| Feb-16-05 | | Elrathia Kingi: Are these games compositions, are was the play really that bad back in the day? |
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| Apr-26-05 | | Poulsen: Back in those days a player was considered brilliant if he could demolish his opponents fast. The faster the better. And such games were the ones, that were considered worth remembering. Sarratt must have played hundreds - or maybe thousands - of games in his time - and most of them would propaly have left us all banging our heads into the nearest wall - or something like that. Still, it's hard to tell how strong he really was - games against bad opposition doesn't tell us anything. Masters tends to show their best against the best. |
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| Apr-26-05 | | WorldChampeen: In the Capablanca movie; there is a scene where a man plays chess on the street, actually a dock area it appears for money. I can imagine tables being set up in the street in the past and played in this manner. This might fit Cuba more than England, but who knows; maybe at something like a fair, it might have been done. |
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| Apr-26-05 | | Poulsen: In the days of Sarratt (i.e. early 19th century) chess cafés were well established in the mayor cities - such as Paris and London. A man like Sarratt would be "King" of his café - which in his case was the Salopian in London - and that status would earn him a lot of experience and some money. Coffée house were the strongholds of chess then - I've never seen evidence of playing in the streets - remember chess was gentlemens game. Maybe chess in the streets was more common in warmer southern cities - such as Madrid or Rome, I don't know. |
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| Aug-07-13 | | Karpova: Sarratt on a good friend of his:
[...] < the celebrated 'Guillaume le Prêton' [sic, Le Breton, i.e., Deschapelles - Rod Edwards], who has proved himself to be at least equal to any of his predecessors and who is considered to be the best player in France. His style of play is said to evince that remarkable genius and brilliancy of attack which distinguished the lamented Hypolite du Bourblanc, who was most unfortunately lost in the Indian Ocean, on his passage to the Island of Mauritius, in 1813.> From page 29 of volume 1 of 'A New Treatise on the Game of Chess', 1821. This is from the interesting article by Rod Edwards <The Life (and Chess) of Hyppolite du Bourblanc> on a very strong but almost forgotten chessplayer who died 200 years ago. No game scores exist.
Link: http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skitt... |
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Jul-18-16
 | | offramp: <Karpova: Sarratt on a good friend of his: < the celebrated 'Guillaume le Prêton' [sic, Le Breton, i.e., Deschapelles - Rod Edwards>.> That's a toughie. Who is who? |
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Jun-25-17
| | offramp: <Elrathia Kingi: Are these games compositions, are was the play really that bad back in the day?> They were pretty bad at night as well. |
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May-22-20
 | | MissScarlett: From the preface to the third edition (1841) of <A New Treatise of Chess> by George Walker in which he recalls bemoaning the state of the English chess book market upon the original publication in 1832, including <...the imperfect compilations of Sarratt, who, although the first English Chess-player of his time, was too regardless of personal character and reputation, to write for any one created thing in existence, beyond his own pocket; - and the greater part of whose works, printed in the first instance as ingenious modes of taxing his patrons, are consequently in the present age to be found commonly strewn, at waste-paper assessment, upon the book-stalls of our metropolis.> |
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Oct-28-24
| | offramp: Elisabeth Guénard wrote a book, called <Trois Moines>. She was a prolific author in various names.
For some reason, that book was translated into English by a man named, <H. J. Sarrett>. I think that Jacob Sarratt is NOT <H.J. Sarrett>. |
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Kibitzing
