1858 - The Great Run Around
olivermellors
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Four months ago we began a chess tournament. A few days later we had determined who would face off in the finals: Rylde and TomislavRexCroatorum.
Things have languished. There is a hint that the games will be played imminently.
In the prevailing spirit, I offer the final position in an old and famous game which has an interesting background. Paul Morphy was a young American chess prodigy, relatively unknown and untested in the eminent European chess community. In 1858, having completed his legal studies and awaiting adulthood to be qualified for practice, he made a name in the U.S. chess world and set off for Europe to play strong competitors, particularly Edward Staunton. Mr. Staunton was an old war horse trading on previous success, self-promoting and jealous of reputation. Offering faint praise and public challenge, he spent months avoiding a game with Morphy excepting only a pair of contests played in consultation. The humiliation suffered in those two games would have cultivated in Staunton a degree of surprised respect, perhaps awe, for the New World upstart. Here is a link to one of those games and the promised final position:
Click here to go to the game.
Comments
Arrrgghhhhh!!! Someone stole the graphic.... was it Rylde? Oinyo? Xander? Leo? ..... international scandal, treason, (insert overblown descriptive noun).... please message every country president.
I'll see what I can do to resolve the tourney.
cool, ... I know that differing time zones present a problem... good luck to both.
One of the first things I learned about chess is that you don't 'jump' pieces as in checkers. After mastering that concept I lost interest.
apparently you missed the lesson about the Knight. 🙂..
You mean the horse? lol
Interesting lead-up for that Morphy-Staunton match.
You know what would also be interesting?
An article that later publishes the results of the Rylde-Tomislav match…possibly complemented by a brief review of who played who throughout the tournament. Inquiring mind(s?) want to know.