Ladislas Maczuski, An Obscure Genius

`The odds are you never heard of Ladislas Maczuski (July 23, 1837 - August 22, 1898, 61 years old).  He was described in the French chess magazine L'Echiquier de Paris as "a most curious type. He was born in Poland, but finally settled in France and from the moment of his arrival this gifted man took a prominent place among the chess amateurs.” 

    How good was he? It is hard to say owing to the very small number of his games that have survived. 

    What is known is that in March of1865, the founder of the relatively new magazine Palamede Francais left and Maczuski took over, but the magazine disappeared in December of 1865. It was a well put together 48 page brochure design that covered chess, checkers, whist and billiards. 

    Maczuski was last seen attired in an old overcoat giving “lessons” in cafes in Paris for two francs a lesson. As near as I can calculate that’s about $12 in today's purchasing power. By comparison, I’m told chess hustlers in New York City typically charge $5 a game these days, 

     In the following remarkable game from a 4-board blindfold simultaneous exhibition in 1876, he announced a mate in eleven moves! His opponent was a well known French amateur.  

 

[Event "Blindfold Simul"] [Site "Ferrara ITA"] [Date "1876.05.31"] [Round "?"] [White "Ladislas Maczuski"] [Black "A. Mazzolani"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C21"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "1876.??.??"] {C21: Danish Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 {White intends to sacrifice a P or two for whick development and the attack. However, if he is careful black can safely accept them. The Danish used to be a favorite of Frank Marshall in his simuls, but his opponents started getting booked up on it and he had to give it up.} Bc5 {Raely played, but not at al bad.} 4. Bc4 Qf6 {Pointless. Correct was 4...d5!} 5. Nf3 h6 {Black is going to pay a price for ignoring his development and making anti-positional moves.} 6. cxd4 Bb6 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. e5 { White already has what can be considered a decisive advantage.} Qg6 9. Bd3 { It would have been better to not allow ...Qxg2 by playing 9.Nh4, but black was afraid to make the capture.} f5 (9... Qxg2 {is a better defense, but white is still better after} 10. Rg1 Qh3 11. d5 d6 12. exd6 cxd6 13. Rxg7 Rg8 14. Rxg8+ Nxg8 15. Qe2+) 10. exf6 {Castling was a good alternative.} Qxf6 $16 11. Ne4 { Again, castling was better. Now after 11...Qe6 black would have hopes of defending himself.} Qf7 $2 (11... Qe6 12. O-O d5 13. Ng3 Nbc6 {With some pieces in play black is getting untangled.}) 12. Ne5 Qe6 13. Qh5+ {Setting up the final attack. Black no longer has any escape.} g6 14. Qh4 {The game is not over until it's over! White missed win and after the text move he has only a slight advantage against the correct defense.} (14. Nxg6 Nxg6 15. d5 {This little move is what makes his 14th move hard to spot.} Qe7 16. O-O Qg7 17. Ng3 {with a winning attack against black's K. Just one variation...} O-O 18. Bxg6 d6 19. Bxh6) 14... Nf5 {[%mdl 8192] ...losing outright.} (14... Bxd4 { equalizes. For example...} 15. Nf3 Bg7 16. O-O d5 17. Ng3 Nbc6 18. Re1 Qf7 { and black's defense should hold.}) 15. Nf6+ {Back on track. White finished up brilliantly.} Kf8 16. Bxf5 $1 Ba5+ {A spite check.} 17. Kf1 Qxf5 {Maczuski announced mate in 11 moves. Can you see it?} (17... Qxf5 18. Bxh6+ Ke7 19. Ng8+ Kd6 20. Qe7+ Kd5 21. Qc5+ Ke6 22. d5+ Kxe5 23. Bg7+ Kf4 24. Qe3+ Kg4 25. Qg3+ Kh5 26. Nf6+ Qxf6 27. Bxf6 Rg8 28. Qh4#) 1-0