X-Nico

17 unusual facts about Joseph Henry Blackburne


Alexander Wittek

He tied for 5-6th at Berlin 1881 (2nd DSB–Congress, Joseph Henry Blackburne won), and was in 9th place at Vienna 1882 (Wilhelm Steinitz and Simon Winawer won).

Benoni Defense

The Old Benoni is sometimes called the Blackburne Defense, after Englishman Joseph Henry Blackburne, the first player known to have used it successfully.

Carl Wemmers

He shared 2nd at Cologne 1877 (Johannes Zukertort won), took 8th at Frankfurt 1878 (Louis Paulsen won), took 12th at Leipzig 1879 (the 1st DSB Congress, Berthold Englisch won), tied for 3rd-5th at Braunschweig 1880 (L. Paulsen won), took 12th at Wiesbaden 1880, and tied for 13-14th in the Berlin 1881 chess tournament (the 2nd DSB Congress, Joseph Henry Blackburne won).

Danish Gambit

The Danish Gambit was popular with masters of the attack including Alekhine, Marshall, Blackburne, and Mieses, but as more defensive lines for Black were discovered and improved, it lost favor in the 1920s.

Dawid Janowski

Janowski was devastating against the older masters such as Wilhelm Steinitz (+5−2), Mikhail Chigorin (+17−4=4) and Joseph Henry Blackburne (+6−2=2).

Displacement chess

This variant is sometimes called Mongredien chess, after Augustus Mongredien the sponsor of a tournament held in London during 1868 under the auspices of the British Chess Association, in which several strong British chess players took part, including Blackburne.

Dunst Opening

National Master Hugh Myers called it "Millard's Opening" after Henry Millard (1824–91), a blind correspondence chess player who drew with the opening in a simultaneous exhibition against Joseph Henry Blackburne.

Fritz Riemann

In 1881, he tied for 13-14th in Berlin (2nd DSB–Congress, Joseph Henry Blackburne won).

Géza Maróczy

But Maróczy's defensive style was often more than sufficient to beat the leading attacking players of his day such as Joseph Henry Blackburne (+5−0=3), Mikhail Chigorin (+6−4=7), Frank Marshall (+11−6=8), David Janowski (+10−5=5), Efim Bogoljubov (+7−4=4) and Frederick Yates (+8−0=1).

Italian Game, Blackburne Shilling Gambit

This trap is what gives the line its name; the great English master Joseph Henry Blackburne reputedly used it to win shillings from amateurs.

Légal Trap

Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841–1924), a British master and one of the world's top five players in the latter part of the 19th century, set the trap on many occasions.

Macclesfield Chess Club

Dr Beach was a very strong amateur player who enjoyed a friendship with one of the top English tournament players of the day, Joseph Blackburne.

Paris 1878 chess tournament

Winners of the prizes were: Zukertort (1000 Frans + two Sèvres vases), Winawer (500 F + one vase), Joseph Henry Blackburne (1500 F), Mackenzie (1000 F), Bird (500 F), and the ill Adolf Anderssen (200 F).

Scandinavian Defense

Although the Center Counter Defense has never enjoyed widespread popularity among top-flight chess players, Joseph Henry Blackburne and Jacques Mieses often played it, and greatly developed its theory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Siegbert Tarrasch

He finished fourth in the very strong St. Petersburg 1914 chess tournament, behind only World Champion Lasker and future World Champions José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine, and ahead of Marshall, Ossip Bernstein, Rubinstein, Nimzowitsch, Blackburne, Janowski, and Gunsberg.

Szymon Winawer

At Paris 1878 Winawer tied for first place (+14−3=5) with Johannes Zukertort, ahead of Joseph Henry Blackburne and George Henry Mackenzie, but took second prize after the play-off.

Wilfried Paulsen

He shared 11th at Leipzig 1877 (3rd Central German Congress, Kongresse des Mitteldeutschen Schachbundes (MDSB), L. Paulsen won); tied for 5-6th at Frankfurt 1878 (12th WDSB–Congress, L. Paulsen won); took 10th at Leipzig 1879 (1st German DSB Congress, Kongresse des Deutschen Schachbundes (DSB), Berthold Englisch won); took 6th at Braunschweig 1880 (13th WDSB–Congress, L. Paulsen won); took 11th at Wiesbaden 1880 (Joseph Henry Blackburne, Englisch and Adolf Schwarz won).