Edward Winter is a noted journalist and author about chess. Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-05, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

"The English chess writer Edward Winter has this in common with God, that his existence can only be deduced from his works. Nobody has ever seen him. There are no photographs of him. He has an address in Geneva and he answers his mail, but intrepid seekers for biographical information get a curt reply that tells them that only matters of chess can be discussed." ^[1]

Winter is a chess historian based in Switzerland. He summarizes his goal as improving chess history by "providing new information that is accurate and exposing old information that isn't". He had done so mostly in his long-running chess column "Chess Notes" (see external links), now past 4000 in number. Four of his five books are a selection from "Chess Notes" with additional original essays, historical research, book reviews, etc., added. In addition, he wrote a biography of Jose Raul Capablanca and edited a book about the chess champions of the world. Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-05, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 - March 8, 1942) was a famous Cuban chess player in the early to mid twentieth century. ...

A typical "Chess Notes" entry varies from a few lines to a few pages in length, and either tells us about the existence of an obscure game, position, player, etc., that deserve to be better known, or proves that a certain "well-known fact" about a famous chess player, game, or position is an invention. For example, Winter proves conclusively that the old story about Paul Morphy having "died in his bath surrounded by women's shoes" is a myth, and rescues from obscurity one of the best players of the 19th century--Samuel Rosenthal--who is virtually unknown today. Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), The Pride and Sorrow of Chess, is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his time, and was an unofficial World Champion. ...

Assessment of the qualities of Edward Winter varies widely. John Donaldson has called him "the world's greatest chess historian". Others claim he is a humorless pedant. Winter had created the most controversey with his book reviews. Extremely demanding himself--he refuses, as a matter of principle, to publish anything in his "Chess Notes" column without exact, verifiable sources--he has little tolerance for books that make historical claims without verifying them, or that have many inaccuracies and mistakes. In particular, two prolific authors--Raymond Keene and Eric Schiller--have been severly criticized by Winter for what Winter claims is an inordinate amount of historical and typographical mistakes in their books. John Wesley Donaldson (February 20, 1892 - April 12, 1970) was an American Negro League baseball player. ... Raymond Keene (born 1948) is an influential figure in the chess world off the board, bringing many notable chess events to London. ... Eric Schiller (born March 20, 1955) is an American chess player, trainer, arbiter and author. ...

Schiller and Keene's suppoters argue that Winter is merely being pedantic, unfairly judging their books, which are mostly about chess practice for beginners (opening theory, tactics, etc.) as if they were works of chess history for experts in the field. Winter's supporters claim that, while severe, Winter's criticism is almost invariably well-justified, and that historical accuracy is a necessity in all chess books, not only in those explicitly written from the historical or biographical point of view.

External links

Chess Notes archive by Edward Winter.

Books

Chess Facts and Fables (2005) ISBN 0786423102

A Chess Omnibus (2003) ISBN 1888690178

Kings, Commoners and Knaves Further Chess Explorations (2001) ISBN 1888690046

Chess Explorations (1996) ISBN 1857441710

Capablanca: A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Cuban Chess Genius Jose Raul Capablanca, 1888-1942 (1989) ISBN 0899504558 José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (November 19, 1888 - March 8, 1942) was a famous Cuban chess player in the early to mid twentieth century. ...

World Chess Champions (1981) ISBN: 0080240941

Notes

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