Centennial Chess Problem Tourney, 1877: Additional Awards

Awards

These are the additional prizes and tourneys associated with the Centennial Chess Problem Tourney that are known at present. The Boston Globe and Cleveland Sunday Morning Voice awards were mentioned in the umpire's report of the main tournament, but no other award was.

Letter tourney

This 'sub-tourney' is documented separately; see Centennial Chess Problem Tourney, 1877: The Letter Tourney.

American Chess Journal: Double Prizes

A. C. J. offered to double the prizes of any victors of the Centennial Problem Tourney who were subscribers to the Journal and competed through its problem column (Source: American Chess Journal, 10/3 (Sep. 1876), p. 67.

Three prize-winning sets or problems entered through the A. C. J.: set: Jacob Elson, 3d pr.; single problems: J. B. McKim, 3d pr. #2, and J. W. Finlinson, 3d pr. #3, and 3d pr. #4.

However, it is not clear if any of these winners also were subscribers to A. C. J.: no information relevant to the further history of this prize has been found.

Boston Globe: Best Set

Prize for best set contributed through the Boston Globe chess column. (The announcement found in American Chess Journal, 10/4 (Oct. 1876), p. 87 only states what the prize is, but not what it is for. No umpire's report is known.)

The prize was awarded to S. Loyd for the set Ideas that also won the first prize of the Centennial Chess Problem Tourney, 1877.

Cleveland Sunday Morning Voice: Best Set

Prize to the best set contributed to the Centennial Problem Tourney through Cleveland Sunday Morning Voice, abbr. C.S.M.V. below. (Source: C.S.M.V., 1876-11-23?. The phrasing suggests that the prize had been announced earlier.)

The umpire's report (C.S.M.V., 1877-06-17?) identifies the three best sets as Themes (S. Loyd), Augentrost (C. Bayer), and C'est Selon (W. A. Ballantine). Of the 11 sets received by the newspaper, seven were found to be faulty in a way that precluded a prize. In respect to the amateur prize, described below, it should perhaps be noted that the umpire mentioned the four-mover of the set C'est Selon as a very interesting problem.

(Two additional awards were given to the second and third best sets, but they do not seem to have been announced beforehand, and are for that reason omitted here.)

The prize-winning set also won the second prize of the main tourney; see Centennial Chess Problem Tourney, 1877.

Selchow & Co., New York: Amateur Prize

Prize for the prettiest problem composed by any problemist who had never before competed in a tournament. Umpire: S. Loyd. (Source: American Chess Journal, 1/8 (Sep. 1876), p. 62, No formal report has been found, but Loyd summarizes the verdict in Scientific American Supplement, 1877-09-08 and in American Chess Journal, 2/4 (Sep. 1877), p. 63. )

The prize was awarded to W. A. Ballantine for the four-move problem from the set C'est Selon (C.S.M.V: 1877-02-18?, prb. 6, #2; 1877-02-25?, prb.7, #3; 1877-03-04?, prb. 10, #4). The umpire notes that another problem that came very close to winning this prize turned out to be by the same composer. (Quod potero faciam, #4, American Chess Journal, reprinted in Sci. Am. Suppl. as above, motto misspelled fucium.)

(Selchow & Co. was a New York state game manufacturer who among other games sold Parcheesi, an adaption by S. Loyd of an old Indian board-game.)

Prize: W. A. Ballantine

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