In the 1800s there was an group of strong players in the Boston area known as the Order of the Mandarins of the Yellow Button. In order to join, a prospective member had to be an amateur who had beaten a recognized Master of international repute in an even game i.e. no odds.
The group met on Saturday afternoon for skittles and in the evenings they had diiner and discussed chess. Members included: Franklin K. Young, Constant F. Burille, F. H. Harlow, Dr. E.M. Harris, C. F. Howard, Major Otho.E. Michaelis, General W. C. Paine, Dr. Horace Richardson, Henry N. Stone, Preston Ware, Jr. and Charles B. Snow.
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The elusive Charles B. Snow Snow was born on Orleans, Massachusetts and passed away in his home in Roxbury, a Boston suburb, on February 28, 1924 at the age of 76.
For many years he was one of the leading players in Boston. For
more than half a century he had been a member of the Boston Chess Club. His obituary described him as a man with a cordial and amiable disposition who was ever ready for a game with anybody.
He was a successful merchant in the stove and hardware business, and later he owned a carpet and crockery store.
What made him so elusive is that he never sought notoriety or any titles in the chess world, although many times he won first place in the Boston club championship. He just loved the game and found great pleasure in it.
It was in 1874, when a player of some ability named Reverand Benjamin M. Neill (1853-1922) of Philadelphia was residing in Boston, Snow discovered that he and a group were playing chess at the Y. M. C.A. and so Snow invited Neil to the Boston Chess Club. There
Neill 1 caused a sensation when he easily whipped all the club members,
Neill was a strong player and problemist, whose chess career spanned almost 50 years.
In 1873, he began to compose problems.
In 1874, while living in Boston, he won the New England Championship by beating Preston Ware in a match with the score of 7-3.
He also won a tournament held in Boston tournament in1874 with the score +15 -1 =2. He traveled to New York in 1874, where he defeated Eugene Delmar in a short match.
After returning to Philadelphia in 1875, he won the Philadelphia Chess Club Tournamentin1875).
Neill participated in few tournaments only, since he didn't want chess to interfere with his ministerial duties. He even published his chess problems under the name Benjamin Milnes, as long as he was active in church work.
In 1888, in a special four-round tournament between five of Boston's strongest players, Snow finished second (15-5) behind Burille whose scored 15.5-4.5. In rghwie individual games in the tournament Snnow scored _1 1 =2 against Burille. Snow defeated the third place finisher, Franklin K. Yong, 2.51.5. He acored 4-0 against Preston Ware and Henry Stone who were 4th and 5th respectively.
Besides the aforementioned humility, what makes Snow so elusive is that never kept any written records of his games so only a very few are now available from other sources.
The following is taken from the Boston Globe's weekly chess column dated October 11, 1876. The tournament is unknown as is the full identity of his opponent.
Charles B. Snow–Sawyer1–0C51Bostin1876Stockfish 16
C51: Evans Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5 4.b4 Fashionable at the
time, the Evans Gambit fell out of fasjion for decades until Garry Kasparov
used it in a few games in the 1990s which which prompted a brief revival of
interest in it. xb4 Declining the gambit with 4...Bb6 makes it little
