Chess history trivia
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Re: Chess history trivia
My Google search produced a different answer(?) to David's: Richard Doddridge Blackmore who, likewise, is previously unheard of to me - though I'm not a student of chess history.
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Re: Chess history trivia
If we're thinking about the same person, I paid a small tribute to him the Monday before last. I took a slight detour on my way home from school to walk along a road bearing his name.John Townsend wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:45 amWhich famous chess player was called to the Bar on 7 June 1852?
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Re: Chess history trivia
That was my answer as well. There was an excellent article about him in CHESS a couple of months ago. He was a pretty decent player.Angus French wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:37 pmMy Google search produced a different answer(?) to David's: Richard Doddridge Blackmore who, likewise, is previously unheard of to me - though I'm not a student of chess history.
Wikipedia is good on his writing and rather unsuccessful attempt at market gardening, but doesn't mention his chess career.
If you visited Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club's former venue in Teddington, that was where he lived. I note that, like my grandmother, he's buried in Teddington Cemetery.
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Re: Chess history trivia
Help! Another one on 7 June 1852! But was Blackmore really a famous chess player, or was chess, rather, a life-long hobby?
Any more candidates?
I'm still waiting for the answer I had in mind ...
Any more candidates?
I'm still waiting for the answer I had in mind ...
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Re: Chess history trivia
My intended answer was Thomas Wilson Barnes, who for a time was regarded as one of the strongest players in England. In 1858 he won casual games against Paul Morphy. An interesting obituary appeared in Westminster Papers, 1 September 1874.
I am amazed that of about ten people called to the Bar on 7 June 1852, three have so far been identified as keen chess players. What does it say about barristers and chess in general? I mentioned briefly chess at the Middle Temple in my article about Joseph Brown in Chess Notes, C.N. 9909:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter142.html
John Cochrane was at the Inner Temple.
I am amazed that of about ten people called to the Bar on 7 June 1852, three have so far been identified as keen chess players. What does it say about barristers and chess in general? I mentioned briefly chess at the Middle Temple in my article about Joseph Brown in Chess Notes, C.N. 9909:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter142.html
John Cochrane was at the Inner Temple.
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Re: Chess history trivia
On Blackmore, not a chess player of note but famous in his day as the author of "Lorna Doone", see pages 176 and 180 of my Eminent Victorian Chess Players. There is more on him in my PhD thesis which is now available online.John Townsend wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:59 pmHelp! Another one on 7 June 1852! But was Blackmore really a famous chess player, or was chess, rather, a life-long hobby?
Any more candidates?
I'm still waiting for the answer I had in mind ...
Blackmore was friendly with Steinitz, who dedicated his booklet on the 1876 Blackburne match to Blackmore.
Blackmore had qualified as a barrister but never practised, if I recall correctly.
Because of medical advice that he should adopt an outdoor occupation, he took up horticulture.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter
Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com
Historian and FIDE Arbiter
Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com
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Re: Chess history trivia
Where may we find your thesis on-line Tim? I had a look at your personal site and didn't see it there.Tim Harding wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:02 pmOn Blackmore, not a chess player of note but famous in his day as the author of "Lorna Doone", see pages 176 and 180 of my Eminent Victorian Chess Players. There is more on him in my PhD thesis which is now available online.John Townsend wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:59 pmHelp! Another one on 7 June 1852! But was Blackmore really a famous chess player, or was chess, rather, a life-long hobby?
Any more candidates?
I'm still waiting for the answer I had in mind ...
Blackmore was friendly with Steinitz, who dedicated his booklet on the 1876 Blackburne match to Blackmore.
Blackmore had qualified as a barrister but never practised, if I recall correctly.
Because of medical advice that he should adopt an outdoor occupation, he took up horticulture.
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Re: Chess history trivia
Try here?MJMcCready wrote: ↑Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:40 pmWhere may we find your thesis on-line Tim? I had a look at your personal site and didn't see it there.Tim Harding wrote: ↑Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:02 pm
On Blackmore, not a chess player of note but famous in his day as the author of "Lorna Doone", see pages 176 and 180 of my Eminent Victorian Chess Players. There is more on him in my PhD thesis which is now available online.
‘Battle at long range’: correspondence chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1914, a social and cultural history
749 pages.
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Re: Chess history trivia
Thank you very much. So I get to read chess history with an explained methodology, written by a[n] historian, that does make for a very pleasant change.
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Re: Chess history trivia
Another question.
Which international chess tournament was postponed for a few days because of the funeral of a British monarch?
Which international chess tournament was postponed for a few days because of the funeral of a British monarch?
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Re: Chess history trivia
Monte Carlo 1901. Did Blackburne, as the only English participant in the tournament, actually attend Victoria's funeral? I suspect not, since the funeral was on 2 February and the tournament was only postponed from the 1st to the 4th.
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Re: Chess history trivia
Yes, correct, Leonard, and well done. I don't know whether Blackburne went to the funeral. Perhaps Tim Harding will know.
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Re: Chess history trivia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Car ... ament#1901
For some reason I looked this up, and was fascinated by the scoring system. It was repeated the following year, then discontinued.
Can any of our historians tell me whether it was tried elsewhere? This is of interest because related ideas are being proposed nowadays as anti-draw devices.
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Re: Chess history trivia
Perhaps drawn games replayed because the tournament was in Monte Carlo. Beats turn of a card or spin of the wheel.
Maybe something to bring into league chess?
Maybe something to bring into league chess?
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Re: Chess history trivia
Not sure if I qualify, but the Rules were based on those of Paris 1900, which indeed used the same points system.NickFaulks wrote: ↑Sun Mar 10, 2019 4:29 pmCan any of our historians tell me whether it was tried elsewhere?