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Joseph Blackburne
Blackburne 
British Chess Magazine Vol 42 (1922)  

Number of games in database: 1,710
Years covered: 1861 to 1920
Overall record: +533 -296 =270 (60.8%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 611 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 French Defense (144) 
    C01 C11 C13 C00 C14
 King's Gambit Accepted (124) 
    C39 C33 C34 C38 C36
 Scotch Game (101) 
    C45
 Vienna Opening (90) 
    C25 C29 C27 C28 C26
 Evans Gambit (86) 
    C51 C52
 French (76) 
    C11 C13 C00 C10
With the Black pieces:
 French Defense (93) 
    C01 C11 C00 C14 C02
 Ruy Lopez (63) 
    C61 C62 C66 C71 C60
 French (41) 
    C11 C00 C10 C13
 Sicilian (39) 
    B45 B40 B73 B30 B23
 Queen's Pawn Game (37) 
    D02 D00 D05 A46 A40
 Scandinavian (25) 
    B01
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   NN vs Blackburne, 1884 0-1
   Blackburne vs J Schwarz, 1881 1-0
   Blackburne vs NN, 1863 1-0
   A Steinkuehler vs Blackburne, 1863 0-1
   Blackburne vs C T Blanshard, 1891 1-0
   NN vs Blackburne, 1871 0-1
   Blackburne vs Leverson, 1885 1-0
   M Weiss vs Blackburne, 1889 0-1
   Blackburne vs Steinitz, 1883 1-0
   Blackburne vs A Muller, 1894 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   2nd DSB Congress, Berlin (1881)
   Simpson's Divan, London (1876)
   Vienna (1873)
   5th DSB Congress, Frankfurt (1887)
   3rd DSB Congress, Nuremberg (1883)
   4th DSB Congress, Hamburg (1885)
   Paris (1878)
   London (1883)
   6th American Chess Congress, New York (1889)
   9th DSB Congress, Leipzig (1894)
   London (1904)
   Vienna (1882)
   London (1899)
   Ostend Masters (1907)
   Hastings (1895)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   19sp Anderssen - Blackburne - Charousek by Littlejohn
   19sp Anderssen - Blackburne - Charousek by Goatsrocknroll23
   Challenger Blackburne by Gottschalk
   Anderssen, Blackburne, Charousek by monet11
   taxes II burne life Stan Back by fredthebear
   y1870s - 1890s Classic Chess Principles Arise by plerranov
   y1870s - 1890s Classic Chess Principles Arise by fredthebear
   Annotations e4 Various Authorities &FTB Post WWI by fredthebear
   4 Annotations e4 through Dead-Ball Era for FTB by fredthebear
   tactics 2 by tactics
   Annotations e4 Various Authorities & Fredthebear by Patca63
   Anotações e4 Várias Autoridades e Fredthebear by BrendaVittoria
   0ZeR0's collected games volume 238 by 0ZeR0
   Blindfold Blackburne by ughaibu

GAMES ANNOTATED BY BLACKBURNE: [what is this?]
   NN vs Blackburne, 1884
   Blackburne vs NN, 1863
   A Steinkuehler vs Blackburne, 1863
   NN vs Blackburne, 1871
   Blackburne vs Leverson, 1885
   >> 149 GAMES ANNOTATED BY BLACKBURNE


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JOSEPH BLACKBURNE
(born Dec-10-1841, died Sep-01-1924, 82 years old) United Kingdom

[what is this?]

Joseph Henry Blackburne was born in Chorlton, Manchester. He came to be known as "The Black Death". He enjoyed a great deal of success giving blindfold and simultaneous exhibitions. Tournament highlights include first place with Wilhelm Steinitz at Vienna 1873, first at London 1876, and first at Berlin 1881 ahead of Johannes Zukertort. In matchplay he lost twice to Steinitz and once to Emanuel Lasker. He fared a little better with Zukertort (Blackburne - Zukertort (1881)) and Isidor Gunsberg, by splitting a pair of matches, and defeating Francis Joseph Lee, ( Blackburne - Lee (1890) ). One of the last successes of his career was at the age of 72, when he tied for first place with Fred Dewhirst Yates at the 1914 British Championship.

In his later years, a subscription by British chess players provided an annuity of £100 (approx £4,000 in 2015 value), and a gift of £250 on his 80th birthday.

In 1923 he suffered a stroke, and the next year he died of a heart attack.

Note: Blackburne played on the teams of Steinitz / Bird / Blackburne, Blackburne / Bird / MacDonnell, Bird / Blackburne, Blackburne / Aloof, Steinitz / Blackburne, Blackburne / Steinitz / De Vere, Blackburne / Potter, Blackburne / Horace Chapman & Joseph Henry Blackburne / Allies.

