Chess in 1846
by Bill Wall
In 1846, figurine chess notation appeared for the first time.
In 1846, a chess club was organized in Baltimore.
In 1846, a 700 year old walrus ivory chess piece, a king on horseback, was found in the drainage channels at Salisbury, England, by the superintendent of drainage works. At the time, he was working on the installation of sewers and piped water throughout Salisbury. The chess piece was probably made in Germany or Scandinavia.
In 1846, a chess club was organized in Boston with over 40 members.
In 1846, the Quebec Chess Club defeated the Montreal Chess Club in a correspondence match.
In 1846, John Schulten defeated Charles Stanley, Secretary of the New York Chess Club, in New York. (11 wins, 7 losses, 4 draws)
In 1846, Charles Vezin defeated U.S. champion Charles Stanley in a correspondence game.
In 1846, Thassilo und der Lasa and Adolf Anderssen tied in a match in Breslau. Both won two games each.
In 1846, Elijah Williams defeated Hugh Kennedy and Daniel Harrwitz defeated George Walker in matches in London.
In 1846, Thassilo und der Lasa defeated Janos Loewenthal in a match in Vienna. Loewenthal then defeated Carl Hamppe in Vienna.
In 1846, Stanley published the first U.S. book on a chess match, Thirty-One Games at Chess, Comprising the Whole Number of Games Played in a Match Between Mr. Eugene Rousseau, of New Orleans, and Mr. C.H. Stanley, Secretary of the New York Chess Club. It is the rarest of US chess books.
In 1846, The Beauties of Chess, by Aaron Alexandre,was published in London. It was the first large compilation of problems. Its original title was Collection des plus beaux prolemes d’Echecs, published in Paris. The German edition, Praktische Sammlung bester Schachspiel-Probleme, was published in Leipzig.
In 1846 Mrs. Sarratt gave chess lessons to the aristocracy in Paris.
In 1846, Daniel Harrwitz defeated Bernhard Horwitz, 6.5 – 5.5 (6 wins, 1 draw, 5 losses), in London.
In 1846, Daniel Harrwitz defeated Elijah Williams, 4-1 (3 wins, 2 draws), in a match played at the London Chess Club.
In 1846, Carel Naret Oliphant founded one of the oldest chess clubs in The Netherlands, the Palamedes in Leiden.
In January 1846, after three years of play (beginning in November 1842), the city of Pesth (Budapest) defeated players from the Paris Cercle des Echecs chess club in two correspondence games.
On January 23, 1846, Hermann Clemenz was born in Dorpat (Tartu), Estonia (then Russian Empire). He was a chess master. His name is attached to the Clemenz Opening, 1.h3. He played this opening in St. Petersburg in 1873.
On January 28, 1846, an annual dinner of the Liverpool Chess Club (established in 1837) was held at the Adelphi Hotel. About 50 gentlemen were present. The dinner was chaired by Augustus Mongredien.
In May 1846, Howard Staunton defeated Bernard Horwitz of Germany, 15.5 – 8.5, in a match in London. The match was played at the London Chess Club. The match began on February 2, 1846.
On May 30, 1846, John Wisker was born in Kingston upon Hull, England. He was the first person to win the British championship twice in succession.
On July 1, 1846, the first German magazine was published by Dr. Ludwig Bledow. It is the oldest chess magazine still in existence. (Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft)
In 1846, Adolf Anderssen joined the editorial staff of Schachzeitung chess magazine.
On August 6, 1846, Ludwig E. Bledow, founder of the Pleiades, died in Berlin. He was born in 1795. He was a schoolmaster in the Berlin Gymnasium.
In August 1846, Lionel Kieseritzky defeated Berhard Horwitz (+7=1-4) at London.
On October 1, 1846, the first chess magazine in America, Chess Palladium & Mathematical Sphinx and Mathematical Sphinx, came out, published by Taylor and Company, Astor House. It was edited by Napoleon Marache & J. Victor Wilson of Brooklyn. Issue No. 1 came out in October, Issue No.2 came out in November (18 ¾ cents or $2 per year), and Issue 3 came out in December. The price started out at 12.5 cents per issue or $1 for 12 issues. No.1 contained a $5 prize problem. The magazine was advertised in the New York Tribune, September 2, 1846. The magazine only lasted three issues. A review by the New York Spirit of the Times called the first issue “a most ridiculous jumble of unintelligible nonsense” in which it was nearly impossible to distinguish the chess matter from the mathematical. The publication of this periodical led to contention between it and The American Chess Magazine. This caused The Palladium to fold after three issues.
In October 1846, The American Chess Magazine was published by Charles H. Stanley. It folded in September 1847.
In October 1846, Staunton defeated Harrwitz 7-0 in London.
In December 1846, a chess club was organized in Brooklyn and met at the Brooklyn Institute.
In December 1846, Howard Staunton completed his 7th volume of the Chess Player’s Chronicle. The bound volume for 1846 sold for 15 shillings.
In 1846, the strongest chess players in the world were Howard Staunton, Tassilo von der Lasa, Lionel Kieseritzky, Alexander Petrov, Wilhelm Hanstein, Alexandre Deschapelles, Pierre de Saint-Amant, Henry Buckle, and Bernhard Horwitz.