Additions to Betts' Bibliography. Part 5

Modern Chess in Championship Play, by Frank J. Marshall, New York 1923. 72p.

A Review and Analysis of the Marshall-[Edward] Lasker Championship Match, and the Thirteen Games Played by Marshall at the Ninth American Chess Congress at Lake Hopatcong, N.Y., 1923. Also Chess Openings Condensed.

Most library catalogues list Edward Lasker as an additional author.

The match with Edward Lasker was played in 1923 at a number of venues including the Marshall Chess Club and University Club in New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Washington, Long Island and finally back to the Marshall Chess Club. Marshall won with a score of 9½ - 8½. He also shared first place (with Abe Kupchik) in the ninth American Chess Congress at Lake Hopatcong in the same year.

Limited edition of 300 copies. A.J. Souweine states in his 1938 Catalogue, item 190, "we understand that no copies of this book were offered for sale, but were used as prizes for the victors pitted against Mr. Marshall in simultaneous play". However, Andy Soltis in Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion, Jefferson 1994, says that copies were sold "for a hefty $5", on page 259. 

Di Felice erroneously lists this in his Chess Competitions, item 2535.4, under the [Emanuel] Lasker-Marshall World Championship match of 1907.

Availability: CPL, New York Public Library.

Collection of Owen and Kathy Hindle

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Regarding the reference above to the 1907 World Championship chess match between Emanuel Lasker and Frank Marshall, it is surprising that there was no English language book published at the time on this event which was played in various cities in the United States. Perhaps there was insufficient interest after the American challenger lost the match 8-0 with 7 draws. However, Di Felice records one contemporary English Language item on this match as follows:

Lasker-Marshall Championship Match, New York 1907. 15 leaves.

The 15 leaves covered the 15 games with annotations by Emanuel Lasker, and were issued for private circulation only, by Special Mail Service.

Source: Chess Competitions 1824-1970 by Gino Di Felice, Olomouc 2013. No. 2535.3.

Availability: CPL, KB

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200 Schakopgaver, by J. Scheel, Kristiania 1924. 174p. Frontispiece portrait.

Orthodox 2 and 3 move problems.

Pages 17 to 24 are in English, the rest of the text is in Norwegian.

Source: Dale Brandreth List PROB-3, August 1987 no. 54.

Availability: KB, CPL, Royal Danish Library.

Image courtesy of Calle Erlandsson

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Movagram No. 1; Lasker vs Capablanca St. Petersburg Masters' Tournament 1914, published by The Victoria Company, Bloomington, Indiana 1924. 87p.

This book has a diagram for every move of the crucial 18th round game won by Lasker. Around half the moves have notes by Dr. Lasker.

See Chess Book Chats 19th April 2017 for further details of this work.

No availability found. 

 

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A Catalogue of Rare and Valuable works relating to the History and Theory of the Game of Chess, being the greater portion of the famous Library formed by J.W. Rimington Wilson, etc., Bernard Quaritch, London 1929. 96p. LN 99.

This is perhaps the most important of the book dealer's catalogues of the 20th century for chess literature. 

The chess library of J.W. Rimington Wilson, who died in 1877, was thereafter maintained and added to by his son R.H. Rimington Wilson. After the latter's death, the library, which also included sporting and general books, was auctioned by Sotheby & Co. in London in February 1928. The 469 lots, consisting of around 2,300 books, realised approximately £10,000, although over half of this was for one item; a manuscript translation of Vida's Game of Chess said to be in the hand of Oliver Goldsmith*. 

The London book sellers Bernard Quaritch acquired the great majority of the lots at the Sotheby auction and subsequently offered the sporting and gaming books in their catalogue No. 415 issued in April 1928. The chess books were offered individually in their catalogue No. 428 issued in October 1929. A total of 1,657 items are listed, frequently with useful annotations.

Availability: Many libraries have a copy including KB, CPL, and London Library.

