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DECEMBER 2012

40TH OLYMPIAD: U.S. DEFEATS RUSSIA AND FINISHES FIFTH | USCF SALES HOLIDAY BUYING GUIDE ENCLOSED

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4 December 2012 | Chess Life

Below: GM Hikaru Nakamura defeats former World Champion GM Vladimir Kramnik at the Olympiad; seepage 20 for the full report. Bottom of page: The team celebrates their fifth place finish. From l-r: GM GataKamsky, GM Ray Robson, KGM Varuzhan Akobian, Team Captain IM John Donaldson, GM Hikaru Nakamura.

Chess Life DECEMBER

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COLUMNSLOOKS AT BOOKS / HOW I BEAT FISCHER’S RECORDGoldilocks To Play and Win�By Dr. Alexey Root, WIM

CHESS TO ENJOY / ENTERTAINMENTTrivia!By GM Andy Soltis

SOLITAIRE CHESS / INSTRUCTIONOld McDonald Had a Chess CowBy Bruce Pandolfini

BACK TO BASICS / READER ANNOTATIONS An Unspectacular UpsetBy GM Lev Alburt

ENDGAME LAB / INSTRUCTIONUneven FightsBy GM Pal Benko

DEPARTMENTSDECEMBER PREVIEW / THIS MONTH IN CHESS LIFE AND CLO

COUNTERPLAY / READERS RESPOND

FIRST MOVES / CHESS NEWS FROM AROUND THE U.S.

FACES ACROSS THE BOARD / BY AL LAWRENCE

USCF AFFAIRS / NEWS FOR OUR MEMBERS

KNIGHT’S TOUR / TOURNAMENT TRAVEL

TOURNAMENT LIFE / DECEMBER

SOLUTIONS / DECEMBER

CLASSIFIEDS / DECEMBER

INDEX / 2012 CHESS LIFE INDEX

MY BEST MOVE / PERSONALITIES

ON THE COVER A page from the early eighteenth-century Italian manuscript, Il dilettevole, egiudizioso giuoco de scacchi (the pleasurableand most judicious game of chess). Courtesy of Cleveland Public Library, White Collection

International Events / 40th Olympiad

If Only ...By FM Mike Klein

For the fifth-seeded U.S. team at the 40th ChessOlympiad in Istanbul, a satisfactory fifth-place finishwill forever be dogged by “if only” scenarios that keptthem—barely—from medaling.

Cover Story / John G. White Collection

The White Collection Text and Photos By Mark N. Taylor

Exploring the largest chess library in the world.

Chess Journalists of America / Annual Awards

2012 CJA AwardsBy Joshua Anderson

Celebrating the best in American chess journalism.

USCF National Event / U.S. Masters

Stay on the AttackBy FM Todd Andrews

At this year’s U.S. Masters, one thing was clear: The player on the attack usually won.

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hess dreams are a fairly commonmotif in novels. Sometimes thedreamer is a pawn trapped in anightmarish world of greater forces;

sometimes the dreams are more pleas-ant. Let me tell you about mine, which isof the latter sort. I was walking down thestreet of some grey northern industrialcity, surrounded by old Beaux Arts archi-tecture. I was irresistibly drawn inside alarge building and up a large marble stair-case to the third floor where I saw two boysplaying chess on a large floor chessboardthere in the high-ceilinged foyer. I passedthrough ironwork doors down a hallwaywith rare books displayed under glass oneither side and came into a large rectan-gular room, the length of half a footballfield. On one side the windows opened tothe shore of Lake Erie. A voice spoke:“Can I help you?”I sat down at a table and said, “I’d like

to see some of Bobby Fischer’s score-sheets.” Immediately they appeared onthe table in front of me.Intrigued, I called out, “I’d like to see the

chess medals won by Emanuel Lasker.”These too appeared in front of me.After admiring them, I cried, “Show me

Philidor’s manuscript with all his pawnsecrets!” After a moment this too was laidin front of me.My excitement grew fevered and I began

crying out in rapid succession, “I want tosee the most beautiful chess manuscriptin the world! Show me a Greco first edition!Persian problem collections! Medievalchess allegories!” I couldn’t stop. “I wantthe complete run of the British Chess Mag-azine! Every Fred Reinfeld book in everyedition!” As if by magic, they all appearedon library carts rolling up to my table.The best part about my dream is that it

wasn’t a dream at all. It’s all true—moreor less. There really is such a place wherethis can happen. You see, I was in theCleveland Public Library (CPL), one of thelargest public libraries in the nation, afirst-class research facility. And it is hereyou will find the John G. White collection

of chess, checkers, folklore, and Orien-talia: the largest chess library in the world.John Griswold White (1845–1928) was

