New Stories about Old Chess Players

Judge Meek
There is a story that chess skills played a role in the election of Abraham
Lincoln as President of the United States. The Ogden Standard, July 2, 1887,
discussing one Henry K. Enos, a prominent Wall Street banker, tells how his
father, Dr. Robert K. Enos of Ohio, was a local chess champion, and came to
the Republican convention of 1860 as a supporter of Salmon P. Chase, but
was primarily interested in denying the “radical Republican” William H.
Seward the nomination. Using his game-playing skills, during the third ballot
he picked the time for announcing the switch of a small bloc of voters to
Lincoln, giving him just enough votes to secure the nomination, “whereupon a
deafening roar of applause arose from the immense multitude, such as had
New Stories never been equalled on the American continent, nor since the day that the
walls of Jericho were blown down.” (Chicago Tribune, 1860).
about Old
An interesting story, connecting chess and politics in more than the usual
Chess Players metaphorical sense. But to my mind, the chess player who was most
responsible for Lincoln’s election was not Dr. Enos. Instead, it was a more
famous player who was bitterly opposed to what Lincoln stood for. I am
Jeremy P. Spinrad speaking of the president of the first American Chess Congress, Alexander
Beaufort Meek (1814-1865), better known as A.B. Meek or Judge Meek.

One reason for choosing Meek as a subject was to help myself understand
issues I have thought about since coming to live in Nashville. The city of

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Nashville, Tennessee, was racially segregated until the early 1960s.

Desegregation involved sit-ins by a group of what we now call African-
Americans at a lunch counter. The peaceful protesters were subjected to
sadistic violence. Those who performed such acts as putting out cigarettes on
the skin of protesters are not so hard to understand: they are, essentially,
bigoted monsters. I doubt that I know personally anyone who took part in
such violence.

A much larger group, which might include people I know, is harder for me to
understand. These are people who were vocal opponents of integration, yet
seem to be decent people in all other ways. How could they have felt this way,
and have they changed their minds or merely stopped speaking openly about
their prejudice? Similar questions exist about supporters of slavery in the 19th
century.

Judge Meek, born in Columbia, South Carolina (the “Cradle of the

Confederacy”), and much of his life a resident of Alabama, was a prominent
supporter of slavery, but he was not a monster. He would be particularly
dismayed to see the type of person who is now sometimes associated with the
Confederate flag.

Meek was trained for the law, and finished first in his class at the University
of Alabama in 1833 at the age of 19. He was gifted in many other areas,
including journalism, history, poetry, and politics. He was part of a group of
poets called the “Tuscaloosa Bards,” and publication of Meek’s poem “Red
Eagle” is listed as a milestone on a current web page of the state of Alabama’s
artistic and cultural development.

In addition to his fame in the arts, Meek had a distinguished career as a public
servant. He served as Attorney General of Alabama in 1836-37, and Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury under U.S. President James K. Polk. He became
Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives. He is credited with leading
the way for the passage of a bill guaranteeing Alabama students their first free
public education. For this and other contributions, there are A.B. Meek
schools in Arley and Tuscaloosa.

A progressive legislator, Meek could also be open-minded. Although he

fought in the Seminole War, he did not demonize his enemy. His most famous
poem celebrates the bravery of an Indian chief, Red Eagle. Meek even
prepared the tombstone for Red Eagle, a.k.a. William Weatherford.

Since Meek’s most famous poem, “Red Eagle,” is 2000 lines long, and since
his poetry does not do much for me in any case, I will give only a short part of
one of his most popular (though not, in his own opinion, one of his best)
poems, “The Mocking-Bird.” This was later set to music, as part of a series
called Songs of the South, which became quite well known.

From the vale, what music ringing

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Fills the bosom of the night!

On the sense entranced, flinging
Spells of witch’ry and delight!
O’er magnolia, lime and cedar
From yon locust-top it swells
Like the chant of serenader
Or the rhymes of silver bells!
Listen! dearest, listen to it!
Sweeter sounds were never heard!
‘Tis the song of that wild poet,
Mime and minstrel! Mocking-Bird.

I find Meek’s historical writings much more interesting. For example, Meek
tells (in his book on the history of the southwest) of how in 1817, some of
Napoleon’s greatest generals were given a land grant in rural Alabama, and
formed the small French colony of Marengo. The colonists included Marshal
Grouchy, General Lefebvre, Count Clausel, Count Real, the two Generals
L’Allemand, Generals Vandamme, Lakanal, Pennier, Garnier de Saintes, and
many subordinate officers. Their spouses, many accustomed to the opulent
court of Versailles, became simple farm wives. Famous soldiers from
Napoleon’s army were made subordinate to farmers in the local militia. The
agricultural life was eventually too quiet for the colonists, who dispersed back
to France and to various armies, and the story is known thanks only to Meek’s
writings.