 

 

* For much more on the Rimington Wilson sale and the subsequent controversy surrounding the Oliver Goldsmith manuscript see the four articles in September 2012 and February 2013 on the Edmond Hoyle, Gent, blog by David Levy.

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Opposition et Cases Conjugées sont réconcilées par... / Opposition und Schwesterfelder sind durch versöhnt... / Opposition and Sister Squares are reconciled by Duchamp et Halberstadt, by Marcel Duchamp and Vitaly Halberstadt, L'Echiquier, Paris & Brussels 1932. 112p. Errata sheet. LN 2273.

Some of the text is in German, English and French in parallel columns.

The book deals with pawn endgames with a mathematically precise basis.

Availability: KB, CPL, Bibliothèque Nationale de France. 

 

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A Beginners Book of Chess, published by Wm. F. Drueke & Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan 1917. 32p. 

From the Foreword: "In placing this little volume before the public we hope to offer a Beginners Book of Chess that will in a clear and concise manner explain the elements of our Royal Game". 

The book covers the movement of the pieces, notation, technical terms, relative value of the pieces and laws. 

Availability: Many libraries have a copy including CPL, University of Liverpool. Digital editions available at  peterspioneers.com and hathitrust.org

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Drueke's Chess Primer, published by Wm. F. Drueke & Sons, Inc. Grand Rapids, Michigan, c1932. 30p.

From the Foreword: "In compiling The Chess Primer we have endeavoured to produce a book that will be at once  be brief, readable and authoritative". Much of the content is similar to Drueke's A Beginners Book of Chess, with additional coverage of the openings, one illustrative game and one problem (composed by Wm. A. Shinkman).

Later editions were also published, and both A Beginners Book of Chess and Drueke's Chess Primer may have been issued to accompany the chess sets for which the Wm. F. Drueke company was famous for producing, including the unique octagonal sets illustrated in a 1940s edition of Drueke's Chess Primer below. 

Availability: CPL, KB 

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The Chess-Problem Match, Denmark-Poland, 1933 (Mecz Kompozycji Szachowej Danja-Polska), edited by the Warsaw Problem Society, Warsaw 1935. 32p. LN 2769.

Text in English and Polish.

Availability: KB, CPL, Royal Danish Library.

 

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The Chess Key; A Key to the Chess Openings, by Reuben Fine and Dr. Max Euwe, Amsterdam 1937. 

Chess volume 3, December 1937, page 145 describes this as "An amusing novelty. A rotating cardboard disc with 'windows' in which principal lines in 40 openings and variations are given, followed by a codified description of the resulting positions."

Cleveland Public Library states - 47 pages, illustrations, a chart with a revolving dial showing chess openings. "Designed by S. Landau and H. Wittkowski".

Source: University Place Book Shop Catalog No. XXII, circa 1939, item 260.

Availability: CPL. KB has Dutch and German editions of this item.

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 © Michael Clapham 2022

 

 

Additions to Betts' Bibliography. Part 4

Some early 20th century additions.

 

Abbreviations: 

BL    British Library, London 

CPL  Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio

KB  Koninklijke Biliotheek, Royal Library at The Hague

Chess Notes, by Edward Winter at  chesshistory.com

 

 

Kriegspiel: or The Chess War Game, by H. Caley, The British Chess Company, London c1900. 55p. Red paper covers.

No further information available.

Source: copy sold on eBay in 2011.

Availability: CPL but not KB or BL.

I only have a very poor scan of this book which shows that the design is similar to other books issued by The British Chess Company.

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The Reverend Lewis Rou, pastor of the French Protestant Church, New York City, and the missing manuscript of his tract relating to chess (1734), entitled Critical Remarks upon the Letter to The Craftsman on the Game of Chess occasioned by his paper of the 15th of September 1733, and dated from Slaughter's Coffee-house, September 21, by Willard Fiske, The Landi Press, Florence January 1902. 14, [2]p.

