BRIGHT KNIGHTS - Profiles of Iowa Chess Players, No. 4

by Dr. Max Fogel

The title of Dean of Iowa Chess might well be bestowed on Dr. Arthur E. Crew, who currently resides at 1160 9th Avenue, in Marion. Dr. Crew is undoubtedly the elder statesman in Iowa chess championship circles. He won the state championship title in 1912! This tournament was held in Dayton, Iowa on August 27 and 28 of that year. The trip was made by car with a druggist from Blairstown who took six players from the Cedar Rapids-Marion area. One of the players, incidentally, was Mr. Lee Edwards, who was many times state champion himself. First prize in the 1912 tournament was a set of ivory and boxwood chessmen, which Dr. Crew still uses. A treasured momento, and one wonders how many modern sets will still be in usable condition after fifty years.

Dr. Crew was born on November 9, 1875, on a farm eight miles northeast of Marion, in Linn County, Iowa. He became a graduate of Marion High School in 1894. Then came a college education, consisting of two years at Cornell College, Mt. Vermon, Iowa; one year at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, and then on to the University of Iowa where he obtained the M.D. degree in 1902. After conquering medical school, he was conquered himself a couple of years after when he married Bertha Ives, also of Marion, on June 29, 1904. Dr. Crew's family consists of a son (Philip I. Crew, M.D., a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology practicing in Cedar Rapids, who kindly sent along information for this article), a daughter (Ruth Crew Gee of West Palm Beach, Florida), four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

A visitor from England by the name of John Finney taught the game of chess to Dr. Crew during the years 1906-1910. He began playing frequently with Mr. Charles Harmer, circulation manager of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Mr. Harmer had an extensive chess library and was perhaps the best read chess player in the area. It was difficult for him to play, however, because his games left him with a "chess hangover" and he experienced many a sleepless night recalling the moves of the game he had just finished. But his enthusiasm for the game and his well-stocked library were strong influences on Dr. Crew's chess experience.

During the same year that Dr. Crew won the Iowa title, he also traveled to Chicago and participated in the Western Association Tournament sponsored by the Kenwood Chess Club on the south side. In 1914 he played in the National Championship Tournament in Memphis, Tennessee. He was defeated by Mr. B. B. Jefferson, who won the championship that year, successfully defending the title he won at Chicago in 1913. During World War I, Dr. Crew played Chess en route to Europe with a Canadian doctor on board ship. As is typical of chess bugs - any time, any where. He was also very active in correspondence chess and has won several tournaments in the postal field.

Dr. Crew has continued to be active and has attended many tournaments and matches in Davenport, Waterloo, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and elsewhere. In 1954 he played in the United States Open in Milwaukee. Two years later, at the age of 81, he played in the New Orleans Open Tournament. While there he was intrigued by a visit to the Paul Morphy Memorial, which contains the trophies and souvenirs won by Morphy during his reign as the American and world champion. The year 1958 found Dr. Crew in Los Angeles, where he played in a tournament in which 150 players, some of national renown, competed for the top prizes.