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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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© Dr Tim Harding
Last modified:
13 October 2026
There were no problem games in Rounds 4 (9th August) and 5 (played on the 10th) so we have no articles about those rounds.
Thursday 8th was reserved for playing off adjourned games and Sunday 11th was a rest day.
Therefore round 6 was played on the 12th of August.
In this round there were two games with problematic scores. The first case is trivial; the second one is less obvious but we have come to a definite conclusion.
The score of this game in ChessBase’s Mega Database is as follows: 1.d4 d5 2.e3 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bd3 Be7 5.0–0 0–0 6.Ne5 c5 7.c3 Nc6 8.f4 Ne4 9.Nd2 f5 10.Ndf3 c4 11.Bc2 Bd7 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Ne5 Qc7 14.Bxe4 fxe4 15.Bd2 Nd8 16.b3 b5 17.a4 Bd6 18.axb5 Bxe5 19.dxe5 Rb8 20.bxc4 Qxc4 21.Rxa7 Qxb5 22.Bc1 Nc6 23.Ra2 Qc4 24.Qa4 Nxe5 25.Qa6 Rbe8 26.Qxc4 Nxc4 27.Kf2 Ra8 28.Rc2 Rfb8 29.Bd2 Rb3 30.Ke2 Kf7 31.Rfc1 Ke7 32.Be1 Kd6 33.Bh4 Ra7 34.g4 Kc5 35.Be1 Rba3 36.Bh4 Ra1 37.Rxa1 Rxa1 38.Be1 Kb5 39.h4 Ka4 40.Bd2 Kb3 41.Rc1 Rxc1 42.Bxc1 Kc2 43.f5 exf5 44.gxf5 Kxc1 45.h5 h6 0–1. We think that is correct.
The issue here is with Black’s 44th move. Cheshire (pages 95-96) has 44… KxP (i.e., Kxc3, taking a pawn) but Schallopp (pages.127-128) has 44…Kxc1 (capturing a bishop). Both the centenary editions have Kxc1, while Forster's book on Burn gives Kxc1 too although he cites the Cheshire book as source. It seems that he too was following a database and didn't notice the discrepancy.
Conclusion: In this case the internal evidence is clearly in favour of Kxc1: why would Black take a pawn when he could take the more valuable piece? White would not have resigned a move later if his bishop was still on the board. Britbase suggests that “KxP” was simply a misprint for “KxB” and surely that must be right.
The score of this game in ChessBase’s Mega Database is as follows: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Ne5 c5 10.dxc5 Qc7 11.Qe2 Qxc5 12.Bg5 Nd5 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.Rad1 f6 15.Nc4 Nc6 16.a3 f5 17.b4 Qe7 18.b5 Nd8 19.Ne5 Nf7 20.Nxf7 Rxf7 21.Bc4 Rf6 22.Qe5 h5 23.Rfe1 Kh7 24.Rd6 Rg6 25.Bxe6 Qg5 26.Bd5 Rxd6 27.Qxd6 h4 28.f4 Qh5 29.h3 a5 30.a4 Ra7 31.Qf8 b6 32.Qxc8 1–0.
The issue here is with White’s 16th move. The official tournament book edited by Horace Cheshire (pages 94-95) has 16 P to QB3; the centenary edition by Crouch and Haines (page 110) follows with 16 c2-c3. The German tournament book by Schallopp (page 125) has 16 a2-a3 (i.e., P to QR3 in English descriptive) and Pickard copied Schallopp, although he used Bardeleben's notes from Cheshire book. It is not clear where Schallopp found the version with 16 a3.
There is a mea culpa here because unfortunately I was unaware of the problem when writing my book about Blackburne in 2014 (game 783 on page 345). In those days I did not have Thomas Niessen’s software, and in that book I gave 16 a3 without comment. I think that like me, Pickard was following ChessBase and they followed Schallopp.
Going back now to check the English primary sources, it is clear that they all had the c-pawn move, P-QB3, e.g., BCM (September 1895 page 389-390, notes by Blake) and Hoffer’s magazine The Chess Monthly (volume 17, pages 43-44). Moreover, Schlechter in his column for the Vienna Allgemeine Sportzeitung (3rd November 1895, page 1155) had 16 c3.
Conclusion: This is one of the hardest cases because internal evidence of the game doesn't help. Both moves are plausible and strong according to Stockfish17 and the remaining moves make sense in both versions. On mature reflection, I agree with Britbase that 16 c3 should be preferred because all the contemporary English sources gave it and moreover Schlechter’s version agrees. So ChessBase need to fix their version here.
Additionally, John Townsend has posted the following on the English Chess Forum:
16.c3 denies the d4 square to the black knight, from where it would be attacking the white queen, a threat which might otherwise remain latent for several moves, even if it is not good immediately. Wouldn't that consideration weigh upon the human mind, even if Stockfish17 doesn't care? It simply doesn't look natural to play 16.a3 here.
This series continues with Round 7 and then Round 8.