Harry Nelson Pillsbury
Harry Nelson Pillsbury
Harry Nelson Pillsbury
by Bill Wall
Harry grew up on
Sargent Avenue on the
edge of Winter Hill in
Somerville.
He learned chess on
Thanksgiving Day in
1888 at the age of 15.
Harry enrolled in the
Somerville high school
to prepare for Harvard,
but the death of his
mother on November
20, 1888, forced his
withdrawal from school.
After the death of his
mother, Harry was
encouraged by his
family to study chess in
the hopes that it would
ease the loss.
In 1889 he was a
member of the
Somerville Chess and
Checker Club. His first
chess teacher was
Addison Smith, a
member of the Boston
Chess Club who lived in
Somerville.
In 1890 he was a
member of the
Deschapelles Chess
Club in Boston (founded
in January, 1889). That
club later folded and he
joined another Boston
chess club. Pillsbury
received chess lessons
from Jonathan Hall, a
noted Boston
problemist, and Henry
Nathan Stone (1823-
1909), a veteran
Baltimore expert.
In 1891, Pillsbury
defeated Constant
Ferdinand Burille (1866-
1914) of Boston in a
match.
As a youth he went to
Boston and spent much
of his time playing
chess. By the end of
1892 he was the best
player in Boston and
was called the "Boston
Wonder."
In March-April 1892,
Pillsbury defeated John
Finan Barry (1873-
1940), the strongest
player in New England
at the time, scoring 5
wins, 4 losses, and 1
draw.
In April, 1892, he
played a match against
world champion
Wilhelm (William)
Steinitz in Boston.
Steinitz gave Pillsbury
pawn and move.
Pillsbury won two
games and lost one.
Steinitz then played 21
members of the Boston
Chess Club
simultaneously. He won
18, lost 2, and drew 1.
His losses were to
Pillsbury and C.B.
Snow.
In November 1892, he
defeated E. L. Dresel
with 4 wins and 1 loss.
The games were played
at the Boston Chess
Club.
In November 1892,
Pillsbury played 8
members of the Boston
Chess Club blindfolded,
winning 7. He then
visited the Harvard
Chess Club and played 8
blindfold games,
winning 3, losing 3, and
drawing 2.
In December 1892, he
played 8 players at the
Boston Press Club,
winning 7 and losing 1.
In September-October,
1893, he played in the
first Masters'
Tournament in New
York. He took 7th place
with 7 wins and 6 losses
(won by Emanuel
Lasker with a perfect
13-0 score). One of his
wins was against U.S.
Champion Jackson
Whipps Showalter
(1860-1935) who tied
for 3rd place.
In January 1894,
Pillsbury gave a 10-
board simultaneous
checkers exhibition and
a 10-board simultaneous
chess exhibition at the
same time at the
Brooklyn YMCA. The
boards were alternately
arranged so that a game
of chess was followed
by one of checkers. In
chess, he won 6 and
drew 4. In checkers, he
won 1, lost 2, and drew
7 games. The next
evening, Pillsbury gave
an 8-board simultaneous
blindfold exhibition at
the Brooklyn Chess
Club. He won 5, lost 1,
and drew 2. (source:
Brooklyn Daily Eagle,
Jan 10, 1894)
In March 1894,
Pillsbury played board 1
for the Brooklyn CC
against Jackson
Showalter of the
Manhattan CC.
Showalter won his game
against Pillsbury, but the
Brooklyn CC defeated
the Manhattan CC
across the 12 boards that
were played. Brooklyn
won 6 games, lost 2, and
drew 3.
In March-June 1894,
Pillsbury reported for
the press in the Steinitz-
Lasker world
championship match. In
Montreal, while
covering the Steinitz-
Lasker match, he gave a
10-board blindfold
simultaneous exhibition,
winning 9 games and
losing 1 game.
In October-November
1894, Pillsbury played
in the second masters
chess tournament at the
Union Square Hotel,
New York, sponsored by
the City Chess Club.
The event was won by
William Steinitz (1st
prize was $125), who
had not played in a
chess tournament since
1883. Pillsbury tied for
5th-6th place and out of
the prize money.
In August-September,
1895, he played at the
Brassery's Institute in
Hastings and won the
event at the age of 22.
He won 15 games, drew
3 and lost 3. After losing
to Chigorin in round 1,
he won 9 games in a
row. At the time, no
player had ever won
their first major
tournament the first time
playing it. He finished
ahead of reigning world
champion Emanuel
Lasker, former world
champion William
Steinitz, and world chess
challengers Mikhail
Chigorin, Isidor
Gunsberg, Siegbert
Tarrasch, Carl
Schlechter, and Dawid
Janowski. First place for
Pillsbury was $1,000
(about $26,000 in
today's currency).
