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28-477: Kentucky Opening may refer to: Jerome Gambit , an unsound chess opening which is an off shoot of the Giuoco Piano. Danvers Opening , an unorthodox chess opening. Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Kentucky Opening . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

56-544: A mating attack . The line was a brief fad in the late 19th century, but it is almost never seen today. The opening is named after Alonzo Wheeler Jerome (1834–1902) of Paxton, Illinois , who had a game with this opening against the problemist William Shinkman published in the Dubuque Chess Journal in 1876. Blackburne wrote of it, "I used to call this the Kentucky opening. For a while after its introduction, it

84-510: A shilling for a simultaneous game or a half-crown to play him blindfold. In the simultaneous games he won 29, drew two and lost only one; in the blindfold he won seven and drew one with no losses. In addition he played (mostly on top board) for the British team in 11 of the Anglo-American cable matches which commenced in 1896 and in the first six matches he recorded a score of 3½–2½ against

112-520: A match with Manchester's strongest player, Eduard Pindar (and champion of the Provinces), but in August/September, Blackburne defeated Pindar (five wins, two draws , one loss). By the next year, Blackburne became champion of the city club, ahead of Bernhard Horwitz (who taught him endgame theory). Blackburne's introduction to blindfold chess was a little later. In November 1861, Louis Paulsen gave

140-548: A simultaneous blindfold exhibition in Manchester, beating Blackburne among others; Blackburne was soon thereafter playing chess blindfolded with three players simultaneously. Less than three years after learning the moves to chess, Blackburne entered the 1862 London International Tournament (the world's first chess round-robin or all-play-all tournament) and defeated Wilhelm Steinitz in their individual game, although Blackburne finished in 9th place. Up to that point, timekeeping

168-583: A very risky attack. It is described in the American Supplement to Cook's Synopsis as unsound but not to be trifled with. The first player sacrifices two pieces for two pawns , with the chances arising from the adversary's king being displaced, and drawn into the centre of the board. Similarly, du Mont wrote that it "is unsound, but has the saving grace of leading to a lively game and is therefore suitable for an occasional friendly game. The defender cannot afford to be careless." White may regain one of

196-490: The shilling wagered on the game. The opening is mentioned by Steinitz in his book The Modern Chess Instructor (1889). In 1899 he published Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess , edited by P. Anderson Graham. Blackburne wrote two articles on chess for The Strand Magazine, in December 1906 and December 1907, and annotated numerous games for chess magazines, but he was never a chess correspondent for any publication. In 1914, at

224-574: The 1887 match was Gunsberg's strongest performance, and Gunsberg only narrowly lost a world title match against Steinitz in 1890 (+6−4=9). The 1876 match against Steinitz was held at the West-end Chess Club in London. The stakes were £60 a side with the winner taking all. This was a considerable sum of money in Victorian times – £60 in 1876 would be roughly equivalent to £29,000 in 2006's money. This

252-767: The King is a strong piece") 7.Qf5+ Kd6 8.d4 (or 8.f4 Qf6 9.fxe5+ Qxe5) Bxd4 9.Na3 c6 10.c3 Qf6 11.cxd4 Qxf5 12.exf5 Nf7 13.Bf4+ Ke7, again with a large advantage. Lines to avoid for Black after 6.Qh5+ are 6...Kf6?? 7.Qf5+ Ke7 8.Qxe5+ Kf7 9.Qxc5 and 6...Ke7?? 7.Qxe5+ followed by Qxc5, both regaining both pieces and winning two pawns. N.N. versus Blackburne , London 1884: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Bxf7+ ? Kxf7 5. Nxe5+ Nxe5 6. Qh5+ g6 7. Qxe5 d6 ?? 8. Qxh8 Qh4 9. 0-0 Nf6 10. c3?? 10... Ng4 11. h3 Bxf2+ 12. Kh1 (see diagram) Bf5 ! 13. Qxa8 Qxh3+! 14. gxh3 Bxe4# 0–1 Joseph Henry Blackburne Joseph Henry Blackburne (10 December 1841 – 1 September 1924)

