Winner's POV: Second BCA Congress (London 1886)
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.
London 1886: BCA's Back, Baby!
The last time we looked at an event organized by the British Chess Association was during their final congress back in 1872 (see here), after which the organization decayed into nothing. Whether it was a lack of sufficiently enthusiastic leadership, lack of support from the press (which greatly impacts my work, I'll have them know...), or a lack of funds, it's been over a decade since there was an organizing body that covered the entirety of Britain. That all changed in 1885, when the best man for the job finally stepped up to the plate: Leopold Hoffer, the universally beloved chess journalist and co-founder (with the illustrious Johannes Zukertort) of The Chess-Monthly, my most utilized periodical from the decade. With him at the helm, the British Chess Association was in a good position to retake their place in the international spotlight.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, we're skipping the first congress for a few reasons: the slightly subpar roster, lack of recorded games, and me not wanting to do two consecutive Gunsberg chapters chief among them. The games were posted in the previous chapter (see here) if anyone is especially interested.
This second congress, however, is the first of many with this new BCA that we'll be exploring. The field of battle is the same hall used for the London 1883 tournament, and the proceeds from the tournament book (along with the many subscriptions provided over the previous year) allowed for a much more generous prize fund. Couple that with an organizing committee spearheaded by one of the greatest chess lovers in the country, and we're in for a treat.
Format and Prizes
Like the German tournaments, this was a single round robin played at a time control of 20 moves per hour. Unlike the German tournaments, only one game had to be played each day.
The prizes, per the previously praised Chess-Monthly:
£80 in 1886 is equivalent to about £13000 today. Note that this is worth 1600 German Marks, significantly higher than the top prize at Hamburg.
Players
My apologies for the lack of a proper list this time around:
Missing from this list is the Frenchman Jean Taubenhaus.
The 1886 Edo list gives us the top of the field as Joseph Blackburne (2nd in the world), Isidor Gunsberg (5th), George Mackenzie (8th), Amos Burn (10th), and recently-defeated World Championship Challenger Zukertort (13th).
The Winner: Joseph Blackburne
Blackburne had a rather turbulent last couple of years. For the majority of 1885, he was bedridden with a horrible case of bronchitis; his condition was so bleak that it was recommended that he spend the winter in Australia rather than try to tough out the bitter British cold, which is why he missed the first BCA congress. This recommendation seemed to work well enough and Blackburne's health improved, but he barely returned in time to compete at Hamburg. From there, however, his results were remarkable.
Only a month after Hamburg, another strong tournament was held in the smaller British town of Hereford, under the auspices of the Counties' Chess Association (an organization we'll talk about more in the next chapter). Here Blackburne added another feather to his cap, edging out Henry Bird and Emil Schallopp by a half point:
The first half of 1886 was wholly dominated by the match between Wilhelm Steinitz and Zukertort, though in the meantime the British Chess Club held a "Master Tournament." Here Blackburne put on a clinic, drawing his first game with Bird before beating every single other player without exception:
Like the phoenix, Blackburne has risen from the ashes (or his bed) and has shown the world once more that he's not just among the world's elite; he is the elite. Let's explore The Black Death's hat trick performance as we examine the London 1886 tournament from the Winner's POV.
Round 1: vs. William Pollock
We begin our coverage with one of the most promising up-and-comers of the day, Mr. William Pollock, a product of the aforementioned Counties' Chess Association. He won their "Class II" tournament in 1883, their "Class I" tournament in 1884, and over the past two years he's been determining his place within the English elite.
Blackburne had a history of being a bit of a slow starter (recall Berlin 1881 where he scored 0.5/2 before beating the field by three full points), and Pollock took full advantage of that in this game. He played 2. e5 against Blackburne's French, which clearly surprised our subject, as he made a mistake as early as move five. Pollock's Knight got to d6 on move 11, and from there it was clear that Blackburne was completely busted. He played on for many hours, but the game will show that Pollock was always in complete control, and convincingly took down Blackburne for the first time.
