Chess News in 19th Century Newspapers

 

Here is some chess news found in a variety of 19^th century newspapers.

In 1740, Andre Danican Philidor was a master and teacher of music.  At this time, chess was played at almost every coffee-house in Paris, and he applied so closely to the game that he neglected his scholars, and they conseqently took another master.  This induced him rather to pursue the stidy of chess than music.  Mr. de Kermui Sire de Lagalle was then nearly forty years of age, was esteemed te best chess player in France, and young Philidor sought every opportunity of receiving his instructions, by which he improved so essentislly, that three years after Mr. de Legalle, though still his master, was not able to alllow him any advantage.  - Louisiana State Gazette, Apr 20, 1816, p. 2.

The second piece of chess, after the King, is now called the Queen.  The old French authors call it Fierce, Firche and Firge, or Fiereie.  Of the word Fierge, they have made Virge, Virge, and afterwards Lady or Queen.  The constraint of the Lady of Chess was displeasing to our fore-fathers.  They looked upon it as a sort of slavery, more suitable to the jealosy of the Eastern people, than to the liberty which ladies have always enjoyed among us.  They extended therfore the steps and perogatives of that piece, and in consequence of the gallantry so natural to the Western people, the Lady becamde the most considerable piece of all the Game.  - The Raleigh Minerva, Feb 21, 1817, p. 4.

Account of an Automaton Chess-Player, now exhibited at No. 4, Spring Garden, London.  At one and three o'clock in the afternoon, the Automaton plays only ends of games, with any person who may be present.  On these occasions, the pieces are placed on the board, according to a preconcerted arrangement; and the Automaton invariably wins the game.  But at eight o'clock every evening, it plays an entire game against any antagonist who may offer himself, and generally is the winner, although the inventor has not this issue in view as a necessary event.  Its motions are performed with perfect correctness; and the dexterity with which the arm acts, especially in the delicate opearations of castling, seems to be the result of spontaneous feeling, bending at the shoulder, elbow and knuckles, and cautiously avoiding to touch any other piece that that which is to be moved, nor ever making a false move. -  Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Feb, 1819 and The Charleston Daily Courier, May 21, 1819, p. 2.

Mr. De Kempelen resides here at Presbourg, and occupies, with is amiable family, the first floor of his house; his little workshop and study, in which is the chess automaton, are on the second floor; when h exhibits his automation, the company assemble in the lower apartment, from which he conducts them to the one above.  The first object which strikes the view, on entering the study, is the automation; which is placed opposite the door; the chest to which it is fixed is three feet and a half long, two feet deep, and two feet and a half high; it runs upon four castors, by means of which it can easily be removed from one place to another.  - Liverpool Mercury, Dec 31, 1819, p. 6.

We perceive by a late London paper that the celebrated Automaton, invented by Kempelen, and which has made the tour of Europe, and was capable of playing at chess in such a manner that it rarely lost a game, has at last been discovered to be an imposter.  It moved entirely by machinery, and confounded and astonished all who beheld it.  It is now proved to have been regulated by a person concealed in its body and who surveyed the chess-board through a thin waistcoat.  This person then guided the fingers of the automaton by springs.  – The National Gazette (Philadelphia), June 16, 1821, p. 3.

The Queen spent about two hours in a boat on the Thames, near Brandenburgh House, on Monday; she then dined, and in the afternoon sat on the lawn, amusing herself at chess. – The [London] Morning Post, Sep 13, 1820, p. 3.

The Chess Club at Paris, called "Le Cercle de Philidor," challenged the London Chess Club, to play a match at chess for any sum which the latter Club might name, the moves to be transmitted either by post, or by extraordinary couriers.  The London Chess Club accepted the challenge, appointed a Commitee of its own members to conduct the moves, and proposed that the stake should be 50 guineas a game.  An answer was returned by M. Labourdonnaye, the first chess player in Paris, who sent the challenge on the part of the French Club, declining the match, on the ground that the "Cercle de Philidor" was on the point of dissolution.  Some time adter, the Edinburgh Chess Club challenged the London Chess Club to play a match of three games.  The stake is a Silver Cup, of the valu of twenty-five Guineas. - Jackson's Oxford (England) Journal, May 8, 1824, p. 2

The old Irish were so adicted to chess that amongst them the possession of good estates have been decided by it and there are some estates, the property whereof doth still depend on the issue of a game of chess.  - London Magazine, June 1825 and The Tuscumbian (Alabama), Nov 7, 1825, p. 2.

