, item 637 on page 59. 15. The British Miscellany and Chess Player’s Chron-
63. Moffatt obituary in The Chess Amateur, XIII icle, I, pages 10–11.
(November 1918), page 36; see also Michael Clapham’s 16. J. S. Edgar, Liverpool Chess Club: A Short Sketch
research into Moffatt’s life and career at https://chess of the Club from Its First Meeting (Liverpool 1898).
bookchats.blogspot.ie/2017/02/the-chess-amateur- Recently the club (Britain’s second oldest and En-
and-william-moffatt.html. He also supplied some of gland’s oldest) put the text online at its splendidly
the details about contributors to the Amateur. relaunched website: www.liverpoolchessclub.co.uk/
64. Harding, Correspondence Chess, page 210. history/.
65. Sergeant, B.C.M., LXII (September 1942), page 17. David Levy & Kevin O’Connell (eds.), The Ox-
198. ford Encyclopaedia of Chess Games (Oxford University
66. Harding, Correspondence Chess, page 215. Pages Press 1981; Townsend, Staunton, page 41).
215–216 discuss the association’s dispute with Dick- 18. Le Palamède (1845), pages 80–82.
inson and republish one of the games Dickinson had 19. C.P.C., VI, pages 63–64.
taken from the B.C.C.A. 20. For the report on the Yorkshire meeting and
Staunton’s speech, see C.P.C., VI (1845), pages 177–182,
especially pages 179–180.
Chapter 6 21. Thomas J. Bryan, Jeu des échecs. Historique de la
1. John Townsend, Notes on the Life of Howard lutte entre l’editeur du Palamède … et l’editeur du Chess
Staunton (Wokingham 2011), pages 45–47. Player’s Chronicle (Paris 1845). This document is avail-
2. A surtout was an overcoat or greatcoat; the able at the British Library in the form of a microfiche
writer is referring to the cover or wrapper of the weekly made by the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
number which would have borne the title, price and 22. Thomas Beeby, An Account of the Late Chess
(probably inside) the contents list. Match Between Mr. Howard Staunton and Mr. Lowe
3. Townsend, Staunton, pages 46–47. (London 1848).
4. The same wording appeared in Bell’s Life sister 23. Q.C.H., VIII, page 460, has the detailed expla-
paper, the Morning Chronicle, on 6 February, except nation by Whyld.
that it said LA BOURDONNAIS instead of plain BOUR- 24. For the complete text of Staunton’s contract
DONNAIS. with Routledge see Appendix IV to Harding, Eminent,
5. The boke named the Gouernour, deuised by pages 338–339.
Thomas Elyot, Knight (London 1531; facsimile reprint, 25. Foster (ed.), Alumni Ox., I page 159; Townsend,
Menston 1970). In Elyot’s Elizabethan English this Staunton page 114.
passage actually read: “The chesse of all games wherin 26. C.P.C., IX (1848), page 161 where Brien says the
is no bodily exercise is mooste to be comended: for club was founded in February 1847 but only took the
therin is right subtile engine: wherby the wytte is made name Hermes in November.
more sharpe and remembra[n]ce quickened.” 27. First names and initials were not supplied in
6. ChessBase states no source for the game and so the tournament book, but Prof. Rod Edwards probably
far this author has been unable to trace it in a primary correctly surmises that Hodges of Reading was the
source. player involved. The report in I.L.N., 8 March 1851,
7. Walker's Chess Studies, page 21 (game 100). shows Staunton present at the Reading club’s soiree
8. Levy & O’Connell (eds.), Oxford Encyclopaedia, where Staunton played some games with Hodges at
page 67. Their game reference is 183?- number BW-1, odds. The I.L.N. columns of both 14 and 21 June ex-
but it should have been given an 1840 date. plicitly state that Hodges was from Reading.
9. A similarly worded advertisement appeared in 28. Townsend, loc. cit. Sergeant, in B.C.M., LXVII
The Era and Bell’s Life in London the previous day, 2 (September 1942), page 173, had erroneously written
May, which said the first number was published on Sat- that Brien took over in January 1855.
urday 1 May. 29. B.C.M., XI (November 1891), page 498, Ser-
10. C.P.C., II, page 140, reply to “M. S., Canterbury.” geant, Century, page 94.
11. C.P.C., I page 10 (reply to “F.S.”). 30. Going even further back in Google Books
12. C.P.C., II page 74 (reply to “J.M.W.”) and page searches, one finds an advertisement of 1834 in volume
368 (reply to “A.B.”). 2 of The Monthly Literary Advertiser saying that Starie,
13. C.P.C., II page 352 (reply to “R jnr.”). “wood letter cutter, etc.” had removed from number 7
14. Staunton implied the pamphlet emanated from to number 59 Museum Street “and continues to supply
the London Chess Club, of which Walker was not then printers.”
 Notes—Chapters 6 and 7 363
31. B.C.M., IX (1889), pages 274–275. In contem- 58. The copy seen in the Royal Library at The Hague
porary sources Taylor’s initials are often seen printed was a thin book marked “1891–2 incomplete.” It was
as “I.O.H.” but in fact his first name was John. He seems missing numbers 425 to 432 inclusive, and also 435–
to have preferred “Howard.” 436. When last inspected, there were loose issues
32. C.P.C., January 1859, pages 2–3. falling apart in rough binding. Possibly the library may
33. C.P.C., third series III (May 1861), pages 129– eventually obtain a better copy.
130. 59. C.P.C., XII (16 December 1891), page 201.
34. B.C.M. IX (1889), pages 274–275. 60. Q.C.H. 8, page 461.
35. Fabrizio Zavatarelli, Ignaz Kolisch ( Jefferson, 61. Board of Trade: Companies Registration Of-
NC: McFarland, 2015), Chapters IV and V, especially fice: Files of Dissolved Companies BT 31/9591/
page 60 (for the date of his arrival) and page 112 (his 71269, at the British National Archives, Kew. Other
departure). Chapters VI and VII deal with Kolisch’s files available at Kew in the same series are BT 31/
second stay in England. 9591/71269 and BT 34/1786/71269 (liquidator’s ac-
36. Zavatarelli, Kolisch, pages 117, 120–122 and 136 counts) and BT 31/3789/23704 (relating to the earlier
deal with the Morphy challenge. limited company incoporated in 1886).
37. C.P.M., II (September 1864), page 284. 62. I.S.D.N., 21 November 1885. Sergeant, Cen-
38. Found in Thomas Long’s scrapbook in the pos- tury, page 198, says the British Chess Club opened on
session of Dublin Chess Club. 1 December 1885, which was perhaps the official open-
39. Harding, Eminent, pages 134–159. ing.
40. It became bimonthly in 1869 but was still called 63. Renette, H.E. Bird, page 354.
Quarterly on the volume title pages, although not on 64. The Field, CXXII (30 August 1913), page 507.
the covers of individual issues. 65. There are many accounts, e.g., Morning Post, 21
41. B.C.M. C (December 1980), pages 364–365. June 1888.
42. C.P.C., February 1872, on the back cover, 66. A. J. Gillam (ed.), Great Britain versus America:
quoted a paragraph from Land and Water announcing Cable Matches 1895–1901 (Nottingham: The Chess
Wisker’s appointment. Player 1997).
43. Glasgow Weekly Herald, 7 March 1874. 67. The Field, XC (24 June 1897), page 157.
44. C.P.C. (Oct. 1875) on the cover facing page 352. 68. The Field, IC (3 May 1902), pages 664–665
For more on Skipworth and his involvement with the said that Newnes was re-elected president of the
Chronicle, see Harding, Eminent, Chapter 5. City of London. Naumann was a vice-president but
45. Q.C.H. 8, pages 458–462. this was apparently not inconsistent with being a
46. Sergeant, Century, pages 168–169. director of another club. It is unknown why Newnes
47. C.P.C., V (March 1876), pages 52–53. left the British Chess Club but it was possibly con-
48. Fraser to White, 29 April 1876. nected with the personal crisis he suffered in the late
49. After Potter announced the end of the City of 1890s. He lost his seat in Parliament in 1895 and a
London Chess Magazine, Wisker attempted to revive it, young son died, but in 1900 Newnes returned to par-
before sailing for Australia. He published one issue liament.
(March 1876), which is bound with volume two in the 69. The Field, LXXXXVIII (14 December 1901), page
British Library. Diggle, “Periodicals,” in B.C.M. (1980), 914.
page 642, was not alone in being unaware of this. 70. British Chess Club Company papers held at the
50. Fraser to White, 29 April 1876. British National Archive (see note 61).
51. Fraser to White, 30 October 1876; underlining 71. The Field, C (27 September 1902), page 562.
as in the MS. 72. Globe, 20 June 1902.
52. Diggle, in B.C.M. (1980), especially pages 634–
635.
53. Not mentioned in the magazine itself, but in Chapter 7
the Newcastle Courant column on 16 November 1877. 1. Richard Eales, Chess: The History of a Game
Archibald K. Murray, discussed on pages 174–177, was (London: Batsford 1985).
apparently connected with the Glasgow publishing 2. The pleasaunt and wittie playe of the cheasts re-
firm. newed, with Instructions both to learne it easely and to
54. The covers of the Moravian reprints of these play it well (London 1562), translated from a French
volumes should be disregarded. Instead look at the fac- edition of Damiano de Odenara’s original Italian. For
similes of the actual title pages inside where Thos. Mur- more on the Rowbothum book, and also the Greco
ray is not mentioned after 1877 and Morgan takes his mentioned below, including page images, see Michael
place. Clapham’s blog for January 2017: https://chessbook
55. C.P.C., IV (December 1880), page 265. Sergeant, chats.blogspot.ie/2017/01/rowbothum-greco-and-
Century, page 179, wrongly stated that he ended in Sep- ruy-lopez.html.
tember. 3. Rowbothum, Cheasts, pages unnumbered, but
56. C.P.C., V (11 January 1881). near the end of the “Epistle dedicatorie.”
57. Fraser to White, 31 December 1881. 4. Leonard Wright, A display of Dutie. Deckt with
364 Notes—Chapter 7
sage sayings, pithie sentences, and proper similies (Lon- 16. For more on the Caze MS, see Harding, Corre-
don, 2nd ed. 1602 [1589]). spondence Chess, pages 7–8.
5. “And as for the chesse, I think it over fonde, be- 17. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford
cause it is over-wise & Philosophick a folly”: James I, Companion to Chess (Oxford: University Press, 1984),
King of England, Basilikon Doron, Or His Majesties In- pages 250–252; here, page 250.
strvctions to his dearest sonne, Henry the Prince (London 18. L’Analyze des echecs: contenant une nouvelle meth-
1603), Book 3, page 125. King James did admit chess ode pour apprendre en peu de tems à se perfectioner dans
could be played in bad weather. ce noble jeu. Par A. D. Philidor (London 1749). The cler-
6. Arthur Saul, The famous game of chesse-play truly gyman referred to is believed to be George Stone
discouered… (London: Roger Jackson 1614). (1708–1764), Church of Ireland Archbishop of Ar-
7. Eales, History of a Game, page 80. magh from 1847, and known to be a chess player.
8. Francis Beale (ed.), The royall game of chesse- 19. George Allen, The Life of Philidor (Philadelphia
playe, sometimes the recreation of the late King, with many 1858; available as a Moravian Chess reprint), page 69.
of the nobility. Illustrated with almost a hundred gam- Count John Maurice Brühl (1736–1809), who had an
betts: being the study of Biochimo the famous Italian English wife, was one of the stronger players whom
(London: Henry Herringman 1856). Philidor played against in his final period and some of
9. This is an actual example from an MS of the the games between them survive. An article about
early 17th century in the British Library. The reference Brühl may be found in O.D.N.B.
is “Eg. 3385 B LEEDS PAPERS. Vol LXXIIB (ff. 178) Mis- 20. Actually Miss (Caroline) Howe, but “called
cellaneous correspondence and papers of the Osborne Mrs. Howe according to the usage of that century”:
and Godolphin families.” This MS, the work of Greco, Carl Van Doren, Benjamin Franklin (London 1939),
is discussed by T. S. Pattie, “An Italian Chess-Player pages 495–497 and 503–507. On Franklin and chess,
in England,” in British Museum Quarterly, XXXIII see also Ralph K. Hagedorn, Benjamin Franklin and
(1968/9), pages 105–108. Chess in Early America; A Review of the Literature
10. Alan MacFarlane (ed.), The Diary of Ralph Jos- (Philadelphia 1958), especially pages 32–35. In the
selin 1616–1683 (Records of Social and Economic His- subscription list of the first French edition of Philidor,
tory, new series 3: London & Oxford 1976), page 114 female members of the Howe family also appear.
(entry for 23 February 1648). Josselin was vicar of 21. The chess with Howe apparently continued in
Earls Colne, Essex, from 1641–1683. I am grateful to early 1875 until Franklin left London.
Dr. Eamon Darcy for providing this reference. Similar 22. Olive Baldwin and Thelma Wilson, “Camilla
sentiments were expressed in the better-known A Let- Dufour,” in O.D.N.B., XVII (2004), pages 145–146,
ter from a Minister to His Friend Concerning the Game with Sarratt on the latter page; this article is also avail-
of Chesse (1680, in EEBO): “O Chesse, I’ll be aveng’d able online.
of thee for the loss of my Time…. It hath had with me 23. John Townsend, Historical notes, pages 31–62.
a fascinating property; I have been bewitch’d by it…. Compare P. W. Sergeant, “Old Sarratt,” in B.C.M., LXII
It hath not done with me when I have done with it….” (May 1942), pages 103–104, which drew attention to
11. Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory, or, A sum the passage about Sarratt in Hazlitt’s writings.
of Practical Theologie and Cases of Conscience (London 24. J. H. Sarratt, A Treatise on the Game of Chess;
1673), page 464. Containing a Regular System of Attack and Defence: Also,
12. Charles Cotton, epistle to The Compleat Numerous Rules and Examples, Teaching the Most Ap-
Gamester, or, Instructions How to Play at Billiards, proved Method of Playing Pawns at the End of a Game…
Trucks, Bowls, and Chess (London 1674). The text is (London: William Miller 1808).
readily available in Cyril Hughes Hartmann (ed.), 25. J. H. Sarratt, A New Treatise on the Game of
Games and Gamesters of the Restoration (London 1930), Chess, on a Plan of Progressive Improvement, Hitherto
and in EEBO. Unattempted, Containing a Very Considerable Number
13. Cotton, Gamester, page 51. The identical preface of General Rules, Explanations, Notes and Examples…
and passage on chess reappear in Games most use in use, (London: R. P. Moore 1821). For full details, see Whyld
in England, France and Spain, Anthony Trollope’s copy & Ravilious, Chess Texts, 1821–4.
of which is in the British Library. The title page has 26. J. H. Sarratt, A Treatise on the Game of Chess …
MS inscriptions by at least two persons, speculating A New Edition, Revised and Improved, with Additional
on the date of publication, apparently during the reign Notes and Remarks by W. Lewis, Teacher of Chess (Lon-
of Queen Anne; 1715 has been suggested. don 1822).
14. Theophilus Lucas, Memoirs of the Lives, Intrigues 27. Oxf. Bodleian MS H. J. Murray 67.
and Comical Adventures of the Most Famous 28. John Cochrane, A Treatise on the Game of Chess;
Gamesters… (London 1714), page 212; also included containing The Games on Odds from the “Traité des Am-
in Hartmann, Gamesters. ateurs”; Games of the Anonymous Modenese; Variety of
15. Joseph Bertin, The Noble Game of Chess: Con- Games Actually Played; and a Catalogue of Writers on
taining Rules and Instructions for the Use of Those Who Chess (London 1822).
Have Already a Little Knowledge of This Game (London 29. Harding, Correspondence Chess, footnote on
1735); see *1735-1 in Whyld and Ravilious, Texts. page 25.
 Notes—Chapter 7 365
30. Richard Eales, History of a Game, page 135; 44. B.L.L., 28 February 1836.
some other examples of prices that were found in con- 45. William Greenwood Walker, A Selection of
temporary advertisements are quoted below. Games at Chess, Actually Played in London, by the Late
31. A New Guide to Chess: In Which, the Elements Alexander McDonnell, Esq., the Best English player, with
of the Game Are Clearly Explained; with Practical Illus- his Principal Contemporaries… (London: Thomas
trations and Examples by the Rev. Henry Wood (2nd Hurst 1836).
ed., London: Thomas Sherwin 1835; first published 46. George Walker (ed.), A Selection of Games at
1834). Chess, Actually Played by Philidor and His Contempo-
32. William Lewis, Elements of the Game of raries, Now First Published from the Original Manu-
Chess, or a new method of instruction in That Celebrated scripts, with Notes and Additions by George Walker
Game, Founded on Scientific Principles… (London: (London: Sherwood, Gilbert & Piper 1835), pages x–
Longman 1822); an American edition followed in xvi.
1827. 47. A letter of 1932 from H. J. R. Murray, at one
33. A copy of the material which Evans supplied to time (and possibly still) in the possession of Gyles
Lewis may be found in the Harold Murray papers at Brandreth, states that one of Atwood’s chess note-
the Bodleian Library in Oxford: MS J. J. Murray #67 books then survived but does not say where. A facsim-
folios 77–82. ile of the letter can be seen on the Chess Notes website:
34. George Walker, A New Treatise on Chess: Con- www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter55.html (item
taining the Rudiments of the Science, with Analysis of the CN6000, 17 February 2009).
Best Methods of Playing the Differing Openings and Ends 48. Walker, Selection, page 74.
of Games… (London: Walker & Son 1832). 49. George Walker, Chess Studies: Comprising One
35. George Walker, A New Treatise on Chess (Lon- Thousand Games Actually Played During the Last Half
don: 3rd ed. 1841). Century (London 1844; and 2nd ed., with introduction
36. A Society of Amateurs, A Few Observations on by E. Freeborough, London 1893).
“A New Treatise on Chess” by George Walker, third edi- 50. Souvenir of the Bristol Chess Club; Containing
tion (London 1841). This item is #1841:10 in Whyld One Hundred Original Games of Chess, Recently Played,
and Ravilious, and L/N 672 in the old printed cata- Either Between the Best Players in That Society, or by
logue of the Royal Dutch Library. On the confusion Them with Other Celebrated Players of the Day, with Co-
(still existing in some library catalogues) between pious Notes (London 1845).
Walker’s Treatise and the pamphlet attacking it, see 51. Carl F. von Jaenisch, Analyse Nouvelle des Ou-
Murray, “Walker” in B.C.M., XXVI (1906), page 193. vertures du Jeu des Echecs (vol. 1, Paris 1842; vol. 2, St.
So Murray was aware of the pamphlet but overlooked Petersburg 1843); the second volume began with 1. e4
Staunton’s publicizing of it. e5 2. Nf3 openings. Jaenisch used a long form of alge-
37. International Chess Magazine, IV (1888) page braic notation. George Walker (translator & editor),
15. Steinitz would be disappointed in his expectation Jaenisch’s Chess Preceptor: A New Analysis of the Open-
that his own Modern Chess Instructor, about to be pub- ings of Games (London: 1847, one volume).
lished, would sell as well. 52. On page 16 of his first volume in 1842, Jaenisch
38. J. Cazenove (attributed). A Selection of Curious said he preferred the name Début Français which was
and Entertaining Games at Chess, That Have Actually now the name effectively given to it in Germany and
Been Played (London 1817). The Oxford Dictionary of Russia.
National Biography has an article about Cazenove, 53. Jaenisch’s Preceptor, page 209.
mentioning the book, and that he was a friend of 54. Jaenisch’s Preceptor, page 208.
T. R. Malthus, the economist who feared the world 55. Jaenisch, Nouvelle Analyse I, pages 55–56;
was becoming overpopulated. Jaenisch’s Preceptor, page 25.
39. Chess. A Selection of Fifty Games, from Those 56. Gaige, Personalia, lists Petroff as: Petrov, Alex-
Played by the Automaton Chess-Player, During Its Exhi- ander Dmitrievich (1794–1867).
bition in London, in 1820, Taken Down, by Permission of 57. Jaenisch’s Preceptor, pages 126–127 especially.
Mr. Maelzel, at the Time They Were Played (London 58. R. A. Brown, Chess Problems, A Collection of
1820). Original Positions, Forming One Hundred Ends of Games
40. B.C.M., XI (November 1891), page 491. Won or Drawn by Brilliant, Ingenious, and Scientific
41. Harding, Correspondence Chess, Chapter 1, pas- Moves. To Which Is Added a Selection of Games, Includ-
sim. ing Those Played Between the Leeds and Liverpool Clubs,
42. W[illiam] Lewis, Fifty Games at Chess… (Lon- with Remarks (London 1844).
don: Simpkin and Marshall 1832). 59. R. Kuiper, One Hundred and Twenty Problems
43. A Selection of Games at Chess, Played at the West- (London 1845?).
minster Chess Club, between Monsieur L. C. de la Bour- 60. Chess Studies; or, Endings of Games. By Kling and
donnais and an English Amateur of first rate skill. Horwitz. Containing Upwards of Two Hundred Scientific
Arranged, with Remarks, by W. Lewis, Teacher of Chess, Examples of Chess Strategy, Illustrated by Diagrams. Also
and Author of Several Publications on the Game (Lon- by the Same Authors, the Defeat of the Muzio Gambit
don: W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1835). (London: C. J. Skeet 1851).
366 Notes—Chapter 7
61. Philoi-d’or (pseud), The King the Avowed Enemy End-games: A Collection of Chess Positions That Can Be
of the Queen: A New Royal Game of Chess, Played for Won or Drawn by the Best Play; edited and arranged by
Half-Crown Stakes (London 1820). C. E. C. Tattersall (2 vols, Leeds: British Chess Maga-
62. Philip Playfair (pseud.), The Queen and Her zine, 1910 & 1911).
Pawns Against the King and His Pieces, or, The Royal 77. C. Planck, The Chess Problem: Text Book with
Check-Mate: A Poem (London 1820). Illustrations, Containing Four Hundred Positions Selected
63. John Doyle (1797–1868), engraved by A. Ducôté from the Works of H. J. C. Andrews, E. N. Frankenstein,
and published by T. McLean. They were accessed on- B. G. Laws and C. Planck (London 1887).
line at http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/johnson/johnson. 78. Thomas and Frideswide Rowland, The Problem
htm on 6 June 2008. Art (Dublin 1887; 2nd ed. 1897); extracts sometimes
64. Whyld and Ravilious (item 1814-7) spell the were reprinted in their columns.
author’s name differently but the title page says Essays 79. James Rayner, Chess Problems: Their Composi-
on Chess Adapted to the European Mode of Play, Con- tion and Solution (London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.;
sisting Principally of Positions or Critical Situations Cal- first ed. 1890; second ed. 1891).
culated to Improve the Learner And Exercise the Memory, 80. Edith Baird, The Twentieth Century Retractor
by Trevangadacharya Shastree (Bombay 1814). (London 1907).
65. Analysis of the Muzio Gambit, and Match of 81. The Chess Bouquet; or the Book of the British
Two Games at Chess, Played Between Madras and Hy- Composers of Chess Problems … to Which Is Added
derabad, with Remarks by Ghulam Kassim of Madras Portraits and Sketches of the Chief Chess Editors of the
who had the Chief Direction of the Madras Games, and United Kingdom. Compiled by F. R. Gittins (London,
James Cochrane Esq. of the Madras Civil Service (Madras 1897).
1829). 82. John Keeble, The Caduceus and Vive la Beauté
66. Letters on Chess; Containing an Account of Some (Norwich Mercury, 1910).
of the Principal Works on That Celebrated Game. With 83. B.C.M. LIX (1939), pages 186–187.
Copious Extracts and Remarks; In a Series of Letters, 84. David DeLucia, In Memoriam: David De Lucia’s
from Carl Frederich Vogt, Translated from the German Chess Library (Darien CT: DeLucia, 2011) vol. 1, page
by U. Ewell (London 1848). 401.
67. Murray article on Lewis, part II, in B.C.M., XXVI 85. R. Lambe, The History of Chess, Together with
(February 1906). Short and Plain Instructions by Which Anyone May Eas-
68. Howard Staunton, The Chess Tournament— ily Play At It Without the Help of a Teacher, by R. Lambe,
London 1851 (London: Bohn’s Scientific Library 1852; Vicar of Norham Upon Tweed (London 1764). Thomas
reprinted London: Batsford 1986). Hyde, Mandragorias, seu, historia shahludii: De Ludis
69. A Review of “The Chess Tournament,” by H. Orientalibus, Libri Duo (Oxford 1694).
Staunton, Esq, with Some Remarks on the Attacks upon 86. Sir William Jones, “On the Indian Game of
the London Chess Club Contained in the Introduction to Chess,” in Asiatick Researches, II (Calcutta 1790), pages
That Work. By a Member of the London Chess Club 159–165, and reprinted in Invenire, Aungervyle Society
(London 1852). reprints, second series; Edinburgh 1884. Eyles Irwin,
70. Chess Association. Report of The Annual Meet- “Essay on the Origin of Chess,” in Transactions of
ing of the Chess Association held at Manchester in Aui- the Royal Irish Academy, V (Dublin 1795), pages 53–
gust, 1857 (Manchester 1857). 63.
71. Elijah Williams, Horæ Divanianæ: A Selection of 87. Sir Frederic Madden, “Historical remarks on
One Hundred and Fifty Original Games at Chess by Lead- the introduction of the game of Chess into Europe,
ing Masters Principally Played at the Grand Divan (Lon- and on the ancient Chess-men discovered in the Isle
don 1852). of Lewis,” in Archæologia, XXIV (1832), pages 203–
72. G. B. Fraser, A Selection of 200 Games of Chess, 291.
Played by Correspondence: With notes and Critical Re- 88. Duncan Forbes, The History of Chess, From the
marks (Dundee 1896). Time of the Early Invention of the Game in India Till the
73. Chess Brilliants: One Hundred Games … Selected Period of Its Establishment in Western and Central Europe
by I. O. Howard Taylor of the Norwich Chess Club (Nor- (London: Wm. H. Allen, 1860).
wich 1869). 89. Antonius van der Linde, Geschichte und Litter-
74. I. O. H. Taylor, Chess Skirmishes: Chiefly Light, atur des Schachspiels (2 vols; Berlin 1874); Het Schaak-
Short Parties, Won of or by the Author, Through Sacri- spel in Nederland (Utrecht 1875); Quellenstudien zur
fices; With a Selection from His Chess Contributions, Crit- Geschichte des Schachspiels (Osnabrück 1881).
ical and Comical, in Prose and Verse; Obituary Notices 90. Harold Murray, A History of Chess (Oxford Uni-
of Masters … Enigmas and Mate Positions (Norwich versity Press, 1913).
1889). 91. The information on the publication history of
75. John Brown (ed. F. G. Rainger), Chess Strategy Murray’s books comes from the correspondence files
(London 1865). Betts (33-11) did not mention Rainger, at Oxford University Press, which the author was
probably because he did not know the story. enabled to read some years ago thanks to its then
76. Creassey Edward Cecil Tattersall, A Thousand archivist, Dr. Maw. Also Murray’s correspondence with
 Notes—Chapters 7 and 8 367
John G. White (available at Cleveland and on two mi- A Tabulated Analysis with Illustrated Games Appended
crofilms) gives insights into Murray’s research and (London: Morgan, 1874). Cook’s probate record says
writing process. he was an accountant.
93. J[ames] M[anders] Walker, The History of the 106. I.L.N., LXV (31 October 1874), page 427.
Oxford University Chess Club, Compiled from the Club 107. Land and Water, XVIII (25 November 1875),
Minute Books, by J. M. Walker, Formerly President of the page 419.
Club (Oxford 1885). See also “The Chess Club,” in The 108. For detailed discussion of the Year-Book series,
Oxford Undergraduates Journal, 24 April 1873, an arti- see Michael Clapham’s blog for April 2017 at
cle probably written by Falconer Madan. There are https://chessbookchats.blogspot.ie/ including many
some papers relating to the earlier Hermes Chess Club page images.
in the Bodleian Library.
94. John Burt, The Bristol Chess Club—Its History,
Chief Players and 23 Years’ Record of Principal Events; Chapter 8
151 Games by 64 Past and Present Members etc. (Bristol 1. Clive Everton, The History of Snooker and Bil-
1883). liards (Haywards Heath 1986).
95. Edgar, Liverpool Chess Club. 2. Tim Harding (ed.), The Games of the World
96. Liverpool Chess Club, Papers Read at the An- Correspondence Chess Championships I–X (London:
nual Dinner, Held in Anderson’s Merchant’s Dining Batsford 1987).
Rooms, on Wednesday, February 8, 1860. British Library 3. J. Hannak, Emanuel Lasker: The Life of a Chess
shelfmark RB 23.a.25075 (20). Master, translated by Heinrich Fraenkel (London:
97. William Cluley, The Philosophy of Chess (Lon- Andre Deutsch 1959; first ed. in German 1952).
don and Manchester, 1857). 4. Richard Forster, Amos Burn: A Chess Biogra-
98. Wallace E. Nevill, Chess-Humanics: A Philoso- phy ( Jefferson, NC & London: McFarland, 2004).
phy of Chess, a Sociological Allegory; Parallelisms Be- 5. Mary Clapinson and T.D. Rogers (eds.), Sum-
tween the Game of Chess and Our Larger Human Affairs mary Catalogue of Post-Medieval Western Manuscripts
(London 1905). in the Bodleian Library, Oxford: Acquisitions 1916–1975.
99. James Pierce and W. Timbrell Pierce, Pierce 6. Whyld’s introduction refers to Alain C. White’s
Gambit, Chess Papers and Problems (London 1888). lists which he says were published between 19 May
100. J. du Mont, Chess Openings Illustrated. 1: Cen- 1907 and 4 April 1908 in the column conducted by
tre Counter (London: Bell, 1919). John Keeble in the Norwich Mercury.
101. Elias & Dunning, Quest for Excitement, Chap- 7. htt ps://en.w i k ipedia .org/w i k i/Carl_
ter 1, especially page 71. Schlechter (accessed 15 June 2017).
102. Robert B. Wormald, The Chess Openings (Lon- 8. H. J. G. M. Scholten, “Het Loopt Ongenadiglijk
don: Richard Simpson, 1864). Mat”: Het Schaakleven in Nederland in de Negentiende
103. F. W. Longman, Chess Openings (London: Eeuw; De Sociaal-Culturele Achtergrond van het
Longman, 1870). Ontstaan van Schaakverenigingen [‘Chess life in the
104. Thomas Long, Key to The Chess Openings, on a Netherlands in the nineteenth century: the social-
Novel Plan, Theoretically and Practically Considered, and cultural background of the origin of chess clubs’] (doc-
Illustrated with Diagrams (Dublin and London, 1871). toral dissertation for the Katholieke Universiteit Bra-
105. William Cook, Synopsis of the Chess Openings: bant; Bilthoven 1999); an English abstract is included.
This page intentionally left blank
 Bibliography

