Chess  Vignettes

At Odds With The Turk


Jacques-Francis Mouret (1787-1837) was the nephew of Philidor, a contemporary of La Bourdonnais and a house master at le Café de la Régence in Paris. During 1819 to 1820, Mouret was the man behind the automaton, the Turk. During that time he played about 300 games, all at the odds of the Queen's Bishop's pawn, winning all but 6. He lost only against Cochrane, Brand and Mercier. The admission price to watch the Turk play was 5 shillings.

for more on the Turk and other automatons


Eventually Mouret went insane. Some attributed his insanity to his addiction to alcohol. The secret behnd the Turk was suspected, but Mouret allayed all speculation when he sold his story to a Parisienne magazine in 1834 - for the price of a drink.







Mouret (as Turk) defeats amateur

[Event "Casual game"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "1820.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Sturmer"]
[Black "Jacques Mouret -
Turk"]
[Result "0-1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/ppppp1pp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]

{--------------
r n b q k b n r
p p p p p . p p
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
P P P P P P P P
R N B Q K B N R
white to play
--------------}
1. e4 e6 2. d4 c6 3. Be3 d5 4. e5 g6 5. Be2 Nh6 6. Bxh6 Bxh6 7. g3 Qb6 8. b3 c5 9. dxc5 Qxc5 10. f4 Nc6 11. Nf3 O-O 12. c3 a5 13. Nd4 Bd7 14. Bb5 Rac8 15. Qd3 Rf7 16. Ne2 Nxe5 17. fxe5 Bxb5 18. Qc2 Qf2+ 19. Kd1 Qf1+ 20. Rxf1 Rxf1#
{Black mates} 0-1


John Cochrane defeats the Turk

[Event "casual"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "1820.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "John Cochrane"]
[Black "Jacques Mouret - Turk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/ppppp1pp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[SetUp "1"]

{--------------
r n b q k b n r
p p p p p . p p
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .
P P P P P P P P
R N B Q K B N R
white to play
--------------}
1. e4 e6 2. d4 c6 3. f4 d5 4. e5 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. c3 Nh6 7. Be2 Qb6 8. Qb3 Qc7 9. O-O Be7 10. Qc2 cxd4 11. cxd4 Qb6 12. Rd1 Nf5 13. Qd3 Ncxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Kh1 Nxe2 16. Qxe2 O-O 17. Nc3 Bd7 18. Be3 Bc5 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. Qg4 Rf7 21. Nxd5 exd5 22. e6 Bxe6 23. Qxe6 d4 24. Rac1 Qb4 25. Rc7 Rf8 26. Rxf7 Rxf7 27. Rc1 h6 28. Rc7 Qf8 29. Rc8 Qxc8 30. Qxc8+
1-0

The Last Bivouac


This game was played between two Russian officers, Lieutenant Denn and Captain Perwago, stationed in Manchuria, on the night before a fateful battle in which Captain Perwago was killed and Lieutenant Denn seriously wounded. The lieutentant sent the score of the game to (Simon?) Alapin with the attached note:
"The furious attack of the Captain durng the battle was equal to the present brilliant encounter."


[Event "The Last Bivouac"]
[Site "Manchuria"]
[Date "1904.03.10"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Lieutentant Denn"]
[Black "Captain Perwago"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bb4 4. c3 Ba5 5. O-O Nge7 6. Na3 O-O 7. Qa4 d58. Bxc6 Nxc6 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Qxa5 Nf3+ 11. Kh1 Qd6 12. gxf3 Qf4 13. Kg2 Bh3+ 14. Kxh3 Qxf3+ 15. Kh4 g5+ 16. Kxg5 Kh8 17. Kh4 Rg8 18. h3 Qf4+ 19.Kh5 Qg5#
0-1

soldiers at chess
Soldiers Playing Chess

Of Popes and Chess


This game was won by Gioacchino Pecci, soon to be Pope Leo XIII.:

[Event "casual game"]
[Site "Perugia"]
[Date "1875.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Rev Fr Guila"]
[Black "Gioacchino Cardinal Pecci"]
[Result "0-1"]

{ Joachim Cardinal Pecci later became Pope Leo XIII }
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Qe2+ Be6 9. fxg7 Rg8 10. cxd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bxd4 12. Qh5 Qf6 13. O-O
Rxg7 14. Qb5+ c6 15. Qxb7 Rxg2+ 16. Kxg2 Qg6+ 17. Kh1 Bd5+ 18. f3 Bxf3+ 19. Rxf3 Qg1#

0-1


Pope Leo XIII

Perugia is an Etruscan city in Umbria, Italy.
Gioacchino Pecci was Pope from 1878 to 1903.
Before that He was a popular and successful as the Archbishop of Perugia. This in turn  led to his appointment as a Cardinal in 1853 and election to papacy in 1878.

Other papal chess players iclude:
Pope Gregory VI
Pope Innocent III
Pope John Paul I
Pope John Paul II
Pope Leo X
then there's always:
Thomas Becket -the Archbishop of Cantebury
Charles Borromeo - Bishop of Milan
Cardinal Richelieu

FIDE, at its 1999 Diamond Jubilee celebration in Paris, awarded the title "Grand Commander of the Legion of Grandmasters" to Pope John Paul II (and to French president Jaques Chirac).

 

Morphy's First Blindfold Game


On his 12th birthday, Paul Morphy played his first recorded blindfold game. He played against his Uncle Ernest, who prior to Paul's emergence on the chess scene, was considered the strongest player in New Orleans. Paul, of course, won the game and those present- including Ernest Morphy and Dr.Ford- carried Paul away on their shoulders in their enthusiasm. For this display of talent, Paul was given an expensive chess set.

[Event "blindfold casual"]
[Site "New Orleans"]
[Date "1849.06.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy,P"]
[Black "Morphy,Ernest"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. O-O d6 7. cxd4
Bb6  8. h3 h6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Re8 11. d5 Bxe3 12. dxc6 Bb6 13. e5 dxe5
14. Qb3 Re7 15. Bxf7+ Rxf7 16. Nxe5 Qe8 17. cxb7 Bxb7 18. Rae1 Ba6 19.
Ng6 Qd8 20. Re7
{Black resigns} 1-0

 

Paul Morphy by Homer Winslow
Paul Charles Morphy

A Prisoner's Game


The Mannheim Congress 1914

The Mannheim Congress was a series of chess tournaments that were taking place in Germany when World War I broke out. This was the 19th congress of the German Chess Federation. It began on July 20 and was stopped on August 1. Alekhine won (9.5-1.5) won first place for a proze of 2000 German marks ($500), followed by Vidmar and Spielmann. In addition there were Marshall, Reti, Janowski, Tarrasch, Mieses, Duras, Tartakover, Bogoljubov, Flamberg, Malyutin, Ilya Rabinovich, Selesniev, and Ossip Weinstein. Weinstein later became the editor of the Soviet Russian chess magazine Shakhmatny Listok and became a civilian casualty of the German bombardment of Leningrad during World War II. Alexander Flamberg, who had some remarkable success in Russia before 1914, died young in 1926. Malyutin simply disappeared from the chess scene. The others became more or less famous in international competition.
Only 11 of the scheduled 17 rounds were played. Frank Marshall escaped to Amsterdam. His baggage showed up in his New York office years later with all of the contents still intact. The Russian chessmasters found themselves all under arrest and the prize fund was cut in half. Alekhine was held in a German police station, then a military prison. He feigned madness and the Germans certified him as medically unfit for military service and released him after 6 weeks in exchange for a German internee. Alekhine served in the Russian Red Cross 1915-16, was captured by the Austrians and was hospitalized in Tarnapol due to a spinal injury where he further developed his blindfold skills. The Russian government decorated him for bravery. (In 1918 he was a criminal investigator in Moscow and was imprisoned in the death cell at Odessa as a spy in 1919). Tarrasch learned that his son was already killed in action. Bogolybubov remained in Germany after the war.

download the games from the Mannheim Congress of 1914

This game was played blindfold, between Efim Bogoljubow and Alexander Alekhine while imprisoned following the disruption of the Mannheim Congress in 1914.
 
