Harry Nelson Pillsbury

Hero of Hastings

Harry Nelson Pillsbury's victory at Hastings 1895 was a remarkable feat: an unknown young American player won the strongest chess tournament ever held up to that time.

Pillsbury was born on December 5, 1872 at Somerville, Massachusetts. He learned to play chess at the relatively late age of 16. One of his idiosyncrasies was a fondness for strong-smelling cigars. One contemporary observer described him in action:

"When Pillsbury sits at the board he has an absolute stony calmness in his face. Not a single muscle moves, only now and then will he wink a bit faster, when he feels himself slowly and satisfactorily nearing the goal, so finely calculated and elaborated."

As Fischer would do later, Pillsbury worked very hard to master the game of chess, becoming a student of chess theory at a time when most American players preferred to follow the example of "natural" players like Frank Marshall. Early in Pillsbury's career he operated the famous chess robot Ajeeb. Victories over visiting European masters and winning the Manhattan Chess Club Championship let New York chess clubs to sponsor the young American to test his skill against the world's best players in the historic Hastings 1895 tournament.

The result of Pillsbury's first game did not surprise the Europeans, as he lost, as expected, against Chigorin. The only surprising thing about the game was that the unknown young American put up a tough fight against a world championship contender. However, Pillsbury's 9 consecutive wins later in the tournament raised quite a few eyebrows, and his final round victory over Isidor Gunsberg sealed his victory. This game is memorably annotated by Irving Chernev in The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played. The final standings were quite a shock to the world elite: Pillsbury 16 1/2 points out of 21 games, ahead of Tchigorin's 16, and Lasker's 15 1/2. (Historical footnote: Tchigorin consoled himself by taking home some special prizes that are traditional in Russian tournaments: a ring and a copy of The Theory and Practice of Chess for winning the most Evans Gambits and a framed photo for being the first to win seven games).

Pillsbury never again won sole first place in a major tournament, but he finished highly in many events, and tied for first place in Vienna 1897 and Munich 1900.

Pillsbury displayed little interest in winning the U.S. Championship. In an odd development, in 1897 the defending champion, Jackson W. Showalter, challenged Pillsbury. Showalter must have felt that Pillsbury's foreign successes undermined his claim to being the strongest U.S. player. Pillsbury stated:

"I was not seeking the match, and even if I should win I shall leave Showalter in possession of the title. I am not in search of any title but one."

Pillsbury won the match, and despite his disclaimer was considered to be the new U.S. Champion. He defended the title in a return match with Showalter but did not defend the title again until his death in 1906.

Pillsbury made critical contributions to the development of chess theory. His understanding of how positional advantages could lead to attacks and his demonstrations of this in the Queen's Gambit Declined and the Ruy Lopez helped those openings to become standards of the professional tournament repertoire. Pillsbury displayed special insight into attacks on both sides of the board and playing against an opponent's static weaknesses. No less a personage than Lasker referred to Pillsbury as being "a pathfinder in the thicket of chess theory."

Pillsbury's skill at blindfold chess is legendary. While playing in the Hanover 1902 tournament, he gave a simultaneous exhibition in which he won 3 games, drew 11 and lost 7 in 11 1/2 hours. Not a particularly striking result, until you consider that:

When these facts are known, we recognize Pillsbury's performance as truly remarkable. He later set his personal record by playing 22 simultaneous games at Moscow in 1902. When Pillsbury wanted to add a little extra showmanship he would mix in some games of checkers or cards or feats of memorization while giving a simultaneous blindfold exhibition.

While Pillsbury was considered as strong as anyone in the world from 1895 to 1900, he was not able to arrange a match for the world championship. Lasker was busy studying mathematics and played serious chess only occasionally until after Pillsbury's death. Pillsbury's lifetime record of 7 - 7 against Lasker suggests that a championship match between them would have been a very interesting affair. America lost a true chess hero and potential world champion when Pillsbury died at the age of only 33.

In recognition of his significant contributions to American chess, Harry Nelson Pillsbury was inducted into the Chess Hall of Fame in Washington, DC as a Inaugural Member in 1986.

Other Views of Pillsbury

Bold planning and ruthless execution were the hallmark of his play.

--Andy Soltis, in Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, 1977

 

Not content with storing up small advantages, he always finds the right methods for destroying his opponent's position root and branch.

--GM Richard Retí

 

Harry Nelson Pillsbury was the first American to excel in positional play in forty years. He was a dynamic figure whose skill and new ideas changed the tempo of international chess as much as did Lasker or Tarrasch.

--GMs Andy Soltis and Arthur Bisguier, American Chess Masters From Morphy to Fischer, 1974