Article 8

CHESS IN THE OLD WEST

by Robert John McCrary

Chess moved west with the earliest wagon trains. One of the diaries of journeys to settle the old west, kept by a lady pioneer, said that she played chess to amuse herself on the long trip. Chess had presumably already been introduced to the west by the early Spanish; Benjamin Franklin said in his famous essay in 1787 that "The Spanish have already spread it over their part of America" in reference to chess.

What is surprising is the apparent speed with which chess became organized in the west. In 1857, when the Easterners were just getting themselves together enough to plan the First American Chess Congress, they had four members on their " Committee of Cooperation" from California! Their names were T.B. Baillie of Sacramento and Selim Franklin, T.J. Grotjan, and William R.Wheaton of San Francisco. By contrast, the first baseball association, being formed at the same time, was almost exclusively northeastern.

It seems strange to imagine that there were active chess clubs in the wild western streets of San Francisco only eight years after the gold rush. One wonders if they brought their six-shooters to the meetings. ("You better smile when you say checkmate, partner!") Yet, San Francisco actually sent T. J. Grotjan all the way to New York to participate in the First American Chess Congress, and he was appointed to the Committee to form the first American Chess Association.

The Book of the First American Chess Congress (p. 66) describes Mr. Grotjan's visit to the Congress: " Among the earliest to arrive was Mr. T. J. Grotjan, delegate of the clubs in San Francisco, California. To the great regret of the Committee his engagements compelled him to leave without taking any active part in the proceedings." Note the reference to the clubs (plural) in San Francisco already at that early date! On April 18, 1885, a new chess club was formed in San Francisco. Called the " Golden Gate Chess Club of California," it had the following officers: president Dr. Benjamin Marshall; vice-president M. Manson; secretary F. Peipers; treasurer F. Waldstein. Waldstein had just won a double round-robin ahead of Manson and Peipers.

That new club wasted no time making a name for itself! In 1886, the club president Dr. Marshall announced that the Golden gate club would send a delegate, J. Redding, to the first official world championship match between Steinitz and Zukertort. The favor was returned by Zukertort, who went straight to San Francisco to give some " public chess performances" after losing the match with Steinitz.

In 1888, San Francisco was visited by leading British player (though American-born) G. H. D. Gossip. He left a very illuminating, important, and detailed account of the state of San Francisco chess in The International Chess Magazine, June 1888 issue. He noted: " There are two leading Chess resorts here, viz.: the Mercantile Library and the Mechanics' Institute (in Post Street), which have large and commodious rooms for the accommodation of Chess players- twice as large as any chess club or chess room in Australia." He added that the Mechanics' Institute "is crowded with chess players every afternoon, both rooms being open daily, Sundays included."

According to Gossip, the San Francisco players of 1888 could conceivably have been ranked among the best in the world! He said that the best local player, the same J. D. Redding who went to the world championship match, actually had a 2-3 score against Zukertort on the latter's visit to San Francisco. (Remember that Zukertort was still considered number two in the world.) Redding also had a 5-3 against Gossip at the time the article was written. The club president, Dr. Marshall, had achieved a 2-3 score against the world-famous player/author, Baron Heydebrand Von Der Lasa (Presumably well past his prime by then.)

In the September 1897 issue of American Chess Magazine is a notice that a "chess game by wire" was being negotiated between the University of California and Harvard. The account adds that " Berkeley defeated Stanford last year at the game." Later, Harvard declined the challenge, citing too many engagements.

In modern times, the Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco still carries the outstanding chess tradition that began in San Francisco way back in the gold rush. The great blindfold chess genius, Hall-of-Fame member George Koltanowski, settled in San Francisco.

Another modern great produced by the American West is the world's oldest grandmaster, Arthur Dake of Portland, Oregon. Dake was born on April 10, 1910 in Portland, and right away showed that he had a good dose of the pioneer spirit in him. As a child, he slipped past security to get a close look at President Woodrow Wilson, an escapade that earned him a mention in the newspapers (and fortunately not a stint in a detention center.) Ironically, the close encounter between Wilson was that of a chessplayer and a non-player; but Wilson was the chessplayer while Dake had not yet learned the game!

After Dake did learn chess, he drew a game against world champion Alekhine in a simultaneous exhibition in Los Angeles. Dake, who was then about 18, hurried over to San Francisco to play Alekhine again. He was now out of money, but he talked his way into the exhibition at the famous Mechanics' Institute. Alekhine recognized him, said "Yes, I have a score to settle" and proceeded to defeat young Arthur.

Only a few years later, Arthur Dake was one of the strongest players on the world's strongest team, that of the United States. Although GM Dake had to leave active competition to raise a family, his record of achievements in a short time earned him induction into the US Chess Hall of Fame in 1991.