Ellen Gilbert

Who was Ellen Gilbert?

Ellen E. Gilbert was a strong 19th century correspondence chess player, and one of the first significant women players in chess history. She became famous for her match victory against George H. D. Gossip. Gossip, who had won the 1873–74 correspondence chess tournament of the Chess-Players Chronicle, "was thought by some to be the strongest correspondence player known". Gilbert, playing first board for the United States in an 1879 correspondence chess match against England, won all four of her games against Gossip. This enabled the American team to win the match 27-23. Her victories, combined with her announcing mate in 21 moves in one game, and mate in 35 moves in another, "caused a sensation in the chess world". She was hailed as "The Queen of Chess", and poems and at least one chess problem were composed in her honor. Her games were analyzed by Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion, who confirmed the accuracy of her analyses. Gossip responded gallantly, dedicating his book Theory of the Chess Openings to her.

Unfortunately, this proved to be not only the high point of her chess career, but almost its end. Apart from playing one move in a "circulating game" in 1883, her victory against Gossip is the last known event in her career. Her obituary mentions "loss of sight" in "late years", and her vision may have already been declining when she played Gossip.