The King of Clubs
Dubuque Chess Club has met for 150 years
By rebecca carton For the TH
The Dubuque Chess Club will celebrate 150 years of history this year.
The club was founded Jan. 5, 1858, by German immigrant Louis Paulsen and still is going strong today.
Earl Zismer, director of the Dubuque Chess Club since 1993, said Paulsen founded the club after immigrating to the U.S. and starting a business in Dubuque in 1854.
“Back at that time, he was rather famous in the area,” Zismer said of Paulsen. “He traveled to Chicago and St. Louis and played simultaneous blindfolded games against people.”
Zismer has been researching the history of the club since the 1980s; it has not always been easy.
“Unfortunately, through the years, the people who have been running the club haven’t kept records,” he said.
Zismer researched old newspaper articles, local libraries and had discussions with area chess experts and historians to learn the history.
According to Zismer’s research, Paulsen returned to Germany in 1860 to continue playing chess. Paulsen also was a part of the first American Chess Congress and played in the first nationwide chess tournament in 1857.
Zismer said Paulsen came in second to Paul Morphy from New Orleans, who was the “unofficial world champion.”
“Mr. Paulsen was his equal over the board,” he said. “In their head-to-head match, they actually tied.”
Afterward, both Morphy and Paulsen were invited to play chess in Europe. While in Europe, Paulsen played Wilhelm Steinitz, the first recognized World Chess Champion.
Zismer said that another club member, Professor O. A. Brownson, was “equally famous in the chess world” as Paulsen. Brownson came to Dubuque in 1860 and was the author of the Chess Journal, which Zismer reviewed at the Loras College Library 20 years ago.
“His Chess Journal was published in the U.S. in Dubuque and sent around the world,” he said.
Here is the full story.
Is this older than the Mechanics Intitute?
“Mr. Paulsen was his equal over the board,” he said. “In their head-to-head match, they actually tied.”
This is utter nonsense. First, they never played a match. Second, if the final round of the ACC could be construed as a match, then Morphy devastated Paulsen +5=2-1. Their total, including blindfold, is Morphy +7=3-1.