Chess magazines' coverage of chess literature scandals
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 1:18 pm
The thread on the recent Varsity match has developed into discussing why chess magazines have not informed their readers about Raymond Keene's plagiarism, and I'd like to suggest a new thread not only for that case but also for the more general question of why scandals involving chess literature are so rarely covered, or even mentioned.
Anyone who looks at Edward Winter's "Archives" page (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/archives.html) will find many cases which have been ignored elsewhere:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/indian.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/defirmian.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/kaspartov.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/copying.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/coles.html.
I suppose British magazine editors could always try arguing that some of the scandals are from distant lands. The destruction of a Capablanca book by de Firmian concerns a US publication. The "Kaspartov" scam is a book in Spanish. The Coles piracy affair was by a Canadian publisher. But much of the copying and plagiarism concerns cases far closer to home.
In the whole field of scandals in chess literature, how do magazine editors decide what to tell, or not to tell, their readers? And do they even consider that plagiarism is serious? Or that the cases are unproven? Or simply inconvenient to discuss?
Looking forward to the discussion, and many thanks.
Olimpiu G. Urcan
Anyone who looks at Edward Winter's "Archives" page (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/archives.html) will find many cases which have been ignored elsewhere:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/indian.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/defirmian.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/kaspartov.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/copying.html
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/coles.html.
I suppose British magazine editors could always try arguing that some of the scandals are from distant lands. The destruction of a Capablanca book by de Firmian concerns a US publication. The "Kaspartov" scam is a book in Spanish. The Coles piracy affair was by a Canadian publisher. But much of the copying and plagiarism concerns cases far closer to home.
In the whole field of scandals in chess literature, how do magazine editors decide what to tell, or not to tell, their readers? And do they even consider that plagiarism is serious? Or that the cases are unproven? Or simply inconvenient to discuss?
Looking forward to the discussion, and many thanks.
Olimpiu G. Urcan