Joseph Henry Blackburne
Encyclopedia
Joseph Henry Blackburne (10 December 1841 – 1 September 1924), 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. At one point he was the world's second most successful player, with a string of tournament
victories behind him, but he really enjoyed popularising chess by giving simultaneous and blindfold
displays around the country. Blackburne also published a collection of his own games, and was a chess correspondent for a leading journal until his death.
He was also noted for heavy drinking of Scotch whisky
, especially during exhibition games, and this became the subject of many anecdotes. However he occasionally became violent when drunk, and his victims included other chess players.
in December 1841. His father was a temperance
reformer who travelled all over Britain and Ireland, taking his son with him. Ironically Joseph Blackburne became famous for his heavy drinking of whisky while playing chess.
He learned how to play draughts
as a child but it was not until he heard about Paul Morphy
's exploits around Europe that he switched to playing chess, at the age of 18-19:
Blackburne joined the Manchester Chess Club around 1860. In July 1861 he lost 5-0 in a match with Manchester's strongest player, Edward Pindar (and champion of the Provinces), but 3 months later Blackburne defeated Pindar (five wins, two draws, one loss). Next year he became champion of the city club, ahead of Pindar and Bernhard Horwitz
(who taught him endgame theory).
Blackburne's introduction to blindfold chess was a little later: in November 1861 Louis Paulsen
give a simultaneous blindfold exhibition in Manchester, beating Blackburne among others; Blackburne was soon playing chess blindfolded with three players simultaneously.
Less than two years after learning the moves, Blackburne entered the 1862 London International Tournament
(the world's first chess round-robin
or all-play-all tournament) and defeated Wilhelm Steinitz
in their individual game, although Blackburne finished in 9th place. Up to that point time-keeping was measured with hourglasses, and it was Blackburne who suggested chess clocks. This trip cost Blackburne his job back in Manchester (accounts vary about what it was), and he became a professional chess player.
In the 1868-69 season he won the British championship by beating the current holder, Cecil Valentine De Vere
, and he was therefore regarded as England's best player. His first major international success was in a strong tournament at Baden-Baden in 1870
, where he shared 3rd place with Gustav Neumann
, behind Adolf Anderssen
and Wilhelm Steinitz
but ahead of Paulsen, De Vere, Simon Winawer, Samuel Rosenthal
and Johannes von Minckwitz.
Blackburne was regularly one of the world's top five players from 1871 to 1889, although Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker
and, during his brief prime, Johannes Zukertort
were clearly better players; and he remained in the top 20 until 1902, when he was 61 years old. His best results were in international tournaments. Although tournaments were much less frequent then than they are now, Blackburne played in nearly one strong tournament per year from 1870 to 1899; in particular he competed regularly in the German Chess Championship
, which was an open tournament. In the 1870s and 1880s he was almost always a high prize-winner. His best results were 1st equal with Steinitz at Vienna 1873
, where the commentators nicknamed Blackburne "the Black Death
" (Steinitz won the play-off); 1st in London 1876 with a score of 10/11, ahead of Zukertort; and 1st in Berlin 1881, 3 points ahead of Zukertort. He also achieved 2nd place in: a strong mini-tournament in London 1872 (behind Steinitz but ahead of Zukertort), George Alcock MacDonnell
and De Vere; shared 2nd place at Hamburg
1885 (with Siegbert Tarrasch
, James Mason
, Berthold Englisch
and Max Weiss
; behind Isidor Gunsberg
; ahead of George Henry Mackenzie
and five others); shared 2nd place at Frankfurt
1887 (with Weiss; behind Mackenzie; ahead of Curt von Bardeleben
, Tarrasch and several others). His worst result from this 20-year period was 6th place in the 1882 Vienna "super-tournament"
, the one occasion on which all his major rivals placed ahead of him.
In the mid to late 1890s Blackburne's was less successful in tournaments, but by this time he was competing against the next generation of players, Emanuel Lasker
and Lasker's major rivals. Blackburne's worst results were 10th place at Hastings
1895 and 11th at Nuremberg
1896; but both of these tournaments included Lasker and most of the other top players of the new generation; and in both of these he finished ahead of several of the new stars and ahead of the few competing players of his own generation.
Chessmetrics
concludes that Blackburne's best performances, taking account of the strength of his opponents, were his second places at Frankfurt 1887 (behind Mackenzie) and London 1892 (behind Emanuel Lasker). At London 1892 he finished only ½ point behind Emanuel Lasker and 2 points ahead of the third-placed player, Mason. Emanuel Lasker thought that Blackburne had more talent than Steinitz, but lacked the willpower and capacity for hard work needed for becoming world champion.
