It's fun to dip into it once in awhile and the other day I discovered a game featuring an awesome King hunt. It was new to me, but it's well known to lots of other enthusiasts, but if you haven't seen it before be prepared to be awestruck.
I couldn't find out much about the loser or the circumstances under which it was played, but it was apparently an offhand club game played back in 1853. That was the year presidency of Millard Fillmore ended and Franklin Pierce was sworn in on March 4th. As far as I know, both are about as obscure as the loser in today's game! On April 18th Pierce's Vice President, William R. King, died of tuberculosis in Selma, Alabama, without having carried out any duties of the office.
Levi Strauss and Company was founded in San Francisco, piano maker Steinway and Sons was founded in Manhattan and an outbreak of yellow fever killed almost 7,800 people in New Orleans. Yellow fever is spread through mosquito bites and symptoms include fever, chills, headache, backache, and muscle aches. About 15 percent of people who get yellow fever develop serious illness that can lead to bleeding, shock, organ failure, and sometimes death.
In other bad news, on May 6, 1853, in Norwalk, Connecticut 48 people were killed when a train traveling at 50 mph plunged into the Norwalk Harbor off of an open swing bridge.
On approaching the bridge, the engineer neglected to check the signal and only became aware that the bridge was open when within about 400 feet of it. He applied the brakes and reversed the engine, but was unable to stop in time. He and the fireman jumped clear before the crash and escaped serious injury.
The engine itself flew across the 60-foot gap, striking the opposite abutment some 8 feet below the level of the track and sinking into 12 feet of water.
The baggage cars came to rest atop the locomotive; the front of the first passenger car was crushed against the baggage cars and then submerged as the second passenger car came to rest on top of it. The third passenger car broke in two; the front half hanging down over the edge of the abutment; the rear remaining on the track.
Most of the 48 dead and 30 injured were in the first passenger car. A further eight people were reported missing. Many doctors were on the train as they were returning from an annual meeting of the American Medical Association in New York; seven of them were killed.
As a result of the accident the state legislature passed a law requiring trains to come to a dead halt before crossing any opening bridge. The engineer was charged with gross negligence and held primarily responsible for the disaster.
It wasn't all bad news that year! On August 24 in Saratoga Springs, New York it's traditionally been said that potato chips were invented by George Crum (born George Speck, 1824–1914), a renowned African American chef who worked at Moon’s Lake House, a high-end restaurant that catered to wealthy Manhattan families, in Saratoga Springs during the mid-1800s.
According to the legend Crum sliced an order of french fries extra thin to spite a demanding customer. r. The story has since been debunked as a myth, but Crum achieved success when he opened Crum's, a popular restaurant in Malta, New York.
1853 was an important year in chess. Howard Staunton traveled to Brussels to meet with Tassilo von der Lasa, the German leading chess authority, to standardize the rules of chess. Staunton also lost a match (+4 -5 =3) to von der Lasa; the match was cut short when Staunton started having heart palpitations and had to return home.
On May 18, 1853, Lionel Kieseritzky died in Paris at the age of 47. And, in 1853, Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier painted “The game of chess.” 
The featured game was played in Vienna. White was an obscure player named Josef Matschego (1800-1858) About all that is known of him is that he studied law and joined the civil service, where he got ahead in the foreign ministry. And, he was a frequent visitor of the chess cafes of Vienna and a member of the Wiener Schachgesellschaft (Vienna Chess Society).
The winner, Ernst Falkbeer (June 27, 1819 - December 14, 1885) was born in Brno. He founded Austria's first chess magazine Wiener Schach-Zeitung in 1855. A few months later he went to London and played two matches with Henry Bird, losing in 1856 and winning in 1856-57. He then played in a knock-out tournament in Birmingham (1858), getting knocked out in the 4th round by Lowenthal. He returned to Vienna and where he edited a chess column for the Neue Illustrierte Zeitung from 1877 to 1885.
[Event "Vienna"]
[Site "Vienna"]
[Date "1853.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Josef Matschego"]
[Black "Ernst Falkbeer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C39"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "1853.??.??"]
{King's Gambit Accepted} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 {What?! No Falkbeer Countergambit
which he had played in an 1851 game against Adolf Anderssen.} 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4
g4 5. Ne5 (5. Ng5 {is not good.} h6 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. d4 d5 8. Bxf4 Nf6 9. Nc3 {
and White does not have enough compensation for the sacrificed N.}) 5... Nf6 6.
