His Gambit Yes, Blackmar No

Chess Sparks, the 1895 book by J. H. Ellis, included one game by A. E. Blackmar among its 400 miniatures, but it was not a Blackmar Gambit (see Blackmar Yes, His Gambit No). However, the book did include one:
  
Fazan,W. S. - M.
Played at Oliphant's about 1891
Blackmar Gambit Accepted

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3 exf3



[The Blackmar Gambit accepted. In a later game Mr. Fazan was instructed in the gambit's principal defect when 3...e5 was played against him. I'll save that for another post.]

4.Nxf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.c3 e6 7.0-0 Bd6
 


8.Qe1 Bxf3 9.Rxf3 c6 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Qh4



11...Nbd7 12.Nd2 Nd5 13.Ne4 f6 14.Raf1
 


14...fxg5?? Now mate is forced. 15.Qh5+ g6



16.Qxg6+ 

[16.Nd6+ gets it done one move sooner. 16...Bxd6 17.Bxg6+ Ke7 (17...hxg6 18.Qxg6+ Ke7 19.Qf7#) 18.Rf7+ Ke8 19.Rxh7#]

16...hxg6 17.Nd6+ Bxd6 18.Bxg6+ Ke7 19.Rf7+ Ke8 20.Rh7# 1-0



Play through the game and download PGN here.

Tropical Storm Claudette

Tropical Storm Claudette is coming in this evening. The track is to the east of us, so only a few gusts and light rain are here so far. I walked over to the beach around 5:30 this afternoon and took a few pictures. Almost as lovely as a Blackmar-Diemer.

Blackmar Yes, His Gambit No

The January 1896 issue of British Chess Magazine reviewed a book called Chess Sparks by the Rev. J. H. Ellis (London: Longman's, Green, & Co., 1895). It was a collection of 400 miniatures (the sparks), none longer than twenty moves. The review stood in good company, as on the same page Emanuel Lasker’s Common Sense in Chess (London: Bellairs & Co., 1896) was also reviewed.

Of interest here is game 281 from Chess Sparks, which is a Scotch Game, with none other than A. E. Blackmar handling the black pieces. Black’s Bishop sac is unsound, but White cooperates to produce a nice conclusion. Hey, it’s just a game.

Thanks to Charles Szasz for calling this game to my attention.

A. F. Wurm - A. E. Blackmar
New Orleans, 1883
Scotch Game

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nf5 d5 6.Nxg7+ Kf8 7.Nh5 Qh4 8.Ng3 Nf6 9.Be2
 


9...Bxf2+?! 10.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 11.Kg1 Rg8



12.Nxe4? [12.Qxd5; 12.Nc3; 12.Qe1; 12.Bf3: any one was much better.] 12...dxe4 13.Qd2??



13...Rxg2+ and mate is forced. 14.Kxg2 Bh3+ 15.Kg1 e3! 0-1



[16.Bf1 (16.Qxe3 Qe1+; 16.Bf3 exd2 17.Bxd2 Qd4+) 16...exd2 17.Bxh3 d1Q+]

Play through the game and download PGN here.

One More BDG from Theo Hommeles

In a recent post I mentioned that after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 e6 9.Qf3 c6 10.g5 Nd5 11.Bd3, Black’s best move is 11...Nd7, and promised a game in this line played by the subject of recent posts, FM Theo Hommeles. Here it is.

Hommeles,Theo - Van Bohemen,Cees
NED-ch op Netherlands (1), 1992
BDG, Teichmann Defense

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 e6 9.Qf3 c6 10.g5 Nd5 11.Bd3 Nd7 12.Nxg6
 


12...fxg6? This was not a time to violate the general principle of recapturing towards the center. Now play will turn on the weak, backward e-pawn.