Round 2: vs. James Mortimer
We last saw Mortimer at London 1883, and he hasn't done much since then. He was present at the first BCA event, and while his campaign in the master tournament didn't go very well, he won a smaller tournament sponsored by the polymath John Ruskin. The two played twice in 1883, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Blackburne won both times.
Mortimer declined Blackburne's King's Gambit, allowing our subject to repeat an opening he had played in one of his simuls in Australia. It's a good choice to force the opponent into battle, as the position was such that Black had to break with d5 to get a good position. Neither his Australian opponent nor Mortimer ended up breaking, so Blackburne did what must be done in the King's Gambit and shifted his pieces to the Kingside.
After Blackburne sacrificed a pawn to get a Knight to f5, the position started to become very difficult for Mortimer to play. One of the players was among the best in the world at pursuing an attack, and the other was James Mortimer. His 33rd move gave Blackburne a mate in five, whose announcement was "at once a surprise to Mortimer and most of the spectators," according to Steinitz. Perhaps Mortimer needs to watch more GothamChess videos.
Round 3: vs. Jean Taubenhaus
Welcome back to the Frenchman whose last name means "pigeon house" in German. I've learned nothing more about this guy since Hamburg, where Blackburne defeated him in round 16.
This French was much more orthodox, following a similar path as Taubenhaus's game against Mason at from the first round. Unlike in that game with Mason (where Taubenhaus got an early advantage and nearly won the game), Blackburne equalized quite smoothly, gaining a position with lots of potential and a weak e-pawn to attack. His plan was rather slow, and it allowed Taubenhaus to utilize the battle-tested plan of "point stuff at the Kingside" to great effect.
It's actually quite jarring how quickly things fell apart for Blackburne once the attack got rolling. Taubenhaus won a pawn on move 32, and two moves later Blackburne hung a full Knight. Queen endgames always have at least a little variance with their conversion, but the evaluation didn't really shift over the next 25 optimistic moves.
Round 4: vs. James Hanham
Hanham was a Major in the US Army, and the winner of the 1886 Manhattan Chess Club Championship. We don't get to see what Manhattan's best is made of, however, as the game score wasn't published. It was a win for Blackburne, apparently in the Hanham variation of the Philidor. So let's take this round as an opportunity to do some housekeeping.
First on the agenda, let's welcome back Zukertort into tournament play by showing off his best game of the tournament, played in this round against Mortimer. Zukertort avenged his loss at the end of the London 1883 tournament with the same precision he had back then, taking advantage of one weak move to efficiently grow his advantage. The exchange (sham) sacrifice at move 27 is precisely the Zukertort we remember, and moved him up to 2/3 after a first round bye.
There were four undefeated players left at this point: Mackenzie "lead" with 3.5/4 (of course talking about relative positions is a little awkward with byes), followed by Taubenhaus on 3/4, James Mason on 2.5/4, and Burn on 2.5/3 (with a bye in the second round).
Round 5: vs. Henry Bird
Bird had started with 0.5/4, and with play like this, I'm amazed he got a half point somewhere. I know my writing of Bird can see somewhat vitriolic, but like... why is this guy a master again?
This round was a bloodbath that produced six decisive games, cutting that previous list of four undefeated players down to just Burn, who defeated Mackenzie to move into (shared?) first with 3.5 points.
Round 6: vs. Amos Burn
We've actually looked at one of Burn's games in this series, as he tied for first at the 1870 British Chess Association Challenge Cup (I showed the playoff game). At that tournament, after a draw that was replayed, he actually beat Blackburne, though neither game was recorded.
Frustratingly, that trend continues here, as the game is nowhere to be found. I did a little poking around in the British Newspaper Archive and was able to find the first few moves at least.
Wins by Mackenzie and Gunsberg put them at the top with 4.5/6, while Blackburne and Taubenhaus followed closely with 4/6. Burn and Zukertort with 3.5/5 certainly fit in there somewhere.
Round 7: vs. Emil Schallopp
The sole German representative at this event (apparently Fritz Riemann and Alexander Fritz both hoped to make appearances), Schallopp had been something of a thorn in Blackburne's side as of late. Three times in a row have Schallopp and Blackburne played a French, and three times in a row has Schallopp cracked it to score a point. Something had to change.
