Old Times: introduction

I've been remiss in getting around to this, but I suppose it's in the nature of an obituary that it'll keep. Anyway, Elaine Pritchard (née Saunders) died on January 7 this year and the Times published a obituary in its edition of January 23. It is behind that newspaper's paywall, but a reader has kindly sent us a copy, which is reproduced below.

Despite assumptions having been made as to the piece's authorship, it is unsigned and authorship has not been claimed when it might have been (for example neither here nor here) so neither this article nor its comments box will be ascribing it to any individual, or for that matter indivduals. We assume, however, that the Times can do so.

Anyway, it's a long and detailed piece, with a lot of information, with substantial quotations from pre-war chess publications, and so on. To all intents and purposes it seems to be an impressive and original piece of research, befitting both its subject and the publication for which it was written.

However, when looked at more closely, it is neither so impressive nor so original as it seems. Over the course of this week, we'll be picking our way through the piece and examining its sources. Both those sources it acknowledges and those sources which it does not.

From Tuesday to Saturday, we look forward to your company.

[Comments are welcomed, but please be cautious in what you write and remember that the piece under discussion is unsigned.]
[Thanks to Brian Stephenson, Gordon Cadden, Richard James, Paul Timson, Martin Smith and others.]