Manhattan CC vs. Brooklyn CC Way Back in 1907

     On the down side of 1907, life expectancy was very short...45.6 years for males and 49.9 years for females. The leading causes of death were pneumonia, tuberculosis and diarrhea and enteritis, which, together with diphtheria, caused one third of all deaths. When my mother was six years old in 1913, her four year old sister died of diphtheria, a serious infection that can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and even death. 

     One of the biggest typhoid fever epidemics of all time broke out between 1906 and 1907 in New York when Mary Mallon, often referred to as Typhoid Mary, spread the bacterial infection to about 122 New Yorkers during her time as a cook on an estate and in a hospital unit. 

     On the plus side, the Scott Paper Company introduced paper towels in 1907 for public bathroom use; their kitchen use didn't arrive until 1931. And, the Kellogg cereal company promoted their cornflakes with something called the Wink Day campaign. Women we’re encouraged to “wink at your grocer and see what you get” and what they got was a free box of cereal.  

     Factoids: Starting in 1907 and lasting until 1922, women who were US citizens lost their citizenship if they married a foreigner. Speaking of marriage, over in England prior to 1907 it it had been illegal to marry your dead wife’s sister. 

     If you were an American chess aficionado there was bad news, too. On February 23, Britain defeated the US in the 9th cable match by a score of +3 =2 =5. Then in April, Emanuel Lasker retained his world championship crown by defeating Frank Marshall 11.5 to 3.5.

     On the plus side, in 1907 a whole gaggle of masters were born: American master Ted Dunst (1907-1985), English barrister, political theorist, philosopher and strong amateur player Gerald Abrahams (1907-1980), Ludwig Roedl (1907-1970) a German IM, Erno Gereben, aka Ernst Gruenfeld, (1907-1988), Louis D. Statham (1907-1983) a wealthy engineer and inventor who sponsored the series of Lone Pine International tournaments from 1971-1981, Danish IM Hens Evald Enevoldson-Eising (1907-1980), Latvian champion Vladimir Petrov (1907-1943), Gregory (Garry) Koshnitsky (1907-1999) an Australian champion and correspondence IM, Argentine champion Isaias Pleci (1907-1979) was born, Israel Albert “Al” Horowitz (1907-1973), a leading player in the US during the 1930's and an IM and, finally, Yugoslav champion GM Vasja Pirc (1907-1980).

     Even more important, 1907 was the year my parents were born and because of that you are reading this blog! 

     In a long forgotten event, one of the largest gatherings of chess players ever seen in the vicinity of New York City for a long time took place in the rooms of the Manhattan Chess Club in Carnegie Hall on November 5 when the teams of the Manhattan and Brooklyn chess clubs, twenty-five strong, met in the first team match held between these clubs in several years. 

     The match was held on election day and in Brooklyn voting turn out was poor and there was very little interest; the Brooklyn Daily Eagle mentioned that it was a fine day for playing golf. The paper didn't even mention the chess match. 

     There was, however, an interesting article on the front page about how in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, cash was scarce and the city was making payments by checks. People were making purchases using script payable only through the Pittsburgh Clearing House. The public was warned not to purchase script from scalpers and fearing an epidemic of crime, police warned people not to horde money in their homes. 

     Up in Montreal a conductor on a Rutland Railway train was positive that Raymond Hitchcock was on one of his cars. Raymond Hitchcock (1865-1929) was an American silent film actor, stage actor and stage producer, who appeared in, or produced 30 plays on Broadway from 1898 to 1928, and who appeared in the silent films of the 1920s. 

     Also in the news was the story of a Brooklynite, 18-year Rudolph Gross, who had been admitted to the hospital. He was not insane and appeared healthy, but the hospital staff was flummoxed by his inability to speak; he communicated in writing. He was seized by the condition when he entered a restaurant, but then suddenly lost his ability to speak. Restaurant employees left him seated about an hour then kicked him out and he then sat on the front steps where he remained over night. In the morning the police took him to the police station and when he would not talk, he was taken to the hospital. 

     Sounds like he had aphasia, a condition that affects the ability to communicate through speech as well as the way a person writes and understands both spoken and written language. It typically occurs suddenly after a stroke or a head injury, but can also come on gradually from a slow-growing brain tumor or a disease that causes progressive, permanent damage. 