Since this book is of a semibibliographical History” (Ph.D. thesis, The American University
nature, it does not require a normal sort of bib- 1957).
liography with details of all the books and peri-
odicals consulted. Most book citations are to be Secondary and reference works
found in the notes, where relevant. Here are Betts, Douglas A., Chess: An Annotated Bibliography of
listed the principal works of reference that have Works Published in the English Language 1850–1968
been both consulted and criticized, together (Boston, Mass., 1974; reprint: Olomouc: Moravian
Chess 2005).
with other works which readers may find it use- Caissa: Zeitschrift für Schach und Brettspielgeschichte/
ful to consult. The final part lists some previous Journal of Chess and Board Game History (2 issues
works by the present author of an historical na- in 2016).
ture. Di Felice, Gino, Chess Periodicals: An Annotated Inter-
national Bibliography ( Jefferson, NC: McFarland
2010).
MSS in archives Eales, Richard, Chess: The History of a Game (London:
British National Archives, Kew. Batsford 1985).
Richard Doddridge Blackmore papers: MS ADD Gaige, Jeremy, Chess Personalia: A Bio-Bibliography
43688, MS ADD 44919. ( Jefferson, NC: McFarland 1987).
Board of Trade records of dissolved companies, British Gittins, F[rederick] R[ichard], The Chess Bouquet, or
Chess Club Company Limited (1901–1902): BT the book of the British Composers of Chess Problems:
31/9591/71269. To Which Is Added Portraits and Sketches of the
Bodleian Library, Oxford. Chief Chess Editors of the United Kingdom (London
Papers of Harold J. R. Murray. (See Chapter 8 for de- 1897).
tails.) Griffiths, Dennis (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of the British
Cleveland Public Library (Ohio), Special Collec- Press 1422–1992 (London: Macmillan 1992).
tions: John G. White Collection. Hatton, Joseph, Journalistic London (London 1882).
Correspondence of John G. White and Harold Mur- Hooper, David, & Whyld, Kenneth, The Oxford Com-
ray. panion to Chess (Oxford University Press; 1st ed.
Letters from G. B. Fraser to John G. White. 1984, & 2nd revised ed. 1992).
Scrapbooks of chess columns (mostly read on micro- MacDonnell, George Alcock, Chess Life- Pictures,
film). Containing Biographical Sketches, Caissana, and
Character-Sketches (London 1883).
_____. The Knights and Kings of Chess (London 1894).
Unpublished works Matthew, H. C. G., & Harrison, Brian (eds.), Oxford
Ensor, Rob, “The Champion Club of the Midland Coun- Dictionary of National Biography (60 vols.; Oxford:
ties”: A Social Study of the Nottingham Chess Club, University Press 2004; also available as an electronic
1829–c.1904 (Master’s thesis, De Montfort Univer- resource).
sity 2016). Murray, Harold J. R., A History of Chess (Oxford Uni-
Kiernan, Bernard P., “A History of International Master versity Press 1913).
Chess: 1851–1914: A Study in Modern Institutional North, John S., (ed.), The Waterloo Directory of Irish

