(Miriling) wrote in message ...
The 125th annual New York State Championship will be held during the Labor Day
weekend at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson.
Is this really the 125th edition of the longest-running state championship in
the country? Records show that the event started in 1878, but there have been
some anomalies along the way.
First of all, there was no tournament in 1888, 1895, 1900, 1904, 1905 and 1944.
There were two championships held in 1883 (January and December) and 1896
(early and late).
Based on the actual number of events held, this would be the 121st edition of
the N.Y. Championship.

George Mirijanian

P.S. Does anybody know who won the championship in 1885? The winner is listed
as unknown in the archives.

________________________________

According to this site: http://starfireproject.com/chess/lasker.html:
"In 1906, Dr. Lasker played in the 19th New York State Chess
Championship. He won first place; of course he won first place." The
same factual claim is repeated he
http://members.tripod.com/HSK_Chess/lasker.html. Assuming these sites
are correct and the 19th annual was in 1906, how can the 2003 event be
the 125th annual, or even the 121st? It doesn't add up.

KidDon

Subject: 125th annual New York State Championship

On 26 August 2003 (Don Mihokovich) replied in
Message-id:
________________________________

According to this site: http://starfireproject.com/chess/lasker.html:
"In 1906, Dr. Lasker played in the 19th New York State Chess
Championship. He won first place; of course he won first place." The
same factual claim is repeated he
http://members.tripod.com/HSK_Chess/lasker.html. Assuming these sites
are correct and the 19th annual was in 1906, how can the 2003 event be
the 125th annual, or even the 121st? It doesn't add up.

KidDon


Very interesting. But how do you explain how Hermann Helms is listed in the
archives as winning the New York State Championship in 1906?

George Mirijanian

Subject: 125th annual New York State Championship

On 26 August 2003 (Don Mihokovich) replied in
Message-id:

(Miriling) wrote in message
...
The 125th annual New York State Championship will be held during the Labor
Day
weekend at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson.
Is this really the 125th edition of the longest-running state championship
in
the country? Records show that the event started in 1878, but there have
been
some anomalies along the way.
First of all, there was no tournament in 1888, 1895, 1900, 1904, 1905 and
1944.
There were two championships held in 1883 (January and December) and 1896
(early and late).
Based on the actual number of events held, this would be the 121st edition
of
the N.Y. Championship.

George Mirijanian

P.S. Does anybody know who won the championship in 1885? The winner is
listed
as unknown in the archives.

________________________________

According to this site: http://starfireproject.com/chess/lasker.html:
"In 1906, Dr. Lasker played in the 19th New York State Chess
Championship. He won first place; of course he won first place." The
same factual claim is repeated he
http://members.tripod.com/HSK_Chess/lasker.html. Assuming these sites
are correct and the 19th annual was in 1906, how can the 2003 event be
the 125th annual, or even the 121st? It doesn't add up.

KidDon

----------------------------------------------------------
Is it possible that the 1906 event that Dr. Lasker won was the four-player,
double round-robin Rice Trophy Tournament, sponsored by the New York State
Chess Association and held July 23-28, 1906, in Trenton Falls, N.Y.? And not
the New York State Chess Championship, which records show was won by Hermann
Helms.

I think I have found a possible explanation why the 2003 New York State Chess
Championship is labeled the 125th annual N.Y. State Championship. Although
(unreliable?!) records show that there was no state championship in 1888, 1895,
1900, 1904, 1905 and 1944, and that there were two championships held in 1883
(January and December) and 1896 (early and late), The Yearbook of the U.S.
Chess Federation in 1940 states the following:
"The New York State Chess Association was founded in 1878 and has conducted an
annual tournament every year except once."
This contradicts the records, but if it is true and you count the two
championships that were played in 1883 and 1896, then this year's event would
be the 125th edition of the tournament.
The 1944 tournament was canceled when the host, IBM, withdrew its sponsorship
because of the war effort.
Back in the old days, the tournament was held for many years in mid-summer. It
would be interesting to know when the first state championship was held over
the Labor Day weekend and also when the tournament changed from multisection
round-robins to an open Swiss. Maybe Bill Goichberg has the answer.
The 1940 tournament, which was held in the Student Union Building at Colgate
University in Hamilton, attracted 44 entrants in individual class championship
tournaments, with 12 players competing in a single round-robin championship
section (won by Robert Willman of New York City), an 8-player round-robin Class
A section (won by Mary Bain of NYC and Clarence Hewlett Jr. of Schenectady), a
10-player round-robin Class B section (won by Stephen Osley of Little Falls and
Frank Valvo of Albany), an 8-player RR Class C section (won by Ralph Marshall
of Perry), and a 6-player RR Amateur tournament (won by Hermann Helms of NYC).

