Harry Nelson Pillsbury vs. Jackson Whipps Showalter Match
February 25 - April 1, 1898
New York, NY

           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
Pillsbury  0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 1 1 0 1  7 (w/2 draws)
Showalter  1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 1 0  3 (w/2 draws)

  • As in 1897, victory was to go to the first player to win 7 games. In the event of a 6-6 tie, victory would go to the first player to win 10 games. Match would be drawn and ended if the score reached 9-9. Pillsbury was White in the odd-numbered games.

  • After the 1897 match, Showalter challenged Pillsbury once more. This time the results were more what Pillsbury's supporters hoped for. Pillsbury grudgingly agreed to accept the US title this time. By 1904, he was quite glad to have it.

  • In addition to over-the-board chess, Pillsbury was famous for blindfold play, and for memory feats. One of his better remembered feats is being handed the following list of words by two university professors, and being able to recite it backwards and forwards after a few minutes study, and to repeat the feat again the next day without re-examining the list in the intervening time. The list was as follows:

    Antiphlogistine, periosteum, takadiastase, plasmon, ambrosia, Threlkeld, strepococcus, straphylococcus, micrococcus, plasmodium, Mississippi, Freiheit, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, athletics, no war, Etchenberg, American, Russian, philosophy, Piet Potgelter's Rost, Salamagundi, Oomisellecootsi, Bangmanvate, Schlechter's Nek, Manzinyama, theosophy, catechism, Madjesoomalops.

