chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

34 BISHOI'S OPENING
BISHOP'S OPENINC, 330. given by LUCEN^.
Uniil lhe niddle olthc l9th centur, mosl authoF
ities held lharafte. 1 e4e5 theo.ly goodsquarefor
whitet light bishop was c4i herej on thc TALTAN
DIAcoNAr.lhc bishop would be poised fo. altack,
eyeing fl. rH -rDoR prelered to play tbe bishop to
c4 at once (2 Bc4) rather than larer (2 NB Nc6 3
Bc4) because he believed that white could rhen
relain more options, itrcltrdi.g that of advanciog
thc f-pawna and his innuence nade th€ Bishop's
Opening popular lor a long time. Followine
improvenenls for Blact inthe
334, (2. . . Bc5 3 c3) and the introdudion oi tle
BERLTN DEENCE, 338, (2 . . . NI6) around 1840, tne
opening fellout ot favour. HSEN played ii a {ew
times io rhe 1960s, usually answering the Berlin
Defe.ce by 3 d3, a long-neglected move recon
mended by Philido.. (See BouRDoNNArsr L.car.r. s
BMM, a problemisfs desoiplion of a nove,
made by Black, that opens a line lor onc black
line-piece andclosesa linecomnanded byanorher
black line piece. The lerm was coineij by A.C.
A problem by the Soviet .omposers Yevgeny
Ivanovich Umnov (1913 ) a.d LosHrNsq thal
wo. rist prize in the Westem Moming Ne$
tourneyj Jan.-Junc 1930, The Iiey is I Nh6
(hreatening 2 QxeT nate) and in rhe 6ain
varialions Black pins White's queenl
1...Bdt 2Rd5
1. .Bhl 2 Nxg4
1 . . Be4 (a bivalve: a 6le is opcncd lor Blact\
quecn. a rank closd lor his rook) 2 N€2.
1 . . . Be2 (a vALvE: a lile is opened and a rank
closed for Black s quccn) 2 Nc4.
BLAC(, rhe da.ker coroured picccs (adi.), orthcn
BLACKBURNE, JOSEPH HENRY 0841 1924),
lor nore than 20 yea6 oneolthe66tsix playcn in
the wodd and tor even longer the leading Englishborn
player. Draughts was the most popularindoor
game in his home lowfl, Manchesteri he learned
thisgameasachildandbecameexpe inhisyouth.
He was about 18 whcn, inspired by MoRrst\
exploils. he lea.ned lhe moves of cncss. In July
1861 he losl all Iive gan€s oI a match against the
Man.hcstcr chess club chanpion Edward Pinda.,
bul he inproved so rapidlythat hc dclealed Pindar
rhree nonths later (+5:2 D, and in 1862 he
becade chanpion ot rhe ciub ahead ol Pindar and
roRwlrz. Instructcd hy HoNilz, Blackbume
became one of the leading ENDCAME plavcre oI his
tihei and wishing ro emulate the leats oI L.
PAULSEN, who lisited the clubinNovember 1861.
hc deve lopcd cxccptio nal s kill atBLrND.oD csEss.
lle spent most of the 1860s developing his chc$
and tolingwnhvanousoeupadons. Alterwinni.g
th. British championsiip. 186!-9. ahead ol DE
vERr. he becam€ a full-lime professional i)laycr.
Bla.kbnrnc achieved ex.ellent resLhs in many
iournaments: Baden'Baden 1870, lhnd equal with
NEUUNN alier ANDETSSEN and sErNrzi London
1872, seco.d (+5-2) alter Sleinitz ahead of
7u$RroRrl Vicnna 1873,second to Stcinitzaicr a
play-offi Pa.is 1878, thnd aier wrNAwLx and
Zukertorti Wiesbided 1880, frrsl equal with
ENGLECH and scnwARzi Berlin 1881- tirst
(+13=2-l). thrce points ahead oI zuk€rtort. rhc
second prize Ninner (Blackburne s greatest
achievemeno i London 1883, third Iter Zukenort
and Sreinitza Hamburg 1885. second equal wirh
Englisch, MAsoN, rARMsco, andw.6s halla poinl
afte.cuNsBERG; Franklurl lS8T,secondequalwiib
Weiss atrer MA.ruNzrEi Manchesler 1890, second
dtrer Tarasch: Bellast 1892, 6rst equl with
Masonr London 1892, second (+6 2) after us
xERr London 1893, 6Br (+2:l) He was in lhe
Bnlish team in 1l of the Aoglo-American cable
mat.hes,meetinsPILSBURYonfi6lboardsixiimes
(+2=3 1), and he continued to play interda
tionally until hc was ?2, lo.g enough to meet the
pioneer of the hrpermodern movement NrMzolmscE,
whonhe del€aled ar sr PeteBburg 1914.
Bla.kbume had renlrkable combinative pov
ers and is rcmembcredlortisswingcingking\side
atlacks, oftcn weu prepared but occasionally
consisting oI an ingenious SWINDLE lhat would
deceive even the greatesr ot hn conEnporaries.
Thc tournancnr book ofVicnna l87l rcfcrstohim
as 'der schwarze Tod [Black death] der schacnspielel,
a nicknane that becane pop ar. llis
unflappable temperamenl also eamed hin tbe
soubriquellhe nanwilh thc iron ncrucsr. Elcn soi
neither histemperament norhis style was suited lo
set mathes, in whicb he was rarely successful
againsl world class playe6. He had other chess
talents: a problem composer, he was also a last
solver, allegedly capable oI outpacing lhe grear
sam LoyD. Blackburne earned his livelihood by
mcans of siDultanoous displays, for this purpose
touring Britain rNice-yea.ly, wiih a fep breaks, for
more than 50 years. Beiore his rine such displays
were solemn affairsi L.jvEmAL, sho vould
appcarin formal dressandplaylorscvcral hou6in
silence, was shocked when Blackburne turncd up
in ordinary clothes, chatdnr and naki.s tokes as