Charles Ranken
Encyclopedia
Charles Edward Ranken was a Church of England
clergyman and a minor British
chess
master. He co-founded and was the first president of the Oxford University Chess Club. He was also the editor of the Chess Player's Chronicle
and a writer for the British Chess Magazine
. Ranken is best known today as the co-author of Chess Openings Ancient and Modern (1889), one of the first important opening
treatise
s in the English language
.
, on 5 January 1828. He learned chess at age 12, but first made a serious study of the game while attending Wadham College, Oxford University in 1847–50. He particularly devoted himself to study of Howard Staunton's
The Chess-Player's Handbook (1847), a book that he said "marked the beginning of a new era in English chess literature".
In 1867, Ranken became vicar at Sandford-on-Thames
and lived at Oxford. He and Lord Randolph Churchill
(Winston Churchill
's father) founded the Oxford University Chess Club in April 1869, with Ranken becoming its first president. In 1871, he resigned his vicarage and moved to Malvern, England, where he remained for the rest of his life.
reflect that she was born in Pendleton, Greater Manchester
, was 14 years Ranken's junior, and that they married sometime between 1861 and 1871, and had at least three children: daughters Francis (born c. 1871) and Emily (born c. 1876), and son Herbert (born c. 1878). Ranken died at Malvern on 12 April 1905. His executors were named as Arthur William Ranken and Edward Ranken.
English chess. In addition to Ranken, these included the Reverends George Alcock MacDonnell
, John Owen
, William Wayte
, Edmund Thorold, and Arthur Skipworth. Mike Fox and Richard James remark that, "The English parsons were a talented mob; presumably quiet country parishes in the nineteenth century gave one the leisure needed to become a star." However, Philip Sergeant
in his book A Century of British Chess writes that, "In chess he was one of the writing rather than the fighting clergy, and his delight lay most in analysis".
Despite Sergeant's characterization, Ranken played in a number of tournaments
in Britain between 1851 and 1895. After leaving Oxford, he played in the provincial section of the great London 1851 tournament
, finished second behind Samuel Boden
. By 1859, the Chess Player's Chronicle
ranked him the best English player outside of London. He played in many congresses organized by the Counties Chess Association. His best result was in 1872, when he finished first in the first-class section at the 8th British Counties Chess Association Congress in Malvern with 12 of 14 possible points, ahead of Revs. Thorold (11.5 points) and Wayte (10.5 points). He had another excellent performance in 1881, when he won the 16th British Counties Chess Association Congress in Leamington, scoring 8 of 9 possible points, ahead of Revs. Owen (7.5 points) and Wayte (7 points). In 1877, he won the Counties Chess Association handicap
tournament at Birmingham.
At the 1883 London Vizayanagaram minor tournament, Ranken "started well but his health gave way after the first week". He still scored 17.5 of 25 possible points, tying for 5th–6th out of 26 players with George H. D. Gossip
. Curt von Bardeleben
won with 21.5 points; Isidor Gunsberg
, who would narrowly lose an 1890–91 World Championship
match to Wilhelm Steinitz
, finished fourth with 19 points.
The strongest tournament in which Ranken played was the Master Tournament at Hereford
1885, an 11-player tournament that featured some of the world's leading players. Ranken scored 3 of 10 possible points, tying for 8th–10th with William Pollock
and Thorold. Joseph Henry Blackburne
won with 8 points, followed by Henry Bird and Emil Schallopp
(7.5 points), George Henry Mackenzie
(7 points), and Gunsberg and James Mason
(5.5 points).
Ranken also participated in several correspondence chess
matches and took first place in the British Chess Association’s 1872 competition.
, at his peak in December 1883 Ranken's play was equivalent to an Elo rating of 2509 (number 30 in the world). His highest world rank was number 24 in the world in three different months between July 1877 and June 1878. Today FIDE, the World Chess Federation, often awards the Grandmaster title to players with Elo ratings of 2500 and above.