280-418: The age of 72, Blackburne won a Special Brilliancy Prize for his win over Aron Nimzowitsch at the great St. Petersburg 1914 tournament, but failed to qualify for the final stage. That same year he tied for first place in the British championship with Frederick Yates , but ill health prevented him from contesting the play-off for the title. This was Blackburne's last major tournament. However, in 1921 Blackburne

308-821: The commentators nicknamed Blackburne "the Black Death " (Steinitz won the play-off); 1st in London 1876 with a score of 10/11, ahead of Zukertort; and 1st in Berlin 1881, 3 points ahead of Zukertort. He also achieved 2nd place in: a strong mini-tournament in London 1872 (behind Steinitz but ahead of Zukertort), George Alcock MacDonnell and De Vere; shared 2nd place at Hamburg 1885 (with Siegbert Tarrasch , James Mason , Berthold Englisch and Max Weiss ; behind Isidor Gunsberg ; ahead of George Henry Mackenzie and five others); shared 2nd place at Frankfurt 1887 (with Weiss; behind Mackenzie; ahead of Curt von Bardeleben , Tarrasch and several others). His worst result from this 20-year period

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336-539: The country. Blackburne also published a collection of his own games. Joseph Henry Blackburne was born in Manchester in December 1841. He learned how to play draughts as a child, but when he was aged 17 or 18, he heard about Paul Morphy 's exploits around Europe, and he switched to playing chess: I learnt the game in, say, 1859. Blackburne joined the Manchester Chess Club in 1861. In July 1861 he lost 5–0 in

364-496: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kentucky_Opening&oldid=1153823538 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Jerome Gambit White sacrifices two pieces (and eventually regains one) for two pawns in hopes of exposing Black's king and obtaining

392-476: The middle of a 24-game winning streak. Emanuel Lasker beat Blackburne in 1892, but Lasker also beat Steinitz very decisively in their 1894 championship match . Blackburne was also comfortably beaten in 1881 by Zukertort (+2−7=5), who was in great form at the time; and Zukertort's health and play were declining rapidly when Blackburne beat him in 1887 (+5−1=7). On the other hand, against Gunsberg, Blackburne won his 1881 match (+7−4=3) and lost his 1887 match (+2−5=6);

420-471: The other top players of the new generation; and in both of these he finished ahead of several of the new stars and ahead of the few competing players of his own generation. Chessmetrics concludes that Blackburne's best performances, taking account of the strength of his opponents, were his second places at Frankfurt 1887 (behind Mackenzie) and London 1892 (behind Emanuel Lasker). At London 1892 he finished only ½ point behind Emanuel Lasker and 2 points ahead of

448-574: The plague of the same name) after his performance in the 1873 Vienna tournament. According to Chessmetrics , he was ranked second in the world at various times between 1873 and 1889. He was especially strong at endgames and had a great combinative ability which enabled him to win many brilliancy prizes. He was also widely known for his popular simultaneous and blindfold displays. Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess , which he published in 1899, has been recently reprinted by Moravian Chess. It contains over 400 of his games, around 20 problems composed by him, and

476-437: The third-placed player, Mason. Emanuel Lasker thought that Blackburne had more talent than Steinitz, but lacked the willpower and capacity for hard work needed for becoming world champion. Blackburne's match results are weaker. He was twice soundly beat by Steinitz, in 1862/3 (+1−7=2) and 1876 (+0−7=0); but in 1862 Blackburne had been playing chess for barely 3 years, and in 1876 Steinitz was playing at his life-time best and in

504-554: The top 20 until 1902, when he was 61 years old. His best results were in international tournaments. Although tournaments were much less frequent then than they are now, Blackburne played in nearly one strong tournament per year from 1870 to 1899; in particular he competed regularly in the German Chess Championship , which was an open tournament. In the 1870s and 1880s he was almost always a high prize-winner. His best results were 1st equal with Steinitz at Vienna 1873 , where

