Joseph Henry Blackburne

Biography

Joseph Henry Blackburne was born with Manchester in December 1841. He initially learned how to play Dames child and it is only after having heard of the exploits of Paul Morphy through the Europe that it was interested in the failures. He then joined the club of failures of Manchester around 1860 and learned much from the theory of the finales with Bernhard Horwitz.

Initially Blackburne worked in the trade of Sous-vêtement S, but after being itself quickly improved during the Années 1860, it decided to become a professional player of failures. During the season 1868 - 1869, it gains the second English championship after having beaten the champion in title, Cecil Valentine DeVere, and is duly regarded as the best English player.

During the 20 following years, Blackburne travelled throughout the world while facing largest of the world of the failures. It was regularly placed in signal 5 of world classifications and carried out excellent performances in many international tournaments. It finished first equal with Wilhelm Steinitz with Vienna in 1873, although it lost the final (- 2); first with London in 1876; first equal with Berthold Englisch and Adolf Schwarz with Wiesbaden in 1880; first with Berlin in 1881, where it finished 3 points in front of its large rival Johannes Zukertort; first equal with James Mason with Belfast in 1892, and first with the tournament of London of 1893.

Its results were however irregular when it used its talents in competition and it encountered difficulties against the world elite. It lost two match against Steinitz in 1862 (+1-7=2) and 1876 (+0-7=0) and a match against Emmanuel Lasker in 1892 (+0-6=4). It did better against Zukertort; after having lost a match in 1881 (+2-7=5), it managed to gain the second in 1887 (+5-1=7) and it obtained a similar result against Isidor Gunsberg the same years - gaining in 1881 (+7-4=3) but losing revenge in 1887 (+2-5=6).

The match of 1876 against Wilhelm Steinitz had proceeded in West End Chess Club of London and was regarded at the time as a match of championship of the nonofficial world. The setting was of 60 £ on each side, the winner empochant the whole. It was about a considerable sum at the time of the era victorienne - 60 £ of this time would be about equivalent to: 4000 £ today, is approximately: 6000 €.

Blackburne earned primarily its living thanks to its voyages through the country, by giving simultaneous exhibitions and demonstrations as a blind man. He indeed visited the North-East of England in 1889 to help to promote the Teesside Chess Association lately created. Blackburne visited the area for two demonstrations the simultaneous ones and a meeting as a blind man. He asked 1 Shilling for a simultaneous part or 2 shilling and half to play as a blind man, and the weather proved that he was practically unbeatable, gaining 29 times, being null 2 times and losing only once in the parts into simultaneous. The bandaged eyes, it made +7-0=1.

Its tendency to drink Whiskey during the part led it one day to empty glass of its adversary. A little later the adversary gave up, leading it to scoff: My adversary left glass of whiskey in catch, and I took it while passing . Blackburne supported that to drink whiskey the spirit cleared up to him and improved its play, it tried to prove this theory as often as possible.

During years 1890, Blackburne had the reputation to play more: 2000 parts per annum into simultaneous and he had even travelled abroad in various countries, such as the Netherlands, the Australia and the New Zealand, to give exhibitions. In parallel, it in more had time to marry twice, and it had a son of his second wife, Mary Fox. Moreover, he played in first chess-board for the English team in 11 of the Anglo-American matches by cable which started in 1896 and, in the first six matches, he registered a score of 3 ½/½ against the first American chess-board , held by Harry Pillsbury.

In 1914, it took part in the Championship of England against Frederick Yates but, at 72 years, its best days were behind him, and its fragile health prevented it from taking part in the finale for the title. Earlier in the same year, it had taken part in its last major international tournament with Saint-Pétersbourg, where it had overcome a Aron Nimzovitch full with future, but now, it concentrated on the writing of his column échiquéenne in The Field , a station which it kept until his death in 1924, at 82 years.

Joseph Henry Blackburne is an icon of the romantic set of failures because of his style of extremely open play and highly tactic. Its large black beard and its at the same time offensive and aggressive style saved to him the nickname of der Schwarze Tod (“Black Death”, in reference to the Black Death) after its performance during the tournament of Vienna of 1873. In 1881, according to a www.chessmetrics.com retroactive calculation of classification, he was the second higher classified in the world. He was particularly strong in the finales and had a great combinative capacity which enabled him to carry many prices of beauty, but one will remember especially him for his popular simultaneous parts and his remarkable demonstrations which collected the imagination of the general public gathered to look at it playing.

Mr. Blackburne' S Games At Chess , which it published in 1899, was recently republished by Moravian Chess. It contains more than 400 of its parts, approximately 20 problems which it composed, and a short biography.

Chechmate of Blackburne

See also: Chechmates célèbres#Mat of Blackburne

Anecdote

The doubtful Blackburne opening, the gambit shilling (1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cc6 3.Fc4 Cd4?!), was allotted to Blackburne because it would have supposedly used it to gain quickly against the amateurs, thus carrying the Shilling concerned in the part. That was questioned by Bill Wall, which specifies that the anecdote seems to come from the second edition (1992) of The Oxford Companion to Chess , of D. Hooper and K. Whyld, and that there is no left mention of any played by Blackburne with this opening.

External bonds

117 of its parts to format PGN

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