Sam Loyd
Number of games in database: 30
Years covered: 1855 to 1898
Overall record: +8 -19 =1 (30.4%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      2 exhibition games, blitz games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:  Giuoco Piano (7)      C50	With the Black pieces:  Evan's Gambit (4)      C52  Ruy Lopez (4)      C62

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Fitzgerald vs Loyd, 1898 0-1
   C Golmayo Zupide vs Loyd, 1867 0-1
   Loyd vs S Rosenthal, 1867 1-0

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SAM LOYD (born Jan-30-1841, died Apr-11-1911) United States of America [what is this?] Sam Loyd was born in Philadelphia on January 30, 1841. Young Sam became deeply obsessed with chess and frequented a chess club where his interest in making puzzles started. His first problem was published by a New York paper when he was 14, and during the next five years his output of chess puzzles was so prolific that he was known throughout the chess world. By 1858 he was hailed as the leading American writer of chess problems. When Loyd was only 17, he invented his ingeniously difficult "Trick Mules Puzzle," which was later sold to showman Phineas T. Barnum for $10,000. Loyd's most famous puzzle was the "15 Puzzle" which he produced in 1878. The craze swept America where employers put up notices prohibiting playing the puzzle during office hours. Recent research, however, casts doubts upon whether Loyd was actually the originator of this puzzle. In 1878, he published a book of 500 chess problems, entitled Chess Strategy, comprised mostly of his weekly chess columns he wrote for the Scientific American Supplement.

page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 29  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. T Loyd vs Loyd 1-0 27 1855 New York C44 King's Pawn Game 2. Loyd vs F Perrin 1-0 23 1856 New York D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 3. Loyd vs F Perrin 0-1 29 1856 New York D30 Queen's Gambit Declined 4. Loyd vs Moore 1-0 24 1856 Casual C33 King's Gambit Accepted 5. Loyd vs G Neumann 0-1 46 1867 Paris C50 Giuoco Piano 6. H Czarnowski vs Loyd   1-0 24 1867 Paris C50 Giuoco Piano 7. Loyd vs Winawer 0-1 44 1867 Paris C42 Petrov Defense 8. M S From vs Loyd 1-0 26 1867 Paris C44 King's Pawn Game 9. Winawer vs Loyd   1-0 51 1867 Paris C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 10. Loyd vs De Riviere 0-1 50 1867 Paris C50 Giuoco Piano 11. Loyd vs Kolisch 0-1 19 1867 Paris C50 Giuoco Piano 12. Steinitz vs Loyd 1-0 17 1867 London (5) C25 Vienna 13. Loyd vs Steinitz   0-1 29 1867 Paris B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 14. De Vere vs Loyd 1-0 43 1867 Paris C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 15. E Rousseau vs Loyd 0-1 36 1867 Paris C52 Evans Gambit 16. Loyd vs E D'Andre   1-0 31 1867 Paris C50 Giuoco Piano 17. Loyd vs C Golmayo   1-0 49 1867 Paris B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 18. Kolisch vs Loyd 1-0 26 1867 Paris (France) C52 Evans Gambit 19. Loyd vs E Rousseau   0-1 26 1867 Paris C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 20. De Riviere vs Loyd   1-0 41 1867 Paris C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 21. S Rosenthal vs Loyd   ½-½ 51 1867 Paris C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 22. Loyd vs H Czarnowski   0-1 39 1867 Paris C50 Giuoco Piano 23. Loyd vs M S From 0-1 40 1867 Paris C60 Ruy Lopez 24. Loyd vs S Rosenthal 1-0 36 1867 Paris C50 Giuoco Piano 25. E D'Andre vs Loyd   0-1 24 1867 Paris A03 Bird's Opening  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 29    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Loyd wins | Loyd loses

