Judge A.B. Meek

     Having been out of town on a get-away for a few days last week was OK except for the chilly, very windy, rainy weather. It could gave been worse though because while checking out of the hotel Sunday, I talked to a man who said they were returning home to Racine, Wisconsin and the 8 inches of snow that had fallen Saturday. 

     Or, it could have been horrible like it was in Mississippi where tornado spawning storms killed at least 26 people. One town, Rolling Fork, was described as having been obliterated. 

     Rolling Fork, a town of fewer than 2,000 residents who live under the constant threat of flooding, was claimed by the Blues singer Muddy Waters as his hometown. 

     Upon returning home, my neighbor told me that we had a lot of rain and the wind was so bad that the Ohio Turnpike had issued a travel ban for all high-profile vehicles (like trucks) across the entire length of the 241-mile toll road. 

     The American Civil War lasted from April 12, 1861 to Apr 9, 1865, and on April 14th President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth during the play Our American Cousin. Lincoln died the following morning. That was the big news.

     Other exciting news took place on May 5, 1865, in North Bend, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. I was not too far from that neck of the woods over the weekend. It is the home of William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the U.S. and the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President.

     The Civil War is considered to have ended less than a month earlier when General Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, but that only ended fighting in Virginia. Some Confederates held out for a few months and the incident in North Bend was five days before the capture of Jefferson Davis, the fleeing president of the defeated Confederacy, near Irvinville, Georgia. 

     The incident was the country's first train robbery. Some historians have asserted it was the work of Confederate guerrillas who refused to accept surrender and they label it a military action, not a criminal act. 

     The Cincinnati Times newspaper said Kentucky had been "fearfully infected by guerrillas, who in roving bands, have ravaged the whole country." The train robbers were assumed to have come from Kentucky. 

     On May 5th, an O&M train left Cincinnati at 8PM and it consisted of a locomotive pulling a baggage car, an Adams Express Company car and four passenger coaches. 

     According to the Cincinnati Times, the train was derailed "almost in the suburbs of Cincinnati by one of the nefarious gangs of cutthroat Rebel robbers." About 20 men had been seen crossing the Ohio River in boats from Kentucky earlier in the day and they were assumed to have been responsible for removing one rail, causing the derailment and overturning the locomotive, baggage car, Express car and one coach. 

     Four men then appeared at each car, two doing the robbing and two standing guard. They took at least $1,000 in cash from three men plus valuables and more cash from other passengers and crew. 

     Using an ax, five of the bandits entered the Express car and forced an agent to open one safe and two other safes were blown open using gunpowder. The amount of the loss is unknown. 

     The robbers were assumed to have recrossed the Ohio River to Kentucky after the robbery. Initially, the paper claimed it was a military act, but later stated that the robbers were not regular organized rebel guerrillas, but just a gang of thieves. It was noted that only male passengers were robbed and the gang leader had been heard to instruct his men not to hurt the ladies. 

    In 1865. Charles Hooper, a cabinet maker, built Ajeeb, a chess-playing "automaton." It was a piece of fake mechanical technology that had a strong human player concealed inside. The machine also played checkers. 

     In other chess news on April 3, 1865, the Richmond, Virginia Chess Club burned down. It had been visited by Paul Morphy as well as some notable Confederate Generals. 

     In New York City, in August, Thomas Bill entered a guilty plea to the charge of stealing from a hotel two pairs of Paul Morphy's boots. Bill was sentenced to prison. 

     Finally, on October 30, 1865, Judge Alexander B. Meek (born in 1814), a politician, lawyer, judge, and chess player of note, died of a heart attack in Columbus, Mississippi at the age of 51. He also was a writer of historical and literary essays, and poetry. 

     He served as Alabama's Attorney General in 1836. He also represented Mobile in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855 and was Speaker of the House from 1859 to 1861. 

     Meek gained a reputation as an orator early on, delivering addresses at colleges and before learned societies and many of his addresses were published by the societies or schools for which he spoke, and many more were collected and published in his book Romantic Passages in Southwestern History (1857). 

     In 1857, Meek was elected president of the 1st American Chess Congress and he was also a participant. In round one he defeated William Fuller with 3 wins and 2 losses. In round two, he lost to Paul Morphy with 3 losses. During the American Chess Congress, he also lost a game to Amalie Paulsen, the sister of Louis Paulsen. 

