Chess in 1888
by Bill Wall
In 1888, the first international correspondence chess tournament was organized.
In 188, Jackson Showalter won the first official US championship, held in Cincinnati.
In 1888, the US Chess Association was formed.
In 1888, the New Viennese Chess Club was founded.
On March 30, 1888, Augustus Mongredien died at Forest Hill, London. He was a leading amateur British chess master.
On April 26, 1888, Hans Friess died in Germany. He was an amateur German chess player.
In May 1888, the Intercollegiate Chess Association was organized. Colleges included were Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania. (source: New York Times, May 25, 1888)
On May 18, 1888, Hermann Hirschbach died in Leipzig. He was a chess writer and magazine editor.
On June 20, 1888, Johannes Zukertort died in London of a cerebral hemorrhage after a chess game in a tournament at Simpson's Divan. He was 45.
On Aug 9, 1888, Heinrich Wagner was born. He was a German chess master.
On Oct 6, 1888, William Steinitz became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He had resided in New York for the past five years.
On Oct 6, 1888, Alex Hammond was born in England. He was a chess set collector.
On Oct 7, 1888, Alexander Sellman died in Baltimore. He was the strongest chess player in Baltimore and a chess editor.
On Oct 28, 1888, Armand Edward Blackmar died in New Orleans. He was the most successful publisher of music of the Confederacy American Civil War, issuing about half the songs released during that era. He created the Blackmar Gambit and published analysis on the opening in the July 1882 issue of Brentano’s Chess.
In November 1888, Harry Nelson Pillsbury learned the game of chess.
On Nov 19, 1888, Jose y Graupera Capablanca was born in Havana. He was world chess champion from 1921-1927.
On Dec 28, 1888, Norbert Lederer was born in Vienna, Austria. He was a chess patron and organizer.