Chess history trivia

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
Angus French
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by Angus French » Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:37 pm

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.

Richard James
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by Richard James » Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:39 pm

John Townsend wrote:
Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:45 am
Which famous chess player was called to the Bar on 7 June 1852?
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.

Richard James
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by Richard James » Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:47 pm

Angus French wrote:
Fri Mar 02, 2018 1:37 pm
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.
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.

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.

John Townsend
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by John Townsend » Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:59 pm

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 ...

John Townsend
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by John Townsend » Sat Mar 03, 2018 10:25 am

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.

Tim Harding
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by Tim Harding » Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:02 pm

John Townsend wrote:
Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:59 pm
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 ...
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.
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
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MJMcCready
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by MJMcCready » Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:40 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:02 pm
John Townsend wrote:
Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:59 pm
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 ...
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.
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.
Where may we find your thesis on-line Tim? I had a look at your personal site and didn't see it there.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:49 pm

MJMcCready wrote:
Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:40 pm
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.
Where may we find your thesis on-line Tim? I had a look at your personal site and didn't see it there.
Try here?

‘Battle at long range’: correspondence chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1914, a social and cultural history

749 pages.

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MJMcCready
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by MJMcCready » Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:27 pm

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.

John Townsend
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by John Townsend » Sun Mar 10, 2019 2:36 pm

Another question.

Which international chess tournament was postponed for a few days because of the funeral of a British monarch?

Leonard Barden
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by Leonard Barden » Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:20 pm

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.

John Townsend
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by John Townsend » Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:30 pm

Yes, correct, Leonard, and well done. I don't know whether Blackburne went to the funeral. Perhaps Tim Harding will know.

NickFaulks
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Mar 10, 2019 4:29 pm

Leonard Barden wrote:
Sun Mar 10, 2019 3:20 pm
Monte Carlo 1901.
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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Nick Grey
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by Nick Grey » Sun Mar 10, 2019 9:07 pm

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?

Alex McFarlane
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Re: Chess history trivia

Post by Alex McFarlane » Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:41 am

NickFaulks wrote:
Sun Mar 10, 2019 4:29 pm
Can any of our historians tell me whether it was tried elsewhere?
Not sure if I qualify, but the Rules were based on those of Paris 1900, which indeed used the same points system.

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