Knight Sac vs Queen Sac

    Jackson W. Showalter, known as "the Kentucky Lion" after his birthplace and his hairstyle, loved life, family, chess, and cigars and was so well respected by his fellow chess players that even the acerbic William Steinitz was once said that Showalter was one of only six men from whom he would accept a cigar. Showalter passed away at the age or 76 on his birthday, February 5. 1935.
     The Franco-Polish David Janowski (May 25, 1868 – January 15, 1927) began his professional chess career in 1894. He won tournaments in Monte Carlo 1901, Hanover 1902 and tied for first at Vienna 1902 and Barmen 1905. In 1915 he left Europe for the United States and spent the next nine years there before returning to Paris. A sharp tactician who was known for his love of the Bishop pair, Capablanca said, "when in form [he] is one of the most feared opponents who can exist". Capablanca also noted that Janowski's greatest weakness as a player was the endgame. A gambler, he would often lose all of his chess winnings at the roulette wheel. 
     They played four matches, three while Janowski was visiting New York in 1898-1899 and a on in 1916 when the war left Janowski stuck in the United States. 

New York 1899

      On September 13, 1899 Henry Bliss went down in history when he became the first known traffic fatality when he stepped off a streetcar at Central Park and West 74th Street and was run over by an almost silent electric taxi.
     The taxi driver, Arthur Smith, was arrested and tried for manslaughter, but was acquitted.  Smith's passenger was Dr. David Edson, son of a former city mayor.  Today there is a plaque in Smith's memory.

74th and Central Park today

     The first match was played at the Manhattan Chess Club in New York from November 18, 1898 through January 12, 1899. The stakes were $750 a side. The match was to be played to seven wins for either player, draws not counting. However, if there were a tie at six games each, then they were to play till one achieved ten wins. The match was postponed after the ninth game on December 10th, with Janowski leading by 4-2, when Showalter returned home to Georgetown, Kentucky, after receiving news of the death of his brother, Judge John W. Showalter of Chicago. After resumption on January 6, 1899 only four more games were required, Janowski winning the final three in a row. Janowski scored a decisive +& -2 =2 victory. 

The Showalters: John and Jackson

     The second match was originally meant to be a series of five games played at the Manhattan Chess Club from March 15-20, 1899, but the players agreed to add a sixth game when the score was tied 2-2. The stakes were $125 per side, with a $60 purse put up by the club and split between the two players. Showalter lost the first two games then scored four wins in a row to take the match 4-2. 
     A little over week, starting on March 29 and lasting until April 7, 1899 they began the third match hosted by the Brooklyn Chess Club. The stakes were $250 a side, with the Club tossing in an extra $100 to be divided equally between the players. Showalter scored a solid win, +4 -2 =1. 
     The fourth match was played December 8-29, 1916 at the Elks' Club in Lexington, Kentucky, with games 6-10 in Showalter's home town of Georgetown. The stakes were $750 a side, with Janowski's travel and living expenses being paid. 
     By that time both players were past their peak, but while Janowski had stayed active while the older Showalter had been semi-retired for some time, but had recently staged a successful return to tournament play. In match play in 1916 he demolished Norman T. Whitaker by a score of 6-1. He also tried to arrange matches in Kentucky with Abraham Kupchik and Boris Kostic. 
     The Russian-born Kupchik isn't well known, but he was a very solid player with an extremely boring style.  Arnold Denker described Kuochik, an accountant by profession, as a frightened little rabbit who was barely five feet tall and weighing no more than 115 pounds, adding that he was “so lacking in physical substance that he seemed in perpetual danger of becoming the man who was no longer there. 

Kupchik in the 1930s

     He won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship ten times outright and tied for wirst once. In 1915, he tied for third place with Oscar Chajes, behind Capablanca and Marshall in New York. In 1916, he tied for second with Janowski and Kostic behind Capablanca and he tied for first with Marshall at Lake Hopatcong 1923. In match play, Kupchik lost a to Bogoljubow (+1 −3 =2), drew a match with Carlos Torre Repetto (+1 −1 =4) in New York. He played for the US team in the Olympiad at Warsaw 1935, scoring an impressive +6 -0 =8 on third board. 
     Borislav Kostic (1887 – 1963) was a Hungarian-born Serbian player. In 1910 he moved to Germany and began touring mainly in the Americas, playing matches against local champions and exhibiting his legendary skills as a player of simultaneous blindfold chess.  
     At New York in 1916, he played twenty opponents without sight of a board and won nineteen games and drew one, while engaging in conversation with opponents and spectators. 
     Kostic played matches against Frank Marshall, Jackson Showalter, and Paul Leonhardt, winning them all. Then at Havana in 1919 he lost 5-0 to Capablanca who was just coming into his own. Kostic also played in several tournaments while in the United States; In New York 1918 he finished second behind Capablanca. 
     In their first three matches, Janowski and Showalter were fairly evenly matched with Janowski scoring +11 -10 =5. In the last match Janowski dominated and the overall total was a Janowski victory with a +18 -12 =6 score.
     One of the most exciting games was game 6 of their 1898 match: Janowski sacrificed a N and then two moves later Showalter counter sacrificed his Queen. This amazing game is filled with fascinating tactics, many of which were missed by both players as well as annotator James Mason!