Chess On the High Seas

    I don’t think I have ever presented a game from this far back…April 11, 1853. That was the year Howard Staunton went to Brussels to meet with Tassilo von der Lasa, Germany’s leading player, to standardize the rule. Staunton also lost a match (+4 -5 =3) to von der Lasa. Chess historian Bill Wall noted that the matych was supposed to be longer, but Staunton was feeling ill (heart palpitations) and returned to London. 

    Chessplayers lost that year were the leading Philadelphia player Chales Verzin (1781-1853) and the great German player Lionel Kieseritzky (1806-1853) who died in Paris at the young age of 47. He was committed to a mental home in Paris and was buried in a pauper's grave. 

    In New York City that year an 8-player knockout tournament was held. One interesting aspect was that some of the players were given material odds by the better players. James Thompson defeated Adolphe Möhle by a score of 3-0. Both players won a chess set as their prize. 

     The following game was played by a Mister McCoombe who was saileing from Glasgow, Scotland to Melbourne in Australia. The ship was in the Bay of Biscay which is located west of France and north of Spain. Just a note in passing, according to Bill Wall1853 was the year the first time a chess game was played using signals at sea between ships. 

    The Bay’s average depth is 5,722 feet and its maximum depth, a little south of its center, is 15,525 feet. The Bay is noted among sailors for its rough seas. Gales can be severe and winds may exceed 70 miles per hour. Squalls are also a hazard and may occur at any time of year. Not the place to be, especially on an 1850s ship! 

    Mister McCoombe’s opponent was a Frenchman, Monsieur Luiser, who was in an adjoining cabin. It was to be a 10,000 mile trip, so they played a lot of chess.

    After white played his 10th move in the following game it was adjourned at Monsieur Luiser’s request because the ship was encountering very rough seas and the pieces would not stay put. The game was continued the next day. 

    As Mister McCoombe humorously told it, after adjournment as he was packing up the pieces, Monsieur Luiser scampered towards the bow of the ship. Just as he was about to climb up to the The forecastle (the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast. Historically, it is the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters) a huge wave hit the ship causing it to rise and fall with tremendous violence. Monsieur Luiser was knocked down and soaked and slowly staggered back to his cabin. I guess you had to be there. By the way, for an idea of what heavy seas look like, check out my post HERE! 

    Playing through the game quickly gave the impression that white had a pretty easy win, but analysis showed it was filled with complications galore! Thinking about the conditions under which it was played makers you wonder how they players managed to play as well as they did! 

 

[Event "The ship Abdalla, in the Bay of Biscay"] [Site "?"] [Date "1853.04.11"] [Round "?"] [White "A.G. McCoombe"] [Black "Monsieur Luiser"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C23"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1853.??.??"] {C23: Bishop's Opening: 2...Bc5} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 {In the Bishop's Opening white atta ks f7. It’s one of the oldest openings to be analyzed, dating back to the late 1400’s and early 1500s. In modern time Weaver Adams once advocated it as winning, but when he couldn’t prove it, he switched to the Vienna as a winning opening, but he couldn’t prove that either. In more recent time some attacking players (Larsen, Kasparov, Nunn and Leko) have used it as a surprise, but it really only leads to equality.} Bc5 {The most popular move is 2...Nf6 (the Berlin Defense) because it forces white to devide how to defend his e-Pawn. The text is the Classical Defense; it offers white a slew of possibilities.} 3. Qe2 {When I first saw this I thought beginner's move!. But I was wrong! It shows up in my database with white scoring +5 -3 =0.} d6 ( 3... Ne7 4. Bxf7+ Kf8 {Losing. He needed to take the B.} 5. Bc4 d6 6. Nc3 Nd7 7. d3 Nb6 8. Bb3 Bb4 9. Qh5 c5 10. Qd1 {1-0 Castillo,D (2041)-Tanha,T Dresden 2008}) 4. f4 {While hardly bad, this may be a bit too aggressive.} (4. d3 Nf6 { Equally good is 6...Nc6} 5. c3 a6 6. Bg5 {with equal chances. Gohlke,H (2166) -Gilde,G (1630) Sottrum 2005}) 4... exf4 5. Nf3 g5 {While this move is seen in similar positions in the K-Gambit, here it's not good because of white's next move. The solid 5...Nc6 was much safer.} 6. d4 (6. b4 {is an interesting alternative.} Bb6 (6... Bxb4 7. Bb2 Nf6 8. Nxg5 Qe7 9. Bxf7+ {and black is in a difficult situation.}) 7. Bb2 Nf6 8. Nxg5 Qe7 9. Bxf7+ {etc.}) 6... Bb6 (6... g4 {fails against} 7. dxc5 gxf3 8. Qxf3 Be6 9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. Bxf4 {At first glance black's position looks safe enough, but he is, in fact, losing because his K has nowhere that's safe.} Ne7 11. cxd6 cxd6 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Qg3+ Kh8 14. Bxd6) 7. g3 {Terrible, but things are a little tricker than they appear!} (7. h4 {keeps the pressure on black.} Nc6 (7... g4 8. Ng5 Nh6 9. Bxf4 {and black's position is on the verge of collapse.}) 8. hxg5 Nxd4 9. Nxd4 Bxd4 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Qc4+ Ke8 12. Qxd4 Qxg5 {White can easily fall into a trap here!} 13. O-O (13. Qxh8 Qxg2 14. Rf1 Qg3+ 15. Rf2 Qg1+ {White has to consent to the draw here and not play} 16. Ke2 Bg4+ 17. Kd3 Qg3+ 18. Kc4 Be6+ 19. Kb5 Qxf2 20. Ka4 b5+ 21. Ka3 Qxc2 22. Nc3 a5 23. b3 b4+ 24. Ka4 Bd7+ 25. Nb5 Bxb5+ 26. Kxb5 Qc5+ 27. Ka4 Qc6#) 13... Qf6 14. Qd3 Ne7 15. Bxf4 {White's better, but black has chances of surviving.}) 7... fxg3 {[%mdl 8192] Very obliging on black's part.} (7... g4 8. Nh4 Bxd4 (8... f3 {is also OK.} 9. Qd3 Qf6 10. Be3 {with the slightly better position.} Nc6) 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qc4+ Be6 11. Qxd4 Qf6 { Black is slightly better.}) (7... Nc6 {Developing is his best course of action. } 8. c3 {and now} g4 9. Nh4 f3 {and in this position it's black who stands slightly better.}) 8. Nxg5 (8. hxg3 {was not nearly as good.} Bg4 9. Qd3 Nc6 10. Bxg5 f6 11. Bh4 Qd7 {followed bo ...O-O-O and black has nearly equalized.}) 8... Nh6 {This should have lost quickly.} (8... Nf6 {was necessary.} 9. Bxf7+ Kf8 10. hxg3 Nc6 11. c3 Qe7 12. Bh5 {and, at leaset, black has avoided immediate defeat.}) 9. O-O {After this move white's advantage completely disappears!} (9. hxg3 {attacking the N wraps it up.} Ng8 10. Bxf7+ Kf8 11. Bxg8 Kxg8 (11... Rxg8 12. Qf2+ Qf6 13. Qxf6+ Ke8 14. Qf7+ Kd8 15. Qxg8+ Kd7 16. Rxh7+ Kc6 17. Qd5#) 12. Nc3 c6 13. Bf4 Qf6 14. O-O-O {With all his pieces in play white is ready to launch the final assault. After a break to to get a coffee this is Stockfish's continuation...} d5 15. exd5 h6 16. Nge4 Qg6 17. Qc4 Bd8 18. dxc6+ Qf7 19. c7 Bxc7 20. Nf6+ Kg7 21. Nh5+ Kg6 22. Qxf7+ Kxf7 23. Bxc7 Kg6 24. Rdf1 Nd7 25. Nf4+ Kh7 26. Ne6 Rg8 27. Bf4 Rg6 28. Nc7 Rb8 29. N7d5 { with a clear win.}) 9... O-O {[%mdl 8192] Black counterblunders. It's odd that castling is a blunder!} (9... Rg8 {and black has nothing to worry about.} 10. Qh5 (10. Nxh7 Bxd4+ 11. Kh1 g2+ {wins}) 10... Rg6 11. h3 Nd7 (11... Bxd4+ 12. Kg2 Nd7 13. Nxh7 {is good for white.}) 12. c3 (12. Nxh7 g2 13. Rf3 Ne5 14. Bxh6 Bxd4+ {wins for black.})) 10. Qh5 {At this point the game was adjourned due to rough seas, but white is already winning.} Bxd4+ 11. Kh1 {This is another mistake after which the chances remain about equal.} (11. Kg2 {keeps the win in hand.} Bg7 12. Nxf7 Nxf7 13. Bxf7+ Rxf7 14. Rxf7 Be6 15. Rxg7+ Kxg7 16. Qh6+ Kf7 17. Bg5 Qf8 18. Qf6+ Kg8 19. Qxe6+) 11... Bg7 12. Rxf7 (12. Nxf7 {Now it's clear why the K should have gone to g2.} Nxf7 13. Bxf7+ Kh8 {and he has to play Kg2 anyway in order to defend the R and so black can equalize.} 14. Kg2 Qd7 15. hxg3 Qg4) 12... Rxf7 $11 13. Nxf7 Nxf7 14. Bxf7+ {Once again the chances of both sides can be considered equal.} Kf8 {Also good was 14...Kh8} 15. Bg5 {[%mdl 128] Black needs to defend precisely.} Bf6 {[%mdl 8192] Which he does not!} (15... Qd7 16. Bd5 c6 17. Nc3 {Essential...white must bet his R into play.} (17. Bb3 g2+ 18. Kg1 Bd4+ 19. Kxg2 Qh3+ 20. Qxh3 Bxh3+ 21. Kxh3 Bxb2 {wins for black.}) 17... cxd5 18. Rf1+ Kg8 19. Nxd5 Nc6 20. Rf4 g2+ 21. Kg1 Bd4+ 22. Kxg2 Qh3+ 23. Qxh3 Bxh3+ 24. Kxh3 Bxb2 {White's and black's chances are comparable.}) 16. Nc3 {[%mdl 32] Once his R gets into play the game will be over.} Bxg5 17. Qxh7 g2+ 18. Kxg2 Bf4 (18... Bh3+ {was a long shot for if} 19. Kxh3 Qd7+ 20. Kg3 Qxf7 {he can play on...for a while anyway.}) 19. Qg8+ {White now has a mate in 7 which he pulls off precisely.} Ke7 20. Nd5+ Kd7 21. Be8+ {[%mdl 512] Nice!} Qxe8 22. Nf6+ Kc6 23. Qc4+ Kb6 24. Nd5+ Ka5 25. Qb4+ Ka6 26. Nxc7# {What a game!!} 1-0