It seems difficult to account for the extraordinary enthusiasm with which the amateurs of chess devote themselves to their favorite pursuit, since the desire of gain forms no ingredient in the passion for the game, and the trifling distinction acquired in a limited circle by a few first rate players cannot be the general object of ambition, because chess players, who have no hope of advantage beyond mediocrity, cultivate the game worth as much ardor, and apparently with an intense satisfaction as those whose superior skill is admitted, or whose hopes of improvement may still triumph over their experience.  - The National Gazette (Philadelphia) July 15, 1825, p. 1.

The ship Howard from Havre, arrived among the passengers, Mr. Maelzel, bringing with him the automaton chess player, which has so long puzzled and surprised all Europe.  The automaton has only lost 5 in 400 games played in England, France, and Germany.  It is considered the greatest piece of mechanism that the human mind has ever invented.  It has baffled every attempt to discover by what secret springs its movements are directed.  – Weekly Raleigh Register, Feb 24, 1826

The celebrated Automation Chess-Player which for many years has excited much curiosity in Europe, was brought to New York last winter, by the ship Howard from Havre.  It was constructed by M. de Kempelen of Presburg, in Hungary in 1760, and exhibited by the maker at St. Petersburg, Vienna, Paris and London before thousands, many of whom were mathematicians and chess players; but the secret by which its movements are regulated has never been discovered.  It is now exhibiting in New York.  - Hartford Courant, Apr 24, 1826, p. 2.

As I was copying an epitaph of a chess-player [Salvio Stamma], I could not help reflecting on the similarity between the devotion of the chess-player to his board, and that of the gambler to his cards.  I would not, indeed, wish them to be viewed exactly in the same light.  The chess-player seldom plays for money; the gamble is ready to risk his whole estate.  The chess-player pretends, though I fear with no great truth, that his employment strengthens his mental faculties; the gambler, I believe, is seldom bold enough to make any such assertion.  The chess-player loses his time, his money, and his caracter.  But in enthusiastic devotion to their pursuits, they may be regarded as very closely resembling each other. - The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Feb 25, 1837, p. 4.

On its return to Berlin, the chess automaton challenged all the Lords of the Court of the great Frederick, and was even admitted to the honor of playing with this prince, a great amateur of chess.  In a moment of enthusiasm, Frederick, at a great expense, became master of the machine and its secret.  From that time the delusion vanishedl the automaton dethroned, disdained, covered with dust, was exiled to an obscure apartment of the palace, where it remained nearly thiry years hidden and forgotten.  It owes it resurrection, in part, to the presence of Napoleon at Berlin.  It was taken from its obscurity, recovered its former splendor, and proud of having triumphed over the conquere of Austerlitz, it again commence its travels.  London and Paris received it with renewed pleasure.  - The Pittsburgh Gazette, Mar 3, 1837, p. 2.

Mr. J. Maelzel, the celebrated automaton chess player, died on July 21, on board the brig Otis, on her passage from Havana to Philadelphia.  – The Baltimore Sun, July 28, 1838.

It had been objected to the introduction of chess at the Preston Scentific Institution that it was not scientific.  As well it be objected that no man should become an astronomer, because he must first learn the principles of arithmetic, the rules of calculation, and the values of numbers; or that no man should attempt to teach wisdom to the rising race, because he must first teach the alphabet.  The game of chess was intmately connected with the science of numbers, and it was a game, or a science with inculcated prudence, caution, and forethought; and was, conseqently, of the greatest benefit, if looke at in that point of view.  The science of chess had something of the principles of mathematics in it.  It would also be found of advantage to introduce chess into the Institution inasmuch as it might have the effect of drawing numbers to that which might be described as a temple of knowledge, and thence to an appreciation of all the treasures whcih were enshrined within it.  It did not follow, because chess was called a game, that, therefore, chess must be gambling.  Anything in which there was what might be considered a stake, was, literally, a game.  There was no comparison between chess and cards, dice, and dominoes. - The Preston Chrnicle and Lancashire Advertiser, Oct 8, 1842, p. 3.

