Valentine's Day: This Bishop Knew his F8
Today is Valentine's day, unless of course, you're reading this on another day. Valentine's day is a day where those who are single can often feel ostracised and alone, yet, at least they aren't out of pocket upwards of $20 for a single rose. Even still, in amongst the over-commercialisation and unrealistic pressures that are placed on how one expresses their love, the day itself can be a beautiful.
Speaking of, love isn't a rarity in chess. Countless couples such as GM Hikaru Nakamura and WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan, as well as GM Pia Cramling and GM Juan Manuel Bellón López would have never fallen in love if not for chess. However, these love stories say more about how people meet through common interests rather than because of Valentine's Day. With this in mind, this blog will revolve around searching for what commonalities chess has with Valentine's Day, so that we can find the link that they share. I hope you enjoy.
Contents
- Public Service Announcement
- A Fabricated Game
- A History Lesson, of Sorts
- For the Love of a Sacrifice
- The Most Remarkable Discovery
- One of my Own
- A Special Puzzle
- Final Thoughts
In my opinion, playing chess on Valentine's Day doesn't inherently give it more meaning than on any other given day. When I've played chess on Valentine's Days past, I don't suddenly imagine that the Pawns are single and ready to mingle. The Knight doesn't morph into cupid, nor is the Bishop suddenly officiating a wedding on the board.
This preamble exists not to discourage others from finding connections between chess and Valentine's day. On the contrary, it's here only to express that chess and Valentine's Day aren't linked together in the traditional sense. This means that in order for us to find common ground between them, we are better served by imagining each on a Venn diagram. This way, we acknowledge their differences, while also pinpointing their similarities. I believe this is a better approach than assuming that they go together like a heart-shaped box of chocolates does with the shame that follows when you eat them all in one go.
Before we can delve into the commonalities, we need to weed out the lies. There was one chess game, published in the Chess Player’s Chronicle, on the 20th of February, 1884, that was apparently between St Valentine and St Benedict six days prior. If this were true, then this blog would be a short one. Alas, life, as in love, as in chess is never that simple. While the origins of Valentine's Day existed before chess was invented, satire has been around longer than both. Other than the lack of any evidence to what would have been an historic game, there weren't any St. Valentine's or St. Benedicts alive in 1884 that could have played!
Furthermore, I don't believe that the Roman Catholic Church has developed the ability to resurrect the dead (as Jesus wouldn't have spilled the beans). This game was clearly chosen by the Chess Player’s Chronicle for it's romantic style of play, with the pseudonyms of St. Valentine and St. Benedict given solely because it was published around Valentine's day.
As I had briefly mentioned, Valentine's Day itself predates chess (and it's predecessor, chaturanga). However, the origins are significantly different than with what we know as Valentine's Day today. Remarkably, this journey to the past also connects to chess considerably more than a greeting card with a bee, that ironically says "Bee mine".
While accounts vary, many history books had claimed that Valentine's Day was based off of the story of St. Valentinus, who was believed to have been the Bishop of Terni in the 3rd century. One day, St. Valentinus decided to visit Rome, where Christianity was forbidden during this time. It was a dangerous idea, as the Ancient Romans continued to believe in Roman Gods, such as Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. This meant that a 'new' religion called Christianity was deemed to be illegal. However, St. Valentinus chose to spread the gospel anyway, as well as marry couples in secret. It didn't take long for the secret to get out, and St. Valentinus was promptly imprisoned by Claudius II.
Historians had suggested that Claudius II believed that single men were better soldiers, so he demanded that St. Valentinus renounce his faith (and stop marrying off his beloved single men) or face being beheaded. St. Valentinus vehemently refused, and in turn was offered up like a Greek Gift. He was taken outside, where he was subsequently executed at The Flaminian Gate on February the 14th, 269 AD.
However, because this was even before the Dark Ages, anarchy was Rome's specialty! It was also during a time when Rome had almost collapsed (which turned out to be a pattern for them). Book keeping was not at the top of their priority list, and there was no cloud to store information. Back then, clouds only stored floating water. What many people don't know is that, in more recent times, scholars and historians have come to accept that St. Valentinus of Terni and St. Valentinus of Rome were actually two different people, with each being martyred for their dedication to their faith, at around the same time.
This means that the history lesson given above is actually a mash-up of two St. Valentinus's. Over recent centuries, inconsistencies were discovered about their lives, and deaths, which has lead historians to acknowledge that St. Valentinus couldn't possibly have been one person. In fact, it was only in the 1969 revision of the Roman Martyrology, where the Roman Catholic Church officially recognised St. Valentinus of Verni and St. Valetinus of Rome as two separate people. Furthermore, the church hasn't specified which St. Valentinus that Valentine's Day is about, which suggests that it is about both.
In actuality, the records was so poorly kept, that when Pope Gelasius I declared it to be the feast day of St. Valentine, on February the 14th, in 496 AD, he most likely was unaware that there were two separate St. Valentine's when honouring their martyrdom. This was because over 200 years had passed since both men were Martyred (which is claimed to be on, or around 269 AD). Furthermore, when Valentine's Day began, it wasn't originally about consumerism, or professing love. More than a millennium passed before society began to attach romance to it. It is sad that two lives were lost rather than one, simply for confessing, and sharing their faith. However, it's fitting that a day that now revolves around couples is actually about two people (and maybe more, but I'll let the historians debate over that one).