Ranken and Wayte assisted Skipworth, the chief editor, in writing The Chess Players' Quarterly Chronicle, which was published in York from February 1868 to December 1871. Ranken was also a contributor to the similarly named The Chess Player's Chronicle, whose editor-in-chief was J. Jenkin of Helensburgh
, which ran from January to March 1875 and was billed as a "monthly record of provincial chess" and published at Glasgow
. It was revived in January 1876, with Ranken as its editor-in-chief, and ran until September 1880. In its pages in 1879, he analyzed 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 a6 5.Bxc6, a favorable variation for White
in the Four Knights Game
, which was named the Ranken Variation after him.
Ranken next became a member of the staff of the British Chess Magazine (BCM), which began publication in January 1881 under the editorship of John Watkinson. There, Ranken specialized in analysis of the opening, middlegame
and endgame. For example, the March 1898 issue featured his analysis of the Rice Gambit
. In 1897, the BCM published his article Chess Reminiscences in the Victorian Era, in which he wrote, "With great defects he had great virtues; there was nothing mean, cringing, or small in his nature, and, taking him all in all, England never had a more worthy chess representative than Howard Staunton
."
Ranken is remembered today as the co-author, with Edward Freeborough
, of the opening treatise Chess Openings Ancient and Modern, a precursor of Modern Chess Openings
. The first edition of the book was published in 1889. Later editions were published in 1893, 1896, and 1910. It was one of the first opening books written in columnar form: columns of move-sequences thought to constitute best play, presented in chess notation
and concluding with a symbol indicating the analyst's assessment of the final position (such as "equal", "White wins", or "advantage to Black"). The book also set forth a number of general principles, many of which are still valid today.
Even modern grandmasters study the book. Frank Brady wrote in his biography
of World Champion
Bobby Fischer
that Chess Openings Ancient and Modern was one of the most heavily annotated books in Fischer's personal library. Fischer had pencilled in his own analyses of the Scotch Game
, Giuoco Piano
, Evans Gambit
, Bishop's Gambit, Danish Gambit
, and other openings. Specifically referring to the analysis in Chess Openings Ancient and Modern, Grandmaster Robert Byrne wrote in a 1991 New York Times chess column, "Ingenious strategies and tactics were tried out in the old days, and if your opponent knows them and you don't, you are in for a pounding." Likewise Fischer, in his famous book My 60 Memorable Games
, annotating an Evans Gambit that he had won against Reuben Fine
, cited analysis from the 1893 edition of Chess Openings Ancient and Modern as an improvement on Fine's ninth move.
and Julius du Mont
call the following game, played in 1885 between William Wayte
(playing White) and Ranken, "One of many fine games played between the two reverend gentlemen, but a particularly thrilling one."
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 Nxe4 5.d5 Bc5!? A speculative piece sacrifice
. Either 5...Ne7 or 5...Nb8 leads to equal play. 6.dxc6 Bxf2+ 6...Nxf2 7.Qd5 is strong for White
. 7.Ke2 d5!? Not mentioned in MCO-15
, which gives only 7...bxc6. MCO-15 and Tartakower and du Mont agree that in that event 8.Qa4 f5 9.Nbd2 leaves Black with inadequate compensation for the sacrificed piece. 8.cxb7 Bxb7 9.Qa4+ c6 10.Nbd2 f5 11.Nxe4 fxe4 12.Kxf2 0-0 13.Be3 gxf3 14.g3 After 14.gxf3 e4, "White's troubles are only beginning". 14...Qc8 15.Bc5 Rf6 16.Rd1 a5 17.Rd2 Ba6 18.Bxa6 Qxa6 19.Re1 e4 20.a3? The immediate 20.b4 would leave White "better able to weather the storm". 20...Qc8 21.Kg1 Qh3 22.b4 Re8 23.Qxa5 h5 24.Qa6 h4 25.Qf1 Qg4 26.Qf2 Rg6 27.b5? The only possible defense was 27.Kh1 hxg3 Qxg3. Now Black
has a crushing attack. 27...hxg3 28.hxg3 28.Qxg3 Qf5 wins White's queen
. 28...Rh6 29.Be3 Rh3 30.Bf4 Qh5 31.Qh2 Rxh2 32.Rxh2 Qg6 33.b6 e3! A deflecting sacrifice. 34.Rxe3 Rxe3 35.Bxe3 Qxg3+ 36.Kh1 Qe1+ 37.Bg1 Qxc3 and Black won.
