[blind-chess] US Chess History Article #4
- From: Roderick Macdonald <rmacd@xxxxxxxx>
- To: Blind Chess Mailing List <blind-chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2010 19:18:35 -1000 (HST)
US Chess History Article 4
THE US PRESIDENTS (AND THEIR VICES) AND CHESS
by Robert John McCrary
Chess in the White House has not gotten as much press as the other "games"
played there, especially recently. Yet about 20% of US presidents are
known to this author as having played chess, and there may be more. At
least one president was considered to be a good player, and there were at
least two administrations in which both president and vice-president
played.
Perhaps the most interesting episode involving a US President occurred
around September 1885, when both the US president and vice-president
visited a chess event together! The incident was described as follows in
the September 1885 issue of The International Chess Magazine:
"Ajeeb, 'The Chess Automaton', is now giving exhibitions at Eden Musee,
Twenty-third Street, New York. We learn from the Evening Telegram that
President Cleveland and Vice-President Hendricks paid a visit recently to
Ajeeb's chess room, and the latter had a game with the figure which 'The
Automaton' finished with a neat five-move version of the so-called
Philidor's Legacy or smothered mate."
Unfortunately, we do not know who the hidden player inside Ajeeb was on
that occasion, but Albert Hodges, a one-time claimant to the US
championship, was one of its secret operators. Sadly, vice-president
Hendricks died in office only two months after losing that game. President
Cleveland went on in 1888 to become the only president to win the popular
vote while losing in the electoral college. He then became the only
president to serve two non-consecutive terms when he avenged his 1888
defeat in the 1892 election.
Aaron Burr, the nation's third vice-president, was an enthusiastic and
fairly strong player. According to The Book of the First American Chess
Congress (1859, on pp. 346-47), Burr's journal included a number of
references to chess. In one entry he said he "went out at one to hunt a
chess-table; bought one, which after buying, I found was not the thing."
He was good enough to give rook-odds to one opponent ("I gave him a castle
to make us even.") But he was not as strong as a Swedish navy captain,
"who is rather my superior at chess."
Burr's enthusiasm for the game was evident in his description of a very
uncomfortable layover stop while traveling. After complaining that there
was no bed, couch, or decent food, he then added what was clearly the
crowning indignity: "there being no candle in the hut, we could neither
read nor play chess."
Aaron Burr, of course, killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. One wonders
how history might have been different if they had settled their quarrel
over the chessboard instead? ("Gentlemen, take ten paces, turn, and play
P-K4!")
James Madison played chess, as did Thomas Jefferson. John Quincy Adams
also played, and his set (an older design) is displayed in the Smithsonian
Museum of American History.
Our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, enjoyed chess, and a chess set
from his family is also displayed in the Smithsonian. There are several
stories about his enjoyment of the game. One of those stories was that he
once was playing chess in the White House, when his little son called him
to supper. He told the lad to wait, but the tyke did not handle
frustration well and was probably hungry besides. So he swept away the
position, whereupon his presidential dad dutifully headed to supper. By
the way, Lincoln's first vice-president, Hannibal Hamlin, enlisted in the
Maine Coast Guard while serving as US vice-president and served two months
as a cook! (Apparently there is truly little for a vice-president to do in
Washington!) Lincoln was succeeded by Andrew Johnson, a checkers fan.
James Garfield was assassinated early in his term and thus is remembered
today largely as the namesake of a cartoon cat. Yet, Garfield was well
respected by his peers, and he is one of only a handful of presidents to
have a monument in Washington. (His statue is located at the foot of
Capitol Hill in front of the House of Representatives.) Garfield was
evidently a smart man, as he was known to have been a skilled chess
player; a Philadelphia chess column described him as a first-rate player
in 1880.
Rutherford B. Hayes, Garfield's predecessor, enjoyed chess. Woodrow Wilson
also played, and has a set on display in the Smithsonian. Jimmy Carter
plays chess occasionally, but despite his high intellectual skills he has
never achieved much apparent skill at the game. He is pictured in the May
1998 issue of Chess Life, with the observation that he played about a year
earlier than the time the picture was taken.
Some of our finest presidents played the game! Perhaps we should check
more carefully into the openings and ratings of our future aspirants to
the White House. After all, who ever heard of a "checkgate" scandal in
Washington?
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