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Tuesday, February 15, 2022

George Derrickson, a Potential Second Morphy

     Life expectancy was a scant 41.8 years in 1860 and shrunk to 40.0 during the Civil War. Although tuberculosis and dysentery were the big killers of the day, George Derrickson died from rheumatic fever. 
     Rheumatic fever, which is not contagious, may develop after strep throat or scarlet fever infections. It usually takes about 1 to 5 weeks after strep throat or scarlet fever for rheumatic fever to develop. 
     It begins with a sore throat and progresses to extremely painful swollen joints. More seriously, rheumatic fever can involve inflammation of the sac around the heart and the heart valves, leading to abnormal heart function or even heart failure and death. The illness usually last about two months.
     During the Civil War era patients were treated with opiates, quinine, baths and compresses to reduce the pain and inflammation. Even if a person survived they were often left with heart problems.
     From Philadelphia, George H. Derrickson possessed great talent and it was believed that Morphy's mantle would fall upon him, but he died on April 16, 1862 at either the age of 17 (based on contemporary reports) or 18 (based on official records). Although he was no doubt a very talented player, looking at the minuscule game sample that has survived, the claim that he would be Morphy's successor seems debatable.
     His obituary stated that "he had mastered as if by intuition the most abstruse problems in his scholastic pursuits, and had won the highest honors of his class."
     At the time he was considered one of the best players in the country and was a regular contributor to the chess column of the New York Clipper magazine. He also excelled in the area of problem composition and his problems often appeared in the Clipper.
     The magazine described him as "eminently social, affable, and unaffected" and physically they described him as, "tall and straight, with an appearance of more beauty of person than falls to the lot of most men." The magazine also admired his "chirography," that is to say, handwriting. 
     Another description described him as, "Gentle as a girl, sympathetic, affectionate. Large hazel, thoughtful eyes; plump red cheeks, round, full forehead, and a well-balanced head. Grave and judicial in manners and speech – too much so, we think, for one of his years." 
     At some point Derrickson spent time in New York City where made an impression on members of the Morphy Chess Club and Billiard Room. You can read more in the The British Chess Magazine, August 1893, beginning on page 338 HERE.
     The following game which appeared in the New York Clipper, July 21, 1860 edition, does not give the name of his opponent. Derrickson should have lost, but after some slips by his opponent he managed a strong conclusion and scored a nice win.
Games
[Event "Casual game, Philadelphia"] [Site "?"] [Date "1860.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "George H. Derrickson"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C53"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2022.02.14"] {Giuoco Piano} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qf6 {This early Q development is far riskier that the standard 4...Nf6} 5. d3 {More challenging to black was 5.d4} h6 6. O-O d6 7. Be3 (7. b4 Bb6 8. a4 a6 9. Be3 Nge7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. Bb3 {equals. Mons,L (2435)-Bosiocic,M (2555)/Austria 2015}) 7... Bg4 ( 7... a6 8. b4 Ba7 9. a4 Nge7 10. b5 Nb8 11. Nbd2 Nd7 12. d4 O-O {White is better. Jovanovic,Z (2557)-Rogic,D (2477)/Sibenik 2008}) (7... Nge7 {The most often seen.} 8. b4 Bb6 (8... Bxe3 9. fxe3 O-O 10. Qe1 Be6 {Equals. Rabiega,R (2499)-Jussupow,A (2633)/Altenkirchen 2001}) 9. a4 Be6 10. Nbd2 Rd8 {White has the better chances. Tishin,P (2440)-Khruschiov,A (2440)/Tula 2004}) 8. h3 h5 { Very aggressive play. Much safe would have been the double exchange on f3.