chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

Chessgames premium membership fee will increase to $39 per year effective June 15, 2023. Enroll Now!

Kermur Sire De Legal vs Saint Brie
"18 & Legal" (game of the day Dec-10-2019)
Paris (1750) (unorthodox), Paris FRA
Philidor Defense: General (C41)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

explore this opening
find similar games more games of De Legal
sac: 5.Nxe5 PGN: download | view | print Help: general | java-troubleshooting

TIP: You can get computer analysis by clicking the "ENGINE" button below the game.

PGN Viewer:  What is this?
For help with this chess viewer, please see the Olga Chess Viewer Quickstart Guide.
PREMIUM MEMBERS CAN REQUEST COMPUTER ANALYSIS [more info]

A COMPUTER ANNOTATED SCORE OF THIS GAME IS AVAILABLE.  [CLICK HERE]

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 6 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Feb-26-18  dumbgai: I can’t believe how many times I’ve played this exact same game online. Sometimes the player with the black pieces (who is obviously unfamiliar with this trap) accuses me of cheating.
Feb-26-18  dumbgai: Although more often black will play ...Nc6 instead of ...g6, requiring h3 to be played before Nxe5.
Sep-19-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: <offramp: One of my puns got accepted!>

And it has been reused today! What an honour!

Sep-19-18  AdolfoAugusto: Do you know what is happening? Not many tournaments are being presented, not much movement... it seems like the site is working at half capacity... not the chessgames.com that it used to be.

Hopefully, this will be resolved soon with the Olympiad and all...

Sep-19-18  Jamboree: AdolfoAugusto: The site owner passed away a couple of months ago, and the site has been operating on autopilot ever since, with old problems and games being automatically recycled every day. I don't know the latest details, but apparently other users are in the process of trying to get permission (and learning the ropes) to get the site running the way it used to be. You might find the latest rumors at chessgames.com chessforum or Daniel Freeman
Sep-19-18  Castleinthesky: "Brie's Cheese Gets Cut"
Sep-19-18  Howard: To be fair, the recent passing of
Mr. Freeman has probably left the site somewhat short-handed. bUt, SURELY, they could come up with a better GOTD than this one !!!!
Sep-19-18  cormier: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. O-O
Sep-24-18  OrangeTulip: Black’s defense is soft and smells
Dec-23-18  HarryP: Wow, dumbgai, you've done this many times? I've done it once, but just that once.
Jul-30-19  Chesgambit: Legal mate
4. g6?
4.Nc6 best move
Dec-10-19  spingo: Today's pun for Game of the Day, <"18 & Legal">, has been kindly provided by our generous hosts, chessgames.com.

And what a wonderfully funny and clever pun it is; full of joie-de-vivre and good humour, a ray of sunshine on a dreary winter's morn.

It shows such perception, astuteness, empathy and savoir-faire that it boggles the normal human's mind.

I am sure that everyone here will join me in wishing three cheers to our generous hosts, chessgames.com.

Ready? HIP HIP...

Dec-10-19  Cheapo by the Dozen: One could also call this game Brie Cheesed.
Dec-10-19  thegoldenband: Workin' blue, are we, Chessgames.com?
Dec-10-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  Korora: "If he's thinking ahead, he'll see the trap I've set and leave my queen alone, but if he's not, I may just win this game in two moves." -- Atrus, Myst IV: Revelation, in a flashback to a correspondence game.

"What kind of a move is that!? You had me, Father, you totally had me! And now you're leaving your queen wide open? Getting the nara chess pieces out of you was more of a challenge than this." -- Sirrus, ibid.

One wonders if a trader from Santa Fe, El Paso, or Tadjinar had been big on chess and told Atrus about Sire de Légal's trap, or if Atrus came up with it on his own.

Possible score:
Correspondence chess (Mexico, some time between 1821 and 1824)
<White> Atrus son of Gehn, on the Tomahna homestead a few days out from Tadjinar
<Black> Sirrus son of Atrus, on the world of Spire.
1. e4 e5 2. ♘f3 d6. <Nowadays considered a tad passive.> 3. ♗c4 ♗g4. <Here, Atrus may have played 4. h3 with Sirrus replying 4... ♗h5, so that even if Sirrus didn't fall for the trap, Atrus would still have an advantage. If so, then add one to each subsequent move number.> 4. ♘c3 g6. <These may actually have been the fifth moves for each player, with the moves from the previous note played, because Sirrus was sure Atrus had an advantage here.> 5. ♘xe5. <Has Atrus blundered away his Queen?> 5. ... ♗xd1??. <Sirrus thinks so, but a surprise is in store.> 6. ♗xf7+ 1-0

Dec-10-19  spingo: HIP HIP !!
Jan-27-20  Nullifidian: I had an opponent in an online blitz game play the same set of moves with the exception that he or she played h6 on the third move. It's the 21st century and people still fall for this.