a prominent Cleveland attorney wholearned chess while a child and becameproficient enough to play blindfold gameswhile walking with his father. He did notbegin collecting chess books until 1870and, although he donated some 50,000books to the library, he kept his chessand checker library. Late CPL librarianAlice N. Loranth, who has done muchresearch on White, indicated why he mayhave held onto them longest. Whiteregarded chess books as an “educationalvehicle” and his collection allowed him totravel “in many centuries, through manycountries and cultures.” The CPL receivedthe chess and checker books after he diedat age 83 during his annual fishing trip inWyoming. A member of the library’s boardof trustees and serving as president from1884-1885 and again from 1913 until hisdeath, White was instrumental in trans-forming the fledgling city library into afive-star institution.The Orientalia collection began as an off-

shoot from White’s interest in the Persianhistory of chess. Since he had a workingknowledge of some 20 languages, he wasnot restricted to collecting only works inEnglish: original manuscripts, early edi-tions, critical editions, translations,popular treatments, he collected them all.You can find works in nearly every Euro-pean language and many Asian languages.Presently, however, acquisition of Eng-lish-language books dominate the growthof the collection.The John G. White chess and checkers

collection has now grown beyond 32,500volumes of books and serials, includingmore than 6,300 volumes of bound period-icals. There is also much unique materialin manuscript, correspondence, and vari-ous ephemera. Its scope as well as itsdepth is enormous, encompassing the his-tory, development, literature, and technicalaspects of the game. The works range fromthe best-known and most influential books

to the humblest mimeographed local bul-letins. It is not uncommon for a historianof local chess history to have to travel toCleveland to consult these obscure publi-cations. The White collection is the closestthing the chess world has to an interna-tional archive. White himself would blushto read that. He maintained, “I would pre-fer not to have so much ado about thebooks which I may give the library.”H. J. R. Murray, author of the monu-

mental A History of Chess, was an earlybeneficiary of White’s open use policy (seesidebar). “Mr. White’s generous and unfail-ing courtesy in placing his library freely atthe service of any student of chess hasbeen acknowledged over and over again,”he wrote in his preface. “To me he hasgiven not only this, but far greater help. Hehas repeatedly obtained copies of manu-scripts which it was important that Ishould see, but which were inaccessible tome, and has placed these copies unre-servedly at my service.” White alwaysmaintained that his collection shouldremain accessible to anyone who wanted“to be able to use it like Murray used it.”If you’ve ever done serious research innational archives in Europe or privatelibraries in America, you had probablygot the impression at some point that youwere not exactly welcome. Not so in theCPL’s Special Collections room. Fine Artsand Special Collections Manager PamelaEyerdam and Special Collections Librar-ian Kelly Ross-Brown have taken White’sattitude to heart and have created a wel-coming atmosphere most rare amongfirst-rate collections. It is hands down myfavorite library for serious work.You do not have to be a serious researcher

to be touched here by the greatness of chesshistory. You can pass a few pleasant hoursbrowsing through many current chess peri-odicals from around the world, consultreference works, or take in as many techni-cal treatises as you like. You do not even needto open a book. The reading room has sev-eral glass cases full of interesting displays,

Continued on page 34


The White CollectionExploring the largest chess library in the worldText and Photos By MARK N. TAYLOR

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GISELA KHAN GRESSER’S DEATH MASKSAmong the most bizarre items in the collection are two plaster casts of the death mask of Gisela Khan Gresser, who won multiple U. S. women’s championships inthe 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. She died in 2000 and the casts were included when her papers were donated to the library. The physical objects in the collection weretypically donated by individuals, even though the White collection is not a museum and does not keep such items on permanent display. (The other plaster cast ismore Sphynxlike, its nose broken off.)

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NOTEBOOKS AND SCRAPBOOKSThe romance of holding a handwritten or hand-assembled book comes with knowingthat there is no other text like it in the world—you are about to have a unique experience witha unique item. If the manuscript is in the handof one of the greats from the past, the romancemay bloom into undying love, and part offalling in love comes from being seduced bymystery. Is that really Philidor’s autograph?What is the relationship between this manuscript and the English version of his influential book, Analyse du jeu des échecs(Analysis of the game of chess)? Then there isthe curiosity of looking over the game scoresLöwenthal recorded in his notebook: the largescrawled letters, the numerous corrections—almost looks like my kid’s scoresheets. Theneat strong hand of Philidor matches ourimpression of a clear forceful champion, butLöwenthal’s hand does not match the accomplished chess player we know him tohave been.