What changed was Blackburne's first move, as he finally moved his King's pawn two squares (rejoice!). This decision was rewarded, first by Blackburne not having to play the French, and then by Schallopp making a theoretical error on move 6. Blackburne was able to put a pawn on e3, and to say it cramped Schallopp's game is an understatement. It allowed a Knight to hit f2 with immediate consequences, and for a moment it looked more like an NN-Blackburne simul game.
Although Schallopp dug in deep and managed to keep things under control for a while, his 27th move opened a road for Blackburne's Queen that wasn't ignored. Rarely are Queen sacrifices pulled off at the highest level, and when they are, they more than deserve a spot on the thumbnail (the highest honour a move can receive, I think).
Mackenzie's loss in this round meant that Gunsberg took sole first with 5.5/7. Unfortunately for us, we're now going to have to jump into the future a little bit.
Rounds 8-10: no recorded games
The next two rounds saw Blackburne play very long draws of 90 and 75 moves against Mason and Mackenzie respectively. Neither game was published, perhaps for the better. With round 10 being a bye for Blackburne, there obviously isn't a game there either.
What I will show you is the game that won the Brilliancy Prize. From a Mortimer Spanish, Schallopp elected for 9... d5, initiating a sequence where he sacrificed three full pawns. Objectively speaking, the whole concoction was incorrect, but Gunsberg's 14th move immediately made everything fall into place. I present the game without further comment, and let you decide whether or not this was worthy of the prize.
Through the end of round 10, Gunsberg sort of kept his lead with a score of 7/10. On 6/9 were no fewer than three players: Blackburne, Taubenhaus, and Zukertort. With three rounds to go, there was still everything to play for.
Round 11: vs. Isidor Gunsberg
Doubtlessly the marquis matchup, a result of the combination of the tournament standings and the players' history. I don't think we can yet call these two rivals, as despite Gunsberg's recent successes, he's still getting thrashed by Blackburne consistently; The Black Death won both of their games in the tournaments mentioned at the top of the article (one of them in only 19 moves), and jumping ahead in time, he would also win their game at the upcoming 1887 German Chess Federation congress. Still, with his title defence on the line, you can be sure peak Gunsberg would be coming to play today.
It's a rare sight to see Blackburne on the White side of a Scandinavian, but Gunsberg made it happen. He made it out of the opening without any serious casualties, at which point Blackburne started trading off pieces and going for the endgame. This strategy makes some sense in a vacuum, what with Blackburne being arguably the strongest endgame player alive, but the actual position was one Gunsberg was able to play energetically with complete equality.
One problem with Gunsberg's play is its inconsistency, which turned up here as well. He avoided a fork by moving his Rook back to h7, which would have been defensible had he found time to bring it back into play. Instead of that, he ended up trading off all of his other pieces, and essentially allowed Blackburne to play a Rook endgame up a Rook. I don't think the result of this decision is too surprising.
With Taubenhaus also winning his game, three players had seven points (Zukertort, with his loss to Mackenzie, did not). Only one of them had a bye, however, and it would happen in round 12. Speaking of...
Round 12: vs. Johannes Zukertort
Although preliminary reports disagreed, it was pretty clear to all watching that Zukertort's health had not fully recovered after it had first taken a drop during the match with Steinitz. Of his losses, his last game against Mackenzie was the biggest proof, as Zukertort had an advantageous position before blundering mate in two. Those of you who recall the end of London 1883 would be correct to make a connection.
I would consider this our first proper look at the proper Zukertort setup (with b3 and such). While it initially didn't result in much, Blackburne was the first to really go wrong, trying to play an e6-e5 break that would never be allowed. Once it was sufficiently prevented, Zukertort's Queenside pawns started rushing up the board, and one would get flashbacks to basically every game from 1883. One difference in this game was that Blackburne didn't crack, and after a couple inaccurate moves from Zukertort, a balanced major piece endgame was on the docket.
Time trouble probably played more of a role than health in this game, as Zukertort's 36th move exposed him to an attack that initially cost him one pawn, with a second falling shortly after the time control. The great Zukertort fought on for another 26 moves, but he succumbed to a second consecutive loss and jeopardized his chance at a prize.