John Frederic, Elector of Saxony, having been taken prisoner by the Emperor, Charles V, was one day amusing himself at chess with Ernist of Brunswick, when a messenger came to inform him that his enemy had condemned him to death.  In spite of the sad intelligence, the elector played on with such spirit and ingenuity, that he won the game.  - The Whig Standard (Washington, DC), Nov 11, 1843, p. 2.

Mr Luccock suggested the propriety of the Yorkshire Chess Association meeting doing something towards the relief of Mrs. Sarratt, the aged and distressed widow of an eminent chess-player, now in Paris.  Mr Walker gave some details as to the very distressed state in which Mrs. Sarratt, at 85 yeas of age, is now placed, and said that for the last twelve months she had lived upon the charity of the Paris Chess Club.  Mr. Staunton proposed an immdiate subscription, and threw down a guinea as his "humble mit," towards the relief of the unfortunate lady.  The subscription-plate was then handed round the room, and we understand that the handsome sum of 15 pounds was subscribed.  - The Leeds Intelligencer and Yorkshire General Advertiser, May 17, 1845.

The rapidity of De la Bourdonnais can only, in fact, be equaled by his gluttony for the game.  Nothing satiates him, or causes him to cry, "Hold!-enough!"  His chess hours are frm noon to midnight, seven days a week.  He seems to be a chess automaton, would up to meed all conceivable cases with mathematical accuracy.  After a match with Mr McDonnell, McDonnel would cease playing, exhaused frequently even to weariness.  Not so De la Bourdonnias.  He would snatch a hasty dinner by the side of the chess-board, and in ten minutes be again enthroned in his chair, the hero of the hundred fights giving rook, or knight, or pawn, as the case might be, to any opponent who presented; fresh as the dewy morn, and vigorous as though 'twere breakfast-time.  He would play thus til long past midnight, smoking cigars, drinking punch, and pouring fourth his full soul in even boisterous merriment, dismissing at times his punch in favour of what he termed, "Burton ale-beer," the only fault of which, he was wont to say, was, that after three or four bottles he became additionally impatient, if he found his adversary slow. - Manchester Weekly Times and Examiner, Jul 10, 1850

Mr. Lowenthal, the celebrated Hungarian Chess Player, left his home in Cincinnati, a few days since for London.  He goes to attend the grand Chess Tournament to take place in that city some time nest month, and at which nearly all the grate chess players in the world will attend.  The man who comes off victorious in the game receives the purse of about $25,000, and is crowned the King Player of the world. – The [Boston] Liberator, June 27, 1851, p. 4.

A meeting, for the purpose of considering the propriety of remodelling the laws of the game of chess, was held on Saturday, at which several of the leading players were present.  Mr. Staunton opened the proceedings by observing that at the present day it was admitted on all hands that the existing laws were disfigured by the grossest anonalies and absurdities.  These, indeed, had been so ably and so frequently exposed, that he need not occupy the time of the assembly by pointing them out in detail.  They must all have felt the inconveniences arising from the want of some settled code of regulations.  At present the rules of chess were not only different in different countries, but were not the same at all the chess clubs even in this kingdom.  The chief part of these clubs to be sure, adopted the laws laid down in Lewis's books and in the "Handbook," but there were still a few who countenanced the nonsensical interpolations of Walker; according to whom, if a servant accidently knocked a piece off the board, you were bound to play that piece, unless at the moment of its falling you cried "J'adoube."  - The (London) Guardian, May 11, 1853, p. 6.

Chess is stirring in the Western World, and we look for great progress among active-minded and intellectual denizens of the United States.  They are not men to be left behind in a race whether for power or for fame; let them but throw themselves into the chess ranks, as they are doing, and the Old World will do well to look to its laurels.  If they are once up and doing, there is no certainty that the Chess Sceptre will not be swayed from the further side of the Atlantic.  At the present time a correspondence match, between the clubs of New York and Philadelphia, is the most note worthy topic of interest, and under that head shall have something more to say of chess in America.  - The Era (London), Jan 4, 1857, p. 13.

