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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
London Tournament

Adolf Anderssen15/21(+14 -5 =2)[games]
Elijah Williams13.5/22(+13 -8 =1)[games]
Marmaduke Wyvill13/24(+12 -10 =2)[games]
Jozsef Szen12.5/17(+12 -4 =1)[games]
Howard Staunton11/22(+10 -10 =2)[games]
Hugh Kennedy10/19(+9 -8 =2)[games]
Bernhard Horwitz5/15(+4 -9 =2)[games]
James Mucklow2/10(+2 -8 =0)[games]
Henry Bird1.5/4(+1 -2 =1)[games]
Johann Lowenthal1/3(+1 -2 =0)[games]
Lionel Kieseritzky0.5/3(+0 -2 =1)[games]
Edward Kennedy0/2(+0 -2 =0)[games]
Samuel Newham0/2(+0 -2 =0)[games]
Carl Mayet0/2(+0 -2 =0)[games]
Edward Lowe0/2(+0 -2 =0)[games]
Alfred Brodie0/2(+0 -2 =0)[games]

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
London (1851)

London, England (May-July 1851)

Some of the main organizers of the tournament were Bledow (who had passed away by the time the final proposals could be arranged), von der Lasa, Kennedy and Staunton(1). They wanted a congress of competitive chess players at the start of the London World's Fair that could serve as an international and recurring chess meeting for the best players in Europe and the rest of the world(2). The tournament started in May of that year and proceeded to standardize issues such as consistent time-controls, rules and notation in a knock-out style format.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Round 1 ————————————┐ Anderssen │ +2=1-0 ├——┐ Round 2 Kieseritsky │ │ ————————————┐ ————————————┘ │ Anderssen │ ├── +4=0-2 ├──┐ ————————————┐ │ Szen │ │ Szen │ │ ————————————┘ │ +2=0-0 ├——┘ │ Round 3 Newham │ │ ————————————┐ ————————————┘ │ Anderssen │ ├── +4=0-1 ├──┐ ————————————┐ │ Staunton │ │ Horwitz │ │ ————————————┘ │ +2=1-1 ├——┐ │ │ Bird │ │ ————————————┐ │ │ ————————————┘ │ Staunton │ │ │ ├── +4=1-2 ├──┘ │ ————————————┐ │ Horwitz │ │ Round 4 Place/Prizes Staunton │ │ ————————————┘ │ —————————————————————————— +2=0-0 ├——┘ │ Anderssen 1st £183 6s 8d Brodie │ │ +4=1-2 ————————————┘ │ Wyvill 2nd £55 0s 0d ├── —————————————————————————— ————————————┐ │ Williams 3rd £39 5s 9d Williams │ │ +4=1-3 +2=0-1 ├——┐ │ Staunton 4th £27 10s 0d Löwenthal │ │ ————————————┐ │ —————————————————————————— ————————————┘ │ Williams │ │ ├── +4=0-0 ├──┐ │ ————————————┐ │ Mucklow │ │ │ Mucklow │ │ ————————————┘ │ │ +2=0-0 ├——┘ │ │ E. Kennedy │ │ ————————————┐ │ ————————————┘ │ Wyvill │ │ ├── +4=0-3 ├——┘ ————————————┐ │ Williams │ H. Kennedy │ │ ————————————┘ +2=0-0 ├——┐ │ Mayet │ │ ————————————┐ │ ————————————┐ ————————————┘ │ Wyvill │ │ Szen │ —————————————————————————— ├── +4=1-3 ├──┘ +4=0-0 ├——┐ Szen 5th £20 0s 0d ————————————┐ │ H. Kennedy │ Horwitz │ │ +4=1-0 Wyvill │ │ ————————————┘ ————————————┘ │ H. Kennedy 6th £13 15s 0d +2=0-0 ├——┘ ├── —————————————————————————— Löwe │ ————————————┐ │ Horwitz 7th £9 3s 4d ————————————┘ H. Kennedy │ │ (forfeit) +4=0-0 ├——┘ Mucklow 8th £7 10s 0d Mucklow │ —————————————————————————— ————————————┘ —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Format: First player to two wins, draws not counting, is the winner of round one. First player to four wins, draws not counting, is the winner of subsequent rounds.


