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Brilliancy prices in
Correspondence
Chess during the 19th century.
There is no doubt that the beauty is one of
the major difference between chess and other games.
Brilliancy in a chess game and much more than just playing
correct moves: the chess player has to become a real artist!
In his book published in 1939 “Les Prix de
beauté aux Echecs”, François Le Lionnais has not only
defined the major rules that define a brilliant game, but he
has also published an anthology of the chess games that have
been awarded a brilliancy price, from the years 1870, when
the concept of brilliancy prize has been introduced in the
practice of chess tournaments up to the publication of the
book. Unfortunately, some of the earlier master pieces
played by Cocrane, La Bourdonnais, Anderssen, Kieseritzky or
Morphy could received their deserved prices.
I will now present you some of these
masterpices that have been played by correspondence during
the 19th century.
The supplice
of Tantale
This game has obtained the brilliancy price
of the best King Gambit game played in the correspondence
tournament organized by the “Cincinnati Commercial
Gazette”. George Tatnall lived in Wilmington (Del.)/
The umpire of tournament was M. Reichhelm.
Kittson – George Tatnall
[C37]
1882
Annotations by François Le
Lionnais "Les Prix de Beauté aux Echecs"
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.¤f3 g5
4.¥c4 g4 5.¤e5 £h4+ 6.¢f1 ¤h6 7.d4 f3
The Silberschmidt gambit
is a kind of Cochrane gambit.
6...f3 is differed and prepared by
6...¤h6.
8.g3
The most tempting move
8.gxf3 has been refuted by Staunton.
8...£h3+ 9.¢f2 £g2+ 10.¢e3 f5 11.¤c3
And not
11.exf5?
that would expose the white King to a strong attack.
11...c6 12.¤d3
In the past
12.¥d3
was used to be played. The text move introduces a new idea
that seems correct: restrict and capture the black Queen.
Correspondence chess
is the right place to test the soundness of such a plan.
12...fxe4 13.¤f4
The black Queen is now
in jail.
13...¤f5+ 14.¢xe4 d5+ 15.¥xd5 cxd5+ 16.¤cxd5 ¤d6+ 17.¢d3 £f2
Tatnall was in a hurry
to escape, but he did not analyze correctly the position.
As was indicated by Reichelm,
17...¥f5+ 18.¢c3 £f2 19.¤c7+ ¢d7 20.¤xa8 ¥xc2 was
much stronger.
18.¥e3
If
18.¤c7+ ¢d8
19.¤xa8 White would concede for having capture the
Rook a8.
18...¥f5+ 19.¢c3 ¤b5+ 20.¢b3
By playing
20.¢c4
White could prevent the following combination, but the white
King would have been exposed to killing checks. It seems
that White will now obtain what he wanted.
20...¥xc2+!!
This move completely
changes the situation of the game and
allows the Queen to be safely exchanged
21.£xc2 £xe3+!! 22.¤xe3 ¤xd4+
23.¢c3 ¤xc2 24.¢xc2
Black is now a pawn
ahead.
24...h5 25.¤ed5 ¤a6?
¤c7+ had to be prevented, but
not with the text move, but by playing
25...¥d6
developing the Bishop. And it would have been Black who has
obtained the brilliancy prize!!
26.¦ae1+ ¢f7 27.¦e5 ¦c8+ 28.¢b1 ¦c5 29.¦f5+ ¢g8
If
29...¢g7
30.¤e6+; or
29...¢e8
30.¦e1+ etc.
30.¤g6
This move, threatening
to capture either the Bishop or the Rook, wins at least a
pawn.
30...¦h6 31.¤xf8 ¦xd5 32.¦xd5 ¢xf8 33.h3 ¤b4 34.¦f5+ ¢g7
35.hxg4 hxg4 36.¦d1!
Very well played. If
36.¦xh6 ¢xh6
Black would have had good prospects on the King side.
36...¢g6
37.¦b5 f2
The sacrifice of the
Knight is not good. White can safely take it and
will have time enough to stop the f pawn.
38.¦xb4 ¢g5 39.¦f4 ¦h2 40.¦f1 ¦g2 41.¦4xf2 ¦xg3 42.¦f7 ¦g2
43.¦xb7 1-0
The
next game has obtained the brilliancy prize in the second
correspondence tournament organized by the “Globe “
of Saint-John in Canada.
