Edward Winter (born 1955) is an English

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

journalist,

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consi ...

, historian, collector and author. He writes a regular column on chess history, ''Chess Notes.''

''Chess Notes''

''Chess Notes'' started as a bimonthly periodical, and was described by its author, in the first issue (January–February 1982), as "A forum for

aficionados A fan or fanatic, sometimes also termed an aficionado or enthusiast, is a person who exhibits strong interest or admiration for something or somebody, such as a celebrity, a sport, a sports team, a genre, a politician, a book, a movie, a ...

to discuss all matters relating to the Royal Pastime". At the end of 1989, the periodical ceased publication. In 1993, Winter resumed publication of ''Chess Notes'', which appeared, this time, as a syndicated column, in many languages around the world. From 1998 to 2001, it was published exclusively in '' New In Chess''. Later, it appeared online at the Chess Café website. Since September 2004, ''Chess Notes'' has been located at the website Chesshistory.com. Between 1996 and 2006 four anthologies of ''Chess Notes'' were published in book form. On 15 March 2020, in C.N. 11763, Edward Winter announced that from the end of March 2020, ''Chess Notes'' would no longer be updated regularly. Yasser Seirawan calls Winter "the chess world's foremost authority on its rich history". Jan Timman has commented: "Writers on chess history and the games of yesteryear are not normally pathfinders or perfectionists, but Edward Winter is an exception, taking great pains not only to tackle difficult research tasks but also to present the facts precisely."Winter, ''A Chess Omnibus'', p.2.

William Hartston William Roland Hartston (born 12 August 1947) is an English journalist who wrote the Beachcomber column in the ''Daily Express''. He is also a chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 and earned a highest Elo rating of 2485. He ...

observed of him: "Edward Winter is probably the most meticulous and diligent researcher and chess writer around. For several years, from his home in Switzerland, he produced the much-admired ''Chess Notes'', a privately published journal of chess history and anecdotes that was the scourge of all that was sloppy or dishonest in chess. Winter's brilliantly scathing style, always adopted in the noble cause of accuracy, gives his writings a marvellously entertaining as well as instructive quality." Harry Golombek remarked that Chess Notes is "written in a most refreshing acerbity of tone." Chess writers whom Winter has criticized for poor work include

Eric Schiller Eric Schiller (March 20, 1955 – November 3, 2018) was an American chess player, trainer, arbiter and one of the most prolific authors of books on chess in the 20th century. Early life and education Schiller was born in New York City. He atten ...

Raymond Keene Raymond Dennis Keene (born 29 January 1948) is an English chess grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author. He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England ...

, and Larry Evans. Timman has observed of Winter: "When he criticizes another writer, he does so fairly by setting out the facts for the reader to inspect for himself."

Capablanca

Winter has made a particular study of

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capabl ...

, and critics hailed his 1989 monograph on the Cuban world chess champion. Nigel Short described it as "undoubtedly one of the best chess books I have read," and

Jeremy Silman Jeremy Silman (born August 28, 1954) is an American International Master (IM) of chess and writer. Silman was born in Del Rio, Texas. He began playing chess at the age of 12. He has won the American Open, the National Open, and the U.S. Open, an ...

called it "a piece of literature that has become a legend unto itself, and is universally viewed as one of the greatest books ever written about chess."

Books

* ''World Chess Champions'' (editor); Pergamon Press Ltd; 1981; * ''Capablanca: A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Cuban Chess Genius José Raúl Capablanca, 1888-1942'';

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its forme ...

; 1989; *''Capablanca: A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Cuban Chess Genius José Raúl Capablanca, 1888-1942'';

(paperback edition); 2011; * ''Chess Explorations''; Cadogan Books; 1996; * ''Kings, Commoners and Knaves: Further Chess Explorations''; Russell Enterprises; 1999; * ''A Chess Omnibus''; Russell Enterprises; 2003; * ''Chess Facts and Fables'';

; 2006;

References

External links

Chesshistory.com

Selected ChessBase articles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Edward Living people 1955 births British chess writers Chess historians Place of birth missing (living people) Writers from Geneva