The same players in 1890 played another game with the same opening. It again featured speculative sacrificial play by Ranken, this time including a double rook sacrifice. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 d5 5.Bb5 Nxe4?! 6.Nex5 Bd7 7.Qb3 Nxe5 8.Qxd5! Qe7 9.Qxb7 Bxb5 10.Qxa8+ Kd7 11.dxe5?? Correct is 11.Qd5, keeping the advantage. Qxe5+ 12.Be3 Bc5! Sacrificing the second rook. 13.Qxh8 Nxf2! 14.Kd2 Bxe3+ 0-1
For another game between these players, see William Wayte.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
clergyman and a minor British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
master. He co-founded and was the first president of the Oxford University Chess Club. He was also the editor of the Chess Player's Chronicle
Chess Player's Chronicle
The Chess Player's Chronicle, founded by Howard Staunton and extant from 1841–56 and 1859–62, was the world's first successful English-language magazine devoted exclusively to chess. Various unrelated but identically or similarly named publications were published until 1902.The earliest chess...
and a writer for the British Chess Magazine
British Chess Magazine
British Chess Magazine is the world's oldest chess magazine in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since. It is frequently known in the chess world as BCM....
. Ranken is best known today as the co-author of Chess Openings Ancient and Modern (1889), one of the first important opening
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
treatise
Treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
s in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Education and religious career
Ranken was born in Brislington, near BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, on 5 January 1828. He learned chess at age 12, but first made a serious study of the game while attending Wadham College, Oxford University in 1847–50. He particularly devoted himself to study of Howard Staunton's
Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape—the Staunton pattern—that...
The Chess-Player's Handbook (1847), a book that he said "marked the beginning of a new era in English chess literature".
In 1867, Ranken became vicar at Sandford-on-Thames
Sandford-on-Thames
Sandford-on-Thames is a village and Parish Council beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire just south of Oxford. The village is just west of the A4074 road between Oxford and Henley.-Early history:...
and lived at Oxford. He and Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Churchill
Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill MP was a British statesman. He was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane , daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...
(Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's father) founded the Oxford University Chess Club in April 1869, with Ranken becoming its first president. In 1871, he resigned his vicarage and moved to Malvern, England, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Family
Ranken's wife, Louisa Jane, died on 10 February 1903. Census recordsCensus in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
reflect that she was born in Pendleton, Greater Manchester
Pendleton, Greater Manchester
Pendleton is an inner city area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is about from Manchester city centre. The A6 dual carriageway skirts the east of the district....
, was 14 years Ranken's junior, and that they married sometime between 1861 and 1871, and had at least three children: daughters Francis (born c. 1871) and Emily (born c. 1876), and son Herbert (born c. 1878). Ranken died at Malvern on 12 April 1905. His executors were named as Arthur William Ranken and Edward Ranken.
Chess tournament career
Ranken was a leading member of a group of reverends who played a prominent role in early Victorian EraVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
English chess. In addition to Ranken, these included the Reverends George Alcock MacDonnell
George Alcock MacDonnell
George Alcock MacDonnell was an Irish chess master.He tied for 3rd-4th at London 1862 ,...
, John Owen
John Owen (chess player)
John Owen was an English vicar and strong amateur chess player.In 1858 he won a game against Paul Morphy, which led to a match between the two...
, William Wayte
William Wayte
William Wayte was a Church of England clergyman and a British chess master. He was one of a group of ministers who played a prominent role in English chess in the late nineteenth century...
, Edmund Thorold, and Arthur Skipworth. Mike Fox and Richard James remark that, "The English parsons were a talented mob; presumably quiet country parishes in the nineteenth century gave one the leisure needed to become a star." However, Philip Sergeant
Philip Sergeant
Philip Walsingham Sergeant was a British professional writer on chess and popular historical subjects. He collaborated on the fifth , sixth , and seventh editions of Modern Chess Openings, an important reference work on the chess openings...
in his book A Century of British Chess writes that, "In chess he was one of the writing rather than the fighting clergy, and his delight lay most in analysis".