 [After 12...hxg6 play has gone 13.0-0 Qe7 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.c4 (15.Bd2 Rc8 16.Rf2 Rh5 17.Qg4 Kd8 18.Raf1 f5 19.gxf6 gxf6 20.Re1 Rc6 21.Bxg6 Rh8 22.c4 Rxc4 23.Rxe6 Rh4 24.Qf5 Qg7 25.Re8+ Kc7 26.Bf4+ Rxf4 27.Rxf4 Bd6 28.Rh4 Nf8 29.Rg4 Tinture,L-Calvor/cr ch FRA distr 1996/1-0 (35)) 15...dxc4 16.Bxc4 Rc8 (16...Nb6? 17.Bb5+ Kd8 18.Qxf7+/- (But 18.Bf4?! 0-1 Rossi,G (2012)-Gorshkova,I (2158)/Conegliano ITA 2008 (30)) ) 17.Bb5 b6 (17...Rxc1 18.Bxd7+ Kxd7 19.Raxc1 Qxg5+ 20.Kh1 Qd8 1-0 Birchbeer (2588)-gsanchez (2323)/Internet Chess Club 1994) 18.Bf4 Qb4 19.Bxd7+ Kxd7 20.Be5 Rc6 21.Rac1 Qb5 22.Qxc6+ Qxc6 23.Rxf7+ Ke8 24.Rxf8+ 1-0 Birchbeer-fosti/Internet Chess Club 1995]

13.0-0 Qe7 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.c4 Nb6 16.c5 Nd7 17.Bf4+-



17...e5 18.Rae1 0-0-0 19.Qg4 Kb8 20.Bxe5+ Nxe5 21.Rxe5 Qc7 22.Rfe1 a6 23.b4 h6 24.Bxg6 hxg5 25.Re8 Ka7 26.Kg2 Rxe8 27.Rxe8



27...Rh4 [27...Qf4 28.Qxf4 gxf4+-] 28.Qg3 Qf4 29.Qxf4 Rxf4 30.a3 Rf6 31.Bd3 g6



32.Bxg6! Bg7 33.Bh5 Rf4 34.c6! 1-0



[34.c6 bxc6 35.Re7+ Kb6 36.Rxg7 Rxd4 37.Rxg5+-]

Play through the game and download PGN here.

Newton Grant at Blackmar’s Tomb

Newton Grant and the BDG go back a long time. He was one of the finalists in the first World BDG Correspondence Championship in the 1970s. Today I was sorting through some old papers and came across this photo Newton sent me almost 20 years ago, of himself in front of Blackmar’s tomb in New Orleans.

BDGs at the South Wales International Open (2)

Here’s the second Blackmar-Diemer played last month at the 6th South Wales International Open: Fletcher,J (2027) - Owens,M (1731) 6th South Wales International Open (4), 13.07.2009 BDG, Teichmann Defense 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 e6 9.Qf3 c6 10.g5 Nd5 11.Bd3 11...Qe7? [This renders f7 indefensible. Best is 11...Nd7. As it happens I have a game in this line played by the subject of recent posts, FM Theo Hommeles. I’ll include it in a later post.] 12.Bxg6 fxg6 13.0-0 Na6 14.Nf7 Rg8 15.Ne4 Qd7 16.a3 16...Nb6 [There's no good move to be found. Rybka suggests 16...e5 17.dxe5 Qe6 trying to get the King to safety with Kd7.] 17.c3 [Stronger (but more complicated) was 17.Ne5

Analysis Diagram

17...Qc7 (17...Qxd4+? 18.Be3 Qxe5 19.Qf7+ Kd8 20.Bxb6+ axb6 21.Rad1+) 18.Qg4 0-0-0 19.Qxe6+ Kb8 20.Bf4+-] 17...Nc7 18.Ne5 Qe7 19.Nd6+ 19...Kd8 [19...Qxd6 20.Qf7+ Kd8 21.Qxg8 Ke8 22.Qxh7 -- followed by 23.Qxg6+ ] 20.Nxb7+ Kc8 21.Nxc6 1-0 Play through this game and download PGN here.