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About Yale Alumni Magazine | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1897)
THE CHESS TOURNAMENT. HMarvard again Victorious—Marked Improvement in the Play. Harvard won the fifth annual Inter- collegiate Chess Tournament, which was held at the Columbia Grammar School, New York, beginning on Mon- day, Dec. 28, and ending on Saturday afternoon. Princeton, Columbia and Yale finished in the order named. This tournament is considered by far the most successful ever held since the establishment of the Intercollegiate Cup five years ago, the standard of excellence among the players being much higher and the work in prepara- tion much more careful and thorough. The representatives of the four col- leges were as follows: Harvard, E. E. Southard and A. W,, Ryder; Pr_nce- ton, E. B. Seymour and W. W. Young; Columbia, A. W. Parker and A. M. Price; and Yale, KF. A. Lehlbach and W. W. Murdoc.:. Mr. Hugene Del- mar acted as referee, and T. R. Stark of Columbia, was the director of play. Mr. Southard of Hatvard made by far the best record of the tournament, winning in all six of his matches. Although the score of the Yale team this year was not as high as it has been on previous occasions, yet tne standard of the playing was undoubt- edly superior to that of any other team, that has represented Yale. the end of the first half of the tourna- ment Yale was in second place, but in the last three days tthe playing of her representatives fell off considerably. At the beginning of the last day Yale, Princeton and Columbia were all tied for second place, with four games won and six lost. On that day Mur- docks and Lehlbach, of Yale, met Ry- der and Southard, of Harvard, the leading players in the tournament, and were both defeated. This placed Yale in fourth place. One of the most interesting games played was that between Murdock, Yale, and Southard, Harvard, on the first day of the tournament. Southard is without doubt the finest player in the tournament, and one of the best that has ever been seen in the inter- collegiate tournaments. Murdoch: opened with a Ruy Lopez and South- ard adopted the Berlin defense, 3—Kt —B 3. The play was quite even until the early stage of the middle game, when Southard won a pawn by good play. After this Southard went in for exchanging tactics, but after forty- four moves the game had to be ad- journed, and was adjudicated by the referee in favor of Southard. The game between Young, Prince- ton, and Lehlbach, Yale, was said by Pillsbury, the great American expert, to be the most correctly played game of the tournament, and, although it was not brilliant, there were no mis- takes made by either side. The increasing interest in intercol- legiate chess is shown by the fact that several colleges have applied for admission to the tournament, but it is thought that it will not be granted, as the tournament jn the present State is as large as can be convenient- ly handled. A COMPARISON OF THE CONTESTANTS. A. chess student, who was present at the tournament, has sent to the Weekly the following mention of the individual players and of VYale’s chances for success next year:— “In a general way Southard plays the most modern and advanced chess. Steady, progressive, strategic, cau- tious, and relentless, he is like an octopus, which is pretty sure of its prey, after one tentacle is fairly fas- tened. Let Southard once get a pawn to the good, and no peer in play stands much chance to beat him. I think I am almost safe in saying that he has not made a blunder, either costly, or of any serious moment. Ryder plays a much more open, imaginative, dash- ing game. He attacks with vigor and alertness, but if his attack fails, he is more apt to go to pieces. He is a At YALE ALIUignl WHEEBLY much better aggressive than defensive player. : Price is erratic, ingenious and shif- ty. He has played a good deal with masters, and knows a great deal of the technicality of the tricks of the trade, Parker was a player much more of the Southard type, but below him in grasp, and rather below the other players. Seymour is rather Southard and Ryder, perhaps in the long run the second best man of the eight. Young has good imagination, and relies rather on himself than technical training. His chief weakness is his inexperience, but he is wideawake, and has good in- vention and attack, but is prone to making a good sortie, rather than a masterly display of generalship in an irresistible, methodical advance of his whole force. Murdoch plays’ good, chess. composite of fair, steady He is a good defensive player, and is more on the order of’ Southard, - but not quite up to his calibre, nor has he the same comprehensive grasp, .