<WHAT IS THE BIOGRAPHER BISTRO?>

This forum is for discussing chess history, especially in the context of improving the biographies that appear on most of our player pages.

We dubbed it a "bistro" to emphasize the relaxed environment. This is not an exclusive club for Chessgames biographers or "serious historians" only. Everybody is invited to stop by to discuss chess history, ask questions, share knowledge, or even joke around.

<WHAT IS A CHESSGAMES BIOGRAPHER?>

For those who don't know, Chessgames biographers are just ordinary members who have volunteered to help us improve the database by supplying biographical information. To date they have provided information on a staggering 28,000 chess players, ranging from amateurs to world champions. Chessgames is greatly indebted to their generous efforts and regards the biographies as one of the most important services that this website provides.

<WHAT KINDS OF POSTS ARE APPROPRIATE HERE?>

The most important type of post for this forum is one which points out an error (including errors of omission) on any biography. In this way, any member can contribute to the research process, even those who are not officially Chessgames biographers.

However, the Bistro is not limited to that purpose.

Are you confused about some detail of chess history? Somebody here is bound to be able to answer your question. Or maybe you want to discuss a matter of historical debate--this may be the best place to do just that. Or perhaps you have a very old chess book, or a set, or some art: come here to have it appraised, or at least appreciated.

We don't want to limit your use of this forum, provided that you follow the theme. Anything that fits under the wide umbrella of "chess history" will reside cozily in the Biographer Bistro.

<I FOUND AN ERROR, BUT IT'S NOT IN A BIO>

Now you are talking about an entirely different subject. We use a system we call "correction slips" to fix matters like erroneous player names, game scores, etc. Instead of posting here, you probably should first review Chessgames Help in the section "I found a mistake in your database that requires correction. What should I do?"

<CAN I BE A CHESSGAMES BIOGRAPHER?>

We prefer to keep the number of active biographers to a manageable size; usually under 40. Because we already have a large number of competent volunteers, we are not actively seeking new biographers at the time of this writing.

However, that doesn't mean that you can't volunteer. If you feel skilled in the art of writing clear and formal English, as well as chess research, you may volunteer by sending an email to chess@chessgames.com. In your request to volunteer, it helps if you include a little bit about yourself and why you think you'd be good for the job.

Please don't take offense if we don't tend to your application immediately; we truly appreciate all of your generous offers and keep all requests on file.

<SUMMARY>

We hope that this page not only makes our biographies better, but also spawns original discussion, uncovers fascinating chess history, and allows members to share in the excitement of our game's illustrious, fascinating, and often strange history.

Will probably drop in here on occasion. At the moment, and for some time to come, I'll be working on the US Open. Maybe not that big a tournament, but I have a lot of specialized material that needs to be preserved somewhere.

Right now, I'm just building a skeleton; I'll add more details and games later. I may ask a question here and there about US players in the late 20th century, trying to straighten out names and identities.

At the moment, I would really like to get my hands on crosstables for the following years:

1964
1976-1981
1985-1991

I have the others already, or can find them from USCF rating reports (1992 to date).

Here's what I've done so far. Again, this is just skeletal; there will be more details and games later.

Game Collection: US Open Meta Collection

1) It appears Showalter's birth was actually 5 Feb 18<59>, not 5 Feb 18<60> as most sources report. See Winter's Chess Note 6972 (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...).

2) It appears the often-reported, but seldom detailed, 1890 match between Showalter and Lipschutz was never completed or never occurred. I detail some of the problems with the early reports and the timeline in Winter's Chess Note 6996 (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...). I have since heard from someone writing a book on Showalter, and he, along with someone writing a book on Lipschutz, are of the opinion that only one game was played and then the match was abandoned. This creates doubt as to whether Max Judd should be considered US champion for his 1890 match win against Showalter and might be why Judd never claimed the title (although period newspapers did call it a "championship" match). It also brings into question the accuracy of <first officially-crowned Chess Champion of the United States>, but perhaps those are issues best not debated in a short bio.

3) There are a couple of problems with the links to Graeme Cree's match reports. The Halpern link actually links to the 1909 Marshall match. The link to the first Pillsbury match is completely dead. With improved online access to period newspapers, I have been able to find (and upload) game scores Graeme was unable to locate when he put together his reports (the 2006 win by Alexander Onischuk is the last report I see). I have practically all the match games in various games collections linked in this meta collection: Game Collection: US Championship matches (meta)

4) The match scores need some corrections. Lipschutz 1892 should be (-7 +1 =7). Pillsbury 1897 should be (-10 +8 =3). Marshall 1909 should be (-7 +2 =3).

1) I've standardized match results to "+ - =" from the point of view of the player being bio'ed. I think that's easier to understand than constantly switching depending on match result.

Bjorn Nielson (1 game only) was the same person as, and should be merged with, Bjorn Nielsen. The ‘aka’ link on the latter’s Biog can then be removed.