Trees were swaying wildly and sheets of water swirled past our dining room window. We lost power for about a minute, but many are still without electric this morning and some streets are blocked with downed trees. Car upturned
Again, I am thankful that we, our neighbors an our family members scattered around town survived with no damage as others were not so fortunate.
Through 1938 the forerunner of the US Open tournament was organized by the Western Chess Association and, after 1938, the American Chess Federation. Since 1939 the US Open has been run by the USCF.
In the early years the number of entrants was small, and play was conducted as round robin with included preliminary rounds. Winners of the preliminary rounds advanced to the Championship Finals and Consolation Finals. Starting in 1947 the Swiss System has been used. Up until 1967 the US Open was a really long event…12-13 rounds played over two weeks. Starting in 2006 it became a nine round event.
What is considered to be the first US Open was played in 1900 in Excelsior, Minnesota and was won by Louis Uedemann. He also won the 1902 event, also held in Excelsior.
Not much is known about Louis Uedemann (January 10, 1854 – November 22, 1912). He was born in Westphalia, Germany and immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. Uedemann was the chess editor for the Chicago Tribune. He developed a code that was later refined by D. A. Gringmuth, of St. Petersburg, a leading Russian problem composer, that adapted for use with telegraphs for cable matches. The Uedemann-Gringmuth code was first used in the telegraphic match between London and St Petersburg in November 1886.
Uedemann usually finished well in local tournaments and was generally among the leaders. He played for the Chicago Chess Club and in 1904 and 1905 he participated in the club’s cable matches against the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) CC, Franklin CC of Pennsylvania, Brooklyn CC and Manhattan.
According to the Edo rating list, Uedemann maintained a rating of around 2425. While that may not be considered particularly high today, back in the day it was a pretty hefty rating. That said, remember that ratings measure how well one performs against the players in one’s rating pool, NOT absolute ability. Still, Uedemann was a solid master.
St. Louis was a busy place in 1904. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition (known informally as the 1904 World's Fair) was held there from April 30 to December 1, 1904. The Summer Olympic games were also held in St. Louis from July 1st to November 23rd, 1904. Although originally scheduled to be held in Chicago, a St. Louis group played hardball and threatened to hold their own international athletic competition unless the event was moved to St. Louis. Poorly run and with relatively few foreign athletes (only about a tenth of the competitors were from outside the US), the games were largely overshadowed by the fair itself.
With the fair and the Olympics as a backdrop, the 7th American Chess Congress was held at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis 11-26 October 1904.
The MAC was founded just before the fair and the original building was lost to fire in 1914. Max Judd, who was head of the organizing committee, wanted to name the winner US champion, but Harry Nelson Pillsbury, both directly and by proxy through his friend Walter Penn Shipley, objected strenuously to the idea. This, along with his poor heath, was probably responsible for Pillsbury's absence from St. Louis. Despite Pillsbury's objections, Marshall was awarded a gold medal recognizing him as US "champion" for winning the tournament.
Draws were replayed with colors reversed, and if the second game was also drawn the result was scored as one draw. The sequence of rounds was determined by lot each day. Games were played 1-6 PM and 8-11 PM with time controls of 30 moves in 2 hours and 15 moves an hour thereafter.
There are two games missing. 1) Eisenberg-Shrader 1-0 from Round 9 was a forfeit. Helms wrote in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that Eisenberg added another point by default when Dr. Shrader received word that he had to return home.
2) Jaffe-Uedemann 1-0 from Round 8 is a bit murkier. The game collection sources I have consulted give either no game at all or present it as a forfeit in favor of Jaffe.
However, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that Charles Jaffe of Brooklyn strengthened his position considerably by winning from Uedemann who was the Western champion. So, the game collections imply a forfeit, but the Eagle coverage implies a played game. In either senario, no game score seems to be available and all sources agree it was a win for Jaffe.
Uedemann finished second behind Mlotkowski in the "minor" tournament (Western Chess Championship) held just before the congress. As the highest-scoring eligible player (Uedemann was from Chicago), he was named Western Champion.
The biggest surprise of the tournament was the poor showing of Mlotkowski. In the "minor" tournament, he had finished clear first, by 2.5 points (+11 -0 =2).
Kemeny, Schrader, Shrader and Uedemann also played in both the minor and major events, and why Mlotkowski did so well in the minor and so poorly in the major is a mystery. Playing two games per day for a week in the minor apparently took a lot out of him.
The coverage in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle speculated, “Fatigue, coupled with his fondness for the Evans and Greco counter gambits, which yielded poor results in this contest, no doubt are the factors responsible for his lack of success.”
There wasn't much of a race for first. Marshall easily ran through the field and only gave up a pair of draws (scored as one draw) to Mlotkowski in the last round. A draw in the crosstable indicates both the initial and the replay game were drawn. If only the initial game was drawn, the result from the replay game was used.