[Event""]
[Site "Rastatt exg"]
[Date "1914"]
[Round ""]
[White "Bogoljubow,Efim"]
[Black "Alekhine,Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]


1. e4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Ne2 Nc6 5. c3 e6 6. Na3 Nge7 7. Nc2 O-O 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 d5 10. e5 Bd7 11. O-O Rc8 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bd2 Qb6 14. Bc3 Na5 15. Bxa5 Qxa5 16. Ne3 Ba4 17. b3 Bb5 18. Re1 Qa3 19. Qd2 h5 20. Nc3 Qb4 21. Rec1 Ba6 22. Bf1 Bxf1 23. Kxf1 Bh6 24. f4 Nc6 25. Rd1 Rfd8 26. Ne2 Qb6 27. Kf2 Bf8 28. h3 Bb4 29. Qb2 Rc7 30. a3 Be7 31. b4 Rdc8 32. g4 hxg4 33. hxg4 Kg7 34. f5 Bh4+ 35. Kf3 Bg5 36. f6+ Kf8 37. Nf4 Nxe5+ 38. dxe5 Rc3 39. Qd2 R8c4 40. Ng2 d4 41. Rh1 Kg8 42. Rh3 dxe3 43. Qe2 Qd4
0-1

Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine

Here is another game seemingly from the same time frame.

[Event "Rastatt blind m"]
[Site "Rastatt"]
[Date "1914.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Black "Bogoljubow, Efim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C26"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "1914.??.??"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2000.11.22"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. Nd5 Nxd5 6. exd5 d6 7.
Ne2 O-O 8. O-O Nd7 9. c3 Bc5 10. d4 Bb6 11. f4 exd4 12. Nxd4 Ne5 13. fxe5 dxe5
14. Ba3 Re8 15. Qf3 exd4 16. Qxf7+ Kh8 17. Bf8 dxc3+ 18. Kh1 Bd4 19. d6 Be6 20.
Bxe6 Rxf8 21. dxc7

1-0

Bogoljubow
Efim Bogoljubow

The Salzburg Tournament 0f 1942


The Salzburg Tournament 0f 1942

During WWII the Nazis organized a tournament for the strongest players from Germany and German-controlled countries. The actual participants included Alekhine, Keres, Bogljubow, Schmidt, Junge and
Stolz. Euwe was chosen to play, but declined ostentatiously because of occupational obligations, though Alekhine's anti-semetic propoganda had much more to do with Euwe's refusal. Although Ehrhardt  Post, the principal organizer, wanted Alekhine's name scratched from the list, he remained and thus Euwe was replaced by 18 year old Klaus Junge. The tournament took place in the midst of hostilities on June
9th - June 18th, 1942 at the Mirabell Palace in Salzburg, close to Hitler's summer house at Berchtesgaden. The games began a 9:00 am and the time controls dictated 32 moves within the first 2 hours and 16 moves/hour thereafter.

The final results were:

1 Alekhine.......7˝

2 Keres...........6

3 Junge............5 

4 Schmidt........5

5 Bogoljubow..3˝

6 Stoltz............3

Klaus Junge

Klaus Junge

1st and 2nd place were not surprising. However, Klaus Junge's 3rd place was a great victory for the young man. Unfortunately and tragically, Junge's last tournament was in Prague of the same year where he shared the first prize with Alekhine. The next year he had to enlist the army and as an officer of the 12th SS-battalion, he was killed on April 17 1945 during the defence of Hamburg.

download the Salzburg games 

Stoltz vs Junge

Stoltz playing Junge 

 

 

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