Blackburne's match results look much less impressive. In particular he was twice thrashed by Steinitz, in 1862 (+1, -7, =2) and 1876 (+0, -7, =0); but in 1862 Blackburne had been playing chess for barely 2 years, and in 1876 Steinitz was playing at his life-time best and in the middle of a 24-game winning streak. Emanuel Lasker annihilated Blackburne in 1892, but Lasker also beat Steinitz very decisively in their 1894 championship match
. Blackburne was also comfortably beaten in 1881 by Zukertort (+2 =5 −7), who was in great form at the time; and Zukertort's health and play were declining rapidly when Blackburne beat him in 1887 (+5-1=7). On the other hand against Gunsberg Blackburne won his 1881 match (+7 -4 =3) and lost his 1887 match (+2, -5, =6); the 1887 match was Gunsberg's strongest performance, and Gunsberg only narrowly lost a world title match against Steinitz in 1890 (+6=9-4).
The 1876 match against Steinitz was held at the West-end Chess Club in London. The stakes were £60 a side with the winner taking all. This was a considerable sum of money in Victorian
times – £60 in 1876 would be roughly equivalent to £29,000 in 2006's money. This was the first time that spectators were charged an entrance fee (half a guinea, = 52.5P in decimal terms) to see a chess match.
, in Blackburne began give blindfold and simultaneous exhibition
s all over Britain, and for most of his career made most of his income from these exhibitions, including blindfold displays against up to sixteen opponents simultaneously. He even travelled to Australia and New Zealand in 1885 to give exhibitions.
The Teesside Chess Association (formed in 1883; now called the Cleveland Chess Association) invited world-class players to give exhibitions, in order to raise money for the Association. Blackburne's fee for two simultaneous displays and a blindfold event in 1889 was 9 guineas
(about £4,600 at 2006 values). Players paid the club 1/-
(5P in decimal terms) for a simultaneous game or 2/6d
(12.5P in decimal) to play him blindfold. In the simultaneous games he won 29, drew
two and lost only one; in the blindfold he won seven and drew one with no losses.
In addition he played top board for the British team in 11 of the Anglo-American cable matches which commenced in 1896 and in the first six matches he recorded a score of 3½-2½ against the top American, Harry Pillsbury.
It is estimated that Blackburne played 100,000 games in his career, more than any other professional chess-player. However he still had time to marry twice and with his second wife, Mary Fox, he had a son, Julius.
The dubious chess opening the Blackburne Shilling Gambit
(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4?!) has been named for Blackburne because he purportedly used it to win quickly against amateurs, thus winning the shilling
wagered on the game. Chess historian Bill Wall questioned this story because he could find no record of any games Blackburne played with this opening. The opening is mentioned by Steinitz in his book The Modern Chess Instructor (1889).
Blackburne's fondness for drinking whisky
at the board once led him to down an opponent's glass. Shortly afterwards, the opponent resigned, leading him to quip, "My opponent left a glass of whisky en prise and I took it en passant
". In an interview with a liquor industry publication, Blackburne once claimed that drinking whisky cleared his brain and improved his chessplay.
There is even a story that part of the prize fund at Hastings 1895
was paid in advance, and for Blackburne the "currency" was a case of Scotch
. Mr. Blackburne finished the case of Scotch during the first six rounds of play at which point his game fell off.
During a simultaneous exhibition at Cambridge University, the students thought they would gain an advantage by placing two bottles of whisky near the boards. Blackburne won all his games very quickly and finished off both bottles of whisky before the exhibition was over.
Blackburne could become violent when drunk – in 1889 Steinitz claimed that Blackburne had assaulted him in London (1867) and a few years later in Paris, and that Blackburne had also assaulted three other men, one even smaller than the five-foot-tall Steinitz.
For many years Blackburne was a chess correspondent for The Field
, the UK's leading sports journal, and held that position until his death.
at the great St. Petersburg 1914 tournament, but failed to qualify for the final stage. That same year he tied for first place in the British championship with Frederick Yates
, but ill health prevented him from contesting the play-off for the title. This was Blackburne's last major tournament. However in 1921 Blackburne was still giving simultaneous exhibitions.
In 1922 his wife died. Blackburne died of a heart attack
on 1 September 1924 at the age of 82. He is buried in the Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries
in Lewisham.
because of his wide open and highly tactical style of play. His large black beard and aggressive style earned him the nickname of "der Schwarze Tod" ("the Black Death
", based on the plague of the same name) after his performance in the 1873 Vienna tournament. In 1881, according to one retrospective rating calculation, he was the second most successful player in the world. He was especially strong at endgames and had a great combinative
ability which enabled him to win many brilliancy prizes, but he will be best remembered for his popular simultaneous and lightning
displays which captured the imagination of the general public who flocked to watch him.
Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess, which he published in 1899, has been recently reprinted by Moravian Chess. It contains over 400 of his games, around 20 problems composed by him, and a short biography.
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...
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. At one point he was the world's second most successful player, with a string of tournament
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
victories behind him, but he really enjoyed popularising chess by giving simultaneous and blindfold
Blindfold chess
Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces...
displays around the country. Blackburne also published a collection of his own games, and was a chess correspondent for a leading journal until his death.
