Correspoµdence
`Chess . ' Ill
`Ainerica
`
`1
`
`EX. 1004
`
`

`

`The present work is a reprint of the library bound edition of
`Correspondence Chess in America, first published in 2000
`by McFarland.
`
`LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
`
`Avery, Bryce D., 1965-
`Correspondence chess in America/ by Bryce D. Avery.
`cm.
`p.
`Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes.
`
`ISBN 978-0-7864-7396-0
`softcover: acid free paper) §
`
`I. Correspondence chess - United States - History.
`2. Correspondence Chess League of America - History.
`I. Tide.
`3. Chess - Collections of games.
`794.1 '7 -dell
`99-48418
`GVl456.A84 2012
`
`BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE
`
`© 2000 Bryce D. Avery. All rights reserved
`
`No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
`or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
`or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
`without permission in writingftom the publisher.
`
`Cover images© 2012 iStockphoto/Thinkstock
`
`Manufactured in the United States of America
`
`McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
`Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
`www.mcforlandpub.com
`
`'
`
`2
`
`

`

`Preface
`
`The story of correspondence chess in
`America is largely the story of the Corre(cid:173)
`spondence Chess League of America (CCLA).
`Its origins in 1909 make it the oldest such
`organization in America and the second old(cid:173)
`est in the world. It predates the United
`States Chess Federation by thirty years, the
`International Correspondence Chess Feder(cid:173)
`ation by almost forty years, and the other
`major American postal clubs by more than
`half a century.
`The remarkable continuity of the CCLA
`is partly due to its makeup of officers and,
`since 1938, a board of directors regularly
`elected by the membership. Unlike groups
`that depend entirely on one or two people
`and cease to function when they leave, the
`League has always had enough volunteers to
`keep going. One other key to its success is
`its status as a nonprofit organization; most
`such clubs in America are set up as money(cid:173)
`making enterprises and simply fail, whereas
`the CCLA is unhampered by any such re(cid:173)
`quirement.
`The idea for this book came from the
`1965 Horowitz and Battell book The Best of
`Chess, which contains highlights from more
`than thirty years of the magazine Chess Re(cid:173)
`view: games, fiction, cartoons, and other
`chess-related items . I first determined to put
`together a similar book containing the best
`from the CCLA magazine The Chess Corre(cid:173)
`spondent, using material that the League had
`
`published during my fourteen years of mem(cid:173)
`bership to that point.
`But I soon came to understand Robert
`Pirsig: "The further back you go, the further
`back you see you have to go ... , until what
`looked like a small problem ... turns into a
`major ... enquiry." As I delved into the
`club's history, I found many gaps, anachro(cid:173)
`nisms and errors. The impetus to expand to
`a full-length history came when I fead sev(cid:173)
`eral comments to the effect that no one can
`know anything about CCLA history before
`1933 because the records do not exist. I have
`used contextual clues from various accounts
`and found that information is indeed avail(cid:173)
`to those who look hard enough.
`able -
`This book notes the many American
`luminaries who have been involved with
`correspondence chess,
`including Frank
`Marshall, Isaac Kashdan and Reuben Fine.
`It explains why Volume 72 of The Chess
`Correspondent appears in 1999 even though
`the Correspondence Chess League of Amer(cid:173)
`ica originally dates from 1909 and its mag(cid:173)
`azine dates from 1933. It even explains the
`foundation of the long-running CCLA
`"North American" tournament and recon(cid:173)
`ciles the conflicting accounts of the found(cid:173)
`ing of the United States Postal Chess Fed(cid:173)
`eration. Appendix A contains a discussion
`of the world's first numerical system for rat(cid:173)
`ing chess players.
`In general, I have chosen a course of
`
`IX
`
`3
`
`

`

`X
`
`Preface
`
`neutrality in discussing the ebbs and flows
`of the League, downplaying internal politics
`unless unavoidable. All uncredited game
`notes are mine; in cases where the starting
`year of a game could not be verified, I have
`given my best estimate.
`
`All errors in the book are (regrettably)
`mine, and I would appreciate hearing about
`them through the publisher.
`
`Bryce D. Avery
`California, Maryland, Fall 1999
`
`4
`
`

