7. Morphy plays Hammond and Mead

On October 7, Morphy played some offhand games. In the tournament book, D.W. Fiske wrote:

A number of disinguished amateurs, such as Mr. George Hammond, of Boston, who arrived too late to enter the Grand Tournament, Mr. Morphy, Colonel Mead, and others, encountered each other in side games.

- ACC1, page 75

David Lawson concurs:

However, Morphy did not remain idle, for he played several side games with George Hammond of Boston and Colonel Mead of New York."

- The Pride and the Sorrow, page 58


George Hammond (1815-1881)


Hammond was considered the top player in Boston, but Morphy beat him 7 to 1 on even terms. Two game scores survive, but the exact dates are unknown. Its is likely that one or both took place on 7 October since Morphy had a free day and most of their games would have taken place at that time. However, there is not enough evidence to place a date in the pgn file.









Colonel Charles Dillingham Mead (ca.1812-1876)

Mead was President of the New York Chess Club and an organizer of the chess congress. He played only one even game with Morphy (see TMF3 table) and one score survives. Therefore we can safely date the game on the 7th of October, 1857.


[Event "Unofficial Games From the 1st ACC"]
[Site "New York, USA"]
[Date "1857.10.07"]
[Round ""]
[White "Mead, Colonel Charles Dillingham"]
[Black "Morphy, Paul C"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C26"]
[Opening "Evans Gambit Reversed"]

1.h3 e5 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Bc4 b5 5.Bxb5 c6 6.Ba4 O-O 7.Nge2 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.d4 exd4 10.Nxd4 Qb6 11.Nce2 Ba6 12.c3 Bxe2 13.Kxe2 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Qa6+ 15.Kf3 Rc8 16.b3 Ne4 17.Bb2 Nc6 18.Bxc6 Rxc6 19.Ke3 Re8 20.Rhe1 Nxc3+ 21.Kf3 Rf6+ 22.Kg3 Qd6+ 23.f4 Ne2+ 24.Rxe2 Rxe2 25.Rf1 Rg6+ 26.Kf3 Rgxg2 0-1

Game Sources:
Lange(3rd) - Game 054
Maroczy - Game 057
Sergeant - Game CLXII
Shibut - Game 109

Wanted:
Original publication for all Hammond and Mead games.
Dates for Hammond games.