Tartajubow On Chess II: Columbian Chess Congress

You probably wouldn’t have wanted to be living in New York City back in 1893. That was the year of a hurricane known as the Midnight Storm. It was a powerful and destructive hurricane that struck the New York City area in August 1893. First identified as a tropical storm on August 15, over the central Atlantic Ocean, the hurricane ultimately peaked with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph. It struck western Long Island on August 24 with sustained winds down to 85 miles per hour, moved inland and quickly deteriorated, degenerating the next day.
The storm inflicted severe damage with storm surges as high as 30 feet. Legend has it that Hog Island was largely washed away. Roofs and chimneys were ripped off buildings and windows were broken. In Central Park more than a hundred trees were torn up by the roots, and thousands of dead birds fell to the ground after being washed out of, or drowned in, their nests. Thirty-four sailors were killed when vessels were blown ashore and men swept overboard. The tugboat Panther, towing two coal barges, was wrecked; 17 crew members perished and three lived. High winds brought down telegraph wires and left the city almost entirely cut off from communication with outside locations. At Coney Island, the storm completely destroyed many buildings, walkways, piers, and beach resorts.

There was also the Panic of 1893, a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy and produced political upheaval that impacted the election of 1896 and the presidency of William McKinley. The Panic can be traced back to Argentina. The 1890 wheat crop failure and a coup in Buenos Aires had lead fearful European investors to start a run on gold in the U.S. Treasury. Come February 20, 1893, twelve days before the inauguration of President Grover Cleveland, concern for the state of the economy deepened and people rushed to withdraw their money from banks, and caused bank runs. The credit crunch rippled through the economy. A financial panic in London combined with a drop in continental European trade caused foreign investors to sell American stocks to obtain American funds backed by gold.

The result was panic and dropping stock prices. And on June 27th there was a great stock crash on the New York stock exchange. Five hundred banks closed, fifteen thousand businesses failed and numerous farms went bankrupt.. Unemployment was 25 percent in Pennsylvania, 35 percent in New York, and 43 percent in Michigan. Soup kitchens were opened and facing starvation, people chopped wood, broke rocks, and did sewing in exchange for food. In some cases, women resorted to prostitution to feed their families.

     Then there was the collapse of the proposed Columbian Chess Congress, also known as the 7th American Chess Congress. In 1893, New York City was to be the site for a tournament to coincide with the Columbian Exposition of 1893, a world’s fair held in Chicago, hence the name Columbian Chess Congress. The tournament never took place because the committee wasn’t able to raise enough money. Eventually there was a 7th Congress, but it wasn’t until 1904 and it was held in St. Louis; Frank Marshall won it.
     The collapse of the Columbian was an embarrassment. Adolf Albin, Francis J. Lee, Nicolai Jasnogrodsky, Jean Taubenhaus, Arnold Schottlander and G.H.D. Gossip had all been in New York since August or mid-September of 1893. They were visiting the Manhattan and Brooklyn chess clubs giving exhibitions, lectures, etc. and were terribly disappointed, shocked even, by the cancellation of the Columbian Congress. So were a number of leading masters from Europe who had considered making the Atlantic crossing to play in the event.
     After the Columbian collapsed a project was initiated at the Manhattan Chess Club to arrange a tournament with prizes in proportion to whatever the amount of money that could be raised. They named it the Impromptu International Tournament. The tournament was held during September-October 1893 at both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Chess Clubs.
     The committee solicited subscriptions and were able to confidently count on $800 for prizes, while there were promises that could bring the total up to more than $900. In 1893. $800 was equivalent in purchasing power to about $22,768 today.
     The hours of play were 2 to 6 and 7 to 9 P.M. with a time limit of twenty moves an hour. There was also a $10 entry fee which was no small amount...the equivalent of about $284 today. The prize fund was a percentage of the money raised: 40 for first, 25 for second, 16 for third, 11 fourth, and 8 for fifth. The entry fees were divided among the non-prize winners in proportion to the number of games won.
     Albert B. Hodges wrote to the committee stating that he desired to enter if different hours of play could be arranged to suit him. Special starting times had been made for two of the players (Eugene Delmar and J.S. Ryan) and Hodges was offered the same schedule, but he chose not to enter and so E. N. Olly of the Brooklyn Chess Club was substituted for Hodges.
     W.H.K. Pollack was disappointed that the tournament was not a double round event. His reason was that he was a “slow starter” that he was required to “lose four of five games before finding his gate.” Nevertheless, he expressed confidence that he would play some good games and take a high place.
     Emanuel Lasker ran away with the tournament scoring a perfect 13-0 and earned $300 ($5,600.00 today). Interesting was Pollack’s performance compared to his pre-tournament prediction. Pollock used almost all of his time in every game, scored +4 -7 =2 and according to magazine reports, “played good chess only at the very finish” and avoided a “barely catastrophic performance.”

Final standings:
1) Lasker 13.0 – 0.0
2) Albin 8.5-4.5
3-5) Delmar, Lee and Showalter 8.0-5.0
6) Hanham 7.5-5.5
7) Pillsbury 7.0-6.0
8) Taubenbhaus 6.0-7.0
9-11) Pollock, Ryan and Schmidt 5.0-8.0
12) Jasnogrodsky 4.0-9.0
13) Olly 3.5-9.5
14) Gossip 2.5-10.5

     Not a lot is known about the two players in the following game. John S. Ryan was born in Ireland somewhere around 1849 and died about 1914. A member of the Manhattan Chess Club, he was a player of some status in the club.
     Edward Olly (March 26, 1856 – February 27, 1933) was born in Kars, Turkey. He lived Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey which is near Hackensack and was a state champion. He was a member of the Brooklyn Chess Club.
     The game features a typical smothered that you see in all the books, but never get to actually play.

Still, it does happen and even strong masters can fall victim. A recent example is Klaus Bischoff against Karsten Mueller in the 2004 German Championship.

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Monday, August 5, 2019

Columbian Chess Congress

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