In a battle between the French and English, in the twelfth century, an English knight having seized the bridle of Louis le Gros, cried out, "The king is taken!"  But the monarch, striking him to the ground with his sword, said: "Do you not know that in chess the king cannot be taken?"  - The Wheeling (West Virginia) Daily Intelligence, Oct 9, 1857

Mr. Perrin dilated on the advantages which would accrue to the young in its study of chess, and offered the following sentiment, whcih accurately represents the influence of the game: "The noble game of chess, the king of intellectual sports.  Full of instructive emblems, rich in invigorating exercies; may it serve at once to lure our youth from the haunts of vice, and to train them to purposes of elevated usefulness." - The Charleston Daily Courier, Oct 28, 1857, p. 1.

The prizes in the Grand Tournament of the first American Chess Congress is as follows: First, $300; Second, $100, Third, $66; Fourth, $33.  Paul Morphy arrived a few weeks before the Chess Congress and already played 100 games with other players, two of which he lost.  The tournament was taking place in the Descombe’s Rooms.  The blindfold play of Paul Morphy and Louis Paulsen attracted several members of the military and the clergy.  – The Times-Picayune, Nov 3, 1857.

Mr. Paul Morphy, of New Orleans, secured the first prize of a Chess Congress in New York, apparently with comparative ease, and must now be acknowledged as the Transatlantic Champion.  This gentleman, who is still very youngm though a player of some years’ standing, intends, we ehar, to visit Europe, and break a lance with our Paladins.  We are certain that he will receive a chivalrous welcome, but we have no fear buth that the Old World will gallantly hold its own.  The American Congress, like the Manchester Meetings, has resulted in the formation of a permanent association on an extended basis, for which we hope all the success its promoters can desire.  – The [London] Era, Jan 3, 1858, p. 14.

In early 1858, Paul Morphy, President of the New Orleans Chess Club, sent a challenge to Howard Staunton to visit New Orleans and play a chess match for a wager of $5,000 a side.  The winner of the first 11 games would be the victor.  Each move would have a time limit of 30 minutes.  If Staunton should lose, he would still be allowed $1,000 to cover his expenses.  – The Weekly Union, New Bern, NC, March 22, 1858.

The knowledge of the game of chess seems to have been brought more directly from the East by the Scandinavian navigatores, to whom such a means of passing time in their distant voyages, and in their long nights at home, was most welcome, and who soon became extraordinarily attached to it, and displayed their ingenuity in elaborately carving chess-men in ivory (that is, in the ivory of the walrus), which seems to have found an extensive market in other countries.  In the year 1831, a considerable number of thdse carved ivory chess-men were found on the coast of the Isle of Lewis, probably the result of some shipwreck in the twelth centruy, for to that period they belong.  They belonged to at least seven sets, and had therefore prabably been the stock of a dealer.  Part of them were obtained by the British Museum.  Some of the best of them, however, remained in private hands, and have more recently passed into the rich museum of Lord Londerborough. - Glasgow Harold, Jan 28, 1859, p. 6.

What the gymnasium is to the body, chess is to the mind.  It develops the natural powers, increasing and improving their capacity.  That these obtain development by the necessary exertions of life, is true; but it is true, also, that superior ability is always the result of special exercise and cultivation.  The mental gymnasium, or the chess-board, is as nearly as possible a parallel to this illustration.  It takes hold of the faculties in their dormant state, and brings them out.By the attractive influence of amusement, it exerts the mental powers of analysis, and enforces mathematical insruction.  Playing at chess is now epidemic.  The Chess Congress, which brought together at New York all the principal amateurs and masters in the country, set the country on fire. - The Charleston Daily Courier, Mar 16, 1859, p. 1.

So the year 1857 found us.  It was some relief, looking at the daily papers, to turn from the failure of A, B, & C for $150,00, and from the suspension of specie payments by the banks, to the unruffled proceedings of the first American Chess Congress, then in session, admission for the week, to lookers-on, one dollar.  And the officers of the Chess Congress, with nobler instincts of gentlemen than the New York Academy of Medicine, did not hesitae or refuse to admit a nego, even with the high-bloods from the South in their midtst, and the danger of the dissolution of the Union before thier eyes.   - The National Era (Washington, DC), Sep 29, 1859, p. 1.

