Jud McCranie wrote:
On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 14:48:37 GMT, "Alan OBrien"
wrote:

As soon as I saw it was by Bill Wall I closed the window.

OK, I just found it in a google search. I'm not familiar with Bill
Wall, so I take it that he is unreliable, right?

Some of Mr. Wall's work was mentioned by Edward Winter in an essay
titled "A question of credibility," an examination of web-sites dealing
with chess history. It originally appeared at www.chesscafe.com in
1997, and was anthologized in "Kings, Commoners and Knaves" (Russell
Enterprises, 1999). I cannot provide an internet link; it appears the
article is not included in Winter's archives at www.chesshistory.com.
Among other problems, Winter reports a large number of errors in
Wall's recap of Capablanca's career at www.chesschampions.com. Similar
errors are found in his treatment of Alekhine. One example on which
Winter heaps particular scorn:

"Among Mr. Wall's other effluence is a pitiful feature on 'eccentric
chessplayers' (www.txdirect.net/users/wall/chess.htm). A couple of
sentences about Alekhine will give the flavor:
'In a few tournaments he was found in a field drunk. He would urinate
on the floor in other events.'
"For these dainty tidings no documentary source is given, of course,
for the Walls of the world expect us to take on trust their attacks on
the chosen prey of the day ... Poach from a dubious source some suspect
chitchat about a deceased master and whisk it up from an alleged
one-off incident into a categorical denunciation of repeated
misconduct. Yes, being a chess journalist is that easy."

I don't know if any of the sites mentioned are still up. If so, it
would be interesting to check if any corrections have been made.