View source for James Hanham

{{short description|American chess player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox chess player
|name = James Moore Hanham
|image= James Moore Hanham.jpg
|caption= 
|birthname = James Moore Hanham
|country = {{USA}}
|birth_date={{Birth date|1840|1|4}}
|birth_place = [[Woodville, Mississippi|Woodville]], [[Mississippi]]
|death_date={{Death date and age|1923|12|30|1840|1|4}}
|death_place = [[New York City|New York]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
|title = [[Chess master|Master]]
|worldchampion = 
|womensworldchampion =
|rating = 
|peakrating = 
}}
{{chess notation}}
Major '''James Moore Hanham''' (January 4, 1840 [[Woodville, Mississippi|Woodville]], [[Mississippi]] – December 30, 1923 [[New York City|New York]], [[New York (state)|New York]])<ref>[[Jeremy Gaige]], ''Chess Personalia: A Biobibliography'', McFarland & Company, 1987, p. 161. {{ISBN|0-7864-2353-6}}.</ref> was an [[United States of America|American]] [[chess master]], who played in many American and international [[chess tournament]]s between 1884 and 1889. He fought on the side of the North during the [[American Civil War]], reaching the rank of [[Major (rank)|Major]]. He is remembered today for several innovations in the [[chess opening|opening]], particularly the Hanham Variation of [[Philidor's Defense]] (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7).

==Military service, appearance==

Although a [[Mississippi]]an, Hanham fought for the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. He saw action at [[Fort Pickens]] and [[Baton Rouge]], and was promoted to the rank of [[Major (rank)|Major]]. After the war, he moved to [[Manhattan]].<ref name="ChessGames.comBio">[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=10479 James Moore Hanham]</ref>

A writer in the ''New York Times'', describing the players in the Sixth American Chess Congress (1889), portrayed him as follows:<ref>[http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter49.html Chess Note 5710 (quoting "The Chessboard Kings: Ways and Looks of 20 Great Players", ''New York Times'', June 16, 1889, p. 8).]</ref>
<blockquote>Major Hanham is a little, nervous man, who hates to sit still. He won his title during the war of the rebellion. He was one of the dudes of the tournament, and was always dressed in the latest style, with a carefully polished silk hat and neatly trimmed beard.</blockquote>

==Chess career==

Hanham played in many American and international [[chess tournament]]s between 1884 and 1899.<ref>Gino Di Felice, ''Chess Results, 1747-1900'', McFarland & Company, 2004, pp. 93, 98–99, 102–03, 110, 117, 128, 130–31, 137, 142–44, 152, 157, 163, 169, 174, 187, 196. {{ISBN|0-7864-2041-3}}.</ref> At American tournaments, he finished second to [[Eugene Delmar]] in the 8th and 9th championships of the [[Manhattan Chess Club]], both held in 1885, and at an 1886 [https://www.marshallchessclub.org New York Chess Club] tournament.<ref>Di Felice, pp. 98, 102.</ref> At [[Cincinnati]] 1888, the first United States Chess Association tournament, he tied for 2nd–3rd with 5.5/10, far behind winner [[Jackson Showalter]].<ref>Di Felice, p. 110.</ref> He finished 3rd with 3/6 at [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]] 1891, the fourth United States Chess Association tournament, behind Showalter and [[William Pollock (chess player)|William Pollock]], who tied for first at 5/6.<ref>Di Felice, p. 128.</ref> He won two tournaments at [[Skaneateles (town), New York|Skaneateles]], [[New York (state)|New York]] in 1891.<ref>Di Felice, p. 130.</ref> According to [[Chessmetrics]], Hanham's best-ever performance was at [[Grove Spring]] 1898, where he scored 4.5/7 for the New York State team against the [[Pennsylvania]] team.<ref name="ChessmetricsHanham">[http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerProfile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S050545000000111000000000011410100 Chessmetrics Player Profile: J. Moore Hanham]</ref><ref>Di Felice, p. 187.</ref>

At international tournaments, Hanham performed respectably but not spectacularly, usually finishing in the bottom half. At [[London]] and [[Nottingham]], both in 1886, he finished 12th out of 13 with a 3.5/12 score, and 8th out of 10 with a 2/9 score, respectively.<ref>Di Felice, p. 99.</ref> At the [[American Chess Congress#Sixth American Chess Congress|Sixth American Chess Congress]] at New York 1889, a double [[Round-robin tournament|round robin]] that was one of the longest tournaments in history, Hanham scored 14/38, finishing 16th out of 20 players; [[Mikhail Chigorin]] and [[Max Weiss]] tied for first with 29 points, edging out [[Isidor Gunsberg]] (28.5).<ref>Di Felice, p. 117.</ref> At New York 1894, Hanham tied for 7th–9th with a 4/10 score; recently dethroned [[World Chess Championship|World Champion]] [[Wilhelm Steinitz]] won with 8.5/10.<ref>Di Felice, p. 152.</ref>

One of Hanham's best results was at New York 1893, where he scored 7.5/13 (finishing 6th of 14 players), beat the young [[Harry Nelson Pillsbury]], and finished half a point ahead of him. [[Emanuel Lasker]], who would become World Champion the following year, won with a [[List of world records in chess#Perfect tournament scores|perfect score]].<ref>Di Felice, p. 142.</ref>

