It's fun to dip into it once in awhile and the other day I discovered a game featuring an awesome King hunt. It was new to me, but it's well known to lots of other enthusiasts, but if you haven't seen it before be prepared to be awestruck.
I couldn't find out much about the loser or the circumstances under which it was played, but it was apparently an offhand club game played back in 1853. That was the year presidency of Millard Fillmore ended and Franklin Pierce was sworn in on March 4th. As far as I know, both are about as obscure as the loser in today's game! On April 18th Pierce's Vice President, William R. King, died of tuberculosis in Selma, Alabama, without having carried out any duties of the office.
Levi Strauss and Company was founded in San Francisco, piano maker Steinway and Sons was founded in Manhattan and an outbreak of yellow fever killed almost 7,800 people in New Orleans. Yellow fever is spread through mosquito bites and symptoms include fever, chills, headache, backache, and muscle aches. About 15 percent of people who get yellow fever develop serious illness that can lead to bleeding, shock, organ failure, and sometimes death.
In other bad news, on May 6, 1853, in Norwalk, Connecticut 48 people were killed when a train traveling at 50 mph plunged into the Norwalk Harbor off of an open swing bridge.
On approaching the bridge, the engineer neglected to check the signal and only became aware that the bridge was open when within about 400 feet of it. He applied the brakes and reversed the engine, but was unable to stop in time. He and the fireman jumped clear before the crash and escaped serious injury.
The engine itself flew across the 60-foot gap, striking the opposite abutment some 8 feet below the level of the track and sinking into 12 feet of water.
The baggage cars came to rest atop the locomotive; the front of the first passenger car was crushed against the baggage cars and then submerged as the second passenger car came to rest on top of it. The third passenger car broke in two; the front half hanging down over the edge of the abutment; the rear remaining on the track.
Most of the 48 dead and 30 injured were in the first passenger car. A further eight people were reported missing. Many doctors were on the train as they were returning from an annual meeting of the American Medical Association in New York; seven of them were killed.
As a result of the accident the state legislature passed a law requiring trains to come to a dead halt before crossing any opening bridge. The engineer was charged with gross negligence and held primarily responsible for the disaster.
It wasn't all bad news that year! On August 24 in Saratoga Springs, New York it's traditionally been said that potato chips were invented by George Crum (born George Speck, 1824–1914), a renowned African American chef who worked at Moon’s Lake House, a high-end restaurant that catered to wealthy Manhattan families, in Saratoga Springs during the mid-1800s.
According to the legend Crum sliced an order of french fries extra thin to spite a demanding customer. r. The story has since been debunked as a myth, but Crum achieved success when he opened Crum's, a popular restaurant in Malta, New York.
1853 was an important year in chess. Howard Staunton traveled to Brussels to meet with Tassilo von der Lasa, the German leading chess authority, to standardize the rules of chess. Staunton also lost a match (+4 -5 =3) to von der Lasa; the match was cut short when Staunton started having heart palpitations and had to return home.
On May 18, 1853, Lionel Kieseritzky died in Paris at the age of 47. And, in 1853, Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier painted “The game of chess.” 
The featured game was played in Vienna. White was an obscure player named Josef Matschego (1800-1858) About all that is known of him is that he studied law and joined the civil service, where he got ahead in the foreign ministry. And, he was a frequent visitor of the chess cafes of Vienna and a member of the Wiener Schachgesellschaft (Vienna Chess Society).
The winner, Ernst Falkbeer (June 27, 1819 - December 14, 1885) was born in Brno. He founded Austria's first chess magazine Wiener Schach-Zeitung in 1855. A few months later he went to London and played two matches with Henry Bird, losing in 1856 and winning in 1856-57. He then played in a knock-out tournament in Birmingham (1858), getting knocked out in the 4th round by Lowenthal. He returned to Vienna and where he edited a chess column for the Neue Illustrierte Zeitung from 1877 to 1885.
Josef Matschego–Ernst Falkbeer0–1C39ViennaVienna1853Stockfish 15
King's Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 What?! No Falkbeer Countergambit
which he had played in an 1851 game against Adolf Anderssen. 3.f3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.e5 5.g5 is not good. h6 6.xf7 xf7 7.d4 d5 8.xf4 f6 9.c3
and White does not have enough compensation for the sacrificed N. 5...f6 6.c3 A natural developing move, but it's a bad move. He should have played 6.
Nxg4 first. 6.xg4 xe4 This is one alternative. 7.d3 g3 8.xf4
Black can now choose between either 8...Qe7+ and 9...Rg8 or 8.Nxh1. In either
case the chances would be equal. 6.xg4 d5 This second alternative is
also quite playable. 7.xf6+ xf6 8.c3 again, the chances are equal. 6...d6 After this white's position is evaluated as lost! 7.c4 e7 7...h5 is even stronger. 8.e2 g3 9.h2 h5 10.d4 h6 11.d5 c6 12.xf4 b5 white's position is simply horrible. 13.a3 f6 14.d2 xe2 15.xe2 g3 16.h1 g4+ etc. 8.d4 h5 9.e2 xh4+ 10.d2 The K is on the run. g5 10...g3 11.h2 b5 and white has no reasonable move. 11.d3 11.d5
was the only alternative, but after f6 12.xc7+ d7 13.xa8 xe4+ 14.d3 f2+ white has no reason to continue the game. 11...c6 Threatening ...
Nb4+ 12.a3 f2 12...f5 13.e5 dxe5 14.b5 0-0 15.c3 d8 16.c2 and
white will soon be annihilated. 13.d5 The there is little chance that he
will get to play Rxh5 and Nf6+ xd4 14.xc7+ Quite natural, but white
should have been thinking of defending, not grabbing material. 14.c3
Squashes black's murderous attack and in spite of the precarious position of
white's K black's attack can be survived! It's important to note that after c3
the square c2 is available to white's K. e5 15.xc7+ d8 16.xa8 g3 17.c2 g6 18.d3 xh1 19.xh1 e6 20.f1 f5 21.xf4 fxe4 22.e2 e3+ 23.d1 With careful play white might be able to survive. 14...d8 15.d5
Apparently white had second thoughts about grabbing the R and instead returns
the N to it's outpost in hopes of helping with the defense. 15.xa8
was actually better. d5 15...f5 16.c3 fxe4+ 17.c2 e3 18.xd6
Threatening Nf7+ forking the K, Q and R! e7 19.cxd4 xd6 20.d5 f5+ 21.b3 a5+ 22.a2 White's K has reached a safe haven and he can even claim the
advantage! 16.c3 dxc4+ 17.c2 with a miserable position, but at least
it's not as bad as after the text. 15.c3 is no good now because of xc7 16.cxd4 g3 17.g1 e8 and white must defend e4 so... 18.e5 18.c2 xe2 19.xe2 xd4+ 18...dxe5 19.d5 d4 20.d6+ d8 21.f1 f5+ 22.c3 e4+ 23.b4 ...and black wins. 15...f5 16.xd6 16.c3 This is not effective
here because the N on d5 is hanging after fxe4+ 17.c2 xd5 16...fxe4+
The difference here and the positions in the previous note is that white has
not played c3 and so his K cannot escape via c2. Instead, it is forced into
the open. 17.c4 17.xe4 xd5 18.c4 e5+ followed by the capture of the
N. 17...xd5+ Beautiful. It's mate in 8 17...e6 also wins, but it's
not as nice, or as effective. 18.b3 xd5+ 19.c4 xd6 20.xh5 Black wins,
but there is no immediate mate. 18.xd5 f6+ 19.c4 e6+ 20.b5 a6+ 21.a4 b5+ 22.xb5 axb5+ 23.xb5 a5+ 24.xc6 d5+ 25.d6 e8# A great game. 0–1
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