The chess games of Henry Edward Bird

Bird

Henry Edward Bird
Number of games in database: 477
Years covered: 1849 to 1903
Overall record: +169 -228 =70 (43.7%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      10 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS

With the White pieces:

Bird's Opening (92)
    A03 A02
Ruy Lopez (36)
    C65 C77 C84 C64 C67
French Defense (23)
    C00 C13 C11 C01 C10
French (20)
    C00 C13 C11 C10
Giuoco Piano (16)
    C53 C50
Evans Gambit (10)
    C51 C52

With the Black pieces:

Sicilian (49)
    B34 B21 B73 B46 B23
Ruy Lopez (27)
    C61 C80 C63 C77
King's Gambit Accepted (25)
    C35 C33 C39 C37
French Defense (24)
    C00 C13 C10 C01 C11
Sicilian Dragon (20)
    B34 B73 B72
French (18)
    C00 C13 C10 C11

Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Bird vs Lasker, 1892 1-0
   NN vs Bird, 1850 0-1
   Bird vs Pinkerley, 1850 1-0
   Bird vs J Mason, 1876 1-0
   Bird vs Steinitz, 1867 1-0
   G MacDonnell vs Bird, 1874 0-1
   Bird vs Englisch, 1883 1/2-1/2
   Bird vs NN, 1869 1-0
   Bird vs K Pitschel, 1878 1-0
   Bird vs Blackburne, 1879 1-0

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   BIRD On The Bird's Opening-n-The Bird-Defence by saveyougod
   Interesting Games by Henry Bird by Knight13
   Vienna 1873 by suenteus po 147
   Paris 1878 by suenteus po 147
   Philadelphia 1876 by suenteus po 147
   Davison's favorite games by Davison

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Henry Edward Bird
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HENRY EDWARD BIRD
(born Jul-14-1830, died Apr-11-1908) United Kingdom

[what is this?]

Henry Edward Bird was born in 1830 in Portsea, Hampshire, in England. At the age of 21 he was invited to an international tournament in London. Bird lost to Paul Morphy at age 28 but continued to play chess for more than 50 years.

Bird was also an author and an accountant, brilliant at both. He wrote a book entitled "Chess History and Reminiscences". Today, he has his name attached to one of the more interesting openings, the Bird Opening, which leads with 1.f4.

notes: Henry occasionally played consultation chess on the teams of Bird / Zukertort, Bird/Blackburne, Bird / Dobell, Bird & H Chesire, Blackburne / Bird / MacDonnell, Bird & H Tenchard, Bird H/WinawerS/Bla, Zukertort / Bird / Hoff, Bird/Hewitt, Colborne / Bird, Allen & Bird, Bird & Womersley & Bird / Allies.

page 1 of 20; games 1-25 of 477

Game	Result	Moves	Year	Event/Locale	Opening
1. Bird vs G Medley	1-0	63	1849	London ;HCL 34	B45 Sicilian, Taimanov
2. Bird vs G Medley	1-0	21	1849	London	C00 French Defense
3. Bird vs G Medley	0-1	24	1849	London m2	C01 French, Exchange
4. Bird vs G Medley	0-1	29	1849	London	C00 French Defense
5. G Medley vs Bird	1-0	36	1849	London ;HCL 34	A85 Dutch, with c4 & Nc3
6. G Medley vs Bird	1-0	47	1849	London	D35 Queen's Gambit Declined
7. Bird vs G Medley	1-0	33	1849	London	C00 French Defense
8. G Medley vs Bird	1-0	52	1849	London	D35 Queen's Gambit Declined
9. G Medley vs Bird	1-0	53	1849	London ;HCL 34	C01 French, Exchange
10. G Medley vs Bird	1-0	42	1849	London	A13 English
11. Bird vs J Smith	1-0	21	1850	London	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
12. Bird vs A Simons	1-0	50	1850	London	C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
13. Bird vs Pinkerley	1-0	24	1850	London	000 Chess variants
14. NN vs Bird	0-1	15	1850	ENG	C45 Scotch Game
15. Horwitz vs Bird	1-0	62	1851	London m	C01 French, Exchange
16. Horwitz vs Bird	½-½	48	1851	London m	B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
17. Bird vs Horwitz	0-1	32	1851	4, London1 m4	B30 Sicilian
18. Horwitz vs Bird	1-0	18	1851	London	C01 French, Exchange
19. Bird vs Horwitz	0-1	35	1851	London m	C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
20. Bird vs Horwitz	½-½	45	1851	London m	C41 Philidor Defense
21. Horwitz vs Bird	1-0	55	1851	3, London1 m4	B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
22. Bird vs Anderssen	1-0	44	1851	London	C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
23. Horwitz vs Bird	1-0	36	1851	London m	C39 King's Gambit Accepted
24. Horwitz vs Bird	1-0	63	1851	London m	B44 Sicilian
25. Bird vs Horwitz	1-0	61	1851	London m	C67 Ruy Lopez


page 1 of 20; games 1-25 of 477

REFINE SEARCH: White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Bird wins | Bird loses

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 9 OF 9 · Later Kibitzing>
Jul-29-09		Knight13: <but that doesn't mean that his opening ideas were less worthy of consideration.> That only applies to a <few> of his ideas, with Bird's Opening as one of them. Others aren't good and nobody master and up plays it today. Meanwhile, <most> of Nimzovich's ideas are widely accepted and played. He even wrote a book on his ideas and many followed it and acclaimed his ideas. Bird didn't get that kind of recognition, did he? Which means... Nimzovich was a a lot stronger player AND had a lot better ideas. So the judgements of <If you're white, you're Bird, and you're labelled an eccentric. But if you're black, and you're Nimzo, you're labelled an original thinker.> is to be expected.

