Chess in 1844
by Bill Wall
In 1844, George Walker's Chess Studies was published. It contained 1,020 chess games from 1780 to 1844.
In 1844, the Montreal Chess Club was formed. It s founding member was Thomas Workman (1813-1889).
In 1844, a Ladies’ Chess Club was formed in Liverpool, perhaps the earliest women’s chess club.
In 1844, Ghulam Kassim died in Madras, India. He was a co-author of the first openings monograph, published in 1829. The book was entitled, Analysis of the Muzio Gambit, and match of two games at Chess, Played between Madras and Hyderabad, with Remarks by Ghulam Kassim, of Madras, who had the Chief Directorate of the Madras Games, and James Cochrane, Esq. of the Madras Civil Service. He was one of the first Indian players to achieve a degree of proficiency at the western form of the game.
In 1844, Stanley beat Schulten twice.
In January 1844, Baron Deschapelles was tried before the Court of Correctional Police of Paris for having in his possession a quantity of snuff and about 20 cigars. The tobacco and snuff seized were of foreign manufacture, which was illegal. He was acquitted after he declared that they had been imported from England and he paid the legal duty. (source: London Times, Jan 19, 1844)
In January 1844, The Chess-Players Handbook was published in Boston and New York by Saxton and Miles, and was priced at 25 cents.
On February 24, 1844, Georges Emile Barbier was born in Besancon, France. He was chairman of the Glasgow Chess Club and chess editor of the Glasgow Weekly Citizen. He was also a composer of chess problems. He won the Scottish championship in 1886.
In early 1844 a dinner was given in Howard Staunton's honor. At that dinner, Elijah Williams (1808-1854), President of the Bristol Chess Club, hailed Staunton as the 'Champion of Chess.' However, some writers suggested that Henry Buckle (1821-1862) or Tassilo von der Lasa (1818-1899) were stronger.
In October 1844, Staunton returned to Paris for a third match with Saint-Amant, but soon fell ill with pneumonia. On October 14, the day before the match, he caught pneumonia and the match was cancelled. Staunton almost died and left his heart in a permanent weakness; the match was postponed and never took place. Staunton was unable to return to London for 3 months. The winner of the match would have received the equivalent of $750 in today’s currency.
On October 29, 1844, Albert Rothschild was born. He was a chess patron.
On November 23-25, 1844, a telegraph (Morse’s Magnetic Telegraph) match was played between Washington D.C. and Baltimore. The first game were played between Mr. Green of the Western Express, on the part of Baltimore, and Dr. Jones of Washington. Mr. Green won. (source: Baltimore Sun, Nov 27, 1844) Afterwards, three games were played between the Baltimore Chess Club and the Washington DC Chess Club. Baltimore won two games, and Washington won one game. (source: Baltimore Sun, Dec 11, 1844)
(see http://www.chess.com/blog/billwall/the-telegraph-and-chess and http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/telegraph.htm)