Evening Star Washington, District of Columbia Sunday, January 10, 1909 - Page 54 — Fine Chess Is Played By Locals — They Surprise Cuban Wizard. Leading Teams in Department Championship.
Jose R. Capablanca, the young Cuban chess wonder, paid a visit to the local headquarters and encountered twenty-three of the local experts in a simultaneous exhibition. The play resulted in eighteen wins for the single player, four losses and one draw. This is highly gratifying from the local point of view, inasmuch as Capablanca's previous exhibitions at this style of play showed him to be practically invincible. Prior to coming to Washington the young Cuban had given six performances, four of which were against the strongest clubs in the east, namely, the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Dice clubs of New York and the Franklin Club of Philadelphia. In all the six exhibitions referred to Capablanca only lost six games, an average of one to each club, and it may be mentioned that the number of boards encountered in each case was about twenty-five. The local winners may therefore be heartily congratulated on their skill. The four players who distinguished themselves by lowering the Cuban's colors were Messrs. Moorman, Pratt, Landry and Dr. Shade, while Boykin had the only drawn game of the evening.
Capablanca is without doubt the greatest rapid transit player before the public. On the present occasion he made his moves with marvelous rapidity, the entire seance only lasting three hours and a quarter. The total number of moves made would probably be something over 800, or an average of fully four a minute. When it is considered that the rate of moving in masters' tournaments in just the reverse of this, that is, four minutes to a move, which is sixteen times as slow, it is seen that the gait was of a sensational order. An interesting feature of the evening's play was the fact that the club champion, Vice President E. B. Adams, who was tricked in the opening, was the visitor's first victim, while Secretary Lavender, usually the fastest of players, was the very last to succumb to his powers.
It is interesting to know that the young Cuban expert is to be matched with F.J. Marshall, the acknowledged foremost American chess master, upon the latter's return from a successful European season. Capablanca has not yet shown us what his capabilities are in a match play against the recognized masters of the game. The result of his encounter with Marshall is therefore eagerly awaited by the entire chess world.
The results of the exhibition on each board, in order of play, was as follows:
Fine Chess Is Played By Locals - They Surprise Cuban Wizard. 10 Jan 1909, Sun Evening Star (Washington, District of Columbia) Newspapers.com