Individual Matches
Round 1

1 2 3 4 Wins ————————————————————————————————— Anderssen 1 ½ 1 2 Kieseritsky 0 ½ 0 0 ————————————————————————————————— Szen 1 1 2 Newham 0 0 0 ————————————————————————————————— Horwitz ½ 0 1 1 2 Bird ½ 1 0 0 1 ————————————————————————————————— Staunton 1 1 2 Brodie 0 0 0 ————————————————————————————————— Williams 1 0 1 2 Löwenthal 0 1 0 1 ————————————————————————————————— Mucklow 1 1 2 E. Kennedy 0 0 0 ————————————————————————————————— H. Kennedy 1 1 2 Mayet 0 0 0 ————————————————————————————————— Wyvill 1 1 2 Löwe 0 0 0 —————————————————————————————————

Round 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wins ——————————————————————————————————— Anderssen 1 0 0 1 1 1 4 Szen 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 ——————————————————————————————————— Staunton 0 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 4 Horwitz 1 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 2 ——————————————————————————————————— Williams 1 1 1 1 4 Mucklow 0 0 0 0 0 ——————————————————————————————————— Wyvill 1 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 1 4 H. Kennedy 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 0 0 3 ———————————————————————————————————

Round 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wins ————————————————————————————————— Anderssen 1 1 1 0 1 4 Staunton 0 0 0 1 0 1 ————————————————————————————————— Wyvill 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 Williams 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 ————————————————————————————————— Szen 1 1 1 1 4 Horwitz 0 0 0 0 0 ————————————————————————————————— H. Kennedy 1 1 1 1 4 Mucklow 0 0 0 0 0 —————————————————————————————————

Round 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wins ——————————————————————————————————— Anderssen 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 4 Wyvill 0 ½ 1 0 0 1 0 2 ——————————————————————————————————— Williams 1 0 0 0 1 1 ½ 1 4 Staunton 0 1 1 1 0 0 ½ 0 3 ——————————————————————————————————— Szen ½ 1 1 1 1 4 H. Kennedy ½ 0 0 0 0 0 ——————————————————————————————————— Horwitz* + Mucklow - ——————————————————————————————————— * Mucklow was absent and the committee awarded the match to Horwitz.


Notes
Buckle - Lowenthal (1851), Deacon - Lowe (1851), Lowenthal - Williams (1851), Bird - Horwitz (1851), Jaenisch - Staunton (1851) and Staunton - Williams (1851) were "set matches" arranged by the tournament committee.

Historical Footnote
Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, 1851, the famous Immortal Game, was played at the venue but was not part of the tournament.

Missing information
The exacting dating of each game.

Sources
The Chess Tournament, Staunton, London 1852, p(lxxxix)
(1) Wikipedia article: London 1851 chess tournament
(2) Wikipedia article: The Crystal Palace

Game Sources
The Chess Tournament, Staunton, London 1852:
https://books.google.de/books?id=d6...

The Chess Tournament, Staunton, London 1873:
https://books.google.de/books?id=hc...

Das Schach Turnier zu London im Jahre 1851, Berlin 1852:
https://books.google.de/books?id=4P...

