As the report in the American Chess Magazine noted it was possible to reach the hotel, the tournament site, from the big city by bicycle! But, things were even better...besides the tournament room being very pleasant and airy...it had electric lights for the evening sessions!
If the notion that Dobbs Ferry could be reached by bicycle from New York seems odd, it must be remembered that the 1890s saw one of the biggest bicycle crazes of all time.
It was driven by several significant developments in bicycles: most notable was the invention of the "safety bicycle" with its chain drive and a gear ratio that allowed smaller wheels without a loss of speed and the invention of the pneumatic bicycle tire.
In September of 1892 a Bicycle Railroad between Mount Holly, New Jersey and the H. B. Smith Manufacturing Company in Smithville, New Jersey was in operation during the Mount Holly fair and it saw 3,000 riders its first week.
In the year 1896, there was simultaneously an increase in bicycle popularity and a severe economic depression. Bicycles were one of the few areas of the economy where sales were growing; people were buying bicycles "whether they could afford them or not."
The resulting glut of bicycles resulted in a saturation of the market and a downward spiral of sales and prices and a lot of companies went out of business.
It was during this bicycle craze that two astute businessmen in Dayton, Ohio opened a bicycle shop.
The shop's location was brilliant...the League of American Wheelmen held their twelfth annual meet in Dayton on July 4 and 5, 1892. The event drew thousands of bicyclists visiting the city to compete in thirteen different races for prizes worth up to $500.
The bicyclists were invited to tour the city and by far the most popular destination was the Central National Soldiers Home. When they visited the home's exquisitely landscaped grounds they had to pass by the Wright brothers' shop, the Wright Cycle Exchange.
As for the electric lights being worthy of mention, it must be remembered that in the 1890s fashionable hotels and homes were still being lit by candlelight and oil lamps.
In 1882, Thomas Edison helped form the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York which brought electric light to parts of Manhattan, but progress was slow. Most Americans still lit their homes with gas light and candles for another fifty years. It wasn't until 1925 that half of all homes in the US had electricity.
The tournament was arranged by the American Chess Magazine and was held during the Fourth of July holiday. Unfortunately, due to short notice the entry list was much smaller than had been hoped and some of the entrants were not especially strong as evidenced by the fact that some of the tailenders were given Pawn odds. 
The pairings were done by the drawing of lots and in the fifth (last) round the bottom four players were not paired, leaving only three games to be played: Delmar beat Phillips, Zirn beat Behr while Koehler drew with Hanham.
James M. Hanham (1840-1923) was born in Woodville, Mississippi. He fought with the Union during the Civil War and was reached the rank of Major. After the Civil War, he moved to Manhattan. He is best known today for his popularization if the Hanham variation of the Philidor Defense. When he departed this life in Manhattan at age 83 he was the oldest Master in the United States.
His opponent was Harold M. Phillips (1894-1967, 92 years old). Phillips was born in Lithuania, but came to the US at an early age. He was a lawyer and served as president of the US Chess Federation from 1950-54. He also served New York chess in several capacities and was state champion and he was the director of the great New York International in 1924.
Harold M. Phillips–James M. Hanham1–0C41Dobbs Ferry, New York02.07.1898Stockfish 15.1
Philidor Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 d6 Solid, but passive. Philidor's original
idea was to challenge white's center with ...f5. 3.d4 d7 Intending to set
up the mighty Hanham Variation (...Nd7, ...Be7 and ...c6). It was a favorite
of Nimzovich. Black's idea is to maintain a Pawn on e5, analogously to what is
seen in the closed lines of the Ruy Lopez. 4.c4 c6 5.b3 5.g5 h6 6.a4 exd4 7.0-0 e5 8.b3 e7 9.f4 equals. Pavasovic,D (2502)-Oll,L (2630) Nova
Gorica 1999 5...e7 6.e3 6.0-0 gf6 7.e1 0-0 8.c4 c5 9.d5 is equal.
Nepali,B (2162)-Hamal,M (2086) Dahka BAN 2009 6...gf6 7.c3 0-0 8.d3 b5 9.e2 9.dxe5 was a decent idea. After xe5 10.xe5 dxe5 11.xd8 xd8 12.f3 the position is completely equal. 9...a6 10.0-0 Not
really bad, but it allows balck to seize the initiative with his next move.
Therefore, 10.dxe5 with play similar to the last note was better. c5 11.dxc5 dxc5 More precise was 11...Nxc5 12.c4 b4 13.fd1 c7 14.g3! b6 15.e2 a5 16.c2 a4 17.b3 a3 Black has managed to deprive himself of any Q-side
chances and so has left himself with a lifeless position. Niow white could get
a nice post fo his N with 18.Nf5 18.h4 18.f5 xf5 18...g6 19.xe7+
This trades off black's bad Bm but as compensation white gets control of the
d-file. xe7 20.d3 bd7 21.d6 e8 22.xe7 xe7 23.d6 19.exf5 ae8 20.d2 e4 21.g4 with K-side prospects. 18...g6 Leaving the N out of
position on h4. 19.h6 e8 20.h3 g4 Flashy, but not the best..
.that honor goes to 20...Bb7 when black would have stood slightly better. 21.hxg4 xh4 22.f1 While this is by no means bad, white has missed a clever
tactical shot. 22.f5 gxf5 Correct is the retreat 22...Be7 22...e7 23.d3 followed by loading up heavy pieces on the d-file 23.gxf5 h8 24.h5 e7 24...e7 25.xf7 g8 26.f6 wins 25.d3 g8 26.h3 xf2+ 27.xf2 d7 28.ah1 and black is facing disaster. 22...e6 23.g5 f6 24.d2 xg5 25.xg5 fxg5 26.xg5 d7 27.e3 f8 28.d3 c8 29.ad1 After all the
jockeying white is still clinging to a slight advantage. d6
This is a major slip on black's part. 29...c6 30.d5 xd5 31.exd5 ef6
followed by ...Ne6 and it will be difficult for white to make progress. 30.d5 White is clearly winning now. b8 31.e7+ g7 32.f5+ xf5 32...xf5 33.exf5 c8 34.d7+ xd7 35.xd7+ f7 36.fxe6 wins 33.exf5 f6
This allows white a flashy finish, but there was nothing better. 34.xd6
Black resigned. 34.xd6 xd6 35.e7+ h8 36.xd6 xf5 37.f6
The game is over. 1–0
No comments:
Post a Comment