Despite Sergeant's characterization, Ranken played in a number of tournaments
Chess tournament
A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition among serious players.Today, the most recognized chess...
in Britain between 1851 and 1895. After leaving Oxford, he played in the provincial section of the great London 1851 tournament
London 1851 chess tournament
right|thumb|[[Adolf Anderssen]] won both the London International Tournament and the rival London Club Tournament.London 1851 was the first international chess tournament. The tournament was conceived and organised by English player Howard Staunton, and marked the first time that the best chess...
, finished second behind Samuel Boden
Samuel Boden
Samuel Standidge Boden was an English professional chess master.The mating pattern "Boden's Mate" was named after the mate that occurred in one of his games, Schulder-Boden, London 1853....
. By 1859, the Chess Player's Chronicle
Chess Player's Chronicle
The Chess Player's Chronicle, founded by Howard Staunton and extant from 1841–56 and 1859–62, was the world's first successful English-language magazine devoted exclusively to chess. Various unrelated but identically or similarly named publications were published until 1902.The earliest chess...
ranked him the best English player outside of London. He played in many congresses organized by the Counties Chess Association. His best result was in 1872, when he finished first in the first-class section at the 8th British Counties Chess Association Congress in Malvern with 12 of 14 possible points, ahead of Revs. Thorold (11.5 points) and Wayte (10.5 points). He had another excellent performance in 1881, when he won the 16th British Counties Chess Association Congress in Leamington, scoring 8 of 9 possible points, ahead of Revs. Owen (7.5 points) and Wayte (7 points). In 1877, he won the Counties Chess Association handicap
Chess handicap
A handicap in chess is a way to enable a weaker player to have a chance of winning against a stronger one. There are many kinds of such handicaps, such as material odds, extra moves A handicap (or "odds") in chess is a way to enable a weaker player to have a chance of winning against a stronger...
tournament at Birmingham.
At the 1883 London Vizayanagaram minor tournament, Ranken "started well but his health gave way after the first week". He still scored 17.5 of 25 possible points, tying for 5th–6th out of 26 players with George H. D. Gossip
George H. D. Gossip
George Hatfeild Dingley Gossip was a minor American-English chess master and writer. He competed in chess tournaments between 1870 and 1895, playing against most of the world's leading players, but with only modest success. The writer G. H...
. Curt von Bardeleben
Curt von Bardeleben
Curt von Bardeleben was a Count and a German chess master who committed suicide by jumping out of a window in 1924. His life and death were the basis for that of the main character in the novel The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov, which was made into the movie The Luzhin Defence...
won with 21.5 points; Isidor Gunsberg
Isidor Gunsberg
Isidor Arthur Gunsberg began his career as the player operating the remote-controlled chess automaton Mephisto, but later became a chess professional....
, who would narrowly lose an 1890–91 World Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
match to Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier...
, finished fourth with 19 points.
The strongest tournament in which Ranken played was the Master Tournament at Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
1885, an 11-player tournament that featured some of the world's leading players. Ranken scored 3 of 10 possible points, tying for 8th–10th with William Pollock
William Pollock (chess player)
William Henry Krause Pollock was an English chess master, and a surgeon.Pollock was born in Cheltenham, England, the son of the Rev. William J. Pollock. He was educated at Clifton College. He studied for the medical profession in Dublin, Ireland from 1880–82, at which time he was a member of the...
and Thorold. Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years...
won with 8 points, followed by Henry Bird and Emil Schallopp
Emil Schallopp
Emil Schallopp was a German chess player and author. He became head of the shorthand department of the Reichstag. He wrote many books, including one on the Steinitz–Zukertort 1886 World Championship match...
(7.5 points), George Henry Mackenzie
George Henry Mackenzie
George Henry Mackenzie was a Scottish–American chess master....
(7 points), and Gunsberg and James Mason
James Mason (chess player)
James Mason was a famous chess player and writer. He was born in Kilkenny in Ireland. His original name is unknown: he was adopted as a child and only took the name James Mason when he and his family moved to the United States in 1861...
(5.5 points).
Ranken also participated in several correspondence chess
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
matches and took first place in the British Chess Association’s 1872 competition.
Chess strength
According to ChessmetricsChessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
, at his peak in December 1883 Ranken's play was equivalent to an Elo rating of 2509 (number 30 in the world). His highest world rank was number 24 in the world in three different months between July 1877 and June 1878. Today FIDE, the World Chess Federation, often awards the Grandmaster title to players with Elo ratings of 2500 and above.
