Anglo-American cable chess matches

The series ended when Great Britain won their third consecutive match, thereby earning permanent custody of the silver cup provided by Sir George Newnes.

Some who played for Great Britain included Joseph Blackburne, Amos Burn, Henry Bird, Henry Atkins, Horatio Caro, James Mason, Frederick Yates, Sir George Thomas, and Thomas Lawrence.

Some who played for the United States included Harry Pillsbury, Jackson Showalter, Frank Marshall, Albert Hodges, Eugene Delmar, and John Barry.

Hooper and Whyld call the first half of the 19th century the "golden age" of correspondence chess.

Individual correspondence chess did not become popular until postage rates declined to more affordable levels.

Only one of the ten games concluded by the time the London hall was required to close, a draw being agreed.

Emanuel Lasker, charged with adjudicating unfinished games, suggested draws on the nine remaining boards and this was acceptable to both clubs.

Sir George Newnes was president of the British Chess Club and he provided the silver cup that would go to the winning team until the next match.

[4] Negotiation of conditions were substantially complete by the end of 1895,[5] but the match itself would not take place until the spring of 1896.

[8] The British players were at the Grand Hall of the Hotel Cecil in London, along with Leopold Hoffer serving as the umpire for the American team.

[9] The American players were at the Academy of Music in Brooklyn, with Isaac Rice serving as umpire for the British team.

[9] World Champion Emanuel Lasker was the adjudicator, and for the third time Baron Albert von Rothschild was the referee.

The United States team won by a margin of two games, tying the series at two matches each.

As the United States team did not win three consecutive matches, the series was not ended.

[14] No matches were held during these years due to other demand for cable traffic and technical difficulties.

The teams could not agree on a result for two uncompleted games (Blackburne–Hodges and Delmar–Richmond), so for the first time in the series adjudication was required.

However, by winning three consecutive matches, the British team took permanent possession of the Newnes cup and ended the series.

Fox was awarded a special gold medal for the best win by a United States player.