A Zukertort Anthology Piece With Some Points of Debate!

Afternoon everyone! Something short and sweet today.

Doing some background digging for a prospective article I had my head in one of Potter's magazines yesterday, as you do!!

City of London Chess magazine, from 1874-1875. Those who have been reading my stuff from the start will know that I am a huge admirer of the work of William Norwood Potter.

Or a real likeness, with Horwitz, from 1873.

If you haven't read his stuff, go take a look - all free on the internet - it is simply wonderful!

Anyway, before I distract myself, back to the point. I came across the original version of a famous Zukertort off - hand brilliancy, played at Knight odds. Sometimes called the greatest odds game ever played.

Actually, the game raises a few questions for the enquiring mind. Firstly it is not dated. Adams, in his excellent book on Zukertort gives it as 1872, but - as so often - fails to give a source, although he quotes the notes above. It is possible that he has given 1872 as Zukertort came to England in that year, and he has assumed that it must have been played before that point.

Second debate is the fact that Zukertort misses an obvious win if the score is correct.

I know from my own experience that such games were not usually recorded at the time. Many is the time I have gotten home after an evening of blitz and quickly reconstructed a game from memory. Perhaps that is what happened here!? Difficult to know!!

Anyway, here is the game for those of you who have not seen it before - I think that you will agree that some of the winners ideas in the game are truly artistic, beautiful chess.

Enjoy the game!!

Oops. Typo alert!. In the move 6 note in the game it should be Bishop, not Knight. Can't be bothered to redo the pgn, etc!🤣