135, 139

10, 238 (2), 239 (2) BRITISH PROBLEM ASSOCIATION TOURNEY—

...98, 99, 100

Printed by the Civil Service Printing and Publishing Company, Limited, 8 Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London E.C

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The Westminster Papers.

1st MAY, 1878.

THE CHESS
CHESS WORLD.

"The whisperings of our petty burgh."

A REVIEW of the past month, although it shows that the practise of Chess is extending in all countries, is, nevertheless, barren of exciting incident, either at home or abroad. In London there have been the usual matches between the suburban clubs and a blindfold performance by Mr. Blackburne, and the month has been further signalised by the conclusion of the great handicap tourney at the City Club. In the beginning of the month a banquet, attended by many London notabilities, was held at the house of the well-known amateur, Mr. C. G. Gumpel, when “Mephisto," the new mechanical Chess player, made his first appearance in our petty burgh. There should also be mentioned, to be sure, as an incident of the month, that elaborate advertising medium, the University Chess match.

A banquet followed the match, and there were some very entertaining post-prandial utterances upon the occasion. The Secretary of the St. George's Chess Club-of whom, without the slightest desire to be offensive, it may be said that he is nothing else—posed in the character of an "English gentleman," and presenting to his hearers "an honest and impartial writer," accused, in effect, the great body of London Chess journalists of being neither the one nor the other. To a certain extent the sentiments inspired by an abundant dinner should be received with indulgence, and we have therefore no intention of ascribing to this vixenish abuse of "the greater portion of the metropolitan Chess press," an importance to which neither the speaker nor the occasion present the shadow of a claim. It is necessary, however, since they have been published elsewhere, to place on record our flat contradiction of Mr. Minchin's accusations, and of all that his very intemperate language implied.

In the provinces the Chess season is evidently drawing to a close, matches and tournies being this month conspicuous by their absence. From the Derbyshire Gazette we learn that Mr. Cook, the author of the "Synopsis of the Chess Openings," visited Burton and played ten games simultaneously against that number of members of the Trinity Church Institute Chess Club, winning seven games and losing three. The cup, presented by Mr. Macfarlane, the president of the Glasgow Chess Club, for competition among the members, has been won by Mr. Jenkins, of the Glasgow Herald, and another competition is being arranged which will be open to all Glasgow players. From Ayr we have a lively Chess column in the Argus and Express of that town. Miscellany, a weekly periodical, contains articles upon Chess and Draughts, edited by Mr. J. Crake. quote, next month, a problem with poetic solution by Mr. E. Freeborough. For the following account of Chess in Hull we are indebted to Mr. Crake.

The Hull

We shall

Chess affairs in Hull have not been so brisk during the past season as heretofore, the chief events having been the Championship Tourney at the Church Institute, the first prize in which was carried off by Mr. R. H. Philip, and three matches played by that Club. The first against the Grimsby Club, was gained by the Institute team, but they suffered a crushing defeat from the Old Club shortly afterwards, the score being: Hull Club, 11; Church Institute, 4. Nothing daunted, however, the latter again challenged their conquerors and succeeded in making

very neat

1 Rito 94 anything

a respectable stand, being only defeated by the odd game. In the interval the Hull Club had also easily disposed of the Grimsby team, the latter, however, being minus two of their strongest players, Messrs. Skipworth and Parker.

Mr. Miles' revised and enlarged edition of Chess gems is in the press and will shortly be published. Subscribers in advance of publication can obtain the book for twelve shillings and sixpence, after publication the price will be fifteen shillings. An admirable feature of the new edition will be the arrangement of the problems in the order of their composition, so that the reader can trace the progress of each composer in his art. Mr. Miles' enterprise deserves the support of the Chess community and we hope to hear it has been liberally accorded to him.

From America we have received this month the first number of a new series of the American Chess Journal, a goodly promise of what is in store for subscribers in the future. The title page excels anything we have ever seen for neatness and originality of design, and is itself worth the year's subscription of three dollars, and the contents of the number are worthy of the distinguished names editorially associated with the new adventure. The number opens with a portrait of Captain Mackenzie, which it seems but faint praise to qualify as life-like. An adaptation of a story from the old "Palamede," La Tour d'Email, is begun, and Chess news, problems, and games make np a highly interesting number. Altogether we congratulate our cousins upon being so well represented among "the monthlies," and Messrs. Loyd, Mackenzie, and Mason upon the production of a highclass magazine. From this number we extract the two fine positions appended. They are the composition of Mr. Charles A. Gilberg, of Brooklyn, and gained the first prize in the Danbury News tourney.

WHITE.

White to play and mate in three moves. Hartford has again two Chess columns, the Sunday Globe having resumed the publication of games, problems, and Chess intelligence. Our old friend, the Hartford Times, published last month a sketch of the late Mr. Cochrane's career, written by Mr. Taylor, in a pleasantly enthusiastic style, worthy of the subject.