On September 5, 1895,
Pillsbury was at the
London Metropolitan
Club and gave a
simultaneous exhibition
with 15 women, giving
all of them odds of a
knight. Pillsbury won 11
games, lost 2 games,
drew 1 game, and one
game was unfinished.
(source: Brooklyn Daily
Eagle, Sep 6, 1895)
In Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, the
Milwaukee Chess Club
was reorganized and
named their new chess
club after Pillsbury. A
huge national
correspondence chess
club was formed and
named after him.
Pillsbury traveled to
Russia in December
1895, to play in the St.
Petersburg match-
tournament, a six-round
round-robin tournament.
He arrived in St.
Petersburg on December
6, 1895, a week before
that start of the
tournament. During this
time in Russia, he may
have contracted syphilis
from a prostitute just
before the tournament,
which was scandalous at
the time and not very
curable. Pillsbury not
only had to prepare for
each world class
opponent, but he had to
send back to the USA
journalistic reports of
the event. These reports
were expected in return
for financial patronage.
In December 1895 to
January 1896, Pillsbury
took 3rd place at St.
Petersburg in a four-
master match
tournament (Lasker,
Chigorin, Steinitz,
Pillsbury). They played
6 games against each
other. Pillsbury was in
the lead in the first half
of the tournament
(Pillsbury had 6.5 points
out of 9. Lasker had 5.5
points, Steinitz had 4.5
points, and Chigorin had
1.5 points), but then was
affected by severe
headaches, sleeplessness
and neurosis. He only
scored 1.5 points out of
9 in the second half of
the tournament. He
defeated Lasker twice
and Chigorin 3 times,
but lost to Steinitz 4
times, with 2 draws.
Pillsbury finished in 3rd
place with 8 points out
of 18. Lasker won the
event with 11.5 points.
Steinitz had 9.5 points
and Chigorin had 7
points. The St.
Petersburg event was the
first super-elite
competition in history. It
was a prototype of the
world championship
match-tournament of
1948.
In March 1896,
Pillsbury played board 1
in the USA vs. Great
Britain cable match for
the Newnes Trophy, but
lost to Blackburne. The
USA team won by the
score of 4.5 to 3.5.
On July 1, 1896,
Pillsbury resigned from
the Manhattan Chess
Club following the
Club's refusal to
discipline a member
who had taken
Pillsbury's umbrella.
Pillsbury did not return
to the Manhattan Chess
Club until the summer
of 1904.
In July-August 1896,
Pillsbury shared 3rd
place with Siegbert
Tarrasch at Nuremberg.
First and second place
went to Lasker and
Maroczy. Pillsbury
defeated three of the
greatest players in the
world in succession,
Lasker, Tarrasch, and
Chigorin in the 8th, 9th,
and 10th round. He also
defeated Steinitz in the
19th round. Pillsbury
was awarded the
brilliancy prize (300
marks) donated by
Baron Albert de
Rothschild, for his win
against Lasker. Pillsbury
was in ill health during
this tournament, being
under medical treatment
the whole time.
In 1896, Pillsbury
played Berthold
Englisch in a match in
Vienna. The match was
drawn after 5 draws.
In October 1896, he
took 3rd place at
Budapest, behind
Chigorin and
Charousek.
In February 1897,
Pillsbury played board 1
in the 2nd USA vs Great
Britain cable match. He
drew his game with
Blackburne.
In 1897, Pillsbury
played 30 chess players
and 6 checkers players
simultaneously. He won
27 games of chess, drew
3 games of chess, won 4
games of checkers, drew
1 and lost one game of
checkers in this
exhibition. Pillsbury
said the hardest part of a
blindfold performance
was not to mix up the
games.
On June 6, 1897,
Pillsbury played 8
games blindfolded
simultaneously at the
Brooklyn Chess Club,
winning 6 and drawing
2. One of his opponents
was Frank Marshall,
which Pillsbury won.
In August 1897,
Pillsbury played board 1
for New York against
Pennsylvania, winning 6
and drawing 1 game, for
the best score in the
match.
In February-April 1898,
Pillsbury defeated
Showalter again, with 7
wins, 3 losses, and 2
draws. This time it was
an official US
Championship match.
Pillsbury held the U.S.
championship title until
his death in 1906.
In March 1898,
Pillsbury played board 1
for the USA in the 3
cable match with Great
Britain. He drew his
game with Blackburne.
In May-June, 1898,
Pillsbury tied for 1st
place with Tarrasch at
Vienna (the Kaiser
Jubilee). This
tournament was in honor
of Emperor Francis
Joseph. It was a two-
round tourney of 19
players, where every
player had to play 37
games. Tarrasch won the
play-off with 2 wins, 1
draw, and one loss,
earning 6,000 Kronen.
Pillsbury's prize was
4,000 Kronen. Pillsbury
returned to the United
States is August.