Reprinted with slight changes from The Book of the First American Chess Congress, by Daniel Willard Fiske, New York 1859, pages 340-345. 

This tells the story of Lewis Rou's manuscript which has been missing since 1858, and which may be the earliest chess manuscript written in North America.

Source: University Place Book Shop List 103 c1957, no. 453. 

Availability: Many libraries including CPL, KB, Princeton University Library.

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The Lost Manuscript of the Reverend Lewis Rou's Critical Remarks upon the Letter to The Craftsman on the Game of Chess; written in 1734 and dedicated to his excellency William Cosby Governor of New York, by Willard Fiske, The Landi Press Florence 1902. 18p. 

Reprinted with additions and comments from Notes and Queries, 19th July 1902.

Similar content to the item above, but rearranged and with more on the personalites involved in the story.

Source: University Place Book Shop List 103 c1957, no. 452.

Availability: Many libraries have a copy of this including CPL and KB. Digital edition at archive.org

 

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Hints on Correspondence Chess Play, also, a History of the Association, its Objects etc., Pillsbury National Correspondence Chess Association, Chicago 1905. 11p.

This pamphlet starts with a three page History of the Pillsbury National Correspondence Chess Association which was founded in 1896. There follows two articles giving advice on correspondence chess play, the first by Rev. Leander Turney and the second by Walter Penn Shipley.

Availability: CPL only.

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A Brief Review of the Chess Record of José Raúl Capablanca; and the Official Announcement of his Fourth American Tour 1911-1912, by Dana Welles, issued by Capablanca & Rosebault Chess Supplies and Literature, New York 1911. 

3 leaves.

Availability: KB, New York Public Library. Not in CPL.

See Chess Notes 3674 for further information on this rare pamphlet.

 

Chess Notes 3674

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The Chess Bouquet and Small Heath Boulevard, by F.R. Gittins, 1911.

Running title: The Chess Bouquet Volume II.

Source: Phillips catalogue 26th March 1987; The Complete Chess Library of Michael MacDonald Ross, item 291. 

Availability: KB (specimen pages)

See separate article for comprehensive information on this publication.

 

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Rubinstein's Games of Chess: A very incomplete collection of the match and tourney games of a great master, by John W. DeArman, Pasadena 1912. 272p.

Source: The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein; Volume 2: The Later Years, by John Donaldson and Nikolay Minev, Milford 2011. See Chess Notes 7572.

Availability: Los Angeles Public Library only.

The above source also mentions other books by DeArman: Games from the Nuremburg Chess Tournament 1906, Games from the Hamburg Chess Tourney 1910, Games from the San Sebastian Tourney 1911, The Kings of Chess; a list of tournament and match records of every master who has gained a prize in any international tournament. However, these are all unpublished typescripts.

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Ten Years of Chess Federation. Being a Resumé of the Work of the British Chess Federation 1904-1913, British Chess Federation, Printed by Love & Malcomson, Redhill c1914. 23p.

This booklet includes information on the foundation of the Federation, details of the first ten British Chess Championships,  results of the English County Championships, Correspondence Tourneys and the first three Problem Tourneys. There are further articles on the Permanent Invested Fund, Life Members, The Blackburne Testimonial, The Spread of Organisation, Federation Chess Clock, International Chess and the World's Championship, General Finances etc.

Availability: CPL, Princeton University Library.

 

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The Mysteries, Mysticisms and Moralities of Chess in their relation to the present time; done into verse and illustrated in an actual game, by John William Brown, Aberystwyth, 1912. 24p. 

"Dedicated to all of my chess-playing fellow-members of the National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage." 

No further information acertained.

Source: University Place Book Shop List 103 c1957, no. 362.

Availability: BL, KB, National Library of Wales. 

 

 

 

                        Images supplied by National Library of Wales.

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Chess: The Theory and Practice of the Game, published by Cassell & Company, London 1920. 69p.

Sources: E.G.R. Cordingley Chess Catalogue No. 4 February 1936, item 306, Worldcat.

