Sam Loyd As A Player

    Samuel Loyd (January 30, 1841 – April 10, 1911) is best known as a chess problem composer, puzzle author and recreational mathematician (someone who does mathematics for entertainment rather than for research or application based purposes). 

    Loyd was born in Philadelphia but raised in New York City. At his peak, from about 1868 to 1870, according to Chess metrics, Loyd’s best rating was 2474 in 1870 and in 1868-1869 he ranked number 15 in the world. 

     He played in the strong Paris 1867 chess tournament with little success, placing 10th out of 13 with a +6 -17 =1 score. Loyd was infamous for being a fibber, a self-promoter and a hustler. Mel Stover, a contemporary Canadian problemist, called Loyd. "puzzledom's greatest celebrity...popularizer, genius. He also called Loyd a huckster and fast-talking snake oil salesman. 

    For a short period of time Loyd collaborated with another puzzle composer, a guy named Henry Dudeney. Then Dudeney broke off his correspondence with Loyd and accused him of stealing his puzzles and publishing them under his own name. Dudeney despised Loyd so intensely that he equated him with the devil.

    After Loyd's death, his son Samuel Loyd Jr. continued his father’s deceptive ways. He dropped the Junior and published reprints of his daddy’s puzzles. 

    The 1867 Paris event that Loyd participated in was his largest and strongest. The city was host to a World Fair that summer summer of 1867anf the master chess tournament was part of it. 

 

    It was a double round affair with an unusual time limit: 6 minutes per move and draws did not count. The US representatives were Loyd and Wilhelm Steinitz who had defeated Adolf Anderssen in a World Championship match the previous year. 

    The event was also organized somewhat haphazardly in that the players met each other, not in scheduled rounds, but according to availability and inclination.

    Loyd’s opponent in the following game was Polish master Samuel Rosenthal (1838-1903) who, following a Polish revolution in 1854m fled to Paris where he devoted himself to a study of chess and became so rapidly proficient that after a year he won the first prize in a tournament held at the Cafe de la Regence. Chess metrics estimated his highest ever rating to have been 2655 in 1885 and from 1873 to 1876 they rank him number 4 in the world.

 

[Event "Paris"] [Site "Paris FRA"] [Date "1867.06.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Sam Loyd"] [Black "Samuel Rosenthal"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "1867.06.04"] {C50: Giuoco Pianissimo} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 {That great teacher and author Australian C.J.S. Purdy recommended that amateurs play the Hungarian Defense here (3...Be7) because it is a quiet response with little danger and it is eadier to play.} 4. d3 {Giuoco Pianissimo} Nf6 5. Be3 Bb6 6. Nc3 d6 7. h3 Na5 8. Bb3 Nxb3 9. axb3 Be6 (9... Bxe3 $11 {is somewhat better.} 10. fxe3 c6 11. Qe2 Qe7 12. O-O O-O {The position could not be more equal. Belsak,Z-Spelec,D (2055) Ptuj 2007}) 10. Nb5 {A pointless sortie, but it cause no damage to white's position.} Bxe3 11. fxe3 c6 12. Nc3 Qc7 13. g4 a6 14. d4 O-O-O 15. d5 Bd7 16. g5 Ne8 17. Nd2 c5 18. Nc4 h6 19. Qh5 {Are you bored yet? The action is about to pick up.} Rf8 {This is a slight inaccuracy that allows white to gainst a small edge.} (19... Kb8 {stays ahead.} 20. Qxf7 {is too gangerous as after} hxg5 21. Qe7 (21. O-O-O Bxh3 {with the advantage.}) 21... g4 (21... Bxh3 22. Qxg5 {Black is slightly better.}) 22. h4 Bc8 23. Qxc7+ Kxc7 {Black is better.}) 20. gxh6 Rh8 {Bets} (20... gxh6 21. Qxh6 {Black's weak P on f7 and white's paseed a-Pawn gives white a clear advantage.}) 21. hxg7 $1 Rxh5 22. g8=Q Rxh3 23. Rxh3 Bxh3 {Here white has a slim advantage mostly due to the weak f-Pawn.} 24. Nb5 {Loyd likes this move, but here, too, it does not really accomplish anything because Rosenthal is not going to fall for taling the N. Better was the immediate 24.Qh7. That said, keep an eye on this N; we will be hearing from it later!} Qe7 (24... axb5 25. Ra8+ Qb8 (25... Kd7 26. Qxf7#) 26. Rxb8+ Kxb8 27. Nxd6 {with an easy win.}) 25. Qh7 Bg4 {Loyd's time wasting 24.Nb5 has resulted in Rosenthal's being able to get his pieces into action and so now after the correct 26.Nc3 Qf6 black has gorren slightly the better of it owing to white's exposed K.} 26. Na7+ {A losing idea.} (26. Nc3 Qf6 27. Qh2 Qf3 28. Qe2 Nf6 29. Qxf3 Bxf3 30. Nd2 Rh8 {White's P on e4 needs defending plaus black has gotten a lot of play with his pieces whereas white's are quite passively positioned.}) 26... Kb8 27. Rxa6 Nc7 (27... bxa6 { Rosenthal was far too good a player to fall for this!} 28. Nc6+) (27... Qf6 { Packs a winning punch.} 28. Ra1 {Thus guards against ...Qf6-f3-d1+} Qf3 29. Qh2 Nf6 30. Nd2 Qxe3+ 31. Kf1 Rg8 {mates in 7 moves at most...} 32. Nf3 Bh3+ 33. Qxh3 Nxe4 34. Nc6+ Kc7 35. Qd7+ Kxd7 36. Nfxe5+ Kc7 37. Ng4 Rxg4 38. c3 Rg1#) 28. Ra5 (28. Nc6+ bxc6 29. Rb6+ Ka7 30. Rxc6 {is no better for white.}) 28... Qf6 {White must deal with the threat od ...Qf3} 29. Qh1 Rh8 30. Qf1 Bf3 { This looks really good...the threat is ...Rh1, but white has a clever way of meeting it.} (30... Qg6 {This odd looking move has hidden dangers for white. It's hard to blame Rosenthal for missing it.} 31. Qg2 (31. Nc6+ {as in the game fails...} bxc6 32. Qg2 cxd5 33. Nd2 Qg5 34. Nf1 Rh3 35. Qg1 d4 {White has no defense.}) 31... Rh4 32. Kd2 {Seeking a safe havem but there isn't one.} Qh7 33. Kd3 f5 {White can delay defeat by meeting a succession of threats, but in the end he must lose.} 34. Nb6 fxe4+ 35. Kc3 Qh6 36. Qd2 Rh3 37. b4 Qxe3+ 38. Qxe3 Rxe3+ 39. Kd2 Rh3 40. bxc5 e3+ 41. Kd3 e2+ 42. Kd2 Nxd5 43. Ra1 Nf6 44. Rg1 Kxa7 45. Nc4 dxc5 46. Nxe5 Ne4+ 47. Ke1 Bh5 48. Ng4 Bxg4 49. Rxg4 Ng3 50. Kf2 Rh1 51. Ra4+ Kb6 {abd wins}) 31. Nb6 {This riposte gets white out of almost all of his trouble.} Qh4+ 32. Kd2 {Now Nd7+ would be a killer.} Qg4 { [%mdl 8192] Black needs to guard against Nd7+, but he does it with the wrong piece!} (32... Qxe4 {leads to a clever mate.} 33. Nd7+ Ka8 34. Nc6+ Na6 35. Nb6#) (32... Bg4 {This defends d7, but now white weasels out of his difficulties with} 33. Kd3 Qg3 34. Nb5 Rh3 35. Nc4 Bf3 36. Nbxd6 Rh2 37. Nxe5 Qxe5 38. Qxf3 Qxd6 39. Qxf7 {with equal chances. In a Shootout white scored +1 - 0 =4}) 33. Qxf3 {[%mdl 512] Even more clever than the previous move!. White now has a mate no matter what black plays.} Qxf3 (33... Rh2+ {Black gets in a few spite checks with thsi move.} 34. Kd3 c4+ 35. bxc4 Qxe4+ 36. Qxe4 Na6 37. Qg4 e4+ 38. Kc3 Kxa7 39. Qc8 Rh8 40. Qc7 f6 41. Rxa6+ Kxa6 42. Nd7 f5 43. Qb6#) 34. Nd7+ Ka8 35. Nc6+ Na6 36. Nb6# {IIt's mate next move so Rosenthal resigned. An imperfect, but very clever game by Loyd!} 1-0