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Chess History and Reminiscences by H. E. (Henry Edward) Bird
page 25 of 252 (09%)
the Evans Gambit is ascribed to Zukertort, which actually occurred
first in a game between Steinitz and Blackburne, played in the
London Grand Tournament of 1872. This error seems to have been
quoted from Staunton and Wormald's "Chess Theory and Practice."

A few more words about the problems at the end of the book and
we have done with the details. There are about a dozen compositions
mostly by high-class American authors, and some of them of very
good quality; but, unfortunately, Mr. Bird has omitted to indicate
their solutions. We must suppose this to be due to an oversight,
as he gives the key moves of the four problems by English composers.
The omission is deplorable, for many students would wish to
appreciate the author's idea, and the merits of the construction,
if they fail to solve the problem. To quote an instance from our
own experience; we could not find any solution to the problem on
page 224, which composition, we conclude, is either of the highest
order or suffers from the gravest of all faults, that of being
impossible. In either case we should have liked to examine the
solution.

Our judgment of the book, on the whole, is that it cannot be
ranked in the first class with the works of Heydebrand, Zukertort,
Staunton, Lowenthal, Neuman and Suhle, Lange, &c.; but it will
satisfy the demands of the great number of lovers of the game who
do not aspire above the second rank. Mr. Bird's ability and
ingenuity is beyond doubt, and there is ample evidence of his
qualifications in the book before us, but he has not yet acquired
that element of genius which has been defined as the capacity
for taking pains. Mr. Bird could produce a much better book than
this, and we hope he will.
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