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Ilya Shumov vs Carl Friedrich Von Jaenisch
St Petersburg 1845  ·  Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco Gambit (C53)  ·  0-1


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sac: 15...Rxg2+ PGN: download | view Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jan-31-07   Autoreparaturwerkbau: 15...Rxg2+! Not bad, not bad at all.
May-18-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jonathan Sarfati: The meticulous Edward Winter gives the date as 1850 http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... . The same game score was later attributed to the future Pope Leo XIII who all the same was a keen chessplayer -- see Guila vs G Pecci, 1875

3705. Popes (C.N.s 3696 & 3701)
Peter Anderberg (Harmstorf, Germany) reports that the game allegedly played by the future Pope Leo XIII in the mid-1870s was in fact published in the Deutsche Schachzeitung, May 1850, page 175, as having occurred between Shumov and von Jaenisch: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3 Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6 e5 d5 7 exf6 dxc4 8 Qe2+ Be6 9 fxg7 Rg8 10 cxd4 Nxd4 11 Nxd4 Bxd4 12 Qh5 Qf6 13 O-O Rxg7 14 Qb5+ c6 15 Qxb7 Rxg2+ 16 Kxg2 Qg6+ 17 Kh1 Bd5+ 18 f3 Bxf3+ 19 Rxf3 Qg1 mate.

When was the game first associated with the name of Pope Leo XIII?"

Winter continues:

3721. Popes (C.N. 3696, 3701 & 3705)
David R. Sands notes in the Washington Times of 23 April 2005 that we have cast some doubt on the authenticity of the game ascribed to Pope Leo XIII, but he also points out that Francis J. Wellmuth gave various specifics when including it in The Golden Treasury of Chess (New York and Philadelphia, 1943). We quote below Wellmuth’s exact words, from page 63 of the book (and page 47 of a subsequent paperback edition):

‘Played in Perugia, about 1875. The following game, played by Joachim Cardinal Pecci (afterwards Pope Leo XIII) was obtained during my visit at Vatican city in 1925-26, from my old colleague Rev. Maurice de la Taille, S.J., Professor of professors at the Gregorian University, Rome Italy, and author of Mysterium Fidie [sic – Fidei] – F.J.W.’

Jun-04-08   Magic Castle: <Jonathan Sarfati:> Is it not possible that the moves to a game can be repeated move by move, in another game, considering the numbers of games being played all year round? I have seen some moves in other games repeated in another games but (mostly in the openings) sometimes not in the same order, although producing the same result. Should we give the Pope the benefit of the doubt?
Jul-18-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jonathan Sarfati: <Magic Castle> It's possible. After all, I have repeated Morphy vs Duke Karl / Count Isouard, 1858

But the authenticity is not helped by the fact that the first report is about 50 years after the time that Pope Leo was alleged to have played the game.


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Game 12
from 500 Master Games of Chess I by suenteus po 147


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