369
370 Bibliography
Newspapers and Periodicals 1800–1900, Phase II Waterloo Directory of English Newspapers and Peri-
(Waterloo, Ontario 1986). odicals 1800–1900 (third series): www.victorian
_____. The Waterloo Directory of Scottish Newspapers periodicals.com/series3/index.asp
and Periodicals 1800–1900 (2 vols., Waterloo, On-
tario 1989).
Quarterly for Chess History (ed. Vlastimil Fiala, Olo- Other works by
mouc, 18 volumes at irregular intervals so far). the present author
Sergeant, Philip Walsingham, A Century of British Chess
(London: Hutchinson 1934). A. Books
Townsend, John, Notes on the Life of Howard Staunton
Grodzensky, Sergey, & Harding, Tim. Red Letters: the
(privately printed in Wokingham, 2011).
Correspondence Chess Championships of the Soviet
_____. Historical Notes on Some Chess Players (pri-
Union (Dublin: Chess Mail 2003).
vately printed in Wokingham, 2014).
Harding, Tim[othy]. Correspondence Chess in Britain
Whyld, Ken (ed.), Chess Columns: A List (Olomouc:
and Ireland, 1824–1897 ( Jefferson, NC: McFarland
Moravian Chess 2002).
2011.
Whyld, Ken, & Ravilious, Chris (eds.), Chess Texts in the
_____. Eminent Victorian Chess Players ( Jefferson,
English Language, Printed before 1850: An Annotated
NC: McFarland 2012).
Bibliography (Olomouc: Moravian Chess 2002).
_____. Joseph Henry Blackburne ( Jefferson, NC: Mc-
Farland 2015).
Online services and useful
weblinks B. Articles
Harding, Timothy. “‘A Fenian pastime’?: Early Irish
Ancestry: https://www.ancestry.co.uk
Board Games and Their Identification with Chess.”
British Newspaper Archive: www.britishnewspaper
Irish Historical Studies, XXXVII (no. 145, May 2010),
archive.co.uk
pages 1–22. Now online at www.tara.tcd.ie/handle/
Chess Archaeology (ed. Nick Pope): www.chessarch.
2262/38847.
com/index.php
_____. “Ireland’s Queen of Chess: Frideswide Row-
Chess Book Chats (ed. Michael Clapham): https://
land and Her World,” in History Studies 6 (Limerick
chessbookchats.blogspot.ie
History Society 2005), pages 48–63.
The Chess History and Literature Society (formerly
_____. “Kings and Queens at Home: A Short History
Ken Whyld Association): www.kwabc.org
of the Chess Column in 19th Century English Peri-
Chess Notes (ed. Edward Winter): www.chesshistory.
odicals.” Victorian Periodicals Review, XLII (no 4,
com
Winter 2009). Now online at htpps://www/jst
Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery: cplorg.cdm
or.org/.
host.com/
_____. “Policeman on the Case: Early Chess in Lan-
D’Eramo Chess Project: users.zoominternet.net/~
cashire and the Preston Guardian Chess Column,
paderamo/
1879–83,” in A. Brown & R. Spalding (eds.), Enter-
Early English Books Online (EEBO): https://eebo.
tainment, Leisure and Identities (Newcastle: Cam-
chadwyck.com/home
bridge Scholars Press, 2007), pages 50–65.
Edo Chess Ratings (ed. Prof. Rod Edwards): www.edo
chess.ca
Newspaper Archive (U.S.A. papers mostly): https:// C. Dissertation
newspaperarchive.com Harding, Timothy. “Battle at Long Range”: Correspon-
Purchasing power of British Pounds across time: dence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824–1914: A
www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/ Social and Cultural History (PhD, University of
Trove (Australian newspaper archive): trove.nla.gov. Dublin 2009). Now online at www.tara.tcd.ie/
au/newspaper/search?adv=y handle/2262/76892.
 Index of Games

By player Robey 52 Scotch Gambit 185

Solomons 88 Sicilian Defense 282
Ballard 145
Stanley, C. 129
Barrow 176
Staunton 185, 189, 197 By ECO opening code
Blackburne 282
Steinitz 95, 172, 282
Brown, Joseph 197 A81 145
Vezin 129
Burn 88 B40 282
Wakeford 88
Coburn 145 C02 189
Wyvill 191
Cochrane, John 147 C30 52
Cox 88 C36 88
Daniel 176 By named opening
C38 172
Deacon 52 Dutch Defense 145 C39 129
de la Bourdonnais 182, 184, Evans Gambit 55 C44 185
186, 187, 191 French Defense 189 C50 95
MacDonnell, G. 55 Italian Game 95 C52 55
Martin, W. 55 Kieseritzky Gambit 129 D51 176
Moheschunder Bannerjee 147 King’s Bishop's Gambit 88 E76 147
Monck 95 King's Gambit 172
Morphy, J. 172 King's Gambit Declined 52
Games played at odds
Perigal 182, 186, 187 King’s Indian Defense 147
Popert 184, 185, 189 Queen’s Gambit Declined 182, 184, 186, 187, 191, 197
Potter 145 176

371
 General Index

Numbers in bold italics indicate pages with illustrations

A1 Illustrated 298 Anderssen, Karl Ernst Adolf (1818–1879) 58,

Abbott, Joseph William (1840–1923) 50, 68, 118, 102, 127, 135, 139, 150, 206, 211, 250, 251, 252,
309, 317, 320 268, 284, 355
Aberdeen 86, 327 Andrews, Henry John Clinton (1828–1887) 34,
Abergele and Pensarn Times and Visitors' Record 165, 167, 217, 218, 219
298 Angas, Silas (aka Alpha, 1814–1867) 33, 35, 139,
Academy 24, 298 203, 251, 312
Accrington Observer and Times 298, 314 Anglo-American cable matches 101, 226, 228, 229
Adams, James B. ( Jimmy) 347, 348 Anthony, Charles 109, 315
advertisement duty 39, 41 Anthony, Edwyn A. 69, 109, 315
Advertiser (North Shields newspaper) 298 Archaeologia 193
Albion (New York newspaper) 2, 150, 322 Archdall, the Rev. Thomas Hewan 350
alcoholic drinks 3, 96, 151, 165, 206, 215 Archer, Richard 94, 305
Alexander, Conor Hugh O'Donel (1909–1974) The Argus: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature
119, 168 and Social Science 298, 308, 322
Alexander, J. (checkers historian) 286 Argus and Express (Ayr newspaper) 298, 299, 310
Alexandre, Aaron 127, 252 Arnous de Rivière (1830–1905) 102, 135
algebraic notation see notation, chess Around and About 298
Allen, George: The Life of Philidor 140 Art and Literature 298
Allen, Henry Clay (1836–1905) 163 Ashore or Afloat 66, 298
Allen, W.J. 93, 94, 299, 305 Aspa, Rosario 298
Amateur Chess Magazine (later The Amateur) Associated Newspapers 115
154, 155, 219, 298, 342 associations, chess 16, 39, 43, 109, 112, 116, 169,
Amateur Musician 298 170, 177, 212, 221, 223, 226, 227, 228, 255, 273,
Amateur World 298 294, 329
American Chess Bulletin 132, 164, 177, 342 Athenaeum Chess Club, London (originally Cam-
American Chess Journal 160, 161, 162 den Athenaeum) 149
American Chess Magazine 127, 128, 129, 130, 160, Atkins, Henry Ernest (1872–1955) 76, 272, 334
163 Atlantic Ocean 58, 129, 174
American Chess Review 164 Atwood, the Rev. George (1745–1807) 247, 284
Amsterdam 278 Auckland and County Chronicle 299
Ancestry genealogy service 292, 293, 349, 360, 361 Austria 152
Anderson, Donald 225 automaton chessplayer (i.e., The Turk) 18, 23,
Anderson, Mrs. Gertrude Alison Beatrice (née 114, 187, 188, 193, 194, 246
Field, 1875–1924) 225, 337, 349 The Aylestonian 73, 299

372
 General Index 373

Babson, Joseph Ney (1852–1929) 163 Berlin 122, 127, 144, 196, 248
Bachmann, Ludwig (biographer of Steinitz) 95, Berlin Chess Club 127, 196
273 Bertin, Captain: The Noble Game of Chess 234, 364
backgammon 10 Besant, Annie 328
Bacup and Rossendale News 299 Betts, Douglas A.: Chess: An Annotated Bibliogra-
Baden-Baden international congress (1870) 53, phy 15, 16, 74, 123, 130, 132, 133, 156, 160,
63, 102, 152 161, 162, 163, 169, 173, 177, 221, 222, 224, 228,
Baird, Mrs. Edith Elina Helen (née Winter Wood, 232, 255, 257, 258, 259, 262, 263, 266, 267, 272,
1859–1924) 111, 262, 340, 349 273, 342, 343
Baird, F. 176, 306, 343 Biaggini, C.E. 109, 313, 335
Ballard, Dr. William Robert (1846–1933) 145, 349 bibliography 3, 12, 14, 15, 16, 21, 46, 73, 74, 83,
Bank Notes 299 90, 91, 110, 121, 122, 123, 126, 130, 132, 133,
Bannock, P.H.: History of the Norfolk and Norwich 156, 169, 174, 221, 232, 233, 238, 251, 255, 259,
Chess Club 169 263, 265, 266, 275, 285, 343, 345, 352
Barbe, Emanuel (1851–1887) 161, 162, 361 Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris 320
Barbier, Georges Emile (1844–1895) 86, 312 Biggs, W.L. 116, 329
Barbier, Jo 233 Bilguer see Handbuch des Schachspiels; Von
Bardeleben see Von Bardeleben, Curt Bilguer, Rudolf
Barden, Leonard W. 4, 106, 108, 117, 119, 120, billiards 58, 108, 146, 219, 276
267, 310, 312, 324 Billington, Thomas Henry 298, 329
Barnes, Thomas Wilson (1825–1874) 206, 353 biography 8, 40, 62, 77, 88, 106, 128, 136, 159,
Barnet Press 299 173, 209, 226, 237, 282, 290, 292, 293, 294,
Barrington, Daines (1727–1800) 193, 350 295, 322, 323, 330, 345
Barrow, W.D. 176 Bird, Henry Edward (1829–1908) 40, 45, 48, 55,
Barry, George Frith (1836–1891) 318, 350 77, 81, 82, 84, 99, 102, 130, 139, 174, 220, 226,
Bassi, Bruno (Italian chess historian) 286, 344 257, 271, 293, 301, 321, 327, 328, 332, 336, 350;
Bath and Cheltenham Gazette 33, 34, 192, 248, 299 Chess History and Reminiscences 77, 265; Chess
Bath Chronicle 299 Masterpieces 78, 258; Chess Practice 272; Mod-
Bath Reporter and Guardian 299 ern Chess 94, 168, 258, 267, 272, 273; newspa-
Bath Weekly Argus 299 per journalist 76–79 passim
Baxter, A.B. 315 Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institute 57, 293
Baxter Wray see Morgan, W.W. (junior) Birmingham (England) 113, 119, 154, 174, 206,
Beale, Francis: The Royall Game of Chesse-playe 212, 269, 281, 285, 320, 331, 336, 350, 351
364 Birmingham Advertiser 14, 300
Beardsell, Thomas John (1841–1886) 273, 350 Birmingham Daily Times 300
Beaumont, Capt. Alexander Spink (1843–1913) Birmingham Evening Despatch 300, 309
227 Birmingham Evening Mail (previously Birmingham
Bedford 150 Daily Mail) 300
Bedfordshire 299, 323, 351 Birmingham Gazette 300
Beeby, Thomas: An Account of the late chess match Birmingham Journal 300
between Mr. Howard Staunton and Mr. Lowe 362 Birmingham Mercury 45, 300
Beechey, Frideswide see Rowland, Mrs. Birmingham News 99, 100, 300, 314
Belden, John G. 161, 345 Birmingham Saturday Night 300, 331
Belfast 89, 90, 161, 247, 332, 336, 337, 351 Birmingham Weekly Mercury 300
Belfast Chess Club 90, 93, 247, 299 Birmingham Weekly News 300
Belfast News-Letter 93, 94, 299, 305, 310, 327 Birmingham Weekly Post 300
Belfast Weekly News 93, 299 Births, Marriages and Deaths (periodical publica-
Belfast Weekly Post 299 tion) 300, 326
Belgian Times 299 Black, W. 87, 313
Bellingham, George Edward H. (1874–1949) Black and White (weekly periodical) 103, 300
305, 308, 350 Blackburne, Joseph Henry (1841–1924) 46, 50,
Bell's Life in London, and Sporting Chronicle 25–27 54, 55, 56, 57, 61, 62, 64, 69, 79, 81, 87, 102, 103,
passim, 129, 137, 182 104, 107, 115, 128, 138, 141, 149, 154, 159, 214,
Bell's Weekly Messenger 137, 193 215, 220, 226, 228, 256, 257, 261, 262, 282, 293,
Benbow, Charles William (1842–1908) 154 300, 306, 324, 328, 337, 343, 345, 350
Berkshire Chronicle 300 Blackfriars Chess Journal 73, 168, 169, 300, 342
374 General Index

Blackmore, Richard Doddridge (1825–1900) 63 323, 334, 343; see also London and Brighton
Blake, Joseph Henry (1859–1951) 113, 167, 272 Magazine
Bland, William Robert (1850–1929) 68, 69, 70, Brighton Guardian 70, 76, 169, 302, 316
96, 144, 145, 165, 167, 262, 273, 307; Chess Brighton Herald 69, 70, 302
Club Directory for 1880 70, 273 Brighton Society 111, 302
Blanshard, Charles Thomas (1852–1924) 112, Bristol Daily Post 303
113, 176, 258, 313, 320, 339, 350 Bristol Mercury (and Post) 80, 89, 303, 325, 332
Bledow, Ludwig 127 Bristol Observer 303
Bletchley Park (code-breaking chess players) 168 Bristol Times & Mirror 303
blindfold play 17, 57, 81, 131, 153, 171, 179, 235, Britbase 349
236, 247, 261, 324 British Amateur 303
Blunden, Sir John 350 British American Magazine 303
Boase, Frederic: Modern English Biography 38 British Championship 53, 116, 117, 173, 257, 260,
Boden, Samuel Standidge (1826–1882) 39, 60, 324, 329, 349
61, 62, 63, 130, 131, 132, 135, 142, 147, 202, 258, British Chess Association (B.C.A.) 42, 43, 45,
311, 342; A Popular Introduction to Chess 143 46, 47, 52, 53, 61, 62, 67, 68, 101, 104, 138, 139,
Bodleian Library see Oxford 140, 141, 154, 170, 173, 211, 226, 245, 256, 310,
Boer War 91, 92, 334, 337 313; Transactions of the British Chess Association
Bogdanor, Harry 308 138, 256
The Bohemian: "An Unconventional Journal" 300 British Chess Club (London) 225, 226, 227, 228,
Bohn (publisher) 248 229
Bolton, the Rev. Horatio (1793–1873) 181, 188, British Chess Company 94, 99, 175, 176, 305, 313
189, 258, 260 British Chess Federation (B.C.F.) 2, 80, 168, 227,
Bolton Chronicle 301 260, 263, 281, 286
Bolton Weekly Journal and District News 77, 301 British Chess Magazine (B.C.M.) 2, 49, 50, 73, 74,
Boncourt, Hyacinthe Henri (1765–1840) 124 76, 79, 103, 108, 113, 115, 117, 122, 123, 126,
Bone, William (1810–1874) 242 132, 133, 138, 142, 145, 159, 163, 164–168 pas-
Boro' of West Ham, East Ham, and Stratford Ex- sim, 171, 173, 175, 206, 207, 208, 212, 215, 216,
press 301, 335 218, 221, 225, 230, 231, 246, 256, 257, 260, 263,
Boston, Lincolnshire 77 272, 279, 285, 295, 316, 323, 324, 325, 329, 340,
Boston, Massachusetts 129 342, 344, 345
Bournemouth 171, 330, 350 British Chess Review 61, 130–133 passim, 134, 143,
Bournemouth Observer and Fashionable Visitors' 201, 342
List 301 British Correspondence Chess Association
Bournemouth Visitors' Directory 301 (B.C.C.A.) 17, 86, 176, 293, 295
Bow Bells 155, 301 British Correspondence Chess Association Magazine
Bowles, Mrs. Rhoda (?–1931; possibly née Knott) 342
9, 67, 340, 349, 350 British Deaf Times 303
Boys of England 40 British Empire (periodical publication) 303, 325
Bradford Observer and Bradford Observer Budget British Library 4, 106, 210, 279, 280; Boston Spa
302, 321, 341 (Yorkshire) branch 110, 280, 289; former news-
Bradford Weekly Telegraph 302, 318, 333, 338 paper library at Colindale 4, 83, 100, 280, 321;
Branch, William Shelley 171, 284, 285, 286, 304, St. Pancras newsroom 306
340 The British Miscellany 2, 30, 33, 178, 179, 180, 181,
Breeze, William 4, 308 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 191, 192, 193,
Brentano's Chess Monthly 163, 165 195, 303, 342, 346
Breslau, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland) 106, 251, The British Miscellany and Chess Player's Chronicle
351 see Chess Player's Chronicle (Staunton series)
Brett, Edwin J. (publisher) 40, 72, 357 British Museum 173, 193, 207, 224, 237, 263,
Bridlington Free Press 99, 302, 352 264, 279, 280; see also British Library
Brief 154, 302, 337 British Newspaper Archive 17, 18, 20, 46, 80, 100,
Brien, Robert Barnett (aka Oxoniensis, 1827– 103, 110, 289
1873) 3, 45, 137, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, British Realm 303
208, 209, 210, 211, 308, 342 Brooke, W.M. 319
Briggs, Lord Asa (historian) 97 Brooklyn Chess Chronicle 163
Brighton (Sussex) 128, 155, 169, 170, 171, 194, Brooklyn Chess Club 172, 226
 General Index 375

