Eugene B. Cook

     Eugene Beauharnais Cook was a problem composer who was born in New York City on May 18, 1830 and passed away on March 19, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey at the age of 85. 

     At the time of his death he was considered to be the dean of American chess problemists. Cook was one of the early links with the earliest days of the then modern chess problem and he was by far the more prolific, by his count having composed over eight hundred problems. His first published problem appears to have appeared in 1851 or 1852, three years prior to the debut of the great Sam Loyd. Here is one of his problems:

 

 

White mates in 3

      Click HERE for the solution

     Many of his earlier problems appeared in English papers and magazines, notably the Illustrated London News. At first he contributed them only under the initials E. B. C. of Princeton. At that time he was a student there. 

     Upon his death his large library of chess works was bequeathed to the university. It was a collection that ranks second only to the John G. White Collection in the Cleveland Public Library. It contained some three thousand items. His home in Hoboken overflowed with the collection: closets were stacked up with books, with packages of newspapers, bundles of magazines and boxes of pictures to the point that even Cook was unsure of exactly what he had. Cook had many hobbies besides chess. 

     He loved mountain climbing and in his early years made several trips abroad for the purpose of visiting the famous mountains in Europe. During the last twenty years, each summer he visited the White Mountains, a range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine. 

     His winter exercise was ice skating and he was a well known figure at several of the New York rinks. He was so enthusiastic about ice skating that even after a serious illness left him with neck problems for several months he continuted skating with a small cushion strapped to his shoulder. A strong man, every afternoon he would walk along the heights overlooking the Hudson River while carrying a camp chair so he could sit down whenever he needed a brief rest. He was very fond of violin playing and often often spoke of Philidor's love of the violin. Cook also had considerable literature dealing with cats! 

     In chess his reputation was not only for his own problems, but for his work as editor. His great compilation of American problems, the Chess Nuts in 1868 was the treasury of the first fifteen years of American composition. 

     Cook was mentally alert to the end and compsed to the very last. A few days before his death Cook was visited by his friend and fellow composer Alain C. White who, upon his arrival, found the house next door partly in ruins. Asking the neighbor. White was informed that Cook had been among the most active in fighting the fire. 

     In the following game, he defeats Daniel F. M. Starbuck, a player of some repute from Cincinnati, Ohio. Starbuck, who died at the age of twenty-seven , was playing black and was blindfolded. During his brief life Starbuck had several wins over US Champion Max Judd. Starbuck died in Cincinnati, Ohio in April of 1884 and according to an article in the Brooklyn Chess Chronicle he was a brilliant and sound player who was thoroughly posted in all the openings and he was considered a very strong player and second only to Captain Mackenzie. 

     The article adds that Starbuck had once played a match against James Grundy (February 14, 1855 – January 26, 1919), an English-American master., and Cook won the majority of the games. The article added that Starbuck was probably the best blindfold player in the United States after the days of Morphy. This game opened with a double Muzio Gambit. For more details on the Muzio see the December 3 post The Amazing Johannes Zukertort.

Eugene B. Cook - Daniel Starbuck (Blindfold)

Result: 1-0

Site: Chicago

Date: 1883

Double Muzio Gambit

[...] 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.♘f3 g5 This is the Classical Defense, one of the oldest replies and still perhaps the most challenging, since it threatens to hang on to the extra P on f4 by strengthening the P-chain with ...h6 and ...Bg7. 4.♗c4 More swashbuckling than the more common 4.h4. White invites black to take him up on an offer to sacrifice a N. 4...g4 Safer is 4...Bg7, but that's not the way they palyed in those days. 5.O-O The Muzio Gambit is probably white's strongest continuation. There are several other ways of giving up the piece, notably the Lolli Gambit (5.Bxf7+), the Ghulam Kassim Gambit (5.d4) and the McDonnell Gambit (5.Nc3). All of them are of doubtful value.

5.♘e5 This attempt to save the N is known as the Salvio Gambit, but it is refuted by 5... Qh4+ when black himself will sacrifice material in order to throw everything he has at white's K. 5...♕h4+ 6.♔f1 ♘c6

6...♘h6 is better. 7.d4 ♘c6 8.♘xc6 dxc6 9.♗xf4 ♗e6 10.♗xe6 fxe6 11.♕d2 ♗g7 12.g3 ♕h3+ and black eventually won. Marshall, F-Chigorin,M/ Vienna 1903 (21)

7.♕xg4 ♕xg4 8.♘xg4 d5 9.♗e2 ♘d4 10.h3 ♘xc2 11.exd5 ♘xa1 12.♗d3 a5 13.♘e5 ♗g7 14.♘f3 ♘h6 15.♘a3 ♗f5 16.♗xf5 ♘xf5 17.♔f2 O-O-O 18.♖e1 ♖he8 19.d3 ♖xe1 20.♘xe1 ♘e3 21.♗xe3 fxe3+ 22.♔xe3 ♗xb2 0-1 Sechin, Y-Izmailov,V/Odessa 2008

5...gxf3

5...d5 Costs a P and doesn't slow down white's attack. 6.♗xd5 gxf3 7.♕xf3 ♘f6 8.♕xf4 ♗e7 9.♘c3 O-O 10.d3 c6 11.♗b3 ♗e6 12.♗d2 ♗xb3 13.axb3 ♘bd7 14.♖f3 with a strong attack . Aurbach-Spielmann, Abbazia 1912.

