Adelmour Walstein King
A. W. King, Esq.—It is fit that the sketch of this player should follow the game of surpassing beauty and brilliancy published last week. For, though Mr. King cannot approximate either Herr Anderssen or M. Kieseritzky in the excellence of his play, yet his general style is of that dashing order so successfully exemplified in the spirited encounter referred to. In fact, Mr. King is generally known among our best players by the soubriquet of "the New York Dasher," so universal a think is it with him to play in an off-hand, dashing, and brilliant manner. The game published in this number is a very good criterion by which to judge him. When he gets his forces to beat upon the adverse king, he sacrifices and slaughters pieces indiscriminately (often indiscreetly) to perfect his meditated attack, and it frequently requires the most careful play on the part of his opponent to ward of his furious onslaughts. His adversary in the present instance, M. Bernier, is among our strong players, and, although not of the very first force, yet few or none of the latter can give him the odds of "pawn and two moves." Mr. King's games would not, as a general thing, beat subjection to the sharp scalpel of close analysis, and this arises rather from rapid and careless play, than from lack of skill on his part. There are two kinds of chess—practical and theoretical. The first is played over a board, the second is analyzed in the closet. Mr. King does not below to the theoretical division, and yet he is by no means deficient in book-knowledge, which he has acquired, however, more by actual encounters with practiced players, than by poring over Staunton, Walker, Bilguer, or Jænisch. Mr. King is a good type of a strong natural player, who has an intuitive aptitude for the game. He is the very antithesis—for example—of our friend Hamilton, Vice-President of the Brooklyn Club, an essential portion of whose chess-strength lies in his thorough knowledge of book-openings and endings. We may remark here, parenthetically, that Mr. H. is about to become somewhat secluded from chess-circles, by burying himself in the embraces of a very lovely bride—and worse than that (if anything can be worse of an enthusiastic chess-player than matrimony), is to migrate to St. Louis. The club will lose in Mr. H. a worthy member, and the "border-ruffian" State will gain a fine player, who will hardly fail to make a stir among the votaries of the game in the West; and we hope he will favor us, correspondentially, with some of the scintillations and coruscations of his genius. But to return to Mr. King. His great fault, as a player, is inordinate haste. With the single exception of the eccentric Mr. Mantin (of whom more anon), he is, by far, the most rapid player of or acquaintance. He seems to comprehend at a glance the whole field of battle, and believes that "two minutes are as good as twenty" in deciding upon the best move. In this he is altogether wrong, as he sometimes proves himself, when he gets into a "tight place." If to his unusual quickness of perception Mr. King would add the degree of deliberation which a serious game of chess actually requires, he would make a much stronger player than he really is. When he frames an attack, he pushes on his columns, and orders the whole line to advance, without turning to the right or left to look for opposing forces in ambush, or giving scarcely a glance behind to see if a road is left for escape, should his own get uncomfortably hemmed in. Like Cæsar or Cortes, he fearlessly advances into the enemy's country, and when the Rubicon is once passed, or the sheltering haven left, he cuts down the bridge or burns his ships behind him. We have frequently known him to sacrifice a rook for a pawn, rather than be balked in his purpose. Sometimes this will do, but oftener it will not. Deliberation, circumspection, and caution would greatly enhance his skill. Verbum sapienti satis est. Mr. King rarely or never selects "close" games, since their tediousness affords no scope to his peculiar style of play. His openings are often so outré and bizarre, that they lead to most curious and interesting games; and for this reason, conjoined with that of his bold and rapid play, no opponent is more eagerly sought after at the club, and few boards have more lookers on. Mr. King cares nothing about losing, and hence he very frequently wins in situation where timid and nervous players would be sure to be defeated. The great fault of many of our best players lies in their hesitancy to give up a pawn or piece for prospective advantage. It is a mark of excellence to know when to do this safely. Mr. King does it oftener than any man at the club—of course, not always with success. We take leave of Mr. King, by commending to his attention a consideration of the points wherein we have indicated that he is lacking, and by advising our readers, who are frightened whenever they lose a piece, or are foiled in their first attack, to examine the effect of persistance sic in sacrificing numbers for position, so prettily shown in Mr. King's dashing game.(1)
Mr. Adelmour W. King breathed his last on Friday, 17th ult. His funeral was numerously attended by the members of the church to which he belonged, by his bother Masons, and by several of his friends in chess, of which game he was an enthusiastic admirer as well as an excellent player. His memory will be held dear by his mourning relatives and numerous circle of friends.(2)
Sources
(1) Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1856.03.08, p206
(2) New York Spirit of the Times, 1872.06.01
Kibitzing
