Adolf Albin in America

Adolf Albin, a Romanian-born chess master of German origins, was renowned for his originality and his eccentric and dashing playing style, aggressiveness and edgy character. Through previously unpublished data, tournament reports, newspaper articles and consultation games this work covers Albin’s brief but highly significant period spent in New York, 1893–1895, with details on his life and chess career.

Olimpiu G. Urcan is a Singapore-based chess historian. He contributes regularly to Edward Winter’s Chess Notes and is the author of several chess biographies published by McFarland.

Olimpiu G. Urcan
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 286
Bibliographic Info: 78 photos, 130 games, diagrams, tables, appendices, notes, bibliography, indexes
Copyright Date: 2014 [2008]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9569-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1713-8
Imprint: McFarland

Foreword by Neil Brennen      1

Introduction      3

PART I : ALBIN IN AMERICA      5

1. A Tale of Disenchantment: The Columbian Chess Congress, 1893      7

2. Sailing to America, July 1893      25

3. The Match with Albert B. Hodges, August 1893      36

4. The Impromptu International Tournament, September–October 1893      46

5. The City Chess Club Tournament, December 1893      67

6. The Match with Eugene Delmar, February 1894      77

7. The Staats-Zeitung Cup, August 1894      84

8. Another City Chess Club Tournament, October–November 1894      96

9. The Match with J.W. Showalter, September 1894      108

10. A Guest of Philadelphia, February 1895      119

11. Three Months in New Orleans, March–May 1895      129

12. Sailing Back to Europe, July 1895      138

PART II : THE CHESS GAMES*      145

Appendix A. Adolf Albin: Master of Opening Innovation      241

Appendix B. Albin’s Results in America, July 1893 to June 1895 (Crosstables)      264

Appendix C. Albin’s Lifetime Tournament and Match Record (Crosstables)      266

Selected Bibliography      269

Index of Players (to Part II Game Numbers)      271

Index of Supplementary Games and Positions      272

Index of Illustrations      273

Index of Openings      274

General Index      276

*Games numbered 120–130 are in Appendix A.

“this book is an interesting contribution to the life and work of A. Albin…you will get as usual, a magnificent technical layout by McFarland and so you will be holding a book which you should have in your library”—Quarterly for Chess History; “the vast majority of games and information in this book will be absolutely new and fresh to nearly every reader…depth of research is very impressive…a real treasure trove…one of the best chess books of the year”—Chess; “a very warm, engaging readable book, brimming with chess life”—Chessville.com; “a very interesting book…a very thorough and comprehensive work…with its plethora of line drawings and photos, and stories of other chess masters of that era, the book conveys the atmosphere of late 19th century chess in New York and elsewhere. An excellent work which we can highly recommend”—British Chess Magazine; “a real treasure trove…definitely one of the best chess books of the year…depth of research is very impressive”—Marsh Towers; “a sparkling book…well-researched”—The Washington Post; “The author has researched his subject thoroughly to produce a very fine work, in keeping with the high standards associated with McFarland Chess books.”—David G. Mills, Yorkshire Chess Association.