"Chess Explorations - A Pot-Pourri from the Journal Chess Notes"
by Edward Winter, 1996 Cadogan Chess Books, Figurine
Algebraic, Softcover, 343pp, $24.95

The name of Edward Winter is undoubtedly known to the great
majority of chessplayers - A chess journalist and historian,
plunging into the arena of chess literature and history with his
razor-sharp sword with the avowed mission of slaying the dragons
of untruth and hypocrisy. Well, perhaps that is a bit overstated.
But, in fact, for eight years, beginning in 1982, his bi-monthly
journal "Chess Notes" inquired, investigated and otherwise probed
into various issues of interest to chessplayers. It was a forum where
ideas were exchanged and opinions expressed by both the editor
and the readers.

Discussions were lively and pointed to say the least. Winter
countenanced no journalistic dishonesty or negligence. And woe to
those who found themselves in his cross-hairs - Execution was
swift and merciless. Dutch GM and regular Chess Cafe columnist
Hans Ree pointed this out in his column several weeks ago.

Lest the reader of this review think that we disapproved of Winter's
writings, let the record be clear: From our very first exposure to
"Chess Notes" we were an enthusiastic supporter. It was clear that
if the subjects of his scrutiny even bothered to respond, it was
usually only to complain that the criticism was too harsh, not that it
was wrong. All in all, it was perhaps the most stimulating and
interesting chess journal of its day. History, literature, trivia,
reviews - all served up and garnished by Winter in marvelous
fashion.

Some of the most interesting "threads" that held "Chess Notes"
together have been compiled in this new release by Cadogan.
Although the various items relating to one particular topic may
have appeared over many issues, they have been re-arranged and
presented in a more unified format for the book. The bottom line is
that it still makes for immensely fascinating reading.

The material is divided into eight chapters: Positions, Games,
Openings, Miscellanea, Gaffes, Mysteries, Reviews/Commentaries
and Quotes. This is supplemented with extensive footnotes,
references and indices. The individual items are not usually that
long and one moves quickly from one item to the next. More than
two dozen photographs add to the book's enjoyment.

From the chapter entitled "Gaffes" Rook's Gambit Declined Bob
Meadley sends some extracts from a 1980 work of fiction,
"Provenance" by Frank McDonald. Our correspondent comments:
"It's a good read, but whenever one examines descriptions such as
this chess game and finds fault, one begins to wonder if the
author's other descriptions are sound."

For example, on pages 12-13: "Weiller introduced a brilliant twist
to the Wathier Variation of the Rook's Gambit Declined and broke
his defenses." Also from page 13: "The light from the fire reflected
in his ruby episcopal ring as he moved his queen's pawn to
knight-five."

And from the "Reviews/Commentary" chapter... Cockburn's idle
passion'

A reader informs us:

"You will be surprised to learn that in 1967 Fischer played in an
Interzonal held in Sussex. I gleaned this from Idle Passion' by
Alexander Cockburn (page 178). Did they play the Bognor-Indian?
On page 131 of the same work we are told of the tournament
circuit: run-down seaside towns in England, such as Bournemouth
or Hastings...'"

Idle Passion is indeed a curious book about - well, we are not
altogether sure what it is about. A sentence we once noted down
from it:

"Lasker is interesting not so much on the pathobiographical level
as on the sociocultural one." (page 55)

It is made up of the kind of prose where it would appear that
nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. were all inserted separately by a
different member of the committee, so it comes as a surprise to
learn that Alexander Cockburn was single-handedly responsible for
all parts of speech. In fact, it turns out to be one of those unlikeable
books in which a writer slaps between two covers everything he
thinks he knows about chess plus a little bit lifted from the local
public library and then tries to give the whole a special, spurious
slant - in this case presumably psychoanalysis. The trouble is that
Mr Cockburn simply does not know enough about chess to write
anything worthwhile; it's bad enough to wade through endless
factual inaccuracies, but it is infuriating to find these mistakes then
used as the basis of character analysis. On page 61 we read that
Capablanca "rarely played outside tournaments and matches."
Quite untrue, naturally, since the Cuban was one of the most active
players of simultaneous games. But too late. Deep-seated reasons
for Capa's "laziness" are already under Mr Cockburn's penetrating
microscope. Thinking of Reuben Fine's efforts in this field, we are
impelled to ask why it is that writers on chess psychology always
get their facts topsy-turvy. Now there's a real question for the
analyst.

The Chess Cafe has had the privilege presenting readers with
contributions by Edward Winter. You no longer have to wait for
the occasional morsel; you may now fill you plate to the brim:
Chess Explorations will satisfy even the most demanding reader.
Thank you Edward and thank you Cadogan.