ONE COPY OF EVERYTHINGJohn G. White’s goal for his personal collectionof chess and checker books was to collect onecopy of everything. He collected for content, notcondition or bindings as many collectors do.White believed that it was not up to him but upto every researcher to decide the intellectualvalue of a work; his job was to furnishresearchers with all the material to make suchjudgments. One copy of everything means notjust every text, but every edition of every text. Inthe case of especially old works there are a lot ofeditions to collect. Here you have access to over100 editions of Castiglione’s Il Libro del Cortegiano (Book of the courtier) with its anecdote of a chess-playing monkey, and to1100 editions of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam(based simply on the chessboard of mortalityquatrain). Jacobus de Cessolis, a late thirteenth-century Dominican monk, wrote a highlyinfluential allegory, Liber de moribus hominumet officiis nobilium super ludo scacchorum (thebook concerning the customs of men and theduties of nobles, or, the game of chess), in which he invites the reader to see society as acollection of chess pieces working together forthe common good. The White collection hasover 50 manuscripts, facsimiles, editions, andtranslations of this work, besides numerous critical studies about it. The collection rangesfrom a particularly important fourteenth-centuryLombard manuscript to incunables (booksprinted before 1500 with moveable type), to translations into vernacular languages, and modern critical editions. No one has yetfully researched the textual history of thisimportant work. If anyone wants to, a long visitin Cleveland will be essential.

A notebook apparently in the hand of Philidor.

The Cleveland Public Library

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SCORESHEETSThe White collection does not actively pursue modern chess ephemera as many private collectors do.The popularity of such items in the market coupled with their limited value to researchers makes themless desirable than substantial work in print and manuscript. Nonetheless a number of interesting itemshave come into the collection, such as this group of scoresheets (photo, above) in Bobby Fischer’s handfrom the XIXth Chess Olympiad in Siegen, West Germany in 1970. Sometimes the originals reveal littlesurprises, such as a doodle on one of the scoresheets of a bored or distracted Frank Marshall.

A PIONEER IN MANUSCRIPT FACSIMILESJohn G. White was himself an active researcherand the collection includes his many diaries,manuscript research notes, and correspondence with other chess writers. Whitewas not content to rely on modern editions ofearly works; he had to have the originals, and,if they were unobtainable, he arranged to havefacsimiles produced specially for him. In 1912he spent $850 (that’s about $20,000 in today’sdollars) to produce a photocopy of a Persianchess manuscript. This involved having themanuscript photographed and then the imagesprocessed in a lab in Europe before beingshipped to him. At this time the technology forphotocopying was still new and very expensive.White also went to considerable expense toobtain a photocopy of the large medievalAlfonso manuscript. Today anyone can down-load a full-color digital facsimile from the web.

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THE METICULOUS ATTORNEY, THE CONSUMMATE COLLECTORAnyone can hoard books, but it takes a specialkind of genius to create a well-defined collection. And it takes a visionary who canarrange to make that collection accessible anduseful for generations. John G. White wasboth—and he was wealthy and generous aswell. When he died in 1928 he bequeathed notonly his 12,000-item carefully collected chessand checker library to the Cleveland PublicLibrary, but an endowment to preserve andgrow the collection as well. Careful stewardship has kept White’s vision alive, andit remains the largest and most comprehensivechess library in the world.

An early facsimile of the famous Libro de acedrex dados e tablas, (Book of chess, dice, and backgammon)of the thirteenth-century Castilian king Alfonso X.

This page from John G. White’s law notebookcovered in his small meticulous handwriting, displays his neat, clear, highly-organized mind.




Continued from page 30and rare and unusual chess sets and chessparaphernalia line the walls. Yes, you caneven ask to see Bobby Fischer’s scoresheets(see sidebar).The serious researcher, however, may

be interested in the many boxes of personalpapers of noted chess players and writers,such as Paul Morphy biographer DavidLawson, the late GM László Szabó, formerU.S. Women’s Champion Gisela KhanGresser (see sidebar), and the notoriousClaude F. Bloodgood. There is also a col-lection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century chess correspondence. Much ofthe material in these boxes has never beenthoroughly catalogued and may hold inter-esting surprises (see sidebar).The number of digitized images and

texts is growing on the library’s onlinewebsite, where you can find a collection ofchess player images and the beautiful Ital-ian manuscript, Il dilettevole (see sidebar).The collection, however, is primarilyfounded on and maintains print copiesand has yet to establish a purely digitalarchive. States and regions that publish aprint newsletter should include the CPL intheir mailings to ensure that their chess

periodical is permanently archived.Although the Special Collections is an

unequaled repository of material for chessresearchers, that is not all it is. Pam Eye-rdam actively promotes links betweenSpecial Collections and the general pub-lic. Numerous library displays are drawnfrom the collection, and events—“AsianGames,” “Chess Metaphors, Anecdotesand Proverbs,” and “Women in Chess,” toname a few. It has hosted the Ken WhyldAssociation. The CPL actively partners with other

institutions and the White Collection hashad an active role. For several years run-ning, Professor Barbara Stanczak hasengaged her Cleveland Institute of Art stu-dents in the “Chess by Design” projectwhere they design original sets for dis-play in the Special Collections readingroom, temporarily joining the permanentcollection of sets on display from aroundthe world.In 2011, the Lockwood Thompson

