A Letter from our president Frank Hoffmeister
Dear members of the society!
This year, our society will exist for 20 years. After its initial conception in Amsterdam, the founding session took place in November 2003 in Braunschweig. In view thereof, the board has decided to organise a little birthday celebration on 23/24 June 2023 also in Braunschweig.
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An early testimony of organized women's chess in Germany
by Siegfried Schönle
Once again it is my pleasure to present to the readers of this website a book by the director of the Löberitz Chess Museum, Konrad Reiß.
He seems to have turned almost every "chess stone" in recent years and in this way has contributed and continues to contribute significantly to the fact that chess history in the (chess) triangle Löberitz - Ströbeck - Magdeburg, i.e. Saxony-Anhalt, is well researched and documented. Numerous of his earlier publications bear witness to this, as does the one presented here in an elegant way!
Der Correspondenz–Schachkampf zwischen dem Dessauer Schachverein und Frauen des Schachdorfes Ströbeck 1886/87.
Ein frühes Zeugnis des organisierten Frauenschachs in Deutschland
from
Konrad Reiß
Löberitz, Zörbig, Leipzig 2023. 96 p. + front matter and VIII endpapers.
Edition 100 Ex.
Hardcover, colored print on lightly toned paper. Numerous illustrations and facsimiles of correspondence chess cards.
This can be obtained from the author (KonradReiss@web.de) for €20 + postage.
Read more … An early testimony of organized women's chess in Germany
Zur Schach-Akademie in Achdorf bei Landshut und vom Sailerschen-Kreis: 2nd edition available
Last October (see Zur Schach-Akademie in Achdorf bei Landshut und vom Sailerschen-Kreis (To the chess academy in Achdorf near Landshut and from the Sailerschen circle)), Siegfried Schönle reported on his brochure published by the Löberitz Chess Museum, Zur Schach-Akademie in Achdorf bei Landshut und vom Sailerschen-Kreis.
The 1st edition is already sold out and the 2nd edition was published at the beginning of February. It was printed in a larger format, DIN A4, to make the text easier to read.
The brochure can be obtained from Siegfried Schönle at hsschoenle2@aol.com for the price of 20 euros + postage – as a donation to the Chess Museum.
Luc Winants, RIP 1963-2023
Luc Winants
* 01-01-1963 † 07-02-2023
We have received the sad news of the passing of our member Luc Winants. The Belgian GM has been a member of the CH&LS since 2010 (at that time it was still the KWA).
We would like to point out the obituary on the ChessBase website:
Belgian Grandmaster Luc Winants (1 January 1963 – 7 February 2023) died
Tony Gillam turns 80 years old
On 20 January 2023, our member, Anthony John Gillam turned 80 years old. Mostly known as “Tony” Gillam, he started his career as chess author in the 1970ies with a couple of well-received books for beginners. At the same time, he worked with one of the leading English chess players Bernard Cafferty, issuing in 1977 Chess with the Masters.
Probably inspired by this cooperation, Tony digged deeper into chess history and started the Chess Player series in Nottingham. Starting with a modest 50 copies of the Schiffers v. Chigorin Match 1897, the series on “Rare and Unpublished Tournaments and Matches” grew until now to an impressive number of 138(!) publications Historical Chess from The Chess Player (chessbooks.co.uk). He thus contributed considerably to making available hitherto unknown games and tournaments: I can only assume how many hours of difficult research, of reviewing chess magazines and consulting public libraries it must have cost him to edit books about virtually all tournaments between 1870 and 1945. In my personal research about this period, I could not have “survived” without consulting Tony’s great work on the matter!
A new book has just been published! For chess collectors: Doug Hamilton el Tal australiano
Dedicated to Doug Hamilton. A fearsome attacking player who inspired new generations of Australian players, such as the creative GM Ian Rogers. In fact, it is a Tribute to the whole of Australian chess. Some GMs and IMs and few of the best players in Australia collaborate in it. The layout designer is Juan Carlos Sanz, who does an impressive job.
The author, Jesús Seoane, is a Spanish physicist with a remarkable international career and not only a good chess player but also a passionate chess player and book collector.
DIN-A4 format.
674 pages.
Hard cover, paper 90 grs.
Weight around 2 kg.
Marlet's painting of the match between Saint-Amant and Staunton: the original, the lithograph, and the copies
by Jean Oliver Leconte
This article concerns the conflict about the painting made by Jean Henry Marlet during the match played in 1843 between Saint-Amant and Staunton. More exactly this painting represents the 19th game of the match, played on December 16, 1843 at the Paris Chess Club (Cercle des Échecs de Paris). This conflict led to a lawsuit between Saint-Amant and the painter Marlet.
The painting of Marlet is an exceptional document in many ways:
- Most of the notabilities of the Chess Club (Cercle des Échecs de Paris - on the 1st floor of the Café de la Régence) are represented, with the significant exception of Deschapelles.
- It is to our knowledge the only representation of the Chess Club of this time.
I discovered in the Parisian press of the time the report of the lawsuit which opposed the painter Marlet to Saint-Amant about the painting. This report brings several very interesting details which Saint-Amant mentions partially in the chess review Le Palamède.
There are, so to speak, at least 3 different versions of this painting:
- The original by Marlet
- A lithograph by Alexandre Laemlein
- Copies painted from the engraving.
IM Herbert Bastian turns 70 years old
Our member, the former President of the German Chess Federation and passionate chess historian Herbert Bastian turned 70 years on 10 December 2022. Born 1952 in Emmersweiler, a small town in the German region of Saarland, near the Franco-German border, Herbert developed his great chess talent in the local chess club since 1966 and became several times champion of his native Saarland. In 1972, he participated at federal level and won the Dähne-Cup in 1976. Although being among the German elite players, Herbert chose a civil career and became a school teacher for mathematics. But even as an amateur he out-calculated Viktor Korchnoi in a memorable game from the GM tournament of Baden-Baden in 1981 (see below). He became shared second at the German championship a year later and represented German colours at the European team championship in Plovdiv (Bulgaria) 1983. He also played in the Bundesliga and scored his 20th(!) title as champion of Saarland in 1992. His constant successes earned him the IM title in 2005. As recent as 2020, he still participated in the federal championships with a remarkable performance of 4/9 at 2300 ELO level.
New Member: Pete Tamburro
Our new member, Pete Tamburro from Morristown (US), is presented in the members area (You must be logged in to read).
Schach und Musik (Chess and Music)
Another exhibition related to chess opened this week. Siegfried Schönle was there again and reported:
Schach und Musik (in German)
[Update 2022-11-25] The English version of the text is now available: Schach und Musik (Chess and Music) [/Update]