    [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.02.25"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "1"] [Result "0-1"] [White "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [Black "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "122"] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.dxc5 Nc6 7.a3 a5 8.Be3 Bxc5 9.Bxc5 Nxc5 10.Qg4 O-O 11.O-O-O f5 12.Qf3 Ne4 13.Nh3 Qb6 14.Rg1 Qc5 15.g4 Nxc3 16.Qxc3 Qxc3 17.bxc3 fxg4 18.Rxg4 Ne7 19.Bd3 Bd7 20.Ng5 Nf5 21.Rdg1 g6 22.Bxf5 Rxf5 23.Rh4 h5 24.Nf3 Kh7 25.Rd1 Rc8 26. Kd2 Rc4 27.Nd4 Rf7 28.Rb1 b5 29.Ne2 Rf8 30.Rh3 Rb8 31.Rd3 Ra4 32.Rb3 Kh6 33.h4 b4 34.axb4 axb4 35.cxb4 Bb5 36.Nc3 Ra1 37.Nxb5 Rxb5 38.Rh3 Rf1 39.Ke3 Re1+ 40.Kf3 Re4 41.c3 Rb8 42.b5 Rf8 43.b6 Rexf4+ 44.Ke2 Rb8 45.Kd3 Rb7 46.Rh2 g5 47.hxg5+ Kxg5 48.Rb1 h4 49.Rg2+ Kf5 50.Re1 Rxb6 51.Rg8 Rf3+ 52.Kd4 Rc6 53.Rf8+ Kg4 54.Rg1+ Rg3 55.Rg8+ Kf3 56.Kd3 Kf2+ 57.R1xg3 hxg3 58.Rf8+ Kg1 59.Rf6 g2 60.Ke2 Rxc3 61.Rxe6 Kh2 0-1 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.02.28"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "2"] [Result "0-1"] [White "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [Black "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "64"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.dxe5 Nxb5 9.a4 d6 10.axb5 Nxe5 11.Nd4 O-O 12.Nc3 c6 13.bxc6 bxc6 14.Re1 Qc7 15.f4 Ng4 16.f5 Nf6 17.Ne4 Nxe4 18.Rxe4 d5 19.Rh4 Qd6 20.Qh5 h6 21.Rf1 Qf6 22.Rhf4 Bd7 23.Nb3 Rae8 24.Nc5 Bc8 25.c3 Re7 26.h4 Rfe8 27.R1f2 Re3 28.Kh2 R8e5 29.Nb3 Qd6 30.Kg1 Re1+ 31.Rf1 Ba6 32.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 0-1 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.04"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "3"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [Black "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [ECO "C14"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "83"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Nb5 Qd8 8. f4 a6 9. Na3 c5 10. c3 Nc6 11. Nf3 b5 12. Nc2 Qb6 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Nfd4 O-O 15. Bd3 f6 16. exf6 Rxf6 17. O-O Bd7 18. b4 Nxd3 19. Qxd3 Raf8 20. Qe3 Be8 21. g3 Bg6 22. Nxc6 Qxc6 23. Nd4 Qb6 24. Rfe1 Be4 25. Re2 Qc7 26. Nf3 Bxf3 27. Qxf3 g5 28. Rae1 Qb6+ 29. Kh1 gxf4 30. gxf4 Kh8 31. Rg1 Qc7 32. Rg4 Qf7 33. Qe3 Rxf4 34. Qe5+ Rf6 35. Rf2 d4 36. Rgf4 Qg7 37. Rxf6 Rg8 38. Rxe6 dxc3 39. Qxg7+ Kxg7 40. Rg2+ Kf7 41. Rxg8 Kxg8 42. Rc6 1-0 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.07"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "4"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [White "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [Black "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "112"] 1.d4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3 Nc6 4.f4 Nb4 5.Nf3 Nxd3+ 6.cxd3 e6 7.Nc3 c5 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.d4 Be7 10.Qd3 a6 11.O-O b5 12.Ne5 Qb6 13.Bd2 Bb7 14.f5 O-O 15.Be1 Rad8 16.Bh4 Bc8 17.fxe6 Qxe6 18.Ne2 Ng4 19.Bg3 Bg5 20.Bf4 Bf6 21.Nxg4 Qxg4 22.Bc7 Rd7 23.Rac1 Re8 24.Rf3 Qg6 25.Qd2 Bg5 26.Bf4 Bf6 27.Rg3 Qf5 28.Rf1 Qe6 29.Nc1 Be7 30.Nd3 f6 31.Nc5 Bxc5 32.dxc5 Bb7 33.Qd4 Rf7 34.h4 Qe4 35.Rd1 Qxd4 36.Rxd4 Rfe7 37.h5 Kf7 38.Kf2 Re4 39.Bd6 a5 40.Rf3 Bc6 41.Rxe4 Rxe4 42.Rf4 Rc4 43.Rxc4 dxc4 44.Bc7 a4 45.Ba5 h6 46.g4 Ke6 47.Bc3 Kd5 48.g5 hxg5 49.Bxf6 Be8 50.Bxg7 Bxh5 51.a3 Kxc5 52.Bf6 Kd5 53.Bxg5 b4 54.axb4 c3 55.bxc3 Kc4 56.e4 Be8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.09"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "5"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [Black "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [ECO "D60"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "107"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 c6 9. Qc2 Re8 10. O-O Nf8 11. Ne5 Ng4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Nxg4 Bxg4 14. Rae1 Qf6 15. a4 Re7 16. b4 Rae8 17. b5 Qg5 18. f4 Qf6 19. Qd2 Bf5 20. a5 Qg6 21. Bxf5 Qxf5 22. a6 cxb5 23. Nxb5 Qd7 24. axb7 a6 25. Nc3 Qxb7 26. Rb1 Qc6 27. Rfc1 Qd6 28. Nd1 Ng6 29. g3 h5 30. Qe2 h4 31. Qh5 hxg3 32. hxg3 Nf8 33. Rc5 Rd8 34. Rbc1 g6 35. Qf3 Ne6 36. Rc8 Kg7 37. Rxd8 Nxd8 38. Rc5 Ne6 39. Qxd5 Qb6 40. Rc1 Qb4 41. Nf2 Qd2 42. Qe5+ f6 43. Qxf6+ Kxf6 44. Ne4+ Kf5 45. Nxd2 g5 46. d5 gxf4 47. gxf4 Nxf4 48. exf4 Kxf4 49. Rc5 Rd7 50. Nc4 Ke4 51. d6 Kd4 52. Rc7 Rd8 53. d7 Kd5 54. Rc8 1-0 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.14"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "6"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [White "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [Black "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "60"] 1.d4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3 Nc6 4.f4 Nb4 5.Nf3 Nxd3+ 6.cxd3 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Bd2 b6 10.Rc1 