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Philidor 
 
François André Philidor
Number of games in database: 24
Years covered: 1749 to 1794
Overall record: +16 -4 =4 (75.0%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.

Repertoire Explorer
Most played openings
C23 Bishop's Opening (5 games)
C38 King's Gambit Accepted (4 games)
C35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham (3 games)
000 Chess variants (3 games)
C33 King's Gambit Accepted (2 games)
B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 (2 games)
C31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit (2 games)

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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. He passed away in London, England in 1795.


 page 1 of 1; 24 games  PGN Download 
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Philidor vs NN 1-040 1749 UnknownC23 Bishop's Opening
2. Carlier & Bernard vs Philidor 1-032 1780 Miscellaneous Game000 Chess variants
3. J Bruhl vs Philidor 0-147 1783 Blindfold simulC23 Bishop's Opening
4. Maseres vs Philidor 0-158 1783 Blindfold Simultaneous000 Chess variants
5. J Bruhl vs Philidor ½-½44 1787 LondonC23 Bishop's Opening
6. J Bruhl vs Philidor 0-144 1788 London m/7C38 King's Gambit Accepted
7. Philidor vs J Bruhl 1-019 1789 London000 Chess variants
8. Sheldon vs Philidor 0-131 1790 LondonC23 Bishop's Opening
9. Philidor vs NN 1-052 1790 UnknownC33 King's Gambit Accepted
10. Philidor vs NN 0-140 1790 UnknownC35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
11. Philidor vs NN 1-030 1790 UnknownC38 King's Gambit Accepted
12. H Conway vs Philidor 0-146 1790 LondonC23 Bishop's Opening
13. Philidor vs NN ½-½24 1790 UnknownC31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit
14. Philidor vs NN 0-144 1790 UnknownC35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
15. Philidor vs NN 1-016 1790 UnknownC38 King's Gambit Accepted
16. Philidor vs NN 1-029 1790 UnknownC30 King's Gambit Declined
17. Philidor vs NN 1-022 1790 UnknownC35 King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham
18. Philidor vs NN ½-½26 1790 UnknownC38 King's Gambit Accepted
19. Philidor vs NN 1-023 1790 UnknownC33 King's Gambit Accepted
20. Philidor vs NN 1-023 1790 UnknownC31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit
21. Smith vs Philidor 0-133 1790 London, EnglandC24 Bishop's Opening
22. G Atwood vs Philidor 1-040 1794 CasualB21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
23. G Atwood vs Philidor ½-½40 1794 LondonD20 Queen's Gambit Accepted
24. G Atwood vs Philidor 0-140 1794 LondonB21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
 page 1 of 1; 24 games  PGN Download 
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Philidor wins | Philidor loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 7 OF 7 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Dec-19-06   Akuni: Didn't someone play two simultaneous blind fold games in the 1200's, though chess was a lot different back then so maybe it doesnt count
May-11-07   actionhero56: find more philidor games, chessgames.com, he was the best chess player of his time, so why don't we have more of his games !
May-11-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  SwitchingQuylthulg: Because finding them is not easy. Not many of his games have survived. Remember that there's only one game by his teacher Légal, reputedly the strongest player in the world before Philidor overtook him. The chess world is lucky that even this many Philidor games have survived. But it's a pity that they're all games by an old man - I guess games by a young Philidor would be more interesting.
May-21-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Cannon Fodder: According to CG's bio of George Atwood, 47 of Philidor's games were published in the 1820's from notation taken by Atwood. Do any of the chess historians out there know where these games can be found?
May-21-07   IMDONE4: A fitting player for the day. I still enjoy his extremely underrated Philidor's defense, that gives white absolutely no advantage with reasonable play.
Jul-23-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: Here is a 'petit' endgame
<<Philidor> vs <D. Browdler>, London 1749>


click for larger view

White draws with <1. Ne3 a3 2. Nd5 f1Q 3. Nc7+ Kf8 4. e7+ Kg7 5. e8Q Qf8+ 6. Qxf8 Kxf8 7. Ne6+>

Sep-01-07   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.

Sep-07-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  sneaky pete: <Biographer> Other sources, like Ken Whyld, Wikipedia and <vonKrolock>, give September 7, 1726, as his birthday.
Sep-07-07   D4n: Philidor was one of the the first greats...

Sep-10-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  nimh: Could somebody explain what's fundamentally wrong in Philidor's idea of pawn phalanx? Would you recommend it even today at least at club level?
Sep-13-07   James Demery: I`m such a patzer nimh that I don`t even know what Philidor`s idea of pawn phalanx is. Can you tell me what you`ve heard?
Sep-13-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  chessamateur: <whiteshark> I haven't checked this or anything so I'm probably wrong but it is possible for black to play for a win with something like 1. Ne3 a3 2. Nd5 f1Q 3. Nc7+ Kf8 4. e7+ Kg7 5. e8Q Qf6+ 6. Ne6+ Kh6 ?


click for larger view

Maybe Black can promote the pawn now and win?

Sep-13-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  chessamateur: Never mind your correct but, this at least tests the opponent a little more.
Sep-15-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  nimh: <James Demery>
Progressive pawn chains supported by pieces behind which in some way resembles ancient Greek battle formation - the phalanx.
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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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
Premium Chessgames Member
  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).
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