The Queen of Chess, Part II
Most people even remotely interested in 19th century chess know about Mrs. John W. Gilbert and her extremely long announced mates. What seems to be less appreciated today is the sheer strength of this lady chess player. Part of the problem lies in the fact that so few of her games are available. So, I scoured old newpapers and magazines for her games and transposed them from descriptive to digital. I've managed to assemble 24 of Mrs. Ellen Gilbert's games which, mixed in with a little history, I want to offer in a series of presentations. __________________________________________________________ In 1872-3 Mrs. Gilbert contested a few games with Mr. Samuel B. Weld of Connecticut, formerly of the Boston Chess Club. I couldn't ascertain whether these were postal games or over-the-board games (though most likley postal). Mr. Weld was a frequent contributor to Mr. Belden's chess column in the Hartford Weekly Times. Sadly, Mr. Weld died in early 1873.Here are two of those games:
Mrs. Gilbert played an interesting pair of games against three men from Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Weston, Mr. Robbins and Mr. Farnum weren't particularly strong players and being in consultation didn't seem to help.
Mrs. Gilbert's next opponent is one of those intriquing men chess seems to attract. Since he performed the surprising task of beating Mrs. Gilbert in two of the three games I found, he deserves some attention. William Henry Harrison Hotchkin was presumably named after the man who was running for the president at the time of Hotchkin's birth, and who eventually won though he only survived a month in office. Maybe this burdensome name guided Hotchkins towads his future law career. On that road he had been a quartermaster during the Civil War serving at the First Battle of Manassas, a Keeper at Auburn State Prison, a reporter for the World and finally, at age 32, a lawyer. He was elected Justice of the Peace in Watertown, N.Y. in 1879 and served in that capacity until 1883. In the first game, Mrs. Gilbert found herself on the wrong side of an announced mate: Mrs. Gilbert's win:
Mrs. Gilbert's last opponent for this section is one of the strongest players in South Carolina, Isaac Edward Orchard. An impressive name to be sure, but his friends just called him Eddie. Orchard was born around 1853 and died suddenly on May 8, 1908. Most places list his age at that time as 54. He died in NYC and the NYTimes gave his age as 55. This concludes Part II.
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