We regret very much that any consideration should have induced its editors to dispense with the chess column for the ensuing year.  Southern chess players do not like to be dependent on anto-Southern papers for chess news.  – The Oxford [Mississippi] Intelligence, Jan 2, 1861, p. 2.

Paul Morphy is to join the staff of General Johnson of the Confederate army.  Morphy is at present in Richmond, Virginia practicing law.  – The Local News (Alexandria, Virginia), Jan 3, 1862.

Paul Morphy is now in Paris, where he has been sojourning for over a year past.  At the breaking out of the rebellion he at once took side with the rebels in New Orleans, but when Farragut took that place Morphy was wise enough to make a retreat, and he managed to find his way to Paris, which no doubt will henceforth be his home, as he is of French patronage and of French tastes and habits.  He has not played chess much of late years.  – The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Nov 3, 1863, p. 2.

Herr J. Lowenthal, the celebrated Hungarian chess player, lectured on the origins of chess at the West Yorkshire Chess Association.  He illustrated the similarity of the Hindoo game [Chaturgano] with chess and then traced the introduction of the game into Persia, and showed how it became simplified.  The period of the introduction of chess into Europe was not accurately known.  It was beleived it was played as early as 700; but it was not generally known till after the crusades, the warriors of the cross having undoubtedly earlier into Spain by the Moors, and in that country the first work on the game was published, in manuscript, of course, as the first printed book on chess as printed in England by Caxton.  Chess was first popularized in Spain, and then rapidly spread in other countries.  At present England was the great centre of the chess world. - The Bradford (England) Observer, May 25, 1865, p. 6.

Leonardo de Cutri was poisoned at Calabra, by a rival, at the age of forty-six, while on a visit to the Prince Bisiguano.  A Spanish nobleman who had for some time been in the habit of playing with Philip II, used to win every game.  One day, when their chess-playing had terminated in the customary result, he perceived that the King was excessively annoyed.  If the fact took him by surprise, his stock of common sense must have been small.  On reaching his home, he said to his family, :My dear children, we may have as well pack up and take ourselves off at once.  This is no longer a place for us; for the King has fallen into a violent rage because he cannot beat me at chess.” – Chicago Tribune, Feb 13, 1866.

Oxford University, after being for some years without a chess club, has at length plucked up gheart of grace, and started one, under the presidency of Mr. E. A. Anthony, who is well seconded by the Rev. C. E. Ranken, one of the most thoughtful and profound of our English amateurs.  Steinitz won ten simultaneous games over the board, losing none.  During the second blindfold exhibition at the Oxford Town Hall, Prince Hassam, son of the Viceroy of Egypt, who is at present studying at Oxford, visited the Town Hall, and displayed a lively interest in the proceedings. - The [London] Observer, Jan 6, 1871, p. 2.

The rook, or castle, is called by the Eastern people the rokh, and the Hindoos make it of the figure of a camel.  There is something ridiculous in calling this piece the castle, for, in the East, the word rokh signifies a sort of camel used in war and place upon the wings of the armies as light horse.  Now, how is it possible for a castle to move with the fleetness of a camel, which is symbolized in the rapid motion of this piece from one side of the board to the other?  The pawn, or common soldier, has suffered no change. – The Missouri Republican (St Louis), Sep 29, 1872, p.6.

If Paul Morphy, 30 Rue Dauphine, New Orleans, is not forgotten, it has not beenhis fault.  If he is, it shall not be mine.  For fifteen years he has lived a life of obstinate obscurity.  He has scarcely appeared in public.  He has avoided his friends, until they have, with less than a dozen exceptions, disappeared into acquaintances.  His name, even, is never seen in the annual city-directories.  Two publications of his death have pleased him more than all of his exploits.  Immediately after college, he founded the New Orleans Chess-Club, of which he soon became president and master-spirit.  Paul Morphy is poor.  Unlike a Yankee, he finds it impossible to live on his talent.  He was morbidly sensitive to misjudgment.  It is dearer to him than wealth or renown, or the strange gift by which he must get his daily bread or go without it.  Some there are who do not live by bread alone. – Charles Woodbury, Chicago Tribune, Mar 2, 1873, p. 7.

