Joseph Henry "The Black Death" Blackburne: The Grand Old Man of British Chess

Joseph Henry Blackburne was born in Manchester, England, on December 10, 1841. He was the son of Joseph Blackburn and Ann Pritchard. The couple also had a younger son and daughter, Frederick Pritchard, and Clara. Frederick Pritchard passed away when Joseph Henry was about five.

Blackburne’s father was apparently a man of many interests. He was known as a "practical phrenologist," one who gave character readings based on skull measurements. He also worked as a Quaker bookkeeper, miniature painter, and a producer of daguerreotypes, an early type of photograph. He was also even a temperance reformer, something that later became ironic when his son took to the bottle. In 1857, Blackburne’s mother passed away. His father later remarried, and Blackburne came to have a half-brother, William.

Blackburne had been a strong draughts player when he heard about the exploits of Paul Morphy in his 1858 European tour, which made him switch to chess. "I learned the game in, say, 1859," he would later share.  

It may have been late for the future master to learn the game at 18, but he developed quickly. In 1861, he challenged Manchester Chess Club’s champion, Edward Pindar, but lost all five games of the match. Just three months later, he came back to beat Pindar, 5-1. In 1862, he became the club’s champion, ahead of Pindar and Bernhard Horwitz. The German Horwitz was another one of the foreign masters who had settled in London. He eventually took Blackburne under his wing and turned him into an excellent endgame player.

Blackburne had been assisting his father in his daguerreotype business and was still in Manchester in 1862 working as a warehouseman. After participating in the 1862 British Chess Association (BCA) Tournament in London, however, his warehouse job was given to someone else. Now out of employment, he supposedly turned professional. The decision may not have been immediate, but thereabouts Blackburne was likely already strong enough to consider playing for a living.  

The 1862 BCA tournament, in fact, was Blackburne’ first international appearance. He was, naturally, outperformed by his more experienced rivals. Adolf Anderssen won the event. Blackburne finished in the bottom half with only 5 out of 14.  

In 1865, Blackburne married Eleanor Driscoll. Thereafter, he would add an "e" to his surname, which was for no other purpose, perhaps, than to distinguish himself from his father.  

Tournament play would turn out to be Blackburne’s main strength, and he gradually made his mark in top level competitions. In Dundee 1867, history’s third international tournament after London 1851 and London 1862, he placed fourth but beat Steinitz. A year later, he won the 1868 British Chess Championship. In Baden-Baden 1870, he placed fourth, but again defeated Steinitz. In Vienna 1873, a costly last round loss to Samuel Rosenthal denied him outright first place. Steinitz caught up with him and beat him in the playoffs.  Notwithstanding the minor collapse, he so impressed the organizers that they called him "The Black Death." The sobriquet stuck. In Paris 1878, he placed third behind Johannes Zukertort and Simon Winawer.

Final standings Vienna 1873

#	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1	Joseph Henry Blackburne (United Kingdom)	x	1 1 ½	1 0 1	0 0 ½	1 1 0	1 1	1 1	1 1 0	1 1	1 1 0	1 ½ 1	0 1 1	21.5
2	Wilhelm Steinitz (Bohemia)	0 0 ½	x	1 1	1 1	1 1	1 1	1 1	½ ½ 1	½ ½ 1	1 1	1 1	1 1	20.5
3	Adolf Anderssen (German Empire)	0 1 0	0 0	x	1 0 1	1 1	1 0 1	1 0 1	0 ½ 1	½ 1 ½	1 1 0	1 1	1 ½ 1	19.0
4	Samuel Rosenthal (France)	1 1 ½	0 0	0 1 0	x	0 ½ 1	0 0	1 1 0	1 1	1 1	1 1	0 1 1	1 1	17.0
5	Louis Paulsen (German Empire)	0 0 1	0 0	0 0	1 ½ 0	x	1 1	0 ½ 1	1 1	1 ½ 1	1 ½ 0	1 1	1 1	16.0
6	Henry Edward Bird (United Kingdom)	0 0	0 0	0 1 0	1 1	0 0	x	1 0 ½	1 1	1 1	1 1	1 1	1 1	14.5
7	Josef Heral (Austria)	0 0	0 0	0 1 0	0 0 1	1 ½ 0	0 1 ½	x	½ 1 0	0 1 ½	1 0 ½	½ 1 0	0 0 1	12.0
8	Max Fleissig (Hungary)	0 0 1	½ ½ 0	1 ½ 0	0 0	0 0	0 0	½ 0 1	x	1 0 1	0 1 ½	0 1 0	1 1	11.5
9	Philipp Meitner (Austria)	0 0	½ ½ 0	½ 0 ½	0 0	0 ½ 0	0 0	1 0 ½	0 1 0	x	½ 1 1	1 ½ ½	1 1	11.5
10	Adolf Schwarz (Hungary)	0 0 1	0 0	0 0 1	0 0	0 ½ 1	0 0	0 1 ½	1 0 ½	½ 0 0	x	½ ½ ½	1 ½ ½	10.5
11	Oscar Gelbfuhs (Austria)	0 ½ 0	0 0	0 0	1 0 0	0 0	0 0	½ 0 1	1 0 1	0 ½ ½	½ ½ ½	x	½ 1 1	10.0
12	Karl Pitschel (Austria)	1 0 0	0 0	0 ½ 0	0 0	0 0	0 0	1 1 0	0 0	0 0	0 ½ ½	½ 0 0	x	5.0

Source: Wikipedia

Blackburne would reach his peak in the 1880s. He began the decade tying for first place with Berthold Englisch and Adolf Schwarz in Wiesbaden 1880. The following year, he scored the greatest triumph of his career in Berlin 1881.

Blackburne began the Berlin tournament with a loss against James Mason and a draw against Austrian problem composer Professor Johann Berger. In the next 14 rounds, however, he scored 13.5 points to take clear first, 3 points ahead of the second placer, Zukertort. His streak included victories over Zukertort, Winawer, Mikhail Chigorin, LouisPaulsen, and Emil Schallopp.

Final standings Berlin 1881

#	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Total
1	Joseph Henry Blackburne (United Kingdom)	x	1	1	1	0	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	14
2	Johannes Hermann Zukertort (German Empire)	0	x	½	1	½	1	1	1	½	1	0	0	1	1	½	1	1	11
3	Szymon Winawer (Russian Empire)	0	½	x	0	1	0	1	½	1	1	1	0	1	1	½	1	1	10½
4	Mikhail Chigorin (Russian Empire)	0	0	1	x	0	0	0	½	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	10½
5	James Mason (United States)	1	½	0	1	x	½	½	0	½	1	0	1	0	1	1	½	1	9½
6	Alexander Wittek (Austria-Hungary)	½	0	1	1	½	x	½	1	½	0	1	0	½	1	0	1	1	9½
7	Johannes Minckwitz (German Empire)	0	0	0	1	½	½	x	1	½	0	0	1	½	1	1	1	½	8½
8	Jacques Schwarz (Austria-Hungary)	0	0	½	½	1	0	0	x	1	1	½	1	0	½	1	½	1	8½
9	Johann Nepomuk Berger (Austria-Hungary)	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	x	0	0	1	1	½	1	1	1	8
10	Louis Paulsen (German Empire)	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	x	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	8
11	Wilfried Paulsen (German Empire)	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	½	1	½	x	0	½	½	0	½	1	7½
12	Emil Schallopp (German Empire)	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	x	1	0	1	0	1	7
13	Fritz Riemann (German Empire)	0	0	0	0	1	½	½	1	0	½	½	0	x	0	1	½	1	6½
14	Carl Wemmers (German Empire)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	0	½	1	1	x	1	1	1	6½
15	Josef Noa (Austria-Hungary)	0	½	½	0	0	1	0	0	0	½	1	0	0	0	x	1	1	5½
16	Carl Friedrich Schmid (Russian Empire)	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	0	½	½	1	½	0	0	x	0	3½
17	H. von Schuetz (German Empire)	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	x	1½
18	Karl Pitschel (Austria-Hungary)	-	-	0	0	-	-	-	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	–

Source: Wikipedia

Rounding off the decade, he came 4th in Vienna 1882, 3rd in London 1883 behind Zukertort and Steinitz, 2nd in Nuremberg 1883 behind Winawer, 2nd in Hamburg 1885 behind Gunsberg, joint 2nd in Hereford 1885 behind Gunsberg, first in the BCA master's tournament of 1886 after a playoff with Burn, 2nd in Frankfurt 1887, and 4th in New York 1889.

In his 50s, Blackburne's results naturally tapered off. Yet, he remained a dangerous opponent and held his own against the rising new generation led by Emanuel Lasker, Siegbert Tarrasch, and Harry Nelson Pillsbury. In Manchester 1890, he came 2nd behind Tarrrasch, an outstanding result that was somewhat lost in Tarrasch’s fearsome strength and 3-point margin.  In the great Hastings tournament 1895, he scored an even fifty per cent in twenty-one games for 10^th place, but defeated the new World Champion, Emanuel Lasker. In Vienna 1898, he finished in the bottom half but beat David Janowski. In London 1899, he placed 6^th, but once again defeated Lasker.

Blackburne continued competing into the next century and up to his 70s. In St. Petersburg 1914, he was not expected among the prize winners. He drew, however, with the young legends Alexander Alekhine and Akiba Rubinstein and beat Aron Nimzovitsch. As his last success, he won the British Championship of 1914 jointly with Frederick David Yates at the age of 72.  

As a match player, however, Blackburne was not as strong. His results, at least, were not up to his reputation as a formidable tournament player. He had a dismal match record against Steinitz, particularly. Steinitz crushed him in three matches, 6-2 in 1862, 5-1 in 1870, and 7-0 in 1876. In 1881, he lost to Zukertort, 7-2. Steinitz’s and Zukertort’s analysis of the games of this match in their respective chess columns led to personal differences between them that intensified into the "Ink War". He beat Henry Bird in 1879, 5-2. In 1881, he gave Gunsberg two-game odds and defeated him, 7-6. In 1887, however, Gunsberg was rounding off to world championship form and turned the tables, 5-2. That same year he beat Zukertort, 5-1, but by then Zukertort was a dying man who would pass away the following year. In 1892, he lost to Lasker, 6-0, and in 1995 he tied Curt von Bardeleben, 3-3.  

However competitive he was, Blackburne also thrived in exhibitions. Blindfold and simultaneous displays were his bread and butter, and he toured Britain twice yearly up to the end of his career.

Blackburne relates that he tried blindfold chess after witnessing Louie Paulsen’s exhibition in Manchester in 1861. "I first played one game only, then two and succeeding very fairly, a friend introduced me to the [Manchester] Athenaeum Club, where I played three," he recalled. "Very soon after the three-game performance I tried ten, then fifteen."

Some of Blackburne’s contemporaries could play as many boards as he could blindfold. Zukertort, for one, played sixteen in 1876. Few, however, could match him for quality. Assessing his blindfold play, George Alcock Macdonnell remarked that even Zukertort: "seldom produced such games as Blackburne’s, replete with interest and sparkling with beauty."

Blackburne left recollections of his exhibitions, some of which were humorous. Asked whether he was annoyed with simultaneous opponents who consulted onlookers, he replied: "As a rule, they rather assist me. Sometimes a player shifted the pieces to analyze and did not replace them correctly, but I do this for him when I next come round."

When he was at his peak as a showman, Blackburne had hit the bottle. He would refresh himself with whiskey, and he once mistakenly gulped a simultaneous opponent’s glass. Rebuked, he exclaimed: "He left it en prise, so I took it en passant!"

The old Blackburne | Photo: British Chess Magazine Vol. 42 (1922) Source: chessgames.com

What was Blackburne the man like? Early accounts paint him as an irascible fellow. There are stories of his brawling, including an altercation with Steinitz in 1867. Steinitz brought this up repeatedly much later. In 1884, his health failed him, and he took a trip to Australia. Along the way he figured in a scuffle with another passenger. Although witnesses held him faultless, he was charged and fined upon his arrival in Melbourne. He seemed to mellow over the years, however, and many appreciated his genial nature. He became the grand old man of British chess, hailed as the country’s champion wherever his tours and exhibitions brought him.

His reputation aside, Blackburne took pride in his independence as a chess player. A grant and testimonial was proposed for him after his success in Berlin in 1881. Blackburne refused it, saying he was still able to support his family with his exhibitions. True, he accepted such assistance only when he was ill, and when age had slowed him down in the succeeding century. Perhaps he meant to dignify his profession, as professional chess players were often a despised lot in the 19th century.

Blackburne had been dealt more than his fair share of misfortunes, but he was resilient enough to maintain his playing strength and high spirits. In 1874, his wife Eleanor passed away. Blackburne remarried in 1876, but his second wife, Beatrice Lapham, also passed away in 1880.  He married for the third time a few months after, and his third wife, Mary Jane Goodway, predeceased him by two years. One of his two children in his first marriage likely also passed away in 1875.

Blackburne was already regarded as a British chess icon and one of the greatest players of the 19th century when he passed away on September 1, 1924.  From 1868 when he won his first national title up to the beginning of the new century, he was his country's leading player. He withstood the challenge of outstanding contemporaries such as Bird and Burn. Only Gunsberg in the few years that he developed into a world title contender was able to surpass him.

In his peak years from the 1870s up to the end of the 1880s, a period close to twenty years, he was one of the world’s six best players. Match play was his weakness. Perhaps he was impatient, or he lacked the psychological insight into his opponents, and these all prevented him from vying for the world championship. Among natural-born Englishmen, he was the closest to reach the summit between the eras of Howard Staunton and Nigel Short.

With his simultaneous and blindfold skills, he was, lastly, a master showman who did more than anyone in his generation to popularize the game.

In a time when chess was moving from the Romantic to the Clasical era, Blackburne did not leave behind theoretical contributions. He was not a thinker but a practical fighter whose real legacy was his excellence.

References:

Tim Harding, Eminent Victorian Chess Players: Ten Biographies. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2012.

John Upham / British Chess News, (2020, September 1). Remembering Joseph Henry Blackburne (10-XII-1841 01-IX-1924). https://britishchessnews.com/2020/09/01/remembering-joseph-henry-blackburne-10-xii-1841-01-ix-1924/

Wikipedia. 2023. "Joseph Henry Blackburne." Last modified January 18, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Henry_Blackburne

Games

Here are three outstanding games annotated by Blackburne himself. They come with anecdotes that have made them very memorable.

Blackburne vs. Lipschutz, New York 1889 (Round 3, April 5, 1889)

Blackburne vs. Winawer, Berlin 1881 (Round 10, September 9, 1881)

Neumann vs. Blackburne, Dundee 1867

Here are three more brilliant, attacking games:

Schallopp vs. Blackburne, 2^nd BCA Congress 1886 (Round 7, July 19, 1886)

Lasker vs. Blackburne, London 1899 (Round 4, June 3, 1899)

Blackburne vs. Schwarz, Berlin 1881 (Round 16, September 16, 1881)

Links

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