One of the books I like to dip into occasionally is the 1913 edition Memorable Chess Games, Brilliants and miniatures with Notes, Quires and Answers by the British player and author William Moffatt.
The reason I like the book is because, as the author pointed out in the forward, is that, "In some of the games in this collection there are moves which are weak and lead to disaster. Such games in the opinion of some players are not worth attention. Nevertheless, if the reader will himself take the trouble to discover these faults and to indicate better lines of play, he will benefit considerably. He will strengthen his play by learning to avoid danger and to take advantage of error. Hence, questions on interesting points are set
down, to which the student is expected to provide answers and to compare with those given at the end of the work." I think he has a point.
Not all of the games were played by unknowns in forgotten tournaments; it's just that some of the players were not members of the chess world's aristocratic class and the games were not unblemished.
I
The following game won the brilliancy prize at "the Scarborough meeting of the British Chess Federation," but no date was given.
It was most likely played in the First Amateur B event in Scarborough 1909 which was part of the British Championship.
Georg Shories (1874-1934) was born in Berlin which is also where he died. He took up chess seriously in 1895. He lived in England for a number of years and his first notable success in English chess was winning first prize in the 1903 Open Tournament at the Kent County Congress at Canterbury.
In 1905 he competed at the Barmen Congress of the German Chess Association, and won first prize in the B tournament. In 1908 he won first prize at Ostend in the Amateur event and, also, first prize in an amateur section of the tournament of the British Chess Federation. In 1909, he tied with Wahltuch in the Blackpool tournament for the championship of the North of England.
During the First World War, he suffered internment, and then returned home to Germany. His last tournament was at the Bad Pyrmont (German Championship of 1933) in which he was the oldest participating master.
Nothing is known about Joshua W. Dixon except that he lived in Hanley. Located in central England, it was one of six towns that in 1910 amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent.
Georg Schories–Joshua Dixon1–0First Class Amateur, BCF Scarborough1909Stockfish 15
Ruy Lopez: Modern Steinitz Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4 f6 5.0-0 d6 This is an improvement on the solid but passive and cramped Old
Steinitz (3.d6). It's more flexible because black has the possibility of
breaking the pin with a timely ...b5 giving him more latitude than in the Old
Steinitz. 6.d4 d7 7.c3 exd4 This is almost never played, but, oddly
enough, it's preferred by Stockfish. 7...e7 is usual. 8.e1 0-0 9.bd2 Black can play either 9...Re8 or 9...exd4 7...xe4 makes black's
position too difficult after 8.e1 f6 Much too risky is 8...f5?! 9.xc6 xc6 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.xd8+ xd8 12.xe5 White stands well. 8.cxd4 e7
After this black finds himself in difficulties. 8...xe4 Black has no
reason to fear the pin. 9.e1 d5 10.bd2 b4 leads to some tricky play
requiring black to play carefully. 11.xe4 xe1 12.g5 f6 12...xf2+ 13.xf2 f6 14.f4 White has the advantage. 13.xf6+ gxf6 14.xe1+ f8 14...f7 15.xc6 xc6 16.e5+ g8 17.g4 fxg5 18.e6+ f8 19.h6+ g8 20.e1
White is winning. 15.h6+ f7 Black is in a precarious position and can't
afford to make any mistakes. 15...g8 loses 16.e4 e7 16...dxe4 17.b3+ e6 18.xe6# 17.e1 f8 17...xa4 18.e6# 18.xe7 xe7 19.xe7 xa4 20.h4 c2 21.g7+ f8 22.xc7+ and white should win. 9.c3 0-0 9...b5 10.c2 g4 11.e3 0-0 White has the better chances. Niehaus,F (2206)
-Vollmar,T Berlin 2008 10.h3 h6 11.e3 h7 This serves little purpose. 11.
..Re8 was a better try. 12.g4 Not bad, but 12.Bc2 was also worth
considering. There's no immediate threat, but it improves the potential of the
B since it's aimed at the K-side. h5 Black appears to have misjudged the
position and apparently thinks he can attack on the K-side. Ultimately though
this move only weakens his own K's position. 12...a5 was his best plan. 13.xd7 13.c2 To preserve the B. c4 14.c1 e8 15.d5 f8 16.e1
White is better. 13...xd7 14.d3 White's position is more active. 13.h2 g5 This was awarded a ! in the book, but Stockfish slapped a ? on it and
suggested instead that black can keep on fighting with 13...b5 13...b5 14.c2 b4 15.b1 c5 16.f4 White has the initiative, but black may be able to
survive. 14.c1 g7 15.d5 Black is lost. f6 16.c2 h4 Hoping to gum
up the K-side and thereby stem the white attack. 17.b1 c8 Black has to
make a move and it doesn't much matter what it is. 18.f4 e8 19.f3 f7 20.d3 f8 21.xf6 Equally convincing, but less flashy, was 21.e5 xf6 21...xf6 22.e5 g8 22...e7 23.xh7# 23.exf6 xf6 24.fxg5 d5 25.xh4 xe3 26.g6+ g7 27.xf8+ xf8 28.d3 d5 29.b3 ce7 30.g6 ff7 31.xe7+ xe7 32.xd5+ etc. 22.e5 Threatening mate on h7 h6 23.fxg5 xg5 24.xg5 xg5 This allows a mate in 12, but the best move, 24...Bb4,
would hardly have saved the game. 25.xg5 h8 26.f6 dxe5 27.xh6+
Black resigned. The book asks the reader why. 27.xh6+ xf6 28.g6+ e7 29.g5+ f8 30.f1+ f5 31.xf5+ f6 32.xf6+ g8 33.g6+ h8 34.f6# 1–0
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