harder foir white to score the point, but the gambit's acceptance is much more
popular. 5.c3 c5 6.0-0 d6 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 b6 9.b2 f6= 9...ge7 10.d5 a5 11.xg7 Losing. 11.Bd3 equals g8 12.f6 xc4 13.e5 g4 14.exd6 xd6 15.xe7 xe7 16.e1+ f8 17.e4 f6 White resigned. Prill,D
(2181)-Sanchez Jerez,E (2291) Calvia ESP 2013 10.d5 e5 10...e7 is
superior. 11.xf6 gxf6 12.a4 0-0 In spite of apperances the chances are
equal. Bird,H-Steinitz,W London 1883 11.xe5 dxe5 12.a3 xe4 13.e2
Black's position looks precarious, but in reality he can actually claim to be
a bit better. h4 Not really bad, but it's risky. 13...f5 The position
of black's K in the center of the board is probably enough to scare most
players away from this position, but Stockfish is certain that the position is
exactly equal. After 5 minutes analysis this is its best line... 14.d2 xd2 15.xd2 d7 16.fe1 e4 17.d6 f6 18.dxc7 xc7 19.b2 e5 20.xe5 xe5 21.f7+ e7 22.d5 c6 23.xc6 bxc6 24.ac1 ac8 25.f3 hd8 26.g5+ f7 27.fxe4 d4+ 28.h1 fxe4 29.h4 g8 30.xe4 d2 31.ce1 c5 32.h3 h8 33.e7 g8 34.c4 a5 35.1e4 d8 36.g1 d6 37.h1 gf8 38.4e6 d1+ 39.e1 d8 40.c3 g8 Evaluation 14.d2 f5 This is a mistake. It's
possible that black miscalculated to consequenses of capturing in f3. 14...xf2+ Or 14...Nxf2 15.xf2 xf2+ 16.xf2 xf2 17.xf2 f5 This is the
type of unbalanced material situation that is theoretically equal, but in
practice the stronger player can probably win from either side. 15.d6 15.g3 won't do because after f6 16.xe4 fxe4 17.b5+ d8 18.xe4 h3
Black is better. 19.b2 f8 20.xe5 Let's get tactical! xf2+ 21.h1 f5 22.xf5 xf5 23.xg7 e7 24.d3 f7 25.c3 xf1 26.b4+ 26.xf1
is a blooper. c5 and black is better. 26...e8 27.xf1 b6 28.xf7 xf7 29.xh7 e8 In Shootouts white drew one game and lost 4. 15.b5+
This is actually white's best mive. d7 16.xd7+ xd7 17.xe4 fxe4 18.b5+ d8 19.h1 White is better. Black must avoid xf2 20.xb7 c8 21.d6
and wins. 15...d7 This is wrong. 15...xd2 is a loser... 16.xe5+ d8 17.xg7 Threatening mate on c7 e8 17...cxd6 18.xh8+ c7 19.g7+
also wins 18.b2 cxd6 19.f6+ 15...cxd6 After this black nakes it out
of the woods. 16.ae1 c5 17.f3 f6 18.xe5 dxe5 19.xe5+ xe5 20.xe5+ e6 21.fe1 d8 22.xf5 f6 with equal chances. 16.xe4 16.g3 is
still a poor choice as it allows black to equalize. f6= 17.xe4 fxe4 18.dxc7 xc7 16...fxe4 16...xe4 offering a trade of Qs loses quickly. 17.h5+ g6 18.g5 cxd6 19.f6 xc4 19...f8 20.xd6 0-0-0 20...xc4 21.xf8# 21.ac1 wins 20.xh8+ e7 21.xa8 wins easily. 17.d5
This slip should have reversed the situation and allowed black to
gain the advantage! 17.dxc7 c8 18.ad1 xc7 19.d6 g4 20.xg4 xg4 21.xc7 xd1 22.xd1 xc7 The Bs of opposite color give white drawing chances. 17...0-0-0 While this does not lose by any means it makes black defense
difficult. 17...c6 shuts out white's B on a3 and allows black's K to reach
safety. 18.xe4 0-0 and black is better. 18.dxc7 As bad as things may
look for black he is hanging on by the skin of his teeth. xc7
Very logical...and very wrong! It loses almost at once. 18...xc7 This
paradoxical move exposing the K is realtively safe. 19.ac1+ c6 19...b8 20.d6+ a8 21.a6 wins 20.xe4 f6 and clack is hanging on. 19.ab1 The final assault begins...and a vicious one it is! b6 20.fc1+ b8
This allows a maye in 9, but he was lost anyway. 20...c6 21.xc6+ bxc6 22.a6+ c7 23.xb6 axb6 24.a7+ c8 25.a8+ c7 26.xc6+ b8 27.b7# 21.d6+ a8 22.xb6! c6 23.bxc6 e3 24.c8+‼ xc8 25.xb7+
xb7 26.b5+ a8 27.d5+ c6 28.xc6# 1–0
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