Syracuse Chess Club, 1858 (Onondaga)

R:
2 problems (1 pr.)

Restricted to composers in western and central New York.
 
J:
G. N. Cheney, S. Loyd, J. Gardner
 
C:
1858-10-01
 
A:
pr
W. H. Atkins (see notes)
 
S:
Syracuse Standard:
1858-08-21: announcement.
1858-10-21: report, and first problem in winning set (nr. 55)
1858-10-28: second problem in winning set (nr 56).
 
Scientific American Supplement:
1878-06-29: Doubts on identity of W. H. Atkins by Loyd.
 
N:
22 problems were entered, of these 19 were correct, and (according to S. Loyd in the report) all worthy of Honorable Mention. (No actual mention is available in the preserved sources, except for the set judged to be the second best.)

The dates relating to Syracuse Standard are primarily based on sources from the Chess Archaeology site. A second source is available in Miron Hazeltine’s Scrap-Book, vol. 30, p. 62-63, but dates for these clippings are not completely certain, as they have been added by hand.

In 1878, S. Loyd notes some particulars of this tourney in his column in Scientific American Supplement among which is the following note:

The prize was awarded to W. H. Atkins of Syracuse [...], but we wish to state that we have grave doubts as to the genuineness of the name. Mr. Atkins we were informed had hitherto contributed his problems under the assumed name of H. S. Lover (a chess lover), but a search through the pages of the Chess Nuts fails to find either of these names, nor have we yet discovered the true authorship of the problems.
The three-mover appears in American Chess Nuts (146) but is there attributed to Cheney.

Awards

Prize: W. H. Atkins

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