28 October 2007

Biographical Data for Soviet Players

I have only a short note to write today. I looked at the first few names on my database of Soviet Players, compared them to a few of my sources at hand, and checked the results.

I counted:-
50 names starting with 'A' or 'B' (e.g. Alekhine & Botvinnik), and found
46 listed in 'Chess Personalia' by Gaige,
42 listed in the Chessgames.com: Chess Player Directory, and
23 listed in 'The Oxford Companion to Chess' by Hooper and Whyld.

All 50 names are listed in at least one reference. That's an encouraging start!

2 comments:

Robert Pearson said...

If you've found 4 players not listed by Gaige you're doing a wonderful job!

Mark Weeks said...

Hi Wahrheit - I wouldn't jump to any conclusions yet. My copy of Gaige has biographical data until 1985 or thereabouts. The last Soviet Championship was played in 1991. The missing names might be players who were not yet known to Gaige. I'll tackle a few more names and then analyze the discrepancies. The more I use Gaige, the more I'm impressed by his thoroughness. - Mark