No availability found. Worldcat, while recording this work, does not list any libraries with this item.

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The Laws of the Game of Chess, revised and compiled by W. B. Tattersall, London c1920. 23p

The "Sports Trader" Series. Cover title: Chess Rules.

The date of this item is uncertain. KB has two editions; one dated ca1910 with 16 pages and another dated approx 1938 with 23 pages. Internet sellers give dates of 1920 and c1922.

The rules and laws of chess in force in Britain in the first years of the 20th century were those published by the British Chess Company until superceeded by a set of laws published by The British Chess Federation in 1911. However, the British Chess Company continued to revise and publish its own code until 1918. I do not know which set of laws Tattersall's compilation is based on.

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 © Michael Clapham 2022

 

Additions to Betts' Bibliography. Part 3

Nineteenth century tournament publications.

I have not yet carried out a complete comparison of the entries in Chess Competitions 1824-1970 by Gino Di Felice, Olomouc 2013, with Betts' Bibliography but I suspect that this would reveal a large number of additional publications. The majority would relate to minor and/or local events from around the world and it is not surprising that Betts missed many of these with the tools at his disposal, while it is also a wonder that Di Felice managed to track down so many items for his bibliography. However, Di Felice also missed a number of tournament publications and three of the items below are absent from Chess Competitions.

Newcastle-upon Tyne 1866

Report of the First Annual Gathering of the Northumberland and Durham Chess Association...held at Newcastle-upon-Tyne...2/3 April 1866, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1867.  

Sources: Chess Competitions by Di Felice 1543.1; Das Erste Jartausend der Schachlitteratur (850-1880) by van der Linde no.1855; Quaritch Catalogue 428 (Rimington Wilson) no. 1042.

No availability found.

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North Shields 1867

Report of the Second Annual gathering of the Northumberland and Durham Chess Association, held at North Shields...1867,  Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1868. 58p.

The book gives details of the various tournaments held, 34 games and 12 problems from the problem tournament. See Chess Book Chats July 2017 for further details.

Sources: Chess Competitions by Di Felice 1560.1; Schachlitteratur (850-1880) by van der Linde no. 1856; Quaritch Catalogue 428 (Rimington Wilson) no. 1043.

Availablity: Free Library of Philadelphia.

 

Collection of Owen & Kathy Hindle

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Cincinnati 1887

Ohio Chess Association, Constitution, First Tournament etc., Cincinnati 1887. 22p

This publication includes a history of the organisation of the Ohio Chess Association, the Constitution, details of the first convention and tournament, round by round results of the tournament which was run on the knockout system (a decision later regretted), and 7 games.

Sources: Sammlung von Schriften über das Schachspiel, by von der Lasa 1896, no. 1895; Chess Competitions by Di Felice 2013, no. 527.1.

Availability: KB, Princeton University, digitized edition at hathitrust.org

 

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Cincinnati 1888.

United States Chess Association. First Annual Report, Constitution etc. Publ. J.R. Mills & Sons, Cincinnati 1889? 52p.

Contains all 24 games of the 1st United States Chess Association Championship won by Jackson Whipps Showalter.

Source: John Rather Chess List 81-A, item 3. Not in Di Felice's Chess Competitions.

Availability:  Library Company of Philadelphia.

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New York 1889

Aside from the well known tournament books on the Sixth American Chess Congress, by Morgan and Steinitz, Di Felice's Chess Competitions lists four additional English publications not recorded in Betts. Two of these are pre-tournament programmes which Betts specifically excluded, but the other two, although issued before the tournament, are both of some importance and interest. Di Felice's source in each case was von der Lasa'a catalogue: Sammlung von Schriften über das Schachspiel, Wiesbaden 1896.  

 

To the Subscribers of the proposed American Chess Congress, and to American Chess-Players generally, compiled by James A. Russell, Baltimore 1887. 14p.

