The Black Death: The Pestilence of Chess

Hey there chessers!

Sadly, today we have to talk about chess, not the 14th century epidemic. If you had something else in mind, this probably isn't the blog for you.

Also sad, this man is hardly known, as the chess.com article on him has hardly any information on him, and he is largely overshadowed by Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker, two giants of his era.

Today, we're going to talk about somebody who played 400 years after that, a man known as The Black Death, striking down all in his way. However, most people know (as you will after reading this) him as Joseph Henry Blackburne. 

Early Life & Learning Chess

Joseph Henry Blackburne was born in Manchester England on December 10th of 1841. As a child, he was never taught chess, instead, he learned checkers. It wasn't until about 1859 until he heard about Paul Morphy and decided to start playing chess. 2 years later, he joined the Manchester Chess Club.

Joining the club changed his course, as he improved that year and eventually took on it's strongest player, Eduard Pindar. Pindar defeated Blackburne handily, shutting him out 5-0. 

Blackburne continued to grow, however. By September of that same year, Blackburne could beat Pindar, and quickly became the most well known player in the area, and the proclaimed "Best Player in Manchester."

Pindar and Blackburne had many games against each other, so I think it's just right to take a look at one of their games before we continue.

Rise to the Top

In 1862, just 3 years after Blackburne learned how to play, he entered his first tournament, the London International Tournament.

He came in a tie for last place, but came away with something to be proud of, as he defeated Wilhelm Steinitz, who would end up becoming the first official Chess World Champion in 1886.

He continued to play and study, growing to be one of the top powerhouses in the world. In 1869, he won the British Championship, beating the previous title holder (as well as the only previous title holder), solidifying himself as the best player in Britain for years to come. Less than a year later he started having success at major international tournaments, coming ahead of names like Paulsen and Winawer, eventually being recognized as one of the 5 best in the world. Only Steinitz, Lasker, and Zukertort proved to be better than him on a regular basis, and even Anderssen was just about the same level as Blackburne.

He would also compete in German Championships regularly, in fact, one was where he earned the nickname "the Black Death." It was said to happen against Steinitz at the Vienna 1873 tournament. Steinitz ended up winning the tie-breaker against Blackburne, but nonetheless a phenomenal tournament for Blackburne. 

Blackburne played in more tournaments across Europe, such as Hamburg in 1885, Frankfurt in 1887. He placed second in those, and enjoyed being one of the very best of his time before he was well out of his prime.

End of Career and Blindfold Chess

In around 1861, Blackburne lost to others playing him in blindfold chess. He immediately became hooked and quickly started playing blindfold chess himself, touring around Europe and giving simultaneous exhibitions. 

In the 1880s as he was starting his decline (other than two strong tournament performances stated earlier), he took blindfold chess more seriously and started going further and further, playing in Cleveland and Australia.

He even joined the blindfold team for England in 1896, and won is match 3.5 to 2.5.

In 1914, Blackburne received a Special Brilliancy Prize, awarded for a win over Aron Nimzowitsch in the St Petersburg tournament. He was 72 then, and died 10 years later in 1924. His game against Nimzowitsch is below:

Blackburne's Opening & Final Notes

During his career, Blackburne would play amateurs, and in order to win quickly and win the bet, he came up with his own offshoot of the Italian game. It isn't a good opening, but confused his opponents so that he could outplay them and deliver a quick checkmate. It is also known as the Shilling-Kostic gambit.

It follows the moves 1. e4 d4 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4!?, and is shown below: