1 Bradford B. Jefferson THE FOUNTAINHEAD OF MEMPHIS CHESS by Frank Wranovix Weʼll probably never know for sure what it was that finally made Bradford B. “B.B.” Jefferson decide — in August 1913, 100 hundred years ago last month — to measure himself against some of the best players in the nation. He had certainly passed up numerous opportunities over the years. After all, the Western Chess Association had been holding its annual tournament ever since 1900 – the same year that B.B. first won the Memphis Chess Club Championship. Surely, he must have been frequently tempted. As a businessman – he spent his life in real estate, operating his own firm in Memphis – B.B. looked upon chess as an avocation. But what amateur who had not only taken down Harry Nelson Pillsbury and Geza Maroczy, but also drawn with Emanuel Lasker – true, it was in simuls, but nevertheless! – could possibly spend his time day after day striving to outwit his peers in commerce without wondering however fleetingly just how good he might be in a different sort of intellectual struggle? Biding His Time His prowess over the board was well known throughout the region. His admirers referred to him as the Champion of the South, but that was a mere claim and not an earned title, since there was no southern championship. He had certainly made believers of 1913 Western Open Here is a look back at an important event that certainly earned Bradford B. Jefferson a permanent place in Memphis Chess Club’s history and a future nomination for the Tennessee Chess Association’s Hall of Fame. Pages 1-5 Tri-State Area Crosstables A review of selected tournament results from the Mid-South. Page 6 Ye Ole Chess Nut Attempt to solve one more chess problem constructed by the late Jack Sprague. Page 9 1913 Western Open Games (Known today as the U.S. Open) All available games from the tournament that took place a century ago. Pages 10-13 Game Pages Select games are printed here from various players participating in Memphis Chess Club events Pages 15-16 Upcoming Tournaments Check out some of the Tri-State Area’s chess tournament offerings. As always, check for any changes to the tournament’s schedule with the sponsors’ web sites and the U.S.C.F. Page 17 Volume 2 Number 1, September 2013 Cornell Trophy
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Transcript
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Bradford B. Jefferson
THE FOUNTAINHEAD OF MEMPHIS CHESS
by Frank Wranovix
Weʼll probably never know for sure what it was that finally made Bradford B. “B.B.” Jefferson decide — in August 1913, 100 hundred years ago last month — to measure himself against some of the best players in the nation. He had certainly passed up numerous opportunities over the years. After all, the Western Chess Association had been holding its annual tournament ever since 1900 – the same year that B.B. first won the Memphis Chess Club Championship.
Surely, he must have been frequently tempted. As a businessman – he spent his life in real estate, operating his own firm in Memphis – B.B. looked upon chess as an avocation. But what
amateur who had not only taken down Harry Nelson Pillsbury and Geza Maroczy, but also drawn with Emanuel Lasker – true, it was in simuls, but nevertheless! – could possibly spend his time day after day striving to outwit his peers in commerce without wondering however fleetingly just how good he might be in a different sort of intellectual struggle?
Biding His Time
His prowess over the board was well known throughout the region. His admirers referred to him as the Champion of the South, but that was a mere claim and not an earned title, since there was no southern championship. He had certainly made believers of
1913 Western OpenHere is a look back at an important event that certainly earned Bradford B. Jefferson a permanent place in Memphis Chess Club’s history and a future nomination for the Tennessee Chess Association’s Hall of Fame.Pages 1-5
Tri-State Area CrosstablesA review of selected tournament results from the Mid-South.Page 6
Ye Ole Chess NutAttempt to solve one more chess problem constructed by the late Jack Sprague.Page 9
1913 Western Open Games (Known today as the U.S. Open)All available games from the tournament that took place a century ago.Pages 10-13
Game PagesSelect games are printed here from various players participating in Memphis Chess Club eventsPages 15-16
Upcoming TournamentsCheck out some of the Tri-State Area’s chess tournament offerings. As always, check for any changes to the tournament’s schedule with the sponsors’ web sites and the U.S.C.F.Page 17
Volume 2 Number 1, September 2013
Cornell Trophy
2
the many out-of-town visitors who stopped by the Memphis Chess Club in hopes of a friendly game. And his reputation was such that he was named Referee for the three games of the 1907 World Chess Championship match that were hosted by the Memphis Chess Club, which operated at the time under the aegis of the Business Menʼs Club.
In addition, as strong as the Memphis club was – by 1913 it had won telegraph matches against clubs in New Orleans, Nashville, and Mississippi – Jefferson faced no real competition from his fellow club members. In fact, he was apparently the city champion in the years 1900 – 1904, 1906, 1908 - 1933, and 1935 – 1954. We know he didnʼt play in the 1905 championship and can only guess what happened in 1907 and 1934.
Whatever the reason, in August 1913, B.B. and two fellow members of the Memphis Chess Club, Robert S. Scrivener and Dave Cummings, showed up at the Kenwood Chess Club in Chicago to test themselves against the best of the West. They couldnʼt have known it at the time, but they were about to make history.
Into the Lionsʼ Den
B.B.ʼs reputation preceded him, and he was expected to make a strong showing. As to his opponents, he knew he was walking into the lionsʼ den. To keep abreast of the world of chess all he had to do was read his sisterʼs column in the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Every week Rosa B. Jefferson presented problems, discussed openings, and recounted goings-on in regional, national, and international matches and tournaments. She was herself a player of no mean repute: In simuls, she had beaten Pillsbury and Frank Marshall, reportedly whipped Maroczy – though weʼve yet to find proof of that – and drew with Lasker. There are also strong indications that (after adjudication) she actually beat Lasker heads-up in a stakes match.
The Western Championship was one of the premier tournaments of the time. Harry F. Lee, chess editor of the Chicago Tribune, called it the “leading chess event of the year, in this country, aside from the Mastersʼ Tournament in New York.” (Ultimately, in 1934, the Western Chess Association faded into the American Chess Federation, which renamed the tournament the “U.S. Open.”) From its name, you might think the
Western Championship was merely a regional tournament, but the “region” included pretty much everything south and west of New York, including part of Canada. That made a lot of players eligible, and they were willing to come a long way to win such a prestigious title.
And come they did, in 1913: from Kentucky (John Taliaferro Beckner), Ohio (S. K. Shapiro), Nebraska (Cooper Ellis), North Dakota (William Widmeyer), Iowa (A.E. Crew and Marvin C. Palmer), Missouri (Joseph Daniels and W. G. Hine), Minnesota (Edward P. Elliott, Western Champion in 1908 and 1912), Toronto (Canadian Champion John Stuart Morrison), and from Illinois (i.e., Chicago) a crew hardened by tough big-club competition on a regular basis: Josef Friedlander; George Gessner, ex-Champion of the Kenwood Chess Club; Herman H. Hahlbohm, Champion of the Northwest Chess Club and future (1929) Western Champion; Einar Michelsen,1907 Western Champion; Charles W. Phillips, Chicago Chess & Checker Club Champion; and the Chicago Chess & Checker Club ex-Champion, John Winter.
Bright Lights, Big City
It would be understandable if,
Bradford Jefferson Robert Scrivener
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Rosa B. Jefferson
Rosa B. Jefferson, sister of Bradford B. Jefferson, deserves her own biography. Intelligent, witty, and an excellent writer, Rosa was not only Music editor of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, but also wrote the chess column from 1903 to 1934. She could also play a little. We know that in simuls she beat Pillsbury and Marshall, reportedly beat Maroczy, and drew World Champion Emanuel Lasker. But what is not known is that she apparently also beat Lasker in a one-game stakes match! At 4:00 p.m. on December 3, 1902, three hours before Lasker’s evening simul was to begin, she and Lasker met heads-up. Rosa referred to her “backers” and claimed that she challenged him. The game was adjourned and never finished, but according to Lasker’s Chess Magazine, “Miss Jefferson had the advantage and the judges awarded the game to her.”
According to Rosa’s account of the match, “Perhaps he accepted my challenge — and, by the by, how my friends did laugh at me for throwing down the glove to the great man — just to take me down for my audacity and put me in the corner, as it were. But what he may have considered as ‘pink tea’ performance turned out to be, for him, three hours of strenuous life.”
faced with playing 17 games in 7 days against such formidable opposition, the boys from Memphis (not “boys,” exactly: B.B. was about 38 years old, Scrivener 32) “lost” it. In fact, B.B. did just that. He scored only one point in the first three rounds. “Mr. Jeffersonʼs play has been without energy,” said the Chicago Tribune. That diagnosis might have been right on, as we speculate below.
B.B.ʼs first two games were adjourned, looking like a draw and a loss, when he sat down on the second day to play, as fate would have it, his good friend Bob Scrivener. He had taught Bob how to play in 1904-1905, and Bob would become a kind of acolyte. “He is extremely modest and prefers to extol the ability of his fellow townsman, Jefferson, rather than his own,” reported the Chicago Tribune. But whatever the situation might have been with underestimating his erstwhile pupil, a debilitating bug, or loss of nerve, B.B. could expect no quarter from his friend, fellow clubber, and townsman. At move 30, Scrivener announced mate in four.
The Turn
History is so often a mystery. Why in the world things turn out as they do is at times beyond our ken. We can only imagine B.B.ʼs state of mind at this point. He ended up drawing those first two adjourned games, and then in the very next round he lost spectacularly to his friend and former pupil. After three rounds, he was 1 - 2. It was a disaster in the making. He came all the way to Chicago for this?
Then – suddenly – things turned. In the afternoon session of the second day, just a few hours after being slammed with “Mate in 4!,” B.B. won. Then he won again. And he kept winning. In fact, in the next 14 games after Scrivener embarrassed him, B.B. won 12, lost 1, and drew 1: 12.5 points out of 14. Mystery? Maybe.
Sometimes things are simpler than they seem. In college once a student answered a professorʼs question with what he thought was a very well-thought-out, complex, involved, clever analysis. Internally, he was smiling all over himself for being so smart. The professor said, “Son, youʼre reaching for the depths and drowning on the surface.” Occamʼs Razor.
There might be a very simple explanation for what happened to B.B. after the game with Scrivener. Itʼs interesting to speculate that perhaps it was psychological shock. B.B.ʼs student, whom he taught how to play, rewards him by killing the king. How neatly Freudian. That must be what shook him out of his malaise, or torpor, or sui-mate.
But thereʼs a much simpler way to look at the situation that explains it very well: B.B. was ill and didnʼt play like himself. Then he was healthy and did play like himself. And when he did that, he was one very tough guy to beat. The theory that he had a “bug” or some such seems even more likely given the fact that Dave Cummings, his compatriot, was not able to play at all because of a “slight indisposition.”
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Robert S. Scrivener
Well-liked as a young man and universally loved as an old man, Bob Scrivener, who came to be known as “Uncle Bob,” managed to carve out a unique niche in the annals of amateur chess. With an active career in both the banking and airlines industries, he still found time to serve as President of the Western Chess Association three times, write a chess column for the Memphis News Scimitar, and assume major responsibility for the “overwhelming success” (in the words of Rosa B. Jefferson) of the 1914 Western Chess Association Championship that was held in Memphis.
A Charter Member of the Tennessee Chess Hall of Fame, Scrivener won the state championships of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi — the last at the age of 80! – and at the relatively young age of 76, he won the Southern Open. He was featured in the Chess Life issue of May 20, 1959, and was later awarded the title of Master Emeritus by the U.S. Chess Federation.
On to Glory — and Memphis!
As it turned out, B.B. squeaked by, ½ point ahead of Elliott, the two-time champion. His performance had enormous ramifications, as Harry F. Lee foresaw in the Chicago Tribune: “In Chicago was held the most successful meeting the Western Chess association ever had. Eighteen strong players from the west, the northwest, and the south entered the lists, and for the first time in the history of the association, the chief honor was earned by a southern player. B.B. Jefferson of Memphis, for years recognized as the champion of the south, won first prize and championship of the association…The most important step taken by the association at this meeting was the selection of Memphis as the meeting place next year. So great an interest in the work of the association has been manifested by the chess players of Memphis that the game is certain to be benefited by this enlargement of the field.”
The choice of Memphis for the 1914 championship was not left to chance as far as the Memphis contingent was concerned. Certainly, the personal popularity of the three Memphians must have helped. “His [B.B.ʼs] victory was a popular one,” wrote Lee, “as his style of play was much admired. He and his associates from Memphis added much to the success of the meeting.” But Memphis wasnʼt selected without a struggle.
“Memphis, besides sending a strong trio of players to represent Tennessee in the tournament, swamped the chess headquarters
with requests for the 1914 tournament today, and after a hot battle the southern city was chosen as the next meeting place.”
Unfortunately, we donʼt know who orchestrated the flood of telegrams from Memphis players pledging their support should Memphis be chosen, but itʼs easy to assume it was Rosa Jefferson on the home front coordinating with Dave Cummings, who had unexpected time on his hands, in Chicago.
For Memphis, it was an all-around triumph. “The participation of players from the south in the recent meeting of the Western Chess Association led to important results. Memphis, Tenn., secured the championship, the presidency of the association [Scrivener was elected president], and the honor of holding the next meeting.”
