The U.S. Open Championship has been held in the United States annually since 1900. The tournament was originally the championship of the Western Chess Association and was called the Western Open. In 1934 the Western Chess Association became the American Chess Federation and the tournament became the American Chess Federation congress. In 1939, that organization merged into the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and the tournament became the U.S. Open.
In early years the tournament was usually small and most years was a round robin. In some years it had to be divided into preliminary and final sections. It grew larger starting in 1934, necessitating use of different formats. In 1946 the Swiss System was used for preliminary rounds and beginning in 1947 it became a single section Swiss.
The early Western Opens were a Who's Who of American players of the day, many of whom are long forgotten: Louis Uedemann, Nicholas MacLeod, Stasch Mlotkowski, Edward F. Schrader, George H. Wolbrecht, Einar Michelsen, Edward P. Elliot, Charles Blacke, Bradford B. Jefferson, Samuel Factor, Leon Stolzenberg, Albert Margolis and Herman H. Hahlbohm.
A few were well known: Max Judd, Oscar Chajes, Jackson Showalter, Edward Lasker, Bora Kostic, Norman Whitaker, Carlos Torre, Abraham Kupchik, Samuel Reshevsky and Reuben Fine.
There wasn't much going on in Memphis in 1920. The city did host the Commission on Interracial Cooperation Women's Interracial Conference, but that's about it. The population was 162,351, today it's over 650,000 and it's known as home to musicians like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Muddy Waters, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Robert Johnson, W. C. Handy, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. Jones, Eric Gales, Al Green, Alex Chilton, Justin Timberlake and the late Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis.
One interesting thing about Memphis didn't come about until long after the tournament...their strange traffic laws. By 1929 the city was experiencing an alarming increase in automobile accidents and the motor car had become the greatest menace to human life and had made the streets of the city places of real danger. That's what the city's traffic code book said. In fact, on the front cover there was an ad for an ambulance service whose slogan was “World's Finest Ambulance Service.”
By 1929 you couldn’t hitch a horse to a hydrant or to any ornamental or shade tree or lamp post and it was forbidden to drive or ride any animal with a bell attached to it. The only exception was made for a sleigh or sled.
No motor vehicle could be operated at a speed greater than 25 miles per hour and if you were going around a corner you had to slow to 10 miles per hour. Trucks could not be driven at a greater speed than 20 miles per hour.
Roller skates were not permitted on city streets and you couldn't hitch a ride on a moving streetcar or other moving vehicle for the purpose of being propelled along if you were riding a bicycle.
If you had a vehicle that was used primarily for advertising purposes you couldn't stop in a congested district, but had to keep moving at a speed of at least 3 miles per hour. One “traffic” law even stated you could not use dirigible searchlights or spotlights on public streets.
Back to the tournament...defending champion Edward Lasker took his fourth title, but he was challenged by hometown hero and two-time champion Bradford B. Jefferson. Lasker defeated Jefferson in the first round, but three draws allowed Jefferson a chance to catch up before his last-round loss to John T. Beckner. Jackson W. Showalter had been expected to play, but telegraphed his regrets at the last moment.
The tournament was held in the Chess Room of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. Play was from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, then after lunch from 3;00 pm to 7:00 pm. The time limit was 15 moves per hour.
1) Edward Lasker (+4 -0 =3) 5.5
2) Bradford B Jefferson (+4 -2 =1) 4.5
3) John T. Beckner (+4 -2 =1) 4.5
4) Robert Scrivener (+3 -2 =2) 4.0
5) Eric M. Cobb (+4 -3 =0) 4.0
6) Louis R. Eisenberg (+3 -3 =1) 3.5
7) Marvin C. Palmer (+2 -5 =1) 1.5
8) John H. Norris (+0 -6 =1) 0.5
Norris' only draw was against Lasker
The first brilliancy prize was awarded to Henry Bird in 1876. Brilliancy prizes were simply a consolation prize and the games often proved to be unsound and filled with mistakes, but that doesn't matter.
When writing about the famous Evergreen Game between Anderssen and Dufresne, Kasparov wrote, "To create a chess masterpiece, you really do need the generous participation of your opponent!" I'm not sure, but I think that means sacrifices are not sound if one's opponent makes no glaring mistakes. Of course, if both the opponent and the player make no mistakes, glaring or otherwise, at all, the game should theoretically end in a draw. Chess relies upon mistakes, however minuscule, in order to remain a game that people actually want to play.”
The following game earned Eric Cobb of Austin. Texas the brilliancy prize; like many brilliancy prize games it's not perfect, but it is a lot of fun to play over!
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