Jul-29-09		YoungEd: Hi, <Knight13>-- You're right in that Nimzovich was not only a greater player but an important writer as well. I've read very little of Bird's writing, but my sense is that it's nowhere near as systematic (forgive the pun) as Nimzovich's, nowhere near as rigorous, and in any event its reputation hasn't held up the way Nimzovich's has. That in itself probably lends more credence to Nimzo's ideas in the minds of most players today. I took <AnalyzeThis> to be comparing Bird's and the Dutch set-ups specifically, rather than Bird's ideas as a whole. And I still think he has a good point here. But I'll grant that Nimzovich was a greater and more important player in every respect.

Aug-29-09		Raisin Death Ray: I'm like a Bird, I'll only fly away!

Dec-05-09		vonKrolock: Still on the <Chess and Gout> topic - some references from Philidor to contemprary chess personalities, to the <Disease of the Kings> but the champion, so to say - is Bird... A caricature (from Philidor time) http://scienceblogs.com/moleculeoft... An entertaining article (oh well, miss some Chess reference) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/b... <"Books, Opera, Chess and the Gout - A Bibliographical Excursion"> by Richard Harwell http://www.jstor.org/pss/3817012 ... and, not least - our pi�ce-de-r�sistance http://www.bartleby.com/109/3.html

Jan-19-10		GrahamClayton: Shame that Bird never got to play Wren

Jan-23-10		Knight13: <GrahamClayton> Bird was already dead by the time Wren got any good. Speaking of shifting time periods, I'd go with "Shame that Capablanca never played Morphy."

Jan-25-10		TheTamale: This guy claims Bird played a correspondence game against Charles Darwin. Either this is complete fabrication (likely), or Darwin was a dismal player indeed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-e5...

Jan-25-10		Knight13: <TheTamale> Fabrication. If Darwin was so confident he would've challenged someone stronger. Besides, if that game really happened, when did it take place? Did not say. It's completely bull...

Jan-25-10		TheTamale: <Knight13> Agree; the guy gives no pertinent details. I just thought it was odd he chose Henry Bird as the opponent instead of someone more famous.

Jan-27-10		Knight13: <I just thought it was odd he chose Henry Bird as the opponent instead of someone more famous.> That guy probably just did a quick search and chose Bird because Bird, like Darwin, was from England. But, seriously, aside from not giving much details, he said "beat Bird at his own game." That quote really gives him away lol.... He must've thought "chess master" as "master of chess" for him to say that. Clearly a fabrication.

Jul-14-10		talisman: happy birthday henry, nothing wrong with hearing the beat of an f4 drum.

Jul-14-10		redlance: hAPPY BIRTHDAY HENRY BIRD

Aug-10-10		Dredge Rivers: I prefer his brother, Larry!

Sep-22-10		dmillergp: should be remembered that the 43 percent win percentage is of course no where near accurate, The vast majority of his games not against top 10 players have been lost

Oct-26-10		whiteshark: Quote of the Day "It is Bird we love. His victories glitter, his errors are magnificent." -- H.G. Wells

Jun-13-11		mworld: < whiteshark: Quote of the Day "It is Bird we love. His victories glitter, his errors are magnificent." -- H.G. Wells > Again even!

Aug-27-11		russep: According to this page Bird died in 1908 however he was still playing chess up to 1941 so I am a bit confused and to which is actually true.

Sep-20-11		Antiochus: Spanish notation ASTHER-BIRD Londres, 1858 Apertura escocesa 0-1 1.e4 e5 2.Cf3 Cc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Cxd4 Dh4 5.Cb5 Ac5 6. Df3 Cf6 7.Cc7+ Rd8 8. Cxa8 Te8 9.Ad3 Cxe4 10.0-0 A cambio de una torre, las negras han conseguido una buena ubicaci�n de sus piezas para el asalto al enroque 10... Cxf2! Segundo sacrificio que permitir� la entrada de la torre al campo de su rival la clave de la combinaci�n. 11.Txf2 Te1+ 12.Af1 Cd4! La clave de la combinaci�n. 13.Dxf7 Y aqu� las negras anunciaron mate en tres. 13...Cxe2+ 14.Rh1 Txf1+! 15.Txf1 Cg3++ Mate de Bird. See http://ajedrezdeataque2.blogspot.co...

Sep-20-11		Gregor Samsa Mendel: <russep>--The last four games on this page must belong to another species of Bird.

Sep-20-11		perfidious: <Gregor Samsa Mendel: <russep>--The last four games on this page must belong to another species of Bird.> Why, I can't imagine what you mean; he was only away for three days!

Sep-20-11		FSR: The last four games appear to have been played by an Australian woman in 1935-41. Henry Edward Bird was not Australian, not a woman, and not alive in 1935-41. Incidentally, I recall that someone named Bird played Bird's Opening (of course) against Tal at the 1974 Nice Olympiad.

Sep-20-11		perfidious: <FSR> True; that game was published in the tournament book.

Sep-22-11		whiteshark: Quote of the Day " Place the contents of the Chess box in a hat, shake them up vigorously, pour them on the board from a height of two feet, and you get the <style of Steinitz.> " -- Henry Edward Bird

Sep-22-11		Blunderdome: <FSR> I've already addressed this at CG Librarian chessforum. I imagine it will be fixed eventually.

Mar-02-12		whiteshark: Quote of the Day < Chess is so ancient that, by that distinction alone, it seems taken beyond the category of games altogether; and it has been said that it probably would have perished long ago, if it had not been destined to live forever. <>> -- Henry Bird

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