Harry Nelson Pillsbury

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harry Nelson Pillsbury (December 5, 1872 - June 17, 1906), was United States Chess Champion from 1897 until his death in 1906.

Pillsbury was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, moved to New York City in 1894 and then again to Philadelphia in 1898.

By 1890, having only played chess for two years, he beat noted chess expert H. N. Stone. In April 1892, Pillsbury won a match 2 games to one against World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz, who gave him odds of a pawn. Pillsbury's rise was meteoric, and there was soon no one to challenge him in the New York chess scene.

1 Sensation at Hastings
2 Further career
3 Lifetime records
4 Blindfold skill
5 Tragic early death
6 External links

[edit] Sensation at Hastings

The Brooklyn chess club sponsored his journey to Europe to play in the Hastings 1895 chess tournament, in which all the greatest players of the time participated. The 22-year-old Pillsbury became a celebrity in the United States and abroad by winning the tournament, finishing ahead of reigning world champion Lasker and former world champion Steinitz and his recent challenger Mikhail Chigorin who was second. The dynamic style that Pillsbury exhibited during the tournament also helped to popularize the Queen's Gambit during the 1890s, including this famous win over the powerful Siegbert Tarrasch at Hastings: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Rc1 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. O-O c5 11. Re1 c4 12. Bb1 a6 13. Ne5 b5 14. f4 Re8 15. Qf3 Nf8 16. Ne2 Ne4 17. Bxe7 Rxe7 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Qg3 f6 20. Ng4 Kh8 21. f5 Qd7 22. Rf1 Rd8 23. Rf4 Qd6 24. Qh4 Rde8 25. Nc3 Bd5 26. Nf2 Qc6 27. Rf1 b4 28. Ne2 Qa4 29. Ng4 Nd7 30. R4f2 Kg8 31. Nc1 c3 32. b3 Qc6 33. h3 a5 34. Nh2 a4 35. g4 axb3 36. axb3 Ra8 37. g5 Ra3 38. Ng4 Bxb3 39. Rg2 Kh8 40. gxf6 gxf6 41. Nxb3 Rxb3 42. Nh6 Rg7 43. Rxg7 Kxg7 44. Qg3+ Kxh6 45. Kh1 Qd5 46. Rg1 Qxf5 47. Qh4+ Qh5 48. Qf4+ Qg5 49. Rxg5 fxg5 50. Qd6+ Kh5 51. Qxd7 c2 52. Qxh7# 1-0

[edit] Further career

His next big tournament was in St. Petersburg the same year, where he appears to have contracted syphilis prior to the start of the event. Although he was in the lead after the first half of the tournament, he was affected by severe headaches in the second, and lost no fewer than six games, ultimately finishing third.

[edit] Lifetime records

Pillsbury had an even record against Lasker (+5-5=4). He even beat Lasker with black pieces at St Petersburg in 1895 and at Augsburg in 1900 (however this was an offhand game, not played in a tournament):

The position after 16. Bxg4

1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Qe2 Bd6 6. d3 O-O 7. dxe4 Nxe4 8. Nxe4 Re8 9. Bd2 Bf5 10. O-O-O Bxe4 11. Qg4 f5 12. Qg3 Nd7 13. Bc3 Nf6 14. Nh3 Ng4 15. Be2 Be7 16. Bxg4 Bh4 17. Bxf5 Bxg3 18. Be6+ Rxe6 19. dxe6 Qe8 20. hxg3 Bxg2 21. Rhe1 Bxh3 22. Rd7 Qg6 23. b3 Re8 24. Re5 Bxe6 25. Rxc7 Qxg3 26. Kb2 h6 27. Rxb7 Rc8 28. Bd4 Qg2 29. Rxa7 Rxc2+ 30. Kb1 Qd2 0-1

Pillsbury also had an even score against Steinitz (+5-5=3) and Tarrasch (+5-5=2), but a slight minus against Chigorin (+7-8=6) and surprisingly against Joseph Henry Blackburne (+3-5=4), while he beat David Janowski (+6-4=2) and Geza Maroczy (+4-3=7) and crushed Carl Schlechter (+8-2=9).

[edit] Blindfold skill

Pillsbury was a very strong blindfold chess player, and could play checkers and chess simultaneously while playing a hand of whist, and reciting a list of long words. His maximum was 22 simultaneous blindfold games at Moscow 1902. However, his greatest feat was 21 simultaneous games against the players in the Hannover Hauptturnier of 1902—the winner of the Hauptturnier would be recognized as a master, yet Pillsbury scored +3-7=11. As a teenager, Edward Lasker played Pillsbury in a blindfold exhibition in Breslau, against the wishes of his mother, and recalled in Chess Secrets I learned from the Masters:

But it soon became evident that I would have lost my game even if I had been in the calmest of moods. Pillsbury gave a marvellous performance, winning 13 of the 16 blindfold games, drawing two, and losing only one. He played strong chess and made no mistakes [presumably in recalling the position]. The picture of Pillsbury sitting calmly in an armchair, with his back to the players, smoking one cigar after another, and replying to his opponents' moves after brief consideration in a clear, unhesitating manner, came back to my mind 30 years later, when I refereed Alekhine's world record performance at the Chicago World's Fair, where he played 32 blindfold games simultaneously. It was quite an astounding demonstration, but Alekhine made quite a number of mistakes, and his performance did not impress me half as much as Pillsbury's in Breslau.

[edit] Tragic early death

Poor health would prevent him from realizing his full potential throughout the rest of his life. In spite of this, Pillsbury beat American champion Jackson Showalter in 1897 to win the U.S. Chess Championship, a title he held until he succumbed to syphilis in 1906. The stigma surrounding the disease makes it unlikely that he sought medical treatment. Some said that Pillsbury ruined his health by all his blindfold displays, but those critics were evidently unaware of the fatal organic illness.

Along with Paul Morphy and Bobby Fischer, Pillsbury ranks as one of the USA's greatest-ever chess players. Unfortunately, like the former, Pillsbury too had a short career.

Pillsbury is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Reading, MA.