He was also noted for heavy drinking of Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
, especially during exhibition games, and this became the subject of many anecdotes. However he occasionally became violent when drunk, and his victims included other chess players.
Biography
Joseph Henry Blackburne was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in December 1841. His father was a temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
reformer who travelled all over Britain and Ireland, taking his son with him. Ironically Joseph Blackburne became famous for his heavy drinking of whisky while playing chess.
He learned how to play draughts
Draughts
Draughts is a group of abstract strategy board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemy's pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque...
as a child but it was not until he heard about Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
's exploits around Europe that he switched to playing chess, at the age of 18-19:
Blackburne joined the Manchester Chess Club around 1860. In July 1861 he lost 5-0 in a match with Manchester's strongest player, Edward Pindar (and champion of the Provinces), but 3 months later Blackburne defeated Pindar (five wins, two draws, one loss). Next year he became champion of the city club, ahead of Pindar and Bernhard Horwitz
Bernhard Horwitz
Bernhard Horwitz was a German English chess master and chess writer.Horwitz was born in Neustrelitz, and went to school in Berlin, where he studied art. From 1837 to 1843, he was part of a group of German chess players known as "The Pleiades".He moved to London in 1845...
(who taught him endgame theory).
Blackburne's introduction to blindfold chess was a little later: in November 1861 Louis Paulsen
Louis Paulsen
Louis Paulsen was a German chess player.In 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top five players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Paulsen....
give a simultaneous blindfold exhibition in Manchester, beating Blackburne among others; Blackburne was soon playing chess blindfolded with three players simultaneously.
Competitive chess
London 1862 chess tournament
An international chess tournament was held in London, during the second British world exhibition, in 1862. Fourteen players participated in the main chess event from 16 June to 28 June 1862. They played at the St. George's Club, St. James's Club and Divan. All-play-all and time controls were...
(the world's first chess round-robin
Round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament is a competition "in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn".-Terminology:...
or all-play-all tournament) and defeated 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...
in their individual game, although Blackburne finished in 9th place. Up to that point time-keeping was measured with hourglasses, and it was Blackburne who suggested chess clocks. This trip cost Blackburne his job back in Manchester (accounts vary about what it was), and he became a professional chess player.
In the 1868-69 season he won the British championship by beating the current holder, Cecil Valentine De Vere
Cecil Valentine De Vere
Cecil Valentine De Vere was the pseudonym of Cecil Valentine Brown, the winner of the first official British Chess Championship, in 1866....
, and he was therefore regarded as England's best player. His first major international success was in a strong tournament at Baden-Baden in 1870
Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament
The 1870 chess tournament in Baden-Baden can be regarded as the first strong tournament. In comparison with London 1851 chess tournament, London 1862 and Paris 1867, three main changes were made: a) first chess clocks used , b) draws counted as half points, c) only top international players were...
, where he shared 3rd place with Gustav Neumann
Gustav Neumann
Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann was a German chess master.Neumann was born in Gleiwitz in the Prussian Province of Silesia. In matches he lost to Louis Paulsen at Leipzig 1864, and defeated Celso Golmayo Zúpide , and Simon Winawer at Paris 1867...
, behind Adolf Anderssen
Adolf Anderssen
Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s...
and 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...
but ahead of Paulsen, De Vere, Simon Winawer, Samuel Rosenthal
Samuel Rosenthal
Samuel Rosenthal was a Jewish chess master. Chess historian Edward Winter wrote, "He dedicated his life to chess-playing, touring, writing, teaching and analysing...
and Johannes von Minckwitz.
Blackburne was regularly one of the world's top five players from 1871 to 1889, although Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
and, during his brief prime, Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he...
were clearly better players; and he remained in the top 20 until 1902, when he was 61 years old. His best results were in international tournaments. Although tournaments were much less frequent then than they are now, Blackburne played in nearly one strong tournament per year from 1870 to 1899; in particular he competed regularly in the German Chess Championship
German Chess Championship
The German Chess Championship has been played since 1861, and determines the national champion.Prior to 1880 three different federations organized chess activities in Germany: the Westdeutscher Schachbund , the Norddeutscher Schachbund and the Mitteldeutscher Schachbund . Each one organized its...
, which was an open tournament. In the 1870s and 1880s he was almost always a high prize-winner. His best results were 1st equal with Steinitz at Vienna 1873
Vienna 1873 chess tournament
The Vienna 1873 chess tournament was a side event of the world exhibition of 1873 .-Background:...
, where the commentators nicknamed Blackburne "the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
" (Steinitz won the play-off); 1st in London 1876 with a score of 10/11, ahead of Zukertort; and 1st in Berlin 1881, 3 points ahead of Zukertort. He also achieved 2nd place in: a strong mini-tournament in London 1872 (behind Steinitz but ahead of Zukertort), George Alcock MacDonnell
George Alcock MacDonnell
George Alcock MacDonnell was an Irish chess master.He tied for 3rd-4th at London 1862 ,...
and De Vere; shared 2nd place at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
1885 (with Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
, 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...