In another blitz game, I had a Legal-type position arise in the Ruy Lopez. That game went as follows:

1. e4 e5 2. ♘f3 ♘c6 3. ♗b5 ♘ge7 4. O-O h6 5. ♘c3 a6 6. ♗a4 b5 7. ♗b3 d6 8. a3 ♗g4 9. h3 ♗h5? 10. ♘xe5 ♗xd1?? 11. ♗xf7#

In this case, just the first two steps of the mate were needed because of the knight hemming in the king on e7.

May-08-20  Chessmusings: For an excellent video lesson on this game + De Legal’s life and times, please visit: https://dailychessmusings.com/to-th...
Jan-08-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Bishoprick: The problem with this little gem is that if Black doesn't accept the queen, White is completely busted.
Jan-08-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Williebob: <Bishoprick> It looks like Stockfish disagrees with that assessment. What's the best line for Black after 5.Nxe5 ...?
Jan-08-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Williebob: As pointed out above, Black really needs to develop better prior to move 5.

4.. c6 looks most solid.
Mar-27-21  Jean Defuse: ...

<David Levy & Kevin O'Connell 'Oxford Encyclopedia of Chess Games', p. 22> gives the move order:

(rook-odds a1, date 17??) 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 d6 3 Nf3 Bg4 4 Nc3 g6 5 Nxe5 Bxd1 6 Bxf7+ Ke7 7 Nd5 mate.

But the earliest known source is <George Walker's 'A Selection of Games at Chess' (1835), p. 91> which gives the following move order:

[Event "Odds Game (date?)"]
[Site "Paris"]
[Date "1735.??.??"]
[White "Francois Antoine Legall de Kermeur"]
[Black "Saint Brie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[EventDate "1735.??.??"]
[Source "A Selection of Games at Chess, p.91"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "


click for larger view

"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. Nxe5 Bxd1 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5# 1-0

Hooper & Whyld, the authors of the reference book 'The Oxford Companion to Chess', chose the name <Legall de Kermeur> after genealogical research at the municipal library in Rennes.

Sources: http://heritageechecsfra.free.fr/le... / C.N. 5720

...

Mar-27-21  Jean Defuse: ...

[Date "1735.??.??"] [EventDate "1735.??.??"] <1750> of course!!

...

Jun-06-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: A strong Legal combo :)
Jan-06-23  generror: Legall's mate still is one of the most beautiful mates I know. I still can't quite believe it actually is mate, but every time I check, it keeps being mate!

The game also noteworthy for being an early miniature where the opponent did not blunder continuously. Although he naturally doesn't follow the strongest lines of modern opening theory, even <4...g6?!> makes some sense and is not completely stupid.

Contrary to what some say, <5.Nxe5!> does not require <5...Bxd1??> to be the best move. It simply wins a pawn and the bishop pair after <5...dxe5 6.Qxg4>, White has a development advantage and no weaknesses except maybe the exposed queen. Black still is a rook up, but in with the rook on a1, the position evaluates to +2.5 in Stockfish.


click for larger view

And once again, it's due to someone not realizing that pinning the king's knight on f3 can backfire if there's a bishop looking at f7.

Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 6)
search thread:   
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 6 OF 6 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific game only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

This game is type: UNORTHODOX. Please report incorrect or missing information by submitting a correction slip to help us improve the quality of our content.

<This page contains Editor Notes. Click here to read them.>

Featured in the Following Game Collections[what is this?]
Legall's Mate
from Best games played in chess hisory by Cornwallis
The LEGAL mate-often imitated
from kevin86's favorite games by kevin86
The original "Legal's Mate" !!
from cm2003's favorite games by cm2003
This is the original legal's mate.
from Opening blunders punished. by patzer2
philidor defense gets its butt kicked
from rodmjay2's favorite games by rodmjay2
equanimus' favorite games
by equanimus
khalid006's favorite games
by khalid006
The original
from Yes, madame, it's all perfectly legal. by Lawrence
mate legal
from ninja007's favorite games by ninja007
Legal's mate
from Games I want to Remember by pilot
Did he really make a mistake?
from Fascinating Games by clifton
Classic one
from Check mate I by popski
The first time that the wonderful Legal's mate is played.
from Shadowlord's favorites games by Shad0wl0rd16
scuk's favorite games
by scuk
Legal's mate
from Opening Traps by GoodKnight
As Far as the checkmates go
by dgreenb801
Mate in 7 moves!!
from RocketChess2000's favorite games by RocketChess2000
Legal's Mate
from Vischer's Opening Traps by Vischer
Legally Trapped!
from Be Treated Like a King! by Annie K.
Phildor Defense. 3. ...g6? Nc6 is better
from Amateur Mistakes Punished by Sadgrinner
plus 314 more collections (not shown)

Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2023, Chessgames Services LLC