Any known photographs from the match?
There's a new book dropping soon, "Cambridge Springs 1904" by Robert Sherwood; I am hoping for some "never before seen" photographs.
One can hope. I know that Steve collaborated on this book sharing his research and deserves some recognition from the author.
Any known photographs from the match?
There's a new book dropping soon, "Cambridge Springs 1904" by Robert Sherwood; I am hoping for some "never before seen" photographs.
One can hope. I know that Steve collaborated on this book sharing his research and deserves some recognition from the author.
And I hope he gets acclaim from the author as I know Steve is the leading authority on the history of Cambridge Springs 1904. I hope one day he puts all his historic collectibles for this on display at the WCHOF. It would be great to be there for the opening.
Last year I was fortunate to acquire these wonderful chessmen from mandrews360's collection. Both are extraordinary examples and I thank him again for his kind consideration.
Probably the largest chess set sold through the American Chess Company with over 4" (102mm) Kings and 1 11/16" (43mm) extra wide bases seen in ACB ads from 1907-1910 as item 5707 8. Original slide box with kid leather bottoms and no loads.
Early American Chessmen (c.1875-1900) 3.5" (87mm) Kings with kid leather bottoms, no loads.
Chess Bazaar has an improved version of their Cambridge Springs reproduction chessmen. Knights have been enhanced to better resemble those used during the tournament and can be found on their store. https://www.chessbazaar.com/reproduced-1904-cambridge-springs-international-congress-tournament-chess-set-in-ebonized-antiqued-boxwood-4-king.html
That's the kind of set that floats my boat Alleen! So unique and a gorgeous patina.
Who designed the Cambridge Springs set, anyone? (Clearly one not a fan of medieval Christendom, judging from the King's crown 
)
Who designed the Cambridge Springs set, anyone? (Clearly one not a fan of medieval Christendom, judging from the King's crown )
Unknown designer, but these pattern chessmen were sold through the American Chess Company and others (Sears and various stationers) with the particular sets used for Cambridge Springs having the uppers on the knights replaced with a cheap line available from Jaques.
You will find various posts in this thread describing the established history of this design and research based on groundwork from other collectors. My investigation stems from my good friend, Steve Etzel's site (cs1904.com) dedicated to the tournament and comparing a flea market find with the Picasa albums of the Mick Deasey and Guy Lyons collections many years ago.
If anyone wants to share thoughts or research here or privately, please contact me, as this has been a priority of mine. Thanks.
The original pieces were of rather low quality apparently, as players in the tournament were reported to complain about them. The few sets made for the tournament were sold to the players for very little money, it seems impossible to find the originals now.
The original pieces were of rather low quality apparently, as players in the tournament were reported to complain about them. The few sets made for the tournament were sold to the players for very little money, it seems impossible to find the originals now.
Mick Deasey and I have what we believe are two of the original CS1904 sets. However, there is no provenance, so we only have anecdotal evidence based on photos of the original pieces. The knight heads are the key factor. The pieces in my set are quite nice, and weighted. There is plenty of discussion about the CS1904 pieces earlier in this thread. You can also check out my website for more information: cs1904.com
The original pieces were of rather low quality apparently, as players in the tournament were reported to complain about them. The few sets made for the tournament were sold to the players for very little money, it seems impossible to find the originals now.
Sets used turning the tournament were purchased by subscribers and not the players.
You can find who bought them in the American Chess Bulletin which Hermann Helms and Hartwig Cassel published after the event concluded. Helms chronicled the games daily for subscribers from Cambridge Springs and all the games with annotations were included in the inaugural issue of the magazine, including details on prizes and the purchasers of the sets, clocks and a certificate bearing the players signatures as souvenirs.
Robert Sherwood's book Cambridge Springs 1904 just arrived from Amazon.
Thanks for the heads up by samurai_fred and others on this thread. So far, I'm really enjoying the read. Games are wonderful. I plan to use some of the ideas in the Irwin Tournament in Grand Rapids this year--those who fail to review the work get to reinvent the wheel
Sorry for the image rotation above--original photo was scrolled (a warning for future posts)
Okay. But:
"After the great tournament at Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, in 1904, the organizers tried to recoup some of their expenses by selling boards and sets, at $15. That stunned Mikhail Tchigorin who complained the cheap pieces weren't worth more than $2.50 -- and the poorly made paper boards only 10 to 15 cents. "
Okay. But:
"After the great tournament at Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, in 1904, the organizers tried to recoup some of their expenses by selling boards and sets, at $15. That stunned Mikhail Tchigorin who complained the cheap pieces weren't worth more than $2.50 -- and the poorly made paper boards only 10 to 15 cents. "
I saw that quote in the December 1995 issue of Chess Life (GM Soltis article). For what it's worth, Soltis included this in the quote at the end: "They sold out anyway." I don't recall what the original source was for the quote.
Similar sets (probably with the angular style knight heads) sold through the American Chess Company were priced at $5, as seen in this ad from the initial issue of the Bulletin in Jun1904.
Note that these were size #6 ~ 3.75" Kings, as were those used during the tournament!
ACB v1 no.1 Jun1904 page 40
ACB v1 no.1 Jun1904 page 27
Okay. But:
"After the great tournament at Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, in 1904, the organizers tried to recoup some of their expenses by selling boards and sets, at $15. That stunned Mikhail Tchigorin who complained the cheap pieces weren't worth more than $2.50 -- and the poorly made paper boards only 10 to 15 cents. "
The pursuit of happiness back then ! 
Okay. But:
"After the great tournament at Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, in 1904, the organizers tried to recoup some of their expenses by selling boards and sets, at $15. That stunned Mikhail Tchigorin who complained the cheap pieces weren't worth more than $2.50 -- and the poorly made paper boards only 10 to 15 cents. "
The pursuit of happiness back then !
"But they sold out anyway." - GM Soltis Chess Life Dec1995
Tchigorin finished tied with Schlechter and shared the 6th place prize of $135 along with their portion from the $700 consolation fund based on their results.
Any known photographs from the match?
There's a new book dropping soon, "Cambridge Springs 1904" by Robert Sherwood; I am hoping for some "never before seen" photographs.