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Harold James Ruthven Murray vs NN
Odds game (1894) (unorthodox), ENG, May-??
Chess variants (000)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Feb-11-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: This has got to be NN 's younger sibling, NNN.

I would have expected Murray to give odds of queen and two bishops, and kept the more ancient pieces.

Feb-12-13  master of defence: The worst NN: This! How a player with Queen and 2 rooks up can lose yet. Ridiculous.
Feb-12-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: This game got me to thinking. (By the way, I'm sure it's a real game. Nobody would waste time thinking this up, and if they did the mate would have been quicker.)

Suppose White starts with just eight pawns and his king, while Black has his full army:


click for larger view

If both sides cooperate, how quickly can White mate Black? I've got it down to six moves without much trouble, so there is surely a five-mover.

Feb-12-13  David2009: <Phony Benoni>:


click for larger view

Helpmate in five: 1. g4 g6 (1... h5 doesn't work: the Bf8 gets in the way) 2. g5 Nh6 3. gxh6 Bg7 4. hxg7 Nc6 5. gxh8=Q#

Two other games starting from the diagram are reported in the literature. One was by <Baron Munchausen> when his world-renowned opponent rather carelessly gave him seven moves start, and one (reported by Lord Dunsany) was won by the Three Sailors: <when all three were drunk they played the best player in England with only a row of pawns. They won the game all right.> Alas, the score cannot be traced.

Feb-13-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <David2009> Oh, of course. I was trying to do it without a promotion, like:

<1.e4 f5 2.e5 Kf7 3.d4 Ke6 4.c4 Nh6 5.f4 Nf7 6.d5#.>

Dec-25-14  Oliveira: Murray mailed this "brevity" in a letter to the editor of the BCM in 1916 (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...). He mentioned the shortest games to his memory – remarkably, he would give the dates and locations of games that had taken place more than 20 years before! –, and couldn't help the temptation to add one of his own games, whose "length of the odds is its sole claim to life".

The two short games given by Murray were played in odds tournaments and ran:

(Black gives odds of pawn and 2 moves):
1.e4 … 2.d4 ♘h6 3.♗x♘ ♙x♗ 4. ♕h5#


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Source: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

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