The Astonishing Mrs.
Gilbert
By Eric
RUCH
 There
are only few ladies in the correspondence
Chess world today, but they were probably even
fewer during the 19th century where most of
the
games were played by the cities Chess clubs.
It is rather surprising to find a lady
playing in
the match between England and America in 1877
and her games with Mr Gossip, a well known
mysogyne, were one of the main attraction of this
tournament and their progress were reported
almost every month in “La Stratégie”
or “The Chess Monthly” .
The
readers of these magazines may have been astonished
when the Mrs. Gilbert won all her 4 games against Mr.
Gossip. But the
most amazing was the announce by the lady of a mate in 35
moves to secure her first win
G.H.D Gossip was a famous
british chessplayer
in the second part of the 19th century and he
published several famous chess books like
“Theory of the Chess Openings” (1891),
“The Chess Player Manual” (1902) and
“The Complete Chess Guide”
(1903) amongst others.
He has also worked on the
game at odds that
used to be very popular during the 19th century
and published one of the very few books solely
devoted to that very special kind of chess
“The Chess players’ Pocket Guide to Games at Odds” (1893).
M.
G.H.D Gossip – Mrs J.W. Gilbert [C80]
1877
Annotations by Wilhelm
Steinitz "The Field"
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6
4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0-0 ¤xe4 6.d4 b5 7.¤xe5
Several theoreticians prefer7.¥b3
followed by
8.dxe5 after Black’s best reply
7...d5.
7...¤xe5
It is
not advised to take the bishop, because White take the
queen Knight and another piece by
¦e1 followed
by f3.
8.dxe5
¤c5
If
8...bxa4 9.£d5
attacks the Rook and the Knight.
9.¥b3
¤xb3 10.axb3 d6
We
prefer 10...d5.
11.£e2
dxe5 12.£xe5+ £e7 13.¥f4
They
should not let the exchange of the Queens, while the black
queen
is in a bad position. With
13.£g3 or
13.£d5 they would have had good
chances
to attack Blacks position:
13.£g3 ¥b7 14.¥f4 0-0-0 15.c4 b4 16.¤d2
followed by
either
17.c5 or
17.¥e3 with
a good game.
13.£d5 ¦b8 14.¥f4 ¥b7 15.£d2 ¦d8 16.£a5
with the threat
17.¦e1 with
a good game.
13...£xe5
14.¥xe5 ¥b7
M.
Gossip has surely not foreseen this very good move when
letting the exchanges of the Queens. He thought he could
have won a pawn, but if he takes it now, Miss Gilbert
answers with
¦c8 gaining
back the pawn with advantage.
15.c4 0-0-0 16.¤c3
A
mistake that costs a pawn. M. should have taken the pawn
with a good game. His isolated pawns are more than
compensated by the strength of his rooks on the c and d
files.
16.cxb5 axb5 17.¤c3 b4 18.¤a4 ¥d6 19.¥xd6 ¦xd6 20.¤followed
by either
¦a4,
¦a5 or
¦a7 with an
excellent game.
16...b4 17.¤a4 ¦d3 18.¦fe1
¦xb3 19.¦e3 ¦xe3 20.fxe3 ¥e7 21.¥d4 ¦d8 22.¦f1 f6 23.¤c5
White
has made a lot of efforts to exchange his Knight with the
opponent’s King Bishop, to remain with the opposite colours
Bishops with good drawing chances. His last moves are
clever.
23...¥xc5
24.¥xc5 ¦d2 25.¦f2 ¦d1+ 26.¦f1 ¦xf1+ 27.¢xf1 a5 28.g3
If M.
Gossip was hoping more than a draw, he was wrong and has
forgotten, that when playing against a majority of pawns
with opposite colours
Bishops, the opponent’s pawns have to be forced to play on
square that have
an opposite colour to his own Bishop.
For
example :
28.¥f8 g6 29.¥g7 f5 30.g3 ¥a6
(seems to be the best)
31.b3 a4 32.bxa4 ¥xc4+ 33.¢e1 ¢d7 34.¥f8 b3 35.¥g7
and the white King
will
stop the black pawns on c3.
28...¢d7 29.¢e2 ¢e6 30.¢d3
¢f5 31.¥f8 g6 32.¥e7 ¥g2 33.¢d4 b3 34.¢c5 a4 35.¢b4 ¥f1
36.c5
It
was certainly better to take the a4 pawn.
36...¥b5
Nice
move. It the Bishop is captured, the a pawn will advance to
queen.
37.h4
The
decisive mistake. We think that by playing
37.h3,
preventing the
Black King to advance, they would still have good chances to
draw the game.
37...¥c6
Miss
Gilbert plays this game with great skill. The text move is
much
better than
37...c6 that would have allowed
White to draw with
38.e4+.
38.¥d8
¢g4
This
is also very clever. Black has immobilised the white King
on the queen side and with his king side pawns he will
capture the
opposite Bishop and obtain a passed pawn.