Russell was very much against the appointment of Steinitz as editor of the proposed tournament book, on account of the "vulgar and offensive language" used by Steinitz as editor of The International Chess Magazine.  Russell appealed to subscribers and American chess-players generally to boycott the book, he also asked for his own subscription to be returned but this was refused. 

This pamphlet includes copies of correspondence between Russell and Steinitz and others regarding this matter. It also includes articles from magazines denouncing Steinitz's editorial style.

Sources: von der Lasa 154-2, Di Felice, Chess Competitions 1481.2.

Availabilty: Several US libraries have this item as well as libraries in Madrid and Montreal, but it is not in KB or CPL. Digitized edition at hathitrust.org

 

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Sixth American Chess Congress; Address and Prospectus, signed W. W. Ellsworth, Constantine Schubert and W. Steinitz (the committee), Brooklyn 1887. 15p.

The committee firstly emphasises the importance of international chess competition, then presents its proposals for the Sixth American Chess Congress, followed by a five page appeal for subscribers to the book of the tournament to be edited by Steinitz, and issued in a strictly limited edition at the price of $10. 

Sources: von der Lasa 154-1, Di Felice 1481.8.

Availabity: CPL, Harvard University, digitized edition at hathitrust.org

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Saint Louis 1890

United States Chess Association, Third Annual Report, publ. Carlon & Hollenbeck, Indianapolis 1891. 62p.

Organisation, Constitution, list of members, forty-two games played at Saint Louis 1890 and seven games played at Indianapolis 1889.

Sources: University Place Book Shop List 103 (circa 1957), no. 196,  A. Buschke catalogue 1958, no. 18. Not in Chess Competitions by Di Felice.

Availability: Library Company of Philadelphia.

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Lexington 1891

Fourth Annual Report of the United States Chess Association with Twenty-Six Games played at the Lexington, Ky. meeting, publ. Keating & Co., Cincinnati 1893.  50p.

The tournament was won by  J.W. Showalter after a play-off game with  W.H.K. Pollock. The seven player all-play-all would have produced 21 games plus the play-off making a total of 22 games, however the title states that 26 games are included in this publication.

Sources: University Place Book Shop Catalog No. XIII (1937), no. 337; Chess Competitions by Di Felice no. 1120.1; The David DeLucia Chess Library Vol I, (2009), no. 2410.

No availability found

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New York (Skaneateles) 1891

Selected games from the Staats-Zeitung Tournament, Albany 1891.

Source: University Place Book Shop Catalog No. XXII, no. 17. Not in Di Felice's Chess Competitions.

No further details or availabilty found. This has to be regarded as a provisional entry in view of the lack of any further information on this publication.

The magnificent Staats-Zeitung cup was commisioned by Oswald Ottendorfer and presented to the New York Chess Association in 1890 to be competed for annually. The Manhattan Chess Club, represented by Major Hanham won the inaugural contest in 1891.  

American Chess Magazine August 1898, page 52.

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© Michael Clapham 2022 

Additions to Betts' Bibliography. Part 2

Further 19th century works not included in Chess: An Annotated Bibliography of Works Published in the English Language. 1850-1968.

Abbreviations: 

BL    British Library, London 

CPL  Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio

KB  Koninklijke Biliotheek, Royal Library at The Hague

Aucta  Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana aucta et de novo descripta, The Hague 1974.

 

Chess: British Standard Handbook No. 12, published by J. & R. Maxwell London, c1883. 32p. 

An unreliable and outdated little guide with basic instructions, laws, openings and six problems.  

Availability: BL which has a compilation of British Standard Handbooks in two volumes. The whole series being edited by Henry Llewellyn Williams. Harvard University.

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"Mephisto", the Marvellous Automaton. Exhibited at the International Theatre, Exposition Universelle, Paris. 1889. Published by T. Pettitt & Co. London [1889]. 

79p, coloured frontispiece. 

