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Alexander Steinkuehler vs Joseph Henry Blackburne
Manchester - 1863  ·  Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco Gambit Traditional Line (C54)  ·  0-1
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Last move:

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Given 44 times; par: 31 [what's this?]

Annotations by Joseph Henry Blackburne.      [148 more games annotated by Blackburne]

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find similar games 3 more A Steinkuehler/Blackburne games
sac: 20...Qg1+ PGN: download | view Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  Dick Brain: It is known as a "pure" mate.

http://www.math.harvard.edu/~elkies...

Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  rodolpheb: Another mate, a bit longer but pretty, is :
20... Bg4
21. Nb5 Rae8
22. Qc3 Rxe1+
23. Rxe1 Qf1+
24. Rxf1 Rxf1+
25. Kg2 Rg1#
Did I miss something ?
Mar-11-04  panigma: Nice of Blackburne to tell us that his mate is considered one of the most beautiful ever.
Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  Whitehat1963: I'm surprised I actually saw today's puzzle solution pretty quickly, considering it's a Thursday puzzle. Maybe I'm getting better ... hope so.
Mar-11-04  sisyfus: well, it wasn't hard for us to find it, but blackburne was playing blindfolded!
Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  beenthere240: It's a little like Philidor's legacy, but with an extra kick at the end from the bishop.
Mar-11-04  sooner22: This is a perfect example of smother mate, with a twist!
Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  tamar: <sooner22 "...smother mate, with a twist!"> Perfect epitaph for Blackburne.
Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: Blackburne did this blindfold! I believe that he once announced a mate in 16 or 17 moves blindfold!!

A great mate! Artistic and useful!

Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  alphee: Nice puzzle, first time I find it so fast. Either I improve or it becomes easier. Rodolpheb's solution I did not see.
Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  Larsker: <Nice of Blackburne to tell us that his mate is considered one of the most beautiful ever.> Yea, these chess champs were always very self-effacing. Reminds me of the Epaulet mate.
Mar-11-04  yoniker: Rodolpheb is,of course ,wrong.
Mar-11-04  Akavall: This was a really nice mate, I didn't see it, and now I am @#$%*, because it really wasn't hard.
Mar-11-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  midknightblue: I saw it and was so proud of myself. Thanks for spoiling my fun everyone, and announcing that you saw it too, and it was easy. :(
Feb-22-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  aw1988: Eek! Nfxd2 is a painful move.
Feb-22-05  TheParadigm: <kevin86>Blackburne once announced mate in 15 while blindfolded, and was kind enough to include 3 variations, just in case his opponent thought he was lying.
Jan-14-06  Ludamad: I believe a clean mate is where every piece blocking the opponents king is nessacary, and that there are no extra or "messy" pieces performing the mate
Oct-05-06  prinsallan: <Shadout Mapes: 8.Nfxd2?? Even beginners don't make moves like that.>

I must agree, its a solidly bad move ^^
White has the choice of...
a) Develop another piece
b) Undevelop a developed piece

And he picks the latter - lol.

Oct-05-06  prinsallan: And a fine checkmate by Blackburne finishes.
Jan-29-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Rubenus: <Sneaky> Not true. A pure mate is when every square is attacked once, but to be a perfect mate it also needs to be economical, that is when all pieces except king and pawns are needed. The rook on a8 is not necessary for the mate so it is not economical and therefore not perfect.

Oct-09-07  sanyas: <Rubenus> If a mate is constructed using all pieces from the attacking side's army, it is a <<>model mate>. And if it involves every piece on the board, it is an <<>ideal mate>. Pretty much the only place you can find ideal mates is in helpmate studies, eg.


click for larger view

Helpmate in two (dual).

Mar-12-10  morphyesque: If there are any British readers who are as old as me (born 1946), you may remember a series of animated films originally shown in the late 50s on tv by the BBC (then later in the early 60s by ITV) entitled "Chess Miniatures" devised by one Horace Shepherd and photographed by Harry Long.In this series of films the pieces appeared to move by themselves.One of the films was entitled "Traitor in the Camp" and Horace Shepherd used some ornate antique Indian chess set for this film portraying this game won by Blackburne.This particular and rather whimsical film shows the "traitor" to be the white king's rook (elephant) as it is occupying an escape square needed by the white king,
Sep-09-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  sevenseaman: The most economical mate I've seen. You can smell the antiseptic.
Oct-10-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  sevenseaman: Or a tough game made to look simple and easy. The test however is 'would have I thought of that move?'
Dec-22-10  SamAtoms1980: The final mating position in this game is all kinds of wootzor.
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