Saturday 28 March 2020

Soviet Chess Chronicle

Having recently praised Di Felice's bibliographical work: Chess Competitions 1824-1970, which gives details of over 5,000 publications on chess competitions, I have just discovered a couple of omissions. This is inevitable in a book of this nature.

Soviet Chess Chronicle (Betts 7-100), published by Chess Bureau of VOKS from 1943 to July 1946, was the English Language edition of Sovetskaya Shakhmatnaya Kronika. This periodical specialised in giving reports on Russian tournaments and at least two of the issues were dedicated to specific events.


The double issue 9-10 for September and October 1945 devoted 32 of its 33 pages to the USSR v USA Radio Match held from 1st to 4th September 1945. Chess Competitions records no English language publications on this event apart from a pre-match publicity release and souvenir program (2946.3 and 2946.5).


This issue of Soviet Chess Chronicle has 16 pages of commentary on the match, including the views of all 20 players, and gives all 20 games, extensively annotated by David Bronstein and Alexander Konstantinopolsky. There are also 14 photographs from both the Moscow and New York ends of the event together with portraits of all of the players.  












Next time, a special issue on the Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match. 

                                    © Michael Clapham 2020

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