Winner's POV Chapter 20: London 1876
In Winner's POV, we take a look at tournaments from the 19th century and see the games that allowed the top player to prevail. Some tournaments will be known and famous, others will be more obscure - in a time period where competition is scarce, I believe there is some value in digging for hidden gems in the form of smaller, less known events.
Chapter 20: London 1876
Following the great Vienna 1873 tournament, there had been very little of note in the European chess scene. I was mildly concerned for a moment, as the next tournament after the Third American Chess Congress would be... the Fourth American Chess Congress later in 1876. Fortunately for me, the players at Simpson's Divan came to my rescue and scheduled a tournament slightly earlier in the year - this tournament spanned March and April while the ACC took place in August.
England remained something of a hotspot for top chess players, with Wilhelm Steinitz residing there and doing journaling for The Field, Johannes Zukertort doing the same for my favourite Westminster Papers, and others like Joseph Henry Blackburne finding more work giving simuls and other exhibitions. In terms of actual high-level chess being played, the most notable event was Steinitz's whitewash of Blackburne in the month before the tournament, which the Austrian won 7-0 to (in conjunction with his 2-0 tiebreak win back in Vienna 1873) notch a 9-game winning streak against Mr. "Black Death." Steinitz wouldn't play any tournaments until 1882, so without him, the chess world had to deal with an angry Blackburne, the results of which we'll see right now.
Format and Prizes
For now we're back to normalcy with a good old double round robin, no draw replays, just a classic half point per player. The time control was 30 moves in the first two hours, then 15 moves every subsequent hour.
The prize fund was £25 for first place, £15 for second and £10 for third. The small prize fund is partially explained by it being completely donation-based, and partially because this tournament was played very gradually - three games were played per week, and in the afternoons/evenings, so the players likely had time to work their day jobs at the same time.
Players
Here's a screenshot from The Westminster Papers showing the list of players and the intended schedule:
While I appreciate the planning ahead, I unfortunately have to be the bearer of bad news. William Martin and John Wisker both withdrew during the third round, both citing health concerns, and thus the entire schedule was thrown out. I'll be presenting the games in a different order than is given above, in a way that makes some sense to me; hopefully you all feel the same way.
As is customary, we look at the Edo list for 1875, and I think I'll just let you look at this:
And to think I nearly passed over this tournament.
The Winner: Joseph Henry Blackburne
Blackburne had a rather mixed first half of the decade, specifically with regards to Steinitz. His tournament results had previously been favourable against the Austrian, but he had lost at both London 1872 and the Vienna tiebreaks against him. Their match situation was as lopsided as ever, with Blackburne losing a second match (Steinitz won +7-1=2 against him in 1863). There was something different about his play here than at Vienna, which you'll see as we progress. It's time to look at the London 1876 tournament from the Winner's POV.
Round 1: vs. Franciscus Janssens
Welcome back to the next installment of "I don't know a thing about this guy." He has games dating back to the 1850s, but no notable matches or tournaments prior to this one. Arguably his best result was drawing Paul Morphy in their game during an 1859 blindfold simul, which is an impressive feat for sure.
Blackburne played the Scandinavian Defense for this first game, and equalized very quickly due to his active Knight play and Janssens's Bishop on c4 ending up awkward. When Janssens dropped a pawn after a bad move 22, Blackburne began trading down into an endgame, where he's historically been much better than his opponents. However, he panicked a little when Janssens forced a Queenside passed pawn to the 7th rank, and at one point was just completely lost.
I believe that Janssens missed the win by playing too fast in this game, as he had made 58 moves in the first two hours. His 57th move missed the win, and then he played the losing move on move 61. Blackburne didn't need any help converting after that.
The second game featured a similar trend of Blackburne getting a solid position, but messing something up and needing to fight for equality after. His attack on e6 and sham sacrifice of 14. Ng5 were both great, but one missed move forced him to defend against Janssens's counterattack. When the dust settled, Blackburne was down a pawn with his pieces all on the Kingside, so there were still more chances.
The clock was the enemy of Janssens once again, except this time he flagged on move 29. Not the cleanest 2-0 known to man, but it's two points all the same.
Round 2: vs. James Minchin
We missed Minchin in both the first and fourth British Challenge Cup, where he earned a pair of third-place finishes. He actually defeated Blackburne in their individual game at the fourth BCC, as well as in one of Blackburne's blindfold simuls in 1875, so there was something of a score to settle here.
Blackburne essayed the same Scandinavian setup in this game, though Minchin's different response caused him to go for a double fianchetto this time. His play was inaccurate, and Minchin rapidly expanded on the Queenside, getting a decisive advantage. Blackburne had to sacrifice the exchange in order to gain central space, at which point he rerouted his pieces to the Kingside in an attempt to go for the throat.
Blackburne's opponents have had a tendency to play quickly, and this was again the case as Minchin got through 41 moves in his first two hours. This proved to be a disastrous plan in combination with his extravagant 36. Rd5, which placed the Rook on a dangerous square where it got captured a few moves later. It's another swindle for Blackburne, who was proving to be very difficult to beat, even when he was objectively losing.