`

`1
`In the Beginning
`(to 1909)
`
`The "modern" era of correspondence
`chess is generally traced to the London(cid:173)
`Edinburgh five-game match played between
`April 1824 and July 1828. This match was
`not the first of its kind, as many records in(cid:173)
`dicate that chess was being played one move
`at a time over a period of days long before
`1824. But the London-Edinburgh match
`stands out, especially the second game.
`
`Gamel
`Correspondence Match, 1824-1828,
`Second Game, London-Edinburgh
`Scotch Game
`
`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
`
`Unlike some openings which are here
`today and only a footnote tomorrow, the
`Scotch's viability even in recent world-class
`chess was demonstrated by Kasparov in his
`1990 match against Karpov.
`
`3 . ... exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. c3 Qe7
`6. 0-0 dxc3 7. Nxc3 d6 8. Nd5 Qd7
`9. b4 Nxb4 10. Nxb4 Bxb4 11. Ng5
`Nh6 12. Bb2 Kf8 13. Qb3 Qe7 14. Nxf7
`Nxf7 15. Qxb4 Ne5 16. f4 Nxc4
`17. Qxc4 Qf7 18. Qc3 Be6 19. f5 Bc4
`20. Rf4 b5 21. e5 dxe5 22. Qxe5 h6
`23. Rel Rh7 24. f6 g5 25. Rf5 a5
`
`After 25 . ... aS
`
`This position has become a famous ex(cid:173)
`ample of the conditional, or "if-then," move
`in correspondence chess. Thinking that
`mate is now forced, London now commit(cid:173)
`ted itself to the following sequence by writ(cid:173)
`ing it all on the same message.
`
`26. Qc5ch Kg8 27. Rxg5ch!ff hxg5
`28. Qxg5ch
`
`Some hours after London decided on
`this sequence, a member of the club found
`that Edinburgh could safely take the rook.
`Club members then learned to their horror
`that their secretary had left the club two
`hours earlier than usual that day and had
`already mailed the faulty sequence!
`After trying to retrieve the message
`from the mail system, as impossible then
`as it is now, London sent another letter
`
`1
`
`5
`
`

`

`2
`
`Correspondence Chess in America
`
`retracting the sacrifice. Edinburgh replied
`that all legal and mailed moves were bind(cid:173)
`ing and grabbed the rook.
`
`28 . ... Kf8 29. Bd4 Be6 30. Qc5ch Kg8
`31. Qg5ch Kf8 32. Bc5ch Ke8 33. Qd5
`Ra6 34. Qb7 Qh5/ 35. f7ch Kxf7
`36. Rflch Kg6 37. Qe4ch Bf5 38. Qe8ch
`Rf7 39. Qg8ch Kf6 40. g4 Ra8 41. Qxa8
`Qxg4ch 42. Khl Rd7 43. Ba3 Kf7
`44. Qc6 Rdl 45. Qxb5 Qe4ch 46. Kgl
`Kg6 47. Qb2 Qg4ch 48. Qg2 Qxg2ch
`49. Kxg2 Bh3ch 50. Kxh3 Rxfl
`51. Be7 a4 52. a3 Rf5 0-1
`
`Edinburgh eventually won the match
`+2 -1 =2, gaining for themselves a silver cup
`and 25 guineas and instructing future play(cid:173)
`ers about the dangers of conditional moves.
`For more games between cities during the
`nineteenth century, the reader is directed to
`works by Professor Carlo Pagni.
`
`CORRESPONDENCE CHESS IN
`AMERICA
`
`The 1840s found correspondence games
`between New York City and Norfolk, Vir(cid:173)
`ginia, as well as an 1844 telegraph game be(cid:173)
`tween Baltimore and Washington, D.C. By
`1857, correspondence chess was even stirring
`over-the-board controversy, as Philadelphia
`unsuccessfully vied with New York City for
`the- honor of hosting the First American
`Chess Congress and bolstered its case by de(cid:173)
`feating New York in a correspondence game,
`one of five they contested between 18 56 and
`1864.
`The Congress Committee of Manage(cid:173)
`ment included Thomas Frere of the Brook(cid:173)
`lyn Chess Club, who wrote a chess handbook,
`a compilation of Hoyle, and a collection of
`games by Paul Morphy. Morphy, who won
`the Congress, served on the Congress Com(cid:173)
`mittee of Co-Operation and the Commit(cid:173)
`tee on the Chess Code, which took recently
`
`published Russian, English and German
`codes and tried to mold them into a code for
`America. Correspondence chess, however,
`remained a major area of the Committee's
`unresolved disagreement.
`After the American Civil War, several
`more American Chess Congresses were held
`at different times, and an ''American Chess
`Association" was even formed in 1871. This
`group lasted but five years, as it was unable
`to agree with the Philadelphia Chess Club
`on organization of the Congress marking
`the centennial of the United States.
`
`THEOPHILUS THOMPSON
`
`Only the Dubuque Chess journal, pub(cid:173)
`lished between 1870 and 1892 under various
`names, appears to have organized any do(cid:173)
`mestic correspondence tournaments during
`this time period; their events counted prob(cid:173)
`lemists William Shinkman and Theophilus
`Thompson among the players.
`Theophilus Thompson was the first
`African-American chessplayer of distinction.
`He learned chess in April 1872 at age 17
`from problemist J.K. Hanshew, who lent
`him a chess set and gave him several chess
`problems to solve. Within weeks, Thompson
`was not only solving problems, but com(cid:173)
`posing his own and contributing them to
`Dubuque Chess journal.
`Thompson played in a postal tourna(cid:173)
`ment run by Hanshew in connection with
`Hanshew's Maryland Chess Review. Though
`Shinkman won the tournament with a final
`score of 18-2, Thompson acquitted himself
`well. Today, the U.S. Chess Center in Wash(cid:173)
`ington, D.C., sponsors a Theophilus Thomp(cid:173)
`son Club where African-American young(cid:173)
`sters can learn the game.
`
`Game2
`Correspondence, circa 187 4
`Thompson-Bertolette
`Evans Gambit
`
`6
`
`

