Torre was probably the favorite, but he had left Mexico ten days before the start of the tournament, arrived in New Orleans and from there traveled to Chicago. In Mexico he had been on a lengthy exhibition tour and from the very first round it was evident that he was in poor form, but he recovered and defeated both Marshall and Maroczy.
After Pillsbury left the scene and before the arrival of Marshall, Jackson W. Showalter was probably the best player in the country. He lost two matches to Pillsbury (1897 and 1898), but scored a very respectable +11 -17 =5.
He also played four matches against David Janowski. Three during a visit by Janowski to New York in 1898-1899 and a fourth in 1916 when Janowski was in the States during the war. Janowski dominated the first and last while Showalter prevailed in the two shorter and less formal matches.
In 1889-1900 he played some international chess, but after that he seldom played serious chess. This Chicago tournament was his last important event.
As for Torre, after the tournament he went to New York. He had never given much attention to his health or diet, sometimes going for weeks without a hot meal or good food. Instead, he had a fondness for sweets and it was reported that he sometimes ate a dozen pineapple sundaes a day. But, in New York acquaintances reported he was eating almost nothing but candy and fudge.
Today sugar addiction is recognized as a very real thing and a serious cause for concern. Sugar fuels every cell in the brain and it also sees sugar as a reward which makes a person keep wanting more of it.
Though it is not as strong, the site AddictionCenter.com links the addictive properties of sugar to those of cocaine; sugar creates a burst of energy and a short-term high. One study showed that the effects of sugar addiction withdrawal and relapse are similar to those of drugs of abuse. In addition to his sugar addiction, there were also likely other factors in his life that resulted in a breakdown in which he briefly suffered from psychosis.
Psychosis is characterized by a disconnection from reality and while it may occur as a result of an illness like schizophrenia it can be caused by other health conditions, medications or drug use.
Symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, talking incoherently and agitation and person usually isn't aware of their behavior.
In Torre's case he began undressing on a bus. As a result he was hospitalized for several weeks in New York. During this time he determined to abandon chess and return to Mexico which he did on October 23, 1926. During the remaining 51 years of his life in Mexico he followed chess, bur never again played a serious game.
The tournament was held August 21 through September 2, 1926, and while it was going on there was also a turf war taking place between rival gangs in Chicago; they were hijacking each others booze trucks that were bringing alcohol in to the city.
After the tournament ended, on September 20th, the North Side Gang used drive by cars full of gangsters with Thompson sub-machine guns to shoot into Al Capone's entourage as he was eating lunch in the Hawthorne Hotel restaurant. DETAILS
Jackson W. Showalter–Carlos Torre0–1B03Chicago International Tournament10Chicago, IL USA30.08.1926Stockfish 15
Alekhine's Defense 1.e4 f6 This defense is one of the most
provocative opening systems black has at his disposal. Black invites his
opponent to occupy the center with Ps in order to challenge it. White can
chose between various setups. 2.e5 d5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Seldom
seen, but in 1926 theory on the Alekhine was sparse sinc Alekhine had
introduced it only in 1921. 4.c4 The Four Pawns Attack s a critical test,
but it has pretty much been replaced by the Modern Variation. b6 5.f4
These days white usually prefers 5.exd6 dxe5 6.fxe5 c6 7.e3 f5 8.c3 e6 9.f3 The Modern Variation 4.f3 dxe5 5.xe5 c6 6.e2 f5 7.0-0 4...b6 5.b3 dxe5 6.f3 Practically forcing 6...e6 and avoiding an exchange of
Queens. e6 7.dxe5 c6 Also good is 7...a5 right away. 8.g3 a5 8...d4
allows the exchange of Qs, but that was not Torre's style. 9.f3 e4+ 10.e3 g6 11.c3 xg3 12.hxg3 8...d4 leads to interesting complications after 9.g5 d7 10.f3 xf3+ 11.xf3 Provocative. Safer was 11.gxf3 d4 12.g3 xb2 13.0-0 h6 13...xa1 14.c3 b2 15.c1 a1 16.g5 draws. 14.d2 d4 14...xa1 15.c3 xc3 16.xc3 This extremely unbalanced material
situation should favor white. 15.d1 c4 16.c3 e4 17.a4+ with equal
chances. 9.c3 Although this ultimately entails sacrifice of the e-Pawn
it's not bad. Safer though was 9.a4 a4 10.c2 c4 This tempts white to
defend his e-Pawn with 11.f4, after which his K would be vulnerable.