, Berthold Englisch
Berthold Englisch
Berthold Englisch was a leading Austrian chess master.Englisch was born in Czech Silesia into a Jewish family. He earned his living as a stock-market agent....
and Max Weiss
Max Weiss
Miksa Weisz was an Austrian chess player born in the Kingdom of Hungary.Weiss was born in Sereď. Moving to Vienna, he studied mathematics and physics at the university, and later taught those subjects....
; behind 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....
; ahead of George Henry Mackenzie
George Henry Mackenzie
George Henry Mackenzie was a Scottish–American chess master....
and five others); shared 2nd place at Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
1887 (with Weiss; behind Mackenzie; ahead of 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...
, Tarrasch and several others). His worst result from this 20-year period was 6th place in the 1882 Vienna "super-tournament"
Vienna 1882 chess tournament
The second international Vienna 1882 chess tournament was one of the longest and strongest chess tournaments ever played. According to the unofficial Chessmetrics ratings, the tournament was the strongest tournament in history, on the basis that nine of the ten top players in the world...
, the one occasion on which all his major rivals placed ahead of him.
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
and Lasker's major rivals. Blackburne's worst results were 10th place at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1895 and 11th at Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
1896; but both of these tournaments included Lasker and most of the other top players of the new generation; and in both of these he finished ahead of several of the new stars and ahead of the few competing players of his own generation.
Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
concludes that Blackburne's best performances, taking account of the strength of his opponents, were his second places at Frankfurt 1887 (behind Mackenzie) and London 1892 (behind Emanuel Lasker). At London 1892 he finished only ½ point behind Emanuel Lasker and 2 points ahead of the third-placed player, Mason. Emanuel Lasker thought that Blackburne had more talent than Steinitz, but lacked the willpower and capacity for hard work needed for becoming world champion.
Blackburne's match results look much less impressive. In particular he was twice thrashed by Steinitz, in 1862 (+1, -7, =2) and 1876 (+0, -7, =0); but in 1862 Blackburne had been playing chess for barely 2 years, and in 1876 Steinitz was playing at his life-time best and in the middle of a 24-game winning streak. Emanuel Lasker annihilated Blackburne in 1892, but Lasker also beat Steinitz very decisively in their 1894 championship match
World Chess Championship 1894
The fifth World Chess Championship was held in New York , Philadelphia and Montreal between March 15 and May 26, 1894. Holder William Steinitz lost his title to challenger Emanuel Lasker, who was 32 years his junior.-Results:...
. Blackburne was also comfortably beaten in 1881 by Zukertort (+2 =5 −7), who was in great form at the time; and Zukertort's health and play were declining rapidly when Blackburne beat him in 1887 (+5-1=7). On the other hand against Gunsberg Blackburne won his 1881 match (+7 -4 =3) and lost his 1887 match (+2, -5, =6); the 1887 match was Gunsberg's strongest performance, and Gunsberg only narrowly lost a world title match against Steinitz in 1890 (+6=9-4).
The 1876 match against Steinitz was held at the West-end Chess Club in London. The stakes were £60 a side with the winner taking all. This was a considerable sum of money in Victorian
Victorian 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...
times – £60 in 1876 would be roughly equivalent to £29,000 in 2006's money. This was the first time that spectators were charged an entrance fee (half a guinea, = 52.5P in decimal terms) to see a chess match.
Exhibitions and other games
After losing his job and discovering that he had a special aptitude for blindfold chessBlindfold chess
Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces...
, in Blackburne began give blindfold and simultaneous exhibition
Simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition in which one player plays multiple games at a time with a number of other players. Such an exhibition is often referred to simply as a "simul".In a regular simul, no chess clocks are used...
s all over Britain, and for most of his career made most of his income from these exhibitions, including blindfold displays against up to sixteen opponents simultaneously. He even travelled to Australia and New Zealand in 1885 to give exhibitions.
The Teesside Chess Association (formed in 1883; now called the Cleveland Chess Association) invited world-class players to give exhibitions, in order to raise money for the Association. Blackburne's fee for two simultaneous displays and a blindfold event in 1889 was 9 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
(about £4,600 at 2006 values). Players paid the club 1/-
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
(5P in decimal terms) for a simultaneous game or 2/6d
Half crown (British coin)
The half crown was a denomination of British money worth half of a crown, equivalent to two and a half shillings , or one-eighth of a pound. The half crown was first issued in 1549, in the reign of Edward VI...
(12.5P in decimal) to play him blindfold. In the simultaneous games he won 29, drew
Draw (chess)
In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
two and lost only one; in the blindfold he won seven and drew one with no losses.
In addition he played top board for the British team in 11 of the Anglo-American cable matches which commenced in 1896 and in the first six matches he recorded a score of 3½-2½ against the top American, Harry Pillsbury.
It is estimated that Blackburne played 100,000 games in his career, more than any other professional chess-player. However he still had time to marry twice and with his second wife, Mary Fox, he had a son, Julius.
