1900 in chess
by Bill Wall
On Jan 3, 1900, Geza Maroczy won the 2nd Kolisch Memorial in Vienna, Austria. It was 11 rounds. He won 7 games and drew 4, with no losses.
On Jan 19, 1900, Thomas Frere died in New York City. He was one of the foremost promoters of chess in the USA. He wrote Frere's Chess Hand-Book in 1858. He was born on Dec 8, 1820.
On Jan 29, 1900 Irving Chernev, chess author, was born in Priluki, Russia.
On Feb 12, 1900 Henry Howe died in Montreal. He was Canadian champion in 1877.
On Feb 12, 1900, Ellen Gilbert (ne Strong) died in Hartford, CT. She was a famous correspondence player and called the Queen of Chess.
On Feb 22, 1900, Frank Marshall and D.G. Baird tied for 1st place in the New York State chess championship, held in New York City. Marshall later won in a tie-break match.
On Mar 18, 1900, Roberto Gabriel Grau was born in Buenos Aires. He was 8-time Argentine champion and FIDE co-founder. He died on Apr 12, 1944.
On Apr 10, 1900, Alexander Herbstmann was born in Rostov-Don, Russia. IJComp 1956; IMComp 1959.
On Apr 13, 1900, Theodore Henry Tylor was born in Birmingham. He was a 3-time British correspondence champion and the only blind player in the Chess Olympiad. He died on Oct 23, 1968.
On Apr 18, 1900, Rudolf Charousek, the Hungarian master, died of Tuberculosis at the age of 26 in Budapest.
On Apr 28, 1900, Pillsbury played 20 games blindfolded in Philadelphia, a record. He won 15, loast 1, and drew 5.
On April 29, 1900, Fred Wren, chess author, was born in Sherman, Maine.
On Jun 19, 1900, Emanuel Lasker won the Paris International, followed by Harry Nelson Pillsbury. Lasker won 14 games and lost 1. The tournament was held as part of the Exposition Universelle.
On Aug 12, 1900, former world chess champion William Steinitz died in the Manhattan State Hospital (insane asylum), on Ward’s Island in New York. He was born in 1837.
On Aug 18, 1900, Pillsbury, Schlechter, and Maroczy tied for 1st place at an international tournament in Munich, Germany.
On Aug 23, 1900, Arved Heinrichsen died in Vilnius, Lithuania. He popularized the Heinrichsen opening.
On Sep 3, 1900, the first Western Chess Association (1st US Open) was held in Excelsior, Minnesota. Louis Udemann took 1st place.
On Nov 24, 1900, Kurt Richter was born. East German IM 1950. Died 1969.
In 1900, Charles Alfred Hooper, creator of the automaton Ajeeb, died. He was born in 1825.
In 1900, the Western Chess Association was founded. It sponsored the Western Open. In 1934 it became the American Chess Federation.
In 1900, the push-button chess clock was perfected by Veenhoff of Groningen, the Netherlands.
In 1900, Pillsbury gives 150 chess exhibitions and travels 40,000 miles.
In 1900, Anne Sullivan taught chess to Helen Keller.
In 1900, the American team defeated the British team in the annual cable match, scoring 6-4.