Brooklyn Daily Eagle 120 Capablanca, José Raúl 107

Brown, Bertram Goulding 286, 349, 350 Captain (periodical) 303
Brown, Frank 349, 350 card games 12, 27, 57, 146, 285; bridge 11, 12, 60,
Brown, Frederick 349, 350 81, 98, 108, 116, 281, 294; écarté 124; whist 11,
Brown, Isaac McIntyre (1858–1934) 117, 166, 167, 54, 124, 142, 144, 173, 174, 207, 219, 343, 344
168, 174, 324 Cardiff Chess Club 88
Brown, John (aka J.B. of Bridport; problem com- Cardiff Weekly Mail 303
poser, 1827–1863) 259, 261 Carey Street (bankruptcy) 178, 179, 183
Brown, Joseph (Q.C.) 197 Cassel, Hartwig 302
Brown, Reginald A.: Chess Problems: A Collection Cassell, John (orator and publisher) 39, 357
of Original Positions, Forming One Hundred Ends Cassell's Family Magazine 303
of Games 251 Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper 35, 36, 39, 303
Brownsmith, Telemachus (pseud.) see Hewitt, Cassell's Popular Educator 304
(Sir) Thomas Cassell's Saturday Journal 304
Brownson, Prof. Orestes Augustus (1828–1892) Caxton, William: The Game and Playe of the
160, 161, 162, 163 Chesse (translation of De ludo scacchorum by Ja-
Brühl, Count John Maurice (1736–1809) 17, 236, copo da Cessole) 232, 233
247, 364 Caze manuscript 234, 284
Brunton, William 43, 215 Cazenove, John (1788–1879): A Selection of Curi-
Bryan, Hugh 298, 310, 327 ous and Entertaining Games at Chess 246, 251,
Bryan, Thomas Jefferson 199–200 349, 350, 365
Buckle, Henry Thomas 139, 150, 201, 221, 257 Celtic Times 93, 304, 333
Buckley, Robert John 80, 300, 323, 332 census records 50, 106, 118, 155, 209, 210, 216,
Bulletin of the American Chess Association 132 218, 219, 221, 277, 293, 350
Burden, Francis (Frank) 45 Chandler, Murray 168
Burn, Amos (1848–1925) 88, 106, 107, 108, 116, Charleton, John (1834?–1878) 85, 326, 327, 350
173, 276, 312, 322, 323, 330 Charousek, Rudolf Rezso 105
Burney, Frances “Fanny” (diarist and novelist) 124 Chatter 304
Burney Collection (of 18th century newspapers) Chatto, the Rev. James Thomas Chipperfield
17, 236 (1854–1907) 155, 156, 167, 298, 312, 320, 321,
Burnley Express 169, 303 323, 327, 330, 331, 338, 342
Burnley Gazette 100, 303 Cheadle Herald 304
Burt, John Norman: The Bristol Chess Club 265 checkers (draughts) 3, 11, 12, 21, 27, 39, 73, 78,
Bury Guardian 303 83, 85, 86, 100, 124, 154, 156, 276, 284, 285,
Butler, Henry William (1858–1935) 70, 76, 169, 286, 301, 302, 310, 312, 315, 316, 319, 321, 322,
170, 171, 302, 343, 350 326, 331
Chelmsford 309
Café de la Régence (Parisian chess resort) 11, 295, Cheltenham 33, 34, 192, 248, 257, 284, 286, 299
345 Cheltenham Chess Club 304
Cafferty, Bernard 122, 168 Cheltenham Chronicle 304
Cairns, J. 353 Cheltenham Examiner 114, 304
Caïssa (historical magazine) 282 Cheltenham Looker-On 304
Caïssa (presumed muse of chess) 124, 153, 155, Cheshire, Horace Fabian (1854–1922) 286, 314,
161, 167 318
The Cambrian 87, 303 Cheshire County News 304
Cambridge 202, 207, 227, 247, 303, 311, 323, 327, Cheshire Daily Echo 100, 304
329; matches with Oxford 33, 155, 229 The Chess Amateur 94, 175, 177, 258, 313, 342
Cambridge University Chess Club 155, 281, 293, Chess Archaeology website 20, 21, 26, 41, 59,
308 103, 179, 288, 299, 300, 303, 307, 308, 309,
Camden, London 315, 329 319, 320, 321, 324, 325, 340
Campbell, Maj. Calder 183, 348 Chess Association: Report of The Annual Meeting
Campbell, Joseph Graham (1830–1891) 40, 41, of the Chess Association Held at Manchester in
45, 137n, 206, 207, 226 August 1857 250, 255
Campbell, William 93, 299, 327 chess at odds 24, 54, 56, 88, 124, 146, 149, 152,
Canada 14, 107, 109, 202, 277, 288, 303 182, 186, 190, 196, 210, 235, 245, 258, 410; of
Canterbury 351 pawn and move 11, 40, 109, 184, 187, 222, 246,
376 General Index

313; of pawn and two moves 40, 45, 58, 63, 187, 1850 (ed. Whyld & Ravilious) 15, 126, 232,
194, 197, 200, 203, 205, 222; of rook 191; see 233, 237, 251, 255; see also Ravilious, Chris;
also handicap tournaments Whyld, Ken
The Chess Board 176, 177, 342, 347 The Chess World 17, 65, 105, 138–141 passim, 142,
The Chess Chronicle 3, 192, 225, 228, 230 158, 212, 276, 335, 343
chess clubs 1, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 25, 27, ChessBase 117, 189, 409. Mega Database 2017,
29, 34, 35, 44, 54, 57, 61, 64, 71, 81, 91, 101, 107, 185, 290
110, 114, 120, 125, 149, 153, 181, 192, 194, 205, Chester 88, 116
212, 220, 221, 222, 226, 227, 237, 247, 248, 259, Chicago 150, 161
265, 273, 294, 315, 330 Chichester Parochial Magazine 304
Chess Columns: A List see Whyld, Ken Chigorin, Mikhail Ivanovich 64, 226, 257, 268
chess editors 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 17, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29, Church and Home Magazine 304
30, 34, 36, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 54, 60, 61, 62, 66, Church of England 34, 52, 76, 155, 316, 317
67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 78, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, Churchill, Lord Randolph 150, 265
92, 93, 94, 98, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113, City of London Chess Club 47, 54, 56, 57, 62, 64,
114, 116, 118, 119, 134, 144, 154, 155, 159, 160, 101, 106, 107, 118, 141, 145, 147, 148, 152, 153,
171, 192, 214, 258, 262, 273, 299, 300, 301, 304, 154, 155, 157, 163, 214, 215, 221, 226, 227, 257,
306, 308, 309, 312, 313, 314, 317, 320, 321, 324, 259, 270, 321, 343
327, 329, 330, 331, 333, 338, 339, 344 The City of London Chess Magazine 47, 56, 62,
Chess history 1–3 passim, 8, 12, 14, 18, 24, 232, 141, 145–154 passim, 155, 157, 163, 214, 215,
264, 275–296 passim 270, 321, 343
Chess History and Literature Society 126; see City Press 304
also Ken Whyld Association Civil Service Observer 304
Chess Life 30, 51, 52, 62, 137, 157, 318 Civil War (American) 6, 133, 150, 160
Chess Mail 16, 17 Civil War (Irish) 277
The Chess Monthly (American magazine) 133, Clapham, Michael 4, 15, 74, 274, 304, 350, 362,
157, 255 363, 367
The Chess-Monthly (British magazine) 2, 49, 50, Clarke, Miriam (second Mrs. Gunsberg) 9, 67,
66, 72, 75, 78, 101, 103, 154, 157–160 passim, 321; see also Lady's Pictorial
163, 164, 218, 225, 226, 259, 279, 342 Clarke, R.L. 333
Chess Notes (website) see Winter, Edward Cleveland (Ohio) Public Library see John G.
The Chess Player 2, 30, 40, 114, 121, 123, 127, 130, White Collection
133, 136, 138, 141, 147, 165, 178, 188, 211, 212, Clifton Chronicle and Directory 305, 313
213, 214, 216, 219, 222, 225, 244, 251, 258, 264, Clifton Observer 305
341, 342, 345, 352 Clontarf Parochial Magazine 94, 305
Chess Player's Annual and Club Directory 73, 125, Cluley, William (d. 1858): Philosophy of Chess
170, 273, 302, 311, 328, 330, 332, 334, 335, 338, 265, 266, 350
339, 340, 341, 342 Coburn, Henry I. 145
The Chess Player's Chronicle 23, 28, 29, 35, 53, 85, Cochrane, George 90, 326
90, 127, 129, 133, 141, 142, 158, 164, 171, 178, Cochrane, John 49, 139, 147, 149, 196, 197, 200,
181, 185, 188, 189, 264, 265, 269, 303, 308, 313, 237, 238, 240, 250, 267, 284
319, 323, 337, 342, 343, 346; Brien series 202– Cochrane Gambit 124
206; first series (ed. Staunton): 192–201 passim, Coffee Palace and Temperance Journal 96, 305
195, 201; Jenkin interlude 214–216; late series Colborne, Henry 314
(under Morgan) 218–224; Ranken series 216– Coleman, Thomas 305
217, 218; Skipworth series 211–214; third series collectors (of chess books and memorabilia) 126,
206–210; see also The Chess Chronicle 231, 232, 263, 281, 284
The Chess Player's Magazine 2, 133–138 passim, Collins, Francis C. 148, 302, 311, 328
139, 211, 259, 343 Cologne 106
The Chess Player's Quarterly Chronicle see Chess Columbia Chess Chronicle 164
Player's Chronicle (Skipworth series) Columbia Chess Club 164
Chess Praxis see Staunton, Howard Common Sense 96, 305
Chess Studies (ed. Kling and Horwitz) 130, 252, computer programs 52, 108, 151, 184, 189, 231,
259, 267 239, 267, 276, 289, 296
Chess Studies (ed. Walker) 29, 191, 192, 246, 247 Connell 254
Chess Texts in the English Language, printed before Conroy, J.A. 90, 319
 General Index 377

consultation games 65, 101, 115, 279, 283, 290 Da Cessole, Jacopo: De ludo scacchorum see Cax-
Cook, Eugene Beauharnais (1830–1915) 263, 264 ton, William
Cook, William (1850?–1917) 36, 267, 269, 270, Daily Chronicle (London) 306
271, 272, 300, 350, 367 Daily Chronicle and Northern Counties Advertiser
Cooper, A.R. 113, 339 (Newcastle) 84, 306, 326
Cooper, Sir Astley 23 Daily Express (Dublin edition) 306
Corby, James C. 93, 310 Daily Mail 306
Cork (Ireland) 89, 350, 353 Daily News 48, 104, 115, 306, 326, 333
Cork Weekly Examiner 305 Daily Post 303, 306
Cork Weekly News 94, 99, 175, 305, 337 Daily Record & Mail 306
Cork Weekly Times 305 Daily Telegraph 115, 116, 117, 306, 334, 335
Corneth, Bert 4, 286 Dalton News 306
Cornish and Devon Post 305 Dalziel, Davison (M.P. and newspaper proprietor)
Cornish Telegraph 305 105
correspondence chess 16, 22, 25, 26, 29, 36, 39, Damiano de Odenara 240, 363
45, 88, 89, 94, 107, 112, 113, 129, 131, 154, 156, Daniel, Arthur William 176
161, 170, 175, 176, 177, 237, 252, 298, 306, 311, Darlington Chronicle 307
315, 323, 327 Dartrey, 1st earl of (Richard Dawson, aka Lord
correspondents, answers to (feature of many chess Cremorne) 350
columns) 12, 26, 29, 34, 36, 67, 84, 100, 118, Darwen News 99, 307
131, 133, 137, 184, 188, 195, 198, 203, 266, 331, Daventry Express 307
340, 348 Davies, the Rev. Dr. Owen (1857–1929) 318
cosmopolitanism 139 Davis, Henry Hosey 305
Cotton, Charles: The Compleat Gamester 233, Dawson, Thomas Rayner 117, 175, 263
364 Deacon, Frederic Horace 40, 51, 52, 134, 202
Counties Chess Association 56, 113, 171, 256, Deane, the Rev. Arthur Mackreth (aka East Mar-
257, 332 den) 171, 361
County Archive Research Network 277 De Firmian, Nick 273
County Express for Worcestershire 305, 335 de la Bourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahé 19, 26,
Court Gazette 29, 30, 33, 178, 305, 325 27, 29, 36, 123, 124, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187,
Coventry Independent Journal 305 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 196, 205, 246, 248,
Cox, Charles Hudson (1829–1901) 88 250, 251
Craigside tournaments, Llandudno 257 DeLucia, David 263
Crake, J. (aka Expertus) 68, 72, 311, 316, 334 Denman, Brian 4, 315, 322, 333, 336
Cremorne, Lord see Dartrey, 1st earl Derby 68, 80, 273, 350
cricket 27, 36, 75, 219 Derby and Derbyshire Gazette 69, 76, 307
The Cricket and Football Field 305, 312 Derby Mercury 307
Crimean War 42 Derbyshire, Job Nightingale (1866–1954)
Cromer and North Norfolk Post 306 80
Crook, W.G. 94, 338 The Derbyshire Advertiser and North Staffordshire
Crosse, the Rev. Edward Ilbert 171, 343, 350 Journal 70, 307, 345
Crowe, Michael 16 Dereham and Fakenham Times 307
Crowley, E. Aleister (aka Ta Dhuibh) 308 Deschapelles, Alexandre-Louis-Honoré-Lebreton
Croydon Guardian 306 (1780–1847) 186, 246, 247
Cruikshank, Robert (engraver) 253 Design and Work 67, 68, 69, 70, 144, 298, 307,
Crum, John 148, 214, 216, 218 324
Cubison, W.H. 50 Deutsche Schachzeitung 112, 122, 127, 152, 250,
Cudmore, Harold 329, 332 279, 285, 323
Cumberland 236 Deutsches Wochenschach 112, 285
Cunningham, James Gavin 301, 322 De Vere, Valentine John Cecil (né Valentine
Cunnington, the Rev. E.E.: Chess Openings for Be- Brown, 1846–1875) 61, 62, 63, 64, 102, 103,
ginners 272 139, 151, 152, 256, 311, 350
Curious Chess Problems 124, 125, 126, 343 Devon and Exeter Daily Gazette 111, 112, 113, 307,
Curnock, Arthur John 341 311, 339
Cusack, Michael 304 Dewsbury Reporter 307
cyclostyle 172, 343 diagrams (of chess positions) 21, 27, 59, 81, 82,
378 General Index

93, 105, 109, 111, 177, 238, 241, 249, 252, 258, East Central Times 110, 308, 314, 333
269, 270, 284, 299, 303, 305, 336, 342 East Lancashire Review 308
The Dial 60, 307 East London Observer 308
Dickinson, H.T. 177, 342 Eastbourne Gazette 308
Dictionary of National Biography (D.N.B.) 23, The Eastern Daily Press 308, 327
238, 344 Echo Americano 309
Di Felice, Gino 74, 169; Chess Periodicals 16, 17, Edgar, J.S.: Short Sketch of the Liverpool Chess Club
122, 123, 133, 173, 402, 409 197, 265, 362
Diggle, Geoffrey Harber (aka Badmaster, 1902– Edge, Frederick M.: Paul Morphy, the Chess Cham-
1993) 123, 131, 132, 133, 142, 173, 208, 212, pion 241, 257
216, 350 Edinburgh 18, 21, 22, 85, 86, 87, 177, 240, 246,
digitization of publications 3, 7, 28, 78, 82, 84, 247, 248, 277, 281, 295, 309, 313, 325, 332, 338,
85, 92, 104, 110, 288, 289, 292, 308, 313, 314, 342, 350, 351
321, 324, 326, 329, 333 Edinburgh Chess Club 18, 22, 177, 240, 246, 247,
Diss (Norfolk): Diss, Harleston, Bungay, Beccles & 248, 295, 342
Eye Journal 307 Edinburgh Citizen 309
Donaldson, Bailie John 246, 350 Edinburgh Magazine 309
Donisthorpe, Wordsworth 114, 226 Edward VII, King 1
Donnegan, T.P. 93, 310 Edwards, Prof. Rod 4, 56, 202, 292, 362
Douce, Francis (1757–1834) 193, 237, 350 Egan, Pierce (senior, 1772?–1849) 38, 357
Dover Express and East Kent News 307 Egan, Pierce James (1814–1880) 38, 357
Down, Florence 171 Eighteenth Century Collection Online 232
Downey, Fred W. 307, 327 Elias, Norbert (sociologist) 98, 268, 406, 416
Downham Market Gazette 307 Elizabeth I, Queen 232, 280
draughts see checkers Ellis, the Rev. John Henry (1840–1912): Chess
Drawing Room & Dilettanti Review 307 Sparks 258, 350
Dublin Chess Club 92, 95 Elyot, Sir Thomas 184, 233, 362
Dublin Chess Congress (1865) 140 email 64, 281
Dublin Evening Mail 89, 91, 92, 167, 301, 303, Emery, Alfred 300, 306, 325
305, 306, 308, 309, 337 Encyclopædia Britannica 57
Dublin Total Abstinence Society 95, 96 Encyclopædia of the British Press (ed. Dennis Grif-
Dublin University (Trinity College) 4, 95, 281, 352 fiths) 104
Dubois, Serafino 61 endgame studies 86, 119, 252, 259
Dubuque Chess Journal 74, 160, 161, 162 England, the Union and the Primrose Chronicle 309
Dudley Herald 308 English Chess Federation (successor to the
Duffy, Patrick Thomas 24, 31, 43, 48, 49, 50, 51, British Chess Federation) 281
54, 55, 70, 84, 85, 114, 118, 142, 144, 157, 158, English Chess Forum 266, 292, 349
163, 207, 309, 317, 321, 326, 344 English Mechanic and World of Science 50, 67, 68,
Dufour, Camilla (wife of Jacob Sarratt) 238 76, 91, 309, 321, 337
Dufresne, Jean 112 engravings (political cartoons on a chess theme)
dummy pawn 47, 67, 68, 69, 140 102, 253, 254, 348
Du Mont, Julius Maurice (1881–1956) 108, 117, Ensor, Rob 4, 80, 81, 83, 359
119, 168, 267, 272, 312, 324 The Era 35, 42, 43, 48, 53, 61, 134, 138, 140, 179,
Dundee 43, 138, 139, 158 181, 183, 193, 194, 206, 207, 208, 211, 299, 303,
Dundee Courier & Argus 38, 86, 215, 308 309, 316, 317, 330, 348
Dundee international tournament (1867) 256 Erskine, Henry 17
Dunn, Paul 227, 351 Esperanto (language) 176
Dunning, Eric (sociologist) see Elias, Norbert Essex Herald 309
Durham 34, 84, 299, 312, 326, 333, 334, 351 Essex Times 309
Dust, C.A. 324 European Mail 309
Duval, C.A. 265 Evans, Larry 273
Dvoretsky, Mark 252, 253 Evans, the Rev. Walter 88, 337, 339
Evans, Capt. William Davies (1790–1872) 195,
Eales, Richard: Chess, the History of a Game 232, 199, 242, 246, 247, 257, 284, 286, 293, 311, 353
233, 234, 235, 241, 242 Evans Gambit 55, 124, 242, 251, 268, 353
East Anglian Daily Times 308 Evening Echo 309
 General Index 379