Max Judd lost an endgame to Uedemann in Round 2 which put him a point behind Marshall. When they met in Round 7, Judd completely collapsed and lost in less than 20 moves leaving Marshall in complete control with a 2-point lead.
[Event "American Chess Congress, St. Louis"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1904.10.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Louis Uedemann"]
[Black "Stasch Mlotkowski"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C63"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1904.??.??"]
{C63: Ruy Lopez: Schliemann Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 {Sharp and
tactical! This is the most aggressive response to the Ruy Lopez. Although it
looks very risky and appears to violate opening principles, it's extremely
tricky and if white does not play correctly, black often gets a winning
position right out of the opening!} 4. d3 (4. exf5 {results in equality after}
e4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Nd4) ({is the main line.} 4. Nc3 fxe4 {Also to
be considered is the sharp 4...Nf6} (4... Nf6 5. exf5 e4 6. Ng5 d5 {White is
slightly better.}) 5. Nxe4 Nf6 6. Qe2 d5 7. Nxf6+ gxf6 {with equal chances.})
4... fxe4 5. dxe4 Nf6 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Be7 8. a3 Bg4 (8... O-O 9. Bc4+ Kh8 10.
Ng5 Qe8 11. f4 exf4 12. Bxf4 {Svidler,P (2722)-Aronian,L (2801) Moscow RUS
2010 is about equal after 12...Ne5}) 9. Bc4 (9. Qd3 {was played in Shrader,
E-Marshall,F in the same event which continued} Qd7 10. Bc4 Rf8 11. Ne1 Nh5 {
White is slightly better, but he eventually lost.} 12. Nd5 {0-1 (48)}) 9... Nd4
10. Qd3 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Qd7 12. Kg2 Nh5 13. Nd5 {This is an inviting post for
the N, but it really doesn't accomplish anything here. It would have been
better to eliminate black's well placed N with 13.Nb5} (13. Nb5 {was a better
option because after} Nxb5 14. Bxb5 c6 15. Bc4 {equals.}) 13... Rf8 14. f4 {
It's attack and defense on the K-side. Who's going to succeed?} c6 15. Nxe7
Qg4+ {This is inviting, but, as will soon be seen, black is barking up the
wring tree and this move allows white to get a small, but promising edge.} (
15... Nxf4+ {was a little better.} 16. Bxf4 Rxf4 17. Nf5 {Now white's best
chance is to play aggressively with} d5 {with about equal chances.}) (15...
Qxe7 {This allows white easy equality after} 16. c3 Ne6 17. Bxe6 Qxe6 18. f5)
16. Kh1 Nf3 {[%mdl 8192] Black has badly miscalculated...this is the losing
move.} ({Better is} 16... Kxe7 17. fxe5 dxe5 18. Rg1 Qf3+ {is equal.}) 17. Be6
{[%mdl 512] This surprising move refutes black's last move and it is the only
move that avoids defeat!} (17. Nf5 {to save the N runs into} Rxf5 18. exf5 Nxf4
19. Bxf4 Qxf4 20. Kg2 Qg4+ 21. Kh1 Qh3 {and wins}) 17... Qxe6 18. Qxf3 g6 {
White's N is trapped and so he decides to sell it for a P, but that turns out
to have been a poor decision because after 19.Nxg6 black is back to equality.}
19. Nxg6 (19. Nf5 {is correct because it maintains white is winning position.
If 19...gxf5 20.Qxh5, so...} exf4 {This is a bit more tricky and so for
practical reasons is probably the best try.} (19... Nxf4 20. Ng7+) (19... O-O-O
20. fxe5 Qxe5 21. Bh6 Rfe8 22. Ng3 {White is a piece up.}) 20. Bxf4 Rf7 21.
Rad1 gxf5 {Now not 22.Qxh5 which allows black to equalize.} 22. Rfe1 fxe4 {etc.
} 23. Qxh5 {The clearest continuation.} (23. Rxe4 Nxf4 24. Rxe6+ Nxe6 {is good
for white, but it's a tricky position to play.}) 23... d5 24. Rg1 {etc/})
19... hxg6 20. f5 Qf7 {Black has recovered his piece and white can claim to be
only slightly better.} 21. Bg5 Kd7 22. Rad1 gxf5 {Black has manages to survive
thanks to his opponent's inaccurate [;ay.} 23. Qc3 Qg7 {[%mdl 8192] This is
fatal and this time Uedeman doesn't miss the win.} (23... fxe4 24. f4 (24. Qb4
Qf3+ {wins}) 24... Qe6 25. fxe5 Rxf1+ 26. Rxf1 d5 {and the chances are
completely equal.}) 24. Qb4 {Black completely missed this move attacking Ps on
d6 and b7...there is nothing he can do to meet both threats.} Qg6 (24... Kc8
25. Qxd6 Re8 26. exf5 e4 27. Bd8 Nf4 28. Rg1 Qf7 29. Qxf4) 25. Qxb7+ Ke6 26.
Qe7# 1-0
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