532-608: The top American, Harry Pillsbury . It is estimated that Blackburne played 100,000 games in his career, more than any other professional chess-player. However, he still had time to marry three times and with his second wife, Beatrice Lapham, he had a son, Julius, and with his third wife Mary Goodway (née Fox) another son, Frederick. The dubious chess opening the Blackburne Shilling Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 ?! ) has been named for Blackburne because he purportedly used it to win quickly against amateurs, thus winning

560-430: The two sacrificed pieces with 6.d4, but Black retains a decisive material advantage with 6...Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6. More commonly, White plays 6.Qh5+. In that event, Freeborough and Ranken analyzed two lines. One is 6...Kf8 7.Qxe5 Qe7 8.Qf5+ Ke8 9.Nc3 d6 10.Qf3 Qf7 11.Qe2 Nh6 12.0-0 c6, with large advantage to Black. Freeborough and Ranken also analyze the bold 6.Qh5+ Ke6 !? ("follow[ing] out Mr. Steinitz's theory that

588-477: Was 6th place in the very strong Vienna 1882 chess tournament , the one occasion on which all his major rivals placed ahead of him. In the mid to late 1890s Blackburne's was less successful in tournaments, but by this time he was competing against the next generation of players, Emanuel Lasker and Lasker's major rivals. Blackburne's worst results were 10th place at Hastings 1895 and 11th at Nuremberg 1896; but both of these tournaments included Lasker and most of

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616-508: Was a British chess player. Nicknamed "The Black Death", he dominated the British scene during the latter part of the 19th century. Blackburne learned the game at the relatively late age of 17 or 18, but he quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years. At one point he was one of the world's leading players, with a string of tournament victories behind him, and popularised chess by giving simultaneous and blindfold displays around

644-528: Was fined five pounds for assaulting a fellow passenger on the ship. The Teesside Chess Association (formed in 1883; now called the Cleveland Chess Association) invited world-class players to give exhibitions, in order to raise money for the Association. Blackburne's fee for two simultaneous displays and a blindfold event in 1889 was 9 guineas (about £4,600 at 2006 values ). Players paid the club

672-422: Was greatly favoured by certain players, but they soon grew tired of it." Blackburne's name for the opening may have arisen from confusion with 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 , which was also published in the Dubuque Chess Journal and dubbed the "Kentucky Opening" there. In the third edition of the opening treatise Chess Openings, Ancient and Modern (1896), the authors wrote: The Jerome Gambit is an American invention, and

700-463: Was in a strong tournament at Baden-Baden in 1870 , where he shared 3rd place with Gustav Neumann , behind Adolf Anderssen and Wilhelm Steinitz but ahead of Paulsen, De Vere, Simon Winawer , Samuel Rosenthal and Johannes von Minckwitz . Blackburne was regularly one of the world's top five players from 1871 to 1889, although Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker and, during his brief prime, Johannes Zukertort were clearly better players; and he remained in

728-424: Was measured with hourglasses , and it was Blackburne who suggested chess clocks . This trip cost Blackburne his job back in Manchester (accounts vary about what it was), and he became a professional chess player. In the 1868–'69 season he won the British championship by beating the current holder, Cecil Valentine De Vere , and he was therefore regarded as England's best player. His first major international success

756-534: Was still giving simultaneous exhibitions. In 1922 his wife died. Blackburne died of a heart attack on 1 September 1924 at the age of 82. He is buried in the Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries in Lewisham. Blackburne is an icon of Romantic chess because of his wide-open and highly tactical style of play. His large black beard and aggressive style earned him the nickname of "der Schwarze Tod" ("the Black Death ", based on

784-598: Was the first time that spectators were charged an entrance fee (half a guinea, = 52.5p in decimal terms) to see a chess match. After losing his job and discovering that he had a special aptitude for blindfold chess , Blackburne began giving blindfold and simultaneous exhibitions all over Britain, and for most of his career made most of his income from these exhibitions, including blindfold displays against up to twelve opponents simultaneously. He even travelled to Australia in 1885 to give exhibitions; on his arrival in Melbourne he

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