Overlooked U.S. stars
David R. Sands
Washington Times
July 7, 2007
Beside the brilliant achievements of such American greats as Morphy, Marshall, Pillsbury and Fischer, the records of some of the country’s lesser stars tend to be eclipsed. On this most patriotic of weeks, we offer a look at a couple of former U.S. champs that even aficionados may not immediately recognize.
George Henry Mackenzie, born in Scotland in 1834, was a full-time soldier before turning to chess full time in the 1860s. He served with the British army in India and in 1863 emigrated to the United States and rose to be a captain in the Union army.
He inherited the U.S. title when Morphy retired from competition in 1871, but justified the honor by dominating the American chess scene for the next 20 years, winning multiple American Chess Congress titles. He also enjoyed a fine international career, capped by a clear first in the 1887 5th German Championship in Frankfurt, besting a world-class field that included Blackburne, Zukertort, Paulsen and Tarrasch.
Little remembered today, Mackenzie is rated one of the half-dozen best players of his time in the “Oxford Companion to Chess.”
Here is the full article.
Thankyou so much for posting this. It is a very professional blog entry.
This case study is very educational and/or inspirational.
Several folks use the “Zukertort” handle on chess boards, and I did not make the connection to David Sands until I read this.