Prev | Current Page 271 | Next

Bird, H. E. (Henry Edward), 1830-1908

"Chess History and Reminiscences"

Steinitz.
Steinitz has perhaps been the subject of more jokes than any
other chess player. From the day when he first assumed the
responsibilities of chess editorship, and as some are wont to say
"kept watch over The Field Office lest it should disappear before
the morning," to the time when he unfortunately left us for
America he was nearly always a fertile theme of amusement with
the joke-loving members of the chess fraternity. We fancy we
see him now with pen behind the ear pacing up and down the
Divan rooms with horried start and whisper dread, saying, "O
have you seen my article! How many K's in occur? and is there
more than one H in editor?" He has improved since then and is
a match for Hoffer. The clocks (implements of torture I call
them) used for regulating the time consumed in chess matches
have led to several facetious stories at Steinitz's expense, some,
however, not too good natured. Still it was curious to see his
gymnastics, mental and physical, between observance of the chess
board and the time pieces on occasions when time run short and
indeed sometimes when it did not.
A game between Steinitz and Rosenthal in the London Criterion
Tournament of 1883 furnished an example which will doubtless
be familiarly remembered by those present.


Pages:
259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283