} 9. Bg5 (9. Nbd2 {Meeting black's K-side ambitions by playing for d4 was indicated. } Bd7 10. d4 exd4 11. cxd4 Nxd4 {White has two promising continuations: 12.e5 and 12.Nxd4. Both of them lead to white having the better prospects.} 12. Nxd4 (12. e5 dxe5 13. Ne4 {Here things get a bit tricky!} Nxf3+ 14. Kh1 (14. Qxf3 Qxf3 15. gxf3 Bxe3 16. fxe3 {Black has not only won a P, but his position is vastly superior.})) 12... Bxd4 13. Qb3 {threatening both f7 and b7.}) 9... Qg6 10. Nbd2 Nge7 11. Qb3 {Up to this point white's play has resulted in reaching a position that is equal, but this move should have resulted in black's gaining the upper hand. Correct was 11.b4 and 12.a4} O-O-O {Slap this move with two question marks!!} (11... f6 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. fxe3 Bxh3 {with a nice advantage.}) 12. Bxf7 {...and wins.} Qh7 13. hxg4 {While this move is perfectly OK, it's not the strongest he had.} (13. d4 {launches a very strong attack.} Bb6 14. a4 a6 15. d5 Na5 (15... Nb8 16. Bxe7 Rd7 17. Bxd6 Rxf7 18. Nxe5 Rf6 19. Be7 {white is winning.}) 16. Qa2 Rdf8 17. Be6+ Bxe6 18. dxe6 Re8 19. b4 Nac6 20. b5 Na5 21. bxa6 bxa6 22. Bxe7 Rxe7 23. Qd5 c6 24. Qxd6 { is winning for white.}) 13... hxg4 14. Qe6+ (14. Nh4 {was a heavier blow.} g6 15. Be6+ Kb8 16. Bxg4) 14... Kb8 15. Nh4 Nc8 (15... Rdf8 {Puts up stouter resistance.} 16. Bg6 Nxg6 17. Qxg6 g3 18. Qxh7 Bxf2+ 19. Rxf2 gxf2+ (19... Rxh7 {[%emt 0:00:02] is not advisable because of mate in} 20. Rxf8+ Nd8 21. Rxd8#) 20. Kh2 Rxh7 {White has the superior ending and, in fact, won all five Shootouts. With humans the results could be different!}) 16. Bg6 Qg8 17. Qxg8 Rdxg8 {There can be little doubt that white has a dominating position.} 18. Bf5 {Not bad at all, but even stronger was 17.Bf7!} (18. Bf7 {winning the exchange. } Rf8 19. Ng6 Rxf7 20. Nxh8) 18... g3 {Once again, not the mst precise move.} 19. d4 (19. Ng6 gxf2+ 20. Rxf2 Rh5 21. Nf3 Rxg5 22. Nxg5 N8e7 23. Be6 Bxf2+ 24. Kxf2 Rd8 25. Nxe7 Nxe7 26. Rh1 {and wins.}) 19... exd4 20. cxd4 (20. Nb3 { makes it even easier for White} Bb6 21. Nxd4 Nxd4 22. cxd4 Bxd4 23. Ng6 gxf2+ 24. Rxf2 {which is very similar to the note to 19.d4}) 20... Bxd4 21. Be6 { Yet another imprecise move. Much better was 21.Ng6} Bxf2+ {Black should not have taken the f-Pawn yet.} (21... gxf2+ 22. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 23. Kxf2 Re8 24. Ng6 Rxe6 25. Nxh8 {White is a piece up.}) (21... Re8 {This is best even though here, too, white is still winning.} 22. Ng6 gxf2+ 23. Rxf2 Ne5 24. Nxh8 Nd3 25. Bh4 Rxe6 26. Nf3 Bxf2+ 27. Bxf2 Rxe4 {and black can at least play on.}) 22. Kh1 {This move earns a gaggle of question marks because it's a mistake that loses all of his advantage and leaves his opponent slightly better.} (22. Rxf2 gxf2+ 23. Kxf2 {Materially white has 2Bs vs. a R+P. Two Bs are much stronger than a R and an extra P is not enough to compensate..One author claimed two Bs are as strong as a R and N (assuming the opponent has no Bs). The reason is that the two Bs can cover a lot more squares than a R.}) 22... Re8 23. Bf7 {Another move that earns a gaggle of question marks because this one is a bunder that results in a lost game!} (23. Bh3 {Blocking the R would have kept black's advantage at a minimum.} Ne5 24. Nf5 Nb6 25. Bf4 {and black's advantage is minimal.}) 23... Re5 24. Ndf3 Rxg5 {The beginning of a decisive attack.} 25. Nxg5 Rxh4+ 26. Nh3 N8e7 (26... g5 {keeps an even firmer grip} 27. Be6 Rh6 28. Bf5 Ne5 29. Rad1 Ne7 30. Rd2 g4 31. Rdxf2 gxf2 32. Rxf2 gxh3 33. gxh3 {and black is winning.}) 27. a4 {Pointless, but he had to either resign or make a move.} (27. Rxf2 {is not much help} gxf2 28. Rf1 g5 29. Rxf2 g4 30. Rf4 { Oddly, the R finds itself pinned after this, but there was nothing better.} Ne5 31. Kg1 Nd3 {wins}) 27... Ne5 28. Be6 N7g6 29. b4 (29. Bf5 {is no help as after } Nf4 30. Rxf2 gxf2 31. Rf1 g6 32. Rxf2 Nfd3 33. Rf1 gxf5 {wins.}) 29... Nf4 30. Bb3 {Derrickson announced mate in 3. A nice finale by Derrickson, but hardly of Morphy quality.} 0-1

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