English Language Book Using Algebraic

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
Post Reply
Geoff Chandler
Posts: 3486
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:36 pm
Location: Under Cover
Contact:

English Language Book Using Algebraic

Post by Geoff Chandler » Thu Jun 17, 2021 4:10 pm

Hi,

Picked this up today for 50p. (published 1918, actually a first edition in good nick).
I left behind a couple of bright and glossy obviously unread Silmans (£2.00 each)

Image

I had heard of this book, I'm sure Ed Lasker mentions it in his 'Chess Secrets....'
Was surprised to see it used algebraic notation. I thought English chess books using algebraic did not appear till the late 60's.

Image

And in case you wondering how does a super cool dude dress when going around the junk shops.
(everything bar the socks and sandals came from a charity shop, including the man bag it all came to less than £6.00.)

Image

Daughter says you should not wear socks with sandals - makes up these rules?

User avatar
MJMcCready
Posts: 3178
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:30 pm

Re: English Language Book Using Algebraic

Post by MJMcCready » Thu Jun 17, 2021 4:56 pm

I suppose it does beg the question regarding the first publication to use algebraic. I'm stumped on that one.

Tim Harding
Posts: 2318
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:46 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Contact:

Re: English Language Book Using Algebraic

Post by Tim Harding » Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:04 pm

I believe it has been pointed out previously on this forum that Phillip Stamma's "The Noble Game of Chess" (1745) used algebraic notation.

More difficult questions might be what was the first English-language chess book of the 20th century to use it, and whether any did in the 19th century. (There was at least one advocate for algebraic in a Sussex chess column circa 1880, but it didn't catch on.)
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5821
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: English Language Book Using Algebraic

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:10 pm

Didn't "Chess" experiment with algebraic early on? I still remember one of our veteran club members, born 1899, steadfastly using R-QKtsq into the 1970s

Jonathan Bryant
Posts: 3452
Joined: Sun May 11, 2008 3:54 pm

Re: English Language Book Using Algebraic

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:47 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:10 pm
Didn't "Chess" experiment with algebraic early on? I still remember one of our veteran club members, born 1899, steadfastly using R-QKtsq into the 1970s
I don't know but they certainly trialled a system where they used both alegbraic and descriptive mixed together for each game at the same time. It doesn't seem to have lasted that long. Unsurprisingly.

User avatar
Matt Mackenzie
Posts: 5205
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:51 pm
Location: Millom, Cumbria

Re: English Language Book Using Algebraic

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Thu Jun 17, 2021 7:05 pm

That was IIRC in about 1978/79, I think Chess also had the odd one-off experiment with algebraic before that.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5821
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: English Language Book Using Algebraic

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Jun 17, 2021 9:53 pm

"I think Chess also had the odd one-off experiment with algebraic before that"

Yes, round about 1947 - (I remembered why I thought that.)

Post Reply