Comparison of the 1905 International Match Books, by Jim Loy
You may have heard that there were two books about the 1905 International Match between Great Britain and the U.S. John T. Denvir's book (mostly unannotated) came out first, and was quite a scandal, as it was unauthorized by the tournament organizers, and it led to Denvir being barred from tournaments. August Heffner's book came out about a year later, and is fairly well-annotated. Given Denvir's reputation for sloppy publishing, one would assume that the Heffner book is more accurate. After I thumbed through them for several days, I can tell you that there are many differences between the two books. I have not counted the individual errors, nor have I bothered to count the many times that the same game differed in length by only a few moves. The following are the biggest differences:
In 12 games, the two books show entirely different games.
In 2 games, Denvir's book shows the wrong results.
In many games, Denvir's book shows no results, a few of these are wins.
In Denvir's book, 7 games are scrambled and mostly illegal.
In 12 games in Denvir's book, the names are switched.
Denvir doesn't always distinguish R. Jordan from A. Jordan.
Denvir's book fails to include 4 games.
Heffner's book fails to include 2 games, repeats of previously published games.
Denvir's book has 30 games which are 10 to 49 moves shorter.
Heffner's book has 3 games which are 13 to 19 moves shorter.
Denvir's book repeats the same 4 games on the same page.
Denvir's book has vastly more one-move typos, most of which are easy to correct.
Incidentally, the OCA archive, on the Internet, uses the games from Denvir's book.
Detailed comparison of Denvir's 1905 IM book with Heffner's 1905 IM book
Many of the games are two or three moves shorter in one of the books
Using Heffner's book as the standard (as Denvir was notoriously careless), the following is how Denvir's book differs when the differences are not small:
1. R. Stewart - J. Horr: Game 4 is 29 moves shorter.
2. G. Buchanan - W. Hill: Game 1 is 10 moves short.
3. R. Jordan - A. Heffner: Game 4 is mostly illegal.
4. J. Ferrie - J. Denvir: Game 1, the last moves are different.
5. J. Searight - C. Barker: Game 3 is 12 moves shorter, and game 4 is 10 moves short.
6. A. Jordan - G. Dearborn: Game 1 is mostly illegal, and game 2 is 16 moves short.
7. W. Gardner - A. Schaefer:
8. A. Hynd - L. Head:
9. W. Halliwell - S. Grover: Game 3 is 47 moves short.
10. H. Morrall - H. Reynolds: Game 3, 3 moves are different, and is 16 moves short.
1. R. Stewart - H. Reynolds: Game 2 is 13 moves shorter, and game 4 is 10 moves short.
2. G. Buchanan - G. Dearborn: Game 1; Heffner does not show this game.
3. R. Jordan - L. Head:
4. J. Ferrie - W. Hill:
5. J. Searight - J. Horr:
6. A. Jordan - J. Denvir:
7. W. Gardner - S. Grover:
8. A. Hynd - C. Barker:
9. W. Halliwell - A. Heffner:
10. H. Morrall - A. Schaefer:
1. R. Stewart - G. Dearborn: Game 2 is 12 moves short, and g.3 is 38 moves short.
2. G. Buchanan - A. Heffner:
3. R. Jordan - H. Reynolds: Game 4 missing 99 moves (mostly illegal).
4. J. Ferrie - S. Grover:
5. J. Searight - L. Head:
6. A. Jordan - A. Schaefer:
7. W. Gardner - W. Hill:
8. A. Hynd - J. Denvir: Game 4 scrambled and illegal.
9. W. Halliwell - C. Barker: Game 1, 18 moves short, and Barker win given as a draw and game 3, last moves are different.
