fredthebear: Ah haa! Uncovering an amateur competitor:
John L. Cassilly was born in St. Louis, MO and died in St. Louis, MO. I found no specific information about Cassilly as a chess player, but he obviously had considerable skill (how did he acquire such ability?) to draw Jose R. Capablanca, a fabulous simultaneous player. Chess history from the era will be included below.
* Gravestone: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial...
* Ancestry: https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/...
Incidentally, the 1904 World's Fair, 1904 Summer Olympics (first time outside of Europe), and the Seventh American Chess Congress were all held in St. Louis, MO in 1904.
Frank J. Marshall (American champion from 1909 to 1936) was the winner of the Seventh American Chess Congress. Find results here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameri...
It would seem likely that Dr. Cassilly was influenced by Marshall's play/writings: https://www.chess.com/blog/batgirl/...
Here is some chess history of the era as published on chessmaniac.com (perhaps copied from Bill Wall):
<"In 1904, Frank Marshall won the 7th American Chess Congress in St. Louis. The tournament announcements said that the top American finisher in the event would be U.S. champion. But by the time of the tournament, the organizers just said that this event was only the “American Chess Tourney Championship.” Marshall acknowledged that Pillsbury was still the U.S. chess champion.On June 17, 1906, Pillsbury died and the title revered to Showalter, who was now a 5-time U.S. champion.
In early 1909, Capablanca defeated Marshall in a match, 8-1. The organizers called said it was for the U.S. championship title. After Marshall lost, he complained that it was not for the U.S. championship because Capablanca was not a U.S. citizen. However, at the time, Cuba was a U.S. territory. Furthermore, Capablanca had been living in the USA for the past three years and planned to take out citizenship papers as soon as he turned 21 in a few months.
In November 1909, Frank Marshall (1877-1944) defeated Showalter in a match, held in Lexington, Kentucky. The prize was $500 a side. Marshall was now officially the U.S. chess champion.
In 1923, Marshall defended his title against Edward Lasker (1885-1981) and won. The match was played in 9 different cities over two months. Marshal won 9.5 to 8.5.
In 1936, Frank Marshall gave up his title and declined to play in the U.S. invitational tournament. He was U.S. champion for a record 27 years, but only defended his title once.">
FTB has simply SPECULATED on the possible influence of Frank Marshall on Dr. Cassilly as a chess player. This particular D06 game might be an example: Pillsbury vs Marshall, 1894 The D06 defense was not played much back then, even by Marshall.
Kibitzing
