Elmer E. Southard

    Elmer E. Southard (July 28,1876 0 February 7, 1920, 43 years old) was a neuropsychiatrist, neuropathologist, professor, author and chess player. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and lived there most of his life. 

    Southard’s professional accomplishments were legion, but nor a lot is known of his chess. He was a member of two local chess clubs and was described in his New York Times obituary as "one of the foremost amateur chess players in America. He was able to play up to six blindfold games simultaneously. It was Southard who introduced what he called the Danvers Openign, but to day ot;s known by a few other names: 1.e4 e5 2.Qg5. The Danvers State Hospital was formerly a psychiatric hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts, 

    At the age of 43, Southard died of pneumonia in 1920 during a trip to New York City to deliver lectures to two medical societies. 

    After his death a study was done on his brain anf, a;sp, the brains of his parents. Ithe study was conducted to determine hereditary links in brain structure. His brain had a prominent frontal lobe, which was believed to be associated with his planning ability. 

    It was also noted that he had small olfactory tracts and that’s why he had difficulty detecting certain smells. It was a;so noted that the arteries at the base of his brain were small, but the significance of them was unclear. None of these features were apparent in his parents. 

    The report mentioned that during the last years of his life Southard experienced considerable mental discomfort and he sensed his impending death. As a result he felt pressure to complete his research tasks. 

    His opponent in the following game was Dr. Robert P. Elmer (1877-1951, 73 years old). He was bon in Bridgeport, New Jersey and passed away in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The game was played in the fourth annual intercollegiate tournament which was held at Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts. Southard went on to win the tournament the following two years. 

 

    The winner of the tournament was Arthur Ryder (1877-1938), a professor of Sanskrit at the University of California, Berkeley who became known best known for translating a number of Sanskrit works into English. He finished second to Southard in the event the following year.

 

[Event "4th Intercollegiate Cup, New York 1895/9"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1895.12.31"] [Round "?"] [White "Elmer E. Southard"] [Black "Robert P. Elmer"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C25"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "1895.12.26"] [Source "The Sun. New Yor"] [WhiteTeam "Harvard"] [BlackTeam "Princeton"] {C30: King's Gambit Declined} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. d3 Be6 7. Nd5 Nb4 {Dubious.} (7... Bxd5 8. exd5 Na5 9. fxe5 dxe5 10. c3 (10. Bb3 $2 O-O 11. Bg5 Re8 {Because white'sK os cought in the center black has an excellent game.}) 10... Nxc4 11. dxc4 {with equal chances.}) 8. Nxf6+ { As distasteful as it is black must play 6...gxf6 adter whicj white has the better position. Instead, both playerts overlook a tactic.} Qxf6 {[%mdl 8192]} 9. Bb3 $2 (9. f5 {loses a piece otherwise white plays Bg5 trapping the Q.} Bxf5 10. Bg5 Qg6 11. exf5 Qxf5 12. c3 {Black has two Ps for the B, but that is not suffucuent compensation.}) 9... exf4 {White's next move looks logical, but, again, both players overlook a tactics. White shoyld play 19,c3 to support the advance of his d-Pawn.} 10. d4 Bb6 (10... Bxb3 11. axb3 Bxd4 12. c3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Qxc3+ 14. Bd2 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Qxa1 16. Qxa1 Nxa1 17. Rxa1 {The material imbalance is unusual, but black's R+4Ps are superior to the B ans N.}) 11. c3 Na6 {The N is misplaced here. Better would have been 11...Bxb3 and 12...Nc6} 12. Ba4+ (12. a4 {gaining space was a better option.} c6 13. a5 Bc7 14. d5 cxd5 15. exd5 Bg4 16. O-O {with a good game.}) 12... c6 13. Qe2 O-O 14. O-O { Black has emerged from the opening with a small advantage and he could develop a K0side attack with 14...g5, Instead he switches over to passive play.} Qd8 15. Bxf4 h6 {All this does is weaken his K-side. Getting the N back into play with 15...Nc7 was worth a try.} 16. Bc2 Qd7 17. e5 d5 {Getting rid of light squared Bs with 17...Bf5 was his best option. After the text his position is beyond salvaging.} 18. Be3 Bf5 {This comes to late to be of any help.} 19. Bxf5 Qxf5 20. Nh4 Qe6 21. Nf5 {Black's K-side is dangerously denuded of pieces.} Nb8 22. Rf3 {Adding the R to the attack.} h5 23. Raf1 g6 24. Rg3 Kh7 25. Nh4 Nd7 26. Nf3 {The obvious threat is a N fork ong5.} Bd8 27. Bg5 {Threatening Bxd8. when tje fork is back on.} Kh8 28. Rh3 {Missing a golden opportunity andm at the same time, easing black''s defense.} (28. Bxd8 $18 {and White stays clearly on top.} Raxd8 29. Qe3 {Threatening Qh6+ and Ng5.} Kg7 30. Nh4 { Black has no meaningful moves.} Rh8 31. Nf5+ Kg8 32. Nh6+ {with a decisive attack. For example, if} Kf8 (32... Rxh6 33. Qxh6 Rf8 34. Qxh5 {White is winning.}) 33. Rxf7+ Ke8 34. Rg7) 28... f6 29. Bd2 {This retreat is a bit too far, Stopping at f4 was abetter. At this point black hasm thanks to some imprecise play by white, managed to equalize.} Be7 (29... fxe5 {was the correct defense because it leads to exchanges.} 30. Nxe5 Rxf1+ 31. Qxf1 Nxe5 32. dxe5 {Taking the ehe e-Pawn would be fatal.} Bb6+ (32... Qxe5 33. Qf8+ Kh7 34. Qh6+ Kg8 35. Qxg6+ Kf8 36. Rxh5 {wins.}) 33. Be3 Qxe5 34. Bxb6 axb6 { and the position is completely equal.}) 30. Qe3 Qg8 31. e6 {This neat little move prevents ...Rf7} Nb6 {This poor N has neve found a useful square.} 32. Nh4 Nc4 {After this white has a mate. Black could have avoided the mate with 32... Qh7, but he would still have been lost.} 33. Qh6+ Qh7 34. Nxg6+ Kg8 35. Nxe7+ Kh8 36. Qxh7+ Kxh7 37. Rxh5+ Kg7 38. Bh6+ {Black resigned.} 1-0