Virginia Chess Federation Publications from 1946 to 1965

Post by samsloan
My book in the Virginia Chess News Roundup is published now. It
reprints 35 issues and has 354 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871875008
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ISBN=4871875008
Virginia Chess Federation Publications
from 1946 to 1965
including
Virginia Chess News Roundup
by Leonard Morgan
This book reprints 35 issues of Virginia chess publications from 1946
to 1965 plus one issue of the Carolina Gambit from 1960. Most notable
is the Virginia Chess News Roundup, published quarterly from 1954 to
1959, edited by Leonard Morgan
These publications contain hundreds of games not preserved anywhere
else and report tournament results and local ratings not to be found
anywhere else.
From 1946 until the present, the Virginia Chess Federation has
authorized several different publications. The current publication is
Virginia Chess, the official newsletter of the Virginia Chess
Federation, edited by Macon Shibut, a rated chess master. Previously,
there were other publications, including the Virginia Chess News
Roundup edited by Leonard Morgan of Roanoke, who was the Virginia
State Chess Champion in 1955.
The United States Chess Federation has lost all its records from the
1950s and the 1960s. This happened because a short-serving Technical
Director of the United States Chess Federation threw out all the old
tournament records. Since the USCF Records do not go back that far,
the only surviving records of chess in Virginia from that period are
these Virginia Chess Publications.

If I might suggest, you could consider adding some historical sections
on Virginia championships of the late 1800s; at the very least,
results tables, which are readily available. IIRC the player who
dominated the early championships was James A Kinnier from your very
own town of Lynchburg. This could be quite a nice book for the chess
history of the state.

Jerry Spinrad

The Historian

2012-07-11 06:30:45 UTC

That said, just having the archival material in one place is good
enough. State and club publications often included master games from
simultaneous displays, for instance, that are otherwise unknown. For
instance, Arnold Denker in action in Pittsburgh in 1945:

http://www.denkerchess.com/?page_id=656

j***@vanderbilt.edu

2012-07-11 15:04:30 UTC

Agreed. A series for various states would rank in my book as Sam's
best contribution, assuming he actually got permission for each of
them.

Jerry

samsloan

2012-07-11 19:27:52 UTC

Agreed. A series for various states would rank in my book as Sam's
best contribution, assuming he actually got permission for each of
them.
Jerry

Permission from whom?

It so happened that the editor of the Virginia Chess News Roundup is
still alive at age 88. He remembered me. We played a tournament game
in the 1957 Virginia Championship. He won. I called him and he sent me
all the issues of this publication.

However, the editors of the Carolina Gambit from that time are all
dead now. That was a better publication and I would like to get it,
but I do not know whom to ask.

Sam Sloan

j***@vanderbilt.edu

2012-07-12 02:44:05 UTC

Post by samsloan

Agreed. A series for various states would rank in my book as Sam's
best contribution, assuming he actually got permission for each of
them.
Jerry

Permission from whom?
It so happened that the editor of the Virginia Chess News Roundup is
still alive at age 88. He remembered me. We played a tournament game
in the 1957 Virginia Championship. He won. I called him and he sent me
all the issues of this publication.
However, the editors of the Carolina Gambit from that time are all
dead now. That was a better publication and I would like to get it,
but I do not know whom to ask.
Sam Sloan

The older ones are fine. More recent probably belong to the state
federation which published the magazine. I am sure any federation
would want to have their publications turned into a book; the only
issue would be if someone else already had the idea and was publishing
them.

Seriously, a series of state chess publications would be a great thing
to do; I am not trying to mock you, but I think you should get
permission from the original publisher.

Jerry Spinrad

samsloan

2012-07-12 03:43:49 UTC

Post by samsloan

Agreed. A series for various states would rank in my book as Sam's
best contribution, assuming he actually got permission for each of
them.
Jerry

Permission from whom?
It so happened that the editor of the Virginia Chess News Roundup is
still alive at age 88. He remembered me. We played a tournament game
in the 1957 Virginia Championship. He won. I called him and he sent me
all the issues of this publication.
However, the editors of the Carolina Gambit from that time are all
dead now. That was a better publication and I would like to get it,
but I do not know whom to ask.
Sam Sloan

The older ones are fine. More recent probably belong to the state
federation which published the magazine. I am sure any federation
would want to have their publications turned into a book; the only
issue would be if someone else already had the idea and was publishing
them.
Seriously, a series of state chess publications would be a great thing
to do; I am not trying to mock you, but I think you should get
permission from the original publisher.
Jerry Spinrad

In the case of Virginia, I had permission as I contacted both the
editor from that time and the current editor. They supplied the back
issues I used. I only had myself seven issues of the Virginia Chess
News Roundup and one issue of the Carolina Gambit.

What surprises me is I never expected to sell any of these. I just
reprinted them for my own interest especially since my name was in
many of these publications.

To my great surprise, I have sold a few already. I never expected
that.

Sam Sloan

Your smrat ®

2012-07-11 20:07:59 UTC

Post by j***@vanderbilt.edu
Agreed. A series for various states would rank in my book as Sam's
best contribution, assuming he actually got permission for each of
them.

Russell Miller

2012-07-19 20:06:47 UTC