I fully agree with you!

I would venture to say that the whole article on Game Collection: WCC: Tal-Botvinnik Rematch 1961 as it is now, can be scrapped completely.

The first sentence you quote strikes me as especially devoid of content and should be deleted.

The second one is a mere speculation containg even poor wording.

Larry Parr should not be quoted, as we want a serious chess history page.

Here are some snippets from Tal, Mikhail 'The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal', 2007, London, UK

Page 169: <One disagreeable event, which is true, came after the finish of the tournament, was a recurrence of kidney colic in Moscow, just before the flight to Prague. At first it was bearable but I returned from Prague under medical supervision after lying there in hospital for several days. From Prague they even sent their medical diagnosis to Moscow, whereupon our Chess Federation began considering the question of deferring the match. I was asked to send a letter to the President of FIDE with preliminary evidence from a doctor commissioned by my opponent. To me this all seemed to be very complicated and rather insulting, and I preferred to play. Besides, my participation in the first match had itself given me enormous satisfaction, and I was even waiting impatiently for the second encounter.> (the tournament he is referring to was Stockholm 1961)

Page 170: <The controllers were our charming old friends Stahlberg and Golombek, while Euwe also arrived for the start.> This page can also be quoted for his work with Alexander Koblents during the match.

Game Collection: WCC: Steinitz-Chigorin Return Match 1892

Needs to be filled out with the match conditions and more purple prose of the <Ohio> persuasion. I'm guessing more commas are needed.

Match conditions should probably be included in all the collections.>

In the mean time, please let me know that you actually read our profile?

From our profile:

<STANDARDIZATION TEMPLATE

<1. How did the Match come about?

2. <<<What were the conditions for the Match?>>> The stakes, the number of games, the rules, and this could also include information about the backers, the venue, the referees, and so on.

Match conditions

From <Schlechter> biographer Warren Goldman:

<"...conditions governing the truncated contest [1910] were never published as so far as the author has been able to determine [as of 1994]"

"The <<<Deutsche Schachzeitung>>> declared that 'it was left to a netrual decision as to whether one or two games should constitute winning majority.' The magazine later confirmed that a simple majority was required but stated that the referee would decide the title in the event of a draw."

"<<<Deutsches Wochenschach>>> put the matter thusly: the victor would be the one who scored the majority of the games, and if necessary the referee would decide the title.">

--Carl Schlechter! Life and Times of the Austrian Chess Wizard

<Born in Prague, Wilhelm Steinitz was regarded as the best player in the world ever since his victory over Adolf Anderssen in their 1866 match.1 >

I think it was before that. In any case, surely there's a better source than Wiki.

<In 1883, he won the international tournament in London, defeating nearly every leading player in the world.>

I don't like that construction. It just seems clunky. Maybe list the leading players he beat?

<In 1886 these two great chess minds sat down to play what is now regarded by most chess historians as the first official World Chess Championship. >

<Steinitz vs Chigorin 1892

Havana

In 1892, Wilhelm Steinitz defended his title against his old rival, Mikhail Chigorin. Just as in the first Steinitz-Chigorin match, this contest took place in Havana, Cuba--and once again, Steinitz emerged triumphant.>

Wordy. It takes 15 words to affirm what the header states in one word-that it was contested in Havana. The second clause takes 6 words to affirm what we later find out-Steinitz won. I think the entire sentence can be deleted.

<And so, after 23 games, Steinitz won his fourth World Championship match, by a score of +10 -8 =5>

Page 95 of the 1910 'Wiener Schachzeitung': <Der deutsche Vorkämpfer hat seinen Weltmeisterschaftstitel gerettet. Jeder gewann eine Partie, acht Partien wurden Remis und so endete der Kampf unentschieden. Schlechter hat in dem Kampf bestätigt, daß er zu den ersten Meistern der Welt gehört. Lauter Beifall erscholl, als das Resultat verkündet wurde.>

<Come November, the two great rivals met in Moscow.>

"Come November" strikes me as far too colloquial.

<Four weeks later, Steinitz's mind went, and he was sent to a psychiatric clinic. He was soon found to be hopelessly mad. 1 >

In the meantime, on the fly, since it has also been bothering me for some time-

Re: Game Collection: WCC: Lasker-Steinitz Return Match 1896

<Ohio> I couldn't agree more.

<mind went> and <hopelessly mad> are not clinical terms, nor are they even accurate terms based on actual evidence.

Luckily, Kurt Landsberger has documented the actual facts of the matter with primary sources in his biography of Steinitz.

Which I have. I will be adding the correct information when I get my apartment set up.

See http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... for the match conditions according to page 468 of the December 1896 'BCM': <it will be decided by ten won games, draws not being counted. The time-limit is 15 moves an hour. A purse of £200 will be presented by the Moscow Club to the winner, and £100 to the loser.>

An old acquaintance of ours provided a Post-Game Collection: WCC:Alekhine-Bogoljubov 1929 interview with Alekhine in C.N. 7567: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

In C.N. 7502, Félix Valderrama Loyola (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) reports that, according to his brother Julio, Jacobo Bolbochan was Alekhine's sparring partner in preparation for Game Collection: WCC: Capablanca-Alekhine 1927 See http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

<In Argentina, from September 16 through November 29, 1927, the world witnessed the longest World Championship Match in the history of chess.>

What is meant? The longest up until 1927 or ever? The longest in terms of number of games or days?