c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Na4 Nd7 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.fxe5 Ba6 15.Nxc5 Bxc5 16.Rxc5 Qb6 17.Rc3 Qxb2 18.Qc1 Qxc1 19.Rfxc1 Rfc8 20.Kf2 Kf8 21.Ke2 Ke8 22.Rc7 Rxc7 23.Rxc7 Bb5 24.Bb4 Bd7 25.Bf8 Kd8 26.Rc5 g6 27.Bd6 a6 28.Bc7+ Ke8 29.Kd2 Rc8 30.d4 Bb5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.16"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "7"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [Black "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [ECO "C14"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "67"] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.Qd2 a6 8.Nd1 c5 9.c3 Nc6 10.f4 O-O 11.Nf3 f6 12.Bd3 fxe5 13.dxe5 b5 14.Bc2 Nb6 15.h4 Nc4 16.Qd3 g6 17.g3 Qg7 18.b3 Na3 19.Nf2 c4 20.Qe2 b4 21.bxc4 bxc3 22.cxd5 Nb4 23.Bb3 exd5 24.Rc1 Qc7 25.Nd3 a5 26.Nxb4 axb4 27.Bxd5+ Kh8 28.Bxa8 c2 29.e6 Re8 30.Bd5 Qc3+ 31.Qd2 Qxd2+ 32.Nxd2 Bxe6 33.Bxe6 Rxe6+ 34.Kf2 1-0 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.21"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "8"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [Black "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "83"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O Be7 6.Nxd4 O-O 7.Nc3 a6 8.Be2 d6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.f4 d5 11.e5 Bc5+ 12.Kh1 Nd7 13.b3 Re8 14.Bb2 Ba7 15.Qd2 Re6 16.Na4 Rh6 17.g3 Qe7 18.Rae1 Nb6 19.Nxb6 cxb6 20.f5 Bb7 21.Bf3 Rd8 22.Bd4 Qd7 23.Qg5 Qe8 24.e6 f6 25.Bxf6 Rxf6 26.e7 Rd7 27.Bh5 Qxe7 28.Rxe7 Rxe7 29.Bf3 b5 30.g4 Be3 31.Qh4 h6 32.Qg3 d4 33.Qb8+ Kh7 34.Qd8 Ref7 35.Kg2 c5 36.Bxb7 Rxb7 37.Qd5 Rc7 38.Qe5 Rcc6 39.h4 c4 40.b4 Rcd6 41.Rh1 Kg8 42.g5 1-0 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.23"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "9"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [Black "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [ECO "D60"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "95"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.Rc1 a6 10.a4 Nb6 11.Ba2 cxd4 12.exd4 Nfd5 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.a5 Nxc3 15.Rxc3 Nd5 16.Rc5 Bd7 17.O-O Bb5 18.Re1 Nb4 19.Bb1 Rfd8 20.Qb3 Nc6 21.Qc2 g6 22.Qc3 Qf6 23.Be4 Nxd4 24.Kh1 Kg7 25.Bxb7 Ra7 26.Nxd4 Qxd4 27.Be4 Rad7 28.h3 Qxc3 29.bxc3 Rd1 30.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 31.Kh2 f5 32.Bb7 Kf6 33.c4 Rc1 34.Rxb5 axb5 35.cxb5 Ra1 36.a6 Ke7 37.b6 Kd6 38.a7 Kc5 39.a8=Q Rxa8 40.Bxa8 Kxb6 41.Kg3 e5 42.Bd5 h6 43.Bf7 g5 44.Bg6 f4+ 45.Kf3 Kc5 46.Ke4 Kd6 47.Bf5 h5 48.Bg6 1-0 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.25"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "10"] [Result "0-1"] [White "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [Black "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "64"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O a6 6.Bc4 Bc5 7.c3 Nxe4 8.cxd4 Be7 9.d5 Na7 10.Re1 Nd6 11.Bd3 O-O 12.Nc3 Ne8 13.Qe2 Bf6 14.Ne4 d6 15.Bg5 Bxg5 16.Nexg5 Nf6 17.Qc2 h6 18.Nh7 Nxh7 19.Bxh7+ Kh8 20.Be4 Bd7 21.Qb3 c5 22.Qxb7 Nb5 23.Ne5 Ra7 24.Nc6 Rxb7 26.Nxd8 Rxd8 26.b3 Nd4 27.Rad1 Bg4 28.Kh1 Re7 29.a4 Be2 30.Bd3 Rde8 31.Bxe2 Rxe2 32.Rf1 Nxb3 0-1 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.03.30"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "11"] [Result "0-1"] [White "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [Black "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [ECO "C14"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "102"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Qd2 O-O 8. f4 c5 9. Nb5 a6 10. Nd6 cxd4 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. Bd3 f6 13. Nxc8 Raxc8 14. exf6 Qxf6 15. O-O h6 16. Rae1 Nc5 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. Rxe5 Rc7 19. Qe2 Rc6 20. Qg4 Nxd3 21. cxd3 Kh7 22. h4 Qg6 23. Qxg6+ Kxg6 24. g4 Kf6 25. Rfe1 g6 26. R1e2 h5 27. gxh5 Rh8 28. hxg6 Rxh4 29. Rg5 Rc8 30. Rge5 Rg4+ 31. Kf2 Rxf4+ 32. Kg3 Re4 33. R5xe4 dxe4 34. Rxe4 e5 35. Kf3 Rg8 36. Rh4 Rxg6 37. Rh7 Rg7 38. Rh6+ Kf5 39. b4 Rg1 40. Rh5+ Ke6 41. Rh7 Re1 42. Rxb7 Re3+ 43. Kf2 Rxd3 44. Rb6+ Kd5 45. Rxa6 e4 46. b5 Rd2+ 47. Kg3 e3 48. Ra8 e2 49. Kf2 d3 50. Rd8+ Kc4 51. a4 Rd1 0-1 [Event "Pillsbury - Showalter US Championship"] [Site "New York, NY USA"] [Date "1898.04.01"] [EventDate "1898.02.25"] [Round "12"] [Result "0-1"] [White "Jackson Whipps Showalter"] [Black "Harry Nelson Pillsbury"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "50"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O a6 6. Ba4 Be7 7. Re1 O-O 8. e5 Ne8 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 d5 11. b4 c6 12. Bb2 Nc7 13. a3 a5 14. c3 Bf5 15. Qb6 Qc8 16. Nd2 Ne6 17. Nf3 Nf4 18. Bb3 Nxg2 19. Red1 Be4 20. Nd2 Ra6 21. Qd4 Nf4 22. Qe3 Qg4+ 23. Kf1 Bd3+ 24. Qxd3 Qg2+ 25. Ke1 Nxd3+ 0-1

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