Wikipedia article: Joseph Henry Blackburne

1 Source: Grantham Journal - Saturday 17 December 1921, p.3.

Last updated: 2020-07-11 05:57:56

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 69; games 1-25 of 1,710  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Blackburne vs E Pindar 0-1211861Casual gameC36 King's Gambit Accepted, Abbazia Defense
2. Blackburne vs E Pindar  1-0341861Blackburne - Pindar m(2)C01 French, Exchange
3. Blackburne vs E Pindar  0-1411861Blackburne - Pindar m(3)C01 French, Exchange
4. A Steinkuehler vs Blackburne 0-1241861Casual gameC44 King's Pawn Game
5. Blackburne vs E Pindar  1-0241861Casual gameC39 King's Gambit Accepted
6. Blackburne vs C Stanley ½-½281861Casual gameC45 Scotch Game
7. E Pindar vs Blackburne  1-0391861Blackburne - Pindar m(1)A02 Bird's Opening
8. E Pindar vs Blackburne 1-0201861Blackburne - Pindar m(1)C01 French, Exchange
9. Blackburne vs E Pindar  0-1291861Blackburne - Pindar m(1)B07 Pirc
10. Blackburne vs E Pindar  0-1331861Blackburne - Pindar m(1)C36 King's Gambit Accepted, Abbazia Defense
11. E Pindar vs Blackburne  1-0261861Blackburne - Pindar m(1)A10 English
12. E Pindar vs Blackburne  0-1401861Blackburne - Pindar m(2)A03 Bird's Opening
13. E Pindar vs Blackburne  0-1491861Blackburne - Pindar m(2)A20 English
14. Blackburne vs E Pindar  ½-½481861Blackburne - Pindar m(2)C01 French, Exchange
15. Blackburne vs C Stanley ½-½271861Casual gameC33 King's Gambit Accepted
16. Paulsen vs Blackburne 1-0511861Casual gameC15 French, Winawer
17. Blackburne vs Paulsen ½-½291861Casual gameC60 Ruy Lopez
18. Paulsen vs Blackburne 1-0331861Blindfold simul, 10bC00 French Defense
19. Blackburne vs Jetson 1-0191861Blindfold simul, 3bB40 Sicilian
20. Blackburne vs E Pindar  ½-½421862Blackburne - Pindar m(3)C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed
21. Blackburne vs A Steinkuehler 1-0211862Manchester CC chC51 Evans Gambit
22. C Stanley vs Blackburne  0-1321862Casual gameC44 King's Pawn Game
23. La Fontaine vs Blackburne 0-1251862Casual gameC24 Bishop's Opening
24. Blackburne vs La Fontaine  1-0151862Casual gameC24 Bishop's Opening
25. Blackburne vs Harley 1-0201862Odds game000 Chess variants
 page 1 of 69; games 1-25 of 1,710  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Blackburne wins | Blackburne loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 11 OF 11 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-26-20  Jean Defuse: thanks a lot!
Nov-22-20  Nosnibor: In Harding`s excellent biography of Blackburne there appears to be a mistake with the death certificate. It states his age at date of death 83 years but this of course should be 82. This was not picked up by Tim Harding who is usually so meticulous in his writings.
Jan-04-21  ColdSong: Blackburne is an heavyweight in chess history.Just look at these wins with the best players(Imo) of his time.Anderssen,+3,Steinitz,+9,Neumann,+1,Paulsen- ,+6,Zukertort,+15,Gunsberg,+17,Chigorin,+6,Weiss- ,+4,Tarrasch,+4,Burn,+3,Schlechter,+3,Janowski,+- 2,Teichmann,+3,Lasker,+2,Pillsbury,+5,Marshall,+- 3,Nimzowitsch,+1.I apologize if I (most probably)only repeat it,but it can be useful for everybody.
Mar-22-21  Nosnibor: According to Harding Blackburne played a simultaneous at the Victoria Coffee House in Leicester on the 24th November 1893 where he states that he played 20 players. Of these he lost two to Dr. Mason and Dr.Finch and drew one against E.H.Collier. However he won 11 games and not 14. The victims being A.A. Cooper, A. Pickard, A.A. Allnutt, T Carter, T.Underwood. Councillor W. Stanyon, J. Coy, A.F.Atkins, Israel Hart ( Mayor of Leicester ), Alderman R. P. Swain, and Councillor H.P. Rogers. (Source: "Leicester Mercury" 25/11/1893.)
Aug-26-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: Has there ever been a reasonable guesstimate made as to how many simultaneous exhibition games Blackburne played in his long career?
Aug-26-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: On Blackburne's last years, Harding has (p.503):

<Alekhine visited Blackburne on Sunday 14 October 1923, reported Brian Harley the following weekend in <The Observer>; "it was a great meeting." Also the <Oxford Dictionary of National Biography> says that in the fall of 1922 Capablanca visited Blackburne at his bedside.>

Harding, the word is <autumn>.

Aug-27-21  login:

@GC Joseph Henry Blackburne (kibitz #248)

Still counting
http://www.chessmail.com/research/b...

1 of many (not yet in the DB)
https://www.ulsterchess.org/archive...


Ats us nai,

https://ballynafeighchess.wordpress...

wee chess in Belfast is back on map.