39.¥xf6
If
White takes the pawn on c7, Black will also get a passed
pawn by playing g5.
39...¢xg3 40.¢c3 h6 41.¢b4
¢g4 42.e4
Mrs.
Gilbert announces a mate in 35 moves !!
In the Chess Monthly issue of November 1879, one can read:
“ Dame Europe is by the
time accustomed to see all her great works dwindle to dwarfs
in comparison with the gigantic undertakings of her younger
sister on the other side of the Atlantic. Our players are
proud when they succeed in announcing a correct mate in
half-a dozen moves, whereas Mrs. Gilbert, the well known
lady champion, increases the number to three dozen. The
diagrams illustrates the position after the 42nd
move of White in a game played between Mr. Gossip (White)
and Mrs. Gilbert (Black) in the pending correspondence
match, England v. America. Mrs. Gilbert, in order to save
her unfortunate opponent all further trouble, presented him
courteously with the following short mate in 35 moves”
42...g5 43.hxg5 hxg5 44.¥d8
¢f4 45.e5 g4 46.¥xc7 g3 47.e6+ ¢f3 48.¥e5 g2 49.¥d4 ¢e2
50.e7 ¢f1 51.¢c3 g1£ 52.¥xg1 ¢xg1 53.¢d3 ¢f2 54.¢d2 ¢f3
55.¢d3 ¢f4 56.¢c4 ¢e5 57.¢b4 ¢e6 58.¢c4 ¢xe7 59.¢b4 ¢e6
60.¢c4 ¢e5 61.¢c3 ¢e4 62.¢c4 ¢e3 63.¢c3 ¢e2 64.¢b4 ¢d2
65.¢a3 ¢c2 66.¢b4 ¢xb2 67.¢a5 a3 68.¢b6 a2 69.¢xc6 a1£
70.¢d7 ¢a3
The
best move for the shortest mate
71.c6
b2 72.c7 b1£ 73.c8£ £d4+ 74.¢e7
All
the moves are correct and the best one for the shortest
mate.
74...£h7+ 75.¢e6 £g6+ 76.¢e7
£dd6# 0-1
Mrs.
J.W. Gilbert – Mr. G.H.D. Gossip [C80]
1877
Notes from Wilhelm
Steinitz in the "The Field"
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6
4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0-0 ¤xe4 6.¦e1 ¤c5 7.¥xc6 dxc6 8.¤xe5 ¥e7
9.d4 ¤e6 10.¥e3 0-0 11.¤c3 f6
This
move weakens the King file. The f7 pawn should not move in
order
to support the queen bishop or the knight on e6 and White
would not be
able to get a better profit than Black from the e file.
It
seems to us that the best plan in this position would
be …g6,
¤g7, ¥e6 or f5 followed by
¤f5 or e6.
12.¤d3 f5 13.¤e2 ¥d6 14.f4
b5
A bad
move. The doubled pawn on c6 is blocked and becomes a
permanent
weakness that will force Blank to a defensive position. If
the b pawn had to be played,
it should have been moved only a single step.
15.¦c1
Miss
Gilbert has immediately spotted the weak point in her
opponent’s
position et moves her forces towards this side of the board.
15...¥b7 16.c4 bxc4 17.¤c5
Better would have been the immediate capture of the pawn,
obtaining a strong attack after
£b3.
17...¥c8
Black
misses a good opportunity to release the pressure.
They should have captured the knight with the bishop, eg:
17...¥xc5 18.dxc5 £d3 19.¤c3 ¦fe8 20.£a4 ¤xf4 21.¦cd1 ¦xe3
22.¦xd3 ¦xe1+
23.¢f2 ¤xd3+
wins, with two rooks and a bishop for the queen.
18.¦xc4 ¦b8 19.b3 £f6 20.£d3
20.¤xe6
was useless, Black capturing with the queen and threatening
the bishop.
20...£g6 21.¦a4
Black
sets a trap in which "Dame Champion" does not fall. .
Had White played
¤xe6, aiming for the capture of
the c6 pawn with the rook,
Black would have captured with the bishop threatening
...¥d5.
21...¤xc5 22.dxc5 ¥e7 23.¤d4
An
excellent move that cause a lot of problem to Black.
Their bishop can only move to b7 where he is useless.
23...¢h8 24.£c2 ¥h4 25.¥f2
An
excellent way to maintain the initiative. Black has nothing
better than
to swap the bishops leaving White with a knight in an
excellent position
compared to their own bishop that has no perspective.
White
could also play the g2 pawn, because Black can take no
advantage
of the piece sacrifice:
25.g3 ¥xg3 26.hxg3 £xg3+ 27.¢f1 h5 28.¢e2 ¦e8 29.¢d2
and win.
25...¥xf2+
26.£xf2 ¦e8 27.¤f3 ¥b7 28.¤e5 £e6 29.¦c4 ¦bd8 30.¦c3 £f6
31.¦ce3 ¦f8
Black
has no resources.
