Chess History and ReminiscencesBird, H. E. (Henry Edward)
History
Chess History and Reminiscences
Bird, H. E. (Henry Edward)
Chess
About the year 1840 the Garrick Chess Divan was opened by Mr.
Huttman at No. 4 Little Russell St., Covent Garden. One of the
attractions of this little saloon was the publication every week
of a leaf containing a good chess problem, below it all the
gossip of the chess world in small type. The leaf was at first
sold for sixpence, including two of the finest Havannah Cigars,
or a fine Havannah and a delicious cup of coffee, but was
afterwards reduced to a penny without the cigars. The problem
leaf succeeding well, a leaf containing games was next produced,
and finally the two were merged in a publication of four pages
entitled the Palamede.
The Gentleman's Magazine 1824, 1828, British Miscellany 1839,
Bath and Cheltenham Gazette 1840, and Saturday Magazine 1840,
1845, had contained contributions in chess, but of regular columns
there were only the three before mentioned, now there are about
one hundred and fifty, mostly of larger dimensions.
Mr. George Walker's 1000 games published in 1844, gives no
game of earlier date than 1780, viz., one of Philidor's of whose
skill he gives 62 specimens, and there are 57 games by
correspondence played between 1824 and 1844.
The list of chess works of consideration up to Philidor's time,
number about thirty, but there were several editions of Jacobus
de Cessolus (1275 to 1290) including translations by J. Ferron
and Jean De Vigny, from which last named Caxton's book of 1474
was derived.
Lucena, Vicenz, Damiano, and Jacob Mennell appeared before
1520, Ruy Lopez in 1561, Polerio, Gianuzio, Greco, Salvio,
Carrera, Gustavus Selenus and the translation of Greco, followed
in the interval from 1561 to 1656.
I. Bertin 1735 and the six Italian works of the last century,
were the principal which followed with Philidor's manifold
editions, up to Sarratt the earliest of the nineteenth
century writers.
Dr. A. Van der Linde, Berlin 1874, 1118 pages, 4098 names in
Index, and 540 diagrams includes notice of Cotton's complete
gamester 1664, and Seymour's complete gamester 1720, with
editions of Hoyle's games from 1740 to 1871, in fact about
one-fourth of Linde's book is devoted to the specification of
books and magazines, mostly of the nineteenth century, even down
to the A.B.C. of Chess, by a lady.
Poems have been written on chess, of which the most esteemed
have been Aben Ezra 1175, (translated by Dr. Hyde) Conrad Von
Ammenhusen and Lydgate's "Love Battle" in the fourteenth century
Vida, Bishop of Alba 1525, Sir William Jones 1761, and Frithiofs
Saga by Esaias Tegner 1825.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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