     Though neither team was at full strength, Manhattan won by the score of 15 points to 10, scoring +10 -6 =8. At the conclusion, the two teams cheered each other and one of the most successful events of the season was over. The results:

 

[Event "Team Match, New York City"] [Site "?"] [Date "1907.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "J.S. Jones (Manhattan)"] [Black "A.C. Cass (Brooklyn)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "1907.??.??"] {QGD Tarrasch Defense} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 {An early example of the Tarrasch Defense, an aggressive bid for central space. After white plays cxd5 and dxc5, black will be left with an isolated P on d5 which may be weak, but it gives black a foothold in the center and his Bs will have unobstructed lines. Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch contended that the increased mobility black enjoys is well worth the inherent weakness of the isolated d-Pawn. Steinitz rejected the defense out of hand because of the P weakness, but for his part Tarrasch rejected other variations to the point of putting question marks on routine moves in all variations except the Tarrasch(which he awarded an exclamation mark in his book Die Moderne Schachpartie. Today the defense is considered sound.} 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Be6 {Popular at the time, this old move has long since disappeared from master practice in favor of 5...Nc6} 6. e3 (6. e4 dxe4 7. Nxe4 Nc6 8. Be3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 {is equal. Lasker,E-Janowski,D Berlin 1910}) (6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 c4 8. O-O Bb4 9. Qa4+ Nc6 10. Ne5 {White is sightly better. Loncar,R (2374)-Fucak,E (2276) Rijeka CRO 2015}) 6... Nf6 $14 7. Bb5+ Nbd7 {[%mdl 32]} 8. O-O {[%cal Oe3e4]} Bd6 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Nd4 {Fianchettoing the B with 10.b3 was a good alternative.} O-O 11. Nb3 Bd6 12. f4 {This is a positional mistake.} (12. Nd4 a6 13. Bd3 {is completely equal.}) 12... Nc5 13. Nd4 Nfe4 14. Nxe4 Nxe4 15. Bd3 Re8 16. b3 Rc8 17. Bb2 Qh4 {It would have been better to preserve his B by retreating it to d7 in which case he would have had a slight advantage.} 18. Nf3 (18. Bxe4 {was a reasonable try but after} dxe4 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 20. Rc1 Rxc1 {the position is equal.} 21. Qxc1) 18... Qh6 { Returning to d8 would have been better because the Q is out of play here and black loses a P.} 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. Qxd6 exf3 21. Rxf3 Red8 22. Qb4 {[%mdl 2048]} Rd5 {[%mdl 8192] Black wants to add the R to his K-side attack, but this is a tactical error which white also was unaware of.} (22... Qh5 {keeps white's advantage at a minimum.} 23. h3 (23. Rg3 {fails to} Rd1+) 23... Qc5 24. Qxc5 Rxc5) 23. Rg3 (23. e4 a5 (23... Rh5 24. Rg3 g6 25. Qd4 {wins}) 24. Qxb7 Rd2 25. Bc3 Rc2 26. Rd1 {leaves black in dire straits.}) 23... f6 (23... g6 { was a must play, but after} 24. Qe7 Qh5 {Threatening ...Rd8+} 25. Bd4 Qe2 26. Qxb7 {white still has a decisive advantage.}) 24. Qe7 {White is winning.} Bf5 ( 24... Bf7 {This is no better.} 25. Bxf6 Re8 26. Bxg7 Rxe7 27. Bxh6+) 25. Bxf6 { [%cal Rg3g7]} Rd7 26. Qe5 {This is sufficient, but 26.Bxg7 as above still works.} g6 27. e4 Qh5 {The old ...Rd1+ threat again.} 28. Rf3 Bg4 29. Rc3 Rf8 30. Qxh5 Bxh5 31. Bg5 Kg7 32. e5 Bg4 33. Rac1 Kf7 34. Rc7 Ke6 35. h3 Bf5 36. Rxd7 Kxd7 37. Rd1+ Ke8 38. Rd6 Kf7 39. g4 {Black resigned...something he could have done several moves back.} 1-0