In August 1898, he
moved to Philadelphia
and began giving
simultaneous blindfold
exhibitions more often.
He claimed that he
solved his insomnia
problem when playing
blindfold games by
concentrating on having
a good meal, or playing
cards, or other
recreation. He also
studied various
mnemonic techniques
for playing blindfold
chess and memorizing
long lists of difficult
words. Pillsbury smoked
Havana cigars and
sometimes drank alcohol
(usually whiskey) while
giving his exhibitions.
In 1899, Pillsbury
defeated Max Judd in a
match with 4 wins and 1
loss, held in St. Louis.
In March 1899,
Pillsbury played board 1
on the USA team against
Great Britain in the 4th
cable match. He lost to
Blackburne. The USA
team won the match, 6
to 4. Pillsbury was the
only American to lose a
game.
In May-August 1899, he
tied for 2nd place with
Maroczy and Janowski
at London. Emanuel
Lasker won the event.
On October 7, 1899,
Pillsbury began his
chess tour at the
Franklin Chess Club in
Philadelphia. He gave a
simultaneous exhibition
of 18 boards, winning
15, losing 2, and
drawing 1.
In March 1900,
Pillsbury played board 1
for the USA team in
their 5th cable match
with Great Britain. He
drew with Blackburne.
The USA won the
match. Scoring 6 to 4,
and secured permanent
possession of the
Newnes Trophy.
In May-June 1900, he
took 2nd at Paris
(behind Lasker).
In July-August 1900, he
tied for 1st at Munich
with Schlechter and
Maroczy. Maroczy
dropped out of the
tiebreak games due to
illness. Pillsbury tied
with Schlechter in the
play-off match with 1
win, 1 loss, and 2
draws.
In 1900, Pillsbury
played 16 members of
the Columbia College
Chess Club blindfolded,
winning 14 after 7 hours
and 30 minutes. He
remembered nearly
1,000 moves without
making an error. James
Cattell, professor of
psychology at
Columbia, tested
Pillsbury's mental
powers and compared
them to the average
Columbia student. His
tests showed that, with
the exception of chess,
Pillsbury's mental
development was not
abnormal.
On January 17,1901, in
Chicago, Pillsbury
married Mary Ellen
Bush of Monticello,
New York (some
sources say
Philadelphia). She was
the daughter of Judge
Albert J. Bush of
Sullivan County in New
York. They had no
children.
In September 1901,
Pillsbury announced that
he was retiring from
chess in 18 months to
practice law in
Philadelphia. Pillsbury
challenged Lasker one
final match for the chess
championship of the
world.
In 1901/1902 he again
toured the US. In one
16-game blindfold
exhibition in Buffalo, he
successfully announced
a mate in 8 moves
against one opponent.
Pillsbury often
performed the knight's
tour blindfolded. In
Toledo, he played 12
games of chess and 4
games of checkers
blindfolded, while
simultaneously playing a
duplicate whist card
game. He could take out
a shuffled deck of cards,
look at it once, and
remember every card in
order.
In January-March 1902,
he took 2nd at Monte
Carlo, 1/4th point
behind Maroczy. Initial
games were 1/4th point
when drawn.
In 1902, Pillsbury
played Board 1 for the
USA team in the 7th
cable match with Great
Britain. He drew against
Thomas Lawrence.
Pillsbury was in London
at the time and played
his game over-the-board
instead of by cable.
In March-May, 1902, he
toured Great Britain,
giving exhibitions.
In July-August 1902, he
took 2nd at Hanover,
behind Janowski.
Pillsbury won 11 games
and lost 5 games.
On August 2, 1902 in
Hanover (a rest day
from the main
tournament), Pillsbury
broke a new world
record by playing 21
chess players
blindfolded
simultaneously. He only
won 3, drew 11, and lost
7, but against very
strong opposition after
11 hours and 30
minutes. All players
were expert (18 players)
or master strength (3
players, including future
GM Ossip Bernstein).
His opposition is
considered to be the
strongest ever
encountered by a
blindfold simultaneous
player.
In December 1902, in
Moscow, Pillsbury again
broke the world record
and played 22 players
blindfolded
simultaneously. The
exhibition lasted 10
hours. He won 17, lost
1, and drew 4.
According to Alexander
Alekhine, one of the
Moscow players was
Alexei Alekhine, his
older brother. Alexei
supposedly drew with
Pillsbury, but there is no
evidence that Pillsbury
played either Alekhine.
At the time, Alexander
Alekhine, who watched
the exhibition, was 10
year old, and the
blindfold exhibition
motivated Alekhine to
also try to play blindfold
simultaneous chess.
In February-March,
1903, he took 3rd at
Monte Carlo, behind
Tarrasch and Maroczy.
