The chess games of François André Philidor

Philidor

François André Philidor
Number of games in database: 25
Years covered: 1749 to 1794
Overall record: +13 -2 =4 (78.9%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      6 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS

With the White pieces:

King's Gambit Accepted (8)
C38 C35 C33

With the Black pieces:

Bishop's Opening (5)
C23 C24

Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Philidor vs NN, 1749 1-0
   J Bruhl vs Philidor, 1783 0-1
   Philidor vs NN, 1790 1-0
   Philidor vs NN, 1790 1-0
   Smith vs Philidor, 1790 0-1
   H Conway vs Philidor, 1790 0-1
   Philidor vs NN, 1790 1-0
   Sheldon vs Philidor, 1790 0-1
   Maseres vs Philidor, 1783 0-1
   Philidor vs NN, 1790 1-0

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Philidor by Runemaster
   a-1749 by wina
   1 by gr2cae
   Blunder check: Francois Andre Philidor by nimh
   equanimus' favorite games by equanimus

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FRANçOIS ANDRé PHILIDOR
(born Sep-07-1726, died Aug-31-1795) France

[what is this?]

François-André Danican Philidor was born on September 7th, 1726, in Dreux France. A musical prodigy, his first composition was played before King Louis XV when he was only 11 years old. He was taught chess by Sire de Legal, who initially gave him rook odds, until the young Philidor became too strong for his teacher.

In 1744 Philidor played two chess games blindfolded simultaneously in public in Paris, a feat never before known to have been accomplished. In 1749 his "Analysis of Chess" was published in London, the first chess book to explain the openings, the middlegame, and the general strategy of chess. The book claimed that 'Les pions sont l'ame du jeu', a phrase that became widely known as 'the pawns are the soul of chess', a maxim known to chessplayers ever since.

His name is associated with a fundamental chess tactic commonly known as Philidor's Legacy, a smothered mating pattern involving a queen and knight. However this tactic first appeared in print by a book by Luis Ramirez de Lucena.

He passed away in London, England in 1795.

page 1 of 1; games 1-25 of 25

Game	Result	Moves	Year	Event/Locale	Opening
1. Philidor vs NN	1-0	40	1749	Unknown	C23 Bishop's Opening
2. Carlier & Bernard vs Philidor	1-0	32	1780	Miscellaneous Game	000 Chess variants
3. J Bruhl vs Philidor	0-1	47	1783	Blindfold simul	C23 Bishop's Opening
4. T Bowdler vs Philidor	½-½	51	1783	London blind sim	B20 Sicilian
5. Maseres vs Philidor	0-1	58	1783	Blindfold Simultaneous	000 Chess variants
6. J Bruhl vs Philidor	½-½	44	1787	London	C23 Bishop's Opening
7. J Bruhl vs Philidor	0-1	44	1788	London m/7	C38 King's Gambit Accepted
8. Philidor vs J Bruhl	1-0	19	1789	London	000 Chess variants
9. Philidor vs NN	1-0	23	1790	Unknown	C31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit
10. Philidor vs NN	1-0	52	1790	Unknown	C33 King's Gambit Accepted
11. Smith vs Philidor	0-1	33	1790	London, England	C24 Bishop's Opening
12. Philidor vs NN	0-1	40	1790	Unknown	C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
13. Sheldon vs Philidor	0-1	31	1790	London	C23 Bishop's Opening
14. Philidor vs NN	½-½	24	1790	Unknown	C31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit
15. Philidor vs NN	1-0	30	1790	Unknown	C38 King's Gambit Accepted
16. Philidor vs NN	0-1	44	1790	Unknown	C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
17. H Conway vs Philidor	0-1	46	1790	London	C23 Bishop's Opening
18. Philidor vs NN	1-0	29	1790	Unknown	C30 King's Gambit Declined
19. Philidor vs NN	1-0	16	1790	Unknown	C38 King's Gambit Accepted
20. Philidor vs NN	1-0	22	1790	Unknown	C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
21. Philidor vs NN	½-½	26	1790	Unknown	C38 King's Gambit Accepted
22. Philidor vs NN	1-0	23	1790	Unknown	C33 King's Gambit Accepted
23. G Atwood vs Philidor	0-1	40	1794	London	B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
24. G Atwood vs Philidor	1-0	40	1794	Casual	B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
25. G Atwood vs Philidor	½-½	40	1794	London	D20 Queen's Gambit Accepted


page 1 of 1; games 1-25 of 25

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 8 OF 8 · Later Kibitzing >
Sep-15-07		James Demery: I don`t think anyone ever proved Philidor wrong nimh. I think Philidor died in the 1790`s and in the 1850`s with the rise of Morphy saw the open game come to the fore. I`m curious if a GM came along that was as adept at pawn play as Philidor how successful would he be?

Oct-21-07		ketchuplover: This page doesn't exist via chessgames.com. I'm able to see it because it was sent to my email.

Oct-21-07		Amulet: <Philid0r: Imagine: Philidor vs. Bobby Fisher. Who wins? i think Phili would kick fisher's ass. He was the greatest ever. Anyone agrees?> I disagree. I think Fisher will kick his ass from France to Iceland. LOL.

Jan-17-08		Shams: which is a more tedious argument: creation vs. evolution, or "who would win between chessplayer <x> and this other guy who lived centuries beforehand?" tough call indeed.

Jan-17-08		Knight13: <Philid0r: Imagine: Philidor vs. Bobby Fisher. Who wins? i think Phili would kick fisher's ass. He was the greatest ever. Anyone agrees?> I disagree, too. Fischer would beat this guy 20-0 BLINDFOLDED.