5...♕e7 is interesting, but white continues strongly with 6.d4 gxf3 7.♘c3 ♗g7 (7...fxg2 leaves black quite lost after 8.♖xf4) 8.e5 with a strong attack.

6.♕xf3 ♕f6 The main line.

6...♕e7 7.d4 ♘c6 8.♘c3 ♘xd4 9.♕d3 ♘e6 10.♘d5 Steinitz - Anderssen, London 1862. White has an overwhelming position.

7.e5 Sacrificing another P to open lines against the black K. Both 7.d3 and 7.c3 are perfectly playable. 7...♕xe5 8.♗xf7+ This startling bishop sacrifice introduces the Double Muzio Gambit. 8...♔xf7

8...♔d8 This is playable, but can hardly be considered a serious attempt at refutation. 9.d4 ♕xd4+ 10.♔h1 ♗h6 11.♗d2 ♕g7 12.♗b3 ♘c6 13.♗c3 and white is winning. Marshall-Moreau, Monte Carlo 1903.

9.d4 ♕xd4+

9...♕f5 This was Steinitz' recommendation and there is a lot of analysis on it but the best way to meet it is 10.♘c3 ♘f6 11.♗xf4 d6 12.♕e3 ♗g7 13.♗e5 with what amounts to a winning attack.

10.♗e3 ♕f6

10...♕g7 11.♕xf4+ ♘f6 12.♗d4 ♖g8 13.♕e4 ♗e7 14.♗xf6 ♗xf6 15.♘c3 d6 16.♘d5 ♘d7

16...♖e8 loses to 17.♖xf6+ ♕xf6 18.♕xh7+ ♕g7 (18...♔f8 19.♘xf6) 19.♖f1+

17.♖ae1 ♕xg2+ 18.♕xg2 ♖xg2+ 19.♔xg2 b6 and black is much better.

11.♘c3

11.♗xf4 as played by Morphy is better. After 11.Bxf4 (which is a basic Double Muzio starting position) there has been a lot of analysis lavished on 11...Ne7, 11... Ke8, 11...Bc5+ and 11...Bh6 11...♔e8 12.♘c3 ♘c6 13.♘d5 ♕g6 14.♖ae1+ ♗e7 15.♗d6 ♔d8 16.♕f8+ ♗xf8 17.♗xc7# 1-0 Shirov,A (2500)-Lapinski,J (2200)/ Daugavpils 1990

11...♔e8 After this horrible move black has let any advantage he may have had slip away. Black should quickly conclude development with either 11...Nc6 or 11...Ne7

11...fxe3 This, too, is an awful move. 12.♕h5+ ♔g7 13.♖xf6 ♘xf6 14.♕g5+ ♔f7 15.♖f1 ♗g7 16.♘d5 e2 17.♖xf6+ 1-0 Kuznetsov,S (2396)-Korjakin,B (2274)/ Volodarskij RUS 2007

12.♘d5 ♕f7 13.♗xf4

13.♘xc7+ also works... 13...♔d8 14.♗xf4 ♗c5+ 15.♔h1 d6 16.♘xa8 followed by Qc3 and white is winning.

13...♘a6 14.♖ae1+ ♗e7

14...♘e7 15.♘xe7 ♗xe7 16.♗g5 ♕e6 17.♖xe6 dxe6 18.♕f7+ ♔d7 19.♖d1+ ♔c6 20.♕f3+ ♔b6 21.♗xe7 ♖f8 22.♕b3+ ♔a5 23.♕c3+ ♔b6 24.b4 ♖f5 25.a4 ♘xb4 26.♕xb4+ ♔a6 27.♕c4+ ♔a5 28.♗b4+ ♔b6 29.a5+ ♖xa5 30.♗xa5+ ♔xa5 31.♕c5+ ♔a4 32.♖a1#

15.♕c3 Also good was 15.Nxe7 15...♕xd5 16.♕xh8 d6 White now has two attractive ways of concluding the game. 17.♖xe7+ This is the clearest. (17.♗xd6 ♕xd6 18.♕xg8+ ♔d7 19.♖d1) 17...♔xe7 18.♕g7+ ♔e8 19.♖e1+ ♔d8

19...♗e6 is met by 20.♕xg8+ ♔d7 21.♕xa8 b6 22.♕xd5 ♗xd5 with a winning endgame.

20.♗g5+ Black resigned because it's mate in two. (20.♗g5+ ♕xg5 21.♕f8+ ♔d7 22.♕e8#)

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