Talk:George Henry Mackenzie

World Champion

New International Encyclopedia states that he won the world championship at Frankfort in 1887, however, that may not have occurred. Beware. GhostofSuperslum 23:07, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

See: Wilhelm Steinitz (the "undisputed" world champion from 1886 to 1894).

The New International Encyclopedia (1905), Vol. XII, p. 628, entry on Mackenzie is fairly brief:

MACKENZIE, GEORGE HENRY (1837–91). An American chess-player, born in Scotland. He entered the English Army and served several years in India. Coming to America, he served in the Federal Army during the Civil War, rising to be captain. He first became known as a chess-player in 1862, when he won the first prize in the handicap at the international chess contest in London, Anderssen being his opponent. In 1865 he came to New York, where he wrote on chess matters for the Turf, Field, and Farm. He won the first prizes at the annual contests of the New York Chess Club in 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1868. He played in the international chess contests at New York, 1876; Paris, 1878, Vienna, 1882; London, 1883, Frankfort, 1887, where he won the championship of the world; and Manchester, England, 1890.

Most or all of this is in the article now. The world championship mention is odd, and certainly doesn't reflect any modern view. Quale (talk) 05:11, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

I looked through all of Edward Winters' archives about Mackenzie, and he mentions this in several chess notes, including this one. Basically, the entry above was written by George Alcock MacDonnell, and he was the only one who proclaimed Mackenzie "world champion" because of this victory. Who was GA MacDonnell? He was a man described by Wilhelm Steinitz as "one of my bitterest and most untruthful persecutors", who ALSO proclaimed Blackburne "world champion" in 1881 after the Englishman won a tournament in Berlin, AND Isidore Gunsberg a world champion in 1888 after he won at Bradford place. (Keep in mind Steinitz destroyed Blackburne 7-0 and had the best tournament record by far at the time, and would beat Gunsberg in 1890, too) All of this is mentioned in Steinitz's Wikipedia entry. Basically, it seems to me like GA MacDonnell simply hated Steinitz and took any opportunity to name a new "world champion" to discredit him. ChessPlayerLev (talk) 13:14, 28 August 2012 (UTC)

Merger tag

Obviously, merge them. Signature at the bottom of the portrait indicates that this article's spelling is correct. --Steven J. Anderson (talk) 03:47, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Grandmaster strength

Harry Golombek and Kevin O'Connell in Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess (1977), p. 291:

"... Captain MacKenzie who was an outstanding figure in nineteenth century chess was undoubtedly of grandmaster strength."

I haven't added it to the page because I'm not sure it would improve the article. Quale (talk) 07:00, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Me neither. Clearly, Mackenzie was a top player of his time, but his heyday was a good 70 years before the GM title was officially established. Does every world-class chessplayer who died before 1950 (when FIDE first gave out to the title, including in it older, retired players who deserved the honor) from La Bourdonnais onward need to have an awkward statement in their biography to the effect of "their world ranking would have been high enough to achieve the GM title were it around back then"? It's a meaningless hypothetical.

By the way, in terms of pure playing strength (not world ranking), Mackenzie was nowhere near GM strength by either 1950 or modern standards. He was, generously, a player of modern 2100-2200 Elo strength. That's not just my opinion (although my own rating is roughly the same, and I have looked at dozens of Mackenzie's games), but something that GM John Nunn writes extensively about in his book "John Nunn's Chess Puzzle Book" in the section called "The Test of Time". (By the way, I HIGHLY encourage anyone who is interested in chess to check that portion out. The great writer and chess critic IM John Watson has also praised Nunn's methodology and research)

Also on that note, I will soon replace the current Chessmetrics speculation about his hypothetical rating (which I hate as a source, and is riddled with flaws) with more of Mackenzie's actual tournament and match successes, and perhaps a game or two, including his famous queen sacrifice against Mason. ChessPlayerLev (talk) 19:46, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

