Forthcoming chess books from Mcfarland

Just a quick post on what's new and  forthcoming from Mcfarland.
Just published Emil Kemeny A Life in Chess by John S. Hilbert

http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-7359-5

Forthcoming a new biography of Mikhail Botvinnik
The Life and Games of a World Chess Champion by Andy Soltis

http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?isbn=0-7864-7337-1

also to be released in the future from Mcfarland is William H.K. Pollock A Chess Biography by Olimpiu G. Urcan

http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?isbn=0-7864-5868-2

and last but not least The Classical Era of Modern Chess by Peter J. Monte


http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-6688-7

Chicago Chess History Link

Just another very quick post, to link , the John S. Hilbert's article; A War of Words and Moves: The 1877 Louisville – Chicago Consultation Correspondence Game, over at ChessCafe. An important contribution to Chicago chess history.

Emil Kemeny - A Hungarian in the windy city: Early chess editors of the Chicago Tribune (Part 3)

 

Emil Kemeny

SDN-002694, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum.  

On July 12th, 1902, Emil Kemeny then champion of the Franklin Chess Club of Philadelphia gave a simultaneous exhibition at the Chicago Chess Club, where he played a dozen games against the Chicago players, scoring 6 wins, 2 draws, and 4 lost games. Kemeny also played a couple of off-hand games without clocks against the Chicago Daily Tribune chess editor Sidney P. Johnston at the Chicago Chess Club, losing the first game and drawing the second game. In a few years time, Kemeny would move to Chicago and himself become the editor of the chess column of the Tribune.

Emil Kemeny was born in Budapest on January 13, 1860. Walter Penn Shipley described Kemeny in the Philadelphia Inquirer of July 12th 1925 later quoted in the July - August issue of the American Chess Bulletin.  

   "He was tall, standing over six feet in height. Kemeny was genial companion, with a keen sense of humor, well read, spoke several languages fluently and besides being an able chess player was passionately fond of good music."

Shipley thought that Kemeny arrived in the United States sometime in 1891, settling in New York, where he  played in one of the New York Chess Association tournaments at Skaneateles that year finishing second to James Moore Hanham. Later that same year he played a match Hanham which he lost by a score of 4-5. The next year Kemeny won the New York Chess Association tournament at Skaneateles, Kemeny scored 6 1/2 points over Hanham (6 points) and three other players.

By late1892 Kemeny had taken up residence in Philadelphia, where he played in the 1892-1893 Franklin Chess Club championship, which he won (14points) ahead of Walter Penn Shipley (13 points) and eight others.

  " Emil Kemeny would in the next three [including 1892-1893 championship] Franklin championships amass an extraordinary record of 50- 7. He would win the championship for the first two years he entered, and no doubt would have won the third event as well, had he not withdrawn either for health reasons or perhaps because he temporarily left the country , after playing 15 games gaining a 13-2 score."

John S.Hilbert - Walter Penn Shipley: Philadelphia's Chess Friend

Mcfarland & co.( p. 99)

 All told Kemeny would win the Franklin Club championship three times as well tying for first once, his third win would come in 1899, his tie for first 1900, he would lose the playoff match to Charles John Newman.
In 1898 he placed fourth, and in 1901 he finished in third place. 

He would play in many team tournaments for the Franklin Chess Club as well as matches of Pennsylvania players against players from New York. In 1896, Kemeny would challenge the American champion Jackson Whipps Showalter to match for the title, and though he would lose (4 wins, 7 loses, 4 draws), it was not without a struggle.

But perhaps Kemeny's greatest contribution to Philadelphia chess was as Hilbert points out, Kemeny's activity as a chess journalist, he edited the chess column of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, to which he brought"... a level of  detail and analysis not before seen in Philadelphia and only rarely, in the writings of Steinitz, seen in the country."  (Hilbert, p.99) Kemeny in 1903 would edit and publish The American Chess Weekly and though it lasted but a year, it is still important for it's coverage of the great Monte Carlo tournament for that year, as Kemeny would publish all the games from the tournament.

