1904 CHPY Team Match

     If you remember your history, you know that in 1904 and 1905 the Japanese-Russian War was fought over rival ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. The major military operations took place in the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden in Southern Manchuria and the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea. 

     As a result of the war, cable chess matches between the United States and England were halted due to the cables being filled with battle reports and diplomatic exchanges. Cable chess games just weren't that important. 

     During 1904, Frank Marshall and his backers had been dickering with Emanual Lasker all year for a world championship match, but finally, on January 7, 1905 just before his departure for Paris, Marshall broke off all negotiations because he and his backers could not meet all the terms Lasker had laid down. They finally did meet in 1907 and Marshall got walloped 11.5-3.5. 

     The American Chess Bulletin was a chess periodical that was published monthly (November-April) and bi-monthly (May-October) starting in 1904 until 1962. The editor was Hermann Helms (1870–1963), who founded and edited it until his death, at which point publication ceased. 

    The 1904 issues of the ACB was offering a chess clock of the style used in the famous Cambridge Springs tournament at almost cost for the price of $4.00 (about $31 today) and they would ship it free to any address in in the US, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America. Their reason for offering such a fantastic deal was to "encourage the use of them"...whether they meant this particular clock or clocks in general is not clear. 

     In 1904 there were seven Ivy League universities and four of them, Columbia (New York City), Harvard (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Princeton (Princeton, New Jersey) and Yale (New Haven, Connecticut) met over the Christmas holidays for a team match. 

     Over the years there was very little support for this event from either alumni or undergraduates. For example, the following year, in 1905, the Yale Alumni Weekly reported that when an appeal for donations for expenses was sent out to about 200 Yale graduates only five came through. 

     The 1904 match was the 13th such event which had originated as an idea of of Edward A. Caswell, a graduate of Yale class of 1855 and known in the US as the Father of College Chess. His sudden death, at the age of 76, occurred at the home of his son, Kenneth, at West Chester, Pennsylvania. 

     This was the first event in which Caswell turned over control to a younger generation and the venue was switched from Columbia Grammar School in New York City to the West Side Republican Club which was well lighted and well ventilated. Play began on December 22, 1904 and the TD was Charles Curt of the Brooklyn Chess Club with Hermann Helms and C.S. Howell acting as referees. Sessions lasted fro 1pm-6pm and from 8pm-10pm with all games being played in a single session on the last day.

 

The teams: 

COLUMBIA-G.W. Tucker Jr., Joseph Tolins, Louis P. Wolf, John D. van Buren. Alternates: Abraham Lazinek and Otto Brown

HARVARD-Perry W. Bridgman, S. W. Howland, Graham T. McClure, Quincy A. Brackett. Alternates: K. S Johnson and L. D Granger 

YALE-William N. Woodbury, Charles P. Kimball, Arthur S. Jameson, Cliford H. Owen. Substitutes, Harold E. Dimock and Harold W. Headley. 

     Woodbury (1886-1979) was champion of National Correspondence Chess Association in 1915 and was a well known member of the Correspondence Chess League of America for many years. Outside of chess he designed football stadiums and was the author of a book titled Grandstand and Stadium Design that was published in 1948. He passed away on April 11, 1979 at the age of 93. 

    Harold Dimock (1884-1967, age 82) of New London, Connecticut, was a prominent chess philanthropist of the 1920s and donated many prizes. Along with other members of the Marshall Chess Club, he sponsored several theme tournaments. 

PRINCETON-Stanley Nelson, Theodore Mowry, Waldron Ward, Charles Williams. Substitutes: Harold Richard and Roger Hinds.