By [[Arpad Elo|Arpad Elo's]] calculation, Hanham's strength during his five-year peak was equivalent to an [[Elo rating]] of 2360.<ref>[[Arpad Elo|Arpad E. Elo]], ''The Rating of Chessplayers, Past and Present, Arco Publishing, 1978, p. 192. {{ISBN|0-668-04721-6}}.</ref>

At the time of his death in 1923, Hanham was the oldest player of [[chess master|master]] rank in the United States.<ref name="ChessGames.comBio"/>

==Opening innovations==

Hanham's name is best remembered today for the Hanham Variation of [[Philidor's Defense]] (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nd7).<ref>[[David Hooper (chess player)|David Hooper]] and [[Kenneth Whyld]], ''[[The Oxford Companion to Chess]]'', Oxford University Press, 2nd ed. 1992, pp. 167, 476. {{ISBN|0-19-866164-9}}.</ref> [[David Hooper (chess player)|David Hooper]] and [[Kenneth Whyld]] note in ''[[The Oxford Companion to Chess]]'' that this line, which became a favorite of the great player and [[Chess theory|theoretician]] [[Aron Nimzowitsch]], allows [[White and Black in chess|Black]] to maintain a defensive center and has become one of the main lines of Philidor's Defense.<ref>Hooper and Whyld, p. 167.</ref> [[Larry Kaufman]] writes that it is a "strategically rich variation" but is out of favor today because 4.Bc4! is awkward for Black, when 4...Ngf6? loses to 5.Ng5, 4...Be7? loses a [[pawn (chess)|pawn]] to 5.dxe5 Nxe5 (5...dxe5? 6.Qd5! wins) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5!, and 4...c6 (best) allows 5.0-0 Be7 6.dxe5 dxe5 (6...Nxe5? 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Qh5 wins a pawn) 6.Ng5! Bxg5 7.Qh5 Qe7 8.Qxg5, when [[White and Black in chess|White's]] [[bishop pair]] gives him a substantial advantage.<ref>[[Larry Kaufman]], ''The Chess Advantage in Black and White'', Random House Puzzles & Games, 2004, pp. 66, 69. {{ISBN|0-8129-3571-3}}.</ref> To avoid this line, today Black often tries to reach the Hanham by different move orders, such as 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7, 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7, or 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 e5.<ref>Kaufman, p. 65.</ref>

Hooper and Whyld also credit Hanham with introducing a number of other opening lines, including the [[Sicilian Defense#White.27s second move alternatives|Grand Prix Attack]] against the [[Sicilian Defense]] (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4), the Indian Opening (1.e4 e5 2.d3), and the Hanham Variation of the [[French Defense]] (1.e4 e6 2.d3), often referred to today as the [[King's Indian Attack]].<ref>Hooper and Whyld, pp. 167, 468, 471, 478.</ref>

==Notable game==

{{Chess diagram
|tleft
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|rd|  |bd|  |  |rd|kd|  
|pd|pd|qd|nd|bd|pd|pd|pd
|  |  |pd|pd|  |nd|  |  
|  |  |  |  |pd|  |  |  
|  |  |bl|pl|pl|  |  |  
|  |  |nl|  |bl|nl|  |  
|pl|pl|pl|  |ql|pl|pl|pl
|rl|  |  |  |  |rl|kl|  
|Blackburne – Hanham, position after 8...Qc7: Black has reached a classic Hanham setup
|reverse=true}}

In this game from the Sixth American Chess Congress (at New York in 1889), Hanham (playing [[White and Black in chess|Black]]) uses his [[eponym]]ous variation to defeat [[Joseph Henry Blackburne]], one of the world's leading players:<ref>[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1002402 Blackburne-Hanham, Sixth American Chess Congress, New York 1889]</ref>

'''1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.Nc3 c6 5.d4 Nd7 6.O-O Ngf6 7.Qe2 O-O 8.Be3 Qc7''' reaching the typical setup of the Hanham Variation of [[Philidor's Defense]]. '''9.Bb3 h6 10.Nh4 Nb6 11.Ng6 Re8 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.h3 Bd6 14.Rad1 Be6 15.Bxe6 Rxe6 16.Nh4 Nbd7 17.Nf5 Bf8 18.g4 Nh7 19.h4 Rg6 20.Kh1 Nc5 21.Rg1 Ne6 22.Rg3 Rd8 23.Rdg1 Nd4 24.Qf1 Nxc2 25.Bc1 Nd4 26.h5 Rf6 27.f4 exf4 28.Bxf4 Qa5 29.Qc1 Re6 30.Bd2 Qe5 31.Bf4 Qa5 32.Be3 Nb5 33.Bd2 Nxc3 34.Bxc3 Qa4 35.Re1 Rxe4 36.b3 Rxe1+ 37.Qxe1 Qxa2 38.g5 hxg5 39.h6 Qc2 40.Nd4 Qg6 41.Qe5 Qxh6+ 42.Kg2 Qd6 43.Qe2 Qd5+ 44.Kh3 Qh1+ 45.Kg4 Nf6+ 46.Kxg5 Rd5+ 47.Kf4 Bd6+ [[Glossary of chess#Resign|0-1]]'''
{{clear}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{chessgames player|id=10479|name=James Moore Hanham}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanham, James}}
[[Category:American chess players]]
[[Category:1840 births]]
[[Category:1923 deaths]]
[[Category:Chess theoreticians]]