Evening Express 89, 309 Forsyth, David (1854–1909) 87, 313, 338
Evening Herald (Dublin) 92, 309, 310, 331 Foster, Joseph (ed.): Alumni Oxonienses 202
Evening News (London) 105, 115, 310 Four-handed chess 124
Evening News and Post 114, 310, 323 The Four-Leaved Shamrock 16, 17, 94, 174, 320, 343
Evening News and Star (Glasgow) 310, 313, 327 Fraenkel, Heinrich (aka Assiac, 1897–1986) 119,
Evening Post (London) 310 291
Evening Press (Swansea) 310 Frankfurt-am-Main 222
Evening Standard 103, 104, 105, 106, 310, 323, 335 Franklin, Benjamin 236, 364
Evening Standard and St. James's Gazette 105, 310, Fraser, George Brunton (1831–1905) 43, 45, 61,
335 65, 86, 139, 158, 163, 165, 166, 214, 215, 216,
Everton, Clive 275, 276 218, 219, 221, 255, 257, 268, 308, 309, 330
Ewell, U. (presumed pseudonym for William Freeborough, Edward (1830–1896) 166, 167, 247,
Lewis) 255 272, 316; Chess Openings Ancient & Modern 272
Examiner and Times see Manchester Weekly Times The Freemasons 312
and Examiner Freienhagen, Erich 17
Examiner-News 310, 311 French Defense 149, 189, 223, 240, 249, 267, 269
Excelsior Chess Club, London 311 Friedel, Frederic 407
Excelsior Magazine 311
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette see Devon and Ex- Gaelic Athletic Association 304
eter Gazette Gaige, Jeremy: Chess Personalia 113, 163, 199, 218,
L'Exposition de Paris 311 238, 249, 292, 293, 345, 349, 350
Exposition Internationale see L'Exposition de Paris Galignani's Messenger 306
(under E) Galileo Galilei 193
Express and Star (Wolverhampton) 311, 340 gambling 10, 11, 58, 98, 219, 221, 233
Gardiner, Edwin 73, 302
Fairhurst, William 175, 294 Garrick Cigar Divan 124
Falkbeer, Ernst Karl 40, 134, 136, 137, 203, 206, Gateshead Observer 33, 34, 312
207, 208, 335, 343 General Registry Office (England and Wales) 277
Falkirk Herald 86, 87, 304, 311 George IV, King 253, 281
Family Friend 33, 35, 132, 311 George V, King 1
Family Herald 35, 36, 38, 311 Gestetner, David 172
Family Newspaper 311 Ghulam Kassim 254, 266; see also Cochrane, James
Fedden, Nelson 63, 88, 174, 350 Gibson, William 87, 313
The Felstedian 73, 311, 327 Gilbert, Mrs. J.W. (née Ellen Strong, 1837–1900)
Fenton, Richard Henry Falkland 88, 107, 320 161
Fiacle Fichille 16 Gillam, Anthony J. (Tony) 4, 34, 54, 81, 83, 85,
Fiala, Vlastimil (chess historian and publisher) 4, 87, 96, 103, 126, 130, 180, 257, 297–341 passim
280, 345; see also Moravian Chess; Quarterly for Gillman, Reg 296
Chess History Girdlestone, Thomas Bolton 350
Ficheall 16 Gittins, Frederick Richard (1867–1948?): The
The Field 12, 35, 39, 41, 42, 50, 53, 58, 59, 60, 61, Chess Bouquet 87, 91, 99, 110, 111, 175, 262,
62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 97, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 299, 300, 301, 302, 304, 305, 312, 313, 314, 320,
105, 106, 107, 108, 116, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 323, 329, 330, 331, 332, 336, 341
143, 152, 157, 159, 212, 227, 228, 229, 230, 262, Giuoco Piano 268
311, 312, 329, 345 Glasgow 85, 156, 169, 173, 216, 298, 306, 310,
Figaro see London Figaro 327, 329, 333, 342, 351
Financial Times 119 Glasgow Chess Club 86
Fine, Reuben: Basic Chess Endings 186, 253, 273, Glasgow Citizen 33, 35, 86, 312, 313, 322, 330, 337
328, 348 Glasgow Herald 86, 87, 150, 312
Finlinson, J.H. 165 Glasgow Weekly Citizen 86, 312, 331, 337
Fischer, Robert James 120 Glasgow Weekly Herald 21, 24, 86, 214, 220, 312, 313
Fisher, C.M. 350, 353 Glasgow Weekly News 313
Fiske, Daniel Willard 133, 255, 286 Glasgow Weekly Star 313, 338
Fonblanque, Albany (1793–1872) 350 Glass, James 87, 303
Forbes, Duncan: The History of Chess 57, 264, 304 The Gleaner 21
Forster, Richard 88, 106, 173, 276, 322, 323, 330, 339 Gloucester Citizen 94, 99, 313
380 General Index

Gloucestershire Chronicle 313 Handbuch des Schachspiels (popularly known as

The Glowworm 313 "Bilguer") 151, 217, 248, 268, 269
Golden Days 313 handicap tournaments 40, 53, 56, 149, 170, 171,
Goldstein, Maurice Edward (1901–1966) 273 211, 222; see also chess at odds
Golombek, Harry 117, 118, 168, 249, 276 Handsworth Herald 99, 314
Goode's Divan 252 Hanley (Staffordshire) 330, 335, 350
Google Books 68, 131, 178, 206, 222, 223, 241, Hannak, Jacques 276
246, 254, 255, 270, 289, 309, 317, 320, 322, 331, Hanshew, J.K. 163
362 Harding, Tim: Correspondence Chess in Britain and
Gossip, George Hatfeild Dingley (1841–1907) Ireland 89, 344, 355, 358, 362; Eminent Victo-
54, 151, 270, 271, 272, 316, 341, 353 rian Chess Players 4, 311, 358; Joseph Henry
Grand Cigar Divan see Simpson's Divan Blackburne 282, 293, 358
Grantham Journal 313 Harley, Brian 107, 117, 325
Gravesend & Dartford Reporter 313 Harmer, Harry 175, 342
Greco, Giacchino (1600–1634) 207, 233, 234, Harrogate Advertiser 314
235, 236, 255, 363, 364 Harrow Observer 314, 328
Green, Robert Frederick (1856–1925) 110, 166, Harrwitz, Daniel (1821–1884) 33, 130, 131, 132,
167, 322, 323, 333, 350, 361 133, 134, 135, 136, 150, 201, 207, 210, 311, 342,
Green, Valentine (1831–1877) 40 343, 351, 361
Greenwich 320 Hart Dyke, P. 227
Greig, Edwin A. 322, 323 Hartford, Connecticut 150, 345
Griffith, Richard Clewin (1872–1955) 168, 272, Hartford Globe 161, 163
273, 306, 314; see also Modern Chess Openings Hartford Weekly Times 161
Griffiths, the Rev. Evan 342, 350 Hartlepool Advertiser and Railway Time List 298,
Griffiths, Martyn: Chess in Wales 87, 88, 89, 310 314
Grignon, the Rev. William Stanford 311 Harvey, Dr. Adrian 31, 355, 356
Grimsby Herald 313 Harvey, Ernest L. 31, 351
The Guardian see Manchester Guardian Haslingden Guardian 99, 314
Guest, Antony Alfred Geoffrey (1856–1925) 52, Haslingden Observer 314
104, 300, 304, 318, 322, 325, 336 Hastings (Sussex) 2, 50, 107, 118, 171, 192, 224,
Guioco Piano (Italian Game) 95, 147, 251, 267, 268 281, 351
Gunsberg, Isidor Arthur (1854–1930) 9, 50, 67, Hastings, R. (publisher) 130, 178, 179, 183, 192, 198
72, 83, 101, 102, 105, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 120, Hastings and St. Leonards Chess Club 315
160, 221, 226, 257, 272, 293, 294, 298, 304, 306, Hastings and St. Leonards Chronicle 314
310, 320, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 333, 334, Hastings and St. Leonards News 314
335, 337, 338, 341, 342 Hastings and St. Leonards Observer 315
Hastings and St. Leonards Weekly Mail and Times
Hackney Mercury and North London Herald 109, 315
308, 313, 324 Hastings international chess congress (1895) 79,
The Hague see Royal Dutch Library 114, 257
Hall, John Edmund (1853–1941) 302, 333 Hastings Times 315
Hallock, W.S. 160, 161 Hatherley, Dr. Henry Reginald 83
Halm, G.R. (illustrator) 163 Hatton Ward, Walter (1874–1950) 306
Hamburg 350 Havana 174
Hamel, Frederic Julius 82 Hawks, H.W. 85, 326
Hamel, Sigismund (1823–1897) 81, 82, 328, 350 Hayden, Bruce 338
Hamilton, W. 340, 348 Hazlitt, William 238
Hampshire Advertiser 314, 334 Healey, Edward 134, 138
Hampshire Herald 314 Healey, Frank 50, 133, 134, 137, 138, 206, 207,
Hampshire Magazine 314 211, 219, 259, 260, 261, 300, 320
Hampshire Observer and County and Local Newspa- Hearst, Eliot: Blindfold Chess 296
per 314 Hedley, J. 156, 331
Hampshire Telegraph and Post 314, 334 Heitzman, W. 88, 309, 337
Hampstead and Highgate Express 314 Helms, Herman 120
Hampstead Chess Club 107, 293, 314 Hereford 18, 79, 257
Hampstead Record 314 Hereford Times 108, 109, 315, 329
 General Index 381

Hermes Chess Club see Oxford University Hughes, H? (player at Kling's Rooms) 40
Herring, Frances Dunn (née Gwilliam, 1857–1943) Hull and Lincolnshire Times 316
349, 351 Hull Bellman 68, 316
Hertfordshire 138 Hull Church Gazette 316
Hertfordshire Express 315 Hull Miscellany and Baker Street Programme 316
Hewitt, (Sir) Thomas (aka Telemachus Brown- Hull Packet 166, 316
smith) 142 Hunt, James Henry Leigh (writer) 179, 183, 346,
Hexham Herald 315 347, 349
Heydebrand see Von der Lasa, Baron Hunt, Dr. Joseph William (1851–1920) 109, 110,
Heywood, George Carm (1853–1895) 85, 174, 111, 302, 313, 314, 324, 333
326, 337, 351 Hunter, Andrew 86, 214
Higgs, William Ward 227 Hurst, H. 200
Hilbert, John 12, 212, 276 Huttmann, John Henry (1805–1868) 124, 125,
Hill, Sir Rowland 19; see also Penny Post
126, 127, 273, 343, 407
Hindle, Owen 4, 62, 64, 350
Hyde, Dr. Thomas 264
history of sport 1, 220, 275, 276
Hobbies (weekly periodical) 86, 98, 315
Hodges, Albert Beauregard 290 Ibis Magazine 317
Hodges, William, Jr. (of Reading) 202, 290, 362 Illustrated Historic Times (previously Historic
Hoffer, Leopold (1842–1913) 3, 49, 59, 64, 65, Times) 33, 34, 315, 317
71, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, Illustrated London Magazine (later the Illustrated
114, 116, 120, 145, 157, 158, 159, 160, 164, 171, Magazine) 317
225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 262, 300, 310, 312, Illustrated London News 2, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32,
331, 335, 339, 340, 342, 345, 351 33, 35, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54, 61, 63, 118,
Holland Times 315 119, 131, 132, 134, 135, 138, 142, 144, 157, 167,
Hollings, Frank 175, 273 173, 180, 194, 199, 200, 201, 203, 204, 205,
Holloway, Alfred 303 244, 259, 264, 266, 280, 290, 298,
Holloway, Hornsey and North Metropolitan Press Illustrated News of the World 35, 208, 317
(sometimes Holloway Press) 72, 315 Illustrated Society 72, 317, 334
Holmes, Harry 262, 327 Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News 45, 46, 48,
Holt, Ethelbert 99, 299, 307, 314, 331 50, 51, 52, 137, 157, 218, 220, 317
Holt, William Locke (1852–1907) 321, 341 Illustrated Weekly News 46, 318, 329
Home (periodical publication) 315 Imperial Chess Club, London 48, 318
Home Circle 33, 37, 38, 39, 42, 45, 315 Imperial Review 48, 318
Home Reader (periodical publication) 316, 321 India 40, 196, 200, 240, 254, 264, 294, 309, 347
Hooke, Alice Elizabeth 349 Indian problem 258
Hooke, George Archer 349 Indoor Games and Amusements 318
Hooper, David Vincent (1915–1998) 23, 24, 65, Information, a Weekly Journal for Everybody 318
179, 303, 344, 345, 351 International Chess Magazine 122, 159, 164, 166
Hopwood, Thomas Henry (1828–1902) 138, International Correspondence Chess Federation
343, 349, 351 (I.C.C.F.) 296
Horncastle News 316, 322
Ipswich Express 318
The Hornet 316
Ipswich Journal 18, 318
Horwitz, Bernhard 37, 61, 130, 131, 134, 210, 212,
252, 253, 258, 259, 267, 315, 342; see also The Irish Chess (magazine) 16
Chess Player; Chess Studies Irish Chess Association 91, 93, 172, 343
House (periodical publication) 316 Irish Chess Chronicle 173, 343
Household Chess Magazine 138, 343, 408 Irish Chess Journal 16; see also Fiacla Fichille
Howell, David 119 Irish Field 91, 318, 319
Howson, J.B. 73, 302 Irish Figaro 93, 318
Hoyle, Edmund (Hoyle's Games) 16, 30, 234, 243, Irish Fireside 93, 318
244 Irish Historical Studies 286
Hübner, Dr. Robert 282 Irish Sporting Times 90, 318
Huddersfield 75, 342 Irish Sportsman (previously Irish Sportsman and
Huddersfield Chronicle 316 Farmer) 90, 91, 92, 93, 298, 318, 319, 327
Huddersfield College Magazine 13, 73, 74, 76, 156, The Irish Times 90, 91, 120, 319, 333, 337
164, 316, 343 Irish Weekly Mail and Warder 92, 319, 337
Huddersfield Weekly News 316 Irish Weekly Times see Weekly Irish Times
382 General Index