Nc3 {A natural developing move, but it's a bad move. He should have played 6.
Nxg4 first.} (6. Nxg4 Nxe4 {This is one alternative.} 7. d3 Ng3 8. Bxf4 {
Black can now choose between either 8...Qe7+ and 9...Rg8 or 8.Nxh1. In either
case the chances would be equal.}) (6. Nxg4 d5 {This second alternative is
also quite playable.} 7. Nxf6+ Qxf6 8. Nc3 {again, the chances are equal.})
6... d6 {After this white's position is evaluated as lost!} 7. Nc4 Be7 (7...
Nh5 {is even stronger.} 8. Be2 Ng3 9. Rh2 h5 10. d4 Bh6 11. Nd5 c6 12. Nxf4 b5
{white's position is simply horrible.} 13. Na3 Qf6 14. Qd2 Nxe2 15. Kxe2 g3 16.
Rh1 Bg4+ {etc.}) 8. d4 Nh5 9. Be2 Bxh4+ 10. Kd2 {The K is on the run.} Qg5 (
10... Ng3 11. Rh2 b5 {and white has no reasonable move.}) 11. Kd3 (11. Nd5 {
was the only alternative, but after} Nf6 12. Nxc7+ Kd7 13. Nxa8 Nxe4+ 14. Kd3
Nf2+ {white has no reason to continue the game.}) 11... Nc6 {Threatening ...
Nb4+} 12. a3 Bf2 (12... f5 13. e5 dxe5 14. Nb5 O-O 15. c3 Rd8 16. Kc2 {and
white will soon be annihilated.}) 13. Nd5 {The there is little chance that he
will get to play Rxh5 and Nf6+} Bxd4 14. Nxc7+ {Quite natural, but white
should have been thinking of defending, not grabbing material.} (14. c3 {
Squashes black's murderous attack and in spite of the precarious position of
white's K black's attack can be survived! It's important to note that after c3
the square c2 is available to white's K.} Be5 15. Nxc7+ Kd8 16. Nxa8 Ng3 17.
Kc2 Qg6 18. Bd3 Nxh1 19. Qxh1 Be6 20. Qf1 f5 21. Bxf4 fxe4 22. Be2 e3+ 23. Kd1
{With careful play white might be able to survive.}) 14... Kd8 15. Nd5 {
Apparently white had second thoughts about grabbing the R and instead returns
the N to it's outpost in hopes of helping with the defense.} (15. Nxa8 {
was actually better.} d5 (15... f5 16. c3 fxe4+ 17. Kc2 e3 18. Nxd6 {
Threatening Nf7+ forking the K, Q and R!} Ke7 19. cxd4 Kxd6 20. d5 Bf5+ 21. Kb3
Na5+ 22. Ka2 {White's K has reached a safe haven and he can even claim the
advantage!}) 16. c3 dxc4+ 17. Kc2 {with a miserable position, but at least
it's not as bad as after the text.}) (15. c3 {is no good now because of} Kxc7
16. cxd4 Ng3 17. Rg1 Re8 {and white must defend e4 so...} 18. e5 (18. Kc2 Nxe2
19. Qxe2 Nxd4+) 18... dxe5 19. d5 Nd4 20. d6+ Kd8 21. Bf1 Bf5+ 22. Kc3 Ne4+ 23.
Kb4 {...and black wins.}) 15... f5 16. Nxd6 (16. c3 {This is not effective
here because the N on d5 is hanging after} fxe4+ 17. Kc2 Qxd5) 16... fxe4+ {
The difference here and the positions in the previous note is that white has
not played c3 and so his K cannot escape via c2. Instead, it is forced into
the open.} 17. Kc4 (17. Nxe4 Qxd5 18. c4 Ne5+ {followed by the capture of the
N.}) 17... Qxd5+ {Beautiful. It's mate in 8} (17... Be6 {also wins, but it's
not as nice, or as effective.} 18. Kb3 Qxd5+ 19. c4 Qxd6 20. Rxh5 {Black wins,
but there is no immediate mate.}) 18. Kxd5 Nf6+ 19. Kc4 Be6+ 20. Kb5 a6+ 21.
Ka4 b5+ 22. Nxb5 axb5+ 23. Kxb5 Ra5+ 24. Kxc6 Bd5+ 25. Kd6 Ne8# {A great game.}
0-1
No comments:
Post a Comment