
John Burt vs Joseph Henry Blackburne
Simul (1869), Bristol ENG



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Given 31 times; par: 27 [what's this?]

Annotations by Joseph Henry Blackburne.      [148 more games annotated by Blackburne]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Mar-18-05  TheParadigm: Shouldn't the score read Qe1#?
Premium Chessgames Member
  InspiredByMorphy: 9. ...Bd4+ is such a slap in the face. I like how he announces mate in 9 .
Jun-06-05  woodenbishop: 'The Black Death' makes it look all so easy.
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: The mate announcement was longer than the rest of the game!!
Sep-12-05  bomb the bishop: Quick series of possibly ignorant questions. Is it common practice to announce mate in a certain amount of moves? Is that over the top cockiness, what happens if you're wrong? And who do they announce to? And why keep playing if your foe announces mate in X moves?
Sep-12-05  paladin at large: You have raised good questions. Blackburne was known for his cockiness and lived for demonstrations of this kind. I do not know whether his flashiness was typical in his day, nor do I know what the practise among today's masters is.

In the following game, in which Capablanca sliced up Alekhine, Capa annotated at move 42: "We have been criticized for not announcing mate in four moves when we could have done so. The reason is very simple - we never announce mate, even if it is mate in one move. In our opinion announcing mate is in poor taste and evinces a certain exhibitionism which is foreign to our character. Besides, announcing mate would in no way have prevented our opponent from continuing playing, which he should have been entitled to do."

Capablanca vs Alekhine, 1927

Sep-12-05  psmith: If 11. Kh1 Qh4 and mates shortly. (12. Rxg2 Qe1+)
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Thanks for your interesting post, <paladin>. Announcing mates seems to have been fairly common in the 19th century and quite rare in the 20th. But in this game Alekhine announced a mate in 7!

Alekhine vs K Junge, 1942

Sep-12-05  bomb the bishop: Thanks <paladin> & <keypusher>. It's a curious practice. I guess it depends on your "character".
Premium Chessgames Member
  kevin86: As for announcements of mate:I remember Blackburne announcing mate in seventeen in a BLINDFOLD game-and a former Woman's Champion announcing mate in 23.

As far as problems,i saw a mate in 32 and in a fairy chess problem (with special rules) a mate in 512!

Sep-29-06  gauer: nice mating combo!
Sep-30-06  Starf1re: a "mate in 32"? let me guess.... the white king starts at a1 and gets chased to h1...from there to h8....onwards to a8... and from there gets mated at a1!
Oct-11-07  ILoveCrazyhouse: I bet that in a GM vs computer match, if the computer announces mate in 28, the player will resign.
Oct-11-07  ILoveCrazyhouse: one day the computer will announce mate in 429, they will resign then too.
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: null??????????????
May-24-10  CapablancaFan122: Funny Blackburne would announce mate in 9. How did he know that his opponent would play 15.Qxd6? That's such a redundant move!
Jul-30-12  LoveThatJoker: Guess-the-Move Final Score:

B Burt vs Blackburne, 1869.
Your score: 32 (par = 25)


Aug-26-12  master of defence: What after 10.cxd4?
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <master of defence> After <10.cxd4>:

click for larger view

Black has a forced mate: <10...Rxg2+ 11.Kh1 Rxh2+ 12.Kxh2 (12.Kg1 Qg5+ 13.Kxh2 Qg2#) Qh4+ 13.Kg1 Qg3+ 14.Kh1 Qg2#.

In this 11...Qh4 might be good enough as well, but White gets a few checks and there's no need to bother with such distractions.

Nov-03-12  The Last Straw: <Phony Benoni>10...♖xg2+ 11.♔h1 ♕h4 followed by 12...♕xh2# should also work.
Premium Chessgames Member
  wwall: Why is this B. Burt? This was John Norman Burt of Bristol according to several sources (including Gaige). Also, it is not a forced mate in 9 moves. White could have played 14.cxd4 instead of 14.Qb4+ and no forced mate in 6 more moves (mate in 20 more moves instead). White has a forced mate in 5 moves if he had played 13...Qg5 instead. For example, 13...Qg5 14.Qb4+ c5 15.Qxc5+ Bxc5 16.d4 Qg2+ 17.Ke1 Qe2#. Also, Blackburne could have played 11...Rg1+ and force a mate in 7 moves after 12.Kxg1 Qg5+ 13.Kf1 Bxf2 and mate in 4 moves.
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jean Defuse: ...

<wwall: ...This was John Norman Burt of Bristol according to several sources (including Gaige).>

That is right!



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