Following on from this aforementioned information, I knew that a Bishop sacrifice in chess was the bridge that connected chess to Valentine's Day moving forward. While Martyrdom and sacrifices have their differences, in this case, they both involve a Bishop that willfully believed in their cause so much, that it ended up costing the Bishops life. Yet, in doing so, it improved the position of what they had accepted was greater than themselves. While a Bishop in chess might not create the same impact that either St. Valentinus had on this planet, this doesn't diminish their sacrifices, or the feeling a player gets when sacrificing them.
A sacrifice, in itself has romantic connotations connected to it, in life, as in chess. In fact, romantic chess was a style that often involved risking safety and relying on stunning sacrifices, in lieu of a more positional and safe approach. We witnessed this style firsthand in the fictional game between St. Valentine and St. Benedict earlier, which is why it would have been chosen. In 2026, most high level players have distanced themselves from this artful approach. Gone are the days when a player like Paul Morphy could be considered the world's best while also playing in this passionate style. While players today, such as Richard Rapport and Daniil Dubov occasionally delve into this romantic style of play, it has become increasingly rare.
The 21st century is cold and calculated, in chess of course. People scream about sacrificing the Rook because of how sparse these sacrifices have become. Unfortunately, the same treatment isn't given to the Bishop. I am yet to hear anyone scream in celebration when a Bishop has suffered the same fate for glory.
My intention from here was to focus on double Bishop sacrifices, like a two for one special. This is because there were two St. Valentinus's. However, before doing so, I want to make a disclaimer that, while St. Valentinus of Verni was a Bishop, St. Valentinus of Rome was a Priest. The difference is that all Bishops are Priests, yet not all Priests are Bishops. Luckily, within the Wikipedia page about Bishops (the chess piece), it literally states that "The Bishop is represented as a Priest wearing a mitre", which means that by this loophole, both St. Valentinus's can be represented by a Bishop piece.
However, while researching double Bishop sacrifices, I discovered that the late, great Daniel Naroditsky wrote an article about it, which you can check out here The Double Bishop Sacrifice. Within his article, he covered the most famous double Bishop sacrifice, played by Emanuel Lasker, in 1889. In fact, these sacrifices were dubbed as Lasker's combination, with many people believing his to be the first recorded double Bishop sacrifice in history, including me. I had intended on analysing this game, however, Danya already did a wonderful job with this, so I decided to do some more digging in hopes of finding another instead.
I requested guidance from my chess connoisseur @KevinChessSmith, and he promptly sent me a link with history on double Bishop sacrifices. While reading, I learnt that there were two games prior to Lasker's that are little known. It is possible that Lasker was also unaware of these. Thankfully, the Roman's weren't the one's who kept these records, or we may have never known about these two games that were rediscovered in the 21st century.
The first I read about was a match between Amos Burn and John Owen. This was played five years earlier than Lasker's, in 1884. I had began analysing this game, only to discover that, while this double Bishop sacrifice was implemented by John Owen, he ended up losing the game! I chose to leave it out as it didn't sit right for me to use an example where each Bishops ultimate sacrifice was in vain, so I went back to the drawing board.
By this point, I needed a miracle. I asked my Bishop pieces to pray that the other game would be more fruitful, as it was my last hope. This game didn't have much information other than listing that it was played by Cecil De Vere, in 1867. I googled Cecil, and I just stared at my screen in astonishment. I kid you not when I tell you that Cecil's real first name turned out to be Valentine, and he was born on the 14th of February?! What were the literal chances that the first ever recorded double Bishop sacrifice was made by Valentine?!
Cecil was fittingly a master of the romantic style of chess, and was suitably nicknamed the "English Morphy". Now all I hoped for was that he won his game...
As a special treat, I have decided to slightly bend the criteria when it comes to double Bishop sacrifices. This is a game that I played last year. You will see why it fits soon. My style is often in the vain of romantic chess, other than the fact that many of my brilliant moves turn out to be blunders. This game was the exception.
After going through this journey, I thought it would be fun to present you with a puzzle that involved a double Bishop sacrifice from a game or two. However, similar to before, Daniel Naroditsky had already made two great puzzles in his article. Instead of reusing his, I searched for other games, and managed to find one where Danya himself pulled off his own version of a double Bishop sacrifice! This comes as no surprise that someone who studied and appreciated this combination so much was able to deliver one of their own.
Just a quick note that the first move isn't the same as Cecil's or Lasker's. Were you able to solve this puzzle? Let me know in the comments.
It may have taken some time, but here is the sequence of events and people, from beginning to end, that create the incredible link between Valentine's Day and chess:
Valentine's Day ➜ St. Valentinus of Terni ➜ Bishop ➜ Martyred ➜ St. Valentinus of Rome ➜ Martyred ➜ Double Bishop / Priest Sacrifice ➜ Cecil (Valentine) De Vere ➜ Double Bishop Sacrifice ➜ Romantic chess ➜ February 14th ➜ Valentine's Day
I am so pleased that everything lined up the way it has. When I began writing this blog, I had no idea that there would be such a strong and unbelievable link between Valentine's Day to chess. Somehow, we travelled from Ancient Rome to modern day chess, from martyrdom to sacrifice, and from persecution to love. In Valentine's Day, as in chess, there will always be sacrifices to be made, however, there will also be love and passion throughout this journey. So, no matter what you have planned today, or have not planned, I truly hope that you have a very beautiful day.