Contents: Chapter I - How "Mephisto" was caught. Chapter II - A Chapter on Automatic Androids. Chapter III - Mechanical Chess. Chapter IV - Testimony of John Imray. Chapter V - Opinions of the Press. Chapter VI - Selection of Games Played by Mephisto.

Fake Automata in Chess by Ken Whyld, Caistor 1994, No. 428.

This appears to be a substantial and important work on chess automata which is absent from the main chess libraries.

Availability: IE University Library, Madrid; Harvard University; Digitized edition at hathitrust.org

 

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The Principles of Chess: A Lecture delivered before the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Chess Club, by Louis Zollner, on Tuesday, 10th March, 1891. Printed by M.S. Dodds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1891. 16p. LN 1077

The author gives general advice on playing the game; the first eight pages concentrate on the deployment of the pawns. 

Availability: KB, CPL, Digitized edition at hathitrust.org

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How to Play Chess: by G.C. Heywood, M.S. Dodds, Newcastle-on-Tyne 1893.

Reprinted with corrections and additions from the "Newcastle Weekly Chronicle".

37 pages plus 10 pages of adverts. 

Elementary Lessons in 4 chapters, one illustrative game and Minor or Special Principles by W.N. Potter. See Chess Book Chats July 2017 for further details.

Availabilty: Several libraries have a copy of this book, including IE University Library, Madrid, and Harvard University, but it is not in BL, KB or CPL. Digitized edition at hathitrust.org

 

Collection of Owen & Kathy Hindle

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Four Chess, by W.H. Blyth, Cambridge University Chess Club, Cambridge 1892. 48p.

A handbook on four-handed chess with particular reference to the Hughes game as played in the London Four-Handed Chess Club. Laws, openings, end-games, games and problems.

Source: Copy for sale by Michael Sheehan in 2017.

Availability: Cambridge University Library, Bodleian Library, Oxford (H.J.R. Murray's copy), CPL.

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The Brooklyn Chess Club Chronicles, etc. by William Duval, Brooklyn NY 1894. [4], 38p. 

This unusual work covers a wide variety of events and personalities from around the chess world; the entire text is in rhyme.

Source: University Place Book Shop Catalogue XIII, item 98.

Availability: CPL, KB, digitized edition at  hathitrust.org

 

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The Year's Doings 1895. The Brooklyn Chess Club, by William Duval, Brooklyn NY 1895. 15p.

Covers events at the Club during 1895 and also Pillsbury's victory at the Hastings Tournament of 1895, all in rhyme.

Availability: CPL, KB, digitized edition at hathitrust.org

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How to place eight men on the sixty-four squares of a chess or draught board so that no two men shall be in line vertically, laterally or diagonally, by Alexander Cuthbert, Glasgow 1895. 7p.

I am not sure if this counts as a chess book but I include it for completeness.

Availabilty: BL, National Library of Scotland.

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How to Play Chess, published by Wehman Bros. New York c1895. 42p

The date of publication is very uncertain. Various sources give dates between 188? and 1900. Cleveland Public Library has only a 64p later edition dated 1930s.

Source: University Place Book Shop Catalogue XIII, item 352.

Availabilty: New York Public Library, CPL (later edition)

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Origin and Early History of Chess, by A.A. MacDonell, Royal Asiatic Society, London 1898. 25p. LN 244, Aucta 712.

See Chess Book Chats July 2017 for further details.

Reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, January 1898. 

Availability: KB, CPL.

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© Michael Clapham 2022

Additions to Betts' Bibliography. Part 1.

 

This first list of additions to Betts' Bibliography includes some 19th century works in chronological order. More 19th century works and tournament books will be included in a later article.

Abbreviations: 

BL    British Library, London 

CPL  Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland, Ohio (The J.G. White Collection)

KB  Koninklijke Biliotheek, Royal Library at The Hague (The Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana Collection) 

 

The Chess-Player's Pocket Companion: Containing An Account of the Game of Chess; a Synopsis of all the ordinary Openings; Analyses of the best Attacks and Defences; and a few of the Endings of Games, by Samuel Comyn, Simpkin, Marshall and Co. London 1851. vii, 68 pages with folding plate of a chess-board between pages 20 and 21.