Forest and Stream is giving a series of the Chess openings, translated from the Haudbuch, a very useful work indeed, and one for which Mr. Kimbel deserves the thanks of all English-speaking amateurs.

From France we have intelligence that the arrangements for the congress in June are progressing satisfactorily. The London players having for the most part little time to spare from their business engagements, express some fear that the condition requiring two games to be played by each competitor will have the effect of unduly prolonging the tourney. They are in favour of a single game pool, and that the play should continue from day to day until the termination of the contest. We are authorised to state that the views of the English players will receive favourable attention from the committee of the congress, and we recommend them, therefore, to com

municate their wishes to the secretary, M. Camille Morel, 38 Rue Laborde, Paris. The prizes in the first-class tourney will be as follows:-First: A work of art from the Sevres manufactory, of the estimated value of 5,000 francs, with 1,000 francs in cash. Second: A work of art from the Sevres manufactory, of the estimated value of 1,900 francs, with 600 francs in cash. The third and fourth prizes will be given in money only, and will be 1,200 francs and 600 francs respectively. The play in this tourney will commence on the 17th June, at the Palais de l'Industrie, in the Champs Elysées, and we may add here that the above prizes are the least that will be offered to the competitors. If the committee receive a larger amount of subscription than is at present anticipated, the value of the prizes will be augmented accordingly. The problem tourney in connection with this meeting requires that the problems from English composers shall be sent with the usual conditions of sealed envelope and mottoes to M. Camille Morel on or before the 1st August next. The problems to be original, and in two, three, four, and five moves, one of each. In the end game tourney three positions are to be contributed, and the award of the prizes, the value of which will be as large as the funds in hand permit, will be made in January, 1879. A tourney of the members of the Augustea Chess Club is being played at the Cafe Koenig, Dresden, and it is announced that the annual meeting of the West Deutsche Chess Association will be held at Frankfort on the 28th, 29th, and 30th July.

The City of London Handicap has come to an end with the following result. First prize Mr. Potter Class 1; Second prize Mr. Eschwege Class 3; third prize Mr. Walthew class 4; fourth prize Mr. Heywood class 3. In chronicling the conclusion of this monster tourney of 64 entries, we must congratulate the honorary Secretary, Mr. H. F. Down, upon the success of the affair in every respect, whether regard be had to the extraordinarily large number of combatants whom he persuaded to enter, or to the smoothness, despatch, harmony, and good feeling which have characterised the contest from first to last.

On the 5th ulto., Mr. Blackburne played ja blindfold match at the Railway Clearing House Club, Seymour Street, Euston Square. His opponents were the following eight members, namely, Messrs. Knight, Tarrant, Hill, Hoare, Kindell, junr., Eades, Tuckfield, and Underdown. Mr. Hill succeeded in defeating the blindfold player, and Mr. Kindell, junr. secured a draw, but the other six gentlemen lost. The game with Mr. Hill, who is the strongest player of the Railway Clearing House Club, is a remarkably fine specimen of Mr. Blackburne's blindfold skill. We publish same in this number.

On the 8th ulto., a contest took place between the City of London and Jewish Chess Clubs. By the terms of the challenge, only the first class experts of the former were excluded, and there were to be eight players on each side. A challenge of this kind might seem to forecast a certain win for the City Club. Very different however were the anticipations of those who knew how certainly the Jewish Club would produce its best men, and how unlikely it was that any similar cohesive spirit would be shown on the other side. If the truth may be told, and we think it generally may, club loyalty does not, as a rule, co-exist with Chess strength. A fourth or fifth class player may confidently be relied upon to fight for his club when appealed to, but let him get stronger, so as to be classed among third and second rates, then self sufficiency sets in. His own reputation is much in his eyes, and the reputation of his club very little. For some reason or other, it is not so with the strong experts of the Aldgate Club, and perhaps racial sympathies may supply an explanation. Anyhow, they were able to bring down a team comprising all their strongest players, while the exertions of the City Secretary to bring his own best men to the scratch were altogether unavailing. He was unable to secure the services of even one second class player, nor had even a sufficiency of weak third rates, so that he himself, instead of superintending operations, had to supply one gap, and a member of the fourth class, casually present, was put in to fill another. The following is a list of the two teams with the score they made. Mr. Baxter was altogether overmatched by Mr. Gunzberg, and had it not been for the highly creditable struggle made by Messrs. Stevens and Beardsell against their very strong opponents, the victory achieved by the Jewish Club would have been attended with a much larger majority for them. As it was they won 8 games to 5, with three draws.

