Leonard's Book

[James Pratt]

I have been looking through Barden's 'How to Play the Endgame in Chess' (Collins 1975) and found a misprint in the diagram for the game Petrosian-v-Belyavsky from the USSR Championship. Most printers errors are easy to spot but this messed up the squares. Thinking I knew what was originally intended I waded in but confusion ruled the day. Later I found the game and the QR was on its original square, unmoved.

I was quite moved though.

Was this corrected in subsequent editions? It's a good book with an otherwise very pleasing mix of games as would be expected from LWB, so I just wonder.
James

[John Townsend]

In reporting a suspected error, it would be businesslike to refer to the page number and the diagram number, abbreviating, if necessary, James's rambling description.

It would also be helpful to clarify what the "misprint" is thought to have consisted of.

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

It's on page 100 of the copy I could access on archive.org:

Petrosian-v-Belyavsky.png (576.61 KiB) Viewed 2425 times

I have no idea what the error is. I'll try to find it later if no-one else does.

[Geoff Chandler]

f we are going to discuss slight errors in diagrams and moves in chess books then this will be a very long thread.
A lot of books have at least one.

I'm looking at it and thought I'd found it, but not yet. Awkward playing descriptive from the algebraic game and matching it up. The position starts at move 18.Qf5.

[Geoff Chandler]

Move 13 in the notation above.

2r5/6pp/p1prkp2/2R5/5P2/1P1pP1P1/Pb1R3P/4NK2 w - - 0 31

13.RxP (which pawn was captured, though it pretty obvious which one) Is that it?

[James Pratt]

It has clearly been corrected in the copy shown and thanks. If you had the misprinted copy you would see in an instant. All settled.
James

[John Townsend]

Does anyone have access to "the misprinted copy" and can "see in an instant"?

I have the first edition (1975) and can see no fault with diagram 161, at least not "in an instant", so I am naturally curious to know.

[James Pratt]

My copy is a 1976 'Latest Reprint'. On the a-file a Black pawn appears on a7 and a Black rook on a5, both wrongly. The squares that should be coloured white, a8, a6, are Black and the squares a5,b5 and a4 are all White. a6 should contain a pawn but is empty. Finally, a8 should contain a rook but is vacant.
Returning to the first point, I have never seen the term 'Latest Reprint' used in this context but maybe Mr Townsend can enlighten us further.
James

[John Townsend]

James's latest post contradicts what he said in the opening words of his first. i.e. "(Collins 1975)".

He is in a better position than I am to clarify what is meant by "1976 Latest Reprint", as he says he has access to one.

[Geoff Chandler]

It one of those classics misprints. I recall in the 70's a Batsford book was doing the rounds
with a competition to see how many errors you can spot in one diagram. At least a dozen.

Edward winter has a page dedicated to odd and broken diagrams. https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/diagrams.html
Below is one and spare a thought for anyone who bought a copy of Emereo Publishing copy of Capablanca's 'Chess Fundamentals'
all the diagrams have been left out. Because a lot of instruction start from a diagram the book is useless.

[Mike Gunn]

I own the 1st edition of this book, bought in 1976
or 1977 (which I can tell from the address I wrote
inside the cover) and page 100 corresponds exactly
to the version given above. I checked the position
in diagram 161 and it corresponds to the position
after move 18 as recorded in chessgames.com.

Examining the reverse of the title page of the book,
there is no indication that my copy is a reprint and
anything else but the original first edition so I
am puzzled by what appears above.