Any doubts we had about finding a larger event than the recent NJHS have now been put to rest. From the December 1949 issue of Chess Review:

“A junior chess tournament, sponsored by the Milwaukee Department of Municipal recreation and Adult Education in co-operation with the Milwaukee Journal, attracted a total of 2,995 boys and girls of all ages from less than nine up to 17. Of this number of starters, 785 qualified for the championship finals and 701 actually played. One hundred ten won chess sets, donated by the Milwaukee Journal.”

We really knew how to throw a chess party back then, didn’t we? One more event from the string that used to be held in the Marquette University football stadium because nowhere else in town was big enough to hold it.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 18th, 2003 at 8:50 am and is filed under Chess History, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.