Chess Explorations (87)
By Edward Winter
An increasing number of libraries, companies and other bodies are making film
archives available on-line, and many Chess Notes readers have pointed out footage
of the great chess masters of the past. The surprises have been great. Who,
for instance, would have hoped to see film of Alekhine, Nimzowitsch, Spielmann,
Maróczy, Yates and others at San Remo, 1930? Yet in C.N. 5898 Luc Winants (Boirs,
Belgium) was able to point out that such material is available, courtesy of
ITN
Source.
The photograph below was given in C.N. 4201, from page 24 of the February 1930
American Chess Bulletin:
Mr Winants also drew attention in C.N. 5898 to a brief sequence of Alekhine
giving a simultaneous
display in Paris in the early 1930s.
Alekhine also appears, as does Capablanca, in this coverage of living chess
displays (against Sir George Thomas and Bogoljubow respectively) which was pointed
out in C.N. 3491:
Some further examples contributed by correspondents:
C.N. 6862: The Geschiedenis 24 website has much footage related to Max
Euwe, including a sound item featuring both Euwe
and Capablanca; from Ryan Paulis (Amsterdam).
C.N. 6978: a Pathé
news item with commentary on the London, 1946 tournament, featuring Arturo
Pomar in play against Ossip Bernstein, as well as footage of some other players,
including Savielly Tartakower and William Winter; Olimpiu G. Urcan (Singapore).
In the same C.N. item Mr Urcan pointed out a Pathé report on Jutta
Hempel.
C.N. 7153: Alekhine and
Euwe at the chessboard (the first part of the item); Robert Sherwood (E.
Dummerston, VT, USA).
C.N. 7658: Capablanca
and Lasker in Moscow in 1925 (a brief sequence beginning at about 15:40:40),
at the time the well-known photograph below was taken; Christian Sánchez (Rosario,
Argentina).
C.N. 7724: a sequence showing Alekhine,
Bogoljubow and Lasker in Berlin in 1929; Albert Silver (Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil).
The most recent clip drawn to our attention by a reader comes from Thomas Höpfl
(Halle, Germany), who has pointed out a Russian
film which contains (starting at about 4:37) some moving pictures of Lasker.
See also the following articles by Edward Winter:
Chess Masters
on Film
Chess History:
Photograph Collections
Chess and
Hollywood
Chess and
Television
Chess and Radio
Chess, Literature,
and Film
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by Edward Winter
Edward Winter is the editor of Chess
Notes, which was founded in January 1982 as "a forum for aficionados
to discuss all matters relating to the Royal Pastime". Since then, over 7,730
items have been published, and the series has resulted in four books by Winter:
Chess
Explorations (1996), Kings,
Commoners and Knaves (1999), A
Chess Omnibus (2003) and Chess
Facts and Fables (2006). He is also the author of a monograph on Capablanca
(1989). In 2011 a paperback
edition was issued.
Chess Notes is well known for its historical research, and anyone browsing
in its archives
will find a wealth of unknown games, accounts of historical mysteries, quotes
and quips, and other material of every kind imaginable. Correspondents from
around the world contribute items, and they include not only "ordinary readers"
but also some eminent historians – and, indeed, some eminent masters. Chess
Notes is located at the Chess
History Center. Signed copies of Edward Winter's publications are
currently available.