Meek had a whimsical, self-deprecating sense of humor, which is illustrated

nicely in a letter printed in Holden’s Dollar Magazine of Criticisms,
Biographies, Sketches, May 1849. Apparently replying to a letter asking for
details of his life, Meek replies:

“Really, my dear sir, I shall have to apply to the Attorney General of

Tennessee, and get him to frame an indictment against you, for an
assault with intent to kill! For do you not here, in two several epistles,
avow a disposition to take my life, and even endeavor to enlist me as
‘an accessory before the fact’? My life! Why, honestly, I have none
worth taking, least of all of a literary kind ... But what have I done to
be suspended in the criminal calendar of native authors?”

Meek then presents his accomplishments in the form of a defense brief:

“I. That he has, at divers times, from his boyhood up to this, his twenty-
eighth year, perpetrated sundry songs, sonnets, odes, epigrams, &c., of
an amatory, patriotic, bacchanalian and obituary character ... many of
which disfigure the rose-scented beauty of countless maidens’ albums;
but the most of which still slumber, where they ought to be, in his own
bachelor port-feuille.”

After listing eight such points (for those interested in looking at his literary

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output, Meek here states a preference for “The Nuptial Fete” and his not-yet
completed “Red Eagle” over his more popular works from Songs of the
South), Meek concludes:

“Yet, although the foregoing allegations be true, as this defendant

confesses with the utmost penitence and humility — he still says and
insists,

“1. That they are not sufficient, either at common law or by any of the
statutes of criticism, to constitute against him the crime of authordom,
for it is a well settled maxim, that ‘de minimis non curat Lex.’

“2. That the prosecution of such misdemeanors, if such they were, is

now barred by the statute of limitations — having long since passed
into oblivion, and being now ‘with the things beyond the flood.’ All of
which the defendant is ready to verify. Wherefore he prays judgment if
the court will take further cognizance of, or sustain the said bill of
indictment — which he prays may now be quashed.”

Up to this point, I like and respect Meek, and I haven’t even gotten to his
chess. I am hardly alone in this sentiment; quite a few letters of this time
praise Meek, both as a writer and as a person. Here is some high praise for
Meek in a rave review of “Red Eagle,” which appeared in Southern Literary
Messenger, February 1856.

“Meek, whether known as Alexander, as A.B. or Judge, has been

guilty of good things. If we try to hum a song, ten to one that his
‘Mocking Bird’ or his ‘Come to the South’ does not melt upon our
lips. If we grow patriotic, his ‘Land of the South’ offers itself as the
best exponent of our feelings. If we ‘rake our classic recollections,’
some of his paragraphs on ‘Jack Cade-ism,’ that would not disgrace
Macaulay, rush into our minds. If we swell with pride at the
contemplation of our beloved section, the vivid recollection of his
‘History, Character and Prospects of the South West’ almost disable us
for original speculation. Friendship, Fidelity, Truth and Love have also
made him their eloquent mouth-piece, and exhibited him the friend of
the benevolent, no less than of literary enterprises.”

However, Meek’s position on slavery was by no means progressive. I fully

realize that we cannot hold all people to the standards of our times. For
example, I have heard people criticize Athenian democracy because women
could not vote, and I feel that they are missing the point. It isn’t as though
there was a great debate on women’s rights in antiquity, with the Athenians
consciously choosing to suppress women; instead, the notion of women
voting did not come up for serious discussion. Slavery, however, was not just
an issue in Meek’s time, it was the issue of the time, and Meek was on the
wrong side.

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Meek’s defense of slavery (as in his book Romantic Passages in Southwestern

History) was based on the view that it was beneficial because it “has
generated, upon the part of our white inhabitants, a spirit of superiority and
self-esteem, a certain aristocracy of feeling, and a proud chivalry of character,
which do not elsewhere so generally exist,” and that among a thousand other
advantages it was necessary, in order to free people to devote their lives to the
higher intellectual arts. A novel idea, perhaps, and not quite the redneck view,
but it certainly seems callous to free one person for art by the involuntary
servitude of many others. Meek’s defense of slavery went beyond words, and
into political action.

As noted above, Meek was a respected politician. For example, he was

entrusted with the task of physically delivering Alabama’s electoral vote in
1844. On the national scene, however, Meek was most prominent in the
presidential election of 1860.