The second game was the first clean Blackburne win of the tournament (at least in this order). Minchin made a mistake as early as move four in this Four Knights Spanish, and then another four moves later (with the same pawn, coincidentally enough). I assume Minchin was again playing very quickly, because he blundered a Queen fork on move 18, and the extra piece was again more than enough for Blackburne to convert. I suppose the score has thus been settled.
Round 3: vs. Johannes Zukertort
Despite public opinion (and Edo) saying that these two were arguably the strongest active players in the world, they had only ever played one game against each other: Blackburne played and won the White side of a King's Gambit at London 1872. However, their rivalry would go on for another decade after this, so I'll be sure to update you as it progresses.
Blackburne switched to the Scotch for this game, and went for a particular opening that he and Zukertort played in consultation against Potter and Steinitz in the previous year. He managed to get a super annoying pawn pushed all the way to f6, which likely fueled his decision to go for a Kingside attack. It was not well developed, and Zukertort principally responded in the center. As his central pawns pushed forward and his structure improved, it was clear Zukertort was for choice.
Really, this was just a marvelous game by the future World Championship contender. His Queen sacrifice on move 29 was as pretty as a Queen sacrifice ought to be, and when the dust settled, he was up a clean Bishop. There would be no swindles this time.
The return game featured a Vienna opening that we saw Steinitz use against Gustav Neumann in Baden Baden 1870 and, perhaps more relevantly, against Blackburne in their 1876 match. Generally, people don't tend to do all that well when they use Steinitz's openings, though Zukertort was certainly one of the better players to try. He had to deal with his King being stuck in the center, which was thoroughly tested by Blackburne, who sacrificed a Knight in exchange for two of Zukertort's central pawns.
Unfortunately for Zukertort, he was also no Steinitz. One wrong move (on move 18 in this case) and Blackburne broke through, sacrificing the exchange for the final central pawn, and overwhelming the White pieces with perfect coordination. This was doubtlessly Blackburne's best game, and the final sacrifice is the position in the thumbnail for hopefully obvious reasons.
Round 4: vs. William Norwood Potter
As a chess columnist, I have a large amount of respect for William Potter, as I've used his writings in the Westminster Papers as well as his own City of London Chess Magazine for a few of these chapters in the 1870s. He was definitely more well known as an analyst than a player. In terms of matches, he lost a very close one to Zukertort in 1875 (+2-4=8). He also won a handicap tournament in 1871, beating both Blackburne and Cecil de Vere on even terms, so there's certainly justification for why he's at the top of the world in Edo's calculations.
Before talking about any of the moves, I have to preface your viewing of this game with the piece of trivia that both players experienced crazy amounts of time pressure. Both players made all three time controls with seconds on their clocks each time, really highlighting the complexity of the positions.
The game itself is over 70 moves, with Zukertort giving so many notes that there's no way I can succinctly summarize it here. The short version is that Blackburne won a pawn, and slowly ground out Potter in a long endgame. Enter at your own risk.
Blackburne revived the Monte Carlo French for this game, which was quite popular back in the London 1851 tournament. The play felt very 1850s, with Blackburne sacrificing on h6 and starting a combination that ended with him giving two pieces in exchange for a Rook and two pawns. The plan was probably to take advantage of Potter's slow play with an extremely complex position, which is sensible after Potter was on the worse side of time trouble in their previous game.
Although Blackburne's position wasn't good, his gamble paid off. Shortly before the first time control, Potter made two subpar moves that failed to maintain his initiative, which was mandatory to counterbalance his weak Kingside. Once Potter was forced to step off the gas, he was unable to properly defend, and Blackburne eventually crashed through with checkmate (just in time, with Potter threatening his own checkmate on his move).
Round 5: vs. George Alcock MacDonnell
When we last saw these two play, at the 1868/69 British Challenge Cup, MacDonnell notched his third straight tournament win over Blackburne. Blackburne finally got his revenge at London 1872, and given that he had been competing at more top-level tournaments than MacDonnell in recent years, it was probable that his curse had finally been broken.
Blackburne used the Potter Variation of the Scotch for this game, which he apparently suggested to Potter before it was played earlier in this tournament. MacDonnell's Queenside castling promised a spicy game, and that notion was further solidified when Blackburne accidentally dropped a pawn following an incorrect exchange of pieces. This forced Blackburne to swing for the fences once more, and his noble b-pawn rushed forward with intent.
Really, this game was just a one-move blunder, as MacDonnell's 24th move allowed Blackburne to further advance Barry the b-pawn, and pins in multiple directions won back the lost pawn. Once the defenses were broken, Blackburne took another step toward repairing his record against the clergyman.
The second game wasn't played as it wouldn't affect the standings, as you'll see.
Conclusion
Winning the tournament by a full point with a round to spare is beyond impressive, and hopefully a reassuring result for Blackburne after his trouncing at the hands of Steinitz less than two months earlier. His rivalry with Zukertort is also worth watching, and I'll be sure to bring it up whenever I get the chance. These two will compete at the same tournament again in... 3 chapters, I think, so check back then to see how it evolves.
Our next stop will be the Fourth American Chess Congress, which will feature some new faces that you'll want to keep your eyes on moving forward. I'll see you there.
Chapter 15 (contains links to chapters 11-14)
Chapter 10 (contains links to chapters 6-9)
Chapter 5 (contains links to chapters 1-4)
