Philadelphia (1876) At the occasion of the World's Fair held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States of America, a number of exhibitions and events were organized to take place during the fair in order to attract foreign interests and representatives to American soil. In addition to many wonderous inventions debuted at the fair, including such curiosities as the telegraph, the telephone, and the typewriter, the 4th US Chess Congress was held. It was the perfect opportunity, not only to attract foreign chess masters but also to celebrate the US centennial. Nine American chess players, some of whom had only taken up residence in the United States only recently, participated in the tournament through registering the $20 entrance fee. The complete list of participants included L. D. Barbour, Henry Edward Bird (originally from England), Harry Davidson, Jacob Elson, Max Judd, Dion Martinez (originally from Cuba), James Mason (originally from Ireland and Great Britain), Albert Roberts, and Preston Ware. Martinez played two of his opponents in both double rounds, but was called back to Cuba when an illness in his family became known to him. His early exit caused his participation from the tournament to be cancelled and his results and games were expunged from the final record. His four games are included in the collection for historical accuracy and completeness. The organization of games and format for timing and pairing were still unstandardized at this time, so players often ended up completing and playing additional games in their pairings on the same day. While the format below does not follow any clear separation of rounds, the dates for each games completion is discriminating. Play had been scheduled to begin on August 15th, but was delayed to August 16th. All games were played through to August 31st, 1876, with Sundays reserved as rest days. James Mason won the $300 grand prize, as well as the Governor Garland Silver Cup for placing first with ten points out of thirteen (or ten and a half out of fourteen, as he had one unplayed game). The other prizes went to Judd, who received $200 for second place, Bird, who received $150 for third place, Elson, who received $100 for fourth place, Davidson, who received $50 for fifth place, and Roberts, who received $8 for sixth place. Each place to receive money aside from also a gold medal to commemorate their participation. The final standings and crosstable: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1st Mason 10.0/13 xx 1- 1½ ½1 10 1½ 11 ½1 -11- 2nd Judd 9.0/13 0- xx 10 1½ 0½ 11 11 11 ---- 3rd Bird 8.5/14 0½ 01 xx 0½ ½1 11 ½1 ½1 ---- 4th Elson 8.0/14 ½0 0½ 1½ xx 1½ ½½ 10 11 ---- 5th Davidson 8.0/14 01 1½ ½0 0½ xx ½1 01 11 -½½- 6th Roberts 5.5/14 0½ 00 00 ½½ ½0 xx 1½ 11 ---- 7th Ware 4.0/14 00 00 ½0 01 10 0½ xx ½½ ---- 8th Barbour 2.0/14 ½0 00 ½0 00 00 00 ½½ xx ---- --- Martinez 1.0/ 4 00 -- -- -- ½½ -- -- -- xxxx (withdrawn) The 3rd American Chess Congress (1874) and 5th American Chess Congress (1880) were the previous and next in the series of chess congresses in the United States. Original collection: Game Collection: Philadelphia 1876, by User: suenteus po 147  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 59  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. M Judd vs L D Barbour   1-0 28 1876 Philadelphia A10 English 2. L D Barbour vs M Judd   0-1 34 1876 Philadelphia A00 Uncommon Opening 3. J Elson vs P Ware   1-0 39 1876 Philadelphia B01 Scandinavian 4. Bird vs J Mason 0-1 98 1876 Philadelphia A02 Bird's Opening 5. H Davidson vs D M Martinez   ½-½ 61 1876 Philadelphia C01 French, Exchange 6. D M Martinez vs H Davidson ½-½ 72 1876 Philadelphia A83 Dutch, Staunton Gambit 7. J Mason vs Bird ½-½ 38 1876 Philadelphia C33 King's Gambit Accepted 8. L D Barbour vs A Roberts   0-1 40 1876 Philadelphia C78 Ruy Lopez 9. A Roberts vs L D Barbour   1-0 26 1876 Philadelphia C42 Petrov Defense 10. P Ware vs J Elson   1-0 69 1876 Philadelphia A80 Dutch 11. H Davidson vs M Judd 1-0 51 1876 Philadelphia B45 Sicilian, Taimanov 12. P Ware vs Bird 0-1 62 1876 Philadelphia A80 Dutch 13. L D Barbour vs J Mason   ½-½ 91 1876 Philadelphia C66 Ruy Lopez 14. J Elson vs A Roberts   ½-½ 38 1876 Philadelphia C77 Ruy Lopez 15. M Judd vs H Davidson ½-½ 48 1876 Philadelphia A10 English 16. Bird vs P Ware ½-½ 87 1876 Philadelphia B01 Scandinavian 17. A Roberts vs J Elson   ½-½ 38 1876 Philadelphia C01 French, Exchange 18. D M Martinez vs J Mason 0-1 42 1876 Philadelphia A83 Dutch, Staunton Gambit 19. J Mason vs L D Barbour   1-0 27 1876 Philadelphia B42 Sicilian, Kan 20. J Mason vs D M Martinez 1-0 27 1876 Philadelphia C01 French, Exchange 21. Bird vs A Roberts 1-0 38 1876 Philadelphia C45 Scotch Game 22. L D Barbour vs H Davidson 0-1 45 1876 Philadelphia C43 Petrov, Modern Attack 23. A Roberts vs Bird 0-1 20 1876 Philadelphia C80 Ruy Lopez, Open 24. H Davidson vs L D Barbour   1-0 15 1876 Philadelphia C42 Petrov Defense 25. M Judd vs P Ware   1-0 43 1876 Philadelphia B01 Scandinavian  page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 59    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)     Mar-18-13    Tabanus: From "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle", September 7, 1876: <The Philadelphia tournament has ended in favor of the American chess champion, Mr. Mason, of New York, who won the first prize, a silver goblet and $300; Max Judd, the Swedish player of St. Louis, being second, and Mr. Bird of London, third on the list. The former winning a gold medal and $200, and the latter a gold medal and $150. The fourth prize has yet to be awarded, as Messrs. Elson and Davidson tied on the record. Mr. Martinez, the Spaniard, retired. Mr. Barbour was barbarously whipped, as the appended score shows:> (table) <The tourney, like the stingy old lady's coffee, was wery good, what there was of it, but it was not a "grand international tourney," or a meeting worthy the occasion.> Mar-18-13    Tabanus: From St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Sept. 10, 1876: <Mr. Mason's final score in Philadelphia was 10 won, 3 loss. Mr. Judd's was nine won, four lost. The last game between these gentlemen was left unplayed, owing to Mr. Judd's illness. Had it been played and won by Mr. Mason, Mr. Judd still took the second prize, while if won by the latter, the result would have been a tie. Mr. Bird (third) won eight and one-half, lost five and one-half.> Mar-18-13    Tabanus: From The American Chess Journal vol. X no. 3, September 1876, p. 69: <Philadelphia, Sept. 2, '76. The veteran Jacob Elson and young Harry Davidson, tied for the 4th and fifth prizes, $150 and two gold medals, which they divided and will hereafter play for position.> <Max Judd, of St. Louis, though not in good form, being ill the greater portion of the time, sustained his reputation ...> NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a reply. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the chessgames community! If you already have an account, you should login now. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts. No personal attacks against other users. Nothing in violation of United States law. See something which violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform an administrator. 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