Out of the Shadows
For B.B., it was the height of his chessic glory — until the next year, when he won the championship again, this time on his home turf. No one had ever won back-to-back. As the first one to accomplish the feat, B.B. got to present his club – the Memphis Chess Club – with the associationʼs Cornell Trophy. It is still the clubʼs most revered relic.
After his 1914 victory, B.B. didnʼt play again in the Western Championship until 1920, where he finished second to Edward Lasker. It was 14 more years before he again challenged the best of the West. But it was a new world of chess he found in Chicago in 1934, a realm no
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Dave Cummings
Memphis Chess Club member Dave Cummings, suffering from a “slight indisposition,” attended but did not play in the 1913 Western Championship. His presence was key, however, in support of the Memphis bid for the 1914 tournament. Since Scrivener, who was elected President, appointed Cummings as Secretary and Treasurer of the association for 1914, Cummings was also instrumental in making the 1914 tournament in Memphis a smashing success. Although we don’t know much about him at this point, we do know he was apparently quite a player in his own right. In 1910, he beat B.B. in a Memphis Chess Club handicap tournament, scoring 15.5 – 2.5, and in 1913, he was listed as a finalist in the third tournament of the Illinois Correspondence Chess Association.
longer ruled by the great amateur players such as himself. This brave new world was populated by the likes of Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, and Isaac Kashdan.
In his time Bradford B. Jefferson was a major force in American chess, who only briefly stepped out of his relative obscurity to show the world how well he could play this game before retreating once again to his domestic and business affairs. In the words of Bob Scrivener:
“B.B….was the greatest ʻamateurʼ player who ever lived! A really wonderful person to know...I have always basked in the sunlight of his fame and some of the reflected glory has spread over me at times, but he has always been the fountainhead of Memphis chess, and when he goes the world will be a much sadder place.”
B.B. Jefferson died May 14, 1963, at the age of 89. He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis.
1913 Western Open
Robert Scrivener vs Bradford Jefferson
White to move and checkmate in 4.
1913 Western Open
John Winter vs Herman Hahlbohm
Black to move and checkmate in 7.
Solutions to both problems are at the bottom of page 8.
Perkins Blitz 3 August 22, 2013 Sponsor: JACKSON TENNESSEE CHESS CLUB (A6008043)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | MICHAEL ROBERTSON |5.0 | W 3 | W 5 | W 4| W 2 | W 6| TN | 13841225 / B: 1746P13->1797P18 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 | BRAD CRAIG SMITH |3.5 | W 4| D 3 | W 6| L 1 | W 5| TN | 12266650 / B: 1747P13->1719P18 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 | RONNIE BARNES |2.5 | L 1 | D 2 | W 5 | L 6 | W 4| TN | 10246369 / B: 1591P13->1551P18 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 | DAVID HAYS |2.0 | L 2 | W 6 | L 1 | W 5| L 3| TN | 15193051 / B: Unrated->1280P5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 | JOSIAH DAVID HAYS |1.0 | W 6 | L 1 | L 3 | L 4 | L 2| TN | 15192868 / B: Unrated->1073P5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 | KENNETH WILLIAM SCHREINER |1.0 | L 5 | L 4 | L 2 | W 3 | L 1| TN | 14903492 / B: 896P10-> 929P15 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE 2013 MISSISSIPPI STATE GRAND OPEN August 24, 2013 Sponsor: CHESS CLUB OF MS STATE UNIV (G6040250)
All of the games listed for the 1913 Western Open are available on a playable diagram at this site: http://memphischessclub.blogspot.com/ Chess Advocate is a publication of DKW. 11
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 (Mr. Beckner comments as follows: "I have had muchexperience against the Petroff as [Jackson W.] Showalter used to play it onme. The 3.P-Q4 [3.d4] attack 'cooks' it as Steinitz said years ago.") exd4 4. e5 Ne4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. exd6 Nxd6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Qf4 Be6 10. O-O Qd711. Re1 O-O-O (Mr. Beckner's comments: "When Michelsen castled, I felt Ihad him. White's two B's are ideally placed to shoot at the castled King.")12. Be3 Kb8 13. Rad1 h6 14. Bb5 Qe8 15. Rd3 Bf6 16. Bd4 Nf5 17. Bxf6 Rxd3 18. Bxd3 Qd7 19. Bxf5 Bxf5 20. Be5 g5 21. Bxc7+ Kc8 22. Qd6 Qxc7 23. Qf6 Rd8 24. Qxf5+ Kb8 25. Ne5 Nd4 26. Qd3 f5 27. h3 g4 28. hxg4 fxg4 29. Nxg4 Rg8 30. Qxd4 1-0
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In the tradition of the antique Peg Board game, the following example explores capturing your own pieces until there is only one remaining. To solve, make a legal chess piece move, in succession, until one piece is on the chessboard. A free app with similar puzzles like the one below, given you like this type of chess exercise, is at this link: http://www.puzzles.com/products/SolitaireChess/
Send Entries to: Memphis Chess Club Inc. P.O. Box 17864, Memphis,TN 38187.