In January 1904,
Pillsbury played 16
members of the New
York Athletic Club
blindfolded. There were
at least 300 spectators at
the event. He won 10
and drew 6.
After Cambridge
Springs, he played only
2 more serious games in
the annual matches
between the Franklin
and Manhattan Chess
Clubs. He had given up
blindfold chess and was
arranging for an
exhibition of chess and
checkers at the Boston
Chess Club.
On March 1, 1905, he
was taken to a hospital
and attempted to throw
himself out the window.
On March 7, 1905, he
suffered a stroke.
On November 8, 1905
he and his wife went to
Bermuda in an attempt
to improve his failing
health. He did not play
any chess and devoted
his time to outdoor life.
While in Bermuda, he
suffered his 2nd stroke.
He described his pains
as similar to those he
suffered in Nuremberg
in 1896.
He returned home to
Philadelphia in January,
1906 and was seen by
Dr. Charles K. Mills, a
noted specialist on the
subject of paresis. He
told the public that
Pillsbury had a
breakdown due to
irregularity in time of
eating and sleeping,
neglect of exercise, and
excessive smoking.
Pillsbury is buried in
their family plot in
Laurel Hill Cemetery,
Reading, Massachusetts.
The inscription on his
grave says Harry Nelson
Pillsbury, Dec 5 1872 —
June 17 1906, U. S.
Chess Champion 1897
— 1906, Winner of the
1895 Hastings
Tournament.
In 1906, Emanuel
Lasker wrote the
following about
Pillsbury, which
appeared in the New
York Times:
"Pillsbury, the American
chess champion, died
last Sunday (June 17,
1906). The cause of his
premature departure was
a stroke of apoplexy.
The mechanism of his
brain had become
defective. With the
examples of Morphy
and Steinitz in their
minds, many writers
have commented on the
tendency of famous
chess players to insanity.
A general belief has
consequently been
engendered that chess
playing, or any very
intensive purely mental
occupation disorganizes
the intellect. But this
belief is entirely
unfounded. It is in the
highest degree
mischievous.
Physiologically it is
clear why the man who
cares most for the
development of his
physique and the senses
should suffer. He puts a
load on the heart that the
brain is not allowed to
share. Thus both organs
deteriorate, the one from
overexertion, the other
one from lack of use.
Pillsbury's case is
different. He died from
an illness, contracted
through overexertion of
his memory cells. But
chess has only very
indirectly to do with
that. Memory has the
least value for a chess
player who in its stead
has to make use of
invention, original
thinking, and logic.
Only in blindfold chess
does memory find a
place. Unfortunately
Pillsbury made it his
business to give
blindfolded
performances. The chess
clubs made him play as
many games as he
possible could stand.
During the trying hours
of his exhibitions, in
which he often gave also
feats of memory and
played checkers and
whist, Pillsbury would
smoke and partake of
whisky. Thus little by
little his health was
undermined. Many
friends, seeing him lose
in strength, warned him
of the peril. But the
chess world is
wretchedly organized,
and much as it owed to
Pillsbury it never
allowed him a living
except on condition that
he gave his exhibitions.
So the vicious circle was
complete, and now we
stand mourning at his
grave.
In life scores, Pillsbury
beat Schlechter (+8=9-
2), Janowski (+6=2-4),
and Maroczy (+4=7-3).
He was even with
Lasker (+5=4-5),
Steinitz (+5=3-5), and
Tarrasch (+5=2-5). He
lost to Chigorin (+7=6-
8) and Blackburne
(+3=4-5).
He played over a
thousand blindfold
games around the world
in more than 70
displays.
References:
Bachmann, Pillsbury
und Charousek, 1914
Bachmann,
Schachmeister Pillsbury,
1908 and 1930
ChessBase, Harry
Nelson Pillsbury, the
American tragedy,
ChessBase online, Jun
17, 2006
Cherniaev, Harry
Nelson Pillsbury: A
Genius Ahead of His
Time, 2006
Cherniaev, Uroki
Pillsbury
Henrici, Harry Nelson
Pillsbury. 200 partier
Kasparov, My Great
Predecessors, Vol 1, pp.
126-138
Long, Harry Nelson
Pilsbury, The Fencer,
2011
Mansurov, Sled
meteora, 1966 and 2016
Moran, Pillsbury, el
genio del ataque, 1973
Petrovic, Harry Nelson
Pillsbury, 1971
Pickard, Hastings 1895:
The Centennial Edition
Pope, Harry Nelson
Pillsbury American
Chess Champion, 1996
Ramirez, Pillsbury
lecture on YouTube
Sergeant and Watts,
Pillsbury's Chess Career,
1923
Smith and Soltis,
Pillsbury the
Extraordinary, 1990
Wenman, Great
American Chess-
Players, II. H.N.
Pillsbury
Winter, Pillsbury's
Torment, 2002 and 2005
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