VISTULA CHESS MONTHLY ENGLISH CORNER

ENGLISH CORNER

Max Judd, Polish-American Chessplayer
by John S. Hilbert
Max Judd, or rather Maximilian Judkiewicz, as was his original name, was born in Tenczynek, Poland, on December 27, 1851. Early on he emigrated to the United States, where he lived in the Saint Louis, Missouri, area.
Judd is little remembered today, yet he holds an Elo historical rating of 2450, which reflects his high standing in American chess for the time. He participated in numerous tournaments of great significance in the United States between 1871 and 1904, and was perhaps the strongest player away from the east coast powerhouses of New York and Philadelphia. Judd finished fourth in the Second American Chess Congress, held in Cleveland, Ohio, in December 1871, behind Captain Mackenzie, who also won the Third Centennial Congress held in Chicago three years later. There Judd improved his score, finishing third. The Fourth Congress, held in Philadelphia in August 1876 to celebrate the Centennial of the Declaration of Independence, saw Judd finish second, three points behind the winner, the better known James Mason. Yet Judd had the pleasure of winning a game against Henry Bird, the English master. He took advantage of Bird's faltering play, concluding the contest with a nice mating attack:

Bird - Judd
Philadelphia August 24, 1876
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.axb5 axb5 10.d3 Ne7 11.Be3 Ng6 12.g3 Bb6 13.Nbd2 c6 14.Nf1 0-0 15.Bxb6 Qxb6 16.Ne3 Be6 17.Bxe6 fxe6 18.h4 Nh8 19.0-0 h6 20.b4 Ra8 21.Kg2 Ng6 22.Nh2 Ra7 23.h5 Nh8 24.Rxa7 Qxa7 25.Nhg4 Qa3 26.Nxf6+ Rxf6 27.Qd2 Rf8 28.c4 Rb8 29.Rc1 Nf7 30.cxb5 cxb5 31.Rc3 Qa7 32.Qc1 Rb7 33.Rc8+ Kh7 34.Qc6 Re7 35.Qxb5 Qa2 36.Rc2 Qb1 37.Qc4 Here Bird apparently falters. The tournament book suggested White wins by 37.Qb8 Qa1 (or 37...g6 38.Qf8 followed by 39. Rc8 and wins) 38.Qf8 Qa7 39.Rc8] 37...Ng5 38.Rc1 Qb2 39.Qc3 Qe2 40.Rh1 Rf7 41.Nd1 Rf3 "The correct move," said the annotator, "and very pretty, finishing the game in style." 42.Qc1 Rxg3+ 43.Kxg3 Qf3+ And White resigned, as mate cannot be avoided. For instance, 43...Qf3+ 44.Kh2 Qh3+ 45.Kg1 Nf3 0-1
Judd's accomplishments were not limited to chess. He was also at one time United States consul at Vienna under the Grover Cleveland Administration. He also participated at the Fifth American Chess Congress, New York 1880, where he showed his ability to ruthlessly destroy inferior play.

Congdon - Judd
Game 2, Round 7
New York 1880
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bc2 0-0 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.d4 Bb7 10.dxc5 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Bxe4 12.f3 Qh4+ 13.Kf1 Bc6 14.Be3 Rfe8 15.Qd4 Nxf3 "A fine termination. From this point White may well abandon hope," proclaimed the tournament book. 16.gxf3 Qh3+ 17.Ke1 Qxf3 18.Rf1 Rxe3+ 19.Kd2 Qg2+ 20.Kxe3 Re8+ 21.Kd3 Qe2 mate 0-1
Judd also participated in the most important tournament to take place on American soil during the latter years of the nineteenth century: New York 1889, the Sixth American Chess Congress. Won jointly by Weiss and Tchigorin, the gigantic, twenty player, double round robin event lasted nearly two months, from March 25 through May 21, 1889. Lipschutz, at sixth, was the highest finishing American and so was considered by many to have won the national title. Judd defeated him in both their individual games, as he did Showalter, another American candidate for the title, but could not maintain the pace against the rest of the star-studded field, which also included Gunsberg, Blackburne, Burn, Mason, and Bird. Judd did, however, have the pleasure of the following victory against a well-known opponent:

Judd - Blackburne
New York, 1889
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Be7 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.0-0 0-0 9.f4 d5 10.e5 Bc5+ 11.Kh1 Ng4 12.Qe1 f5 13.Nd1 Be6 14.Ne3 Nh6 15.Rf3 Kh8 16.Rh3 Qe8 17.Qe2 Qf7 18.Bd2 d4 19.Nf1 Rae8 20.b3 Bd5 21.Ng3 Re6 22.Qh5 Qxh5 23.Rxh5 Ng4 24.Rxf5 Rfe8 25.Kg1 g6 26.Rg5 Nh6 27.Ne2 Nf7 28.Rg4 Nh6 29.Rh4 Kg7 30.Rxh6 Bb4 31.Rxh7+ Kxh7 32.Bxb4 Rb8 33.Bc5 1-0
Even as late as 1904, Judd would finish second to Frank Marshall at the international masters tournament held during the St. Louis Exposition. He faced the likes of Pillsbury and Showalter in matches, and was active in American chess for many years. He died suddenly, at the relatively early age of 54, of heart disease, on May 7, 1906, at the Monticello Hotel in St. Louis, not long after entertaining Geza Maroczy, the great Hungarian player, who was then touring the country. He left a widow, but no children. He also left us some very nice games of chess.
(c) 1998 John S. Hilbert