1928 Washington/London Cable Match, 10 November

Bd	London League	3-2	Washington	Opening	London Teller
1b	Fred Dewhirst Yates	½-½	Stasch Mlotkowski	French Def	Harold Meek
2w	Reginald Pryce Michell	½-½	Norman Tweed Whitaker	QP Game	Ralph Eastman
3b	Victor Buerger	½-½	Isador Samuel Turover	QP Game	Richard Clewin Griffith
4w	William Winter	½-½	Nelson Secor Perkins	QGD	Ernest Busvine
5b	Edward Guthlac Sergeant	1-0	James William Byler	QGD	William Henry Watts
6w	Maurice Edwards Goldstein	*	Frank Baker Walker	QGD	George Bowen Quennell
		3-2

Results as recorded in PW Sergeant's A Century of Chess, p365. * There was a dispute over board six where a move had been wrongly decoded; as a result the match was annulled by FIDE (ref. BCM, May 1930, p165 - report given here) - note, BCM gives JE Byler but I think this should be JW Byler.

[BCM, December 1928, pps 441-442]

THE CABLE MATCH, LONDON v. WASHINGTON.

The third match for the Insull Trophy was played on Saturday, November 10th [1928]. The American city which challenged London (as holders) this time was Washington, which got in its challenge very early in the year. Under the terms of the gift, should London win this year the Trophy would become the property of the London Chess League. As last year, the London team was allowed the privilege of playing in the Committee Room of the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall, S.W. The same London team as last year was put into the field; H. A. H. Carson again umpired in London for the American team, and Edward Lasker undertook in Washington the corresponding duty for the English team. The hours of play had been extended to commence at 2-0 p.m. (instead of 3-0 as before), and immediately after that time greetings began to be exchanged, Sir Esme Howard, British Ambassador at Washington, sending one of them. By 2-30 moves began to pass, and slow but steady progress was made until 7-0 p.m., when adjournment of one hour took place; during this interval the players and officials of the match were entertained to dinner by Mr. Ralph Eastman, President of the London Chess League.

Play continued steadily from 8-0 p.m. until midnight, except that at the sixth board a slight hitch occurred owing to a move being wrongly decoded; the rectification of this delayed the progress, of that game by about half-an-hour. Between 9-30 and 10-30 draws were agreed to at boards 3, 4 and 1 successively; but no decision was reached at either of the other three, although it had become apparent by 11-0 that the English player had a won game at board 5: during the ensuing week this game was resigned by Washington. About 11-30 an offer from Washington to draw the three remaining games "in order to keep the Trophy alive" was declined. The President of the London Chess League cabled at 11-50 suggesting draws on boards 2 and 6, and a win on board 5, and promised that the Cup should be put up for competition again. No answer was received to this cable and the hon. secretary, G. R. Hardcastle, was preparing to send the games for adjudication to Amsterdam, but a cable was the following week received from Washington saying they agree that Sergeant must win his game, but making a protest with regard to the game on board No. 6, in which the "Teller" decoded one of the moves wrongly from Washington, and Mr. Goldstein made a reply which he subsequently withdrew when he found out what his opponent’s move really was. The League Committee now have to await a letter from Washington as to the protest, but the probabilities are that the match will be won by London by the odd game.

The City of London Chess Club lent its demonstration boards and Messrs. Jaques & Son the boards and pieces used. G. R. Hardcastle, the hon. secretary of the London Chess League, managed the arrangement on this side with his usual mastery of detail.

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File updated

Date	Notes
12 February 2020	Initial upload. Source of games & text, BCM, Dec 1928, pps 441-443. Full names found via Ancestry & FindMyPast websites.