Brentano’s Chess Monthly, 1882

single #4 (6 pr.)

single #3 (6 pr.)

Each composer could compete in either or both sections, but only with one problem per section. Joint compositions were disallowed. Usual motto and sealed envelope required. Each problem required its own motto.

Preliminary judges: the editor(s) of Brentano’s Chess Monthly. (see notes)
Final judges: G. E. Carpenter, P. Richardson, C. E. Dennis

The preliminary judge(s) examined problems for correctness, and selected the 12 best problems in each section (see notes). The final judges independently scored each of the selected problems for: Difficulty: 15; Originality of idea: 15; Beauty: 15; Economy: 10; Correctness: 5. The editor(s) awarded prizes according to the sum of points each problem received.

1882-02-01 (US) / 1882-02-15 (trans-oceanic countries)

A: #4	1 pr.	J. Dobrusky (Motto: Fen se mñe má mila dobrey chorej; see notes)
	2 pr.	F. Schrüfer (Fiducia; see notes)
	3 pr.	J. W. Abbott (Random Shaft)
	4 pr.	F. Schindler (Studio; see notes)
	5 pr.	M. Jordan (Labor of Love)
	6 pr.	R. Sahlberg (Vega)

B: #3	1 pr.	H. Leprettel (Lacambo)
	2 pr.	M. Ehrenstein (Perhaps)
	3 pr.	J. Obermann (The Far West)
	4 pr.	A. Kauders (Arethusa)
	5 pr.	A. F. Mackenzie (Plus on est de fous plus on rit)
	6 pr.	J. C. J. Wainwright (A Study in White and Black)

Brentano’s Chess Monthly

v. 1, i. 8 (Dec., 1881), p. 399–400: announcement

v. 1, i. 10 (Feb., 1882), p. 517: received problems

v. 1, i. 11 (Mar., 1882), p. 581: tourney closed, list of mottoes

v. 1, i. 12 (Dec., 1882) p. 628: report & awards for section A, list of names/mottos (#4)

v. 1, i. 12 (Dec., 1882), p. 640–643: #4 tourney problems, nrs. 1–23. (#4)

v. 2, i. 1 (June, 1882), p. 26: notes on numbering of tourney problems

v. 2, i. 1 (June, 1882), p. 27–30: report for section B, list of names/mottos, corrections to previous report (#4)

v. 2, i. 1 (June, 1882), p. 39–44: #3 tourney problems, nrs. 24–59.

v. 2, i. 2 (July, 1882), p. 82: final #4 awards (see notes)

The number of received problems was 105. 9 problems were dismissed for not following requirements (no sealed envelope, name and address on diagrams, more than one problem in one section, etc.).

Of the 48 remaining #4, 26 were found to be incorrect. Of the #3, 48 problems remained, after 12 were found to be unsound.

All later corrections to problems received were refused.

Received problems were copied by editor-in-chief before being passed to the problem editor for examination and selection. (The editor-in-chief is assumed not to have been involved in examination or selection, but no direct statement as to the roles of the editors has been found.) Selected problems were rearranged and renumbered, and copied to each of the three judges. Once the judges' adjudication was known, the problems were renumbered again to reflect their respective order of merit (#4: tourney problems 1-12; #3 tourney problems 24-35).

The awards remained open for 60 days for objections.

The motto for the 1st pr. #4 is as printed in the original source, but may be misprinted, as checks against Czech sources suggest that the word given as mñe should be mně.

The 2nd pr. #4 was originally awarded to J. G. Nix (motto: Rebus) but proved to be faulty. The award was reassigned to the next problem in the ranking list.

The final awards for #4 (see ref. above) assigned the 2nd pr. to F. Schindler and the 4th pr. to F. Schrüfer. This, however, is at odds with the information in the preliminary awards, as well as the revised awards when the original 2nd pr. proved to be faulty. As no correction of the judges’ scores or the preliminary awards has been found, the final award information is assumed to have confused these two prize-winners.

No direct awards for the #3 section appear to have been published. The preliminary awards can be inferred from the Grand Summary of the individual judge reports in the report for section B. The report does mention that the sixty days of public scrutiny started on June 1st, and would thus be presumed to end around August 1st, 1882, but the final issue of Brentano's Chess Monthly does not mention any final awards.

Brentano's Chess Monthly ceased publication with issue 3-4 of volume 2. At present, it is not known if and how the tourney was brought to a conclusion.

British Chess Magazine (v. 2, p. 351 (Oct., 1882)) notes that #3 6th pr. by Wainwright was cooked by an English solver, although it is not clear if this was reported within the appointed time for objections. The details of the fault were not specified.