Mar-06-08		Alphastar: <Knight13> Obviously Philidor would win game 1 since Fischer wouldn't agree to the terms of the match and proceed to not show up at the first game.

Mar-07-08		timhortons: http://contregambitphilidor.blogspo... .......these french guy is obsessed by these gambit named after these great champion, i was surprised to see my icc handle in his blog and my lost game

Mar-07-08		timhortons: timhortons: [Event "ICC 5 0 u"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2008.01.11"] [White "timhortonsknigt"] [Black "rodent"] [Result "0-1"] [ICCResult "White forfeits on time"] [WhiteElo "1588"] [BlackElo "2139"] [Opening "Philidor: Philidor counter-gambit, del Rio attack"] [ECO "C41"] [NIC "KP.08"] [Time "01:45:57"] [TimeControl "300+0"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. dxe5 fxe4 5. Ng5 d5 6. e6 Bc5 7. Nf7 Qf6 8. Bb5+ c6 9. O-O cxb5 10. Nxh8 Bxe6 11. Nc3 Nc6 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Qxd5 Nge7 14. Qxc5 O-O-O 15. Be3 Rd5 16. Qa3 b4 17. Qb3 a5 18. a4 g5 19. c4 Rd3 20. Qc2 Nf5 21. Rad1 Ncd4 22. Bxd4 Nxd4 23. Qb1 Ne2+ 24. Kh1 Rh3 25. Qxe4 Rxh2+ 26. Kxh2 Qf4+ 27. Qxf4 Nxf4 White forfeits on time 0-1< i lost these game but always find delight on how we played it on 5 minute time control, our game is always on these gambit! the one posted in his blog is different from these game>

Mar-07-08		timhortons: click for larger view <final position>

Mar-12-08		Amulet: <laskereshevsky: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Grandpa! And thanks....cause without you, i strongly suspect that still today we'll playing chess "throwing wildly" the pieces..... and sacrifing tonns of pawns for nothing.... Just in the hope of same unclear chances to catch king.> Nice poem!

Mar-26-08		Knight13: You can buy Philidor's "Analysis of the Game of Chess" here http://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Ches... (cost $40-45 at the moment).

Aug-11-08		whiteshark: Quote of the Day " If it is too cold or wet I take shelter in the Cafe de la Regence and amuse myself watching people playing chess. Paris is the place in the world, and the Cafe de la Regence the place in Paris where this game is played best, and at Rey's the shrewd Legal, the crafty <Philidor> and the dependable Mayot sally forth to battle. There the most amazing moves can be seen and the poorest conversation heard, for if you can be a man of wit and a great chess-player like Legal you can also be a great chess player and an ass like Foubert and Mayot. " -- Denis Diderot Foubert and Mayot are so far not in this db.

Aug-12-08		nfwbyf: nfwbyf: One more game for those who is interested in Philidor's oeuvre: Philidor gave move and a pawn odds [Event "?"] [Site "London"] [Date "1975.?.?"] [White "George Atwood"] [Black "F Philidor"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [Opening ECO "Chess variants"] 1.e4 ... 1.d4 e6 2.f4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.c3 Qb6 6.Bd3 Nh6 7.Qb3 c4 8.Qb6 ab6 9.Bc2 b5 10.b4 Bb4 11.cb4 Nb4 12.Kd2 Nc2 13.Kc2 b4 14.Bd2 Ra4 15.h3 Rf8 16.g4 Nf7 17.Ng5 Ng5 18.fg5 Rf2 19.h4 b5 20.h5 b3+ 21.Kb2 b4 22.g6 hg6 23.hg6 Ba6 24.Rh8+ Kd7

Sep-07-08		brankat: R.I.P. Master Philidor.

Sep-07-08		artyom2008: happy bday

Jan-02-09		WhiteRook48: Slogan: Go 4 Philidor the Chess master FAVORITE PIECE: a pawn

Jan-04-09		WhiteRook48: Pawns are the soul of chess Here come the white pawns and the black ones just can't manage to make the pawns look black. ;-)

Jan-06-09		ILikeFruits: he has... black... wins against... playas with... names... but not... wit wites... i think... he wuz... black...

Feb-03-09		Augalv: The wrong Philidor http://www.chessvibes.com/columns/t...

Feb-24-09		WhiteRook48: I think Philidor could easily beat Fischer-- in sportsmanship perhaps

Apr-04-09		WhiteRook48: but not in games

May-10-09		blacksburg: i pulled off a philidor's legacy smothered mate in a blitz game tonight. i loooooove chess. :)

May-27-09		James Demery: I`ve always been curious how Philidor would do against modern players. Most people say that opening theory has advanced so much that these players from the past wouldn`t stand a chance. In chess the key though is the middlegame. What has changed over the years in the middlegame? I also think nobody plays with pawns like Philidor. He always seemed to have a space advantage. I think Philidor and others could surprise modern players. its one thing to study the Philidor position , its quite another to have invented it.

May-27-09		AnalyzeThis: He'd do fine. In such a contest, I think we could assume that a player would first prepare for the match, and Philidor would be given time to read up on all the stuff that happenned after he was playing.

May-27-09		James Demery: Most players say don`t move your pawns in the opening, but Philidor was able to get away with it and not only didn`t suffer any consequences , but rather wound up with a better game with more space to maneuver. I wonder if he could do that today? I wish someone would invent a time machine so we could go back and get him. I would like to get a lot of other players too and see if Kasparov is right.

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