If that has been done we can decide whether additional research in certain directions that have been neglected so far has to be done. As soon as we know what the sources really tell us we can launch a search for the puzzles' missing pieces. If the sources lead us to think that materials that might link certain chess games may be found in a certain area, at a given time, we should devote special care to that given area and time. We might find that we ourselves are unfit to do that work, thus we have to recruit specialists in all the fields needed. Hopefully I have been able to transport the necessity of finding specialists e.g. for the languages and cultures of South East Asia in order to find out more on the chess games of that region.
Every opinion has to be checked and rechecked to exclude the possibility of biased opinions.
Only then is the time to formulate new working hypotheses, which after being backed by sources may have enough support to become a thesis.