A big, juicy story that year was Irish poet, playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde's series of legal proceedings that ended in a trial that found him guilty of gross indecency. The judge described the sentence, the maximum allowed, as "totally inadequate" and claimed the case was the worst he had ever tried.
A couple of friends had advised Wilde to head for Dover and get a boat to France, but his mother advised him to stay and fight which he did. He pleaded not guilty, but on May 25,1895, he and Alfred Taylor were convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labor.
Although it is widely believed that the charges were related to Wilde's consensual activities, it has been suggested that he took advantage of teenagers and paid for sex with youths under the age of 18. Wilde was released from prison on May 19, 1897 and immediately left for for Dieppe, France and never returned to the United Kingdom/
In early September of 1895, Pillsbury won at Hastings ahead of Chigorin and Lasker. In December he was in St. Petersburg, Russia for a Quadrangular tournament that was won by Lasker ahead of Steinitz, Pillsbury and Chigorin. While there Pillsbury contracts syphilis which later killed him.
Without treatment, syphilis can damage the heart, brain or other organs. Early syphilis can be cured, sometimes with a single shot of penicillin, but that didn;t come on the market until 1928.
Without treatment it gets nasty. After the latent stage, up to 30% to 40% of people with syphilis who don't get treatment have complications known as tertiary syphilis that may include damage to the brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones and joints.
Sores and rashes on the skin, discolored skin and eyes, fever, anemia, swollen spleen and liver, sneezing or stuffed, drippy nose, deafness, teeth problems and saddle nose, a condition in which the bridge of the nose collapses are symptoms.
Earlier in 1895, Lasker, then World Champion, moved back to London and then later he moved to Manchester. Jackson W, Showalter won the 5th US championship in a match against Simon Lipschultz. The Swiss pairing system was invented by J. Muller and was first used in Zurich.
Players lost in 1895 were a leading English player of the 1870s, William Norwood Potte. Martin From, an analyst and inventor of From’s Gambit (1.f4 e5), died in Copenhagen. Georges Emile Barbier a French problem composer who had also won the Scottish championship in 1886.
The following game was played in the 1895 Brooklyn Chess Club Championship. Yoe will note that a Morphy was playing; it was John Morphy (18601912, 52 years old), who was originally from Dublin, Ireland.
The winner was Salomon Rocamora (1855-1924, 69 years old) who was born in Hamburg, Germany and died in New York. He was a sugar trader. His opponent was David Finlay who was born in 1845 in Sligo, Ireland. The 1915 Census stated that he was a bookkeeper who had been living in the US for the past 51 years, so arrived in the US in about 1864.
Rocamora broke through Finlay's French Defense in pretty style when the game appeared to be entirely blocked.
[Event "Brooklyn CC Championship 1895/96"]
[Site "Brooklyn, NY USA (Brooklyn CC)"]
[Date "1895.12.17"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Salomon Rocamora"]
[Black "David Finlay"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C14"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "1895.11.26"]
[Source "(Brooklyn) Daily"]
{C14: French: Classical System} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 {The Classical
Variation is characterized by the development of the N on f6 where it puts
pressure on the e-Pawn and forces white to do something about it.} 4. Bg5 {
This is the usual move which defends the e-Pawn by pinning the N, Black has
several reasonable replies.} Be7 {This natural move breals the pin and renwws
the threat to the e-Pawn.} 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 {White's main options are
mow 7.h4 or 7.Qd2} 7. Nb5 {This rare sideline threatening 8.Nxc7+ has
surpsisingly good results.} Nb6 {This is the only reasonable move, but the N
is not especially well place here. On the other hand neither is white's N.
Probably white best continuation is to prevent >>>Qb4+ with 8/a3 then return
the N to c3} 8. c3 a6 9. Na3 {[%mdl 32] This can be considered the normal line
after 7.Nb5, but white has accomplished nothing because his N on a3 if put of
play.} O-O (9... N8d7 10. f4 c5 11. Nf3 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qb4+ 13. Qd2 Qxd2+ 14.
Nxd2 {equals. Smieszniak, B-Zielinski,W (1901) Leba 2008}) 10. f4 {Black has a
number of reasonable moves here, but the most active is 10...f6} f5 11. Nf3 c5
12. Nc2 Bd7 13. Ng5 {The position is equal, but practically white is probably
a little better because he has some chance of a K-side attack while black's
Q-side counterplay is hampered by the N on b6. His nxt move can;t be
recommended. While technically not a mistake, it ever so slightly weakens his
K-side. Some action on the Q-side would be more reasonable. Say, either 13...
cxd4 or 13...Nc6} h6 14. Nf3 c4 {Closing the Q-side is exactly what he should
avoid. 14...cxd4 was a good option.} 15. Qd2 Be8 {Making room for the N on c6
so he can advance the b-Pawn} 16. Ne3 N6d7 17. Be2 b5 {Finally he has
something going on the Q-side, but white is going to launch an attack on the
K-side that while it may not be theoretically the best idea, practically it's
promising!} 18. g4 Bg6 {Opening up line on the K-side would be a bit risky.}
19. g5 h5 {It appears that black jas succeeded in blocking up lines on the
K-side, but it;s not so!.} 20. Nh4 (20. Qd1 {was more exact as black cannot
defend the h-Pawn.} Nc6 (20... Qf7 21. Nh4 Nc6 22. Nxg6 Qxg6 23. Bxh5 {and
white has a decisive advantage.}) 21. Nh4 Bf7 22. Bxh5) 20... Qe8 {Very weak.}
(20... Be8 {puts up a manly defense.} 21. Bf3 Nb6 (21... Nc6 22. Nxd5 exd5 23.
Bxd5+ {wins}) 22. h3 g6 23. Ng4 {The point of his last move. Black cannot
afford to open the h-file and with the K-side now effectively blacked white
has only a tiny advantage.}) 21. Bf3 {Threatening Nxd5. Now it's clear why
black's 20..Qe8 was so bad. He can't b;ockade the K-sode with ...g6 and his B
amnd Q on b6 are vulnerable.} Nc6 {It's too late to be thinking about play on
the Q-side. Shoring up b6 with 21...Kh7 is a pretty feeble try, but it's the
best he has. Also, it gets the K off the line of a B check on d5, a threat
that black seems to have forgotten about.} 22. Nxd5 {[%mdl 512]} Rc8 23. Ne3
Nb6 24. Qe2 Ne7 25. Qg2 Rd8 26. O-O Nbd5 27. Nxd5 Nxd5 28. Qg3 Kh7 29. a3 Qf7
30. Rf2 Rh8 31. Re2 Rhe8 32. Rg2 Rh8 (32... Qe7 33. Nxg6 Kxg6 34. Bxh5+ Kxh5 (
34... Kh7 35. g6+ Kg8 36. Bf3 {White will invade on the h0file.}) 35. g6 {
An odd place for the K...of course white is better!} Qh4 36. Qf3+ Qg4 37. Rxg4
fxg4 38. Qg3 {White is winning.}) 33. Bxh5 {[%mdl 512] Rocamora now finishes
the game in a neat fashion.} Bxh5 {This leads to a quicj demise, but the game
was lost in any case.} (33... Ne7 34. Nxg6 Nxg6 35. h4 Kg8 36. Qf3 Qe8 37. Bxg6
Qxg6 38. Rh2 {White has a decisive advantage.}) 34. g6+ Bxg6 35. Nxg6 {
Threatening to mate with Qh4+.} Kg8 36. Nxh8 Kxh8 37. Qh4+ {[%mdl 32768] Black
resigned.} 1-0
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