Chess writing
Helensburgh
Helensburgh is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the eastern shore of the entrance to the Gareloch....
, which ran from January to March 1875 and was billed as a "monthly record of provincial chess" and published at Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. It was revived in January 1876, with Ranken as its editor-in-chief, and ran until September 1880. In its pages in 1879, he analyzed 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 a6 5.Bxc6, a favorable variation for White
White and Black in chess
In chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
in the Four Knights Game
Four Knights Game
The Four Knights Game is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The opening is fairly popular with beginners who strictly adhere to the opening principle: "Develop knights before bishops." It was one of the workhorses in the family of the Open Game, at even the highest levels, until World War...
, which was named the Ranken Variation after him.
Ranken next became a member of the staff of the British Chess Magazine (BCM), which began publication in January 1881 under the editorship of John Watkinson. There, Ranken specialized in analysis of the opening, middlegame
Middlegame
The middlegame in chess refers to the portion of the game that happens after the opening and before the endgame. There is no clear line between the opening and middlegame, and between the middlegame and endgame. In modern chess, the moves that make up an opening blend into the middlegame, so there...
and endgame. For example, the March 1898 issue featured his analysis of the Rice Gambit
Rice Gambit
The Rice Gambit is a chess opening that arises from the King's Gambit Accepted. An offshoot of the Kieseritzky Gambit, it is characterized by the moves 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Bc4 d5 7. exd5 Bd6 8. O-O...
. In 1897, the BCM published his article Chess Reminiscences in the Victorian Era, in which he wrote, "With great defects he had great virtues; there was nothing mean, cringing, or small in his nature, and, taking him all in all, England never had a more worthy chess representative than Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape—the Staunton pattern—that...
."
Ranken is remembered today as the co-author, with Edward Freeborough
Edward Freeborough
Edward Freeborough was the co-author, with Charles Ranken, of Chess Openings Ancient and Modern , one of the first important opening treatises in the English language and a precursor of Modern Chess Openings. He was a member of the editorial staff of the British Chess Magazine from 1883 until his...
, of the opening treatise Chess Openings Ancient and Modern, a precursor of Modern Chess Openings
Modern Chess Openings
Modern Chess Openings is an important reference book on the chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith and John Herbert White...
. The first edition of the book was published in 1889. Later editions were published in 1893, 1896, and 1910. It was one of the first opening books written in columnar form: columns of move-sequences thought to constitute best play, presented in chess notation
Chess notation
Chess notation is the term for several systems that have developed to record either the moves made during a game of chess or the position of the pieces on a chess board. The earliest systems of notation used lengthy narratives to describe each move; these gradually evolved into terser systems of...
and concluding with a symbol indicating the analyst's assessment of the final position (such as "equal", "White wins", or "advantage to Black"). The book also set forth a number of general principles, many of which are still valid today.
Even modern grandmasters study the book. Frank Brady wrote in his biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of World Champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
that Chess Openings Ancient and Modern was one of the most heavily annotated books in Fischer's personal library. Fischer had pencilled in his own analyses of the Scotch Game
Scotch Game
The Scotch Game is a chess opening that begins with the movesWhite aims to dominate the centre by exchanging his d-pawn for Black's e-pawn. Black usually plays 3...exd4, as he has no good way to maintain his pawn on e5...
, Giuoco Piano
Giuoco Piano
The Giuoco Piano is a chess opening beginning with the moves:Common alternatives to 3...Bc5 include 3...Nf6 , 3...Be7 , or 3...d6 .-History:...
, Evans Gambit
Evans Gambit
The Evans Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the moves:The gambit is named after the Welsh sea Captain William Davies Evans, the first player known to have employed it. The first game with the opening is considered to be Evans - McDonnell, London 1827, although in that game a slightly...
, Bishop's Gambit, Danish Gambit
Danish Gambit
The Danish Gambit, known as the in German, and the in Dutch, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:...
