Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Oops



Now that we have insulted the memory of the readers of The Palestine News, it is time to do the same to the chess editor. Above is "problem no. 1" in The Palestine News. It is the first chess problem ever published in Palestine. If it looks familiar, it should: it is a mate in three by Sam Loyd, one of the most famous ever composed. Unfortunately, there is a mistake in the diagram: the White King hould be on f1, not e1, where it is put in check by the Black Pawn on f2.

A correction was printed in later issue (with Loyd's name misspelled "Lloyd"), together with another problem by him. Unfortunately, this second problem was misprinted as well. That mistake, too, was promptly corrected in a third issue. Unfortunately, that issue presented a game played in Petrograd (i.e., St. Petersburg) 1914 between Emanuel Lasker, the world champion, and one "Casablanca"--no first initial(s) given.



Edward Winter would have had a field day.

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