City Club Masters/Amateurs
London, England
April 5-May 5, 1900
They don't make clubs like that any more. The City Club of London was used to holding tournaments, and in 1900 came up with the idea of inviting several leading British masters and prominent amateur players to see how the lesser lights would hold up.
The Masters: Joseph Henry Blackburne, Isidor Gunsberg, Francis Joseph Lee, James Mason, Richard Teichmann, Louis van Vliet.
The Amateurs: Edward Owen Jones, Thomas Francis Lawrence, Rudolf Johannes Loman, Samuel Passmore, Thomas Physick, Arthur Ernest Tietjen, William Ward.
Blackburne started well by winning his first four games, but stumbled badly with only two draws in his next five. Teichmann then took a comfortable lead, but Mason made up ground until he was only a half-point behind going into their last round game. However, this turned into a relatively short draw, while Gunsberg closed fast to catch Mason for a share of second place.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 Pts
1 Teichmann * = 1 1 = 0 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 9.5
2 Mason = * 1 = 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 9.0
3 Gunsberg 0 0 * 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 9.0
4 Ward 0 = 0 * = 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 8.5
5 Van Vliet = 1 0 = * 1 = = 1 = 1 = 1 8.0
6 Blackburne 1 0 = 0 0 * = = 1 1 1 1 1 7.5
7 Lawrence 0 0 0 0 = = * 1 1 1 0 1 1 6.0
8 Lee 0 0 0 = = = 0 * 0 = 1 1 1 5.0
9 Loman = 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 * 0 1 1 1 4.5
10 Tietjen 0 0 0 0 = 0 0 = 1 * 0 1 1 4.0
11 Jones 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 * 1 = 3.5
12 Physick 0 0 = 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 * 1 2.0
13 Passmore 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0 * 1.5
An excellent showing for Ward, while Blackburne had to be somewhat disappointed with his result.PRIZES
1st: Teichmann £20
2nd-3rd: Mason, Gunsberg £12
4th: Ward £ 8
5th: Van Vliet £ 6
6th: Blackburne £ 4
7th: Lawrence £ 2
Sources: games available at http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; dates available from daily reports in The New York Times.Original collection: Game Collection: City Club Invitational (London, 1900), by User: Phony Benoni.
Kibitzing