The dubious chess opening the Blackburne Shilling Gambit
Blackburne Shilling Gambit
The Blackburne Shilling Gambit is the name facetiously given to a dubious chess opening, derived from an offshoot of the Italian Game, that begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4?!...
(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4?!) has been named for Blackburne because he purportedly used it to win quickly against amateurs, thus winning the shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
wagered on the game. Chess historian Bill Wall questioned this story because he could find no record of any games Blackburne played with this opening. The opening is mentioned by Steinitz in his book The Modern Chess Instructor (1889).
Hard drinking
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
at the board once led him to down an opponent's glass. Shortly afterwards, the opponent resigned, leading him to quip, "My opponent left a glass of whisky en prise and I took it en passant
En passant
En passant is a move in the board game of chess . It is a special pawn capture which can occur immediately after a player moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, and an enemy pawn could have captured it had it moved only one square forward...
". In an interview with a liquor industry publication, Blackburne once claimed that drinking whisky cleared his brain and improved his chessplay.
There is even a story that part of the prize fund at Hastings 1895
Hastings 1895 chess tournament
The Hastings 1895 chess tournament was a round-robin tournament of chess conducted in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2, 1895.Hastings 1895 was arguably the strongest tournament in history at the time it occurred. All of the strongest players of the generation competed...
was paid in advance, and for Blackburne the "currency" was a case of Scotch
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
. Mr. Blackburne finished the case of Scotch during the first six rounds of play at which point his game fell off.
During a simultaneous exhibition at Cambridge University, the students thought they would gain an advantage by placing two bottles of whisky near the boards. Blackburne won all his games very quickly and finished off both bottles of whisky before the exhibition was over.
Blackburne could become violent when drunk – in 1889 Steinitz claimed that Blackburne had assaulted him in London (1867) and a few years later in Paris, and that Blackburne had also assaulted three other men, one even smaller than the five-foot-tall Steinitz.
Writings
In 1889 he published Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess, edited by P. Anderson Graham.For many years Blackburne was a chess correspondent for The Field
The Field
The Field is a play written by John B. Keane, first performed in 1965. It tells the story of the hardened farmer "Bull" McCabe and his love for the land he rents. The play debuted at Dublin's Olympia Theatre in 1965, with Ray McAnally as "The Bull" and Eamon Keane as "The Bird" O'Donnell. The play...
, the UK's leading sports journal, and held that position until his death.
Final years
In 1914, at the age of 72, Blackburne won a Special Brilliancy Prize for his win over Aron NimzowitschAron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch was a Russian-born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential chess writer...
at the great St. Petersburg 1914 tournament, but failed to qualify for the final stage. That same year he tied for first place in the British championship with Frederick Yates
Frederick Yates
Frederick Dewhurst Yates was an English chess master who won the British Chess Championship on six occasions...
, but ill health prevented him from contesting the play-off for the title. This was Blackburne's last major tournament. However in 1921 Blackburne was still giving simultaneous exhibitions.
In 1922 his wife died. Blackburne died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on 1 September 1924 at the age of 82. He is buried in the Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries
Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries
Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries were opened within one month of each other in 1858 and are sited on adjacent plots of previously open land. The two component parts are characteristic examples of the first wave of Victorian public cemeteries and are now part of the Brockley Conservation Area.The...
in Lewisham.
Notable games
- Joseph Henry Blackburne vs Jacques Schwarz, DSB Kongress, Berlin 1881 Wilhelm SteinitzWilhelm SteinitzWilhelm 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...
, who was no friend of Blackburne, wrote, "White's design ...belongs to the finest efforts of chess genius ..." - Joseph Henry Blackburne vs Samuel Lipschutz, New York 1889 A series of sacrifices demolishes the Black defenses.
- Emanuel Lasker vs Joseph Henry Blackburne, London (England) 1899 Blackburne, 58 years old and playing with the Black piecesFirst-move advantage in chessThe first-move advantage in chess is the inherent advantage of the player who makes the first move in chess. Chess players and theorists generally agree that White begins the game with some advantage. Statistics compiled since 1851 support this view, showing that White consistently wins slightly...
, beat the reigning world champion.
Legacy
Blackburne is an icon of Romantic chessRomantic chess
Romantic chess was the style of chess prevalent in the 19th century. It was characterized by brash sacrifices and open, tactical games. Winning was secondary to winning with style, so much, in fact, that it was considered unsportsmanly to decline a gambit...
because of his wide open and highly tactical style of play. His large black beard and aggressive style earned him the nickname of "der Schwarze Tod" ("the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
", based on the plague of the same name) after his performance in the 1873 Vienna tournament. In 1881, according to one retrospective rating calculation, he was the second most successful player in the world. He was especially strong at endgames and had a great combinative
Combination (chess)
In chess, a combination is a sequence of moves, often initiated by a sacrifice, which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain. At most points in a chess game, each player has several reasonable options from which to choose, which makes it difficult to plan ahead except in...
ability which enabled him to win many brilliancy prizes, but he will be best remembered for his popular simultaneous and lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
displays which captured the imagination of the general public who flocked to watch him.
Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess, which he published in 1899, has been recently reprinted by Moravian Chess. It contains over 400 of his games, around 20 problems composed by him, and a short biography.
Tournament results
Sources:| Date | Location | Place | Adolf Anderssen Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s... won; Blackburne shared last place. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1867 | Dundee Dundee Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea... International Tournament |
5 | Behind Gustav Neumann Gustav Neumann Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann was a German chess master.Neumann was born in Gleiwitz in the Prussian Province of Silesia. In matches he lost to Louis Paulsen at Leipzig 1864, and defeated Celso Golmayo Zúpide , and Simon Winawer at Paris 1867... , 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... , George Alcock MacDonnell George Alcock MacDonnell George Alcock MacDonnell was an Irish chess master.He tied for 3rd-4th at London 1862 ,... and Cecil Valentine De Vere Cecil Valentine De Vere Cecil Valentine De Vere was the pseudonym of Cecil Valentine Brown, the winner of the first official British Chess Championship, in 1866.... |
| 1869 | 2nd British Chess Championship British Chess Championship The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been... |
1 | Beat De Vere in the final. |
| 1870 | Baden-Baden Baden-Baden Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe... |
3= | Tied with Neumann; behind Adolf Anderssen Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s... and Steinitz; but ahead of Louis Paulsen Louis Paulsen Louis Paulsen was a German chess player.In 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top five players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Paulsen.... , De Vere, Szymon Winawer Szymon Winawer Szymon Abramowicz Winawer , born in Warsaw, Poland, was a leading chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883... , Samuel Rosenthal Samuel Rosenthal Samuel Rosenthal was a Jewish chess master. Chess historian Edward Winter wrote, "He dedicated his life to chess-playing, touring, writing, teaching and analysing... and Johannes von Minckwitz |
| 1872 | London | 2 | Behind Steinitz; ahead of Zukertort, MacDonnell and De Vere |
| 1873 | Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... |
1= | Tied with Steinitz, who won both games of the playoff match This is where Blackburne was nicknamed "the Black Death Black Death The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have... ". |
| 1876 | London | 1 | Ahead of Johannes Zukertort Johannes Zukertort Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he... ; Blackburne scored 10/11; this was just a month after Steinitz had whitewashed Blackburne 7-0 in a match. |
| 1878 | Paris | 3 | Behind Winawer and Zukertort |
| 1880 | Berlin | 1= | Tied with Berthold Englisch Berthold Englisch Berthold Englisch was a leading Austrian chess master.Englisch was born in Czech Silesia into a Jewish family. He earned his living as a stock-market agent.... and Adolf Schwarz Adolf Schwarz Adolf Schwarz was an Austria-Hungarian chess master.He took 10th in the Vienna 1873 chess tournament . In 1878, he took 2nd, behind Louis Paulsen, in Frankfurt. In 1879, he took 3rd in Leipzig... |
| 1881 | Berlin | 1 | 3 points ahead of Zukertort (2nd) |
| 1882 | Vienna | 6 | Behind Steinitz, Winawer, 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... , Zukertort and George Henry Mackenzie George Henry Mackenzie George Henry Mackenzie was a Scottish–American chess master.... |
| 1883 | London | 3 | Behind Zukertort and Steinitz; ahead of Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player... , Englisch, Mackenzie, Mason, Rosenthal, Winawer and Henry Edward Bird |
| 1885 | Hamburg Hamburg -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808... |
2= | With Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century.... , Mason, Englisch and Max Weiss Max Weiss Miksa Weisz was an Austrian chess player born in the Kingdom of Hungary.Weiss was born in Sereď. Moving to Vienna, he studied mathematics and physics at the university, and later taught those subjects.... ; behind 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.... ; ahead of Mackenzie and 5 others. |
| 1887 | Frankfurt Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010... |
2= | With Weiss; behind Mackenzie; ahead of 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... , Tarrasch and several others; Zukertort could only finish 14=. |
