Chess In Philadelphia: A Brief History of the Game in Philadelphia

158 pages with frontispiece, 5 plates, diagrams, tables and index. Small Quarto. bound in original publisher's half leather with gilt lettering to spine over marbled boards. (Betts: 6-21) Postal Telegraph written and signed by Walter Penn Shipley. First edition limited to 500. copies.

Postal Telegraph written by Walter Shipley. the verso is written by Edward Napier to Shipley laid in.

Gustavus Charles Reichman was a chess editor, analyst, problem composer, solver and player. He was chess editor of the Philadelphia Times and North American. He was the Games Editor of Brentano's Chess Monthly (1881-1882). From 1895 to 1905, he was Secretary of the Franklin Chess Club in Philadelphia. In his earlier years, he was a piano tuner. For many years, he was chess champion of Philadelphia. In 1886, he took 2nd place in the world championship solving tournament, which had 109 entrants from around the world. He played two matches against Mackenzie in 1866 and 1867. The first match of six games was Mackenzie +5 -0 =1; the second match was Mackenzie +7 -0 =2 and was timed with an hour glass. Reichhelm died of heart disease in a Pennsylvania Hospital and had accumulated a large library of chess literature.

"Chess in Philadelphia is compiled and edited by Messrs. G. C. Reichhelm and W. P. Shipley, and is a complete history of the game in that locality from the early part of the century to the present day. Philadelphia, more than any other city in the land, has encouraged the cultivation of the game, and the many matches, tournaments and other similar events in connection with the game are carefully recorded and amply illustrated in the book. Only five hundred copies will be struck off, of which already two hundred and fifty have been subscribed for. Those desiring to possess a copy should, therefore, without further delay, send their subscription to Mr. W. P. Shipley, Girard Building, Philadelphia. The price of book is $2.50 per copy."

Walter Penn Shipley was a well-known organizer and chess patron. He was friendly with many famous players, including Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, Harry Nelson Pillsbury and Jose Raul Capablanca, and was the referee of Capablanca - Marshall (1909) and the temporary referee of the Lasker - Capablanca World Championship Match (1921). He was also an organizer of the Cambridge Springs (1904) and New York (1924) tournaments, two of the strongest tournaments ever held in the United States. As a long-time official (including president) of the Franklin Chess Club in Philadelphia, he was able to raise the funding for visits by many strong masters who frequently played not only simuls but also individual games and even short matches with the strongest club players. At the eighth American Chess Congress in Atlantic City in 1921, the US Chess Association (a forerunner of the present US federation) was formed and Shipley elected its first president.

William Ewart Napier (1881-1952) was an American chess master of English birth. At the beginning of 1899 Napier traveled to Europe, in order to study music there, and visited the chess clubs of London, Paris and Berlin. In 1900 he returned to the US and established himself in Pittsburgh. There he wrote the chess column of the newspaper Pittsburgh Dispatch. In 1901, he won a master tournament in Buffalo versus Eugene Delmar, placing behind tournament winner Harry Nelson Pillsbury, but still above Marshall. This success encouraged him to participate in the following years in some international master tournaments. He played in Monte Carlo and Hanover in 1902 as well as in Cambridge Springs in 1904. He won none of those tournaments, but in each case received a special prize for brilliantly played games, for example winning the Rothschild Brilliancy Prize for his game against Mikhail Chigorin. In July 1904, he visited Great Britain and won a well-attended tournament in London against Richard Teichmann, Joseph Henry Blackburne and Isidor Gunsberg. Subsequently, he participated in the British championship in Hastings, where he was, because of his English birth, entitled to take part, and won the tournament against Henry Atkins, whom he defeated in the pass fight with 2.5-1.5, to become the first British Chess Federation Champion. Thereafter, Atkins became the most dominant player in the history of the British Championship, winning the next nine championships in which he competed. In 1905 Napier played two matches: against Jacques Mieses the match was undecided (4-4 with 2 draws), against Teichmann he lost 1-5 with 4 draws. His best historical Elo number was 2662. He was, at the time, 11th place in the world.

Condition:

Previous owner's name on front end paper, some pencil tick marks in margins, closed three inch tear at head title page else a better than very good copy.