The Chicago Tribune of August 24, 1904, lists Kemeny as one of the Chicago players likely to take part in the upcoming Western Chess and American Chess Congresses in St. Louis, Kemeny must taken up residence in Chicago sometime in the spring or summer of that year. What caused Kemeny to remove himself to Chicago is unclear, he held a position with Pennsylvania Railroad for sometime in Philadelphia, perhaps it was another railroad job that caused the move to Chicago.

Kemeny finished forth at the Seventh American Chess Congress in St. Louis, behind Frank Marshall (the winner), Max Judd (2nd), Louis Uedemann (3rd). He finished fifth at the Western Congress behind Stasch Mltotkowski, which was played just before the American congress.

The St. Louis Republic., October 23, 1904

The annual tournament for the championship of the Chicago Chess Club did not begin well for Kemeny with a loss in the first round to Parke, but Kemeny then rebounded, winning the remainder of his games, winning the tournament with a score of 18 games won and 1 lost. In second place was J.C. Eppens, neither player would take part in the tournament following year.

 

J.C. Eppens

SDN-002351B, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum.

Kemeny took over editorship of the chess column of the Tribune following the death Sidney P. Johnston, who's last column appeared on March 19, 1905 the very day he died. The first column under Kemeny's pen seems to be April 25, where he reports  the outcome of the club championship; which Kemeny won, as noted above, Eppens following close behind, finished second.

Kemeny seems to have suffered from various health  problems throughout his time in Chicago, the annual tournament of the Chicago Chess and Checker Club was again approaching, when the under the pen of Mrs. Frank Lynn,, the Tribune chess column reported that Kemeny would  be unable to participate in the tournament.

   "Emil Kemeny, champion of the Chicago Chess and Checker club, and the chess editor of The Tribune, is slowly convalescing the Cook county hospital after an operation on Nov.3  for appendicitis. He had been in poor health for some time, but the true cause of the trouble was not suspected, and at the time of the operation his condition had become such that little hope was held out for his recovery. A naturally strong constitution enable him to rally, however at the present time he is pronounced practically out of danger, although final recovery may be slow on account of complications arising from the delay in operating."

Chicago Daily Tribune; Nov 26, 1905

In January 7th chess column, Mrs. Lynn, who took over the Tribune chess column during Kemeny's absence wrote that, Kemeny was slowly recovering, he would not in all likelihood be able to play any serious chess for some time, she also noted that Kemeny's brother, Alexander of Vienna, had recently been in the city.

Kemeny resumed the editorship of the chess column on February 25th, but by March 11th he had decided to go back to Budapest to continue his recovery. Louis Uedemann, who had edited the column some years earlier, filled void caused by Kemeny's departure, he would continue to edited the column until his death in 1912.

   "Emil Kemeny, editor of the chess column The Tribune left Chicago last Sunday on a visit of several months to relatives in his Hungary to seek there complete recovery from his late illness.
   Mr Kemeny's decision was so quickly arrived at that it was an unpleasant surprise to scores of friends he made in Chicago by his ever genial disposition. It is needless to state that his absence is a great loss to Chicago Chess, and his friends wish to see him back soon, in the full vigor of his best days. On the journey he will stop a few days in New York to have a talk with experts there and particularly with his friend and countrymen, Marcozy, who is seeking a contest with Lasker for the match championship of the world."

Chicago Daily Tribune;  March 11, 1906

   "Emil Kemeny's Philadelphia and Chicago friends, not having heard from him since his departure for Hungary  will be pleased to learn he is again in good health and daily visits the Baross cafe in Budapest. Georg Marco so writes to Walter Penn Shipley, his information coming from Geza Marcozy during the latter's visit to Vienna."

Chicago Daily Tribune ; Feb 17, 1907

On May 1, 1925, Emil Kemeny died in Budapest, he had suffered for over eight months with bronchitis, which led to heart trouble, and finally pneumonia. Although Kemeny's residence in Chicago was of a short duration, he was sorely missed by those who knew him.