 

 

Arthur S. Jameson (Yale) - Waldron Ward (Princeton)

Result: 0-1

Site: Ivy League Team Match, New York

Date: 1904

French: Exchange Variation

[...] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 This game was annotated by C.C. Howell in in the American Chess Bulletin and he sarcastically called this a drawing variation and so was a poor choice against "so poor a defense as the French." There are several things wrong with that statement. First, the French is in no way a poor defense. And, some players simply do not like the closed nature of the French, or they may not be familiar with all its nuances. Hence, the exchange results in simple and clear cut positions. Note that white cannot force a draw and trying too hard to do so sometimes backfires. 3...exd5 4.♘f3 ♗d6 5.♗d3 ♘c6 6.O-O ♗g4 7.c3 ♘ge7 8.♗e3 ♕d7 9.♘bd2 O-O-O 10.b4

10.a4 ♖de8 11.b4 ♘f5 12.♖e1 ♘xe3 13.fxe3 is equal. Ruiz Jimenez,F-Szymanski,M (2426)/Dos Hermanas 2004

10...h5 Crude, but it worked pretty good in this game!

10...♘g6 11.b5 ♘ce7 12.♕a4 ♔b8 13.c4 dxc4 14.♗xc4 equals. Nyland,T (2156)-Roos,J (2250)/Budapest 2009

10...♔b8 proved unsatisfactory after 11.a4 f5 12.♘b3 ♘g6 13.b5 ♘ce7 14.♘c5 and white is better. Decka,E-Krush,I/Szeged 1994

11.a3 Another sarcastic comment by Howell, "Woodshifting as distinguished from chess." He recommended 11.a5 and added that "black has a huge attack hatching on the K-side." Actually, after the text the position is equal, but the play of both sides is not the most accurate.

11.a4 as suggested by Howell does lead to a slight advantage for white. 11...♘f5 12.a5 ♘ce7 13.♕b3 h4 14.c4 h3 15.g3 dxc4 16.♗xc4 with the initiative as black's K-side demonstration is at a standstill.

11.♕a4 also leads to an advantage to white after 11...♗xf3 12.♘xf3 ♘e5 13.♕xd7+ ♘xd7 14.a4

11...h4 This should have allowed white to gain some advantage.

11...♘f5 keeps things even after 12.a4 The lost tempo in taking two moves to play his means it has lost some punch. 12...♖he8 13.♖e1 ♘xe3 14.fxe3 h4 15.a5 h3 16.g3 ♘e7 with equal chances.

12.g3 "Very accommodating." Howell. He was quite correct as after this move white is lost!

12.♕a4 would still keep a small advantage after 12...h3 13.g3 a6 14.b5 leaving black on the defensive.

12...hxg3

12...♘f5 was somewhat more exact, but perhaps less clear cut without an engine. 13.♗f4 hxg3 14.♗xd6 g2 15.♖e1

15.♔xg2 ♕xd6 16.♗xf5+ ♗xf5 17.♖e1 ♕g6+ 18.♔h1 ♗e4 19.♘xe4 dxe4 20.♘g1 ♖xh2+ 21.♔xh2 ♖h8+ 22.♘h3 ♕f5 wins

15...♕xd6 16.♗xf5+ ♗xf5 17.b5 ♘e7 18.♕a4 ♔b8 19.♕b4 ♘g6 20.♕xd6 ♖xd6 Black is much better.

13.fxg3

13.hxg3 is disastrous. 13...♖h5 14.♖e1 ♖dh8 15.♔f1 ♘f5 16.♕c2 ♗xg3 17.fxg3 ♗xf3 18.♘xf3 ♘xg3+ 19.♔f2 ♖h2+

13...♖h3 Also good was the immediate 13...Nf5 14.♗f2

14.b5 trying to continue his Q-side counterplay is shown to be too little too late after 14...♘a5 15.c4 ♘xc4 16.♘xc4 dxc4 17.♗xc4 ♗xg3 with a winning attack.

14...♖dh8 15.♗e2 ♘f5 16.♖e1

16.♕e1 shoring up g3 offered a better practical chance. 16...♕e6 17.♘g5 ♕xe2 18.♘xh3 (18.♕xe2 ♗xe2 19.♘xh3 ♗xf1 20.♖xf1 ♖xh3 Black has won a piece.) 18...♕xe1 19.♖fxe1 ♗xh3 Black has a B and N for a R, but engines give him an easily won position. OTB things might not have been so clearcut!

