New York, 1889, aka The Sixth American Chess Congress
US Championship Tournament and World Championship Candidates Tournament
New York, NY

 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20    Score
 1. Weiss       AH    XX ½0 ½1 10 ½½ ½1 1½ 11 11 11 10 ½½ ½1 10 11 11 ½1 11 11 11   29 - 9
 2. Chigorin    RUS   ½1 XX 00 ½1 11 10 00 11 01 ½1 11 11 ½1 11 10 11 11 11 11 11   29 - 9
 3. Gunsberg    ENG   ½0 11 XX 01 ½0 ½0 1½ 10 11 11 ½1 11 01 11 01 11 11 11 11 11   28½- 9½
 4. Blackburne  ENG   01 ½0 10 XX 01 10 10 01 11 10 11 11 11 11 11 10 11 ½1 11 10   27 -11
 5. Burn        ENG   ½½ 00 ½1 10 XX 1½ 00 11 11 10 11 11 01 00 11 01 11 11 11 11   26 -12
 6. Lipschuetz  USA   ½0 01 ½1 01 0½ XX ½1 00 11 ½1 10 ½0 ½1 11 11 11 10 11 11 11   25½-12½
 7. Mason       IRE   0½ 11 0½ 01 11 ½0 XX ½0 00 11 ½0 10 01 01 ½1 1½ ½1 ½½ 11 11   22 -16
 8. Judd        USA   00 00 01 10 00 11 ½1 XX 10 11 01 00 11 00 ½1 ½0 10 ½1 11 11   20 -18
 9. Delmar      USA   00 10 00 00 00 00 11 01 XX ½0 10 11 0½ 10 01 11 10 11 11 01   18 -20
10. Showalter   USA   00 ½0 00 01 01 ½0 00 00 ½1 XX ½1 10 10 10 11 ½0 01 ½1 11 11   18 -20
11. Pollock     ENG   01 00 ½0 00 00 01 ½1 10 01 ½0 XX 01 ½1 ½1 01 11 00 00 11 11   17½-20½
12. Bird        ENG   ½½ 00 00 00 00 ½1 01 11 00 01 10 XX ½0 11 ½1 11 00 10 ½0 11   17 -21
13. Taubenhaus  FRA   ½0 ½0 10 00 10 ½0 10 00 1½ 01 ½0 ½1 XX 01 00 0½ ½1 10 11 11   17 -21
14. Baird, D    ???   01 00 00 00 11 00 10 11 01 01 ½0 00 10 XX 10 00 01 11 10 ½1   16 -22
15. Burille     ???   00 01 10 00 00 00 ½0 ½0 10 00 10 ½0 11 01 XX ½1 1½ 00 ½1 11   15 -23
16. Hanham      USA   00 00 00 01 10 00 0½ ½1 00 ½1 00 00 1½ 11 ½0 XX 10 01 0½ 11   14 -24
17. Gossip      ENG   ½0 00 00 00 00 01 ½0 01 01 10 11 11 ½0 10 0½ 01 XX 00 1½ 00   13½-25½
18. Martinez    CUB   00 00 00 ½0 00 00 ½½ ½0 00 ½0 11 01 01 00 11 10 11 XX 01 01   13½-25½
19. Baird, J    ???   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ½1 00 01 ½0 1½ 0½ 10 XX 10    7 -31
20. MacLeod     ???   00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 10 00 00 00 00 ½0 00 00 11 10 01 XX    6½-31½

FIRST PLACE PLAYOFF
           1 2 3 4
Weiss      ½ ½ ½ ½  2
Tchigorin  ½ ½ ½ ½  2

  • A 20-man Double Round Robin Tournament. One of the longest tournaments in history. In the first half of the tournament, draws were counted as a half point. In the second half, they were replayed once. Between the 38 regular rounds, 8 replay rounds, and 4 game playoff for first at the end, there were 50 rounds all told (!).

  • Like the 4th Congress, this tournament consisted largely of foreign masters. The retirement of Captain Mackenzie seems to date from this time (though some sources credit him as US Champion until his death in 1891), giving the top American finisher some claim on being de facto US Champion.

  • The top American finisher was Solomon Lipschutz, who finished in 6th Place with a score of +22-9=7.

  • Lipschutz's supporters in the Eastern US, tried to push his claim to being US Champion as a result of this tournament.

  • In the November-December 1933 issue of Chess Review, Isaac Kashdan traces the history of the US Title back to this tournament, saying: "...the first recognized American Chess Champion was Solomon Lipschuetz, by virtue of his victory in the Sixth American Chess Congress in 1889. The organizers of this event had announced that the winner could bear the title, and had made every effort to include the strongest players in the country in the entry list. Once won, the title was to be defended in match play, the Champion aggreeing to accept all reasonable challenges at proper intervals."

  • However, Lipschuetz's claim was not accepted by all. Jackson Whipps Showalter, "The Kentucky Lion", was also making a name for himself in the Midwest at this time, winning at Cincinnati 1888, and at Saint Louis, in February 1890 (The 3rd Congress of the US Chess Association). The rivalry between the two culminated in a short match in 1890, won by Showalter, who claimed the National Title.

  • This tournament was, in a sense, the first Candidates tournament. In addition to naming a US Champion, the organizers planned to finance the winner in a World Championship match against Steinitz. Max Weiss and Mikhail Tchigorn tied for first, and remained tied after drawing all 4 games of a playoff. Tchigorin was not interested in challenging Steinitz again so soon, and Weiss was not interested in playing one at all, and so the plans came to nothing.

  • However, Isidor Gunsberg, the 3rd place finisher, was interested. In 1890, he drew a 10 wins match against Tchigorin (9-9 with 5 draws). Because of these two results, his challenge to Steinitz was accepted, with their match being played in 1890-1.

  • Taubenhaus used to brag that he used to beat Capablanca at Queen odds, usually neglecting to mention that he did it when Capa was a toddler.

  • List of Competitors:
    1. Weiss, Miksa
    2. Chigorin, Mikhail
    3. Gunsberg, Isidor
    4. Blackburne, Joseph Henry
    5. Burn, Amos
    6. Lipschuetz, Samuel
    7. Mason, James
    8. Judd, Max
    9. Delmar, Eugene
    10. Showalter, Jackson Whipps
    11. Pollock, William Henry Kraus
    12. Bird, Henry Edward
    13. Taubenhaus, Jean
    14. Baird, David Graham
    15. Burille, Constant Ferdinand
    16. Hanham, Major James Moore
    17. Gossip, George Hatfield
    18. Martinez, Dion M
    19. Baird, John Washington
    20. MacLeod, Nicholas

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