English Chess Forum

I wonder whether there is anybody that can explain what Otto M. Tennison intended or alluded to when proposing to name his gambit “Black Rook’s Gambit”. Thanks for your attention. All the best, Francesco

For those who don't know, the opening in question goes 1 Nf3 d5 2 e4 - or alternately 1 e4 d5 2 Nf3.

International News section, though?

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 20, 2023 3:16 pm

International News section, though?

Not now.

This is the game included in Otto Tennison's letter to the Chess Editor of the Times-Democrat (New Orleans) newspaper in 1891:
1. Nf3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Ng5 f5 4. Bc4 Nh6 5. Nxh7 Rxh7 6. Qh5+ Kd7 7. Qg6 Rh8 8. Be6+ Kc6 9. Bxc8+ Qd6 10. Qe8+ Kb6 11. Qa4

See https://imgbox.com/nZc6Osbl

Of course none of this actually explains what "Black Rook's Gambit" alludes to!

I try not to criticise the standard of play of games in the chess history section, because I know that is not the point.

But since this is in general chat...good grief, I think that is amongst the worst games I have ever seen.

I was reading Otto's page at chessgames.com; https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=99715

He fought for both the Union and the Confederates in the Civil War and at one time was under sentence of death. Doubt we will ever find out why he called it the Black Rook Gambit.

rnbqkb2/ppp1p1pr/7n/5p1Q/2B1p3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNB1K2R b KQq -

Here instead of 6..Kd7 Black play 6...g6 7.Qxg6+ Rf7

rnbqkb2/ppp1pr2/6Qn/5p2/2B1p3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNB1K2R w KQq - 1 3

That is a unique Black Rook! (I cannot recall a Rook doing that before.)

I googled 'Black Rook + chess' and found a Chess Rook Puzzle. You have to open it and find the coin.

https://cruxpuzzles.co.uk/product/chess ... zle-black/

Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 21, 2023 4:50 pm

I googled 'Black Rook + chess' and found a Chess Rook Puzzle. You have to open it and find the coin.
https://cruxpuzzles.co.uk/product/chess ... zle-black/

Never mind about the hidden coin, if I bought that puzzle I'd be more concerned about the lost £25.95.

I thought the Tennison game was OK and I've seen many far worse, though that's perhaps not unrelated to the number of times I've been the controller of the bottom section of a tournament.

Was a bit surprised Black resigned that early tbh, they *are* lost but I suspect most would have made White play it out for a few more moves.

Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 21, 2023 4:50 pm

That is a unique Black Rook! (I cannot recall a Rook doing that before.)

You may have miised Danny Gormally v Simon Williams from the 2006 EU Championship in Liverpool.

[SetUp "1"] [FEN "rnbqkbn1/pppppr2/7p/5ppQ/3PP2B/8/PPP2PPP/RN2KBNR w KQq - 3 6"]

[Event "ch-EU"] [Site "Liverpool ENG"] [Date "2006.09.15"] [Round "10"] [White "Gormally,D"] [Black "Williams,Si"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A80"] [WhiteElo "2513"] [BlackElo "2473"] 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5 h6 3.Bh4 g5 4.e4 Rh7 5.Qh5+ Rf7 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Qg6 Nc6 8.Bxg5 fxe4 9.Ne5 Nxe5 10.dxe5 hxg5 11.exf6 exf6 12.Nc3 Bb4 13.O-O-O Bxc3 14.Bc4 Bxb2+ 15.Kxb2 Qe7 16.h4 d5 17.Bxd5 Qe5+ 18.c3 Be6 19.Bxe6 1-0

What a game. No wonder Danny describes the mid Noughties as his golden period.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 21, 2023 6:29 pm

You may have miised Danny Gormally v Simon Williams from the 2006 EU Championship in Liverpool.

A good spot Roger, yes the Rook on f7 in the Schoolboy pattern.

r1bqk3/pppp1r2/5pQ1/6p1/2B1p3/2b5/PPP2PPP/2KR3R b q - 0 14

The Black Rook.
This is a very big if...Maybe it was a topical play on words referring to a musical 'The Black Crook' which was famous (or infamous ) around about then due to the fact it had 'Beautiful bare-legged girls...' and a review suggesting due to the indecency of the costumes and dancing it should have been called 'Sodom and Gomorrah' (I hope they run this one at the coming Edinburgh Festival.)

Mark Twain liked it, Dickens not so, but it was famous.'Both awe and outrage fueled the show's increasing popularity until "nobody could hold his own in conversation unless he had seen it" state it's own wiki-page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Crook
The follow up play was called, and I'm not making thus up; The White Fawn

Of course I'm most likely way off but a good thread. Finding about Tennison and the Civil War and The Black Crook.

It also brought back memories of gaffe No.607 (I keep a count of these things.) I once added a note to a dubious pawn sacrifice. 'I fired a pawn into the air...where it landed I know not where.' and then cited an apology to Tennyson. Only to be told a few days later that it was Longfellow.

I faced the Tennison Gambit yesterday:

[Event "Polar Capital Jersey Open"] [Site "Ambassador Hotel, Jersey"] [Round "8.8"] [Date "2025.04.11"] [White "Flanagan, Keith"] [Black "Rudd, Jack"] [Result "0-1"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Ng5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.f3 exf3 6.gxf3 Bf5 7.Bc4 e6 8.d3 Bc5 9.Qe2 Nc6 10.Bf4 Nh5 11.Bd2 Nd4 12.Qd1 h6 13.Nge4 Qh4+ 14.Ng3 Nxg3 0-1

I was dimly wondering how I managed to get an advantage so easily, when I don't find the Blumenfeld Gambit that easy to meet. And, of course, it's the "extra move's gonna hurt me" thing. If I try 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bg5, black can just play 5...Be7 6.Bf4 Bb4+ and transpose into one of the main lines. The equivalent line isn't great for white here, because I still have ...c6.

IM Jack Rudd wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 12, 2025 6:23 pm

I was dimly wondering how I managed to get an advantage so easily

It was suggested to me recently that for an opponent who might be taken outside their comfort zone that the Scandinavian version might be worth a punt. That is to introduce it by 1. e4 d5 2. Nf3 rather than from a Reti.