This article began with a scene from the Republican convention of 1860.
More important for the outcome of the election, however, was the Democratic
convention, where Meek was a delegate. It was Meek who read to the
convention the “Alabama Platform,” which declared that the territories (as
distinguished from the states) must be open to slavery, with slave-owners’
rights vigorously enforced. It was the rejection of this proposal that caused the
Southern delegates to walk out of the convention. The Democratic Party split
into two competing factions, the northern faction nominating Senator Stephen
Douglas of Illinois for President, the southern nominating the incumbent Vice-
President, John Breckenridge of Kentucky. Additionally, there was a short-
lived fourth party, the Constitutional Unionists. This split allowed Lincoln
and the more united Republicans to win the Presidency. Meek campaigned
hard for his candidate Breckenridge, not just locally in Alabama, but
nationally (see New York Times, Oct. 25, 1860). Ironically, although it
certainly was not his goal, by not supporting Douglas, who might well have
beaten Lincoln in a two-man race, the pro-slavery Alabama legislator helped
Lincoln win and ultimately end slavery.

Meek was present at a number of other events of some historical interest. He

was at the Supreme Court during the Dred Scott decision; his reminiscences
of the scene are given in the New York Times, Nov 24, 1859. I do not know
whether he was a simple spectator, or served in an official capacity. Meek was
at events championing several unsuccessful revolutionaries of rather different
persuasions, including the Hungarian Lajos Kossuth (New York Times, April
12, 1852) and the adventurer William Walker (New York Times, Dec. 30 1857
and Feb 1, 1858). Meek’s repetition of a claim that U.S. President James
Buchanan had called Walker the lawful president of Nicaragua attracted
enough attention so that Meek felt compelled to write the New York Times to
explain his statement. Meek died in 1865, at the age of 51.

In chess, Meek’s political skills were much more successful and put to much
better use. As a friend of the Morphy family, Meek was able to help persuade
Paul Morphy to play in the First American Chess Congress in 1857. If for

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nothing else, Meek deserves to be remembered well for this, without which
chess history might have been substantially different. As Morphy’s
biographer David Lawson notes, Morphy twice sent telegrams to the congress
organizers saying he would not be able to attend; whether this was because of
Paul’s own reluctance or to objections by members of his family is not
completely clear. “However,” says Lawson, “Judge Meek, a close family
friend, brought a good deal of persuasive pressure to bear upon Paul’s family
in this matter,” and finally Morphy accepted the invitation, only about two
weeks before the congress was scheduled to begin (Paul Morphy: The Pride
and Sorrow of Chess, p. 48).

Morphy and Meek esteemed each other greatly; as Miron Hazeltine wrote in
the Macon Telegraph of May 2nd, 1867, recalling the appearance of the two
at the 1857 congress:

“At once it was evident that the tenderest ties of honor and friendship
existed between them. No father could watch with more tender
anxiety, or glory with more exultant pride in the triumphs of a favored
son, than this great man, in the victorious career of his protégé. And
the youthful hero in turn, reverenced his noble friend as a father could
not have been more reverenced.”

Meek is also given a very positive biographical description in the book of the
Fifth American Chess Congress, 1880, and a good general biography of Meek
is found in Reminiscences of Public Men in Alabama, for Thirty Years, by
William Garrett.

Morphy had played Meek before the congress, and their tournament games in
New York are well known. Morphy, of course, was many classes above Meek
as a player. Thus, I chose as my first Meek game one from the first round of
the tournament. There is a small mystery about this match between Meek and
William J.A. Fuller of Boston, which Meek won +3 –2. The Oxford
Encyclopedia of Chess Games gives only four of the games, with each
winning two; one game of the series is lost. Strangely, Meek seems to have
had White in all four games; the tournament book notes that this is odd, but it
appears they are simply giving us the actual record. The Meek-Fuller games
are not among the Congress’ best. In the following, Meek sets a trap that
Fuller falls into, leading to a queen-winning fork.

Meek-Fuller, First American Chess Congress, New York 1857: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 Nf6 5.e5 Qe7 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.0-0 dxe5 9.Bxc6
Bxc6 10.Nxe5 Bd7 11.Re1 Be6 12.Nc3 0-0-0 13.Be3 Nd5 14.Nb5 a6??

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New Stories about Old Chess Players

15.Na7+ 1-0 If 15…Kb8 16.Nac6+ etc.

Here is a little game in which Meek mates

a Mobile, Alabama amateur in just seven
moves, playing without his queen rook.

Meek-NN (remove White’s queen rook):

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxe4
5.Nxe4 Bg4 6.Qe2 Bxf3??

