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Joseph Henry Blackburne vs Wilhelm Steinitz
Casual game (1863), London ENG
Italian Game: Evans Gambit. Mortimer-Evans Gambit (C51)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jan-04-05  jondoe: 1) Is 12 Bxf7+ any good?
2) Is 4 B4 any good?
Jan-04-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: <jondoe> Hello! Welcome to the group! 4. b4!? is the enterprising Evans Gambit (C51) where White sacrifices a Pawn to obtain a classic Pawn center at e4 & d4, also early development and open lines. Look under the board in the box for Blackburne's comments where 12. Bxf7+!? and 13. Qc2 are termed the "Mortimer" which was later theoretically dubious. It's good to spoil Black's castling privilege, but there's no decisive follow-up here. If you like sharp tactics and successful sacrifices, Blackburne's games are excellent to study.

Now some questions for you. After 28. Nh5 what would Black play? And then how should White respond?

Jan-05-05  jondoe: 28 ...Rg8
29 Qxg8+ forcing the knight fork and loss of a rook.

Thanks for the response! It seems the evans gambit is a solid play! Yeah I like Blackburne, his games were a good way for me to get interested in chess. His raging personality is burnt into his games forever.

Jan-05-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  beatgiant: How about 28...Rg8 29. Bg7+! Rxg7 30. Re8+ and mates, or 29...Qxg8 30. Nxg7 with a queen for a bishop?
Oct-27-05  who: I can't believe that black is lost as early as move 14. Fritz says 26...Qf5 was the losing move. With 26...Qf7 white would have nothing better than a draw by repitition.
Oct-09-07  RookFile: Nice game by Blackburne.

Whatever from Steinitz.

Feb-17-08  Knight13: Maybe in an action tournament then going after stuff like 12. Bxf7+ is OK but might not be good in tournaments with time control G/75...
Oct-24-08  thebribri8: What about 28. Rg8 Re8!? 29. Rxe8 Bg7+ and the black king cannot survive. If 29. Qxe8, Bg7 mates even more quickly. I am not sure if this is correct and I am very curious. Can someone give me their input?
Apr-28-11  bennolo: 28 ..Rg8, 29 Bg7+ and if Qxg7, 30 Nxg7 and Rxg7 is not possible because of Re8+ and checkmate in the next move. If ...30 Nxd4 31 Re7 Nf5, 32 Nxf5 and black have one chessman less and white wins very easy ..29 Rxg7 is impossible because if is mate in two
Feb-12-12  AVRO38: Blackburne's consistent use of "forward" moves in this game is reminiscent of Morphy. 12.Bxf7+, 14.e5, 15.Re1, 16.Qf5+, and 21.Qh5+ are all Morphyesque moves.

<Is 12 Bxf7+ any good?>

The Mortimer is sound, even against Blackburne's recommended 14...h6.

Dec-21-13  thomastonk: I think the round number 4 and the date January 1863 are contradicting. Loewenthal reports on December 28, 1862 in the "The Era" that the current result of the match is "Mr B., 1; Mr S., 2; drawn, 1."

Moreover, I have found a copy of this game with the additional moves 28.. ♖g8 29. ♗g7+.

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