- or brilliancy of invention. Lehlbach is evidently unused _ to playing with superior players, and failed somewhat in appreciating the severity of the task that was set to him. He has, however, the funda- ‘mental qualities of an extremely good player, with all the qualities which are necessary for success. down next year with Murdoch, and the Harvard- men should have a green team, which at present seems likely, the chances are very fair for their Success, especially if the coliege gathers itself together, and gives the men good backing, moral and financial, So that they can secure a good coach for a longer time. The play this year has been the best Yale has sent down.” THE SUMMARY. The following table shows the num- ber of games won and lost by each player: Colum- Har- Prince- bia. vard. Yale. ton. TR ™ e @22eeb 2s ary Roe & Fas we 3 As ee eee o 2 : Piod @ eS oe : en Parker ..... —— — 0-0 0 1 6 oe erie Sas oe. —— 1 010% 1 8% PV IO og oes sin 10 —— 1 1.1° 48 pouthard 6.2 40-2594 1 ee eR ath i 6. cok OO. eee ee %1% Murdoch ....0 10 0 —.— %1 2% Seymour ....1°% " 1 e- = YOUN ...... 1014240% 0 — = ay Total lost... 5 242 0 4143143 8% 24 Following are the total points scored by each university in the five annual tournaments: Prince- Year, Columbia. Harvard. Yale ton. MM Gs s'n'o hy 5 21 ph. ag aaa 814 7 eet 3 3% 1OGe bux 0% 3 g 6 6 1896 ows 8 84 8% 4 i. RT epee 416 10 4 5% Total loss 33 42 2314 2114 ++- President Dwight’s Return. President Dwight conducted the morning gervice, at the opening of the winter term on Tuesday morning, January 5th, for the first time during the Academic year. In a short address the President extended his best wishes to every member of the University for a prosperous New Year, and congratu- lated the Freshman class, which he had never before addressed, on their connection with Yale University. The custom of the Seniors bowing to the President, as he leaves the Chapel by the center aisle, was observed by the members of ‘97 for the first time. President Dwight has been travel- ing through Hurope for the past six months making an_ extensive trip through England and_ the conti- nent, accompanied by his family. The trip has been very beneficial to him and he is in much better health than when he went away. Winthrop E. Dwight, ’98, who ac- ccmpanbied his father, will remain at Oxford several months, engaged in study. CAD Loti loam ns ytd pts g t/t | i and would be | Should he > continue to study the game, and come AN ENGLISHMAN’S VIEW. Lehmann’s Impressions of an American Football Match, Mr. Mr. R. C. Lehmann, the new Har- vard coach, in a letter to the London Daily News, on November 30, gave au interesting account of the Harvard- Pennsylvania football natch, whicn was the first game of the American sport that he had ever witnessed. He commented al some length upon the remarkable erihusiasm shown by the Supporters of the rival teams. He Said in part: | “I ought to have been a disinterested Spectator, but the enthusiasm of my neighbors gained me. My guide, phil- osopher and friend, a Harvard under- gracuate, was shouting and cheering With the best cf them. I was impress- ed and ainused by his eagerness, till, after a magnificent piece of play by the Harvard team, I realized with a Sudden astonishment that I, too, was On my feet, Weving my hat furiously and yelling enccuragements to Har- vard with all the rower of my lungs. indeed, it was quite impossible to remain piacid, surrounded as I was by these flaming volcanos. At a foot- ball match betweer. Oxford and Cam- bridge we skout a little, we cheer se- dately, but our Lest efforts are to these Ainericiaz demonstrations as the surface uf tlle Thames is to the tossing €xPanse Of the Atlantic in a Wiliter §{c1m,’ in regard to the American develop- ment of the game Mr. Lehmann Said: : . “Since the Rugby football came to America in 1874 it has undergone a constant process of development and ‘€laboration, until at the present day it differs almost as much from the English Rugby game as that game does from American football, inreed, is not so much a_ game in our rough and ready sense of the word, as the development of a series of intri- cate tactical evolutions carefully de- vised to bring your own forces into the most favorable position and to em- barrass your foe. It is not enough for & captain to be strong and fleet and courageous, His mind must be as himble as his iegs, and he must seize @ Situation with the eye of a general Association football, trained according to the most rigorous | methods of a staff college. Every team works out its own scheme of play, and its own formations, and practices them in secret under the instruction of the coaches before any important match, “I shall make no attempt to describe the match in detail. Let it suffice to say that I have never seen a finer game played with a manlier spirit. The quicknesss and the pre- cision of the players were marvellous, and the excitement was sustained to the very end. In our Rugby game at home the ball is frequently kicked into touch at one side or the other. In this American game such a thing happened only once. With that one exception the ball was in