Olimpiu G. Urcan
Chess History Books & Featured Articles















Updates:
Arthur Kaufmann (2012) - a detailed review by Dr. Renate Wagner appeared in Der Neue Merker

Books:

Surviving Changi: E.E. Colman - A Chess Biography (Singapore: SHS, 2007)
Adolf Albin in America: A European Chess Master's Sojourn, 1893-1895 (Jefferson: McFarland, 2008)
Julius Finn: A Chess Master's Life in America, 1871-1931 (Jefferson: McFarland, 2010)
Arthur Kaufmann: A Chess Biography, 1872-1938 (Jefferson: McFarland, 2012), with Dr. Peter M. Braunwarth

To be published soon:

A second, revised edition (with corrections and new material) of Surviving Changi
William H.K. Pollock: A Chess Biography, 1859-1896 - co-authored with Dr. John S. Hilbert for McFarland

The book ideas/projects above are original and patented according to the Singapore Laws of Intellectual Property Rights.

Past Pieces column at ChessCafé.com:

Two Little-known Nimzowitsch Games (April 2012)
John W. Griggs: When Chess Touched Politics (March 2012; contribution by Dr. John S. Hilbert)
Fortune and Misfortune on the Path to Chess Mastery: Harold E. Jennings' Early Years (February 2012)
Reshevsky: A Forgotten Interview & Game (January 2012)

Swiss Standards (December 2011; book review)
An Invaluable Contribution to Chess History (November 2011; contribution by Dr. John S. Hilbert)
An Unusual Clash: Kostić vs. Bataks, Medan 1925 (October 2011)
A Little-Known Steinitz Interview (September 2011)
A Chess-Loving Jailbird: San Quentin's Peter Claudianos (August 2011)
A Dubuque Mystery: Louis Paulsen's Blindfold Records (July 2011)
Persisting Mysteries (June 2011; book review)
A Little-Known Capablanca Interview (May 2011)
Forgotten Prodigies: The Barrett Case (April 2011)
Two New Leonard Games (March 2011)
An Irishman's Riveting American Story (February 2011; book review)
John G. White on Draws (January 2011)

An Unfortunate Christmas (December 2010)
The Stolzenberg File: Early Findings, in Dialogue (November 2010)
A Lifeless Game Collection (October 2010; book review)
Fewer Hats, More Quills (September 2010; book review)
Frank P. Beynon: Chess Player, Soldier, Hero (August 2010)
Sketches and Engravings, Part Two (July 2010)
E. M. Edwards: Forgotten Prodigy (June 2010)
Kostić's Long Weekend in Singapore (May 2010)
Max Wolfson: Unwitting Pioneer (April 2010)
Sketches and Engravings, Part One (March 2010)
An Immortalizing Single Shot (February 2010, book review)
Historical Flavor (January 2010; book review)

Interview with Lissa Waite (December 2009)
"Suspicious Character": Vladimir Sournin, 1875-1942 (November 2009)
Schottländer in America (October 2009)
Interview with Eliot Hearst (September 2009)
A Man Chess Made (August 2009; book review)
A Peaceful Victory (July 2009)

Contributions for Kingpin Chess Magazine:

A Bad End to the Year (December 2011)
New York 1927: Pen-portraits by George Currie (October 2011)


Other articles in various magazines:

A Chess Player's Tragic End: Arthur Reynolds, 1910-1943 (New in Chess, 2009/5)
Coman's Rook Remains Remarkably Resourceful (NIC Yearbook, 86/2008)
Frank J. Marshall, Opening Innovator:  A Stubborn Myth? (New in Chess, 2007/3)
The Mysterious Chess Life of Rudolph L. Sze (at ChessCafe.com & New in Chess)
Chess Expert Jailed: Jasnogrodsky's Troubles in America (Chess Life, July 2007)


Links:

Edward Winter's Chess Notes
McFarland & Company, Inc.
Ken Whyld Association
ChessCafé
ChessHistory.com
Chess Archaeology
Kingpin Magazine



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An award-winning author, Olimpiu G. Urcan has authored several chess biographies and contributed articles to some of the world's best chess magazines (New in Chess, Chess Life and CHESS Monthly). Besides his work on SE Asian history, Urcan  is researching various aspects of late 1800s - early 1900s chess in Europe & America. Of Italian and Turkish descent, he spent the 1980s behind the Iron Curtain. Since 2002 he lives in Singapore and has traveled extensively in the Far East.

Currently Urcan runs a monthly chess column, Past Pieces, for ChessCafé and contributes regularly to Kingpin.

Contact: urcanolimpiu@gmail.com
Follow chess history updates from this author on Twitter: @PastPieces