J.-B. Stebbins lived in
New-York and James-Ephraim Narraway in Ottawa.
J.-B. Stebbins, - James
Ephraim Narraway [C22]
1893
Annotations by François Le
Lionnais "Les Prix de Beauté aux Echecs"
1.e4
e5 2.d4 exd4 3.£xd4 ¤c6 4.£e3 g6 5.¥d2 ¥g7 6.¤c3 d6 7.f4 ¤f6
7...¤ge7 is usually played in
order not to obstruct the long diagonal for the Bishop at
g7.
8.¥d3
As the Knight f6 can go
to g4 to threaten the Queen, it would have been
perhaps better to play
8.¥e2 -- 9.¥f3 -- 10.¤ge2
8...¥d7
9.¤f3 ¤b4 10.a3 ¤xd3+ 11.£xd3 £e7 12.0-0-0 0-0-0
With the move
7.f4
White was expecting to attack the King on the King side.
13.£c4
¥c6 14.¦he1 ¦he8 15.¤d5 £d7 16.¤d4?
This attack is premature
and cost some tempi and a pawn.
16...¦xe4
17.¤xf6 ¥xf6 18.¦xe4 ¥xe4 19.¤b5 d5!
This nice move outplays
White plan.
20.£f1
It was not possible to
play 20.¤xa7+?
¢b8 and the Knight is lost.
20...a6
21.¤c3 ¥f5 22.£g1 d4!
Black has first stopped
White’s army, and now starts the counter–attack.
23.¥e3?
White should have moved
the knight. But White had no idea of Black next move
23...dxc3!!
A bad surprise. But, as
we have already explained, this is not a real Queen
sacrifice,
since Black gets Rook, Knight and pawn for the Queen.
24.¦xd7
cxb2+ 25.¢b1 ¦xd7 26.g4
To prevent
26...¥g4
followed by
27...¦d1+
26...¦d3!!
A another sacrifice,
even more beautiful as the previous one. If White does
not capture the Rook, Black will play
...¦xa3
followed ...¦a1
mat.
27.¥c1
White could have
resigned the game. If
27.cxd3 ¥xd3+
28.¢a2 b1£+ 29.£xb1 ¥xb1+ 30.¢xb1
and Blank has a winning endgame. If
27.gxf5 ¦xa3
wins.
27.¥c5 ¥e4 28.£e1 ¥c3 29.-- ¦d2
wins.
27...bxc1£+
28.¢xc1 ¥d4 29.£e1 ¦e3 0-1
If
29...¦e3 30.£b4
c5 etc.
This game has obtained
the special prize of the most brilliant Vienna Gambit in a
correspondence tournament organized by the “Southern
California”
M. Cecil F. Pierce lived
in Los Angeles and M. W. Bennett in Phoenix.
Positional play in a
romantic gambit!
Cecil F. Pierce – W.
Bennett [C25]
1894
Annotations by Lipschutz
published in the "Times Democrat"
and by François Le Lionnais
"Les Prix de Beauté aux Echecs"
1.e4 e5 2.¤c3 ¤c6 3.f4 exf4
4.¤f3 g5 5.h4 g4 6.¤g5 h6
The following
continuation, even less played, is safer:
6...d6 7.¥c4 ¤e5 8.¥b3 h6
7.¤xf7
¢xf7 8.d4
This move introduces
the Thorold attack in the Allgaier Gambit.
It is also the best move in the Hampe Allgaier Gambit.
8...d6
8...f3 9.gxf3 ¥e7 is better
than the text move.
9.¥xf4
¤f6 10.¥c4+ ¢g7 11.0-0 ¥e7 12.£d2 ¥d7 13.e5
A very strong move after
which it seems difficult to find a correct defense.
Black has to exchange the pawns immediately.
13...dxe5
14.dxe5 ¤g8
The best move. If
14...¥c5+
15.¥e3 and if
15...¤xe5
16.¥xc5 ¤xc4 17.£d4 ¥e6 18.¤e4
would recover the piece with a better position.
