Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-11-29
CHAMPION PILLSBURY
Defeated Chess end Checker Experts
of This City Yesterday, Playing for
the Most Part Blindfolded.


of This City Yesterday, Playing for
the Most Part Blindfolded.
Chess and checker champion, Harry
n. Pillsbury, played at two settings
yesterday afternoon and evening at
2 Odd Fellows hall. Part of the play
was fblindfold" The champion sat
with his back to his opponents, his
legs crossed with one foot resting on
i the round of a chair in front of him.
All the time he smoked incessently and
for the most part kept his gaze fixed
upon small statuette of General Grant,
which rested on niche in the wall.
In the afternoon Mr.. Pillsbury gave
an exhibition Of his famous blind
fold play, engaging seven chess play
ers and two checker players simultan-
eously. In this manner he defeated at
chess Rev. C. B. Austin Judge 7. J..
Hugus, Prof. C. z. Citizens, A. w.
PAUL, ]. w. Ewing and j. c.. Percy
and drew with Irwin PAUL, the latter
being the only player who won from
Mr.. Pillsbury in the open play at the
exhibition given at the Carroll Club
last year. Mr.. Keyser won two games
of checkers during that play and lost
one, and Mr.. Detwiler lost two games.
In these ''blindfold" exhibitions Mr.
Pillsbury has played as high as TWEEN
ty games of chess, rarely suffering a
defeat.
At the evening performance the fol-
lowing gentlemen played against the
champion at chess: Messrs. Samuel
Matthews, j. w. Ewing, d. 3. McCuRe.
c. e. Citizens, j, C. Percy, Irwin PAUL,
H. P. McCrea, John Paul and Fred w.
Colmar; and at checkers, George Key
ser, William Detwiler and w e. Dam
ford, the latter OF Bellaire, o.
Mr.. Pillsbury began the evening play
"blindfold" playing as many as twenty
TO thirty moves in this manner, but
in order to enable him to finish in time
for his train, the games were complet-
ed over the boards. Before beginning
the open play, however, in order to
demonstrate to those present that he
held in his memory the exact position
of every piece upon every board, he
called off the positions on single boards
selected by the players at random, and
without making a single mistake. This
performance won him liberal applause
The result OF the evening plays was
victory for the champion against all
ine chess players, excepting two draw
games, one with Mr.. Irwin PAUL and
one with Mr.. j. C. Percy-the latter
of Parkersburg. The champion had no
lost games of checkers during the eve
ming. but four drawn games were scor-
ed against him.
Among the spectators We're Col. Rob
ert Waite, Dr. Frank j. Lemoyne hupp,
DR. Andrew Wilson, Jacob ". Grub,
DR. F. NJ. Young E. e. Boyd and many
others who manifested the greatest in
terest in the remarkable performance.
1t was a great treat for the chess and
checker players of this vicinity, many
of those who participated keeping COM
plete records of the games plavad fo~
the purpose of analyzing them in their
leisure moments, and thus improving
their style of play.
1t is the hope of every one inter
ested that this will not be the cham
pion's last visit at Wheeling.
Mr.. Pillsbury left last night at 1l:40
for Cincinnati, where ais next exhi-
bition takes place tomorrow. He will
be one o. the players in the interna-
tional chess tournament to be held at
Vienna in March of next year, when ali
the chess-masters of the world will
participate.
sonality; talks entertainingly; has a
fine sense of Aumor, and smokes inces-
sently during his exhibition He is a
tireless player, and derives the greatest
pleasure from the game