16...♘xg3 A nice finish! 17.♗xg3 ♗xg3 18.hxg3 ♕d6 19.♔f2

19.♘f1 guarding the g-Pawn meets with a pretty finish. 19...♖xg3+ 20.♔f2 (20.♘xg3 ♕xg3+ mates next move.) 20...♕f4 21.♕d3 ♖hh3 22.♕e3 ♖xf3+ 23.♗xf3 ♖xf3+ wins

19...♕xg3+ Good enough!

19...♖h2+ mates in 20.♘xh2 ♖xh2+ 21.♔e3 ♕h6+ 22.♔d3 ♗f5+ 23.♘e4 ♗xe4#

20.♔e3 ♗xf3

20...♖e8+ 21.♘e4 dxe4 22.♔d2 exf3 23.♗d3 ♕f2+ 24.♖e2 fxe2 25.♕e1 ♖xd3+ 26.♔xd3 ♗f5+ 27.♔c4 ♗e6+ 28.d5 ♗xd5+ 29.♔xd5 ♕f4 30.♕xe2 ♖xe2 31.♖e1 ♖xe1 32.a4 ♖e5#

21.♘xf3 g5 22.♔d2 g4 23.♖f1 gxf3 24.♖xf3 ♕g5+ 25.♔c2 ♖xf3 26.♗xf3 ♕e3 Howell correctly observed that the Rook check (26... Rh2+) was better because black could not have anticipated that white would be so accommodating with his next move. Howell was quite correct because after the text his advantage is minimal.

26...♖h2+ 27.♔b3 ♖d2 28.♕e1 ♘xd4+ 29.cxd4 ♖d3+ 30.♔c2 ♖xf3 with a won ending.

27.♔b2 WJite is lost after this...a real clunker.

27.♗xd5 leaves black with a minimal advantage. A shame after all his hard word, but that's the price of not being vigilant even in a winning position. 27...♖h2+ 28.♔b3 f5 29.♗xc6 bxc6 30.♔a4 This position would be very difficult for black to win in practice. In Shootouts white scored +0 -2 =3, so practically speaking he would have good drawing chances.

27...♖h2+ 28.♔b3 ♖d2 29.♗g4+ ♔b8 30.♕e1 Allowing mate in 7, but the game was lost anyway. 30...♘xd4+ 31.♔a4 b5+ 32.♔a5 For the rest of the game mates abound. 32...♘c6+ (32...♘b3+ 33.♔xb5 ♕b6+ 34.♔a4 ♘c5+ 35.bxc5 ♕a6+ 36.♔b3 ♕c4#) 33.♔xb5 ♕b6+ 34.♔a4 ♕a6+ 35.♔b3 ♕c4+ (35...♘a5+ 36.♔a4 ♘c4+ 37.♔b3 ♖b2#) 36.♔a4 ♖b2 (36...♕a6+ 37.♔b3 ♘a5+ 38.♔a4 ♘c4+ 39.♔b3 ♖b2#) 37.♕e8+

37.♗e2 ♕b3+ 38.♔b5 ♔b7 39.♗f1 ♖c2 40.♖c1 ♘d4+ 41.♔c5 ♘e6+ 42.♕xe6 ♕xc3+ 43.♔xd5 fxe6+ 44.♔xe6 ♕e3+ 45.♔f5 ♖f2+ 46.♔g4 ♕f4+ 47.♔h5 ♕h2+ 48.♗h3 ♕xh3+ 49.♔g6 ♕g3+ 50.♔h7 ♖h2#

37...♔b7 38.♗c8+ (38.♕c8+ ♔b6 39.♕b7+ ♔xb7 40.♗e2 ♕xe2 41.c4 ♕xc4 42.♖a2 ♕a6#) 38...♔b6 39.♕e3+ d4 White resigned. Howell had more sarcasm..."A delayed formality." (39...d4 40.♕xd4+ ♘xd4 41.♖a2 ♕b3#)

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