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 14 OF 14 ·  Later Kibitzing > Sep-18-06    syracrophy: The correct answer is 1.Be4 Bc2! 2.Bxc2 a2 3.Bb1! a1=B!! 4.b7 <if white moves the bishop, then it comes 4...b1=Q+ winning> and it's stalemate Sep-23-06    T Ciddasselepoh: Did Sam Loyd ever meet Paul Morphy? Sep-23-06    syracrophy: <<T Ciddasselepoh>: Did Sam Loyd ever meet Paul Morphy?> I don't know. I don't think so, because Paul Morphy was an avid player of tournaments and Sam Loyd just appeared in a few tournaments. But I don't really know Sep-28-06    syracrophy: Another chess puzzle: click for larger view WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN Oct-15-06    Milo: 1.d5 Qxd5 2.Bg2 maybe? Oct-18-06    syracrophy: <Milo: 1.d5 Qxd5 2.Bg2 maybe?> 1.d5? Bxd5! Oct-26-06    Manic: There is a Sam Loyd problem recently posted on the chessbase site : http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp... Oct-26-06    syracrophy: <Peligroso Patzer> Yes. You're answer to the Sam Loyd puzzle is correct. I also have that problem in my book and it's correct your answer Jan-06-07    vonKrolock: About the allegged Loyd's precedence on the invention of the form Helpmate (story included in the recent Nunn/Chessbase Christmas Puzzle articles), there's an interesting entry here in this forum http://chessproblem.net/viewtopic.p... Jan-24-07    Dr.Lecter: <syracrophy> How about Bh3? 1.Bh3 Qd5 2.Rf1 or something like that. All I know is that you have to deflect the black queen to stop eyeing the g8 square so that the pawn can queen and deliver a mate. Jan-24-07    Dr.Lecter: By the way, what is this 15 puzzle? Jan-25-07    Gregor Samsa Mendel: http://www.cut-the-knot.org/pythago... Jan-30-07    Dr.Lecter: That was easier than I expected. Well, I thought it was a chess puzzle. Feb-13-07    thatsmate: "syracrophy: <Milo: 1.d5 Qxd5 2.Bg2 maybe?> 1.d5? Bxd5!" I am afraid this is incorrect- if Bxd5, Bc4 wins. However, 1. d5? loses to ...Qxd5 2. Bg2 (or Bc4) Qxd2! with mate in one. The answer is very simple and elegant: 1. Bc4! Qxc4 2. Rh1!! Qg8 3. Rh8 Ke1 4. Rxg8+ Kf7 4. Rf8+ Kxg7 5. Rxf2 And black cannot hold. Jun-29-07    gauer: Composed by Samuel Loyd, La Strategie, 1867, seven men vs three men: click for larger view White plays, Checkmating in two moves. A hint is the idea behind the related theme: click for larger view For other ideas of what I like to think of as the Red Rover theme, see: Kudrin vs R Douven, 1989 Jul-13-07    pferd: <gauer> Qg4+ and if f5 then gxf6++. Only Loyd could get away with such a key move (giving check!) Now for something easy: click for larger view White to win Jul-18-07    BishopBerkeley: Was Sam Loyd indirectly responsible for the management slogan, "Think outside the box"? It appears that the famous "nine dots" puzzle which appeared in his 1914 "Cyclopedia of Puzzles" is widely regarded as the origin of this familiar exhortation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinki... (: Bishop Berkeley :) Jul-18-07    ahmadov: I think Sam should have refrained from playing chess in order to save a better image as a person involved in this game... Nov-24-07    whiteshark: One day a patzer claimed to draw easily against Loyd only by copying his moves. Here's the game Loyd-N.N. that followed: <1.d4 d5 2.Qd3 Qd6 3.Qh3 Qh6 4.Qc8#> Nov-24-07    alexmagnus: <whiteshark> It is even possible to win by copying moves: <1.e4 e5 2.Ke2 Ke7 3.Ke3 Ke6 4.Qf3 Qf6 5.Ne2 Ne7 6.b3 b6 7.Ba3 Ba6 8.Nd4+ and black has no way out - 8...exd4#> Nov-24-07    whiteshark: <alexmagnus> Nice finding! It looks like the first serious win with a <WannaBe>Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Ke2) ;D. Jan-12-08    ahmadov: <A piece in the hand is worth a mate in the bush.> A very well rephrased proverb... Jan-12-08    goldenbear: <admadov> Without getting too crude, I'd like to say that I profoundly disagree with that quote. Jan-13-08    ahmadov: <goldenbear: <admadov> Without getting too crude, I'd like to say that I profoundly disagree with that quote.> You do not sound any rude, but do you not get a mate by winning more pieces... Does <a mate in the bush> mean we could be far from reaching it? Anyway, your point provokes me to challenge you to a game on gameknot.com :-) Feb-23-08    Knight13: He drew a picture of Henry Edward Bird, which can be viewed by clicking on that link. Jump directly to page #   (enter number from 1 to 14) < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 14 OF 14 ·  Later Kibitzing >

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