Chess history trivia

[John Townsend]

Francis Burden and Samuel Standidge Boden both acted as chess mentors to the young Cecil De Vere. By a "curious coincidence", the two of them had something else in common. What?

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

Francis Burden and Samuel Standidge Boden both acted as chess mentors to the young Cecil De Vere. By a "curious coincidence", the two of them had something else in common. What?

I believe they both died on the same day - not the same date in different years but literally the same day!

[John Townsend]

Yes, well done, Jon.

P.W. Sergeant, in his A Century of British Chess (page 185), names the fatal day as 13 January 1882. Burden died in his native Belfast, having dropped out of chess some time before.

[MJMcCready]

Who, in 1735, wrote the book Noble game of chess.

[John Clarke]

Only one likely candidate for this - Philip Stamma.

[MJMcCready]

Not him, he came after.

[John Clarke]

Well Mac, no more takers, so I guess it's time for the Big Reveal.

[John Clarke]

Meanwhile, try this on for size. What piece of current chess terminology was originated - inadvertently - by one J S Bingham in 1820?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Meanwhile, try this on for size. What piece of current chess terminology was originated - inadvertently - by one J S Bingham in 1820?

En passant?

[John Upham]

Not him, he came after.

Capt. Joseph Bertin?

https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/ ... edir_esc=y

[John Upham]

J S Bingham in 1820?

Apparently

"J S Bingham is a pseudonym of Captain John Smith, RN "Quotes and queries", British Chess Magazine, November 1978, page 523."

[John Clarke]

Meanwhile, try this on for size. What piece of current chess terminology was originated - inadvertently - by one J S Bingham in 1820?

En passant?

No, there's several instances of the term en passant being used earlier than 1820.

(And I'll take this opportunity of thanking John Upham for providing the true identity of Mr "Bingham".)

[John Townsend]

I believe Smith (alias J. S. Bingham) first used the word "study" in the sense of a composed endgame.

[John Upham]

(And I'll take this opportunity of thanking John Upham for providing the true identity of Mr "Bingham".)

Appreciated but credit is really due to the sadly missed Ken Whyld / Ken Fraser in Quote and Query #3944, BCM, 1978, page 523.

If only all of the Q&Qs from BCM were digitised and placed on-line...

[John Townsend]

We previously discussed Captain Smith in 2022, especially regarding a claim that his son, Isaac Bressey Smith, was related to the famous explorer, Captain James Cook:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12478&p=278536&hil ... am#p278536