British Chess Literature to 1914

Tim Harding played for Ireland at the 1984 FIDE chess olympiad in Thessaloniki. He is a FIDE Candidate Master and a Senior International Master of correspondence chess. He is a former editor of Chess Mail magazine and for almost 20 years he contributed monthly articles in "The Kibitzer" series at www.chesscafe.com. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

“Seldom a chess book has impressed so much as this latest work from Tim Harding on British chess literature.... Uncountable in this are Tim Harding’s research discoveries which bring the reader back in time...a must have chess book!”—Chessbooks.nl; “an impressive amount of research...well-written and well-researched...a welcome addition to the literature concerning chess’ history”—Victorian Periodicals Review; “historians will be happy with Tim Harding’s paperback treatise of chess literature which shows an admirable depth of research...excellent”—Chess; “The book is the result of fifteen years of research, and the author has dug up considerable new information...fascinating”—Chess Book Chats; “who would have known that the history of British chess could be so rich and diverse? This book certainly provides a wealth of information related to this topic prior to 1914. Definitely a book for chess enthusiasts”—ARBA; “Harding not only provides a detailed research guide but also a resource that has value across many sub-genres within chess history and is enjoyable to read...highly recommended”—Mind’s Eye Press; “a great deal of information in the book, much of it highly interesting…a fine book…invaluable.”—Quarterly for Chess History.

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsAbbreviations and Annotation SymbolsNotes on Old British Money and on Chess Notation1. The Earliest Chess Editors: Egerton Smith and Thomas WakleyDefinition of a ColumnSome Notes on BibliographiesEarly Reporting of Chess EventsThe First Chess Editor: Egerton SmithThomas Wakley and The Lancet2. The Heyday of Walker and StauntonEarly Years of Chess at Bell’s Life in LondonIllustrated London News: The Early YearsSome Other Pre–1850 ColumnsMore Columns in the 1850sEarly Chess in The FieldThe Chess Column of The Era3. The Golden Age of Chess Columns, ca. 1860–1885Wormald’s Start in Chess JournalismThe Illustrated WeekliesA Fine Column: Land and WaterHeyday of the Field ColumnSteinitz’s Other ColumnsColumns in Various PeriodicalsChess in School MagazinesBird’s Innovative Chess ColumnNottingham NewspapersConfusions over Newcastle PapersEarly Scottish ColumnsWelsh ColumnsIrish Chess Columns4. Latter Years of the Chess Column“Captain King” and the Rise of SyndicationHoffer at The Field (and Elsewhere)Muddle Over The StandardLater Years at The FieldSome Complicated ColumnsGunsberg as ColumnistLater Years at the Illustrated London NewsChess Columns in More Recent Days5. A Short History of Chess Magazines Up to 1914The Earliest Chess PeriodicalsEarly Rivals to the ChronicleThe Chess Player’s MagazineThe Chess WorldThe Westminster PapersThe City of London Chess MagazineOther English Magazines of the 1870sHoffer and Zukertort’s MagazineAmerican Magazines of the 1870s and 1880sEarly Years of the British Chess MagazineOther Late Victorian MagazinesOther Edwardian Chess Magazines6. The Saga of the Chess Player’s ChronicleThe Short Life of The British MiscellanyThe Early Years of Staunton’s C.P.C.Brien’s Tenure of the ChronicleThe Third SeriesSkipworth and the Quarterly ChronicleThe Jenkin InterludeThe Ranken YearsMorgan Takes Over in 1881The Final Series7. A Century and a Half of British Chess BooksEarliest British Chess BooksThe Era of PhilidorSarratt and Cochrane’s TreatisesGeneral Manuals from Lewis to StauntonEarly Game CollectionsJaenisch on the OpeningsProblems and StudiesMiscellaneous WorksLater Game Collections and Tournament Books (1851 onwards)Later Books about ProblemsHistory and Culture of ChessBooks on the OpeningsAnnual Works and Directories8. On Doing Chess History TodayOn Archives, Libraries and Private CollectionsThe Murray Collection in OxfordGenesis of the Chess Column ListAbout Digitization and Online ResearchOn Websites and Game DatabasesThe Uses of GenealogyA Few Final WordsAppendicesI. British and Irish Chess Columns to 1914: An Annotated ListII. British and Irish Chess Magazines, 1837–1914: A SummaryIII. Some Corrections to The Oxford Companion to ChessIV. Table of Contentsof The British MiscellanyV. Some Amendments to Gaige’s Chess PersonaliaVI. The Chess Column of Our School TimesChapter NotesBibliographyMSS in archivesUnpublished worksSecondary and reference worksOnline Services and Useful WeblinksOther works by the present authorIndex of GamesGeneral Index