For the first time in the event, Blackburne moved to clear first with 8/11. Taubenhaus would have joined him with a win over Burn, but the opposite happened, leaving Burn half a point behind. Taubenhaus thus contented himself with shared third alongside Gunsberg and Mason going into the final round. With none of the five players playing each other, almost every single game would be of immense importance.
Round 13: vs. Samuel Lipschutz
Our last antagonist of the chapter is none other than the champion of the New York Chess Club, and arguably the strongest player in all of America (depending on whether or not you consider Mackenzie to still be American). His 6/11 score put him out of contention for prizes, but his wins over Burn, Mackenzie and Zukertort meant that he was still a dangerous player, especially for a final-round encounter.
Safety was thus the primary goal of Blackburne's play in this game, with a very tame Giuoco Piano that only once saw him move a piece into Lipschutz's territory (it was a trade, which hardly counts). Past the first time control, the ball was entirely within Lipschutz's court, which is probably what Blackburne was aiming for; only if his opponent tried to press would Blackburne seriously seek out winning opportunities. But the American ace never took the bait, and the players shuffled Queens around without really accomplishing much of anything.
Conclusion?
While Blackburne's draw guaranteed he'd finish at the top of the standings, it didn't guarantee he'd be alone; Burn, by virtue of winning his last four games, caught up just in time to challenge for the title. Gunsberg and Taubenhaus did what they had to do, beating Zukertort and Schallopp respectively, while Mason suffered a surprise defeat to Mortimer and had to settle for fifth.
Two tiebreak matches had to be played, and while we'll only focus on one, I'll at least present the match for third if anybody wishes to peruse on their own.
Tiebreak: vs. Amos Burn
16 years later and Burn is picking up right where he left off, finishing equal first and playing a tiebreak for the BCA title. Let's see if his fortune has improved.
Zukertort's setup was once again the battleground of choice, and early on it looked like 1883 Zukertort was the one at the table. White Queenside pawns raced up the board, and after Blackburne's attempt to break with e5 was shut down, they continued racing until a passed pawn at c6 was born. The real test of this setup, however, is whether or not White can survive an attack against their King, which is precisely what Blackburne attempted to do.
Now, to say the last few moves of this game are messy would be an understatement. Neither player handled the position correctly, and I doubtlessly missed some things in my own notes. What I can say for certain is that Blackburne's "sacrifice" at move 31 is quite pretty - sacrifice is in quotes because it shouldn't have been accepted. But accepted it was, and while the overall technique was questionable, the checkmate on move 37 wasn't.
Blackburne once again had the relatively pleasant task of having the first move and draw odds. He returned to his favourite Scotch, which Burn responded to with Steinitz's fourth move; it guaranteed an imbalanced opening, but not necessarily a favourable one for Black. Despite the fact that he won and kept a pawn, after Burn moved his Queen back to e8 to start consolidation, his game was ruined all throughout.
Now, were this a must-win game, this would probably have been one of Blackburne's best. His piece sacrifice on move 14 was very correct, and his notes about faster wins meant he was quite capable of improving his play in this game. But with the tournament situation allowing a draw to be worth as much as a win, he took the professional approach and forced a perpetual check. This might be a disappointing game on its own, but in context, I think it's a fitting end to a showcase of Blackburne being right back at the top of the world.
For the second time, Blackburne won the second BCA Championship by winning the tiebreak with the black pieces. On the other hand, Burn lost his second consecutive tiebreak, but tying for first in consecutive (albeit 16 years apart) national-level tournaments is quite the accomplishment regardless. Taubenhaus punched well above his weight, and Gunsberg showed that his victory in the first edition was no fluke. Less fortunately, both Mackenzie and Zukertort had rather poor showings, but at least one of them would make a resurgence rather soon. Stay tuned for that development.
The BCA would hold a tournament annually for many years, so it won't be long before we're back with another British banger (not the kind served with mash). I have a couple of interesting pit stops planned before then, so hopefully you'll join me on the way.