Consequently Showalter prefers to sacrifice the Pawn. 11.f3 11.f4 d5 12.f3 d7 13.0-0 c5+ and black can be satisfied with his position. 14.h1 11...d5 12.0-0 4xe5 Wrong N! He should have taken with the
other N. The difference is that in doing so he maintained a N on c4. Now white
gets a slight advantage. 12...6xe5 13.xe5 xe5 14.f4 c5 15.d2 15.xc7 e5 cuts off the B. 15...e5 with equal chances. 13.xe5 xe5 14.f4 h5 Going after white’s b-Pawn would not have been in keeping with
Torre’s style; he preferred sacrificing Ps for the sake of attacking
possibilities. 14...f6 was tried without success in Petzold,H-Barnstedt,D
(2149) Dresden 2004 15.xc7 e7 16.d2 g5 17.d3 d5 18.e2 c5 19.e4 19.ac1 preventing ...Nd4? keeps the advantage. d4 20.cxd4 xc7 21.xa4+ 19...d4 20.cxd4 xc7 21.ac1 The position is even but white went on to
win. 14...b5 15.d3 xb2 16.d2 xc3 17.ac1 d4 18.c4 c5 19.cd1
leaves black in a precarious situation. Five Shootout games were won by white. 15.a3 15.xc7 This is not bad, but it leads to complications. e2 16.c1 h5 17.a3 h4 18.f4 g5 This is black's best chance. 19.xg5 h5 20.f6 e7 21.f4 g5 22.c4 xc4 23.xc4 xc1 24.xc1 and the chances are
equal in this unbalanced material situation. 15.e1 With this move white
has a modest advantage after f6 16.xc7 f7 17.b6 e5 18.f4 e7 19.d2 0-0 20.fxe5 xe5 21.f3 15...f6 This is a serious mistake because
now white can safely take the c-Pawn. Black could have prevented that and kept
the chances equal by playing 15...e5 15...e5 16.fe1 f6 17.b5 f7 16.xc7 e5 17.c4 Also good was 17.Nb5 17.b5 f5 18.d1 g5 19.xg5 fxg5 20.b6 d7 21.e2 and black is in serious trouble. 17...f5 This is the
best black has and it's trappy! 17...e6 is no better, a little worse in
fact. 18.b6 a7 19.fd1 f7 20.e3 g6 21.xa4 h6 22.e4 and black is
in dire straits. 18.xf5 Back in the old days before engines Showalter was
criticized for taking the bait with this move and the inferior 18.Nd6+ was
recommended. It's not so. Showalter's move is the correct one...Stockfish says
so! 18.d6+ This only leads to equality after xd6 19.d1 Equally good
was 19.Bxf5 g6 20.xd6 xg3 21.hxg3 18...xf5 19.d6+ Tempting, but as
on the previous move it leads to no more than equality. 19.b6 is quite
advantageous to white. a6 20.ad1 and black has no entirely satisfactory
move. All he can do is keep trying to defend his position as he has no
prospects of launching any kind of counterattack. 19...xd6 20.xg7
After this move Showalter gets swindled! 20.xd6 is correct.
Black is equal after f7 21.ad1 hd8 20...f8 And wins!! It's a well
known fact that backward moves are hard to see. With this move Torre wins a
piece or traps the Queen. An amazing turn of events. 21.xh8 White has a
R+P against a N, but his Q is a goner and his position is lost. 21.g3
also loses after e7 22.ad1 g8 21...f7 22.h3 e8 23.g4 g6 24.ad1 e7 25.xe8+ xe8 White resigned. 0–1
One wonders is history misjudged Torre as being mentally ill. Available evidence shows that sugar can induce cravings that are comparable in magnitude to those induced by addictive drugs.
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