My Favorite Game Of. Number 5. Joseph Henry Blackburne.

Back again, with a cheery 'Good Morning'.

Part four of this series on Paulsen ended up gravitating in the direction of Blackburne, so thought that I would add him to the series, and, because of the nature of my favorite game of his, this one will be slightly different.

Blackburne had a very long career, and, unusually for the time, was totally dependent on actually playing chess to make a living. He was a 'chess professional' in a very real sense.

Every year - in the British Autumn, which is traditionally the club chess season, he would undertake huge tours of the country giving exhibitions. Normally he would give 'normal' simultaneous exhibitions, but also, as is well known, he was a remarkable blindfold player - his talent for that particular form of chess was incredible - and blindfold exhibitions would feature too,

My favorite game of his is from one of his simultaneous exhibitions - perhaps because I can empathize with him a little. I have given quite a number of them myself, and my approach seems to have been similar to his! 

He would make the event as enjoyable for all concerned as possible, with a chatty, casual approach, witty asides, and chess designed to play  to the gallery. No doubt the approach earned him a lot of 'repeat bookings', and, in an age when professional sportsmen in the U.K were not highly regarded, he was widely respected and admired.

It must have been a grueling life-style - many hours spent in uncomfortable, unheated railway carriages in the cold of the year, followed by the exertions of the actual chess, and many sleepless nights. However, like his 'Fellow Northerners' Burn and Wisker, he was a pretty tough character. 

A photo of an exhibition - in Southend on Sea - 3 years later that I found here:- 

http://www.southendtimeline.com/1909.htm 

I first saw the game in the lovely book 'The Golden Treasury of Chess', by Francis J Wellmuth - interestingly, my copy has 'Wellmoth' on both the spine and title page - where he chooses it as one of his 15 favorite games, and introduces it as follows:-

''A delightful game! Blackburne was an old man when this game was played, but one would never have guessed it from the unflagging vigor and originality of his play. What makes the game even more impressive is that it was played duriing a simultaneous exhibition. This encounter is a fine example of Blackburne's brilliant improvisatory gifts.''

The game is 'simul stuff' - far from perfect ( try playing 30 games or so at the same time, at around 10 seconds per move - it's tough! ) but, I think, rather wonderful.

Enjoy the game!!

As mentioned before, if there is anyone you would like to see in the series, post it in the comments!