Hastings Chess Club European Tour 1911

[David McAlister]

There is also a report of the Berne match in the Essex Times where the name of O'Hanlon's opponent is quite different from that given in the Northern Whig. So was it Yeraggen or Z'grogga?

Oh dear, what a caper
Somebody's p***ed on the magic paper.

Or put another way, the compositor for the Essex Times may have slipped up.

In my post Thursday 26 June 2014, I could have added that the O'Hanlon-Yeraggen game in the Northern Whig came with annotations by O'Hanlon. Presumably O'Hanlon knew whom he was playing. Or maybe the compositor for the Northern Whig was the one having an off-day.

[Gerard Killoran]

There is also a report of the Berne match in the Essex Times where the name of O'Hanlon's opponent is quite different from that given in the Northern Whig. So was it Yeraggen or Z'grogga?

Oh dear, what a caper
Somebody's p***ed on the magic paper.

Or put another way, the compositor for the Essex Times may have slipped up.

In my post Thursday 26 June 2014, I could have added that the O'Hanlon-Yeraggen game in the Northern Whig came with annotations by O'Hanlon. Presumably O'Hanlon knew whom he was playing. Or maybe the compositor for the Northern Whig was the one having an off-day.

I don't think either O'Hanlon or H. G. Cole were the only chess players never to have misheard, misread or misspelled an opponent's name, especially a foreign one. In fact, they might both have done one, two or all three of the above, as I have failed to find either the name Yeraggen or Z'grogga in any online chess publication or even in any online Swiss newspaper archive.

If only there was a chess historian based in Switzerland we could consult on the matter...

Enough of wishful thinking, here's a bonus where one of our heroes defeats a famous player who, it seems, didn't take him seriously.

[Event "Hastings Club - Union Amicale des Amateurs de la Regence Match"] [Site "Paris"] [Date "1911.08.17"] [Round "?"] [White "O'Connell, William Joseph Leo"] [Black "Chatard, Eugène"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [Opening "Scandinavian (centre counter) defence"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6 3. dxc6 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. d4 Bd6 6. Bd3 Nxc6 7. c3 Ne7 8. O-O Qc7 9. Be3 Ng4 10. h3 Nf6 11. Nbd2 Ng6 12. Re1 O-O 13. Nc4 Be7 14. Qc2 Nd5 15. Nce5 Nxe3 16. Rxe3 f5 17. Nxg6 hxg6 18. Rae1 Bf6 19. Ne5 Bxe5 20. Rxe5 Bd7 21. Qe2 Rae8 22. Bc4 Qc8 23. Bxe6+ Bxe6 24. Rxe6 Rxe6 25. Qxe6+ Qxe6 26. Rxe6 Kf7 27. d5 Rd8 28. c4 b5 29. b3 bxc4 30. bxc4 Rc8 31. Rc6 Rxc6 32. dxc6 Ke6 33. f4 {Essex Times - Saturday 02 September 1911 p.8} 1-0

[David McAlister]

If only there was a chess historian based in Switzerland we could consult on the matter...

Good point. I have a nice surprise. I decided to "consult" a Swiss chess historian.

From page 264 of Richard Forster's "The Zurich Chess Club, 1809-2009" [McFarland, 2011]:
"Karl Z'graggen (1861-1929), one of Berne's strongest players. He came in second at Zurich 1895. He was a well-known lawyer and in 1897 became president of the Swiss Social Democrats. Later he was appointed federal judge and president of the Swiss Federal Court."

There is accompanied by a line drawing of Z'graggen. "Zurich 1895" refers to the 5th Swiss Championship (leading standings are given by Forster at page 263).

[Gerard Killoran]

Well done David, he was Lenin's lawyer!

From https://www.urnerwochenblatt.ch/artikel ... -z-graggen

Karl Z'graggen was an avowed socialist, Lenin's advocate, federal judge, “defender of the poor and the suffering”. And born in Altdorf.

zgraggen-00773.jpg

Federal judge and Lenin's lawyer: Karl Zgraggen (1861-1929). Born in Uri, he had his law firm in Bern at today's Spitalstrasse 35. (Photos: Béatrice Jezic-Oesch / Armin Stalder private archive)

From https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/014787/2014-02-12/ via Google Translate

2.4.1861 Altdorf (UR), 3.12.1929 Bern, Catholic, from Altdorf. Son of Anton, a doctor, and Margaritha nee Kübach. 1888 Emilie Vogt, daughter of Emil Vogt. High school in Bern, Matura in 1879, law degree. in Leipzig and Bern, 1884 advocate. 1885-91 court clerk at Bern. Higher Court, 1892-1908 General Procurator of the Canton of Bern. From 1899 own law firm. Under the influence of his friend Gustav Müller and Albert Steck, Z. came to social democracy through the Grütliverein; 1895-96 he presided over the SP Switzerland. Z. served as a city councilor from 1894 to 1900, as a non-permanent councilor in Bern from 1900-20 (police director), from 1899 to 1906 and from 1910 to 15 as the Bernese Grand Council, from 1915 to 20 as chief judge and from 1920 to 29 as federal judge. Z. defended Carl Vital Moor after the Käfigturm riot (1893) in Bern and was the lawyer. Adviser to Lenin during his exile in Switzerland. He prepared journalistic for the introduction of proportional representation for legislatures.