A Brief History of the Springfield Chess Club
by Lee Enderlin
(This essay appeared in the Sep./Oct. 98 issue of Chess Horizons and is reprinted by permission of the author. This page was moved to the Springfield Chess Club website from the WMCA website on 02/21/2004.)
One of the oldest clubs in the state, the Springfield Chess Club goes back over 100 years. Indeed, one of the first references to the SCC is a telegraph game played in 1892 against the club which holds the distinction of being the state's oldest-the Pittsfield Chess Club. Perhaps it was their "experience" which helped Pittsfield win the game in what was then the equivalent to playing by e-mail today.
For many years, the Club met at the YMCA in Springfield. Back then, the Y was downtown and was, in many ways, the social hub of the city. Colleges even held classes there before they built their own campuses in the city. Recreational opportunities were far fewer then with no movies, TV, or radio, precious little pro sports, no such things as civic centers, and the concept of "adult board games" just getting started by a fellow from Springfield named Milton Bradley, so it's no surprise that chess was a popular pastime. Given the lack of competition for leisure activities back then, all of the old classic board games were popular. In fact, it turns out that checkers was played at the local "chess" clubs just about as much as chess.
With a smaller population base, the chess community was more closely knit as well, so it must have been a big event when someone like the legendary Harry Nelson Pillsbury came to town. He gave a 28 board simul at the Y on December 16, 1898, while he was still the U.S. chess champion. And, yes, his simul included games of checkers! We know that Pillsbury lost one chess and two checkers games and drew one chess game and five checkers games.
It is an odd fact of history that the country's longest running annual amateur trophy chess tournament, the Connecticut Valley Open, began life at the Springfield Chess Club as a checkers tournament! On the Washington's Birthday holiday in 1921, Lindsey Chilsen, then secretary of the Springfield Y (the Y equivalent of "executive director"), used the Club as the venue for a checkers tournament which he called, appropriately enough, the Washington's Birthday Tournament. It was not until 1926 that chess was included and even then, it was only as an exhibition. In 1927, Lennox F. Beach became the tournament's first chess champ. Mr. Beach, an SCC mainstay at the time, earned the title twice more, in 1929 and 1931.
This tournament continued as a sort of glorified Club event under Mr. Chilsen and featuring both chess and checkers until WWII intervened in 1944. (Immediately after the war, in 1946, the Western Mass. Chess Association took over promoting this event and changed its name while eliminating the checkers. It also became a two-day Swiss event as opposed to the one-day five-round knockout event that Mr. Chilsen ran.)
Through the years, the SCC has seen more than a little history. One name of note to give a simul there was George Sturgis of Boston, the first president of the fledgling United States Chess Federation, on November 5, 1938. Although this was before ratings became popular, Mr. Sturgis was apparently roughly of Expert Class strength. He did moderately well, though not outstanding, going +6 =5 -4. This prompted him to comment that the Springfield Chess Club was the second strongest club in all of New England! Sadly, it is not recorded which club Mr. Sturgis considered number one and the debate over his comment must have been quite lively!
One of the most famous events sponsored by the Club was a March 5, 1950, simul by Sam Reshevsky. He took on 65 boards (the entry fee was just $2!) and went +51 =13 -1, losing only to Bert Dygert. Another notable event of that era was 19-year-old U.S. Champion Larry Evans giving a simul on March 23, 1952. In more recent years, the Club has seen simuls by David Lees, WIM Elena Kharkova, IM Josef Vatnikov, and one Chris Chase (on July 28, 1997, he went +14 =0 -1. I was one of the players in that simul and my game with Chris ended on a rather amusing note. I made a bad move which Chris graciously allowed me to retract. I thereupon made a worse move and resigned immediately upon seeing Chris's reply! As you might expect, he had me beaten pretty badly by that point). Chris, by the way, is the current president of MACA.
A month after Mr. Sturgis's simul, on December 4, 1938, the Club sent a delegation to West Point to play a team of Cadets. One of the Cadets, Nils Bengston, was a former SCC member and arranged the invitation. The SCC players were treated like a visiting football team (having been an invited guest to West Point myself, I can vouch for the incredible hospitality the Army affords its visitors to its Academy). Unfortunately for the future WWII officers, their hospitality did little to dim the competitive fire of the SCC team who won the event by a score of 8-2, although Bengston won his game. It was the worst defeat of the Army team that year. The SCC was led by Herman Voges.
Such inter-club competitions were popular then and a great rivalry sprang up between the Hartford and Springfield Clubs. Years later, after the Hartford Club disbanded, this rivalry transferred to the New Britain, Conn. Club to which many of the Hartford players had moved. Recently, despite a brief revival of a club league in 1995-1996 under Sean Tobin, these inter-club events have lost their popularity.
Most interesting is the amount of coverage given the local chess club scene just prior to the war. It rivals the coverage chess received during the Fischer Boom of the early 70's. On March 11, 1939, a 33 column inch article by club member Richard Gleason in the Springfield Union includes the story of the club championship with a photo of the two finalists. The photo shows a beaming Herman Branconnier holding the trophy while a rather glum Herman Voges, the defending champion and leader of the West Point expedition, looks on. Here is their game.
White: Branconnier Black: Voges
1939 SCC Club Championship Game
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nf6 5. Bd3 h6 6. Nf3 e6 7. Nc3 Be7 8. 0-0 c6 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. Qc2 Nf8 11. Rfd1 Nh4 12. Bf4 Ng6 13. Bg3 Bh4 14. e5 Bxg3 15. hxg3 Ne7 16. Ne4 Nf5 17. Be2 h5 18. Qd2 f6 19. Qc3 Qd5 20. Nc5 Qd8 21. Bc4 h4 22. gxh4 Nxh4 23. Nxe6 Qe7 24. Nf4 f5 25. Nh3 Be6 26. Bxe6 Qxe6 27. Nfg5 Qd5 28. Nf4 Qg8 29. Rd3 0-0-0 30. Qc5 Kb8 31. Ra3 a6 32. Rb3 Qe8 33. Rc1 Ka8 34. Nfe6 Rd7 35. Qb6 Qe7 36. Rc5 Rc8 37. Rbc3 f4 38. b4 Rxd4 39. Nxd4 Qxg5 40. Nf3 Nxf3+ 41. Rxf3 Qh4 42. b5 Rd8 43. Rc1 Rd2 44. Rh3 Qxf2+ 45. Qxf2 Nxf2 46. Rh7 Nd3? 47. b6! Resigns Rh8# is unstoppable.
In the late 1970's a young man about ten years old joined the SCC. He was quite good for a ten-year-old and played for a couple years, honing his game, primarily with the late NM David Lees. He moved to Boston in 1980 and, under the tutelage of the many fine players in the eastern part of the state, eventually became New England's only "home grown" Grandmaster. Still, the SCC is proud of the important, if brief, role it played in the development of Patrick Wolff. Patrick is truly a class individual and, while he was active in international chess, returned "to his roots" in Western Mass. frequently with wonderful, often hilarious, stories of his experiences and for simuls and game analysis at tournaments.
Currently, the Club has about 25 members and sponsors two or three tournaments a year including the Club Championship every fall. It is a tradition that the newly crowned champion play a simul which is open to Club members and the general public. The Club also continues to hold simuls by other strong players and Chris Chase has once again offered to do one in Springfield. Perhaps my chance for revenge...