15.¥e3
Stronger than
15.¥g3
15...¥e8
If
15...¤xe5 16.¥d4 ¥f6 17.¦xf6 £xf6 18.¦f1 -- 19.¥xe5
16.£e2
h5 17.¦ad1 £c8 18.£f2 ¤h6 19.¤d5 g3
Cleverly, Black
sacrifices a pawn to get their Queen into play. A detailed
analysis of the position would demonstrate that there is
nothing better
If
19...¦f8
20.¥xh6+ ¢xh6 21.£e3+ ¢g7 22.¤xe7 ¦xf1+ 23.¦xf1 ¤xe7
24.£g5+ ¤g6 25.£f6+ ¢h7 26.¦f5 and wins.
20.£xg3+
£g4 21.¥xh6+ ¦xh6 22.¤xe7
Well played. Black
cannot capture the Queen due to
23.¤f5+
winning a piece.
22...¤xe7
23.£f2 ¥c6 24.¦d4 £g6 25.g4
Very nice style. The
sacrifice of the pawn forces the win of a piece. If White
had played
25.¦f4 Black would have had some chances to secure a
draw 25...¦g8
26.¥xg8 ¤xg8
27.¦f5 ¢h8 28.¦g5 £e6 29.£f8 ¦h7.
25...hxg4 26.£f7+ £xf7
27.¦xf7+ ¢h8 28.¦xe7 ¦xh4 29.¥d5 ¦d8 30.c4 ¦h5 31.¢g2 b5
Black tries to exchange
the pawns to obtain an endgame with Rook against Rook and
Bishop.
32.¦xc7
¦xe5 33.¦xc6 bxc4 34.¦c5 ¦e2+ 35.¢g3 ¦xb2 1-0
White announces a mate
in 16 moves!
Mate in 16 moves !
This game has obtained
the special prize of the most brilliant Cunningham Gambit in
a
correspondence tournament organized by the the “Sourthern
California” in 1894 - 1895.
W. Bennett - Sheldon [C35]
1894
Annotations by Lipschutz
published in the "Times Democrat"
and by François Le Lionnais
"Les Prix de Beauté aux Echecs"
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.¤f3 ¥e7
This move is weak and
seldom used in a match.
4.¥c4
¥h4+ 5.¢f1
5.g3 -- 6.0-0 is also played,
but the attack is probably not as strong as after the text
move.
5...d5
6.¥xd5 ¤f6 7.¤c3 ¤xd5 8.¤xd5 0-0 !!
A wonderful Queen
sacrifice (F. Le Lionnais).
9.¤xh4
£xh4
10.d3
Si
10.¤xc7 ¤c6
11.¤xa8 ¤d4 12.¤c7 ¥g4 13.£e1 ¥e2+
14.£xe2 ¤xe2 15.¢xe2 £h5+ and wins (F. Le Lionnais).
10...¤c6
11.¥xf4 f5 12.e5 g5
Black starts an attack
that is maybe too risky (F. Le Lionnais).
13.¥g3 £h6 14.d4
It would be dangerous to
capture the c pawn, in view of the reply
14...f4
followed by
...f3.
14...f4
15.¥f2 f3 16.h3 ¥g4
This seems to be a
strong move winning a pawn, but Black Bishop is blocked.
A better continuation would have been
16...fxg2+ 17.¢xg2 ¥xh3+ 18.¦xh3 ¦xf2+ 19.¢xf2 £xh3
17.g3
¥xh3+ 18.¢g1 g4 19.£d3 £g7 20.¦e1 ¦ad8 21.£e4 £d7
Black has probably
overestimated the strength of their position when giving the
exchange.
22.¤f6+
¦xf6 23.exf6 ¤xd4 24.¦d1 c5 25.c3 ¤e2+ 26.¢h2 £c7 1-0
White announces a mate
in 7 moves.
The superiority of
White’s position comes from the inactivity of the
Black Bishop and from the fact that the Knight is too far
away to protect his King.
26...£c7 27.£e6+ ¢h8
(27...£f7
28.¦xd8#; 27...¢f8 28.¥xc5+ etc.)
28.¥xc5 -- 29.¥d4
etc....
Mate in 7 moves.
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