The chess games of Alexander Sellman

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Alexander Sellman

Number of games in database: 61
Years covered: 1880 to 1885

Overall record: +16 -26 =18 (41.7%)*
* Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 1 exhibition game, blitz/rapid, odds game, etc. is excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS

With the White pieces:

Ruy Lopez (10)
    C77 C70 C65 C60 C67
French Defense (7)
    C01 C10 C00
Sicilian (4)
    B45 B88 B40

With the Black pieces:

French Defense (19)
    C13 C11 C01 C00 C14
French (13)
    C13 C11 C00
Queen's Pawn Game (4)
    D05 A40 D00 D02

Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   A Sellman vs J Grundy, 1880 1-0
   Zukertort vs A Sellman, 1883 0-1
   A Sellman vs E Delmar, 1880 1-0
   A Sellman vs Zukertort, 1883 1-0
   A Sellman vs A Cohnfeld, 1880 1-0
   Blackburne vs A Sellman, 1883 1/2-1/2
   A Sellman vs J Mortimer, 1883 1-0
   A Sellman vs Mackenzie, 1883 1/2-1/2

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   5th American Chess Congress (1880)
   London (1883)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   New York 1880 by suenteus po 147

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ALEXANDER SELLMAN
(born Jan-15-1856, died Oct-07-1888, 32 years old) United States of America
[what is this?]

Alexander Gould Sellman finished fourth at the 5th American Chess Congress (1880), a point behind the top finishers. He also played at the great London (1883) tournament, finishing third from the bottom.
Sellman wrote "Games of the Vienna (1882) tournament, a selection of the best and most brilliant games, with critical analysis by Alex. G. Sellman, together with a short account of the Tournament". It was the only contemporary book about the tournament. He also served as the chess editor of the Baltimore - News American (1) between 1880-86 and later for the Baltimore Sunday Herald between 1886-87 (2).
References: (1) Wikipedia article: Baltimore American (Baltimore American), (2) http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... (selected Herald archives).

Last updated: 2023-01-15 10:01:52

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page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 61

Game		Result	Moves	Year	Event/Locale	Opening
1. A G Sellman vs E Delmar		1-0	49	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C77 Ruy Lopez
2. E Delmar vs A G Sellman		½-½	66	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C13 French
3. A G Sellman vs J Congdon		1-0	67	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	B01 Scandinavian
4. J Congdon vs A G Sellman		0-1	25	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C01 French, Exchange
5. A G Sellman vs C Moehle		1-0	50	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	B40 Sicilian
6. C Moehle vs A G Sellman		½-½	66	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C14 French, Classical
7. Mackenzie vs A G Sellman		½-½	61	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C00 French Defense
8. A G Sellman vs Mackenzie		½-½	29	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C77 Ruy Lopez
9. A G Sellman vs P Ware		0-1	33	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening
10. P Ware vs A G Sellman		½-½	52	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	D00 Queen's Pawn Game
11. A G Sellman vs M Judd		1-0	41	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C01 French, Exchange
12. M Judd vs A G Sellman		1-0	54	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C11 French
13. J Grundy vs A G Sellman		1-0	65	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C01 French, Exchange
14. A G Sellman vs J Grundy		1-0	37	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C10 French
15. A G Sellman vs A Cohnfeld		1-0	23	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C41 Philidor Defense
16. A Cohnfeld vs A G Sellman		0-1	49	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C42 Petrov Defense
17. J S Ryan vs A G Sellman		0-1	33	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C42 Petrov Defense
18. A G Sellman vs J S Ryan		1-0	51	1880	5th American Chess Congress, New York	C77 Ruy Lopez
19. Steinitz vs A G Sellman		½-½	47	1882	Match	C00 French Defense
20. Steinitz vs A G Sellman		1-0	75	1882	Match	C00 French Defense
21. A G Sellman vs Steinitz		½-½	41	1882	Match	C70 Ruy Lopez
22. Blackburne vs A G Sellman		½-½	29	1883	London	C11 French
23. A G Sellman vs S Rosenthal		½-½	34	1883	London	C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
24. S Rosenthal vs A G Sellman		0-1	47	1883	London	C42 Petrov Defense
25. Winawer vs A G Sellman		1-0	38	1883	London	C49 Four Knights


page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 61

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Sellman wins | Sellman loses

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 2 · Later Kibitzing>
Jul-14-07		Karpova: <‘ ... Poor Sellman ... had to seek his daily bread in a cigar factory and was driven into insanity by the threats of fellow workmen with whose anarchistic views he frankly expressed his disagreement.’> October 1888, page 304 < ‘...This very gifted player who was one of the most remarkable figures among the prominent chessists during the last ten years. ... By his own study and without any practice with great masters he acquired a degree of strength that made him a dangerous opponent for the best masters of our time.’> November 1888, page 335 Wilhelm Steinitz International Chess Magazine (1885-1891) http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

Feb-19-09		Tabanus: Alexander G. Sellman (1856-1888) from Baltimore. Fourth prize in the Fifth American Chess Congress 1880. Author of "Games of the Vienna tournament of 1882: A selection of the best and most brilliant games. Torsch Bros." http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archiv...

Nov-28-10		Phony Benoni: <"Mr. Sellman has the misfortune, though so young, to be stone deaf, which in one sense is an advantage to him, as he cannot be affected by noise; his general health, however, does not appear to be good, and his play, perhaps for this reason, is to our taste dull and spiritless."> "British Chess Magazine", June 1883, p.208 (reporting on the London 1883 tournament)

Aug-12-12		Phony Benoni: Mr. Sellman would have fit in well here at <chessgames.com>, if the following comment is any indication. It comes from the game William M De Visser vs. Eugene Delmar, New York, 1879: click for larger view In this position, DeVisser came up with <34.Rc6> and Sellman commented, <"A happy conception, which must have caused Delmar to violently manipulate the "Visser" of his thinking cap.">

Aug-14-12		Phony Benoni: From Sellman's first report about the London 1883 tournament ("Baltimore American", May 6, 1883): <"A contest of giants it certainly is, although Steinitz stands but 62, Zukertort 61, and Mason 63 inches."> A tall tale?