, and other openings. Specifically referring to the analysis in Chess Openings Ancient and Modern, Grandmaster Robert Byrne wrote in a 1991 New York Times chess column, "Ingenious strategies and tactics were tried out in the old days, and if your opponent knows them and you don't, you are in for a pounding." Likewise Fischer, in his famous book My 60 Memorable Games
My 60 Memorable Games
My 60 Memorable Games is a chess book by Bobby Fischer, first published in 1969. It is a collection of his games dating from the 1957 New Jersey Open to the 1967 Sousse Interzonal. Unlike many players' anthologies, which are often titled My Best Games and include only victories, My 60 Memorable...
, annotating an Evans Gambit that he had won against Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...
, cited analysis from the 1893 edition of Chess Openings Ancient and Modern as an improvement on Fine's ninth move.
Notable games
Savielly TartakowerSavielly Tartakower
Ksawery Tartakower was a leading Polish and French chess Grandmaster. He was also a leading chess journalist of the 1920s and 30s...
and Julius du Mont
Julius du Mont
Julius du Mont was a pianist, piano teacher, chess player, journalist, editor and writer. He studied music at the Frankfurt Conservatoire and at Heidelberg, and became a concert pianist. He emigrated to England as a young man and became a successful piano teacher. Amongst his pupils was Edna Iles...
call the following game, played in 1885 between William Wayte
William Wayte
William Wayte was a Church of England clergyman and a British chess master. He was one of a group of ministers who played a prominent role in English chess in the late nineteenth century...
(playing White) and Ranken, "One of many fine games played between the two reverend gentlemen, but a particularly thrilling one."
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 Nxe4 5.d5 Bc5!? A speculative piece sacrifice
Sacrifice (chess)
In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....
. Either 5...Ne7 or 5...Nb8 leads to equal play. 6.dxc6 Bxf2+ 6...Nxf2 7.Qd5 is strong for White
White and Black in chess
In chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
. 7.Ke2 d5!? Not mentioned in MCO-15
Modern Chess Openings
Modern Chess Openings is an important reference book on the chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith and John Herbert White...
, which gives only 7...bxc6. MCO-15 and Tartakower and du Mont agree that in that event 8.Qa4 f5 9.Nbd2 leaves Black with inadequate compensation for the sacrificed piece. 8.cxb7 Bxb7 9.Qa4+ c6 10.Nbd2 f5 11.Nxe4 fxe4 12.Kxf2 0-0 13.Be3 gxf3 14.g3 After 14.gxf3 e4, "White's troubles are only beginning". 14...Qc8 15.Bc5 Rf6 16.Rd1 a5 17.Rd2 Ba6 18.Bxa6 Qxa6 19.Re1 e4 20.a3? The immediate 20.b4 would leave White "better able to weather the storm". 20...Qc8 21.Kg1 Qh3 22.b4 Re8 23.Qxa5 h5 24.Qa6 h4 25.Qf1 Qg4 26.Qf2 Rg6 27.b5? The only possible defense was 27.Kh1 hxg3 Qxg3. Now Black
White and Black in chess
In chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
has a crushing attack. 27...hxg3 28.hxg3 28.Qxg3 Qf5 wins White's queen
Queen (chess)
The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
. 28...Rh6 29.Be3 Rh3 30.Bf4 Qh5 31.Qh2 Rxh2 32.Rxh2 Qg6 33.b6 e3! A deflecting sacrifice. 34.Rxe3 Rxe3 35.Bxe3 Qxg3+ 36.Kh1 Qe1+ 37.Bg1 Qxc3 and Black won.
The same players in 1890 played another game with the same opening. It again featured speculative sacrificial play by Ranken, this time including a double rook sacrifice. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 d5 5.Bb5 Nxe4?! 6.Nex5 Bd7 7.Qb3 Nxe5 8.Qxd5! Qe7 9.Qxb7 Bxb5 10.Qxa8+ Kd7 11.dxe5?? Correct is 11.Qd5, keeping the advantage. Qxe5+ 12.Be3 Bc5! Sacrificing the second rook. 13.Qxh8 Nxf2! 14.Kd2 Bxe3+ 0-1
For another game between these players, see William Wayte.
External links
- John S. Hilbert, Ranken and Correspondence Chess (November 10, 2005). Retrieved on December 12, 2008.