Horace Ransom Bigelow was an American chess master and organizer.

He learned the moves from a Swiss governess in Lucerne, Switzerland, at the age of ten. Several years later, he played chess with Count Antonio Sacconi

Antonio Sacconi

Antonio Sacconi was an Italian chess master.Born into a noble family in Rome, he won torneo del Caffè Balbo after play-off match against Bernheimer in 1917, drew a match with Stefano Rosselli del Turco in 1918, both in Rome, and won a match against Mario Monticelli at Venice 1926.He won Italian...

 in a Jesuit boarding school at Villa Mondragone, Frascati, a few miles outside of Rome, and became an Oxford University Champion. He took 3rd, behind Edward Guthlac Sergeant

Edward Guthlac Sergeant

Edward Guthlac Sergeant was an English chess master.He participated many times in British Chess Championship, London City championships, and Hastings International Chess Congress. In 1907, he tied for 2nd-5th in London...

 and Max Euwe

Max Euwe

Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...

, at Bromley 1920 (Section B), and took 3rd at Malvern 1921 (the 14th BFC Congress

British Chess Championship

The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...

, Minor Tournament). Then he moved to the United States.

He divided the third prize with Jacob Bernstein

Jacob Bernstein

Jacob Bernstein was an American chess master.Born into a Jewish family, he lived in New York. He won three consecutive New York State Chess Championships , and shared 1st with Herman Steiner in 1929, but lost a tiebreak to him.He also tied for 8-9th at New York 1913 ,tied for 5-6th at New York...

, Dawid Janowski

Dawid Janowski

Dawid Markelowicz Janowski was a leading Polish chess master and subsequent French citizen....

, and Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...

 (Ten-Year-Old !) at New York 1922 (the first prize was won by Edward Lasker

Edward Lasker

Edward Lasker was a leading German-American chess and Go player. He was awarded the title of International Master of chess by FIDE. Lasker was an engineer by profession, and an author.-Background:...

, and the second prize by Charles Jaffe

Charles Jaffe

Charles Jaffé was a Belarusian-American chess master, of virtually Grandmaster strength at his peak in the 1910s, when he was one of the world's top players. Jaffe was also a chess writer....

), tied for 13-14th at Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey 1923 (the 9th American Chess Congress

American Chess Congress

The American Chess Congress was a series of chess tournaments held in the United States, a predecessor to the current U.S. Chess Championship. It had nine editions, the first played in 1857 and the last in 1923.-First American Chess Congress :...

, Frank Marshall and Abraham Kupchik

Abraham Kupchik

Abraham Kupchik was an American chess master.Abraham Kupchik was born into a Jewish family in Brest . His family emigrated to the USA in 1903....

 won), took 6th at New York 1924 (The Dimock Theme Tournament, Marshall won ahead of Carlos Torre), took 10th at Bradley Beach 1929 (Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...

 won), and tied for 6-8th at New York 1929 (Sidney Norman Bernstein

Sidney Norman Bernstein

Sidney Norman Bernstein was an American chess master.He tied for 2nd-4th in Marshall Chess Club Championship at New York 1930/31 , tied for 6-7th in New York State Chess Championship at Rome 1931...

 and Smirka won).

He was, as a prominent member of the Manhattan Chess Club

Manhattan Chess Club

The Manhattan Chess Club in Manhattan was the second-oldest chess club in the United States . The club was founded in 1877 and started with three dozen players; membership later reached into the hundreds before the club ended its existence in 2002...

, one of organizers of the New York 1924 chess tournament

New York 1924 chess tournament

New York 1924 was an elite chess tournament held in the Alamac Hotel in New York City from March 6 to April 18, 1924. It was organized by the Manhattan Chess Club. The competitors included world champion José Raúl Capablanca and his predecessor Emanuel Lasker. Nine other top players from Europe...

 won by Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker

Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...

 ahead of José Raúl Capablanca

José Raúl Capablanca

José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...

. He edited a chess column in the New York Evening Post, and the Liberty magazine.