Irving, K. Ernest 118, 317 Kieseritzky Gambit 129

Irwin, Eyles (1751–1817) 264 Kilkenny (Ireland) 350, 351, 352
Isle of Wight 132, 199, 319 Killoran, Gerard 4, 333
Israel, Harold (1909–1984) 293, 351 King, Captain (pseudonymous writer of syndi-
cated chess columns) 98, 99, 100, 300, 302,
Jackson, Andrew (U.S. president) 247 303, 304, 321, 325, 335, 338, 339
Jacob, Friedrich 116, 238, 331, 351, 407 The King: The Avowed Enemy of the Queen 253
Jacobs, Herbert Levi (1863–1950) 115, 340 Kingstown Monthly 94, 320
Jaenisch, Carl Friedrich von (1813–1872) 198, Kingstown Society 94, 320
248, 249, 250, 251, 268, 269 Kingstown Visitor see Visitor
James I, King 233, 364 Kipping, James Stanley 128, 265, 324
Janowski, Dawid Markelowicz 331 Kling, Joseph ( Josef ) 37, 40, 207, 210, 211, 251,
Janssens, Franciscus Godfrey (1822?–1881) 202
253, 258, 259, 267, 315, 317, 342; The Chess Eu-
Jasnogrodsky, Nicolai (1859–1914) 171
clid 252; Kling's Chess Rooms 37, 40, 134, 202,
Jenkin, John 3, 86, 153, 214, 215, 312, 313, 342
208, 332; see also The Chess Player; Chess Stud-
Jersey Weekly Press 319
ies
John G. White Collection, Cleveland Public Li-
Knott, John: Blindfold Chess 296
brary, Ohio 4, 15, 16, 17, 54, 59, 60, 66, 74, 81,
Knowledge (periodical publication) 39, 67, 114,
90, 92, 95, 96, 98, 103, 112, 156, 160, 162, 165,
178, 320
169, 171, 172, 173, 175, 176, 215, 221, 225, 234,
Knowles, Richard Brinsley 317
246, 249, 255, 260, 263, 264, 277, 278, 279,
Köhtz, Johannes 285, 286
284, 286, 287, 296, 298, 300, 302, 303, 305,
Kolisch, Ignatz 3, 102, 208, 209, 210, 211
308, 312, 320, 331, 334, 335, 339, 340, 343,
Koltanowski, George 16, 106, 120
404, 407, 408
Koninklijke Bibliotheek see Royal Dutch Library
Johnson, W.S. (printer and publisher) 39, 357
Korn, Walter 273
Jones, Bob see Hindle, Owen
Kramnik, Vladimir 251
Jones, E.V. 227
Kuiper, R: One Hundred and Twenty Problems
Jones, Henry (aka Cavendish, writer on card
251, 252
games) 60, 142
Kushelev-Bezborodko, Count Grigory Alexan-
Jones, R.F.B. 307
drovich 210
Jones, Sir William (1746–1794) 264
Josselin, the Rev. Ralph 233, 364
Ladies' Chess Club (London) 9, 57, 67, 224; see
Journoud, Paul 123
also women's chess
The Kaleidoscope 21, 22, 24, 33, 288, 319, 345 Ladies' Chess Club (Manchester) 273
Karpov, Anatoly 249 Ladies College Chess Club 56, 171
Kasparov, Garry 108, 250, 251, 267, 273 Ladies' Treasury 50, 320
Keeble, John 97, 98, 169, 258, 262, 263, 264, 284, Lads of the Village 155, 316, 320, 321
285, 286, 307, 323, 328 Lady's Newspaper [and Pictorial Times] 33, 34, 321,
Keene, Raymond 119, 267, 268, 273 330
Kellett, E.E. (historian) 28, 31 Lady's Pictorial 9, 67, 114, 321
Ken Whyld Association 122, 126, 282, 292, 349; Lambe, the Rev. Robert (1711–1795): History of
see also Chess History and Literature Society Chess 264, 351
Kennedy, Capt. Hugh Alexander 347 Lambert, Charles James 154
Kenny, William: Practical Chess Grammar 238 The Lancet 23, 24, 25, 33, 321, 345
Kensington 156, 260, 350 Land and Water 28, 44, 52, 53, 54, 55, 58, 65, 69,
Kent and Sussex Courier 319 70, 71, 72, 86, 150, 154, 271, 272, 301, 320, 321
Kent Examiner 319 Landsberger, Kurt (biographer of Steinitz) 63, 159
Kent Messenger 319 Lantern and Titbits 321
Kent Times 319 Lasa, Tassilo v. d. see Von der Lasa, Baron
Kentish Express 319 Lasker, Emanuel 107, 113, 122, 164, 171, 174, 257,
Kentish Mercury 320 276, 290, 291, 324, 331, 335, 343
Kidderminster Shuttle 113, 320, 339 laudanum 206
Kidson, H.E. 298 Law Gazette 321
Kiernan, Dr. Bernard P. 11, 355 Lawrence, Thomas Francis (1871–1953) 329, 330
Kieseritzky, Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix 129, Laws, Benjamin Glover (1861–1931) 115, 167,
131, 198, 257, 269 360
 General Index 383

Laws of Chess (rules of the game) 20, 31, 36, 47, Liverpool Public Library 20, 322, 330
54, 68, 69, 139, 195, 198, 232, 237, 238, 240, Liverpool Times 322
241, 244, 245 Liverpool Weekly Albion 106, 322
Leamington, Warwick and County Chronicle 321 Liverpool Weekly Courier 322, 323, 337
Lee, Francis Joseph 108, 109, 315, 329 Liverpool Weekly Mercury 322, 323
Leeds Budget 321 Liverpool Weekly Times 323
Leeds Chess Club 166, 251 Lloyd, C.P. 83, 84, 85, 326
Leeds Mercury 21, 76, 84, 321 Locock, Charles Dealtry (1862–1946) 309, 320
Leeds Times 321 Loman, Rudolf Johannes 115
Legall, François Antoine (1702–1792) 236, 350, London and Brighton Magazine 155, 323
351 London Chess Club (founded 1807) 18, 27, 29,
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (philosopher) 237 33, 35, 55, 65, 131, 134, 152, 153, 182, 186, 187,
Leicester Chronicle 100, 321 190, 194, 198, 203, 210, 212, 229, 240, 246, 250,
Leigh Chronicle 321 255, 362
Leigh Hunt see Hunt, James Henry Leigh London Chess Fortnightly 171, 174, 343
Leigh Weekly Journal 77, 321 London Chess League 71
Leipzig 127, 251, 267 London Comet 314
The Leisure Hour 73, 302, 321 London Evening News and Post 310
Lennox, George W. (1860?–1908) 89, 309, 351 The London Figaro 66, 93, 150, 156, 215, 312, 323,
Lett's Illustrated Household Magazine 316, 322 345
Levy, David N.L. 36; see also Oxford Encyclopæ- London Gazette 125
dia of Chess Games London international congress (1883) 58, 61, 66,
Lewis, F.H. 50, 54 82, 168, 221, 225, 256, 333
Lewis, Frank R. (Welsh scholar) 286 London Journal 35, 38, 39, 323
Lewis, William (1787–1870) 23, 24, 26, 34, 53, London Magazine 40, 157, 317, 329, 332
139, 184, 185, 188, 189, 192, 194, 198, 233, 234, London Metropolitan Archives 18, 277
240, 241, 242, 244, 246, 248, 251, 255, 257, London Opinion 323
263, 264, 284, 321, 330, 344, 351; Elements of Long, Thomas (1827–1905) 94, 154, 165, 269, 330
the Game of Chess 241; Fifty Games at Chess Longfield, Mountifort 234
242; Letters on Chess 255; A Second Series of Longman, F.W.: Chess Openings 269
Lessons on the Game of Chess 242; A Series of Lord, F.W. 47, 229
Progressive Lessons 241 Lord's Day Observance Society 34
Lewisham 350 Louisville (Kentucky) 32, 129
Lexington 32, 129 Loveday, the Rev. H.A. 258
Lichtenhein, Theodore 132 Löwe, Eduard (Old Lowe) 58, 132, 200, 410
Life (periodical publication) 322 Löwenthal, John Jacob ( Johann Jakob, 1806?–
Lincoln College (Oxford University) 45, 202 1876) 28, 31, 35, 36, 40, 42, 43, 52, 53, 60, 61,
Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury 316, 322, 64, 66, 72, 114, 128, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136,
335 137, 138, 139, 140, 150, 151, 154, 158, 203, 204,
Lincoln's Inn (Inn of Court, London) 202 206, 207, 208, 212, 213, 215, 250, 251, 255, 256,
Lincolnshire 77, 212, 213, 214, 313, 315, 316 258, 269, 282, 307, 309, 311, 312, 313, 317, 321,
Linde, Antonius van der see Van der Linde, An- 337, 341, 343, 345, 351
tonius Lowestoft Journal 323
Lindsay (Hon. Sec. of the St. George's Club, ca. Loyd, Sam 133, 160, 161, 260, 261
1876) 335 Lucas, Theophilus: Memoirs of the Lives, Intrigues
Lipschütz, Samuel (Salomon/Simon): The Rice and Comical Adventures of the Most Famous
Gambit 266 Gamesters 364
The Listener (BBC weekly periodical) 119 Luton Advertiser 323
Literature see Times Literary Supplement Luton Times 299, 323
Littlehampton News 322 Lymington and South Hants Chronicle 323
Liverpool 21, 88, 90, 150, 167, 173, 248, 251, 298, Lyttelton, George William (fourth Baron Lyttel-
306, 319, 334, 336, 350, 351 ton; educational reformer and chess player)
Liverpool Chess Club 20, 22, 197, 265 212, 350, 351
Liverpool Citizen 322, 330
Liverpool Daily Post and Mercury 322 Macaskie 84
Liverpool Mercury 19, 20, 24, 288, 322, 323 Macclesfield Advertiser 323
384 General Index

MacDonnell, A. 285 McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers 2, 290,

MacDonnell, the Rev. George Alcock (aka Mars, 291, 294, 296
1830–1899) 46, 48, 50, 51, 54, 55, 80, 90, 158, McKibbin, Ross (historian) 98
218, 219, 220, 221, 265, 351; Chess Life-Pictures Mead, Walter 169, 334, 343
30, 51, 52, 62, 137, 157, 318; The Knights and Meadley, Bob 286
Kings of Chess 51, 64, 137, 213, 228, 318 Mears, William Marcham (1880–1919) 112, 113,
Mackay, Wallis (artist) 30 339, 351
Mackenzie, George Henry (1837–1891) 46, 150, Mechanical World 70, 307, 324
294 Mechanics' Institutes 11, 19, 21, 80, 81, 242
MacWhite, Eoin (Celtic scholar and diplomat) Medley, George Webb (1826–1898) 136, 137, 140,
286 256, 351
Madden, Sir Frederic (1801–1873) 193, 264 Menzies, H.J. 118, 148, 317
Madeira 352 Mephisto (chess automaton) 72, 114, 320; see also
Madras 254 Gunsberg, Isidor Arthur
Maginn, Dr. William 179, 183 The Mercury see Hackney Mercury
The Mail Budget see Society Mercury and Post see Bristol Mercury
Manchester 73, 77, 82, 128, 138, 173, 176, 206, Méry, Josef 123
212, 226, 250, 257, 265, 273, 281, 301, 316, 321, Methodist church 74, 94
331, 336, 343, 350, 351. John Rylands Library Metropolitan Chess Club, London 153, 227
38, 315; Manchester Central Library 254, 324 Metropolitan Magazine of Sports and Pastimes 325
Manchester City News 323 Meyer, H.F.L. 69, 73, 302, 309
Manchester Evening Chronicle 323 Meyer, Max J. 302, 314, 360
Manchester Evening News 324 Michell, E.A.: The Year-Book of Chess 273
Manchester Express and Review 311 microfilmed publications 35, 59, 60, 72, 82, 85,
Manchester Guardian 80, 82, 83, 107, 116, 117, 92, 103, 104, 105, 106, 112, 169, 171, 173, 275,
169, 301, 302, 324, 328 279, 302, 303, 305, 318, 322, 324, 332, 333, 335,
Manchester Times (sometimes the Manchester 338, 340
Weekly Times and Examiner) 324 Middlesex County Times 100, 325
Manchester Weekly Express and Guardian 209, 324 Midland Counties Herald 325
Manchester Weekly Express and Review 311, 324 Miles, Anthony J. (Tony) 120, 258, 337
Manchester Weekly Post 324 Milky Way Magazine 325
Manhattan Chess Club 174 Mill Hill Magazine 73, 325
manuscript magazines 171, 342, 343 Millar, Clara 273
Marks, Edward 71, 72, 315, 327, 333, 337 Miller, A. Morrison 304
Markwick, F.W. 301 Miller, J.W. 270
Marriott, Arthur Towle 82, 83 Miller, W.C. 133
Marriott, Thomas 83 Miller, W.J.C. 74
Marshall, Frank 86, 103 Millins, E. 176, 343
Marshall, James 86, 313 Mills, Daniel Yarnton (1849–1904) 226, 272, 302
Martin, Thomas 93, 299 Milner-Barry, Sir Philip Stuart (1906–1995) 168
Martin, Maj. William (1807–1888) 55 Minchin, Charles Cherry (1830?–1899) 154
Mason, James (1849–1905) 56, 58, 65, 114, 163, Minchin, James Innes (1825–1903) 155, 256
173, 272 Miniati, Nicholas Theodore (1863?–1943) 173,
Mason, J.W. 325 174, 324, 343, 351
Matlock Register 79, 324 Mitchell Library, Glasgow 156, 331
Maud, Aylmer 2, 49 Mitcheson, William (1834–1888) 76, 84, 85, 326,
Maude, George 210 351
Mavor, Prof. James 55 Mocatta, Abraham (1831–1900) 351
McAlister, David 4, 93 Modern Chess Openings 168, 272, 273
McArthur, Sgt.-Maj. William J. (1840?–1888) Moffatt, William (1842–1918) 94, 305, 362
335, 338, 351 Moheschunder Bannerjee 147, 149
McCombe, A.G. 33, 35, 312 Monck, William Henry Stanley (1839–1915) 95,
McDonnell, Alexander (1798–1835) 19, 26, 27, 96, 305, 329, 351, 352, 353
29, 36, 40, 90, 124, 139, 194, 197, 202, 205, 208, Monetary Gazette 325
246, 247, 248, 250, 251, 351 Mongredien, Augustus 197, 212, 241
McDonnell Chess Club 40, 202, 208 Monte Carlo, 1902 tournament, 115
 General Index 385

Montreal 174 National Weekly Chronicle 325

Moon, the Rev J.F. 314 Naumann, Frank G. 227, 363
Moore, Dr. C.C. 161 Neilson, Archibald Johnston 87, 311
Moravian Chess (publishing company) 15, 59, Neue Berliner Schachzeitung 127
63, 67, 103, 159, 173, 175, 178, 214, 299 Neumann, Gustav Richard Ludwig 127
Morgan, William Wray (junior; 1855–1926) 218, Nevill, Wallace E.: Chess Humanics 266
219, 221, 222, 223, 225, 351 New Age 325
Morgan, William Wray (senior; 1833?–1893) 216, The New Chess Player see Chess Player
218, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 257, 342, 351; see New Court Gazette see Court Gazette
also Chess Player's Chronicle New Family Record see Births, Marriages and
Morning Advertiser 125, 181, 193, 194, 325 Deaths
Morning News 325 New Orleans 128, 153, 174, 288
Morning Post 125, 183, 187, 192, 193, 194, 242, New Review 326
325, 411 New Weekly 183, 326
Morningside Mirror 325 New York Clipper 288
Morpeth Herald 100, 325 New Zealand 87, 154
Morphy, John 172 Newcastle-upon-Tyne 35, 48, 53, 76, 174, 203,
Morphy, Paul (1837–1884) 28, 40, 42, 54, 58, 61, 258, 281, 298, 306; newspapers (generic intro-
128, 133, 135, 136, 147, 149, 150, 151, 153, 154, duction) 83–85 passim, 326
205, 206, 207, 210, 241, 245, 250, 257, 258, Newcastle Chronicle 84, 326
268, 353 Newcastle Courant 76, 83, 84, 85, 326
Morphy's Divan (Dublin) 172 Newcastle Daily Chronicle 84, 326
Morrison, Dr. W.T. 197 Newcastle Daily Journal 84, 326
Morry, W. Ritson 300 Newcastle Journal 84, 85, 134, 136, 326
Mortimer, James 66, 104, 227, 300, 306, 312, 345 Newcastle Weekly Chronicle 84, 85, 326, 337
Morton, William T. 298 Newcastle Weekly Courant 84, 85, 326
Mossop, Charles (1833–1896?) 54, 142, 144, 344, Newcastle Weekly Journal and Courant 85, 326
351 Newham, Samuel (1796–1875) 252
Mott, Henry Cook (1818?–1875) 33, 36, 37, 39, Newnes, Sir George (1851–1910) 101, 103, 226,
262, 303, 315, 351, 357 227, 363
Mouret, Jacques-François (1787?–1837) 23, 246 Newry Commercial Telegraph 89, 326
Mumbles Observer 325 News. A National Journal 326
Munoz brothers (editors of the Brooklyn Chess News and Star see Evening News and Star
Chronicle) 164 (Glasgow)
Murray, Archibald Keir (1834–1907) 86, 351 News of the Week (Glasgow) 327
Murray, Harold James Ruthven (1868–1955) 13, News of the Week (London) 327
53, 57, 73, 86, 91, 96, 168, 193, 216, 240, 255, Newspaper Archive (chiefly American, at newspa-
265, 281, 283, 287, 299, 305, 309, 315, 316, 325, perarchive.com) 103, 109, 110, 313, 340
336, 344, 351, 355, 366; History of Board Games Newton, Sir Isaac 297
Other Than Chess 284, 286; History of Chess 14, Niemeijer, Dr. Meindert (1902–1987) 156, 264,
121, 264, 284, 286, 340; Murray collection at 278, 331
Bodleian Library 282–286 passim Norfolk (Virginia) 129
Murray, Sir James (lexicographer) 73, 283, 286, Norfolk and Norwich Chess Club 169
325 Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette 327
Norfolk News 84, 85, 327, 329
Napoleon III (emperor of France) 66 North Devon Herald 327
Nash, William (1841–1922) 116, 155, 325, 351, 353 North Devon Journal 327
National Archives of Ireland 277 North London Chess Club 109, 313
National Archives (of the U.K.) at Kew 221, 227, North London Guardian 327
277 North Middlesex Magazine 71, 72, 315, 327
National Association Review 299, 325 North Wales Guardian 327
National Library of Ireland, Dublin 4, 16, 92, 96, Northampton Mercury 77, 327
175, 254, 277, 281, 298, 303, 318, 330 The Northern Chess Magazine 166, 167
National Library of Scotland 96, 281, 305, 327 Northern Counties Literary Gazette 327
National Portrait Gallery, London 159, 317 Northern Figaro 304, 327
National Records of Scotland 277 Northern Review 327
386 General Index