Howard Staunton, whose death is reported this morning, was an eminent authority of chess and Shakespeare.  He was an Oxford graduate.  The latter years of his life were devoted to literary pursuits, and especially to Shakespearian study.  For editing the “Illustrated Shakespeare,” known as Routledge’s edition, he received $5,000, which is the largest pay ever given for work of this description.  – Chicago Daily News, June 27, 1874.

Mr. Tilton insisted that chess had immense practical value, and he even went so far as to urge the Government to establish a Military chess Professorship at West Point, with a veiw to increase the efficiency of the army.  One of our correspondents showed conclusively that chess could not be employed in such service.  The art of War is altogether different from the art of chess, and the resemblances are altogether superficial.  We speak of attack and defense, of pieces in battle array, of plans for, their capture and exchange; but the movements, geometrical and mathematical, of pieces with fixed powers upon a board of sixty-four squares, are as remote from actual warfare as the shuffling of a pack of cards.  The chess-player learns absolutely nothing of war, and the warrior cannot get the least practical hint from chess.  None of the great generals have been good chess players. – Burlington [Iowa] Weekly Hawk Eye, Oct 1, 1874, p. 5.

The records of ancient and modern chess-playing have alike been searched in vain to find the name of a single famous woman chess-player.  The names of several lady chess-players are mentioned, to be sure, but none of them as being eminent in the game.  Aaron Burr, after his arrest by the United States Government, and during his detention as prisoner at Fort Stoddard, on the Alabama river, used to play chess with a lady antagonist, the wife of the Commander of the fort – no less a personage than the afterwards famous Mrs. General Gaines, of New Orleans.  But here, again, it is not recorded that the lady was an exceptionally good player. – St Louis Globe Democrat, Dec 12, 1875.

At the French Exhibition [Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia] Napoleon had apartments in the building set aside for the chess players. – The [Philadelphia Times], Jan 31, 1876, p. 4.

They make chess social in France.  Mr. Rosenthal, with his friends, not long since, took a walk for recreation, and lo! he soon found himself seated under an ancient oak blindfold contesting simultaneously against the seven amateurs who accompanied him.  He came out with honor.  – St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Oct 7, 1877, p. 9.

The late Napoleon III patronized the game, and gave a trophy known as the “Emperor’s Prize,” at the Chess Congress in Paris in 1867.  The Emperor Franz Joseph imitated his example at the Chess Congress in Vienna in 1873.  – St Louis Globe-Democrat, Feb 17, 1878, p. 9.

In Belgravia, Richard A. Proctor showed that while it is theoretically possible to construct a chess-playing automaton, it is practically impossible because the machine would necessarily be so enormous and complicated there would scarcely be room on the earth for it, and it could not be operated.  Mr. Proctor thinks there will never be a chess automaton that can play a game unless there is “Life in other worlds than ours.”  -- The Times-Picayune, Aug 5, 1879.

If chess deserves praises, should it not become a more popular, even a national amusement?  Is it not a burning shame, that when in London half a dozen athletes, with mentality at zero, walked till muscle and sinew were one great aching pain, their brutal endurance was cabled all over the world, while the progress of the great international chess tournament at Paris in 1878 was hardly noticed, and then only in a blundering way?  Let us hope for better things, for in the language of another, “Chess is the queen and empress of games, and the rest are scarcely worthy to tie her shoe.”  - Olahte [Kansas] Gazetter, Mar 25, 1880, p. 1.

Mr. Morphy is constantly requesting loans of $200, is never refused, and he never takes the money however urgent the need of it, as explained by him when asking for the loan.  He is entirely satisfied, and all his anxiety vanishes as soon as the friend to whom he has applied responds, “Certainly, Mr. Morphy, will you take the money now?”  To this his invariable response is that he “will not take it now, but will call again for it” –which he never does.   – Wayne County [Pennsylvania] Herald, Dec 1, 1881, p. 1

Wilhelm Steinitz played a simul of 30 games at the Maryland Historical room in Baltimore, winning 29 and drawing one.  He played another 30-board simul as few days later, winning 27, drawing 2 (Julius Hall and Dr. A.B. Arnold) and losing one (A. Sellmar).  He held an unlighted cigar throughout the event as he walked from table to table. – Wilmington Morning Star, Dec 28, 1882 and Parson Daily Sun, Jan 14, 1883.

