TheFocus: From my Forum:
<jessicafischerqueen> <Carmine> <that's wonderful news! Credit should go to a commenter at my youtube channel asking me if I knew of any photos of Carmine on the internet. I couldn't find any, so I asked you.Thanks to your prompt action, not only did you find a rather serious inaccuracy on that giant Bobby photo website, you now have exclusive pics for your book!!!>
I had been suspicious about those three pictures before you asked and am glad we were able to determine that they were not of Bobby. Now I am determined to find out who they are of. I have a lead and will continue to investigate.
Prio to Bobby's entry into the Manhattan Chess Club, he played from 1952 - 1955 in the Brooklyn Chess Club. There is a lot of lost material from these years, but I have been able to fill in some of the gaps with the information from Carmine's son. His help has been invaluable. He has cleared up a lot of my questions and I think the buyers will be pleased.
Not dropping names, but even <IM John Donaldson> has praised the finds of "lost" material that I have shared with him. He has been another supporter of my efforts. He is a super nice guy and I am pleased to share material with him.
<I can't wait. Also, as you might expect, there is much DEEP BACKGROUND speculation on your true identity, which will be revealed upon publication.>
I prefer to remain anonymous for now, although at least four members here know my name. I would hope that they respect my privacy and let me reveal myself when I choose.
I will tell some things about myself.
My ratings vary:
USCF OTB Class 3. I have played only a handful of Swiss tournaments, as I will explain next.
USCF Postal: Class 2. I previously had an Expert's rating of over 2150, but when my father died, I quit playing, did not withdraw properly and all my games were forfeited to my opponents, dropping my rating to the 1600s. I do not consider myself to be a Class 2, but an under-rated Expert.
The Chess Connection. Although now defunct, I was a 2160 Postal Expert.
ICCF: Higher Class (The equivalent of Expert). I have played on team matches for the US, winning 3, drawing 1 and losing 1. In over 100 events that I have played in, that is my only minus score.
In another OTB federation in the US, which I won't name for now, my rating is 2235 Master. I joined the USCF and this federation at the same time, and preferred the one which offered only round-robin events. There are actually about 4 OTB federations in the US that offer ratings. I consider this Master's rating to be as legitimate as the USCF's.
We were the first to require that games be played out with no adjournments.
<Unless you're going with a pen name.>
LOL! If I use a pen name, it would be <TheFocus>, but I think I will use my real name.
<I had a rather strong feeling the other day- frighteningly strong- that you might be none other than <Edward Winter>.It scared me!>
I can honestly say that I am not <Edward Winter>. I have some entries at his <Chess Notes> column, and have thus exchanged quite a number of e-mails with him. I expect to be cited in his next book for a couple of my findings, one of which cleared up a 100 year old mystery.
I am a big supporter of his, and consider him the pre-eminent chess historian of the world. People like <Raymond Keene> say he is not a real historian but I disagree. I prefer to follow his lead in asking for truth and accuracy in chess.
He and I have butted heads before over using material from <Chess Notes> without crediting him, but my posting did not come there, but another site that HAD a link to <CN>. Once I proved my case, relations were back to normal. He has always treated me fairly in e-mails and has autographed several books for me.
Two things I can confirm about Winter.
1. He does live in Switzerland. My books were sent from there. He also asked me for material that he could not obtain in Europe on the Internet.
2. He does check into <CG> on occasion. He either is a member, or comes in on someone else's account. I do not believe that he posts anything, but prefers to read only.
Kibitzing
