Blackburne, J.H. – Gunsberg, I.A. 1881




Results
 
Name   Edo    Dev.   Score  /  Games 
Blackburne, Joseph    2609 (33) 8.5/14 
Gunsberg, Isidor    2475 (43) 5.5/14 
 
Status: formal

Event table notes

Event data
Place: London, England
Start date: 17 Mar. 1881
End date: 11 Apr. 1881
 
Notes:
Golombek gives +7-4=3 for Blackburne on p.31 but +7-4=2 for Blackburne on p.134; Feesntra Kuiper, Sunnucks, Di Felice and Sarah's Blackburne web pages give +7-4=3 for Blackburne, and La Grande Storia degli Scacchi gives 8.5-5.5 for Blackburne, which agrees. Kingston and Russell give +7-6=3 for Blackburne, including the 2 game advantage Blackburne had given to Gunsberg, so the result of games actually played is still +7-4=3. Sergeant gives 7-4 without the 2 game advantage, and doesn't mention the draws. The fact that Blackburne gave odds of 2 games is explained in the Chess Player's Chronicle. The Chess Player's Chronicle of 15 Mar. 1881 says the match is to begin 'on Thursday next', so presumably 17 Mar. 1881. Sergeant says it started 19 Mar. 1881, but Harding confirms that it was 17 Mar. 1881. The final result is given in the 12 Apr. 1881 issue of the Chess Player's Chronicle. Sergeant gives the end date of the match as 7 Apr. 1881, but Harding gives all 14 games with dates, the final game being played on 11 Apr. 1881.
 
References
Books
   Barcza, Magyar Sakktörténet, Vol.1, page 217
   Di Felice, Chess Results, 1747-1900, page 82
   Elo, Rating of Chessplayers, page 90
   Feenstra Kuiper, 100 Jahre Schachzweikämpfe, page 21
   Golombek, Golombek's Encyclopedia, page 31, 134
   Harding, Eminent Victorian Chess Players, page 225, 287
   Harding, Joseph Henry Blackburne, page 157, 509
   Sergeant, Century of British Chess, page 179
   Sunnucks, Encyclopaedia of Chess, page 189
Periodicals
   [BCM], vol. 11, no. 8, Aug. 1891, page 392
   [CPC], vol. 5, no. 59, 15 Mar. 1881, page 127
   [CPC], vol. 5, no. 63, 12 Apr. 1881, page 177
Web
   Kingston, Taylor and Russell, Hanon.  [Jouni Tolonen Wins Record Holiday Quiz]
   Sarah.  [der Schwarze Tod]
   Sarah.  [Isidor Gunsberg]
   Sarah.  [Joseph Henry Blackburne]
   Sericano, C.  [I matches 1880/99]
   Winter, Edward.  [CN 5136. An interview with Gunsberg]

Match information updated: 6 May 2022