Nov-05-12		GrahamClayton: Obituary notice from the New York Times, dated October 10, 1888: "A WELL-KNOWN CHESS PLAYER DEAD Baltimore, Md - Oct 9. Alexander G Sellman, the most successful chess player Baltimore ever produced, is dead in the thirty-third year of his age. He had been quite and invalid for a year past, and had spent that period in travelling. Mr Sellman began playing chess when quite young, and soon displayed a remarkable capacity for the game. In 1880 he entered the tourney of the fifth American chess congress in New York, and in a remarkably close contest took fourth prize, being only a few games behind Capt. Mackenzie and the other leaders. He afterwards met some of the strongest players in the world, including Steinitz and the late Dr Zukertort. He made highly credible scores with them in private play. Later on he entered the international chess tournament at London, where he met both these great players, as well as many others of eminence. Up to the time of his death Mr Sellman was recognised as the chess champion of the Southern States. He took great interest in local chess matters, was chiefly instrumental in forming the Baltimore Chess Association, and edited chess columns in several of the Baltimore papers."

Apr-03-13		thomastonk: About the date of death. Gaige's "Chess Personalia" gives four sources for an obituary: 1. "Baltimore Sunday News", October 14, 1888, 2. "Columbia Chess Chronicle" 1888, p 134-5, 3. Steinitz' "International Chess Magazine" 1888, p 304-5, and 4. "New York Times", October 10, 1888. I haven't seen no.1, and no.2 & 4 do not contain a date of his death. In no.3, Steinitz reports that he died October 7. However, the "New York Daily Tribune, October 10, states that he died October 8. Moreover, the "Newark Sunday Call", October 14, reports that he died last monday, which means October 8, too. But things are not so easy. The "Wilmington Sunday Morning Star", October 14, claims that he died on sunday, i.e. October 7. And the "Nashville Daily American", October 14, mentions October 7 explicitely.

Apr-03-13		Nosnibor: Sellman played a short match against Zukertort in December 1883 at the Baltimore Chess Club. The game shown in the db is the first game in the match.Zukertort went on to win the remaining two games thus taking the contest by two games to one.I will shortly submit one of these games if there is a demand for it.

Apr-02-14		dernier thylacine: TO NOSNIBOR: Thank you for your offer, and as there are only three games, maybe it would even be possible to submit the match in his globality? Excuse me to be greedy, but even I do not post many kibitzes because my level is not high enough to make them instructive, I am a fan of Zukertort (and of Mackenzie) and I love the games of their time especially when they are commented or annotated!! Excuse too my poor english, I am a Frenchman...

Apr-02-14		Ken MacGillivray: <dernier thylacine> <Excuse too my poor english, I am a Frenchman...> No need to apologise monsiuer, au contraire, my french is crap and I am envious of people who are multilingual.

Jan-20-15		paderamo: I am currently clipping and downloading chess columns from the Wilkes-Barre Record. A number of columns were about Sellman when he decided to relocate to that city. Here is a copy of the Baltimore News from October 14, 1888 as republished in the Wilkes-Barre Record: http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1613... Also, a remembrance of his short time in Wilkes-Barre from the October 25, 1888 newspaper: http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1613... Discusses the bizarre announcement he made during a chess lecture and the follow-up. Very sad.

Jan-20-15		zanzibar: <paderamo> Did he take his own life in Baltimore then? The newspaper accounts are unclear on this, as far as I can tell.

Feb-01-15		paderamo: I could not find anything definitive.

Feb-01-15		perfidious: To buy or Sell: that is the question.

Dec-27-15		zanzibar: Mentioned, fondly, on p122 of <The Knights and Kings of Chess> by George Alcock MacDonnell: https://books.google.com/books?id=_...

Dec-29-15		zanzibar: Played two serious games, both draws, with Capt McKenzie during the latter's visit to Baltimore in 1885. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/art... Saturday 19 February 1881, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney). The 2nd game is noted as a Ruy Lopez.

Dec-29-15		zanzibar: Was he a mute? I found this very interesting mention: <I have just learned from a gentle- man that the best chess player in Baltimore is a mate. His name is Alex G. Sellman, and he keeps a cigar store in that city. He can bear, but cannot speak. He has been playing with the champion of the world — Mr. Steinitz, not a mute.> http://www.mocavo.com/The-Deaf-Mute... (The Deaf Mutes Journal - 1883-01-25 p4)

Dec-29-15		zanzibar: I also found mention of him giving a blindfold simul in Wilkes-Barre, in I believe 1887. No real particulars though.

Apr-11-16		paderamo: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/160... A simul by Sellman in 1887 and his decision to move to Wilkes-Barre.

Apr-11-16		paderamo: http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1603... A second game from the silmul.

Apr-11-16		paderamo: http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1603... A game prior to his simul. Wendel was the President of the Wilkes-Barre Chess Club.

Apr-11-16		paderamo: http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1603... Another game with Wendel.

Apr-11-16		paderamo: http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1606... Another game from the simul.

Apr-11-16		paderamo: http://www.newspapers.com/clip/1613... He was not a mute.

Jul-09-17		zanzibar: Thank you <paderamo>. Can any photograph of Sellman be found? .

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