Northern Whig 93, 94, 299, 327, 338; see also Oxford University Chess Club, 33, 54, 69, 102,
Weekly Northern Whig 109, 229, 265, 367; Oxford University Press,
Northumbrian 327 23, 290, 366
The Norvicensian 73, 311, 327
Norwich Mercury 14, 97, 156, 262, 313, 323, 327 Paige, Roger Leslie 295
Norwood News 328 Palace Journal (or People's Palace Journal) 329
notation, chess 4, 6, 11, 20, 87, 147, 151, 154, 167, The Palamede (early English chess periodical)
233, 238, 247, 270, 273, 276; algebraic notation 126
6, 22, 69, 101, 130, 231, 235, 319 Le Palamède (Revue Mensuelle des échecs) 123,
Notes and Queries 19, 285 124, 137, 198, 199, 250
Nottingham: newspapers (generic coverage) 80– Pall Mall Gazette 229, 329, 348
83 passim, 328 Palmer, James Thomas (1853–1929) 76, 155,
Nottingham [and Midland Counties] Daily Express 298, 330, 331, 351
81, 82, 97, 328 paper duty 41
Nottingham Chess Club 80, 82 Pardon, George Frederick (aka Captain Crawley,
Nottingham Daily Guardian 83, 328 1824–1884) 35, 39, 40, 72, 73, 138, 301, 302,
Nottingham Guardian 82, 83, 328 311, 312, 323, 331, 341, 351
Nottingham Mechanics Institute Chess Club 80, Paris 11, 18, 26, 27, 64, 66, 90, 101, 102, 108, 123,
81 132, 133, 138, 139, 141, 144, 152, 194, 198, 199,
Nottinghamshire Guardian and Midland Counties 200, 210, 211, 233, 236, 237, 240, 246, 249, 252,
Advertiser 77, 80, 82, 83, 328 269, 306, 311, 312, 319, 320
La Nouvelle Régence see La Régence Parker, J. 405
Nunn, John 119, 273, 317 Parlour Journal & London Magazine 329
Nuremberg 160, 173 Paulsen, Louis (1833–1891) 61, 102, 211, 250, 324
Peake, Alfred Samuel (1856?–1915) 91, 96, 173,
The Observer 107, 117, 118, 328 319, 337, 343, 351
Observer and Series see Harrow Observer Pearson, the Rev. Arthur Cyril (1858–1916) 105,
O'Connor, Feargus 39 310
odds see chess at odds Pearson, C. Arthur (1866–1921, newspaper pro-
O'Farrell, Captain Patrick (1832–1902) 161, 361 prietor) 105
Old Cross 328 pedestrianism 27, 219, 220
The Oldhallian 73, 328 Peel, Sir Robert (3rd baronet, 1822–1895) 254
Oldham Chronicle 328 Pelham, Walter 71, 72, 327, 337
Oldham Standard 328 Pen and Pencil 329
The Olio of Literature, Music, the Drama and the Penn, Sir Richard (1784–1863): Maxims and
Fine Arts 328 Hints 255, 351
Ostend chess congress (1907) 117, 324 Penny Illustrated Paper 114, 318, 329
Our Boys 328 Penny Illustrated Weekly News see Illustrated
Our Corner 114, 328 Weekly News
Our School Times 95, 329, 352 Penny Post (introduced 1840) 9, 19, 25, 196
Ours: A Fortnightly Journal 329 The People (London Sunday newspaper) 329
Overend and Gurney (bank crash) 44 Percy Chess Club (London, ca. 1824) 196
Owen, the Rev. John (aka Alter, 1827–1901) 4, Perigal, George 18, 182, 183, 186, 187, 205
62, 133, 134, 138, 206, 212, 228, 318, 350, 353 perpetual check 88, 146, 191, 254, 271
Oxford Chronicle and Berks and Bucks Gazette 329 Perthshire Advertiser 109, 315, 329
Oxford Companion to Chess 23, 24, 65, 66, 133, Peters, F.J.B. 156, 330
202, 222, 238, 249, 344, 345 Petroff (Petrov), Alexander Dmitrievich (1794–
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 1867) 124, 249, 250, 268
(O.D.N.B.) 19, 23, 38, 43, 193, 238, 290, 295, Petroff Defense 124, 250, 268
344, 349 Philadelphia 58, 129, 163, 263
Oxford Encyclopædia of Chess Games 197 Philidor, François-André Danican (1726–1795)
Oxford Times 116, 329 1, 17, 18, 30, 31, 123, 140, 152, 205, 235, 236,
Oxford University 3, 40; Bodleian Library 3, 237, 237, 238, 242, 247, 248, 249, 250, 255, 267,
254, 263, 264, 265, 281, 282, 283, 284, 286, 303, 268, 269, 286, 336, 355
340; Hermes Chess Club 45, 202, 209, 311, 358; Philidor Defense 267
Oxford Undergraduates Journal, 329, 336, 367; Philidorean Chess Club, Dublin 22, 247
 General Index 387

The Philidorian (American chess magazine) 132 138, 140, 144, 146, 148, 149, 151, 152, 154, 157,
The Philidorian (magazine edited by George 158, 160, 161, 163, 165, 167, 169, 170, 171, 172,
Walker) 123–124 passim, 343 175, 181, 188, 189, 192, 193, 194, 197, 208, 210,
Philidorian Chess Rooms 40, 206–207 passim, 212, 214, 219, 226, 231, 232, 238, 242, 251, 252,
211, 342 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 266, 267, 268, 269,
Pictorial Times 33, 34, 321, 329; see also Lady's 281, 282, 284, 285, 289, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302,
Newspaper 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312,
Pictorial World 330 313, 318, 319, 320, 321, 323, 325, 326, 327, 328,
Pierce, James (1833–1882) 304; Pierce Gambit, 329, 330, 331, 332, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339,
chess papers and problems 267 340, 347, 348
Pierce, William Timbrell (1839–1922) 68, 69, Proctor, Richard A. 114, 320
165, 302; Pierce Gambit, chess papers and prob- professionalism 7, 54, 97, 108, 157, 215, 219, 220,
lems 267 221
Planck, Dr. Charles (1856–1935): The Chess Prob- Progress (magazine for the blind) 330
lem 260, 261, 264, 300 Proquest Historical Newspapers 21, 40, 324, 332
Plunkett, Hon. Horace Curzon M.P. 93 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
Plymouth 34, 70, 99, 111, 112, 248, 318, 334, 338, 277
339 Puller, Arthur Giles 350
Poe, Edgar Allan 156 Puller, Charles Giles 350
Pollock, William Henry Krause (1859–1896) 96, Pulling, Wellington 250
257, 316 Purdy, Cecil John Seddon 286
Polytechnic Institution 151, 196, 204 Purssells chess rooms, Cornhill 40
Ponziani Opening 267, 268
Poole and Bournemouth Herald (sometimes Poole, Quarterly for Chess History (Q.C.H.) 280, 345
Parkstone & East Dorset Herald) 330 Quarterly Review 1, 11
Popert, William 184, 185, 189, 190, 197, 198, 250 The Queen and Her Pawns Against the King and His
Porcupine 322, 330 Pieces 253, 254
Portsmouth 113, 314 Quotes and Queries (column in B.C.M.) 126
Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette 330, 338
postal chess see correspondence chess railroads 3, 27, 62, 97, 102, 138, 259, 278, 279
Potter, William Norwood (1840–1895) 44, 52, Railway & Tramway Express 330
55, 56, 57, 58, 62, 63, 65, 68, 69, 70, 72, 86, 88, Rainger, Frederick George (1829–1871) 45, 259,
102, 131, 141, 142, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150, 151, 327
152, 153, 154, 155, 158, 163, 272, 301, 321, 343, Ramsbottom Observer 99, 330
344 Ranken, the Rev. Charles Edward (1828–1905)
Potteries Mechanics Institution Magazine 330 158, 159, 164, 165, 166, 167, 202, 212, 214, 215,
Potts, C.F. 301 216, 217, 218, 219, 225, 228, 265, 272, 342, 353;
Practical Farmer 91, 330 Chess Openings Ancient & Modern 272
Present Etonian 330 Ranneforth, Heinrich (1864–1945) 286
Press World 330 Rathmines School Magazine 94, 330
Preston Guardian 76, 321, 330, 331, 341 rational recreation 11, 27, 81, 140
Price, Hubert Ernest 206 Ravilious, Chris 15n, 103, 308, 329; see also
Prideaux, H.M. 305 Chess Texts
Prince Leopold 57 Rayner, James: Chess Problems: Their Composition
Prince Regent see George IV, King and Solution 166, 167, 260, 261, 262
probate 118, 224, 277, 293 Reader (Manchester periodical) 330
problem tourneys (for composing or solving) 2, Reading Observer 330
13, 46, 68, 75, 91, 92, 94, 137, 169, 303, 308, Reading Standard 330
332, 337, 338 The Recreationist 156, 330, 331, 343
problems, chess 2, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 21, 22, 23, Redcar, Yorkshire 155
26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 36, 37, 39, 43, 45, 46, Rees, Leonard P. (1862–1944) 174, 286, 336
48, 50, 54, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, Reeves, Henry Albert 40
73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, The Referee 98, 331, 335
89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 103, 104, La Régence and La Nouvelle Régence (chess maga-
105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, zines) 123
119, 120, 124, 125, 128, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, Reichhelm, Gustavus 129, 130, 163
388 General Index

Reigate 351 Saavedra, the Rev. Fernando (1847–1922) 86, 93

Reilly, Alfred “Freddy” (1929–1980) 164 Saint-Amant, Pierre Charles Fournier de 53, 90,
Reilly, Brian Patrick (1901–1991) 122, 164, 168 123, 185, 194, 198, 199, 200, 247, 250, 256, 312
Renette, Hans: H.E. Bird 40, 77, 78, 220, 226, 327 St. George's Chess Club, London 28, 102, 137,
repetition, draw by 4, 89, 134 155, 169, 196, 203, 204, 205, 206, 212, 255
Réti, Richard 276 St. James's Chronicle 334
The Review (The Review: The Country Gentleman's St. James's Gazette 105, 310, 334, 335; see also
Journal) 331 Evening Standard
Reynolds, George W.M. 331 St. Louis (Missouri) 129
Reynolds, the Rev. W. 303 St. Patrick's Chess Club Pamphlet 172, 361
Rice Gambit 266 St. Paul's (periodical) 202, 335
Richmond 351 St. Petersburg (Russia) 88, 115, 226
Ries (proprietor of the Grand Cigar Divan) see Salford Chronicle 331
Simpson's Divan Salopian coffee house 236
Robey, James 51, 52 Salvioli, C. 223
Robson, J.W. 107 Sarratt, Jacob (1772?–1819) 237, 238, 239, 240,
Rochdale Nick-Nacks 331 241, 255, 364
Rogers, D. John 295, 349, 351 Saturday Herald see Evening Herald (Dublin)
Roman Catholic Church 71, 194 Saturday Magazine 33, 331
Rose, R.N. 41, 42, 59, 60, 61, 65, 101, 106, 108 Saturday Night see Birmingham Saturday Night
Rosenthal, Samuel 71, 75, 320 Saturday Review 48, 331
Rossendale Free Press 99, 299, 307, 314, 330, 331 Saturday Weekly Citizen see Glasgow Weekly Citi-
Rousseau, Eugène 128, 185 zen 86, 312, 331
Routledge (publishing house) 201, 271, 331 Saturday Westminster Gazette (later Weekly West-
Rowbothum, James (publisher): The Pleasaunt minster Gazette) 331; see also Westminster
and Wittie Playe of the Cheasts Renewed (transla- Gazette
tion of work by Damiano) 232, 233, 284 Saul, Arthur: The Famous Game of Chesse-play
Rowland, Mrs. Frideswide (née Beechey, 1845– Truly Discouered 233
1919) 9, 67, 70, 73, 79, 80, 82, 89–94, 96, 112, Saunders, John 4, 349
174, 175, 257, 260, 273, 293, 302, 305, 308, 314, Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft see
318, 319, 320, 324, 330, 332, 336, 337, 349, 351, Deutsche Schachzeitung
405, 406, 415 Schallopp, Emil 144
Rowland, Thomas Benjamin (1850–1929) 9, 70, Scheveningen 101
79, 80, 89–94, 91, 96, 175, 257, 260, 273, 293, Schlechter, Carl 290, 291
298, 303, 305, 308, 310, 314, 318, 319, 320, 330, Schmid, Lothar 224, 263, 264, 282
332, 337, 343, 349, 351, 405, 406, 415 Scholastic Globe 332
Royal Dutch Library (Koninklijke Bibliotheek; Scholten, Drs. H.J.G.M.: “Het Loopt Ongenadiglijk
The Hague) 3, 4, 15, 16, 74, 92, 156, 160, 169, Mat”: Het Schaakleven in Nederland... 294
173, 175, 176, 221, 225, 263, 264, 278, 279, 281, School Guardian 332
296, 331, 343 school magazines 67, 73, 74, 94, 311, 330, 338,
The Royal Exchange (periodical) 155, 331 340, 352
Royle, Edward (historian) 7, 8, 13, 402, 416 School World 332
Rudge, Mary 56, 155, 293, 351 The Schoolmaster 332
rules see laws of chess Schumer, Dr. Jacob 116, 314, 331, 338, 340
Russell, ? (USA) 161 Schwarz, Adolf 250
Russell, John (Glasgow) 86, 312 Science Monthly Illustrated 67, 317, 332
Russell, Lord (of Killowen) 254 Scotch Gambit 185, 250
Russell Street (London) 124, 126 Scotland 2, 11, 14, 21, 35, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 93,
Russia 49, 88, 210, 248, 264 97, 109, 122, 175, 187, 214, 226, 272, 273, 277,
Ruy Lopez (Spanish opening) 90, 240, 251, 267, 281, 288, 294, 298, 309, 311, 312, 313, 315, 331,
268, 271 335, 350
Rymer, Louisa 57 The Scotsman 165, 332, 338
Rynd, James Alexander Porterfield (1846–1917) Scott, C.P. 116
90, 91, 92, 96, 310, 319, 351 Sergeant, Edward Guthlac (1881–1961) 85, 326
Rynd, Kenneth Arley (1873–1915) 91, 92, 319, Sergeant, Philip Walsingham (1872–1952) 42,
351 122, 134, 145, 156, 173, 175, 203, 205, 206, 207,
 General Index 389