| 1889 | Breslau | 8= | With Mason; behind Tarrasch, Amos Burn Amos Burn Amos Burn was an English chess player, one of the world's leading players at the end of the 19th century, and a chess writer.... , Jacques Mieses Jacques Mieses ----Jacques Mieses was a German-born Jewish chess Grandmaster and writer. He became a naturalized British citizen after World War II.p258-Chess career:... , von Bardeleben, Johann Bauer, Gunsberg, and Louis Paulsen. Ahead of Johann Berger Johann Berger Johann Nepomuk Berger was an Austrian chess master, theorist, endgame study composer, author and editor.In September 1870, he won the first tournament in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at Graz... , 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... , Johannes Metger Johannes Metger Johannes Metger was a German chess master.He tied for 2nd-4th at Cologne 1877 , took 9th at Leipzig 1877 , took 7th at Frankfurt 1878 , and won in local tournaments at Schwerin 1883, Rostock 1884, and Wismer... , Alexander Fritz Alexander Fritz Alexander Fritz was a German chess master.He tied for fifth/sixth with Wilfried Paulsen at Frankfurt 1878 , took 9th at Braunschweig 1880 Alexander Fritz (15 January 1857, Kirchlotheim - 22 April 1932, Alsfeld) was a German chess master.He tied for fifth/sixth with Wilfried Paulsen at Frankfurt... , von Minckwitz, Semyon Alapin Semyon Alapin Semyon Zinovyevich Alapin was a Russian and Lithuanian chess master, openings analyst, and puzzle composer. He was a linguist, railway engineer and merchant .-Biography:... , Max Harmonist Max Harmonist Max Harmonist was a leading German chess master. He was probably the only famous chess player to have been by profession a ballet dancer. He often performed in the royal ballet.... , Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel Stepanovich Schiffers was a Russian chess player and chess writer. For many years he was the second leading Russian player after Mikhail Chigorin.Schiffers parents emigrated from Germany... and 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... . |
| 1889 | New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
4 | Behind Chigorin, Weiss and Gunsberg; ahead of Burn and 15 others. This tournament was extremely strong, as it was designed to select a challenger for Steinitz' title. |
| 1890 | Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... |
2 | Behind Tarrasch; ahead of Mackenzie, Bird and Mason |
| 1892 | Belfast Belfast Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly... International Tournament |
1= | equal first with Mason |
| 1894 | Leipzig Leipzig Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing... |
4 | Behind Tarrasch, Paul Lipke Paul Lipke Paul Lipke , was a German chess master.Lipke was born in Erfurt. In 1889, he tied for 5–6th in Breslau , and took 4th in Dessau. In 1892, he won in Dresden , and he took 2nd in Halle... and Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann was a German chess master.He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in Karlsbad 1911, he scored a convincing win, crushing Akiba Rubinstein and Carl Schlechter with the same line of the Ruy Lopez... ; ahead of Carl August Walbrodt Carl August Walbrodt Carl August Walbrodt was a German chess master.His German parents moved from Wesel, Rhine Province, to Amsterdam, with Walbrodt's older brother, shortly before Carl August was born. They seem to have moved back, to the Berlin area, before he was 10 years old. At that age his father taught him to... , Dawid Janowski Dawid Janowski Dawid Markelowicz Janowski was a leading Polish chess master and subsequent French citizen.... , Georg Marco Georg Marco Georg Marco was a Romanian chess player.He was born in Chernivtsi , Bukovina... , Mieses and Carl Schlechter Carl Schlechter Carl Schlechter was a leading Austrian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker.-Early life:... |
| 1895 | Hastings Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the... |
10 | Behind Harry Nelson Pillsbury Harry Nelson Pillsbury Harry Nelson Pillsbury , was a leading chess player. At age 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time , but his illness and early death prevented him from challenging for the World Chess Championship.- Early life :Pillsbury was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, moved to New York City... , Chigorin, Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years... , Tarrasch, Steinitz, Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel Stepanovich Schiffers was a Russian chess player and chess writer. For many years he was the second leading Russian player after Mikhail Chigorin.Schiffers parents emigrated from Germany... , von Bardeleben, Teichmann and Schlechter; ahead of Walbrodt, Burn, Janowski, Mason, Bird, Gunsberg, Adolf Albin, Marco, 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... , Mieses, Samuel Tinsley Samuel Tinsley Samuel Tinsley was a chess player born in Barnet, Hertfordshire in 1847, where he grew up. Unlike most masters, he did not take up chess until late in life, beginning to play the game seriously well into his forties.... and Beniamino Vergani Beniamino Vergani Beniamino Vergani was an Italian chess master.A businessman who learned the game in 1884, and very soon was distinguished himself in the local tournaments. He took part in the Italian National Tournament at Turin 1892, coming second behind Torre... . |
| 1896 | Nuremberg Nuremberg Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664... |
11 | Behind Em. Lasker, Géza Maróczy Géza Maróczy Géza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:... , Pillsbury, Tarrasch, Janowski, Steinitz, Walbrodt, Schiffers and Chigorin; ahead of Rudolf Charousek, Marco, Albin, Winawer, Jackson Showalter Jackson Showalter Jackson Whipps Showalter was a five-time U.S. Chess Champion: 1890, 1892, 1892–1894, 1895-1896 and 1906–1909.-Chess career:... , Moritz Porges Moritz Porges Moritz Porges was a Jewish Czech chess player.In 1882, he tied for 4-7th in Vienna .In 1892, he shared 2nd with Gyula Makovetz, behind Siegbert Tarrasch, in Dresden .... , Schallopp and Teichmann. |