the field of play all the time. It was a game of Slow gains, with here and there a bril- liant run, but the open play that dis- tinguishes our own Same is not to be seen. On the other hand, there are no scrimmages, but the ball after be- ing “down” is put into play again from a very open formation. We have a sitrict off-side rule; here players, so long as they do not hold, may inter- fere with their opponents in front of the man who is running with the ball, and the science of interference is as carefully worked out as anything else in the game, “Harvard was defeated, and victory remained with the athletes of Pennsyl- vania. And what of the brutality ? All T can say is that I Saw none. Footkall cannot be a gentle game. A milksop has no part in it in England or in America. But the game as I saw it, though violent and rough, was never brutal. Indeed, I cannot hope to see a finer exhibition of courage, strength, and manly endurance, with- out a trace of meanness, than that which was given by these two. teams.’’ The Harvard and Pennsylvania cheers were also features of the per- formance which impressed Mr. Leh- mann. His description is as follows: “Now from the south side came the ‘Hoo-rah, hoo-rah, hoo-rah, Penn-syl- va-ni-a’ of the supporters of the home team. Then, not to be outdone, a Hiar- vard man wonld rise on the north side his eyes flaming with enthusiasm, and call for ‘three long MHarvards and three times three, whereupon’ the crowd of sympathizers, conducted by the waving arms of the first enthu- siast, would roar out in a magnifi- cently timed unison, their ‘Har-vard, Har-vard, Har-vard Rah-rah-rah, Rah-rah-rah, Rah-rah-rah, Har-vard.’ These ‘rah-rah-rahs’ make a mar- vellous sound when given with the full power of hundreds of strong young voices. It is as if some gigantic Super-canine dog had set himself to out-bark all other dogs—and had suc- ceeded in doing it. This happened, not once or twice, but hundreds and hundreds of times.” ——— 9 e -—__- A Biblical Club Formed. Through the efforts of Professor Sanders and other members of the Faculty the Biblical Club has'- been formed. The idea of the Club is to furnish an opportunity to its mem- bers for the study of all matters of biblical research which are not brought in the range of ordinary courses offered by the University. The Biblical Club is really the out- growth of the Semitic Club which was organized in 1887 under the direction of Professor Harper. The Semitic Club is still in existence and consists of twelve members, but as its work is strictly technical and, as such, can only be appreciated by instructors and graduate students. The idea was sug- gested of forming an organization to take up work from which a greater humber of men could derive benefit and which should be controlled by undergraduates. A definite form of study has been marked out and a printed programme announces the subjects of the papers Which will be read by members of the club at each of the proposed eight meetings, of the year. The general Subject of the year’s work will be, “Jewish-Christian Apocryphal Pseudepigraphic Literature.’’ So far one meeting has been held with an attendance of sixty members, including men from the two upper classes of the College, graduate stu- dents and members of the Theological School. The following officers have been elected: President, W. H. Sall- mon; Secretary, J. S. Rogers, ’98; Ex- ecutive Committee, the officers and Rev. F. G. Marble, P. G.; H. F. Rall, 97 T. S., and A. B. Keeler, ’97. The members of the Faculty interested are: Prof. Sanders, Prof. Curtis, Prof. Porter, Prof. Bacon, Dr. Creelman and Mr. Dunning. and ———_~+~@—___ Gift to Law School Library. Roger Foster, ’78, who is Special- lec- turer on Federal Jurisprudence in the Law School, has presented a collec- tion of over one hundred volumes to the Law School library. The collec- ition of American impeachment trials, comprising about forty volumes, and which is one of the most complete in existence, forms a portion of this gift. These volumes, with those already Owned by the library, will make an almost complete collection. Mr. Fos- ter made use of this collection in pre- paring the first volume of his **Com- mentaries on the Constitution of the United States,” which was published last year, and which has had a wide sale throughout the United States. In addition to works on American im- peachment trials, the gift includes a nearly complete set of English Chan- cery Reports, which will form the nv- cleus of a duplicate set of English Reports now being collected by the Law School. —————eo—___ Captain James S. Pettit, of the ist Infantry, U. S. A., for four years pre- vious to last June, professor of Mili- tary Science at Yale, has been award- €d the priz2—$100 and a gold medal— annually offered by the United Ser- vice Magazine for the best essay on military topics. The contest is open to officers in the regular army and the National guard.
