<Western Championship
Chicago, Illinois
October 6-11, 1930>

If 1900-1915 were the Excelsior years, 1916-1930 could be called the Chicago years, dominated first by Edward Lasker, then by other players in the Midwest. This was the last of the regional transitional tournaments, for beginning in 1931 a new generation chiefly from New York would begin to dominate.

And the Western needed some fresh blood, as the main protagonists were veterans who had been playing in the tournaments since the teens or even earlier. Co-champions <Samuel Factor> and <Norman Whitaker> had been topped the tournament some years before, but a big story was 1907 Champion Einar Michelsen who defeated both of them in his first appearance since 1913.

Dr. P. G. Keeney, in his "Cincinnati Enquirer" column of September 21, 1930, reported that the original intent was to hold the tournament in Cincinnati or Akron, but when these plans fell through due to lackof funding and leadership the event was moved to Chicago, where it was held at Roosevelt Chess and Bridge Club.

                          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 Samuel D Factor         X = 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 6.5
2 Norman Tweed Whitaker   = X 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 6.5
3 Lewis J Isaacs          0 0 X 1 1 1 1 1 1 6.0
4 Einar Michelsen         1 1 0 X 0 1 = 1 1 5.5
5 Marvin C Palmer         0 0 0 1 X 1 1 1 1 5.0
6 John F Collins          0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1 1 3.0
7 B Frank                 0 0 0 = 0 0 X 1 1 2.5
8 Andrew Hansen Palmi     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1.0
9 Robert Stanley Goerlich 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0.0

American Chess Bulletin, November 1930, p. 170.

Chess Results 1921-1930 / Gino di Felice, p. 269.

Cincinnati Enquirer. September 21, 1930.

Shady side : the life and crimes of Norman Tweed Whitaker, chessmaster, by John Hilbert. Yorklyn, DE : Caissa Editions, 2000. SS

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SEE ALSO: Game Collection: US Open Tournament Index