John Cazenove vs Obadiah Tomalin (1819) O Bloody Obadiah

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John Cazenove vs Obadiah Tomalin
"O Bloody Obadiah" (game of the day Mar-12-2025)
London m/7 (1819), London ENG
King's Gambit: Accepted. Traditional Variation (C38) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening	find similar games	3 more games of J Cazenove
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Aug-01-04		chessgames.com: Can anybody sort out this mystery? We have this beautiful game above, but we also have this Von Der Lasa vs Bledow, 1839 which is essentially the same game. Which one is legit?

Aug-01-04		An Englishman: Dear Chessgames: von der Lasa was a great player and theoretician with a huge library. Maybe he knew the previous game and caught Bledow in an opening trap.

Jun-29-05		Whitehat1963: Fun little mating attack!

Feb-03-07		Brettwith2ts: I love a good queen sac!

Aug-15-11		naruto00122: 20.Rxf8+ Kh7 21.Bd3# is neater because you keep your bishp at the end

Dec-31-13		DoctorD: http://www.chess.com/blog/batgirl/c...

Jan-01-14		thomastonk: <chessgames.com> Let me try an answer. This game here (or better, the first 16 moves and the announcement of the mate in 6) can be found in the "Chess Player's Chronicle", volume 5, p 363-364. Staunton's introduction: "Brilliant game, won by Mr. Cazenove, in days of ``auld lang syne,´´ of Mr. Tomalin, in the London Chess Club. Nothing more useful or amusing than to compare play of various epochs of time. This game is not in Mr. Cazenove's printed selection." This game is surrounded by three games of McDonnell, having exact dates in 1829, and each of these games is said to be unpublished before. So, it looks like as Staunton got a set of old games from somewhere. Von der Lasa published in "Berliner Schacherinnerungen" 80 games of the time around 1840 in Berlin, and an overview of the games published before in "Schachzeitung" and the "Handbuch". I didn't succeed in finding a source for Von Der Lasa vs Bledow, 1839 there.

Nov-26-21		Marcelo Bruno: In the first volume of the Baltische Schachblätter the winner appears as Casenove and Casanova, the loser one as Tomolin.

Mar-12-25		Allderdice83: I find it hard to believe that a good player even in 1819 would have thought 5 ... Qe7?? is a good move, let alone 8 ... Qb4?? Instead, how about 5 ... Nc6, get the queenside developed, and castle long? After 5 ... Qe7 6. Nc3, Stockfish actually agrees with 6 ... c6, but that's a very ugly move, taking away the natural square for the knight. It's no wonder strong players were rolling people with the KG way back when.

Mar-12-25		areknames: Interesting biblical pun and a pleasant (but vicious) mating attack.

Mar-12-25		goodevans: It's possible that the biblical reference was the inspiration for the pun but I'll wager (based on the 'O' at the start) that it was the Beatles song. Apparently there's no direct connection between the two. <Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da> was one of their weakest, most annoying efforts. Possibly their worst (although 'Yellow Submarine' is a strong contender) and it's now a very unwelcome earworm for me.

Mar-12-25		areknames: <but I'll wager (based on the 'O' at the start) that it was the Beatles song.> Ok. I'm sure you're right. As I'm not big on the Beatles' catalogue I didn't even make the connection.

Mar-12-25		Teyss: I also immediately thought about the Beatles song, didn't know about the biblical reference. Indeed one of their worst opus with the already mentioned 'Yellow Submarine' to which we could add 'Good Day Sunshine'. Three earworms and incidentally all written by McCartney ('Yellow Submarine' together with Lennon). I'm excluding prank pieces like 'Wild Honey Pie' and 'Revolution 9'. The game: a bloody defence by Black. That's what happens when one just has developed the Queen by move 11. Beautiful combination by White nonetheless. 16.? would be a good mid-week puzzle (not Monday because you have to see the #6 after 16...Nxh7).

Mar-12-25		Sally Simpson: 5 ... Qe7 is obviously not the best move on the board... click for larger view ...but understandable if we see when it was played. It does have two threats. Qxe4+ and Qb4+ so it would have appealed to an uninhibited player from that era. 5...Qe7 actually appeared in a Black win though White was winning by move 9 but tried to win it without a saccing a piece. White lost when they allowed a mate in two. J Brazlik vs M Visco, 1988

Mar-12-25		MissScarlett: <"Chess Player's Chronicle", volume 5, p 363-364. Staunton's introduction...> This appeared in the December 1844 <CPC>; Staunton was then ill in Paris, having travelled there for his rematch with St. Amant. I believe George Walker was editing, or at least contributing to the magazine during Staunton's absence (roughly October 1844 - January 1845). A repeat arrangement, it seems, as when Staunton was in France the year before for Staunton - Saint-Amant (1843). The two men were never friends but there seems to have been a truce, for want of a better term, between them in this period. It didn't last, of course.

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