London (1892) – BCA — a first (and last) look

London (1892) –  7th BCA Congress

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12-player RR⁽¹⁾     March 7th – March 18th, 1892     at the rooms of the British Chess Club,
                                                                                             King Street, Covent Garden, London ENG.

Time Control⁽²⁾:    20 moves/hour, sealed envelope adjournments.  

Playing sessions⁽³⁾:   1 game/day,   2:00 – 6:00 pm and 8:00-11:00 pm sessions. 
                                                                 Adjournment play done as play allowed.

Entrance Fee⁽⁴⁾:   £2 / £2  deposit.    

Prizes:   £30, 20, 10, 5  (plus fees awarded to non-prize winners via S-B score)

Prize Winners:    Lasker, Mason, Loman, ( Bird,  Locock ) 

Special Prizes⁽⁵⁾:  2 guineas  for brilliancy     <1892.03.15   A03  49     (R8)  0-1   Bird — Lee>

Links:   PGN,  Wikipedia,   EDO chess,   CG Bistro – re: Gillam⁽⁶⁾,   Game schedule,  O’Keefe,

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   (1)  There is no “official” tournament book for London – BCA (1892). Various contemporaneous sources (BCM, CPC, DSZ)    
         and O’Keefe (i.e. contemporaneous newspaper) sources were used.   
   (2)  DSZ v47 N4 (Apr 1892) p126-127, also see Gillam.  We are assuming sealed envelope adjournments are now standard.
   (3)  Ibid.
   (4)  BCM v12 n135 Mar 1892.
   (5)  Prize offered by “Scholastic  Globe“.
   (6)  Some information originally provided by Gillam is discussed. Here is a link to a vendor of Gillam’s book – link. 
   

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From BCM v12 (Apr 1892) p148 comes this RR xtab, sorted by standing:

 

Here is the Z-base version for comparison:

Here are the SCID versions, sorted alphabetically, and then a Swiss xtab, sorted by standing:

RR:

London - BCA (1892)
London ENG, 1892.03.07 - 1892.03.18
                            Age Nat    Score     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1: Bird, Henry Edward       61 ENG   6.5 / 11   X 1 = 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0  (+6 -4 =1)
 2: Fenton, Richard          55 ENG   5.5 / 11   0 X 1 1 0 = 0 = = = 1 =  (+3 -3 =5)
 3: Gossip, George Hatfeild  50 ENG   2.5 / 11   = 0 X 0 0 1 0 0 0 = 0 =  (+1 -7 =3)
 4: Jasnogrodsky, Nicolai    32 USA   5.0 / 11   0 0 1 X 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1  (+5 -6 =0)
 5: Lasker, Emanuel          23 GER   9.0 / 11   0 1 1 1 X 1 = 1 1 = 1 1  (+8 -1 =2)
 6: Lee, Francis Joseph      35 ENG   5.5 / 11   1 = 0 0 0 X = 1 = 1 0 1  (+4 -4 =3)
 7: Locock, Charles Dealtry           6.5 / 11   0 1 1 0 = = X = = 1 1 =  (+4 -2 =5)
 8: Loman, Rudolf Johannes   30 NED   7.0 / 11   1 = 1 1 0 0 = X 0 1 1 1  (+6 -3 =2)
 9: Mason, James             42 ENG   7.5 / 11   1 = 1 1 0 = = 1 X 0 1 1  (+6 -2 =3)
10: Mortimer, James          58 USA   3.5 / 11   0 = = 1 = 0 0 0 1 X 0 0  (+2 -6 =3)
11: Rumboll, Alfred                   3.0 / 11   0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 X 0  (+3 -8 =0)
12: Van Vliet, Louis         24 ENG   4.5 / 11   1 = = 0 0 0 = 0 0 1 1 X  (+3 -5 =3)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
66 games: +32 =15 -19

Swiss:

London - BCA (1892)
London ENG, 1892.03.07 - 1892.03.18
                            Age Nat    Score       1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10   11 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1: Lasker, Emanuel          23 GER   9.0 / 11    3w+  4b-  2w+  6w+  9b+  8b+ 10w= 11w+ 12b+  7b+  5w=  (+8 -1 =2)
 2: Mason, James             42 ENG   7.5 / 11    8b+ 12b+  1b-  7w=  4w+ 11w+  6b=  5b=  9w+  3w+ 10w-  (+6 -2 =3)
 3: Loman, Rudolf Johannes   30 NED   7.0 / 11    1b-  8b+  6b- 12b+  7w=  4w+  5b= 10w+ 11w+  2b-  9w+  (+6 -3 =2)
 4: Bird, Henry Edward       61 ENG   6.5 / 11    9b-  1w+  5w+ 10b+  2b-  3b-  7w+  6w-  8w+ 11b+ 12w=  (+6 -4 =1)
 5: Locock, Charles Dealtry           6.5 / 11    6w= 11w+  4b-  8b- 12w+  7b+  3w=  2w= 10w+  9w=  1b=  (+4 -2 =5)
 6: Lee, Francis Joseph      35 ENG   5.5 / 11    5b=  9w+  3w+  1b-  8b- 12b-  2w=  4b+  7b= 10w+ 11w-  (+4 -4 =3)
 7: Fenton, Richard          55 ENG   5.5 / 11   11b+ 10b=  9b=  2b=  3b=  5w-  4b- 12w+  6w=  1w-  8w+  (+3 -3 =5)
 8: Jasnogrodsky, Nicolai    32 USA   5.0 / 11    2w-  3w- 10b-  5w+  6w+  1w- 11b+  9w+  4b- 12b+  7b-  (+5 -6 =0)
 9: Van Vliet, Louis         24 ENG   4.5 / 11    4w+  6b-  7w= 11b+  1w- 10b+ 12w=  8b-  2b-  5b=  3b-  (+3 -5 =3)
10: Mortimer, James          58 USA   3.5 / 11   12w=  7w=  8w+  4w- 11b-  9w-  1b=  3b-  5b-  6b-  2b+  (+2 -6 =3)
11: Rumboll, Alfred                   3.0 / 11    7w-  5b- 12w+  9w- 10w+  2b-  8w-  1b-  3b-  4w-  6b+  (+3 -8 =0)
12: Gossip, George Hatfeild  50 ENG   2.5 / 11   10b=  2w- 11b-  3w-  5b-  6w+  9b=  7b-  1w-  8w-  4b=  (+1 -7 =3)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
66 games: +32 =15 -19

If you reached this far, then you might just be interested in the “(and last)” parenthetical in the title. I’ve done almost 50 of the earliest international tournaments following Reichhelm’s “Fifty Tournaments”. During this survey, the BCA organization has played a major part in the shaping of play, working out the hiccups of the various experimental formats and rules adopted in the earliest days of play, until this version, run under essentially modern rules of play. So, it’s with a certain measure of sadness that I have to acknowledge this as the last major tournament organized and sponsored by the BCA. In fact, the organization was to disband before the year was out.
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