O.G. Urcan wrote:I'd like to make some points about various issues in this discussion:
1. The Lasker vs Thomas game is in K. Whyld's 1998 book on Lasker, with a slightly different date: 17, not 18, April 1896.
2. On 5 January Tryfon Gavriel referred to Capablanca's "3rd wife". He was married twice.
3. It's good to see so much scepticism being expressed here about the chessgames.com site.
....
- Olimpiu G. Urcan
1. Though somebody else found a source (Hampshire Telegraph, 25 April 1896) which gives the Lasker-Thomas simul game and says it was played "on Saturday", I note that other newspapers included in the British Newspaper Archive also mention the simul.
The Standard, Monday 20 April, says that Lasker gave a 28-board simul on the evening of Friday 17, at the Victoria Hall, Criterion, scoring 20 wins. 2 losses and 6 draws. Opponents' names are not mentioned but it's unlikely he gave another simul there the next day. So from this it seems likely Whyld was right. We need another reliable primary source to determine which is the right date. Unfortunately I don't have access at home to BCM etc for that year but maybe somebody else would like to check.
The Belfast News-letter, 23 April, also says Lasker's simul was on the Friday.
The Newcastle Courant, 25 April, gives more details but neglected to state the date of the simul. However various references to times in the evening point to Friday as a Saturday event might have been played earlier in the day.
The Saturday is a less plausible date because various reports show that on the 18th the City of London Club had a match over 19 boards, so Lasker would have deprived himself of one source of opponents had he chosen that day.
2. Personally I have not researched Capablanca but I tend to believe Mr. Urcan here. Chapter and verse anyone?
3. I agree. It seems that Mr Gavriel is in a minority of almost only one on this site in defending the indefensible. Look at chessgames.com for "infotainment" if you must but give it zero credence for historical source value.