George Mirijanian

P.S. Does anybody know what the status of the Binghamton Chess Club trophy is?
That was the trophy that used to awarded to the winner of the N.Y. State
Championship. According to the rules, the first person to win the championship
three times gains permanent possession of the trophy. Where is that trophy now?
In the Chess Hall of Fame in Miami?

Subject: 125th annual New York State Championship

On 26 August 2003 "skoonj" replied in
Message-id:




Empire Chess magazine (Spring 2003) lists all the winners and flatly says
the numbering is wrong. Last year was claimed to be the 124th... it was the
122nd played.

It lists Niles Luce as the 1885 winner (his 3rd straight).

-snip-

Thanks for answering the question as to who won the 1885 championship.
Niles D. Luce, by the way, was a photographer by profession. He operated as an
"artistic photographer" back in the late 19th century at 137 East Water St. in
Elmira, N.Y.
I wonder if he took any photographs of chess players of his day. If he did,
they would be prized items in the Chess Hall of Fame in Miami.

George Mirijanian

P.S. Does Empire Chess (Spring 2003) give details as to why the 1944 N.Y.
State Championship was canceled? Did IBM, the host, withdraw its sponsorship?
Reasons given?

In article , skoonj wrote:
"Miriling" wrote in message
...
Subject: 125th annual New York State Championship

On 26 August 2003 (Don Mihokovich) replied
in
Message-id:
________________________________

According to this site: http://starfireproject.com/chess/lasker.html:
"In 1906, Dr. Lasker played in the 19th New York State Chess
Championship. He won first place; of course he won first place." The
same factual claim is repeated he
http://members.tripod.com/HSK_Chess/lasker.html. Assuming these sites
are correct and the 19th annual was in 1906, how can the 2003 event be
the 125th annual, or even the 121st? It doesn't add up.

KidDon


Very interesting. But how do you explain how Hermann Helms is listed in
the
archives as winning the New York State Championship in 1906?

George Mirijanian



Empire Chess magazine (Spring 2003) lists all the winners and flatly says
the numbering is wrong. Last year was claimed to be the 124th... it was the
122nd played.

It lists Niles Luce as the 1885 winner (his 3rd straight).

Emanuel Lasker won a tournament in Trenton Falls in the summer of 1906 which
was also sponsored by the NYSCA but was not the official state championship.
They held summer tournaments every year were that were supposedly stronger
than the official state championship, which was held in February. Lasker
never won the official title (his brother did).

No. Not his brother Berthold; it was his (perhaps) distant relative
Edward Lasker.


(all this info per the Empire Chess article)

-T

In article , Miriling wrote:
Subject: 125th annual New York State Championship

On 26 August 2003 (Don Mihokovich) replied in
Message-id:

(Miriling) wrote in message
...
The 125th annual New York State Championship will be held during the Labor
Day
weekend at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson.
Is this really the 125th edition of the longest-running state championship
in
the country? Records show that the event started in 1878, but there have
been
some anomalies along the way.
First of all, there was no tournament in 1888, 1895, 1900, 1904, 1905 and
1944.
There were two championships held in 1883 (January and December) and 1896
(early and late).
Based on the actual number of events held, this would be the 121st edition
of
the N.Y. Championship.


George Mirijanian

P.S. Does anybody know who won the championship in 1885? The winner is
listed
as unknown in the archives.

