The Worst BEMO Ever Played - Part 3
by DETECTO
Now we come to the great 6th American Tourney held at the Hotel Alamac, New York City from
April 29th to May 14th, 1924. This was a very fancy Hotel located on Broadway at 71st
Street. The Tourney was played in "The Japanese Room" a fine banquet/ballroom very
well lit and most appropriate for this event! This great Tourney was perhaps the
grandest and most glorious ever staged! They raised $2,130 for prizes! By today's
standards equivalent to over $40,000! Thirty-three players entered, some of them
the best in the United States and The World! There were hundreds of spectators,
fans, friends and the curious, and there was full newspaper coverage.
John F. Horr was confident, he was primed , he was pumped up , he was ready to win
this Tourney! He was in my opinion the most prepared and in the best position to win this
Tourney! He was experienced, he was talented, he had the ability, he had the manuscript, he was
loaded with cooks galore and he was the foremost authority in the world on the barred openings!
This last was most important, because he could hold his own with anybody for 10 games and then
he would have a decided advantage when the barred openings were chosen to break
the tie! However, he had a fatal weakness or flaw! He was subject to missing a
critical win or a critical draw! Or as I like to state it :- He sometimes could not administer
the knockout punch! Just like Jack Dempsey was unable to administer the knockout punch to Gene
Tunney in their Championship fight!
For example: in the previous year he beat Asa Long but he missed 3
wins and a critical draw. In the
5th rd. of this Tourney he had Ginsberg at his mercy! He had Ginsberg down and out but could
not administer the knockout punch! He missed a critical win and should have beaten Ginsberg and
won the heat! Next in the 7th round against Jordan in the 10th game of the heat
Horr sprung another one of his amazing cooks on Jordan, he was a piece ahead, he had
Jordan down and out, he had him badly beaten and he should have won the heat and then
advance to the finals against Gonotsky! But no that was not to be! Again he could not administer
the knockout punch to Jordan! As he made his terrible big BEMO and he lost the game and the
heat to Jordan! Also in 1927 in the 2nd International Match he made
the fine score of 3 to 0 and 37 draws! He was one of "The Big Five" in the 2nd International
Match to go undefeated! But again true to form he missed 3 wins! The five were:
Gonotsky 13-0-27; Banks 10-0-30; Lieber 8-0-32; O'Grady 5-0-35 and Horr 3-0-37.
It is now Wednesday, April 30, 1924 and the first round begins:
Rd. 1 Horr defeats H.C. MacNair --- 1 to 0 and 3 draws
Rd. 2 Horr defeats R.B. McCoy------- 2 to 0 and 1 draw
Rd. 3 Horr defeats Willie Ryan------- 2 to 0 and 1 draw In Game 2 Horr uses a cook to win,
correcting Shearer's Handbook!
Rd. 4 Horr defeats E.C. Waterhouse 1 to 0 and 11 draws! After 10 draws the barred openings
are played. Mr. Horr wins game 11 and draws game 12 easily! Note: in round 2 Waterhouse beats
Jordan 1-0-3 and Horr beats Waterhouse in round 4!
So to recap after 4 rounds: Horr has 6 wins and 0 losses and has won all 4 rounds!
Rd. 5 Horr loses to Ginsberg by the score of 1 to 0 and 5 draws. But as we all now know Horr
missed a win and a draw, and should have won this round beating Ginsberg! And then
getting into the finals with Gonotsky.
Rd. 6 Horr defeats S.S. Bell----------2 to 0 and one draw Note: Bell was a very strong
crossboard player and missed a win on Ginsberg in round 4! Bell came in tied for 5TH & 6TH
ahead of Tanner, who came in 7th! In game 2 of this heat Horr sprung another excellent cook!
He should have won this game and all 3 games of the heat! But true to form, sadly he missed
another critical win!
Rd. 7 Alfred Jordan v John F. Horr--- Nine games were quickly drawn and then
we come to game 10 which in the Tourney book is Game no. 329 and can be found on page 259.
Black------Horr EDINBURGH White------Jordan
Checker Animator courtesy of Hans L'Hoest
Graphics courtesy of It's Your Turn
EPILOGUE AND IMPORTANT & INTERESTING
HISTORICAL INFO. ALSO TRYING TO EXPLAIN
WHY HORR MADE THE BEMO TO FOLLOW IN
THE CONCLUSION TO THIS ARTICLE
DETECTO