7.Nf6#

How strong a player was Meek? Judging

by the following game, perhaps not even
modern Class A (Elo 1800+) strength, and
certainly not as high as Expert (2000+).
Though he wins, Meek makes several
major errors. I present its original
introduction and notes from an 1859 issue
of The Gambit; notes in italics are Fritz8-
assisted:

Played at the New York Chess Club September 29, 1859, between Hon. A.B.
Meek, President of the Mobile Chess Club, and William Schleiden, Esq.,
President of the German Chess Club, San Francisco: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3
g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 h5 This move is now considered inferior to 5...Nf6. 6.Bc4
Nh6 7.d4 d6 8.Nxf7

This sacrifice, which was first introduced

by Mr. Oliver, although it certainly gives
the first player a very strong attack, can
scarcely be called sound. It is frequently
made after the defense has played ...Rh7
instead of ...Nh6, in which case there is
more of a quid pro quo. 8...Nxf7 9.Bxf7+
Kxf7 10.Bxf4 Bh6 Better is 10…Be7. 11.0-
0 Bxf4 12.Rxf4+ Ke8 13.Nc3 Qxh4 Mr.
Schleiden ought to have been satisfied
with the advantage of a piece, and should
have endeavored to develop his forces
without the least delay. 14.Nd5 Na6 Better is 14…Kd8, intending c7-c6, Nb8-
d7, and an eventual haven for the king on the queenside. 15.Nf6+ Kd8 16.e5
Qg3 17.Qd2 b6 18.Re1 Bb7 19.d5 Nc5 20.e6! Ke7

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21.Rf5?! 21.b4! would have won back

White’s sacrificed piece with ample
interest, since if 21…Na6?? 22.Ne4 and
either 22…Qa3 23.Qd4! and mate shortly,
or 22…Qh4 23.g3 winning Black’s queen.
21…Qh4 To prevent Qg5, and threatening
...g3. 22.Ref1?? A serious blunder, but
Black fails to capitalize. 22…Raf8??
22...g3 would have broken up the attack
and forced some exchanges. A major
understatement! In fact 22…g3! would
have been crushing, viz. 23.R1f3 Qh2+
24.Kf1 Qh1+ 25.Ke2 Qxg2+ 26.Ke1 Qxd2+ 27.Kxd2 Raf8 28.Nxh5 (if
28.Rxg3 Rxf6 29.Rg7+ Kd8 30.Rxf6 Ne4+ 31.Ke1 Nxf6) 28…Rxf5 29.Rxf5 g2
30.Rf7+ Kd8 31.Rg7 Rxh5 and the dust settles with Black two pieces up.
23.Qf4! c6 24.dxc6 Bxc6 Upon 24...Nxe6, White plays 25.Nd5+ Ke8 (best)
26.Qxd6 and wins. 25.Nd5+ Bxd5

26.Rf7+?? Such a blunder that one

suspects an error in the scoresheet.
Correct was simply the direct and obvious
26.Rxf8. But again, Black fails to
capitalize. 26…Kxe6?? After 26…Rxf7
27.Qxf7+ Kd8 Black would be winning,
but … 27.Qf5#.

Here is the best Meek win I could find, a

consultation game involving other well-
known players. It appeared in an 1860
Chess Monthly, and was played Sept 23,
1860 in the Morphy Chess Rooms, New York.

Meek and Michaelis-Lichtenhein and Sedley: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d5

4.exd5 e4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.d4 Bb4 8.Bc4 Nxd5 9.Bxd5 Qxd5 10.0-0
Bxc3 11.bxc3 f6

12.c4? Qe6? 12…Qd6! and the Ne5 falls,

having no escape square, e.g. 13.c5 Qd5
14.c4 Qd8 and 15…fxe5, or if 13.Ng4
Bxg4 14.Qxg4?? Qxd4+ winning the Ra1.
13.f5! Qa6 14.Ng6?! 14.hxg6? Black
should decline with 14…Re8 14.Nf4 Qxc4
16.Be3 Bxf5, when he has some
advantage. 15.fxg6 Qxc4?

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Relatively best was 15…Nd7, when White

has to find this interesting line to win:
16.Qh5 Re8 17.Qh7+ Kf8 18.Bh6! Ke7
19.Qxg7+ Kd8 20.Qf7 Re7 21.Qd5!
intending 22.g7. After the text, White wins
quickly. 16.Qh5! Rd8 17.Qh7+ Kf8

18.Rxf6+! 1-0

I’ll close with another Meek composition,

a song he wrote and sang himself at the
closing banquet of the 1857 congress. Like
“The Mocking-Bird,” it does not exactly
qualify as great poetry, but the last two of
its eight stanzas do make for a rousing
finale, proudly announcing America’s
arrival on the world chess stage:

Rich blows the breeze beyond the seas,

Amid the chestnut bowers,
But now the dawn comes sailing on,
This Western World of ours!
Our Congress grave, in high conclave,
Has spread a glorious standard,
Whose chequered bars, like Freedom’s stars,
Shall light Columbia’s vanguard!
Then fill the cup with bright wine up,
And toast our noble pastime;
The Tournament “has come and went,”
May it not be the last time!
May Chess arise beneath these skies,
With prouder deeds elated,
On Freedom’s deck, receive no check,
And never be Stale-mated!

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