Aug-27-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: I'll be damned if there's another 600 Blackburne games hiding out there.
Apr-15-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Here's a couple from a blindfold simul in Reigate, Surrey, in December 1898:

Blackburne vs NN, 1898

Blackburne vs NN, 1898

This display is missing from the list in Harding's biography (pp. 529-532). It's mentioned in the <Croydon Observer> on December 2nd that Blackburne is coming, and on December 23rd, that's he's been and gone, but nothing in between that I can see.

Sep-19-22  Nosnibor: >MissScarlet> I am sure that there is another 600 games of Blackburne hiding somewhere. One of these is from the B.C.A. Handicap Tournament 1868/69 where he lost as black to H.J.S. Selfe in an odds game with a pawn and two moves start.
Dec-02-22  DataFly: Tim Harding's book about Blackburne says that it was Blackburne who gave the odds in his loss to Henry James Selfe Selfe (the artist formally known as Henry James Selfe Page). This is on page 60.

On page 511 it suggests that Blackburne was White, i.e. moved first, which wouldn't really make sense if he gave Selfe a two move head start.

I'm just basing this on the preview of the pages on Google. I don't own Harding's book.

Dec-02-22  Nosnibor: <DataFly> I own a copy of the said book and I believe that page 511 stating that Blackburne was White is an error which was overlooked before publication. Generally speaking Harding undertook an ardous task and produced a marvellous biography and games collection.
Dec-02-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <I own a copy of the said book and I believe that page 511 stating that Blackburne was White is an error which was overlooked before publication.>

It's not an error because Blackburne is the first name in all the match-ups - including other pawn and move(s) games - given on page 511, so colour is not being indicated.

Dec-02-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Here's the Selfe game: Henry Selfe vs Blackburne, 1868

Without the null move (which I'll add shortly) it can be viewed using Olga.

Dec-02-22  stone free or die: Just curious, but what was the last year where White could have the black pieces (and Black the white pieces)?

At one time it wasn't so uncommon.

.

Dec-03-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  fredthebear: 1880.
Dec-03-22  stone free or die: Do we have a source for that? Hopefully with the game.
Dec-03-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: I suspect this article was in play: https://new.uschess.org/news/evolut...
Dec-03-22  stone free or die: Thanks <MIssy>, that is a highly relevant article.

It could be in play, or maybe not, though.

I still wonder who (and where) the "early writers" were who promoted the White first-move standard.

.

Mar-10-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: British Chess Magazine, April 1888, p.195:

<Mr. J. Wade, 18, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, W.C., is about to publish a collection - about 200 - of Mr. J. H. Blackburne's blindfold games, arranged by that master.>

Mar-10-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sally Simpson: I have a copy of 'Blackburne's Blindfold Games' by Mr. J. Wade. It is in braille.
May-15-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <MissScarlett: I'll be damned if there's another 600 Blackburne games hiding out there.> Joseph Blackburne (kibitz #251)

By way of update, the WayBack Machine reveals that there were 1,330 (sole) Blackburne games on October 17th 2021. 1661 today. Let's aim for 2000 by 2028.

Jun-25-25  stone free or die: We owe phrenology thanks for this player's illustrious career apparently:

<It is not, we think, generally known that the father of Mr. Blackburne the celebrated chess player, is a phrenologist, who has been established for a long time in Scarborough. When his son was a lad of 14 or 15, the elder Blackburne foresaw from the shape of the boy's skull that proficiency in chess was likely to be one of his attributes. With this view, he gave him every opportunity of learning and practising the game; and now Blackburne pere may fairly boast that he had much to do with the success as a chess-player of Blackburne files.>

Harding - Blackburne p259-260

Unfortunately I don't know the original source.

Jun-25-25
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: The Dial, June 21st 1862, p.8:

<PHRENOLOGY. - MR. BLACKBURNE, Consulting Phrenologist, Author of "Helps to Progress," &c. (from Princes-street, Edinburgh, and King-street, Manchester) may be consulted DAILY at 45, Ludgate-hill. Open from Nine a.m. till Eight p.m. Phrenological examinations, pointing out the trade, profession, &c., for which the individual is best adapted, for 2s. 6d.>

Morning Herald, March 25th 1865, p.1:

<PHRENOLOGY. - At the CITY PHRENOLOGICAL GALLERY, 71, Fleet-street, may be seen 200 Portraits and Casts of Eminent Men. Private Examinations. N.B. Heads measured by a new mathematical instrument. The Science taught by Professor Blackburne.>

Jun-25-25  stone free or die: files → fils (bien sûr).

* * * * *

A sample of Blackburne (pere's) work product might be found here:

https://collections.library.yale.ed...

If, like me, you didn't know who <George Gissing> was:

<In the 1890s he was considered one of the three greatest novelists in England, and by the 1940s he had been recognised as a literary genius. >

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg...

I wonder if all the bumps on the head dished out daily on <CG> would affect the results?

(Not in my case, of course, being a far sighted, granite-headed New Englander makes me pretty much immune!)

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