<5th Western Championship
St. Louis, Missouri
October 3rd-9th, 1904>
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4
1 Stasch Mlotkowski X = 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 12.0
2 Louis Uedemann = X 0 0 = 1 1 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 9.5
3 Edward Friederich Schrader 0 1 X 1 0 1 = 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 8.5
4 Harlow Bussey Daly 0 1 0 X 1 = 0 1 1 = 1 = = 1 8.0
5 Emil Kemeny 0 = 1 0 X 1 = 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 8.0
6 Harsen Darwin Smith 0 0 0 = 0 X 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 7.5
7 Joseph Sawyer = 0 = 1 = 0 X 0 1 = 0 1 1 1 7.0
8 Eugene Wesley Shrader 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 X 0 1 1 1 0 1 7.0
9 William Widmeyer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 1 1 1 1 1 6.0
10 E R Wickersham 0 0 1 = 0 0 = 0 0 X 1 1 1 0 5.0
11 F J Rundle 0 = 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 X 1 0 1 4.5
12 John W Cowles 0 0 1 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1 3.5
13 John Levi Clark 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 X 0 2.5
14 David Terker 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 X 2.0
<Prizes>:1st. Stasch Mlotkowski, $100
2nd: Louis Uedemann, $50 (Western Champion)
3rd: Edward Schrader, $30
4th-5th: Harlow Bussey Daly, Emil Kemeny, $10 each
Organized as a minor event leading up to the 7th American Chess Congress (see Game Collection: St. Louis 1904), this was the first Western Championship to feature a non-Western winner. Stasch Mlotkowski of Philadelphia, in town for the big event, dominated the proceedings. He would later establish credentials as a "Western" player by moving to California, and would pick up another Western title at San Francisco, 1923. As the highest Western player, <Louis Uedemann> was officially declared Western Champion.
And note that young fellow Harlow B. Daly in fourth place. His name will pop up often in these collections over the next half-century or so.
1904 also saw the founding of the <American Chess Bulletin>, which would provide more extensive coverage of the tournament than had been available in the past. A paragraph from the report gives a flavor of editor Hermann Helms' exuberant style:
"Another bright star on the chess horizon--the result of the Minor Tournament of the Seventh American Chess Congress at St. Louis--is the record to which the congress committee has every reason to point to with satisfaction. If nothing further is realized during this meeting, it has accomplished its mission by bringing to the front another young American player of undoubted promise, Stasch Mlotkowski of the Franklin Chess Club of Philadelphia, who, while recognized at home as a budding genius, could not, but for this opportunity, have claimed the homage his unmistakable talents entitled him to. To win a long tournament without losing to a single opponent is evidently the fashion this year. Marshall set the style at Cambridge Springs against the greatest masters of the day; Marco did likewise at the Coburg meeting of the German Chess Association, as did Napier at the City of London Chess Club's big contest, and now Mlotkowski follows suit in a strong field of Americans, including, among others, veterans of recognised standing like Emil Kemeny and Louis Uedemann. Thirteen games did this new champion contest within the short period of one week, playing at the rate of two a day, one in the afternoon and another at night. His final record comprised eleven victories and two draws, the latter being with J. Sawyer and L. Uedemann respectively. The only drawback to this splendid success was the possibility of his being overworked to do himself full justice in the masters' tournament almost immediately following."
Where, indeed, he finished next-to-last.
Our Young Hero, Stasch Mlotkowski (lower right): http://books.google.com/books?id=b6...
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Sources
<American Chess Bulletin, October 1904, p. 89-91.
Gino di Felice, <Chess Results 1901-1920>, p. 44.
Hilbert, John S.. "Emil Kemeny: A Life in Chess", p. 285-286.
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SEE ALSO: Game Collection: US Open Tournament Index
Kibitzing