________________________________

According to this site: http://starfireproject.com/chess/lasker.html:
"In 1906, Dr. Lasker played in the 19th New York State Chess
Championship. He won first place; of course he won first place." The
same factual claim is repeated he
http://members.tripod.com/HSK_Chess/lasker.html. Assuming these sites
are correct and the 19th annual was in 1906, how can the 2003 event be
the 125th annual, or even the 121st? It doesn't add up.

KidDon

----------------------------------------------------------
Is it possible that the 1906 event that Dr. Lasker won was the four-player,
double round-robin Rice Trophy Tournament, sponsored by the New York State
Chess Association and held July 23-28, 1906, in Trenton Falls, N.Y.? And not
the New York State Chess Championship, which records show was won by Hermann
Helms.

I think I have found a possible explanation why the 2003 New York State Chess
Championship is labeled the 125th annual N.Y. State Championship. Although
(unreliable?!) records show that there was no state championship in 1888, 1895,
1900, 1904, 1905 and 1944, and that there were two championships held in 1883
(January and December) and 1896 (early and late), The Yearbook of the U.S.
Chess Federation in 1940 states the following:
"The New York State Chess Association was founded in 1878 and has conducted an
annual tournament every year except once."
This contradicts the records, but if it is true and you count the two
championships that were played in 1883 and 1896, then this year's event would
be the 125th edition of the tournament.
The 1944 tournament was canceled when the host, IBM, withdrew its sponsorship
because of the war effort.
Back in the old days, the tournament was held for many years in mid-summer. It
would be interesting to know when the first state championship was held over
the Labor Day weekend and also when the tournament changed from multisection
round-robins to an open Swiss.

You'd expect the switchover to a Swiss happening only with the solid
establishment of a rating system in the '50s. I'm not certain, but for
pre-rating system swisses, wasn't the numerical ranking within the pairing
group established by lot before the first round? This would explain some
of I.A. Horowitz's disdain for rising popularity of the swiss format when
he begins to take notice of the phenomenon in the late '40s in CR. When
did the US Open go swiss? It must have been about the same time.


Maybe Bill Goichberg has the answer.
The 1940 tournament, which was held in the Student Union Building at Colgate
University in Hamilton, attracted 44 entrants in individual class championship
tournaments, with 12 players competing in a single round-robin championship
section (won by Robert Willman of New York City), an 8-player round-robin Class
A section (won by Mary Bain of NYC and Clarence Hewlett Jr. of Schenectady), a
10-player round-robin Class B section (won by Stephen Osley of Little Falls and
Frank Valvo of Albany), an 8-player RR Class C section (won by Ralph Marshall
of Perry), and a 6-player RR Amateur tournament (won by Hermann Helms of NYC).

George Mirijanian

P.S. Does anybody know what the status of the Binghamton Chess Club trophy is?
That was the trophy that used to awarded to the winner of the N.Y. State
Championship. According to the rules, the first person to win the championship
three times gains permanent possession of the trophy. Where is that trophy now?
In the Chess Hall of Fame in Miami?



During last year's event, for which I was present, the championship trophy
and parts [sic] of another trophy were stolen from the tournament hall
overnight prior to the last day of competition. I wonder if this was the
same trophy, and whether it was ever recovered? Hopefully Bill will tell
us.

--Kevin

In article , Miriling wrote:
Subject: 125th annual New York State Championship

On 27 August 2003 Kevin Croxen replied in
Message-id:


-snipped-

No. Not his brother Berthold; it was his (perhaps) distant relative
Edward Lasker.



Berthold Lasker, Emanuel's brother, is listed as winning the New York State
Chess Championship in 1902.
Edward Lasker, a distant relative of Emanuel, didn't come to the United States
until shortly before the outbreak of World War I. He didn't become a U.S.
citizen until 1921, although he won the U.S. Open in 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920 and
1921. He never won the N.Y. State Championship.

George Mirijanian






Yep, you're correct. My memory's playing Western Championship/US Open
tricks on me; but there's Berthold on the NY State list, right between
eventual 3x champion Julius Finn and Otto Roething.

This is a great tournament and a great venue this year. I've played bridge
at that resort several times. It's a little slow at night but there is a
pretty active bar in the hotel, and a great German restaurant about 5 miles
away.

Does anyone know if there will be any side events, for example G/10?

angelo