Searcy, Arkansas Event Below:
Rolling Pawns #5 & National Chess Day Rolling Pawns #5
October 12, 2013
Details from the Arkansas Chess Association web site:
Site: Harding University, with special guest GM Ben Finegold. Schedule: Registration is 9-9:30 am; GM Finegold Lecture begins at 9:30; GM Finegold Simul (limited to 30 players) starts at 11:30; USCF Rated Open: 4 Rounds Game 30: 2-3-4-5; Prizes: 1st Place Overall $100, 1st U1700 $50, 1st U1200 Trophy; Two Entry Fee Options: 1. EF: Lecture, Participate in Simul (Limited to 20), & USCF Rated Tournament $50, EF: Scholastic Players: Lecture, Participate in Simul (Limited to 10), & USCF Rated Tournament $25 OR 2. EF: Lecture, watch Simul, & USCF Rated Tournament $25 EF: Scholastic Players: Lecture, watch Simul, & USCF Rated Tourn. $15 Site: Harding University at Searcy in the Liberty Room. Free Wi-Fi and coffee for all participants. Hotel room at the Heritage Inn at Harding University (1-888-766-2465). Contact info: Richie Kohl 501-940-0014. [email protected]
2013 Mississippi State Championship – Oct 19 & 20
This is an Open Tournament but you must be a Mississippi resident to win a trophy!5SS, G/85; d52 sections: Open and U1400At the Country Inn & Suites 3051 White Blvd, Pearl, MS 39208Phone: 601-420-2244HR: $79/night. Ask for the Mississippi Chess Association Tournament rate.All sections are USCF rated. USCF and MCA memberships can be purchased onsite.Pre-entry Fee: Adults $20 and Scholastic 12th grade or lower $10 if received by Oct 11Onsite Entry Fee: Adults $30 and Scholastic 12th grade or lower $20Prizes b/60% entriesTrophies go to the top Mississippi resident of both sections. If you are registered with USCF in a different State but live in Mississippi, you must bring proof of Mississippi residency.The Open section Trophy winner will be the 2013 State Champion. Registration: Sat 8-9am. Rounds: Sat 9:15-1:00-4:00 Sun 9-1:30The Mississippi Chess Association will host its annual business meeting Sunday at 12:30pm. If you are a Mississippi Resident, please attend!Send entries to: Ralph McNaughton
407 Boehle St Pearl, MS 39208
Make checks out to MCA. Include your USCF #, Expiration Date and estimated rating.Information: Call Ralph at 601-278-9670 or email [email protected] Chess Association homepage – http://www.mcachess.org
54th Mid-South Open
November 23-24, 2013
The Weekend before Thanksgiving this Year!
5SS, G/120;d5(5 round swiss with game in 120 minutes with 5 second delay). This event is USCF Regular Rated. See Flyer!
$$Based on 60 entries: $500, $250, $150, $100, $75. Class Prizes: $100 each for A, B, C, D. E: $75. $50 gift prize for Top Unrated from chesscentral.com! Plaques to 1st, Top A, B, C, D, E, Unrated.
Entry fee is $55 if by 11/20; $60 at the door. MCC members $50 anytime.Free entry for IM's and GM's if received by 11/16 with entry fees subtracted from winnings.
Registration: Saturday 11/23 7:30am to 8:45am.
Rounds: Saturday 9am-2pm-7pm; Sunday 9am-2pm.
Only one half-point bye is available for any round if declared 30 minutes before round one. Please, bring clocks, sets, and boards. Thanks!Send entries to: MCC, P.O. Box 17864, Memphis, TN. 38187. Use PayPay "add to shopping cart" to join online. Please include player's name, USCF ID, and rating on PayPal shipping instructions. Thanks! MCC members using PayPal will get a $5 rebate at registration. http://www.memphischess.com/