 page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 85  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. H A Kennedy vs Szen 0-1301851LondonC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
2. Szen vs H A Kennedy 1-0451851LondonB40 Sicilian
3. H A Kennedy vs Szen ½-½571851LondonB45 Sicilian, Taimanov
4. Horwitz vs Bird 1-0551851LondonB21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
5. Bird vs Horwitz 0-1321851LondonB30 Sicilian
6. E Lowe vs M Wyvill 0-1291851LondonC00 French Defense
7. Horwitz vs Bird ½-½541851LondonA10 English
8. Staunton vs A Brodie 1-0151851LondonC44 King's Pawn Game
9. Szen vs S Newham 1-0641851LondonB44 Sicilian
10. Anderssen vs Kieseritzky ½-½551851LondonC39 King's Gambit Accepted
11. Kieseritzky vs Anderssen 0-1201851LondonB20 Sicilian
12. C Mayet vs H A Kennedy 0-1391851LondonC00 French Defense
13. Lowenthal vs E Williams 0-1441851LondonC01 French, Exchange
14. J S Mucklow vs E S Kennedy 1-0621851LondonD00 Queen's Pawn Game
15. M Wyvill vs E Lowe 1-0411851LondonA20 English
16. H A Kennedy vs C Mayet 1-0601851LondonA21 English
17. E Williams vs Lowenthal 0-1501851LondonC42 Petrov Defense
18. E S Kennedy vs J S Mucklow 0-1431851LondonB44 Sicilian
19. A Brodie vs Staunton 0-1521851LondonA30 English, Symmetrical
20. Bird vs Horwitz 1-0591851LondonC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
21. S Newham vs Szen 0-1431851LondonC01 French, Exchange
22. Kieseritzky vs Anderssen 0-1171851LondonB20 Sicilian
23. Lowenthal vs E Williams 0-1391851LondonA40 Queen's Pawn Game
24. H A Kennedy vs J S Mucklow 1-0431851LondonD10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
25. H A Kennedy vs M Wyvill 0-1521851LondonB45 Sicilian, Taimanov
 page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 85  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 5 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jun-21-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  moronovich: <(Lasker's other motto: 'When you see a good movie - look for a better one.)>

Brilliant !

Jun-22-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: I've seen just a smattering of <Elementary> here in the USA. With 1,000+ channels available you can pretty much view everything ever made.

This would seem to be the vehicle that made a name for Bernard Cumberpatch? It brought him from TV to the movies.

Jun-22-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <Hi HeMateMe>

'With 1,000+ channels available you can pretty much view everything ever made.'

Far too many. Soon after 'Elementary' I cancelled all the sub channels and now have a basic T.V. too watch a few of daily quiz programmes. Often see a chess player taking part.
Daniel Gormally and Paul Littlewood been on fairly recently. (though Danny's was a repeat - I like watching repeats of quiz programmes I've seen when the grand kids are round. They think I'm a genius.)

Jun-22-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <hello again>

A good idea that, a murder mystery revolving around the 1851 chess tournament.

I'll knock out a novel later on this week.
Howard Staunton uses a double to play his match v Anderssen (that is why he lost) whilst he is off to murder Herbert Gumms who was blackmailing Staunton because he knew Staunton bumped off another chap 'Joshua Clutterbottom' in 1849.

Jaques of London originally wanted Joshua to endorse their chess set. Staunton shot him and got the lucrative endorsement instead.
That is how close we came to calling the classic design of chess sets; 'Clutterbottoms'

Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Its 1851! Surely Russian Marxist agitators must be involved in your murder/mystery?
Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <HeMateMe>

That will be the mystery that will confound everyone; 'Why are there no Russian agitators in this wonderful book?'

Then they will come here and find all the comments on the game Horwitz vs Staunton, 1851 have been removed....Why?

It is only when you realise that both Horwitz and Marx are buried in Highgate Cemetery and plots (a pun!!) abound.

Jun-23-25  fabelhaft: Russian Marxist agitators in London 1851 would be something quite rare indeed. Maybe you could have found one for London (1899)
Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <Fabelhaft>

The Russians, Alexander Petrov, Carl Jaenisch and Ilya Shumov were all penciled in to take part in this tournament but in a letter to Staunton the Queen wrote;

Hi Howie,

I do not want potential Russian agitators in my country.

Love, Vicky,

PS: Prince Albert wants to the German Adolf Anderssen to win. Can you please arrange it so this happens.

Jun-23-25  Olavi: Hi Vicky

Carl Friedrich August von Jaenisch is a Finn. May I send him?

Give my dearest to the family, yours faithfully

Alex

Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <Hi Olavi>

He might have been born in Finland but he was in the Russian army in 1851. There is no way Queen Vic would let him take part.

(they say he was a Russian on here - Carl Jaenisch - send a correction slip.)

I've finished the book: 'Staunton The Murderer.'

In the postscript I mention Staunton did not play Morphy because he did not want his name in the headlines and thus attract attention to detectives working on unsolved 1851 murders.

Jun-23-25  Olavi: < Sally Simpson>

He was of German descent, and as many the family found lucrative opportunities in the empire. He considered himself a Finn; of this there is no doubt. His sister lived all her life in Finland, for instance, and he bequeathed his library to the Helsinki university. But he was multi-national, as many families in Czarist Russia were.

