You Could Get There By Bicycle

     Back in 1898, the main road on which all the travel between New York City and the state capital of Albany passed right by the ritzy Glen Tower Hotel in Dobbs Ferry. 

     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. 

 

[Event "Dobbs Ferry, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1898.07.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Harold M. Phillips"] [Black "James M. Hanham"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "1898.??.??"] {Philidor Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 {Solid, but passive. Philidor's original idea was to challenge white's center with ...f5.} 3. d4 Nd7 {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. Bc4 c6 5. Bb3 (5. Ng5 Nh6 6. a4 exd4 7. O-O Ne5 8. Bb3 Be7 9. f4 {equals. Pavasovic,D (2502)-Oll,L (2630) Nova Gorica 1999}) 5... Be7 6. Be3 (6. O-O Ngf6 7. Re1 O-O 8. c4 c5 9. d5 {is equal. Nepali,B (2162)-Hamal,M (2086) Dahka BAN 2009}) 6... Ngf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Qd3 b5 {[%mdl 32]} 9. Ne2 (9. dxe5 {was a decent idea. After} Nxe5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Qxd8 Rxd8 12. f3 {the position is completely equal.}) 9... a6 10. O-O {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. Rfd1 Qc7 14. Ng3 $1 Nb6 15. Qe2 a5 16. Bc2 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. Nh4 (18. Nf5 Bxf5 (18... g6 19. Nxe7+ { This trades off black's bad Bm but as compensation white gets control of the d-file.} Qxe7 20. Qd3 Nbd7 21. Qd6 Re8 22. Qxe7 Rxe7 23. Rd6) 19. exf5 Rae8 20. Nd2 e4 21. g4 {with K-side prospects.}) 18... g6 {Leaving the N out of position on h4.} 19. Bh6 Re8 20. h3 {[%mdl 32]} Ng4 {Flashy, but not the best.. .that honor goes to 20...Bb7 when black would have stood slightly better.} 21. hxg4 Bxh4 22. Nf1 {While this is by no means bad, white has missed a clever tactical shot.} (22. Nf5 gxf5 {Correct is the retreat 22...Be7} (22... Be7 23. Rd3 {followed by loading up heavy pieces on the d-file}) 23. gxf5 Kh8 24. Qh5 Qe7 (24... Be7 25. Qxf7 Rg8 26. f6 {wins}) 25. Rd3 Rg8 26. Rh3 Bxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Nd7 28. Rah1 {and black is facing disaster.}) 22... Re6 23. g5 f6 24. Qd2 Bxg5 25. Bxg5 fxg5 26. Qxg5 Bd7 27. Ne3 Rf8 28. Rd3 Nc8 29. Rad1 {After all the jockeying white is still clinging to a slight advantage.} Nd6 {[%mdl 8192] This is a major slip on black's part.} (29... Bc6 30. Nd5 Bxd5 31. exd5 Ref6 { followed by ...Ne6 and it will be difficult for white to make progress.}) 30. Nd5 {White is clearly winning now.} Qb8 31. Ne7+ Kg7 32. Nf5+ Rxf5 (32... Nxf5 33. exf5 Bc8 34. Rd7+ Bxd7 35. Rxd7+ Rf7 36. fxe6 {wins}) 33. exf5 Rf6 { This allows white a flashy finish, but there was nothing better.} 34. Rxd6 { [%mdl 512] Black resigned.} (34. Rxd6 Rxd6 35. Qe7+ Kh8 36. Rxd6 Bxf5 37. Rf6 { The game is over.}) 1-0