Chess history trivia

[MJMcCready]

You need to go south of the midlands for the answer.

[MJMcCready]

Try the home counties.

[Tim Harding]

In which town/city did Blackburne perform a simul on November 4th 1880?

Luton; it's in my biography of Blackburne. Here is a game from the event which was not in the book.

[Event "Luton blindfold simul"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1880.11.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Blackburne, Joseph Henry"]
[Black "Boutwood, T"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C52"]
[Annotator "Tim Harding"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "1880.11.04"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[SourceTitle "Blackburne-2023"]
[Source "Luton Times and Advertiser, Fri 12 Nov"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.22"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.22"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{On Wednesday he played 14 otb and won
all; on Thursday (4th) he played 10 blindfold, won 9 and drawing with Mr
Boutwood.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7.
O-O Nge7 8. Ng5 O-O $2 {This loses the exchange. Black should play} (8... d5)
9. Qh5 h6 10. Nxf7 Rxf7 11. Bxf7+ Kh7 {Although matters look bad for Black, he
is not entirely without resources since he has an extra pawn White's
development is somewhat backward.} 12. f4 {The blindfold player goes for the
jugular.} Bb6 13. f5 dxc3+ 14. Kh1 Bd4 15. f6 c2 16. fxe7 $6 ({Good enough,
but the blindfold player misses the pretty forcing line} 16. fxg7 Bxg7 17. Bxh6
$1 Bxh6 18. Bg6+ $1 Kg8 19. Qxh6 Nxg6 20. Qxg6+ Kh8 21. Nd2 {with forced mate
in a dozen moves.}) 16... Nxe7 17. e5 Bxa1 18. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 19. Bg6+ Kg8 20.
Bh7+ $2 {Failure of "vision"; Blackburne should have played the calm 20 Bxc2
which forces mate in eight moves.} Kxh7 21. Qf7+ Kh8 22. Qf6+ {and drawn by
perpetual check. A report in the Luton Times on 1 October said the third
season of the Luton CC had just been inaugurated with a dinner. Mr T. Boutwood
was president .} 1/2-1/2

[MJMcCready]

Thank you Tim, correct.

blackl.png (52.15 KiB) Viewed 469 times

[MJMcCready]

The president of which chess association once lived in a country estate at Rempstone Hall?

[John Townsend]

J.N. Derbyshire was President of the Nottinghamshire Chess Association. He was one of the chief organisers of the great Nottingham tournament of 1936.

[MJMcCready]

Yep.

[Mick Norris]

.

[Gerard Killoran]

In which town/city did Blackburne perform a simul on November 4th 1880?

Luton; it's in my biography of Blackburne. Here is a game from the event which was not in the book.
[Event "Luton blindfold simul"] [Site "?"] [Date "1880.11.04"] [Round "?"] [White "Blackburne, Joseph Henry"] [Black "Boutwood, T"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C52"] [Annotator "Tim Harding"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "1880.11.04"] [EventType "simul"] [EventRounds "10"] [SourceTitle "Blackburne-2023"] [Source "Luton Times and Advertiser, Fri 12 Nov"] [SourceDate "2023.06.22"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.06.22"] [SourceQuality "1"] {On Wednesday he played 14 otb and won all; on Thursday (4th) he played 10 blindfold, won 9 and drawing with Mr Boutwood.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O Nge7 8. Ng5 O-O $2 {This loses the exchange. Black should play} (8... d5) 9. Qh5 h6 10. Nxf7 Rxf7 11. Bxf7+ Kh7 {Although matters look bad for Black, he is not entirely without resources since he has an extra pawn White's development is somewhat backward.} 12. f4 {The blindfold player goes for the jugular.} Bb6 13. f5 dxc3+ 14. Kh1 Bd4 15. f6 c2 16. fxe7 $6 ({Good enough, but the blindfold player misses the pretty forcing line} 16. fxg7 Bxg7 17. Bxh6 $1 Bxh6 18. Bg6+ $1 Kg8 19. Qxh6 Nxg6 20. Qxg6+ Kh8 21. Nd2 {with forced mate in a dozen moves.}) 16... Nxe7 17. e5 Bxa1 18. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 19. Bg6+ Kg8 20. Bh7+ $2 {Failure of "vision"; Blackburne should have played the calm 20 Bxc2 which forces mate in eight moves.} Kxh7 21. Qf7+ Kh8 22. Qf6+ {and drawn by perpetual check. A report in the Luton Times on 1 October said the third season of the Luton CC had just been inaugurated with a dinner. Mr T. Boutwood was president .} 1/2-1/2

Thomas Boutwood was - appropiately for the President of Luton Chess Club - a manufacturer of straw hats.

[John Townsend]

For two portraits of J. N. Derbyshire, see Edward Winter's C.N. 6163:

https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/win ... ounter-pin

[Geoff Chandler]

Which future chess world champion gave a simultaneous display onboard a boat named after a previous world chess champion? (I'll give the answer on Saturday 8th.)

[MJMcCready]

Alekhine?

[Geoff Chandler]

Ideally I'd like the name of the player, the name of the boat and the year. It is not Alekhine.

[MJMcCready]

Stumped here.

[Geoff Chandler]

"Which future chess world champion gave a simultaneous display onboard a boat named after a previous world chess champion? "

Answer:
Euwe gave a simultaneous display in September 1922 onboard the pleasure boat 'Dr.Em.Lasker' whilst it was cruising between Amsterdam and Breukelen.
'The Max Euwe Biography' by Alexander Munninghoff (page 39)