Castling with checkmate
Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2021 6:20 pm
Managed this in a game in an Arena event yesterday:
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John Upham wrote: ↑Fri Dec 17, 2021 6:32 pmand the oft quoted Ed. Lasker - Thomas game from 29th October 1912 ended with either 18.0-0-0# or 18.Kd2# depending on the game source.
Source: https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/ext ... homas.htmlEdward Lasker wrote:‘Instead of checkmating with K-Q2 I could have done it by castling, which would perhaps have been more spectacular, as no player has ever been mated that way before, as far as I know. I actually considered castling, but the efficiency-minded engineer in me got the better of it and I played K-Q2 which required moving only one piece.’
Nick Ivell wrote: ↑Fri Dec 17, 2021 6:27 pmI seem to recall a Morphy game which ended o-o-o mate. That was a king hunt though.
I was interested to see that you describe the game as having been played in 1850 against Alonzo Morphy, Paul Morphy's father. Does that come from Lawson, whose book I do not possess?Richard James wrote: ↑Fri Dec 17, 2021 7:48 pmNick Ivell wrote: ↑Fri Dec 17, 2021 6:27 pmI seem to recall a Morphy game which ended o-o-o mate. That was a king hunt though.
Many thanks, Geoff. I was going to look it up myself but you've saved me the trouble.Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:27 amHi David,
Charles Maurian published the game in 1858 as Morphy v an Amateur but in 1884 changed this to a game
between father and son dating it around about 1850 (more details in Lawson book page 82.)
Macon Shibut, 'Paul Morphy and the Evolution of Chess Theory' has dated it 1854.
I was looking at chessgames.com for details and spotted that at one time they had to
give the final moves as a comment because then their system could not handle odds
games and it insisted that there was a Rook on a1.
17...Kb1 White castles
The threats of Be3+ or b3 mating in a few moves surely win.
Source: https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/castling.htmlEdward Winter wrote:Readers will be familiar with the brevity (queen’s rook odds, New Orleans, 1858) in which Morphy gave mate by castling. In all the sources that we have consulted the loser is an anonymous amateur, but when the game appeared on page 174 of the October 1878 American Chess Journal it was introduced as follows:
‘The following short game, given as an unpublished one by the great Paul Morphy, we extract from a recent Globe Democrat, to where it was contributed by Judge Ballard, of Louisville, who is supposed to be the amateur; we do not remember ever to have seen a similar termination occur in actual play.’
(2731)
Alfred Wallace (St Louis, MO, USA) kindly provides Benjamin R. Foster’s introductory text from the 29 September 1878 Sunday Supplemental Sheet of the Globe Democrat:
‘The following game, which has never been published, was kindly forwarded to us by one of our constant contributors, to whom it was sent by Judge Ballard, of Louisville, who is supposed to be the amateur. It is very remarkable in its termination, Paul Morphy actually mating by castling. We take great pleasure in giving to the public this game, as it is another evidence of the wonderful intellect of the world’s chess champion.’
(2739)
After 18...Kxa2, what does White do? Is 19.Qc2 stronger than the immediate 19.b4?Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:27 am
17...Kb1 White castles
The threats of Be3+ or b3 mating in a few moves surely win.
19.Qc2 followed by b3+ or b4+.Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 4:56 pmWhat does White do after the following?Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:27 am
17...Kb1 White castles
The threats of Be3+ or b3 mating in a few moves surely win.
18.O-O Kxa2
Yeah, sorry, just saw that, and was editing my original post to include that. It is clearly winning, isn't it. But you can imagine some players trying an immediate b4+ and losing.IM Jack Rudd wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 4:58 pm19.Qc2 followed by b3+ or b4+.Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 4:56 pmWhat does White do after the following?Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:27 am
17...Kb1 White castles
The threats of Be3+ or b3 mating in a few moves surely win.
18.O-O Kxa2