If Nunn wrote anything specific about Mackenzie you may want to add it to the article. I don't have John Nunn's Chess Puzzle Book but given your recommendation I just put it on my wish list. I have a few of his books and he's one of my favorite chess writers. Quale (talk) 05:17, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Not Mackenzie specifically, but rather, a general statement about the strength of chessplayers in the pre-WW1 era. What he did is that using the latest Fritz at the time (the book was written in the late 90s), Nunn analyzed the games from two elite tournaments of their day: Carlsbad 1911 and Biel 1993. Now, he only looked at these games for one type of mistake; blunders. As he noted, it would be unfair to consider opening mistakes or even strategic mistakes, as that part of chess was so much less developed in 1911. He only considered those moves that severely altered the assessment of the position. (I forgot the exact criteria, but it was like a point or more, which turns a draw into a loss and a win into a draw) Using some mathematical methods and his own expertise, Nunn then extrapolated this into a rating. His findings? The average strength of the Carlsbad tournament was Elo 2129. Keep in mind that it featured every leading player of the day except Lasker and Capablanca; it had a young Alekhine, Rubinstein (probably 3rd in the world), a Schlechter that had just drawn Lasker in a world championship match, Nimzovitch, Marshall, Teichmann (who won the event), etc. As a specific example, Nunn mentioned Hugo Suchting who had a respectable showing, but for whom Nunn "can confidently state that his playing strength was not greater than Elo 2100 (BCF 187)-and that was on a good day and with a following wind." His extended analysis and examples are fascinating, and it's hard to disagree with his methods or conclusions. Definitely worth checking out, and it changed the way I viewed a lot of these old-school players. ChessPlayerLev (talk) 05:38, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Interesting. If there's enough of interest about Carlsbad 1911 it might deserve a short section at Carlsbad 1911 chess tournament. Other places that that information could go include John Nunn and Comparison of top chess players throughout history. Quale (talk) 03:22, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

Sources for Biographical Information and Tournaments

There is a lot of biographical info in the article which I have either not been able to find, or have found alternate versions of. For instance, "American Chess Masters from Morphy to Fischer", which I have used as a reference, states that he immigrated in 1861, not 1863. It also states that his victory against Adolf Andersson in a handicap tournament occurred in 1861, not 1862. Also, I can find no record of Mackenzie having won a Scottish championship in 1888. By the way, I am not doubting the information as currently written; "American Chess Masters from Morphy to Fischer" has a number of errors in it, including the absurd claim that the famous Mackenzie-Mason game included in the article was played in 1887. (The correct one is 1878; every database checked gives that date, and moreover, Mason and Mackenzie never played in 1887) I only used it as a source in several spots where I double-checked their information against other sources. Still, I'm curious where the present information came from. ChessPlayerLev (talk) 20:07, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Agreed, there are no perfect sources for chess history, so we try to make do with what we have. Ken Whyld (1986), Chess, The Records, p. 150: "Mackenzie, George Henry b. 24 Mar 1837 North Kessock d. 14 Apr 1891 New York Scottish champion 1888. German champion 1887." Quale (talk) 23:28, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for that! I will include it in the article with the reference. (It's a shame that we don't have any games from the event, but I can well believe that someone as strong as Mackenzie won it) After looking at Chessgames, I found the games and date for a drawn match that Mackenzie had with Amos Burn, and that his cause of death was speculated to be tuberculosis, not pneumonia as claimed by "American Chess Masters". Since you seem to have many books on chess history, let me know if you find any more information about Mackenzie in them, especially his death. ChessPlayerLev (talk) 00:07, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

User:Krakatoa has perhaps the best chess library here, with over 1500 volumes. He's only sporadically active on wikipedia these days, but if he has time and interest he can do magnificent bio work such as George H. D. Gossip. For a few years I've thought the chess project should pick an article each week for the project to focus on improving collaboratively, but I've never suggested it at WT:CHESS. Recently I don't think there's been enough life in the project to support this sort of effort, but if it picks up again I may see if others are interested. In the meantime, since you've taken an interest in this page I'll take a look to see what I can find out about Mackenzie. Quale (talk) 00:18, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Wonderful, thank you. Indeed, while at first I only intended to clean up the "Chess Strength" section, I have become quite interested in improving Captain Mackenzie's biography and clearing up some of the disputed details. I actually found the cross-table of the aforementioned 1888 Scottish championship and Mackenzie's final score. I am also looking through Edward Winter's articles that include Captain Mackenzie. Unfortunately, while he did write about the death of Mackenzie, it was that of Arthur Ford Mackenzie, mainly known as a chess problemist, who died in 1905. I definitely look forward to reading anything you manage to uncover! ChessPlayerLev (talk) 00:53, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