Dr. Zukertort, the great blindfold chess player, is a man of wonderful memory.  Before he was 7, and before he could read or write, he was able to demonstrate such a problem as the square of the hypotenuse or work out a simple equation entirely from memory.  Whatever he read a few times, he always retained.  From his experience the doctor is convinced that the memory can be trained to a boundless extent.  – Atlanta Constitution, Jan 25, 1884.

Paul Morphy died on the afternoon of July 10, 1884 at his ancestral home on Royal Street, after a very brief illness.  After winning the highest honors more than 20 years ago, he suddenly abandoned chess-playing, and it almost drove him into a frenzy to have the subject mentioned.  He attempted the practice of law, but his mercurial disposition and erratic habits prevented his building up a practice.  He became a victim of melancholy, verging upon madness.  For years he has been a conspicuous character on the streets.  Every fair day his trim little figure, clad in the height of snug-fitting fashion, might be swinging his little cane on the boulevards, scrutinizing through the glass the fair promenaders.  For years he thus passed his useless life away, unmolested and unmolesting.  Even so late as yesterday he was seen on Canal street chattering to himself and smiling at his own conceits.  When Steinitz and Zukertort attempted to turn his mind to chess, they were repulsed at the threshold of their attempts, coldly and haughtily, in a manner that forbade further advances.  – Chicago Daily Tribune, July 11, 1884.

Napoleon I opened his chess games badley, his biographer assures us, but when warmed up to the game, he made some very brilliant moves.  At St. Helena he played daily, going over on the board the battles what he had fought, and more that once declared that he ought to have won at Waterloo.  Louis XIII of France was so fond of chess that he played it in his carriage.  – The Boston Globe, May 24, 1885.

The chess automaton at the Eden Musee continues to defeat every chess player who meets him at the board.  The expense of playing with the automaton is 20 cents after you have entered the Musee, 10 cents for admission to the little room where he sits, and 10 cents for every game played – 70 cents in all.  The man hidden inside is a very fine player.  --  Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Dec 20, 1885.

The Café de Regence preserves a small table of grey marble, on which Napoleon lost many a game of chess to his friend Captain Bertrand.  Years afterwards, at St. Helena, where the great exile was allowed to do little else than to play chess, he still played it badly.  His memorial table at the Regence, bearing his almost illegible name on a worn-out silver plate, has been put to much service since his day, and has been the scene of many a more brilliant chess-contest than he himself was ever to able to wage.  It is true that he won some vapid victories over Madame de Remusat, yet all his recorded games, without exception, are of inferior quality. – Omaha Daily Bee, Nov 29, 1886, p. 2.

Mr. Frederick Viewig, manager of the Eden Musee, was arrested of having violated the Sunday law by allowing to be exhibited was figures, permitting music to be played, and also by allowing Ajeeb, the chess automaton, to play that game.  He responded, “I consider it absurd to contend that a playing a game of chess or looking at was figures was a violation of the Sunday law.”  Mr Viewig was held in $100 bail.  – Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Jul 16, 1887.

Dr. J. H. Zukertort died in London on June 20, 1888 after a short illness.  He appeared to be enjoying very good health on Tuesday evening, when he played at Simpson’s.  Suddenly he became ill there, and was taken to the British Chess Club, King-street, Covent-garden.  Mr. Gunsberg thought it advisable to remove him to Charingcross Hospital, where he was found to be unconscious.  There were no appearances of Dr. Zukertort’s having been the victim of any chronic disease.  His death is attributed to a sudden attack of apoplexy.  – The London Times, June 21, 1888.

Baroness von Kolisch, of Vienna, the widow of the eminent past grand master and liberal patron of the royal game, whose death occurred last spring, certainly seems resolved that his untimely taking off shall not cause the cessation of the liveral patronage of chess that his purse so often supplied.  She has just donated a sum of 6200 florins (about $3000) to the Vienna Chess Club, of which 3000 are to aid the finances of the organization and the remaining 3200 are to furnish seven prizes, ranging from 100 to 1000 guiden, in a grand tourney to be held by the club during the course of the present winter, to be open to Viennese players exclusively, and to be concluded on April 30, 1890, the anniversary of her husband’s death. – The [New Orleans] Times-Democrat, Nov 10, 1889. P. 16.

