An old blemish

( This is taken completely from Evans on chess - Larry Evans Copyright 1974 )

 I was going to crap up a friends blog with this but I figured I would just post it in my own.  

Great masters leave a legacy of masterpieces; minor masters are chiefly remembered as victims. For every brilliance there is a blemish - The other side of the coin.

This is the final position of Schallop-Blackburne, Frankfurt, 1887. Thinking stalemate was unavoidable, White agreed to a draw without further play!

 White to play and win

White might of won had he adhered to the time honored precept: " Snatch first - look later " 

Joseph Henry Blackburne, the recipient of this gift, was the greatest master England ever produced. His victories earned him the nickname " Black Death. "

Blackburne's fondness for whiskey as noted as his wit. During a simultaneous display he arrived at a board and drained a glass of whiskey belonging to his astonished opponent. Blackburne later explained his quick win; "He left a glass of whiskey en prise and I took it en passant. That little mistake wrecked his game."