The tournament moved east into new territory this year, at the Hotel Stinton in Cincinnati. Edward Lasker became the first to win the championship three times, outdistancing the 11-player field by a full point. Former champion Edward Schrader competed in his 13th and final Western Championship, as one of the best of the Excelsior Crowd could only score 50%.

Information is very sketchy, and we cannot be sure of the schedule. We don't even know for sure when the tournament ended. Oriiginally, this was scheduled to be on Saturday, 9/27, but two different accounts describe the last round as being played on Sunday the 28th.

20th Western Championship

Cincinnati, Ohio
September 22-28, 1919

                              1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
1  Edward Lasker              X = 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 8.5
2  John Taliaferro Beckner    = X 1 1 = = 1 0 1 1 1 7.5
3  John Winter                0 0 X 1 = 1 1 1 = 1 1 7.0
4  Jackson Whipps Showalter   0 0 0 X 1 1 1 = 1 1 1 6.5
5  George Gessner             0 = = 0 X 0 1 1 1 = 1 5.5
6  Palmer Gunkel Keeney       0 = 0 0 1 X 0 1 1 1 1 5.5
7  Edward Friederich Schrader 0 0 0 0 0 1 X 1 1 1 1 5.0
8  Samuel Heyman Shapiro      0 1 0 = 0 0 0 X 1 1 1 4.5
9  John W Fry                 1 0 = 0 0 0 0 0 X = 1 3.0
10 John H Norris              0 0 0 0 = 0 0 0 = X 1 2.0
11 Frank E Judge              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0.0

Thanks: Miss Scarlett for tracking and submitting a Lasker game.

Sources:

American Chess Bulletin, November, 1919, p.241-245.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, regular Thursday column, September 25-October 23, 1919

Cincinnati Enquirer, September 23-30, scattered reports

Chess Results 1901-1920 / Gino di Felice, p.252.

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SEE ALSO: Game Collection: US Open Tournament Index