Jun-23-25  Olavi: But indeed von Jaenisch arrived in London in 1851, only a bit late, and played a series of games with Staunton. Whether the outcome of said series had influence on the Crimean war, I dare not say.
Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <Hi Olavi>

I decided to look him up. He was born in Russia (withdraw the correct slip before it gets corrected.)

The fact is being Russian he was refused entry into the UK so he crossed the channel in a rubber dingy.
His chess books fell overboard and washed up on Helsinki harbour and they kept them.

Jun-23-25  Olavi: < Sally Simpson>

Yes, he was born in Russia. Mihail Botvinnik was born in Kuokkala, Finland.

Just occurred to me.

Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: Both Vyborg (Jaenisch's birthplace) and Kuokkala/Repino (Botvinnik's birthplace) share a history as a part of Finland until the USSR conquered the region in WWII and annexed it to the Russian republic.
Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <Hi Olavi>

I'm glad who have go who was born all sorted out....or have we?

Botvinnik and Jaenisch were both born in Vyberg, Botvinnik when Vyberg was Finnish and Janeisch when Vyberg was Russian.

According to Wiki Vyberg started out as a fort under Sweden rule.

I am now sending in half a dozen correction slips to get it all catalogued correctly.

Interesting to note on the page of "Sportspeople from Vyborg" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categ... Jaenisch is mentioned but not Botvinnik. (I'll send them a correction slip)

Jun-23-25  Olavi: <Sally Simpson> You will notice almost all the people on "Sportspeople from Vyborg" have Finnish names...

Kuokkala (Terijoki), Botvinnik's birthplace, is and was not part of Vyborg, Viipuri, Finland's second largest town at the time.

Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: <Sally Simpson> Both the cities were Finnish at the times of both Jaenisch's birth and Botvinnik's birth, but Finland itself was in the Russian empire until near the end of WWI. As I pointed out above, the cities were transferred to Russia later, in WWII.
Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <Hi Olavi>

I know, I sent in the it should be Kuokkala correction slip. Then another correction slip saying to day Vlipuri is called Vyborg. Mikhail Botvinnik

Further research have revealed his birth was registered in Kuokkala but born in Viipuri (today Vyborg) Yet another correction slip is on it's way.

(I've just had an email. 'STOP sending in corection slips'...they spelt 'correction' wrong - I replied with a correction slip.)

Jun-23-25  Olavi: <beatgiant> It's a question of definition: <Finland itself was in the Russian empire>

Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy under the Czar. It had its own parliament and law - the Swedish law from 1789.

Jun-23-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <Beatgiant & Olavi>

Lads I'm only mucking about killing time. I'm waiting for someone at RHP to move, they have avoided one trap, I'm setting them another but it looks like they have gone to bed. (he has 22 hours to move) I'm now off to bed. Take Care.

Jun-23-25  Olavi: Finland had its own team at the Olympics before WWI, under its own flag. It is a pity the Stockholm 1912 games didn't have a chess tournament, the one year old Botvinnik would have needed to choose which team to represent.
Jun-25-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: < I like watching repeats of quiz programmes I've seen when the grand kids are round. They think I'm a genius.)>

We're worried about you Geoff! If:

1. You need a leather viser at OTB chess tournaments to ward off the florescent lighting

2. Start ranting "All Latvians, Lithuanians and Ukrainians are Russians!"

3. Have your teeth pulled because the Russians are controlling your thoughts via radio waves upon the fillings in your teeth

then:

1.Stop watching reruns of 1970s Dr. Who

2. Have an ice vanilla latte when the thermometer goes +80 f

3. Start walking 4 miles (6 km) a day, with at least two large hills in your regimen.

That is all.

Jun-25-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: <HeMateMe>

"Have your teeth pulled because the Russians are controlling your thoughts via radio waves upon the fillings in your teeth."

I lost all my teeth when I was 16. What a game of poker that was.

Jun-26-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: If you like American quiz shows you HAVE to rent <Quiz Show>, a '90s film that reenacted the famous quiz show cheating era of the 1950s--'60s in American television. John Turturo (ALWAYS good) is the protagonist, who tries to expose the cheaters in network television.
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