Late Knight by Richard Forster A Mysterious Match: Burn Owen, Liverpool 1874-75 Chess history contains many unsolved mysteries. One such case is the match played in 1874- 1875 between the two strong Liverpool masters Amos Burn and John Owen. Amos Burn (1848-1925) had yet to begin his fine international career which around 1889 made him one of the strongest active chess masters in the World. Unfortunately Burn was never a full professional, and after 1889 he did not play in another tournament until 1895. His come-back at the famous Hastings 1895 congress was more than modest, and although he won a glorious first prize at Cologne 1898 (at the age of nearly fifty!), he never returned to the absolute top. Rev. John Owen (1827-1901), who had moved to Hooton Vicarage near Liverpool in 1862, was a lifelong friend and opponent of Burn's in the Liverpool Chess Club. Although he did not reach the same heights as Burn, Owen was one of the most respected English players and up until his death competed successfully in regional contests. His chief claim for fame, apart from devising and stubbornly employing the defence 1...b6, lay in the fact that he was not only one of Paul Morphy's many victims in the late Fifties but also one of the few who managed to beat the American chess genius in a regular game. Paul Morphy-John Owen London 1858 Owen Defence [B00] 1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 4.Nh3 c5 5.c3 cxd4 6.cxd4 Nc6 7.Be3 Nb4 8.Nc3 Nxd3+ 9.Qxd3 Bb4 10.0 0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nf6 12.e5 Nd5 13.c4 Ba6 14.Bd2 Rc8 15.Rac1 0-0 16.Qb3 Ne7- 17.Bb4 Re8 18.Rfd1 Nf5 19.g4 Nh4 20.f4 f6 21.Be1 fxe5 22.dxe5 Qe7 23.Ng5 h6 24.Ne4 Bb7 25.Qd3 Rf8 26.Bxh4 Qxh4 27.Nf6+ Rxf6 28.exf6 Qxg4+ 29.Qg3 Qxg3+ 30.hxg3 Bc6 31.fxg7 Kxg7 32.Kf2 Kf6 33.g4 (See Diagram) 33 ... h5 34.g5+ Kf5 35.Ke3 h4 36.Rd2 h3 37.Rh2 Bg2 38.Rc2 d5 39.g6 dxc4 40.g7 Rg8 41.Rhxg2 hxg2 42.Rxg2 Kf6 43.Rc2 Rxg7 44.Rxc4 Rg3+ 45.Ke4 Ra3 46.Rc2 Ra4+ 0:1 After this upset, a match between Morphy and Owen was arranged, with the American master - despite his defeat above - offering the odds of pawn and move to his opponent. Owen accepted and lost 0:5 (=2) Back to 1874. Owen and Burn had been regular opponents at the Liverpool Chess Club, but also at their private homes. In September 1874 they agreed to play apart from the usual offhand encounters a serious "match". The Burn v Owen match is still a bit of a mystery today. Several sources, among them Coles' Amos Burn, The Quiet Chessmaster (1983), mention two matches, but in fact there was only one serious match, lasting from September 1874 until December 1875 with several very long breaks (which may have caused the confusion). Since Owen and Burn also played numerous offhand games and informal matches with each other, it is difficult to establish the true nature of their various encounters. In Burn's obituary in the British Chess Magazine, J.H. Blake wrote: "A match is known to have been played in 1875 with the Rev. John Owen, the leading player of the Liverpool Club until Burn's rise; this Burn won by 11 to 6. Mr. Owen, however, told the present writer (about 1895) that he had contested several matches with Burn, who had not always been the winner; no record remains of these encounters; but as neither player had any love for the practice of recording the moves of a game during its progress its absence is not surprising." Contemporary sources also had hardly any information on the match. Burn's own column in the Liverpool Weekly Albion does not even have a single word about it! However, the City of London Chess Magazine, to which Burn became a regular contributor in 1875, and the Huddersfield College Magazine (the forerunner of the British Chess Magazine) both gave the score of the match at regular intervals. From these and other sources the following course of events can be re-constructed: Stage I September 1874: Burn Owen 2 : 1 (=1) 2 : 1 (=1) Stage II October 1874: 4 : 3 (=1)6 : 4 (=2) Stage III November 1874: 2 : 0 (=1)8 : 4 (=3) Stage IV January / February 1875: 2 : 0 10 : 4 (=3) Stage V November 1875: 0 : 1 10 : 5 (=3) Stage VI December 1875: 1 : 1 11 : 6 (=3) By winning the match Burn also obtained the Provincial Challenge Cup, which had been previously held by Owen. It is worth bringing together all the games between Burn and Owen, formal and informal, which have been found in publications of that period. No definite judgement can be made about which did and which did not belong to the match. Burn's introduction to the first game reads "The following interesting game was played recently". It is thus doubtful if it was played in the match. Amos Burn-John Owen Liverpool, September 1874 Owen's Defence [B00] 1 e4 b6 2 d4 Bb7 3 f3 e6 4 Bd3 c5 5 c3 Nc6 6 Ne2 cxd4 7 cxd4 Bb4+ 8 Nbc3 Nge7 9 0-0 0-0 10 Bf4 Ng6 11 Bg3 e5!? 12 dxe5 Ncxe5 13 Kh1 Nxd3 14 Qxd3 a5 15 Rad1 Bc6 16 Nd5 Bc5 17 Nec3 h5!? Owen's treatment of the game is in many ways very modern. His contemporaries often laughed at his favourite queenside fianchetto, but in fact he must be admired for his excellent handling of this sort of semi-open position, which he understood far better than his critics. 18 Bc7 Qg5 19 Nxb6 Ra7 20 Nbd5 Rb7 21 Qd2 Qxd2 22 Rxd2 a4! 23 Bg3 f5 24 exf5 Rxf5 25 Rfd1 Ne7 26 Nxe7+ Bxe7 27 Re2 Kf7 28 Be5 Bb4 29 Nd5? A mistake. Better was 29 a3. 29 ... Bxd5 30 Rxd5 d6 31 a3 The only move to avoid the loss of the bishop, but it does not avert all trouble. Black could have won now with a beautiful geometrical move. Can you spot it? (See Diagram) 31 ... Bxa3? Missing 31 ... Bc3!, which wins at least an exchange. 32 Rd1 Rxe5 33 Rxe5 dxe5 34 bxa3 Rb3 35 Ra1? Endgame technique has advanced a great deal since those days, and today every player with some experience would choose to part with the pawn immediately and play the rook behind the enemy's a-pawn. After 35 Kg1 Rxa3 36 Rd7+ Kf6 37 Ra7 White has very good drawing prospects, whereas after the game continuation he is soon lost. 35 ... Ke6 36 Kg1 Kd5 37 Ra2 Kd4 Burn questions this move in his notes, but the actual mistake only comes much later. Obviously, in his early years Burn did not put as much energy into his notes as later on, when he conducted the famous column in the Field. 38 Kf2 Kc3 39 Ke3 Rb2 40 Rxb2 Kxb2 41 Kd2 g5 42 g3 Kxa3 43 Kc3 Ka2 44 Kc2 Ka1 The first step off the right path. After 44 ... h4 Black is winning easily, since White will not be able to maintain the squeeze on the queenside forever. 45 Kc1 a3?? Locking his own king out. Every move apart from 45 ... e4 still won. 46 Kc2? h4? Two more inaccuracies and the game is definitely drawn. White should have secured this result by playing 46 h3, because 46 Kc2 allowed 46 ... g4 47 f4 exf4 48 gxf4 h4 49 f5 g3 50 hxg3 hxg3 51 f6 g2 52 f7 g1Q 53 f8Q and Black can still try to win this ending, although with care White draws. 47 g4 Drawn [Liverpool Weekly Albion, 12.9.1874] The first mention of the match between Burn and Owen was made in the Field of October 3rd, 1874: "We also hear that a friendly match between Messrs Burn and Owen is now in progress, whereof the winner of the first eleven games will be declared the victor. At present the score stands Mr Burn, 2; Mr Owen 1; and one drawn." Later in the same column the following game was given, "played some time ago", which suggests that it did not form part of the official series. John Owen-Amos Burn Liverpool, September 1874 Irregular Opening [A00] 1 e3 e5 2 b3 d5 3 Bb2 f6 4 c4 c6 5 Bd3 e4 6 Bc2 f5 7 Qh5+ g6 (See Diagram) Original play by both sides right from the beginning was a feature of every game between Owen and Burn. 8 Qe2 Nf6 9 Nc3 Bg7 10 cxd5 Nxd5 11 Nh3 Nd7 12 Nf4!? Nxf4 13 exf4 0-0 14 h4 Nf6 15 0-0-0 b5 16 d3 Qc7 17 g3 b4 18 Na4 Ba6! 19 Nc5 Qa5 20 Ne6 (See Diagram) 20 ... Bh8! A bold decision of which every dragon devotee would heartily approve. In fact, as his next move shows, Burn did not want to sacrifice just the exchange but a whole rook! Tempting was 20 ... Rae8 but after 21 Nxg7 exd3 22 Nxe8! dxe2 23 Nxf6+ Rxf6 24 Bxf6 exd1Q+ 25 Rxd1 Kf7 26 Be5 White's position is very solid. 21 Nxf8 Nd5!! Material does not count only the dark squares and the white king! 22 Bxh8 Bad is 22 Ne6? Bxb2+ 23 Kxb2 Qa3+ 24 Ka1 Nc3 and wins. Or if 22 Bb1 Nc3! with a strong attack. 22 ... Kxh8 23 Bb1 Owen hopes to find relief by returning some of his material plus. A spectacular sample variation shows how quickly White can be lost if he clings to his knight: 23 Ne6 Qa3+ 24 Kd2 Qb2! 25 Ke1 Re8! (the pins on White's queen are very annoying) 26 h5 Rxe6 27 hxg6 Qxc2! 28 Rxh7+ Kg8 29 Rh8+! Kg7 30 Rh7+ Kf6! 31 g7 Qxe2+ 32 Kxe2 Kf7 and Black wins. A better try is probably 23 Nd7, but after, e.g., the simple 23 ... Qxa2, Black keeps a terrifying attack. 23 ... Rxf8 24 Qb2+ Nc3 25 dxe4 Kg8! 26 Rd7 fxe4 27 Bxe4 Qc5 Of course, the bishop cannot be taken because of mate in one. 28 Bf3 After 28 Bc2 White's queen is completely shut out of the game, and Black should win comfortably with 28 ... Qxf2. 28 ... Nxa2+ 29 Kb1 Nc3+ 30 Kc1 (See Diagram) Discovered checks do not take Black any further, but a well-timed manoeuvre by his bishop decisively increases the pressure on White's king position: 30 ... Bc8! 31 Rd2 Bf5! 32 Rc2 The threat was 32 ... Na4+, and 32 Qa1 loses to 32 ... Nb1+. 32 ... Qa5 33 Be2 Bxc2 34 Bc4+ Kg7 35 Kxc2 Qc5 Burn has re-established material equality while maintaining a winning initiative. 36 Kc1 Rd8 37 Qc2 a5 38 Re1 a4 39 g4 a3 40 f5 a2 41 Kb2 Qd4! 42 Ba6 Ra8 43 Qd3 Nd1+ White resigned. [The Field, London, 3.10.1874] The next three encounters are all match games, given in the City of London Chess Magazine and probably played in the second stage of the match. Amos Burn-John Owen Liverpool Match, October 1874 Owen Defence [B00] 1 e4 b6 2 g3!? Bb7 3 Bg2 c5 4 Ne2 Nc6 5 d4 cxd4 6 Nxd4 Nxd4 7 Qxd4 Qc7 8 Nc3 e6 9 Bf4 Qc6 10 0-0-0 Rd8 11 Rhe1 f6 12 Nd5! Rc8! 13 Qd2 (See Diagram) It would be tempting to remark that this is "a typical position from the Sicilian Defence with a huge advantage for White", if Owen did not manage to turn the tables in no time. 13 ... g5!? The sort of unbelievable pawn move that would later become Burn's trademark! 14 Nxf6+ White must lose a piece, but he has several interesting possibilities. For example 14 e5!? exd5 15 exf6+ Be7 16 Bxg5 or 14 Be3! exd5 15 exd5 Qa4 16 Kb1 with a fierce attack. 14 ... Nxf6 15 Be5? Stronger is 15 Bxg5 Bb4 16 c3 with compensation. For instance, 16 ... 0-0? 17 Bxf6 Rxf6 18 e5 Qxg2 19 exf6 with a winning attack (Potter). 15 ... Bh6! Intending to meet 16 Bxf6 with 16 ... g4! etc. 16 g4 0-0 17 Bxf6 Rxf6 18 e5 Qxc2+ 19 Qxc2 Rxc2+ 20 Kxc2 Rxf2+ 21 Kc1 Bxg2 22 Rxd7 Rf4 23 Red1 Rc4+ 24 Kb1 Bf3 and White resigned. He could still have tried 25 Rd8+ as 25 ... Kg7?? or 25 ... Kf7?? allow mate in five moves, but after the simple 25 ... Bf8, Black's material advantage is decisive. [City of London Chess Magazine, November 1874, p. 245] John Owen-Amos Burn Liverpool Match, October 1874 Irregular Opening [A00] 1 d3 b6! Trying to beat the opponent with his own weapons! 2 g3 Bb7 3 e4 e6 4 Bg2 Be7 5 Ne2 h5 6 h4 g5 It is unlikely, however, that Owen would have resorted to such positionally dubious moves. 7 hxg5 Bxg5 8 Bxg5 Qxg5 9 Nd2 Nc6 10 Nf4 Nf6 11 Nf3 Qb5 12 0-0 0-0-0 13 b3 Rdg8 14 c4 Qb4 15 a3 Qd6 16 b4 h4 17 c5! This fine pawn sacrifice opens important attacking lines on the queenside. Owen plays the middlegame very powerfully. 17 ... bxc5 18 bxc5 Qxc5 19 d4 Qc4 20 Rc1 Qa2 21 Qd3! Revealing that Black's queen has been lured into a trap which will cost at least a piece. 21 ... hxg3 22 Rc2 gxf2+ 23 Rcxf2 Nb4 24 axb4 Qa4 25 e5 Ne4 26 Rb2 Ng3 27 Rff2? "27 Re1 was the correct move. That in the text is the cause of great danger. However, neither player could be expected to equal their best form, for a note informs us that the time hereabouts was half-past 4 a.m." (Potter). (See Diagram) 27 ... Be4! Immediately seizing the unexpected opportunity. White's answer is forced because 28 Qd2 loses to 28 ... Bxf3 29 Rxf3 Qa1+! 28 Ra2 Qxb4 29 Qd1 Bxf3? If it had not been for the very early hour, Burn might have spotted the picturesque 29 ... Nh1!, which still offered excellent drawing chances. 30 Rxf3 a5 31 Rb3 Qe7 32 Rxa5 and wins. [City of London Chess Magazine, November 1874, p. 247] Amos Burn-John Owen Liverpool Match, October 1874 Pirc Defence [B07] 1 e4 d6 Once again Owen is far ahead of his time. 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 Be3 Bg7 5 Be2 0-0 6 h4!? An attacking setup which even nowadays still has its loyal group of advocates. 6 ... Nc6 6 ... c5! is recognised as the best answer, immediately meeting White's wing attack with a counter-punch in the centre. 7 h5 e5 8 hxg6 fxg6? Since then many games have shown that the open h-file does not necessarily mean the end for Black's king and that opening the a2-g8 diagonal can be just as bad. Here 8 ... hxg6 is justified by the pawn sacrifice 9 d5 Nd4! 10 Bxd4 exd4 11 Qxd4 Re8 with excellent compensation thanks to his control of the dark squares. 9 Nf3 Ng4 10 Bc4+ Kh8 11 Ng5? This innocent attacking move is actually quite a serious mistake as in response Black could obtain a good game by 11 ... h6!, when White's weak spots d4, e3, f2 and g5 suddenly make themselves felt. Instead, 11 Bg5! promised a clear advantage in position. 11 ... Bh6? Probably counting on a continuation like 12 Nf7+ Rxf7 13 Bxf7 Bxe3! 14 fxe3 Nxe3 15 Qd2 Nxd4! with a winning counter-attack. Burn, however, has entirely different plans. (See Diagram) 12 Qxg4! An attractive queen sacrifice which promises tremendous play for only a small material investment. 12 ... Bxg4 13 Rxh6 Kg7? This awful mistake ends the game abruptly just when it had started to become really interesting. Of course he had to defend h7 with 13 ... Qd7 (or 13 ... Qe7). Burn's best line of play would probably have been 14 dxe5! Nxe5 15 Bb3 Qg7 16 Rxh7+ Qxh7 17 Nxh7 Kxh7 18 f3 Bd7 19 0-0-0, with a pawn and the initiative for the exchange. White is better, but the end of the game is still far away. 14 Rxh7+ Black resigns. Too late he realises that 14 ... Kf6 allows 15 Nd5 mate. [City of London Chess Magazine, November 1874, p. 248] Regarding the next two games Burn gave no further information than "played recently", but it seems quite likely that they were part of the match. John Owen-Amos Burn Liverpool Match (?), October 1874 Irregular Opening [A01] 1 b3 e5 2 Bb2 Nc6 3 e3 g6 4 f4 Bg7 5 Nf3 f6 6 Bb5 Nge7 7 0-0 0-0 8 fxe5 fxe5 9 Nc3 d5 10 e4 d4 11 Bc4+ Kh8 12 Ng5!? A tempting attack which must be met with the utmost care. (See Diagram) 12 ... Nf5! 12 ... dxc3 also came into consideration, with the intention of 13 Rxf8+ Qxf8 14 Nf7+ Qxf7 15 Bxf7 cxb2, and Black has more than enough compensation for the queen. Therefore White should calmly take back on c3 with 13 Bxc3, maintaining all threats. 13 Nxh7 After 13 Nf7+ Rxf7 14 Bxf7 dxc3 15 Bxc3 Nd6 Black has a safe material advantage, whereas after 13 exf5 dxc3! two white pieces are hanging. 13 ... dxc3! Again the best continuation. White obtains a tremendous attack after 13 ... Kxh7 14 exf5 dxc3 15 fxg6+ Kxg6 16 Bd3+ Kh6 17 dxc3! 14 Nxf8 cxb2! Again the only move. After 14 ... Qxf8 15 exf5 cxb2 16 fxg6! White has a clear advantage. 15 Nxg6+ Kh7 16 Qh5+ Now 16 exf5 bxa1Q 17 Qh5+ Bh6 is fine for Black because after 18 Rxa1 Qd4+ the white rook is lost. 16 ... Nh6 17 Rab1 Bg4 18 Qh4 Kxg6! Securing a decisive material plus. Burn has conducted the defence very cold-bloodedly and with the necessary energy. 19 Qg3 Kh7 20 c3 Qxd2 21 h3 Bh5 22 Qh4 Bg6 23 Rbd1 Qe3+ 24 Kh1 Qxe4 25 Qg5 Rf8 26 Rxf8 Bxf8 27 Bd3 Qxd3! White resigned. [Liverpool Weekly Albion, 31.10.1874] John Owen-Amos Burn Liverpool Match (?), November 1874 English Opening [A25] 1 e3 e5 2 c4 Nf6 3 Nc3 Nc6 4 Nd5 "Apparently a very good move." Burn. 4 ... Bc5 5 a3 a5 6 Ne2 d6 7 Nec3 0-0 8 Be2 Ne8 9 b3 f5 10 Bb2 f4 11 Bf3 Bf5 12 Qe2 (See Diagram) 12 ... Bc2! At first sight this move seems to be a mistake, because White's answer secures him the bishop pair and a menacing battery on the long diagonal. Only close inspection reveals that Black's positional trumps are at least equal to White's. 13 d4 exd4 14 Qxc2 dxc3 15 Qxc3 fxe3! 16 fxe3 Ne5 Following the exchange on e3 the knight now occupies an excellent post, thwarting all White's hopes on the a1-h8 diagonal. 17 0-0-0 c6 18 Nf4 Nxf3?! Setting an innocent trap which Owen overlooks, but objectively 18 ... Qb6! with a safe and pleasant position was preferable. 19 Ne6? Winning the exchange, but at too high a cost. After the simple 19 gxf3! Black would be hard pressed to justify the exchange of his powerful knight for White's useless bishop. 19 ... Qe7 20 Nxf8 After 20 Nxc5 dxc5 21 gxf3 Rxf3 White does not have enough time to create serious pressure against g7. 20 ... Ne5 20 ... Ng5, preparing ... Ne4, was also good for Black. In either case White's knight at f8 is doomed. 21 b4 Otherwise the knight is just lost after, for example, 21 Rhf1 Nf6. The textmove, however, weakens the king's shelter. 21 ... axb4 22 axb4 Ra4! A fine rejoinder. After 22 ... Ba7 23 c5! White would have had good counter-play. (See Diagram) 23 Nd7! The only chance to stay in the game. Bewildered by the manifold possibilities, Burn immediately goes wrong. 23 ... Rxb4? Also wrong was 23 ... Bxb4 24 Qb3, but both ways of capturing the rampant knight promised a position with excellent compensation for the exchange. For example, 23 ... Nxd7!? 24 bxc5 Nxc5 or 23 ... Qxd7 24 Qxe5 Qf7!, and Black is clearly better. Following the text move the queens come off the board, after which Black's compensation for the slight material deficit becomes questionable. 24 Nxe5 dxe5 25 Qxe5 Bxe3+ 26 Kc2! Rxc4+ 27 Kd3! Qxe5 28 Bxe5 Rc5 The only move to avoid substantial material losses. 29 Bxg7 Bg5 30 Bd4 Rd5 31 Rhe1 Nd6 (See Diagram) "White here touched the rook intending to play 32 Re5, but saw immediately that he would lose the exchange by 32 ... Rxd4+!, followed by 33 ... Bf6 and ... Nf7. As often happens, annoyed by his mistake, white played the rook to e6, which was still worse." (Burn) Of course, after a simple move like 32 Kc2 all the problems would be with Black. 32 Re6?? c5 33 Kc3 cxd4+ 34 Rxd4 Nb5+ 35 Kc4 Nxd4 White resigned. [Liverpool Weekly Albion, 14.11.1874] The remaining games will be published next month. Readers who have further information regarding the match are asked kindly to contact me (@chesscafe.com). PS: To confuse matters again, Steinitz wrote as follows in the Figaro of 23rd August, 1876: "In the course of the winter [Burn] won a match for the first ten games by ten to four against the Rev. Owen." Another match? The same match? A faulty recollection? The mysteries remain.