211, 226, 257, 273, 335, 344, 345; A Century of Soul, John 265
British Chess 3, 105, 122, 123, 133, 136, 137, South, Christopher (writer) 183
142, 204, 208, 212, 214, 218, 225, 231, 347 South Devon Literary Chronicle 34, 334
Serruys, Henri 126 South Durham & Cleveland Mercury 334
Seyferth, Paul Karl Edmund (1870–1938) 285, South Norwood, London 44, 227, 298, 328
286 Southampton Amusements 334
Seymour, Richard: The Court Gamester 234 Southend Standard & Essex Weekly Advertiser 334
Shakespeare, William 32, 36, 201, 206 Southern Counties Chess Journal 169, 170, 171,
Sharples, J.J. (historian) 11, 355 334, 343
Sheffield 212, 338, 351, 352 Southern Counties Chess Union 170, 171, 343
Sheffield and Rotherham Independent 77, 78, 79, Southern Daily Post 334
82, 89, 301, 324, 332, 336 Southern Free Press 334
Sheffield and Rotherham Weekly Independent Budget Southern Times 334
(later the Sheffield Weekly Independent) 80, Southern Weekly News 169, 334, 343
303, 332 Southport Advertiser 301, 334
Sheffield Weekly News 333 The Spectator 119
Sheffield Weekly Telegraph 333, 338 Speelman, Jonathan 118
Shields Daily News 326, 333 Spens, Walter Cook (Sheriff Spens, 1842–1900)
shilling hunters (shilling sharks) 132, 140, 220 86, 87, 313
Shipley, Walter Penn 302, 333 Sphinx (Liverpool magazine) 334
Shipley Times 302, 333 Spinrad, Jeremy 345
Shoreditch Citizen and Hackney & Bethnal Green Spirit of the Times (New York newspaper) 2, 128
Advertiser 110, 308, 314, 333 Sport in History (academic journal) 31
Showalter, Jackson Whipps 101 The Sporting Gazette 46, 48, 136, 334
Shrewsbury Journal 333 Sporting Life 28, 334
Sicilian Defense 245, 249, 268, 269, 282 The Sporting Magazine 18, 24
Simpson's Divan (also known as Ries's Divan or Sports Express 334
the Grand Cigar Divan in the Strand) 48, 50, The Sportsman 48, 54, 154, 334
54, 60, 61, 65, 88, 101, 127, 131, 191, 196, 207, Sprigge, S. Squire 23, 356
208, 211, 226, 257 Staff Gazette 335
simultaneous exhibitions 55, 57, 73, 96, 114, 171, Staffordshire Sentinel 335
172, 324 stake (wager on chess game) 10, 34, 54, 210, 219,
Sissa (Dutch chess magazine) 127, 279 220, 221, 355
Skeet, C.J. 200 stalemate 30, 47, 238, 244, 253
Skipworth, the Rev. Arthur Bolland (1830–1898) Stamford, Lincolnshire (formerly in Rutland)
53, 153, 159, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 219, 256, 257, 316, 322, 335
258, 293, 316, 321, 322, 332, 343 Stamford Mercury see Lincoln, Rutland and Stam-
Sklavounos, Panagis 4, 362 ford Mercury
Sligo Independent 333 Stamma, Philip: The Noble Game of Chess 17, 69,
Sligo Times 89, 333 235
Smiles, Samuel 266 stamp duty (on newspapers) 9, 10, 20, 21, 26, 41
Smith, Alan 324, 331, 335 The Standard 103–106 passim, 310, 335; see also
Smith, Arthur (1846?–1912) 171 Evening Standard
Smith, Mrs. Arthur (née Kate Carden, 1849–1944) Stanley, Charles Henry 2, 95, 128, 129, 130, 160,
170 194, 205, 209, 324, 349, 351, 352
Smith, Charles French (1828?–1868) 32, 45, 130, The Star 34, 39, 86, 105, 239, 269, 310, 313, 338,
201, 358 340
Smith, Egerton (1774–1841) 7, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, Starie, J.H. 134, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 342;
24, 33, 166, 319, 322, 351, 356 see also Philidorian Chess Rooms
Smith, George Ernest (d. 1946, some-time chess State Library of Victoria, Melbourne 74, 277
editor of The Field) 107, 312 Staunton, Howard (1810?–1874) 8, 17, 23, 25, 27,
snooker 275 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47,
Society (London periodical, successor to The Mail 48, 51, 52, 53, 58, 61, 67, 68, 69, 71, 90, 113, 118,
Budget) 72, 333 121, 125, 127, 130, 131, 132, 134, 136, 138, 139,
Solly, the Rev. Henry 307 140, 141, 142, 149, 150, 151, 178, 179, 180, 181,
Solomons (Cardiff player) 88 182, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192,
390 General Index

193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, Sutherland, Alexander E. 309
203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 210, 211, 217, 222, 240, Sweden 112
241, 244, 245, 246, 248, 249, 250, 251, 255, 256, Sydney 77
258, 259, 266, 267, 268, 269, 271, 303, 309, 312, Synopsis of the Chess Openings 270, 271; see also
317, 320, 325, 342, 343, 348, 353, 404, 408, 409, Cook, William
410, 413, 414; The Chess-Player's Companion
245; The Chess Player's Hand-book 53, 113, 217, tablebase (online endgame database) 190, 239, 253
244, 245, 248, 249, 268, 271; Chess Praxis 68, Tablet (periodical) 336
139, 245, 268; Chess Theory and Practice 245 Talfourd, Justice (Sir Thomas Noon, ?1795–
Stean, Michael 118 1854) 39, 357
Steele, Joseph 306, 340 Tarrasch, Siegbert (1862–1934) 115, 257, 267
Steen, William 93, 299, 337 Tattersall, Creassey Edward Cecil (1877–1957)
Steinitz, William (1836–1900) 8, 31, 46, 49, 50, 259, 260
51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, Taverner, T. 306
66, 67, 86, 95, 100, 101, 102, 103, 108, 109, 114, Taylor, J. Paul 68, 301, 309
121, 134, 139, 140, 144, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150, Taylor, John Odin Howard (1837–1890) 207,
154, 159, 164, 166, 168, 172, 174, 214, 215, 220, 210, 258, 259, 301, 304, 308, 327, 341, 363
245, 251, 257, 258, 266, 267, 270, 272, 282, 289, Taylor, R. 300
298, 304, 311, 312, 345, 353, 355; The Modern Teacher (periodical) 336, 413
Chess Instructor 267, 272, 413 telegraph games 90, 211
Steinkühler, Alexander 324 telephone 59, 75, 104, 345
Stewart, J. 177, 342 testimonial 43, 137, 138, 150, 203, 221, 262
Stirling Observer 335 Thetford and Watton Times 336
Stoke Newington & Islington Recorder 335 Thomas, Sir George Alan (1881–1972) 295
Stoke Newington Register 335 Thomas, William Rowland 286
Stoke-on-Trent 110, 335 Thompson, Fred 68, 69, 70, 76, 163, 307, 345
Stonehouse, James (1810–1883) 335 Thompson, Theophilus 163
La Stratégie 69, 152 Thorold, Eliza Mary (1835–1904) 302
Stratford Express see Boro' of West Ham, East Ham, Thursby, Sir John Ormerod Scarlett 169, 262, 303
and Stratford Express time limit 203
Strickland, Agnes (writer) 179, 183, 346, 347, 348, The Times (of London) 17, 42, 78, 79, 104, 119,
349 179, 183, 187, 192, 275, 288, 322, 336
Stroud 175, 313, 335, 342, 351 Times and Echo see Weekly Times and Echo
Stroud News and Gloucestershire Advertiser 175, The Times Literary Supplement 79, 322, 336
335, 342 The Times Weekly Edition 79, 322, 336, 338
Studd, Alnod Ernest 165, 167 Timethrift 336
Suffolk Chronicle, or Ipswich General Advertiser and Tinsley, Edward Samuel 336
County Express 335 Tinsley, Samuel 79, 104, 336
Suffolk Mercury 335 To-day's Woman 93, 336
Suhle, Berthold (1837–1904) 256 Tolstoy, Count Leo (novelist) 2, 49
Sunday Chronicle and Referee 335. Also see Referee Tomlinson, Charles 33, 35, 36, 125, 126, 206,
Sunday Daily Telegraph 115, 306, 335 246, 273, 311, 331
Sunday Referee see Referee Torquay Directory 111, 336
Sunday Special 335 Town Crier 336
Sunday Times 35, 40, 119, 136, 335 Townsend, John 18, 96, 128, 130, 179, 197, 202,
Sunderland Times 335 204, 238, 293
Sunnucks, P. Anne: The Encyclopædia of Chess 249, Toxteth Observer 336
325 Toz see Hopwood
Surrey Chess Association 306 Transactions of the British Chess Association see
Surrey Gazette 335 British Chess Association
Surrey Mirror 336 Trevangadacharya Shastree: Essays on Chess
Sussex Chess Association 170, 171 Adapted to the European Mode of Play... 254
Sussex Chess Journal 169, 170, 171, 334, 336, 343 Tritton, F. (writer) 179, 346
Sussex Chess Magazine 169, 170, 171, 302, 334, trypograph 172, 343
336, 343 tuberculosis 54, 62, 83, 151
Sussex Gazette 336 Tunbridge Wells 319
 General Index 391

Turf, Field and Farm 345 Walsh, John Henry (editor of The Field) 60, 63,
Turner, H. 321 64, 65
Turquand Coleman (accountants) 48, 84 Ward, the Rev. William George 138, 227, 351
Twiss, Richard 18, 57, 237 The Warder 92, 308; see also Dublin Evening Mail
Two Knights Defense 251, 268 Warder and Weekly Mail 319
Tyldesley Weekly Journal and Atherton News 77, Wardhaugh, Carrick 87, 312
321, 336 Waterloo Directory of English Newspapers and Peri-
Tyneside Review 336 odicals 14, 21, 38, 90, 92, 298, 299, 301, 303,
typewriter 78, 93, 99 309, 310, 311, 320, 321, 328, 340
Waterloo Directory of Irish Newspapers and Periodi-
Ulster Echo 336 cals 298, 299, 305, 309, 310, 319, 320, 330
Ulula 73, 336 Watkinson, John (1833–1923) 73, 74, 75, 164,
165, 166, 167, 218, 316, 342
Watts, William Henry 274
Van der Linde, Antonius 57, 264, 278, 331 Wayte, the Rev. William 23, 61, 138, 165, 167,
Van der Stoep, Arie (Dutch historian of checkers 207, 214, 216, 218, 219, 247, 248, 259
and draughts) 286 Webb, James Hemming 178, 179, 181, 183, 187,
Vanity Fair 39, 337 192, 193, 347, 348, 351
Van Vliet, Louis 108, 109, 313, 315, 325, 335 Weekly Chronicle (South Shields) see Newcastle
The Vegetarian 225, 337 Weekly Chronicle
Vere see De Vere, Valentine John Cecil The Weekly Dispatch 103, 337
Vezin, C. 129 The Weekly Echo 308, 337
Victoria, Queen 10, 30, 57, 254, 260 Weekly Irish Times 91, 94, 175, 305, 319, 337
Victorian Periodicals Review 2 Weekly Mail 87, 88, 89, 92, 303, 309, 319, 337, 339
Vida: “Scacchia Ludus” (poem) 198 Weekly Northern Whig 90, 93, 337, 338
Vienna 56, 58, 63, 64, 65, 136, 149, 312 Weekly Scotsman 87, 332, 338
Vienna Opening 62, 63, 65, 267 Weekly Telegraph see Sheffield Weekly Telegraph
The Visitor 337 Weekly Times and Echo 336, 337, 338
Vizayanagaram tournament (London, 1883) 256 Weekly Westminster Gazette see Saturday West-
Von Bardeleben, Curt: Die Wiener Partie 267 minster Gazette
Von Bilguer, Paul Rudolf (1815–1840) 179, 248, The Week's News see Brief
268; see also Handbuch des Schachspiels Wellington, Samuel 60, 247, 250
Von der Lasa, Baron (Tassilo von Heydebrand Wenman, Francis 309
und der Lasa, 1818–1899) 135, 140, 151, 248, Werner, Maximilian Edward 212
251, 284 Wesley College Quarterly 94, 338
Von Minckwitz, Johannes (1843–1901) 250 West, A. 332
West End Chess Club, London 27, 58, 226, 293
Wainwright, George Edward 107, 227 West London Advertiser 156, 338
Wakefield and West Riding Herald 337 West Middlesex Standard 338
Wakeford (Cardiff player) 88 West of England Conservative 338
Wakley, Thomas (1795–1862) 7, 23, 24, 33, 321, West Sussex County Chronicle 338
352 West Sussex Gazette & South of England Advertiser
Wales 2, 79, 87, 88, 89, 149, 257, 277, 281, 293, 100, 338
298, 303, 309, 310, 321, 325, 327, 341, 350 West Sussex Times 339
Walker, George 21, 23, 24, 25–28 passim, 26, 29, Western Courier 338, 339
31, 33, 123–127 passim, 129, 130, 134, 188, 190, Western Daily Mercury 112, 113, 325, 339
191, 192, 195, 196, 198, 211, 238, 241, 246, 247, Western Daily Press 138
248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 255, 267, 268, 299, 321, Western Magazine and Portfolio (originally Western
343, 345; Chess-board Companion 242; Chess Portfolio) 70, 71, 339
Made Easy 236, 242; New Treatise 244; A Selec- Western Mail 87, 88, 337, 339
tion of Games at Chess, Actually Played by Phili- Western Morning News 111, 113, 318, 339
dor 247 Western Portfolio see Western Magazine and Port-
Walker, William Greenwood: A Selection of Games folio
at Chess, Actually Played in London, by the Late Western Times 339
Alexander McDonnell 246 Western Weekly Mercury 99, 111, 112, 320, 339
Walsh, James J. 120, 319 Western Weekly News 111, 318, 339
392 General Index

Western Weekly Post 339 Winawer, Szymon 102, 173, 269

Westminster Budget 103, 339, 340 Winter, Edward 55, 292
Westminster Chess Club (of 1830s) 26, 27, 29, Winter Wood, Carslake (aka Queen's Knight,
58, 123, 124, 126, 196, 246 1849–1924) 111, 175, 318, 336, 339, 349
Westminster Chess Club (of 1860s) 142 Winter Wood, Edward John (1847–1920) 70, 73,
Westminster Chess Club Papers see Westminster 111, 314, 339
Papers Wisker, John 53, 54, 154, 213, 271, 321, 334, 343
Westminster Gazette 103, 106, 116, 314, 331, 338, Wit and Wisdom 340
340 Wolverhampton 285, 311, 325, 340
Westminster Papers 24, 26, 28, 31, 47, 48, 49, 50, Wolverhampton Express and Star see Express and
54, 56, 60, 61, 63, 69, 142–145 passim, 143, 146, Star
150, 154, 155, 157, 197, 204, 209, 213, 214, 312, Wolverhampton Journal 285, 340
320, 322, 323, 328, 340, 343, 344 Womanhood 67, 340
Wharfedale and Airedale Observer 340, 350 women's chess 2, 57, 140, 171, 225, 236; see also
White, Alain Campbell (1880–1951) 14, 287, 313 Ladies' Chess Club; Lady's Pictorial
White, Col. Charles (aka C.W. of Sunbury, prob- Womersley, Frederick William 171, 315, 343
lem composer) 105, 312, 318 Wood, Baruch Harold (1909–1989) 116, 119,
White, James (of Leeds) 76, 156, 163, 303, 309, 144, 168, 306, 317
321, 331 Wood, the Rev. Henry: A New Guide to Chess 242
White, John Griswold (1845–1928) 14, 15, 53, Woodbridgian 73, 340
65, 162, 165, 215, 263, 264, 277, 285, 286, 287, Woollard, J.A. 302, 341
330; see also John G. White Collection, Cleve- Worcestershire Chronicle 340
land Public Library, Ohio world championship 121, 198, 296
White, John Herbert (1880–1920) see Griffith, World War I 1, 2, 6, 9, 59, 69, 86, 98, 108, 112,
R.C. (co-author) 113, 117, 118, 119, 167, 175, 227, 231, 279, 280,
White-cross Street debtors' prison 125 307, 331, 342
Whitehaven Free Press 340 Wormald, Robert Bownas 28, 41, 45, 46, 47, 48,
Whitehaven News 340 50, 118, 135, 136, 141, 144, 152, 206, 207, 208,
Whitgift School Magazine 73, 340 209, 246, 268, 269, 270, 272, 317, 318, 334
Whyld, Ken 3, 12, 14, 15, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, Worthing Gazette 340
29, 32, 34, 35, 36, 40, 45, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 61, Wrexham 321, 327, 340, 351
62, 63, 65, 67, 68, 72, 73, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, Wrexham Lantern and Tit-bits 321, 327, 340, 351
83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, Wyllie, James (aka The Herd Laddie, world
99, 100, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, checkers champion) 11
112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 122, 125, Wyvill, Marmaduke (M.P., 1815–1896) 190, 191
126, 156, 159, 168, 169, 179, 180, 193, 200, 211,
214, 222, 223, 224, 232, 233, 237, 251, 255, 282, Yarmouth and Gorleston Times 341
285, 287, 288, 292, 297–341 passim, 342, 344, Yates, Fred Dewhirst (1884–1932) 116, 117, 306,
345, 349, 352; Chess Columns: A List 3, 14, 297, 341, 345, 352
298, 402 The Year-Book of Chess 273
Wiener Schachzeitung 136 York 2, 48, 122, 128, 129, 132, 133, 161, 164, 206,
Wiesbaden 278, 351 212, 213, 257, 288, 302, 304, 343, 345
Wikipedia 249, 273, 275, 290, 291, 292 Yorkshire 45, 48, 73, 99, 110, 118, 155, 167, 252,
Wildman, Frank P. 270, 341 256, 280, 302, 307, 314, 321, 333, 337, 340, 341
Will-o'-the-Wisp 340 Yorkshire Chess Association 47, 166, 200, 212,
Williams, Chris 302, 406 316
Williams, Elijah 33, 34, 41, 42, 59, 150, 192, 197, The Yorkshire Chess Magazine 166; see also
203, 248, 256, 257, 265, 299, 311, 317 Northern Chess Magazine
Williams, Philip H. 94, 176, 313, 314 Yorkshire Evening Post 341
Willing, Charles (1872–1950) 263 Yorkshire Observer Budget 341
Wilson, Harry 199 Yorkshire Times 341
Wilson, James Wilson Rimington (chess patron Yorkshire Weekly Post 341
and collector) 282 Young Gentleman's Magazine 341
Wilson, Moffatt 92 Young Men of Great Britain 40, 72, 138, 341
Wilson, W.V. 171, 343 Young Men's Review 341
Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard 155, 340 Youth 72, 301, 341
 General Index 393

Zantzig, Mrs. see Down, Florence 75, 91, 102, 127, 142, 145, 147, 149, 152, 153,
Zavatarelli, Fabrizio 209, 210 157, 158, 159, 226, 258, 299, 342, 344
Zritel (Moscow magazine) 2 Zytogorski, Adolphus (aka John A. Hanstein,
zugzwang 253 1807?–1882) 40, 45, 134, 197, 203, 206, 207,
Zukertort, Johannes 54, 56, 58, 63, 64, 65, 66, 71, 208, 209, 211, 293, 332, 350, 352