Charles XII of Sweden was known to have been a player of considerable skill.  He was taken prisoner in Turkey while engaged in a game of chess against his Adjutant.  History proves that the great king found single-handedly almost against an army of his captors, and, when he was besieged in a hut, he nevertheless proceeded with is game of chess.  Several times he was asked to surrender, but he did not take the least notice of the order, but played on coolly until the balls penetrated the hut and knocked some of the pieces from the board.  With sword in hand, and in company with his Adjutant, he tried to force his way through the enemy, and was taken a prisoner.  – The [New York] Sun, Oct 19, 1890, p. 30.

Dr. S.B. Minden expresses the opinion that the late Captain Mackenzie, the chess player, died of morphine taken accidently or with suicidal threats.  – The Scranton Republican, April 28, 1891.

In May 1892, Emanuel Lasker came to New York from Germany and declared his willingness to play anyone in America for $7,500 a side.  The match had to be at least 5 games, draws not counting with a time limit of 15-20 moves an hour.  -  Middletown Times Press, May 21, 1892.

William Steinitz lives in a modest little house in the outskirts of Upper Montclair, NJ.  His surroundings are as simple as his life is quiet.  He stirs about but little, for he is, as well known, a cripple, and walks with the aid of a pair of canes.  He passes his day between two rooms, one of which he calls his workshop and the other his writing room.  Both preserve an utter disregard of any sort of order, and amid this bewildering litter of chess boards, scrap-books, time clocks, a correspondence strewn pell-mell, and an extensive chess library, he works out his game and problems. – The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct 22, 1892, p. 21.

Her most gracious Majesty does not play so often as in the early days, when she so much enjoyed a smart combat with the King of the Belgians, but the Queen’s eldest daughter, the Dowager Empress of Germany, plays chess every day. – Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, Jan 25, 1893, p. 8.

Cardinal Damianus in the eleventh century imposed a penance upon one of his bishops becasue he used to “sport away his evenings amidst the vanity of chess.”  Old statutes of the Church of Elma proclaim that clerks playing at chess shall be “ipso facto excommunicated,” and Louis, King of France, levied a fine upon any one convicted of playing the game.  – San Francisco Chronicle, Feb 3, 1894, p. 10.

Harry N. Pillsbury was declared world champion after taking first place at Hastings in 1895.  “Pillsbury has now met and defeated every expert in the world and will take the world’s championship back to Brooklyn with him.”  - Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sep 2, 1895.

The Royal Game is to be played by American and British teams of 10 and the moves are to be telegraphed 3,483 miles.  The birthday of Abraham Lincoln, February 12, will be celebrated in 1897 by a chess contest between Great Britain and America on an international scale.  It is native talent against native talent and the question of chess supremacy will be determined by the issue, as well as the possession of the splendid Newnes challenge chess cup, won from the British last March.  The trophy for which the rival teams will contend is solid silver and of a value of $1,000.  The design representing at its base America with her shield and liberty cap and eagle one one side, and on the other Britannia, with trident, shield and lion.  Above these figures are the chessmen spear, the rook being the standard and the bishop the apex of the bowl, around which are clustered the pawns, with the king and queen and the knights as ornoments of relief.  – The Baltimore Sun, Feb 6, 1897, p. 6.

In 1897, the press falsely reported Steinitz’s death.  The headline of the Indianapolis News was “William Steinitz Dead.”  A dispatch from Moscow says that William Steinitz died in a private hospital, where he had recently been placed on account of mental disorder.  – Indianapolis News, Feb 22, 1897.  It was also reported in the Alexandria Gazette and the Staunton Spectator (Staunton, Virginia).

William Steinitz, who at his own request was taken to the River Crest Sanitarium recently, has been discharged as cured.  While the former world champion has recovered his mental faculties, it is doubtful whether the state of his health will permit of his taking part in the Paris tournament.  – Chicago Daily Tribune, April 22 1900.