`

`1. In the Begi.nning (to 1909)
`
`3
`
`1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4
`Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. 0-0 Nf6 7. d4 0-0
`8. Nxe5 Nxe4 9. Nxf7 Rxf7 10. Bxf7ch
`Kxf7 11. d5 Ne5 12. Qd4 Bxc3 13. Nxc3
`Nxc3 14. Qxc3 d6 15. Bb2 g5 16. f4
`gxf4 17. Rxf4ch Kg8 18. Qg3ch Ng6
`19. Rf6 Bf5? 20. Rxf5 1-0
`
`MORE PRE-POSTCARD PLAY
`
`In 1879, a cable match was organized
`between an American team and a British
`squad that featured George Gossip, who won
`the 1873-4 correspondence tournament of
`Chess-players Chronicle and wrote The Chess(cid:173)
`player's Manual and a collection of games.
`Yet Gossip was defeated in both games by
`the remarkable Mrs. Ellen Gilbert, who an(cid:173)
`nounced mate in 21 moves in one game and
`mate in 35 in the other!
`In the 1880s, correspondence chess be(cid:173)
`tween individual players became more com(cid:173)
`mon throughout Europe; the French chess
`magazine La Strategie organized a corre(cid:173)
`spondence tournament as early as 1882. Pop(cid:173)
`ularizing individual correspondence chess
`in America, however, required almost ten
`years more. Even though a way had already
`been created for the "common man" to afford
`the game, not until a World Champion en(cid:173)
`dorsed the concept did correspondence
`chess between individuals become popular
`in the United States.
`
`LET THERE BE POSTCARDS
`
`The American economic basis for cor(cid:173)
`respondence chess can be credited to New
`Jersey banker John Lee, who served in Con(cid:173)
`gress from 1867 to 1873 and in 1881-1882.
`In a later interview with a local newspaper,
`Lee took well-deserved credit for inventing
`America's "penny postcard," some thirty
`years after Gossip claims its origin in Eu(cid:173)
`rope. Lee claimed to be unaware of its exis-
`
`tence in Europe, saying that the idea came
`to him while he was thinking about some(cid:173)
`thing else:
`
`[In the 1870s, postage in America was
`three cents per letter.] I think that the first
`suggestion of two-cent letter postage came
`while I was serving as postmaster in myna(cid:173)
`tive town of Boonton, New Jersey. One of
`my friends said to me one day, "Why can't
`we cut a three-cent stamp in two and then
`with each half [of the stamp], send an [un(cid:173)
`sealed] letter?"
`At the moment, I thought this remark
`no more than a joke, but it set me to think(cid:173)
`ing, and I speedily became persuaded that
`if the government should issue blank cards
`bearing a one-cent stamp, they would be
`purchased in enormous quantities, for they
`could be used either for advertising or for
`open letter-writing purposes ....
`At first, the idea did not take with mem(cid:173)
`bers of Congress, but at last, the Commit(cid:173)
`tee on Post-offices and Post-roads [of which
`Lee was the chairman] thought it was worth(cid:173)
`while to make the experiment ....
`
`The government-issued postcard did
`not increase in price for more than 75 years
`after its beginning on May 1, 1873; it was
`even less expensive than private-issue post(cid:173)
`cards, which required two cents postage,
`until 1898, when the nongovernment cards
`were reduced in price to one cent.
`
`THE WORLD CHAMPION IN
`AMERICA
`
`The narrative now turns to Wilhelm
`Steinitz, one of Europe's top players who
`left the Old World for an American visit
`and tour in 1882. He visited Philadelphia,
`Baltimore and New Orleans before spend(cid:173)
`ing time in Cuba and then in New York
`City, returning to Europe in March 1883.
`Though the time in America may have been
`good for Steinitz's constitution, however, it
`did little or nothing for his disposition. By
`
`7
`
`