An Acknowledgment: An invaluable resource for this post particularly for information on Kemeny's residence in Philadelphia was John S. Hilbert's on book Walter Penn Shipley, Hilbert's forthcoming biography on Kemeny is due out this summer, and I am sure will add much to our knowledge of Emil Kemeny.

John S. Hilbert: Writings in Chess History

 

From the fecund pen of John S. Hilbert comes Writings in Chess History a new collection of  essays and book reviews. Hilbert is the author of numerous books on the history of chess, with Walter Penn Shipley: Philadelphia's Friend of Chess and Shady side: The life and crimes of Norman Tweed Whitaker being two of his best received titles, which is sure to make any new book by Hilbert almost self recommending for those interested in the history of the game.

Writings in Chess History is Hilbert's second collection of essays, his first Essays in American chess history as it title implies was focused on American chess history and while the great majority of essays in this new collection are also on American subjects, this collection has a little wider focus, with essays on Howard Staunton and the English historian Henry Thomas Buckle as a chess player.

The charge of "minor master, minor work" has been leveled at the type of subjects Hilbert has largely chosen to research and write about; that these "minor masters"  are not worthy our attention, much less of a book or essay. Hilbert defends his views in a interview conducted by Neil Brennen included in the book, and while I may never had heard of or only had the vaguest idea of who Alexander Sellman or Jacob Elson were, each was to borrow a term from another recent chess book was eminent if not on a national level at least at the local level, and each has his story to tell. While most of us will never play against the likes Kasparov or Botvinnik , we will come across characters like J. Henry Smythe Jr. (a.k.a  " The Megaphone Man") or a scoundrel like Norman Tweed Whitaker.

A picture of Alexander Sellman graces the cover of  Writings in Chess History so it seems only fitting that we begin our review there; Sellman if he is remembered at  all it is for his forth place finish at the fifth American chess congress or for his participation in London chess tournament in1883 where he finished twelfth in a field of fourteen but won one of his two games against Johannes Zukertort the tournament winner.

Sellman who was deaf due to a childhood case of meningitis was a stalwart of the Baltimore chess scene; playing in various local events, giving numerous chess simultaneous exhibitions and as chess editor of the Sunday Herald. Hilbert has unearthed many new details of Sellman's chess career and over 130 games.

J. Henry Smythe Jr. (a.k.a  " The Megaphone Man") is the subject of another Hilbert essay; in a brief chess career Smythe was very active in the Philadelphia area at the turn of the last century but his nickname and main claim to fame was in the political arena.  Giving up chess after a breakdown after  succumbing to what in press was called "excessive chess playing". Smythe became something of a political gadfly, at the 1904 Republican National Convention in Chicago Smythe jumped onstage megaphone in hand starting the cheering for President Teddy Roosevelt. 'Smythe's audacity earned him the... sobriquet of " the Grand Old Party's Megaphone Man"'.

But don't think that all the essays are on "minor masters" there is a wealth of new material and games
 on Frank Marshall, William Steinitz, Johannes Zukertort,  and Emanuel Lasker.

The notorious Norman Tweed Whitaker makes an appearance with an essay on his connection to the state of Georgia . It is an older but a still feisty Whitaker  always seeming to play for the angle in life.

All told there are twenty five essays proper on subject as intriguing as correspondence chess in California 1858-59 to Zukertort in Canada, and Lasker at Haverford College.The collection is rounded out by fifteen book reviews. While this collection may not be for everyone, it reward those whose interest in chess history lies outside just biographies of world champions and are willing to explore. A perfect book for the bedside these essays and reviews will reward repeated reading. A minor complaint I would have liked to have known where and when these essays originally appeared, but this may be the fault of the publisher as Hilbert makes the same complaint in his review of Genna Sosonko's Russian Silhouettes.
 
Writings in Chess History  
John S. Hilbert 
 Publishing House Moravian Chess Olomouc(2012) 616 pages