<4th Western Championship Chicago, Illinois
August 10-16, 1903>

The site was the Chicago Chess and Checkers Club. According to the New York Times (NYT), the event lasted eight days and ended on August 17th. (NYT, 8/18/1903).

                              1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1  Sidney Johnston            * = 1 1 1 = 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14.5
2  Louis Uedemann             = * 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14.5
3  Max Judd                   0 0 * 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 14.5
4  Edward P Elliott           0 1 0 * 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13.0
5  Edward Friederich Schrader 0 1 0 0 * 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 13.0
6  Carl Medinus               = 0 0 1 1 * 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 12.5
7  Julius C Eppens            1 0 = 0 0 0 * 0 = 1 0 1 = 1 1 1 1 1  9.5
8  Harry Fowler Lee           = 0 0 0 0 0 1 * = 1 1 = 1 = 0 1 1 1  9.0
9  Alexander Thompson Bigelow 0 0 0 1 0 0 = = * 0 = 1 0 1 1 = 1 1  8.0
10 Harry Frank                0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 * 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1  8.0
11 Harsen Darwin Smith        0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 = 1 * 0 1 1 = 1 = 1  7.5
12 Christian Madsen Madsen    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 1 * 1 1 0 1 1 1  7.5
13 William Widmeyer           0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 1 0 0 0 * 1 1 1 1 1  6.5
14 George B Spencer           0 0 0 0 0 1 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 * 1 1 1 1  5.5
15 Willis Greely Hine         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 = 1 0 0 * 1 1 1  5.5
16 George Armstrong Wauchop   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 * 1 1  2.5
17 C P Fleet                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 * 1  1.5
18 James W Taylor             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 *  0.0

A play-off was arranged at The Office Men's Club in St. Louis, Missouri on October 17-19, with these results:

             1  2  3
1 Judd      XX 1= 11 3.5
2 Johnston  0= XX =- 1.0
3 Uedemann  00 =- XX 0.5

The moves of the adjourned game between Johnston and Uedemann are available:

Event "4th Western Championship. Play-Off"
Site "St. Louis, MO USA"
Date "1903.10.??"
EventDate "1903.10.17"
Round "?"
Result "*"
White "Uedemann, Louis"
Black "Johnston, Sidney"
ECO ""
WhiteElo "?"
BlackElo "?"

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 d6 6.d4 Nd7 7.dxe5 Ncxe5 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.Qh5 Bd6 10.Nc3 0-0 11.Bg5 Qe8 12.Bb3 Kh8 13.Qh4 f6 14.Be3 Qg6 15.Rad1 Nc5 16.Bd5 Ne6 17.f3 Rd8 18.Kh1 Rb8 19.Ne2 Nf8 20.g4 Be7 21.Ng3 Be6 22.Nf5 Qf7 23.Qf2 c6 24.Bxe6 Nxe6 25.Bb6 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Bd8 27.Ba7 Ra8 28.Nd6 Qc7 29.Be3 Be7 30.Bb6 Qb8 31.Nf5 Qe8 32.Qd2 Bd8 33.Nd6 Qe7 34.Be3 Qc7 35.Qb4 Rb8 36.Qb3 Game was adjourned at this point. There is no record of its being resumed. * -----

Max Judd was a leading figure in U.S. chess from the 1870s until his death in 1906. He competed in all six American Chess Congresses from 1871 to 1904, and may have been considered U.S. Champion in the early 1890s. This kibitz links to several lengthy articles on his career: Max Judd (kibitz #12)

The entertainment arranged by The Chicago Chess Club included a death-defying automobile ride through South Side Park. Oh, those wild and crazy chess players! (<Manuafacturers and Farmers Journal>, August 27, 1903).

Pictures of <Max Judd> and <Sidney Johnston>: http://www.bidmonfa.com/judd_max.htm, http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers...

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SOURCES

Chicago Tribune, August 16, 23, 30, October 11, 25, 1903.

New York Times, August 18, 1903.

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SEE ALSO: Game Collection: US Open Tournament Index