Yorkshire Chess History

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1885: Zukertort in Sheffield

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On 12/02/1885, Johannes Hermann Zukertort visited Sheffield at the invitation of the Sheffield Athenaeum Chess Club. The main attraction was perhaps the 22-board simultaneous display. The report in Sheffield & Rotherham Independent of 21/02/1885 didn’t mention the date of the event, but the Sheffield Daily Telegraph of 13/02/1885 gave the date. The venue was the dining hall Sheffield Athenaeum Club, 23 George Street, Sheffield. The group of Athenaeum players opposing by the Polish master lacked a few of the club’s stronger players, yet it was felt the club played better than it had against Blackburne. Both newspaper reports said Zukertort won 15 games, drew 3, and lost 4. Those of his opponents who were listed by the with those opponents’ results, were as follows:

Opponent as Reported	Opponent’s Result	Fuller Name of Opponent
J. H. Hunter	win	John Henry Hunter
F. E. Foster	win	Frederick Edward Foster
T. Marshall*	win	Thomas Marshall
W. H. Camm	win	William Henry Camm
H. A. Rossell	draw	Henry Augustus Rossell
C. J. Leffler	draw	Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler
H. Mercer	draw	Henry Mercer
Barraclough	loss	Edwin Barraclough

* named more specifically as Thomas Marshall by the Telegraph

The Telegraph listed Mercer, Barraclough, Rossell and Leffler as drawing, making one more than the stated three.

On 13/02/1885, Zukertort gave a blindfold simultaneous display against 12 opponents, winning 9, losing 1 and leaving unfinished 2 games which were both reportedly in his favour:

Opponent as Reported	Opponent’s Result	Fuller Name of Opponent
W H Camm	win	William Henry Camm
J H Hunter (president)	loss	John Henry Hunter
Mr Chapman	loss	Thomas Coulson Chapman
Mr Leffler	loss	Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler
Mr Askham	loss	John Askham
Mr. Marshall	loss	Thomas Marshall
H A Rossell	loss	Henry Augustus Rossell
A Davy	loss	Arthur (Sheffield) Davy
Marriott Oakes	loss	Marriott Oakes
Mr Stacey	loss	William Holland Stacey
Mr Mercer	unfinished	Henry Mercer
F E Foster	unfinished	Frederick Edward Foster

Zukertort’s loss, to William Henry Camm, went as follows:

Zukertort Blindfold Simul, Sheffield, 13/02/1885

White: Zukertort, Johannes Hermann (Poland), Black: Camm, William Henry (Sheffield Athenaeum)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qf6 5. Nb3 d6 6. Nc3 Qd8 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Be2 Be7 9. f3 O-O 10. Qd2 Be6 11. g4 d5 12. g5 d4 13. gxf6 dxe3 14. Qxd8 Bxd8 15. fxg7 Bh4+ 16. Kf1?? Bh3+ and White resigned (denying Black the pleasure of 17. Kg1 Bf7mate), 0-1

Created

20/05/2014

Stephen John Mann

Last Updated

22/01/2015