[Event "1st American Congress, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1857.10.06"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Alexander B. Meek"] [Black "William J. A. Fuller"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C20"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1857.??.??"] {MacLeod Attack} 1. e4 e5 2. c3 {Chess Explorer lists this as the "Lopez Opening," but it's also known as the MacMeod Attack after the 19th century Scottish–Canadian master Nicholas MacLeod who played it several times in 1889 in the 6th American Chess Congress in New York. He finished last out of 20 players with a score of +3 -31 =6. Whatever name you call it, it does not give white very good results. The intention is to play d4 immediately which cannot be prevented.} Nf6 (2... c5 3. d4 exd4 4. cxd4 cxd4 5. Nf3 {leaves black with an isolated d-Pawn which may or may not be a disadvantage depending upon subsequent play.}) (2... c5 3. Nf3 {This is probably white's most promising continuation.} Nc6 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Ng5 d5 {with interesting play.}) ( 2... d5 {was recommended by Eric Shiller because it eliminates transpositional possibilities and solves all of black's opening problems.} 3. exd5 Qxd5 { As Shiller pointed out, 4.Nc3 driving back the Q with the gain of a tempo is not available to white.} 4. d4 exd4 5. cxd4 {Same observation as after 2...c5 except that the colors are reversed!}) 3. d4 Nxe4 4. dxe5 Bc5 5. Qg4 { Theoretically probably not the best, but it it lays a trap into which black immediately falls!} (5. Nh3 d5 6. Nd2 Nxd2 7. Bxd2 Qh4 8. Qf3 Bxh3 9. gxh3 Nd7 10. O-O-O c6 {and black has equalized at the least.}) 5... Nxf2 {[%mdl 8192] Offhand this looks like a juicy move, but it's very bad.} (5... d5 {stays ahead.} 6. Qxg7 Bxf2+ 7. Ke2 Rf8 8. Bh6 Bc5 9. Nf3 Bf5 10. b4 Be7 11. g4 Bg6 12. Nd4 Qd7 13. Kf3 Nc6 14. Bb5 Nxd4+ {White resigned. Cabanas Bravo,J (2036) -Montanes Arribas,A (2030) Madrid 2008}) 6. Qxg7 Rf8 7. Bg5 f6 (7... Be7 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Kxf2 {wins a piece}) 8. exf6 {Black has not a single move that would even offer his a small chamce of saving himself.} Rf7 (8... Nxh1 9. Be2 { and the threat of Bh5+ cannot be met.}) (8... d5 9. Be2 Bg4 {is well met by} 10. Bxg4 Nxg4 11. f7+ Rxf7 12. Qxf7+ Kxf7 13. Bxd8 {and black is a R down.}) 9. Qg8+ Bf8 10. Kxf2 {It would not be wrong for black to resign here., only embarrassing.} d5 11. Na3 Qd6 12. Re1+ Be6 13. b4 Nd7 {[%mdl 32]} 14. Nf3 O-O-O 15. Nb5 {[%csl LRa7,LRd6]} Qb6+ 16. Be3 c5 17. Qg3 {Very good!} (17. bxc5 { Not at all bad, but just not a good as the move actually played.} Bxc5 18. Qg5 a6 19. Nbd4 Nxf6) 17... Nxf6 {White still has to be alert because ...Ne4+ would fork his K and Q.} 18. Kg1 {White's R is shut in which may have given black some hope, but, in fact, white is not going to need the R anyway.} Ne4 19. Qe5 {Black must now prevent Nxa7+!} Bg7 (19... h6 {A pass to demonstrate the threat.} 20. Nxa7+ Qxa7 21. Qxe6+ Rdd7 22. Bb5 {and wins.}) (19... a6 20. bxc5 (20. Na7+ Kd7 {Much better that taking the N.} 21. Qh5 Bd6 22. Bd3 Bf4 { Black is lost, but still kicking.}) 20... Bxc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 22. Nfd4 axb5 23. Qxe6+ {wins}) 20. Nxa7+ {White is clearly winning, but Meek finishes off the game with precise play.} Qxa7 (20... Kd7 21. bxc5 Qa5 22. Bb5+ Ke7 23. Bg5+ Kf8 24. Qxe6 Qxa7 25. Be3 {Here, too, white is winning. It will just take time to get his R into play.}) 21. Qxe6+ Rfd7 22. Bb5 Bxc3 23. Bxd7+ Rxd7 24. Ne5 { [%mdl 512]} Bxe5 25. Qxe5 Qxa2 26. Ra1 {Black resigned.} 1-0