This is primarily a book on the openings but also includes an Introduction which covers the history of chess, general instructions, maxims, laws, notation etc. The final chapter discusses various endings. 

Availability: BL, CPL, digitized edition at hathitrust.org

See  Chess Book Chats July 2017 for further details.

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A Collection of Problems in Chess, by the most Eminent Composers; Exemplifying some of the greatest beauties of Chess Strategy: collected and arranged by John Augustus Miles, to which are added a few original positions, which have been constructed expressly for this work. Fakenham 1855. 64 unnumbered leaves. 50 copies printed. LN 2395

120 problems (plus two in the frontis) printed two to a page on the rectos only. List of Subscribers with thirteen names taking twenty copies between them. 

See  Chess Book Chats July 2017 for further details.

Availability: CPL, KB

From the collection of Owen & Kathy Hindle

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Chess & Draughts Made Easy. Containing Instructions to Learners, and Hints to Advanced Players. With Rules for Playing and Games for Practice, by J Bishop, A. & S. Joseph Myers & Co., London c1855. 52p.

See Chess Notes, various items, for further details.

Availability: BL

 

A. Klittich-Pfankuch auction June 2020

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Chess: An Annotated Bibliography of Works Published in the English Language 1850-1968

Chess: An Annotated Bibliography of Works Published in the English Language 1850-1968 compiled over 50 years ago by Douglas Betts has become the standard work on English language chess books for the period covered.

 

Douglas Betts, Chess, March 2006, page 51

Betts carried out this self-funded research during his limited spare time from 1967 to 1970 while working full time and with a young family. This was in the days before personal computers, on-line databases, word processors, printers and scanners. Details of every item were written out by hand on small cards and he typed the whole work at home on a portable typewriter using two fingers, producing the required top copy and three carbon copies. Apart from the important task of recording the ever-growing mass of chess litereature, the chief reason for undertaking this project was to fulfil the thesis requirement for Fellowship of The Library Association. 

The typescript was published by G.K. Hall of Boston Mass. in 1974, and a few hundred copies were soon acquired by libraries, collectors and dealers. Betts was unable to visist the U.S.A or other English speaking countries such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa for his research but relied on published sources such as library catalogues and book reviews before examining as many items as possible in various libraries including The British Library and The Royal Dutch Library at The Hague. 

Betts was succesful in identifying and recording details of the great majority of the main works on chess but, in view of the limitations and constraints outlined above, it is no surprise that there are many omissions from the Bibliography, certainly in the hundreds. These omissions are frequently minor works, often small pamphlets, multi-language works, sometimes self-published or published away from the leading publishing centres. Many local periodicals and tournament reports also slipped through the net. Betts had anticipated the existence of some of these outliers in an article that he wrote for Chess, volume 70, March 2006, on pages  51 to 53, where he discusses the task that he undertook, the difficulties that he faced, and the impact of his magnum opus. Much of the information above is taken from that article.

In the next Chess Book Chats article I will start listing details of the 100 or so omissions that I am aware of, a list that is constantly growing as the more I look the more I find. These are original works not included in the Bibliography,  not unrecorded editions of works listed by Betts of which there are also numerous examples. I am not listing works of fiction with chess references (Betts Section 44), only books entirely or mainly dealing with chess. 

Betts specifically excluded compendiums of games (e.g. Hoyle), general encyclopaedias and dictionaries; pre-tournament programmes; and publications, such as rules etc., relevant only to a particular club or society.  I have followed this except for club rules etc. which I have included if the publication includes other matters of chess interest e.g. history, games, problems etc.

These lists of omissions will eventually be sorted into a handful of categories, (not the 55 Sections in Betts) and will be in printable PDF format.