Library endowment commissioned Cleve-land Center for Arts & Technologyinstructor Donald Black, Jr., to create aspecial exhibition for the library, “Power ofthe Pieces,” in which he handcrafted over

ASSOCIATION COPIESOne of the most exciting things about researching in the White collection are theserendipitous surprises. You may request a fairly pedestrian item and when you open it, wonderful associations are revealed. In an otherwise unremarkable nineteenth-centurychess story by Jacob G. Ascher, chess journalistfor New Dominion Monthly, one can see thatthis copy has been uniquely excerpted from thejournal and rebound. The author’s inscriptionshows he made of it a presentation copy toJohannes Zukertort in 1884. Below that is a notein John G. White’s hand, stating that he receivedthis copy from the famous problemist Alain C.White in 1913. And while a German translationof Montigny’s 1820 edition of Kriegslisten desSchachspiels (Strategems of chess-play) ishardly rare, a copy owned and heavily annotatedby Max Lange is unique (photo, above).

A HISTORY OF CHESSOne early beneficiary of John G. White’s collection was H. J. R. Murray, author of the definitive A History ofChess, published nearly a century ago. Between 1900 and 1918, Murray and White enjoyed a livelyexchange of letters. Among the many acknowledgements in the preface to his great work, Murray’s mostfulsome thanks are reserved for White, “the owner of the largest chess library in the world,” explainingthat he had benefited from the rare manuscripts White had obtained. “Whatever in the way of completeness I have been able to achieve is entirely due to Mr. White’s help. Without that help, this bookwould never have been written.” The original letters of the Murray-White correspondence are preservedin the collection—and they have yet to be edited.

The Murray-White correspondence fills several archival albums.

RESCUED FROM THE TRASHAmong the many boxes of manuscript material in the collection is an uncataloguedbox of material rescued from the MarshallChess Club. You will probably recognize thisfamous game, but the annotator has yet to be identified. What else might be tucked awayin such boxes, just waiting for the rightresearcher to bring it to light?



1,000 chess pieces for the project. His dis-play tables are now a permanent feature ofthe reading room and foyer. After a full day of chess dreaming, the

librarians and I retreated to a nearbychocolate bar, where Pam Eyerdam, KellyRoss Brown, and Stacie Brisker told meabout other connections between the Spe-cial Collections and the community.“Progress with Chess,” a Cleveland-basednon-profit after-school chess programfounded and administered by MichaelJoelson (national chess master and 2003Ohio champion) maintains close connec-tions with the CPL, which hosts an annualspring tournament for the kids.Meanwhile, children have seen their lives

turned around thanks to a chess program

at nearby private Bridge Avenue School,which serves academically troubled chil-dren. All students play chess there. Oneday the school lost power and no one couldstudy in the cold dark. The students askedif they could go to the library to play chess.As always, they were welcomed into theSpecial Collections reading room wherethey set up their boards. They were sograteful, they promised to be quiet.In these ways the library uniquely brings

together the illustrious past of chess withits living present. The first thing one noticesis the large chess set in the foyer outsidethe Special Collections reading room. Howtempting, like the children, to put off studyfor a bit and just play in the present. Lifecan indeed be a dream here.

IF YOU GONo appointment is necessary to visit the Special Collections Reading Room (photo,above). If you come for research, check theCleveland Public Library online cataloguebeforehand for availability of material and docontact the librarians with any questions. If you know what you want to consult, let the librarians know at least a few days before youarrive and they will have the material waitingfor you. The stacks are closed to the public.

Kelly Ross Brown displays the Dilettevole manuscript. John G. White looks on approvingly from a paintingover her shoulder. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHESS

MANUSCRIPT EVER MADEThe White collection has a large number of chess instruction books, many even in manuscript, from medieval Persia and Europe,along with many plain modern printed books.For sheer artistic excellence and exuberantbeauty, however, none can compare to theearly eighteenth-century Italian manuscript, Il dilettevole, e giudizioso giuoco de scacchi(the pleasurable and most judicious game ofchess). Each of the 49 diagrams are renderedin finely executed miniatures where the headsof kings, queens, knights, horses, towers, and soldiers are arranged on the checkerboard,their movements indicated by lines of forcearranged in abstract geometric patterns. For allthis, however, the text reminds us, “La pratica,l’esempio, vale più delle parole” (practice andexample is of more value than words).

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