Eighteen or twenty of the habitués of the Chess-room of the People's Café Company, Ludgate Circus, have

formed themselves into the nucleus of a club, under the name of the Ludgate Circus Chess Club. At a preliminary meeting on April 18th a code of rules was adopted, Mr. G. Walpole was appointed Secretary, and Mr. G. Chaloner, F.C.S., was elected Treasurer. An adjourned meeting will be held at the Café on May 2nd, at 7.30 p.m., for the election of a committee, and to make any other necessary arrangement for fairly starting the Club. The manager of the Café has offered ample facilities; there will probably be two nights' play weekly; the subscription is to be five shillings per annum, and an entrance fee of the same amount will be imposed upon players who defer joining the Club until the autumn. We wish the new Club all success, and have no doubt it will be cordially welcomed into the harmonious circle of Metropolitan Chess Associations.

The Sixth Annual Chess encounter between Oxford and Cambridge, came off on the 11th ulto., at the Saint George's Club. Play commenced at about two o'clock and terminated at half-past six, p.m., by which time Cambridge had won ten games to one. There was also an unfinished partie, and this was credited to Oxford. The affair excited very little interest among the members of the Saint George's Club itself, and none at all in other Chess circles. For a good part of the afternoon the room wherein the match took place was almost barren of spectators. We, who make this statement upon the faith of our own personal observation, have read with no surprise other and very different reports that have been published. Taking the aspect of the room at its best, namely, towards the end of the contest, there could not have been even thirty spectators present, while during the earlier part of the afternoon, if we exclude scorers and officials, there was not more than an average of one spectator for each board. In the days when the City of London Club were the hosts of the University teams, as many as from 500 to 600 persons attended on each occasion to witness what was then felt to be an interesting event. Now it is very much otherwise, and no amount of mock hubbub or grotesque exaggerations can avail to conceal an obvious fact. We have neither space nor inclination for an explanation as to how the cold indifference of the Chess public has been brought about, and indeed that is a matter for the consideration of the University players themselves. We are not their keepers, and we imagine it would be for their benefit if they had no keeper. After the termination of the match the two teams were entertained at a dinner given to them by the St. George's Club, and thereat a singular exhibition of bad taste took place, in the shape of a wild and virulent attack made by Mr. J. I. Minchin upon this and other journals, comprising, to use his own words, "the greater portion of the metropolitan Chess press." It may be objected that Mr. Minchin did not mention names and, in fact, that objection has been put forward by persons of a Coriolanus turn of mind, save that, to do the turncoat Roman justice, he, at least, did not abjectly worship while assisting his country's foe. However, such evasions are nothing to us. Mr. Minchin's meaning was well understood, and were he of any authority in the Chess world we might condescend to answer him. However, he has never shone either as a player or writer, or in any other way. He is simply the secretary of the St. George's Chess Club, and we take upon ourselves to dissever that old and respectable association from the action of their official in this matter-we do not consider them to be in anyway responsible for it. In putting Mr. Minchin aside we may just demur to one assertion of his. He claimed to make his ill-mannered and unfair attack in the character of an "English gentleman." It would be as easy to eat a mutton chop in the character of a vegetarian.

On the 1st ult. a crowded meeting of the members of the various local metropolitan Chess bodies took place at Mouflet's Hotel. Among the clubs officially represented by their secretaries were the following, viz :-Jewish Institute, Mr. D. Moses; Bermondsey Club, Mr. Barker; Railway Clearing House, Mr. Tarrant; Athenæum, Mr. Thompson; Excelsior, Mr. Wilson; Kentish Town, Mr. Rendell; Eclectic, Mr. G. H. Gibbs; Shaftesbury, Mr. Barber; Peckham Mutuals, Mr. Woodward; Gresham, Mr. Penprase; Ibis, Mr. Schooling, and others. The chair was taken by Mr. Gastineau at seven o'clock, and after the discussion of many motions, with strings of amendments, every one present being apparently much in earnest, certain resolutions were carried, the effect thereof being that the confederation of the various local metropolitan clubs was resolved upon, under the title of the Metropolitan Chess Association. The new body will be upheld financially by a subscription of one halfguinea per annum from each club, and officially by an executive, consisting of a president, vice-presidents, treasurer, two secretaries, and a committee of delegates, one to be sent by each of the constituent clubs. It is from this delegated body that the two secretaries are to be chosen. Certain other business was transacted, and we may mention the unanimous, not to say enthusiastic, election of Mr. G. W. Medley as president. He will have the efficient aid of Messrs. Baxter and Gastineau, who were elected to, and have accepted the office of, vicepresidents. A sub-committee was appointed to draw up rules, and they met for that purpose on the 10th ult. Such resolutions as they may ultimately come to will, of course, have to be confirmed by the general body of members, and when that is done we presume the new association will at once set to work to justify its existence. Its main object will necessarily be to awaken a spirit of co-operation and unity amongst the clubs from whom it springs. It starts into being to support their interests, but we hope will not do so in any narrow spirit. The cause of Chess and the interest of Chess institutions should seem well capable of being harmonised; yet we imagine there are some who look upon them as mutually inimical. Chess is nothing if not catholic, and a Chess vestry would be a very poor institution. We trust, therefore, to see the new association stand up as well for the