| 1897 | Berlin | 3 | Behind Charousek and Walbrodt; ahead of Janowski, Burn, Alapin, Marco, Schlechter, Caro, Chigorin, Schiffers, Metger, Winawer, Wilhelm Cohn Wilhelm Cohn Wilhelm Cohn was a German chess master.He participated in some strong tournaments. In 1897, he tied for 13-14th in Berlin . In 1898, he tied for 2nd-4th in Cologne . In 1899, he tied for 10-11th in London... , Hugo Suechting, Teichmann, Englisch, Adolf Zinkl, Albin and von Bardeleben. |
| 1898 | Vienna | 11 | Behind Tarrasch, Pillsbury, Janowski, Steinitz, Schlechter, Chigorin, Burn, Lipke, Maroczy and Simon Alapin; ahead of Schiffers, Marco, Showalter, Walbrodt, Halprin, Horatio Caro Horatio Caro Horatio Caro was an English chess master.Caro was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, but spent most of his chess career in Berlin, Germany. He played several matches. In 1892, he drew with Curt von Bardeleben , lost to Szymon Winawer . In 1897, he lost to Jacques Mieses . In 1903, he drew... , David Graham Baird David Graham Baird David Graham Baird was an American chess master. He was the brother of John Washington Baird, who was also an American chess master. A writer in the New York Times, describing the players in the Sixth American Chess Congress , portrayed Baird and his brother as follows:Of the Baird brothers, David G... and Trenchard. |
| 1899 | London | 6 | Behind Em. Lasker, Janowski, Maroczy, Pillsbury and Schlechter; ahead of Chigorin, Showalter, Mason, W. Cohn, Steinitz, Lee, Bird, Tinsley and Teichmann (who withdrew after 4 games due to illness). Blackburne, as Black, beat Lasker; this was the first time a British player had defeated a reigning world champion. |
| 1904 | Hastings (British Championship) | 3 | |
| 1907 | (British Championship) | 2= | |
| 1910 | (British Championship) | 2= | |
| 1913 | (British Championship) | 3 | |
| 1914 | St. Petersburg | --- | Blackburne did not qualify for the 5-player final stage, in which the placings were: 1 Em. Lasker; 2 José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play... ; 3 Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played... ; 4 Tarrasch; 5 Frank Marshall. At 3.5/10, Blackburne had the 4th-5th best score of the 6 players who did not qualify for the finals - behind Ossip Bernstein Ossip Bernstein Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein was a Russian chess grandmaster and a financial lawyer.-Biography:... , Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein was a famous Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. He was scheduled to play a match with Emanuel Lasker for the world championship in 1914, but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War I... , and Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch was a Russian-born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential chess writer... ; tied with Janowski; and ahead of Gunsberg. Won a Special Brilliancy Prize for his win over Nimzowitsch. |
| 1914 | (British Championship) | 1= | Tied with Frederick Yates Frederick Yates Frederick Dewhurst Yates was an English chess master who won the British Chess Championship on six occasions... ; this was Blackburne's last international tournament; he was 72. |
Match results
Here are Blackburne's results in matches:- Under Score, + games won, = games drawn, − games lost
| Date | Opponent | Result | | Location | |Notes 1862-3 Dec.-Jan. London, Steinitz-Blackburne +7 =2 -1 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1862-63 | 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... |
Lost | London | 2/10 | +1=2-7 | Only 2 years after Blackburne started playing chess. |
| 1876 | Wilhelm Steinitz | Lost | London | 0/7 | +0=0-7 | |
| 1881 | Johannes Zukertort Johannes Zukertort Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he... |
Lost | London | 4½/14 | +2=5−7 | |
| 1881 | 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.... |
Won | Düsseldorf | 8½/14 | +7-4=3 | |
| 1887 | Zukertort | Won | London | 9½/5½ | +5-1=7 | Zukertort's health and play declined rapidly after he lost the 1886 World Championship World Chess Championship 1886 The World Chess Championship 1886 was the first official World Chess Championship match contested by Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. The match took place in the USA, the first five games being played in New York, the next four being played in St.Louis and the final eleven in New Orleans.... match to Steinitz. |
| 1887 | Gunsberg | Lost | Düsseldorf | ½/5 | +0=1−4 | In 1890 Gunsberg gave Steinitz a good fight in a world title match (Steinitz won by +6=9-4). |
| 1891 | Celso Golmayo Zúpide Celso Golmayo Zúpide Celso Golmayo y Zúpide was a Spanish–Cuban chess master.He had been generally accepted as Cuban champion since his 1862 match defeat of Félix Sicre... |
Won | Havana Havana Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous... |
6/10 | +5=2−3 | |
| 1891 | Vasquez | Won | Havana Havana Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous... |
5½/6 | +5=1−0 | |
| 1892 | Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years... |
Lost | ?? | 2/10 | +0-6=4 | |
| 1895 | 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... |
Drew | London | 4½/9 | +3=3−3 |
External links
- Joseph H Blackburne download 117 of his games in pgn format.
- Statistics at ChessWorld.net
- Download all games (900+) of Joseph Henry blackburne