32.£e2 ¦d4 33.£h5 g6 34.£h6
¦dd8
This
loses quickly, but Black has a very limited choice of moves:
34...¦fd8
White answers with
35.¤xg6+ followed by
¦e8+;
If
34...¢g8 35.¤xg6 £xg6 (35...hxg6 36.¦e6) 36.¦g3
wins in both cases;
If
34...¦g8 the answer would be
35.¤f7+ followed by
¦e7.
All this proves the skill with which Miss Gilbert leads the
fight!
35.¦h3 £g7
In
the Chess Monthly of December 1879, one can read :
“ Mrs. Gilbert has
achieved another surprising feat in announcing at her 36th
move a mate in 21 to Mr. Gossip. Our readers are aware that
in the International Post Card Tourney Mr. Gossip had the
honour to be Mrs. Gilbert’s opponent. The lady champion won
three games and the fourth resulted in a draw(*). The mate
in 35 moves we gave last month, was the astonishing ending
of one of the four games. Last year on our journey to Paris
we had a young American as travelling companion, and after
different subject of conversation had been exhausted, the
new boat Castalia came on the tapis. Not speaking
from our own experience we expressed an opinion that
crossing the Channel in her will be quite a pleasure. “I
guess she is a wonderful vessel” – replied our Yankee – “ I
saw her practising on the Calais pier, and shave off
half of it in less than no time.” We guess Mrs. Gilbert has
been practising on Mr. Gossip and shave off a good
part of the pier on which his Chess reputation was based. It
is a severe blow to Mr. Gossip’s claim to
pre-eminence and we hope he will in the future take the wise
adage to heart that: Discretion is the better part of a
Chess player.”
(*) In fact the final
result was 4-0 and was rectified some months later (E. Ruch)
36.¤xg6+
¢g8 37.£xg7+ ¢xg7 38.¤xf8 ¦xf8 39.¦e7+ ¦f7
Had
Black played
...¢f6, we
doubt that the mate could have
been given in the indicated number of moves
40.¦xh7+ ¢xh7 41.¦xf7+ ¢g6
42.¦xc7 ¥a8 43.¦a7 ¥b7 44.¦xb7 ¢f6 45.h4 ¢g6
46.¦c7 ¢f6 47.¦xc6+ ¢e7 48.h5 ¢d7 49.¦g6 ¢e7 50.c6 a5 51.c7
¢d7 52.h6 ¢xc7
53.h7 a4 54.h8£ axb3 55.£h7+ ¢c8 56.¦g8# 1-0
M. G.H.D. Gossip – Mrs.
J.W. Gilbert [C42]
1877
Notes from "La Stratégie"
1879
Game published in the "Cleveland Voice".
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.¤xe5 d6
4.¤f3 ¤xe4 5.d4 d5 6.¥d3 ¤c6
7.0-0 ¥e7 8.c4 ¥e6 9.£b3
All
this is played according to the generally recognized theory
of this opening.
9...0-0
The
best. Black threatens
...dxc4 followed by
...¤a5.
10.¥xe4
Had
he played
£xb7 Black would answer
...¤a5 with
the better development.
M. Gossip had the hope to get an advantage by opening the
queen file.
10...dxe4
11.d5 exf3 12.dxc6 b6 13.¦d1 £c8 14.¤c3
A
mistake. The only move was
¥f4.
14...¥d6
From
this point on "Dame Champion" initiates with great skill, a
victorious counter-attack
15.gxf3
£e8 16.£a4 f6 17.£b3 £g6+ 18.¢h1 £h5 19.¢g1 ¥xh2+
20.¢f1 £xf3 21.¤d5 £h1+ 22.¢e2
White
could have given up here.
22...¥g4+ 23.¢d2 £g2 24.¢c3
¥e5+ 25.¢c2 ¥xd1+ 26.¢xd1 £xf2
27.¥d2 ¦ad8 28.¢c2 £f5+ 29.£d3 £xd3+ 30.¢xd3 ¥xb2 31.¦g1 ¥e5
32.¥h6 ¦f7 33.¥e3 ¦d6 34.¦b1 ¦xc6 0-1
Mrs. J.W. Gilbert – M.
G.H.D. Gossip [C42]
1877
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3
Nxe4 5.d4
d5 6.Bd3 Nc6
7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nf6 9.h3 Be6 10.c5 a5 11.a3 0-0
12.Nc3 Qd7 13.b4 Ne8
14.Ne2 Bf6 15.Be3 g6 16.Ra2 Ne7 17.Nf4
Bf5 18.Bxf5 Nxf5 19.g4 Be7
20.Bd3 c6 21.Re2 Nc7 22.Nfe5 Qc8
23.f4 Nb5 24.Qc1 Bg7 25.Rg2 f6 26.Nf3 Rh8
27.h4 a4 28.f5
gxf5 29.h5 Rg8 30.h6 Bf8 31.g5 Ng6 32.gxf6 Qe6 33.Ng5
1-0
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