rookhouse Member since Apr-07-08 · Last seen May-21-13 I am the owner and operator of the Rook House chess community website (www.rookhouse.com), primarily focused on historical chess facts, tournaments, and players from the mid-1800s up to the end of the Fischer era. I am additionally in the process of working on a manuscript about the life and games of Jackson Whipps Showalter. Favorite players would include: Jackson Showalter Bobby Fischer James Moore Hanham George Henry Mackenzie Isidor Gunsberg Joseph Henry Blackburne Boris Spassky Siegbert Tarrasch

rookhouse has kibitzed 188 times to chessgames   [more...]

Apr-03-13 rookhouse chessforum   rookhouse: Pretty much. The two of them, along with Pollock, departed from the St. Louis tournament together to travel to Indianapolis. The plan was to play a three part match in Indy, Louisville, and Georgetown. Upon arrival in Indy, Showalter and Lipschutz each played a simul against eight      Apr-03-13 William Ewart Napier    rookhouse: <thomastonk> Sorry, I did not see your comment until last evening. Yes, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle has 7.Bf3 and the Brooklyn Standard-Union reported 7.f3. I have not personally played through the game as of yet and I am still looking for a third source to gain some clarity on      Mar-26-13 Showalter vs M Judd, 1892   rookhouse: This was the last game of the match and took place on Jan. 11, 1892 (not 1891). There were actually 28 moves played, finishing as such: 21...Bxc6 22. Qxc6+ Kb8 23. Qb6+ Kc8 24. Qc6+ Kb8 25. Qb6+ Kc8 26. Qc6+ Kb8 27. Qb6+ Kc8 28. Qxa6+ Kc7 1-0      Mar-26-13 Showalter vs W Pollock, 1891   rookhouse: <pawn to QB4> You are correct in that this game was indeed a 57-move affair that was won by Pollock. Also, it was the seventh game of their 1891 (not 1889) match that was played in Georgetown, KY (not New York) and won by Showalter 6.5-5.5 (two of the factored games being ...      Mar-23-13 Biographer Bistro    rookhouse: There are two books coming out towards the end of this year on prominent American players (not including Showalter) from the era you are discussing. These include upwards of around 200+ games that are not currently in the CG database. The games are out there, just much more ...      Feb-23-13 John Finan Barry   rookhouse: Game analysis that Barry did in a game that he, Pillsbury, and Snow played in consultation against Steinitz in 1892 here: http://www.rookhouse.com/steinitz-v...      Feb-16-13 Joseph Henry Blackburne   rookhouse: Article in which Blackburne refers to chess as "a vice" just posted here: http://www.rookhouse.com/blackburne...      Feb-11-13 Robert James Fischer    rookhouse: <shams> Thanks for the feedback. Never really thought about changing the posting name from <admin>, but it makes sense.      Feb-10-13 Jackson Whipps Showalter   rookhouse: If you are interested in this era of chess, I recently tore down and re-built my chess history website at www.rookhouse.com which will predominately include chess articles from the mid-1800s up to the Fischer era.      Aug-07-10 Diane Savereide   rookhouse: Diane is being inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame this afternoon. The ceremony coincides with the last weekend of the U.S. Open in Irvine, California. The Hall of Fame formerly resided in Miami, Florida from 2001-2009. The new location in St. Louis, Missouri is under ...

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Apr-11-09    MrMrsKnight: Hi I just signed up for your forum at your website. I enjoy chess history as well and am interested in Showalter in particular. Apr-11-09    rookhouse: <MrMrsKnight: Hi I just signed up for your forum at your website. I enjoy chess history as well and am interested in Showalter in particular.> Hello. Yes, I saw that you signed up on the forum today. Unfortunately, I have not done anything with that forum in a couple of years (as you could probably tell). I started spending some time on the Rook House blog and was posting 2-3 times a week and then I slowed down on that as well, due to my Showalter research. Not enough hours in the day for all of the hobbies I want to pursue. Apr-11-09    rookhouse: I am always happy to discuss Showalter. He has been my pet project for the last 2 1/2 years. Apr-11-09    chancho: Good to see you opened your forum. :) Apr-11-09    rookhouse: <chancho> Thanks for noticing. I have started getting some e-mails about Showalter, so I figured I would see if any discussions are generated here. Apr-12-09    chancho: Jackson Showalter, The Kentucky Lion. Apr-12-09    rookhouse: I thought about calling him "The Man Chess Forgot". The more and more research I do on this man, the more I cannot believe that his name is not mentioned more often. He was one of the better match players of that era and Lasker even referred to him as the best player he had ever played against following their match in 1893. His results in international tournaments hurt his legacy to a degree, but there were many games that he lost (in winning positions) due to the aggressive nature of his play. He defeated Janowski, Albin, Judd, Hodges, and Lipschutz in match play (just to name a few) and actually led Pillsbury late in thier 1897 match before losing by a slim margin (10-8). Jun-02-09    chancho: http://www.correspondencechess.com/... Mar-31-13    crawfb5: I stumbled across where I had seen something about a Mackenzie bio: <The Renfrew player John Johnstone has commented recently that P B Anderson, the 1950 Scottish Champion, had written an unpublished biography of the Captain.> http://www.chessscotland.com/histor... From the wording, it sounds like an old, abandoned project, so someone with the time, energy, and resources might be convinced to take it on. Apr-03-13    rookhouse: <crawfb5> Thanks for the link, I will pass it on to a few people. I believe Dale Brandreth had started a Mackenzie project years ago, but never finished it. Not sure if most people understand the enormity of such a task. I sure didn't understand it when I originally started the Showalter book. BTW - Did you ever get the answers you were seeking on the 1890 Showalter-Lipschutz match? If not, send me an e-mail. I believe I have all the pieces of that particular puzzle now. Apr-03-13    crawfb5: Between the preliminary indications I had found and what you told me by email back when I asked, I came to the conclusion that it probably was the match that never happened. Is that the gist of it? Apr-03-13    rookhouse: Pretty much. The two of them, along with Pollock, departed from the St. Louis tournament together to travel to Indianapolis. The plan was to play a three part match in Indy, Louisville, and Georgetown. Upon arrival in Indy, Showalter and Lipschutz each played a simul against eight of the local players. They then played one game (won by Showalter) for a purse raised by the club players. The 1891 International Chess Magazine published the game, but incorrectly refers to it as taking place in Louisville (I have a few other sources that have the exact same moves with analysis by Pollock, as indeed taking place in Indianapolis). The trio next went to Cincinnati and visited the local chess club, never stopping in Louisville as far as I can tell. Pollock stayed behind while Showalter and Lipschutz continued on to Georgetown. They then played a double-blindfold game (won by Lipschutz) at Showalter's residence with Nellie Showalter acting as referee. A few days later, Lipschutz was competing in the NY State Chess Association tournament. There are still some unanswered questions, but that is basically what I have on the subject so far.		from the Chessgames Store

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