10. H. Morrall - J. Horr:
1. R. Stewart - W. Hill:
2. G. Buchanan - C. Barker: Game 1, 14 moves short.
3. R. Jordan - J. Denvir:
4. J. Ferrie - A. Schaefer: Game 4, 21 moves short and doesn't include the losing move.
5. J. Searight - H. Reynolds:
6. A. Jordan - J. Horr:
7. W. Gardner - A. Heffner: Game 3, 5 moves different and 14 moves short.
8. A. Hynd - S. Grover:
9. W. Halliwell - G. Dearborn:
10. H. Morrall - L. Head: Game 2, 12 moves different.
1. R. Stewart - A. Heffner: Game 1, 10 moves short.
2. G. Buchanan - S. Grover:
3. R. Jordan - J. Horr: Games 1 and 2, the names are switched.
4. J. Ferrie - L. Head: Game 3 is a different game.
5. J. Searight - A. Schaefer: The names were switched in all four games.
6. A. Jordan - W. Hill: Game 4 mostly illegal.
7. W. Gardner - G. Dearborn: Game 1 is 25 moves short.
8. A. Hynd - H. Reynolds: Game 4 is 15 moves short.
9. W. Halliwell - J. Denvir: Game 3 is 6 moves longer.
10. H. Morrall - C. Barker: Game 2 is 44 moves short and game 4 is 49 moves short.
1. R. Stewart - S. Grover: Games 3 and 4, the names are switched.
2. G. Buchanan - L. Head:
3. R. Jordan - A. Schaefer:
4. J. Ferrie - G. Dearborn: Game 3 mostly illegal.
5. J. Searight - W. Hill:
6. A. Jordan - A. Heffner:
7. W. Gardner - C. Barker:
8. A. Hynd - J. Horr:
9. W. Halliwell - H. Reynolds:
10. H. Morrall - J. Denvir:
1. R. Stewart - L. Head:
2. G. Buchanan - H. Reynolds: four completely different games.
3. R. Jordan - W. Hill: Game 2 is 11 moves short.
4. J. Ferrie - J. Horr: Game 3, last 8 moves are different.
5. J. Searight - S. Grover: Game 3 is 13 moves short.
6. A. Jordan - C. Barker: Game 1 is 19 moves longer.
7. W. Gardner - J. Denvir: Game 1, last 7 moves are different. Heffner didn't show game 4.
8. A. Hynd - G. Dearborn:
9. W. Halliwell - A. Schaefer: Games 1 and 2 the names are switched. Heffner didn't show game 3, as it was not written down. Games 3 and 4, Denvir shows two completely different games.
10. H. Morrall - A. Heffner: four completely different games.
1. R. Stewart - A. Schaefer: Game 4 is 28 moves short.
2. G. Buchanan - J. Denvir: Game 1, last moves scrambled.
3. R. Jordan - G. Dearborn:
4. J. Ferrie - C. Barker:
5. J. Searight - A. Heffner: Game 4 is 26 moves short.
6. A. Jordan - L. Head: Game 3 is 17 moves short.
7. W. Gardner - H. Reynolds: Game 1 is 31 moves short.
8. A. Hynd - W. Hill:
9. W. Halliwell - J. Horr:
10. H. Morrall - S. Grover: Game 1 is a different game.
1. R. Stewart - C. Barker:
2. G. Buchanan - J. Horr:
3. R. Jordan - S. Grover:
4. J. Ferrie - A. Heffner:
5. J. Searight - J. Denvir: Game 2 is 13 moves longer.
6. A. Jordan - H. Reynolds: Game 2 is 22 moves short.
7. W. Gardner - L. Head:
8. A. Hynd - A. Schaefer:
9. W. Halliwell - W. Hill: Games 1 and 2, the names are switched, and the first game in Denvir's book is 27 moves short and the second game is a RW not a WW. Game 4 is 13 moves longer.
10. H. Morrall - G. Dearborn: Not played due to Dearborn's move to a hospital.
1. R. Stewart - J. Denvir: 4th game was not played.
2. G. Buchanan - A. Schaefer: Denvir didn't publish these four games.
3. R. Jordan - C. Barker: Game 2 is 10 moves short.
4. J. Ferrie - H. Reynolds: Game 1 is 26 moves short.
5. J. Searight - G. Dearborn: Unplayed.
6. A. Jordan - S. Grover: Game 3 mostly illegal and game 4 as a few illegal moves.
7. W. Gardner - J. Horr:
8. A. Hynd - A. Heffner: Denvir showed these four games twice.
9. W. Halliwell - L. Head:
10. H. Morrall - W. Hill: