Charles Vezin

    Charles Vezin (1781 – April 18,1853, 71 years old) was born in Osnabruech, a city in northern Germany, but is remembered as the founder and father of chess in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

    In 1802, at the age of 21, he went to live in Bordeaux in the SW of France where he he worked as a clerk for ten years and by frugal living saved up fifteen hundred francs and resolved to come to the United States. 

    On June 18th, The War of 1812 began between the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies. Even though the Atlantic was swarmed with British warships, Vezin booked passage on an American vessel and subsequently found himself a prisoner at sea and suffered three weeks' confinement in an English ship's brig. He was then exchanged and finally landed in Baltimore, Maryland penniless. 

    From there he went to Philadelphia to make a new start in life, and gradually accumulated enough money to enable him to engage in the importation of German, Belgian and French goods. He continued in this import business until his death im 1853. 

    Vezin's arrival in Philadelphia would eventually lead to the popularization of chess in the city. He found players there of about his own strength. He played a lot, but didn’t improve much. In 1835, an exhibition in Boston under the showman Johann Nepomuk Maelzel included the Juvenile Artist automaton, a chessplayine machine. The Juvenile Artist automaton also traveled to Philadelphia in an exhibition at the American Museum. The announcement for the event mentioned the success of Maelzel's exhibition in Boston and its arrival generated a large interest in chess. As a result of the visit Verzin played a lot of games with a Mr. Schlumberger, the director of the automaton and because of those games that he soon improved to become the best player in Philadelphia. 

    He was described as a player of great native talent, combined with cool, steady nerve and judgment. His play was equally excellent in all phases of the game and though a cautious player, he could, when occasion required, launch brilliant sacrificial attacks. 

    In the following game Vezin wipes Charles Stanley (1819-1901) off the board with a fierce attack. Stavley was born in Middlesex, England. In 1841, he played Howard Staunton, receiving odds of Pawn and two moves.on by a score of +3 -2 =1. Stanley emigrated to New York in 1842 and eventually worked at the British Consulate. 

    He was regarded as the best player in New York from 1842 to 1857. In 1845, he started America's first chess column in the New York Spirit of the Times; the column contained the first chess problem published in the country. The chess column ran until October, 1848. An an alcoholic he spent his last 20 years in institutions in New York on Ward's Island and in the Bronx. 

[Event "Correspondence Match"] [Site "Philadelphia, PA / New York, N"] [Date "1845.03.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Charles Vezin (Philadelphhia)"] [Black "Charles H. Stanley (New York)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C34"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "1845.??.??"] {C39: King's Gambit Accepted} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 {[%mdl 32]} 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Be7 {A poor move that allows white a successful attack in f7} (5... Nf6 6. Bc4 d5 {This is not possible after 5...Be7} 7. exd5 Bd6 {with a good game.}) 6. Bc4 (6. Qxg4 {favors black after} d6 7. Qg7 Bxh4+ 8. Kd1 dxe5 9. Qxh8 Bg4+ 10. Be2 Qg5) (6. Nxg4 {is also unsatisfactory.} Bxh4+ 7. Nf2 Bg3 8. d4 Nc6 {with the slightly better position.}) 6... Nh6 7. d4 {Wisely ignoring the P on g4.} (7. Nxg4 Nxg4 8. Qxg4 d5 {with a decisive advantage.}) 7... d6 8. Nd3 Bxh4+ 9. Kf1 {Even though this game was played 180 years ago, this position has been reached in recent years.} f5 {But the move played was bo better!} (9... O-O 10. g3 fxg3 11. Bxh6 Qf6+ 12. Bf4 Qxd4 13. Rxh4 Qxc4 14. Bh6 g2+ 15. Kxg2 Qxe4+ 16. Kg3 Re8 17. Nc3 Qg6 18. Nf4 Qf5 19. Rh5 Qd7 20. Ncd5 Re6 21. Rg5+ Kh8 22. Qd4+ {Black resigned because it's mate in 4. Manescu, T-Tronenkovs,V St Lorenzo 1995}) (9... Nc6 {is black's best. After} 10. Nc3 Na5 11. Bb5+ c6 12. Bxf4 {white still stands better, but at ;east black's position us not lost.}) 10. e5 {This blow is already decisive as it opens up lines to black's K.} dxe5 11. Nxe5 Bg5 12. Qe1 {[%mdl 2048] This looks scary, but developing with 12.Nc3 was even stronger.} Kf8 (12... Qxd4 {loses quickly.} 13. Nf3+ Qe4 14. Nxg5 Qxe1+ 15. Kxe1) 13. c3 {This is not necessary and should have allowed black to equalize.} (13. Nc3 {brings another piece into play and keeps the upper hand. Black shpu;d npw develop with 13...Nc5, but he must not play} Qxd4 14. Nb5 Qe4 15. Qxe4 fxe4 16. Rh5 Bf6 17. Bxf4 Nf7 18. Nxf7 { and wins.}) 13... Qf6 (13... b5 {Black's move is not bad, but this clever move is aimed at deflecting the B frpm attacking f7/} 14. Bb3 (14. Bxb5 Nf7 { is equal.}) 14... a5 15. a3 a4 16. Ba2 Nd7 {The idea of this is to fprce the N away from the attack on f7. White is better, but there is no forced win.}) 14. Rh5 Bd7 {A much better defense was 14...Nd7 forcing the N to abandon its outpost on e5} 15. Nxd7+ {Voluntarily eliminating his N and bring out black's N to help defend his K is the wrpng choice. As a result black has an equal position.} (15. g3 {keeps up the pressure.} Ng8 16. Kg1 (16. Nf7 {is not as good as it looks!} h6 17. Nxh8 Be8 18. Rxg5 (18. Rh1 Qc6) 18... hxg5 {and white's advantage has disappeared.}) 16... Bh6 17. Nf7 Nc6 18. Nxh6 Re8 19. Qf2 Nxh6 20. Bxf4 {White is better, but here, too, there is no forced win and black has chances of defending himself.}) 15... Nxd7 $18 16. Qe6 {This position is tricky...black has only one good move!} Qg6 {[%mdl 8192] And this is not it.} (16... Qxe6 {Surprisingly, trading Qs should not help. That said, the resulting positions feature positions with unbalanced material that theoretically favor white. Practice might ne another matter.} 17. Bxe6 Nf6 18. Rxg5 Ne4 19. Bxf4 (19. Rh5 Ng3+ {wins for black.}) 19... Nxg5 20. Bxg5 Nf7 21. Bf6 Rg8 22. Bxf5 {Engines say white isd winning, but can he do it OTB?!}) ( 16... b5 {A brilliant resource.} 17. Qxd7 bxc4 18. Qxc7 Qg6 19. Rxg5 {Best.} ( 19. Rh1 Nf7 20. Bxf4 Re8 21. Be5 Nxe5 22. dxe5 f4 {Suddenly it's black ho is on the attack.}) 19... Qxg5 20. Bxf4 Qh4 {with equal chances.}) 17. Rxg5 { [%mdl 512] The only way to keep his attacl going.} Qxg5 18. Qxd7 Qh5 19. Bxf4 Qh1+ 20. Kf2 {[%mdl 32]} g3+ {A crafty trap which Vezin avoids.} 21. Kf3 (21. Kxg3 Qe1+ 22. Kh3 Qh1+ {draws}) (21. Bxg3 Re8 {Threatening ...Qe1 and ...Qe3#, so} 22. Nd2 Ng4+ 23. Kf3 Re3+ 24. Kf4 Qh6+ 25. Kxf5 Qg6+ 26. Kf4 Qh6+ {draws.}) 21... Qh5+ 22. Ke3 Re8+ 23. Kd2 Nf7 24. Qxf7+ Qxf7 25. Bxf7 Kxf7 26. Bxc7 { The tactics are over and white is left with a theoretical win, but can he pull it off?} Re7 27. Be5 Rxe5 {One assumes that Stanley realized he was lost and so decided to placve his hopes on his K-side Ps, but his chances were probably better if he had simply moved the R on h8.} 28. dxe5 {[%mdl 4096] Endgame KRN-KR} Ke6 29. Ke2 h5 30. Nd2 Kxe5 31. Nf3+ Kf4 32. Rh1 {Now it's clear that with the Ps held up white will have no problems scoring the point.} Re8+ 33. Kf1 Rh8 34. Rh4+ Ke3 35. Rd4 {White threatens Ne1 and Nc2 and mate.} Re8 (35... f4 36. Ne1 h4 37. Nc2#) 36. Ne1 Re4 37. Nc2+ Kf4 38. Rd7 h4 39. Rxb7 Kg5 40. Nd4 h3 41. gxh3 {Black resigned} (41. gxh3 {A continuation might be...} f4 { The Ps are not a threat at all.} 42. Rxa7 Re3 43. Ra5+ Kg6 44. Rf5 {etc.}) 1-0