• Sunnucks (1970), The Encyclopaedia of Chess, pp. 297–8. "Probably the strongest player Scotland has produced." At age 19 purchased a commission in the 60th Rifles, The King's Royal Rifle Corps. Served in India and Ireland, resigned in 1861 to become a professional chess player. Won a match against Rev. G. A. MacDonnell, considered to be the strongest English amateur at that time. Emigrated to US in 1863. Accepted a commission in the Union Army. Moved to New York and resumed his professional chess career when the Civil War ended and his regiment was disbanded. Won individual matches against all the leading American players, was selected as the American representative at Paris 1878 and placed 4th tied with Bird. 1st at Frankfurt 1887. Health declined in 1888, entered New York 1889 but withdrew because of illness before playing a game. Died from heart disease in a New York hotel. Note: Sunnucks is sometimes not as accurate as one would like, but to be fair research was much harder two decades before the birth of the World Wide Web. Quale (talk) 05:02, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
• Golombek (1977), The Encyclopedia of Chess, p. 188. (Entry is just two short paragraphs, written by Keene.) Defeated MacDonnell in an 1862 match. Emigrated to US in 1863. 4th at Paris 1878 and 1st at Frankfurt 1887. Quale (talk) 05:06, 20 August 2012 (UTC)
• Hooper & Whyld (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess, pp. 241–2. One and a half columns, the most information I've found so far and too long to summarize completely. I'll add it directly to the article when I get the opportunity. Summer 1862 lost a match to MacDonnell +4−7=2, but won a return match +6−3=2. Confirms 1863 emigration date. Interesting additional detail about his service in the Union Army. Paris 1878, Vienna 1882, London 1883, Hamburg 1885. Drew a match with Burn in 1886 (+4−4=2). 1st Frankfurt 1887, +13−3=4, ahead of Blackburne and Weiss tied for 2nd. Notes that most of the top players were there including Tarrasch, but not Steinitz or Chigorin. Developed tuberculosis in the 1880s. Manchester 1890 was his last tournament, finishing shared third with Bird after Tarrasch and Blackburne. Died in New York of an overdose of morphine which Steinitz said was taken intentionally. Quale (talk) 05:32, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for all of those resources, Quale! The part about him being an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War is neat, and something I have seen corroborated in other places. 1863 seems to be the definite date he immigrated, too. (Yet anther factual error by "American Chess Masters", then) Unfortunately, his cause of death is now more confusing than ever! Possibilities include

1. Pneumonia
2. Tuberculosis
3. Heart disease
4. Suicide via morphine overdose

Feel free to add what you want into the entry, although the tournament and match results you mention above are already included with the exception of his two early matches with MacDonnnell. ChessPlayerLev (talk) 06:51, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Add typhoid fever to the list of possible ailments for Captain Mackenzie.

• Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Mon, June 27, 1887, p. 4, mentions Mackenzie will sail for Europe Wed. March 8, 1880, p. 7, a fascinating bit about "selling games" in tournaments, mostly about Ware and Mason making an agreement in the Centennial Tournament in Philadelphia but stating about the Paris tournament that "and it is now known that Mackenzie and Bird divided the money of fourth prize in that tourney though it was given out that the Scotch player won the whole of the prize money." Sept. 1888, p. 7, "The International Chess Magazine for September is decidedly the most interesting number issued for several months past, ... The features of the September number include ... the record of the Scotch tourney which Captain Mackenzie won,". Jan 25, 1880, p. 3, "The present champion of America, Captain Mackenzie, and no doubt the Manchester gentlemen [James Grundy, mentioned earlier], will be seen in the arena again this season in test matches with the leading players of the country." Mar 25, 1889, p. 4, "... the chess congress tourney which began its session to-day at 8 Union square, on the Fourth avenue side. Among those present was the American champion, Captain Mackenzie, who made his first appearance at the club rooms since his illness, which was the result of an attack of typhoid fever. He was decidedly weak and in anything but good form for the tourney, and last night he felt very doubtful if he should be strong enough to enter the lists to-day." Apr 15, 1879, p. 1. "LIVING CHESS. Academy of Music, New York. Wednesday Evening, April 16, 1879. Under the auspices of the Manhattan Chess Club, fifty of the most gorgeous costumes, representing the pieces, Colonel John R. Fellows will deliver a brief introductory address. Captain Mackenzie and Eugene Delmare, Two of the world's most famous players, will conduct the games. Problems by Eugene B. Cook, Esq. Selections from the games played by Paul Morphy. Grand Tableau of Mephistopheles and the Prince. One of the most beautiful and novel entertainments ever presented to a New York audience. General admission, $1; Family Circle, 50¢. Seats secured at Chandler Bros." Feb 12, 1888, p. 1, "MR. STEINITZ SAILS FOR HAVANA Mr. Steinitz, the chess champion of the world, sailed from New York on the steamship Saratoga, for Havana, where he willo be the guest of the chess club of that city for one month, being engaged to play with Judge Golmayo and Senor Vasquez, the Mexican Consul. Captain Mackenzie, the winner of the last Frankfurt tournament, is already in Havana and the chess amateurs of that city have made liberal offers in order to set up a series of games and perhaps enter a match between the two celebrities."

Well, I e-mailed Edward Winter, and he dedicated a full section of Chess Notes to this question (It's CN 7772). After I wake up from a nap, I intend to include this fantastic information in the article. It appears that Mackenzie was unquestionably suffering from tuberculosis for a few years prior to his death. This was further worsened by a tropical fever he suffered from. We can rule out any kind of heart disease. As for his precise death, there is some confusion on whether it was pneumonia or suicide by morphine injection. But there is definitely strong support for the latter, coming as it did from an attending physician. Many thanks to Edward Winter; he helped me with some information on Capablanca too, but this is simply fantastic. ChessPlayerLev (talk) 00:50, 3 September 2012 (UTC)