Highland fling

Recently Professor Jackie Eales gave a lecture in Canterbury on ‘Queenship in the Age of the Enraged Chess Queen’. (The title of course refers to the new powers conferred on the queen as a piece after the transition from the slower Arabic and medieval games.) In 1560 the bishop of Limoges, the French ambassador in Madrid, sent Mary Queen of Scots a chess book, having heard that she took great pleasure in the game. The author was the famous Saffran, described by the bishop as one of the greatest players ever seen, who had beaten all of Italy and the rest of the world. Professor Eales inferred that the ‘famous Saffran’ was none other than the Spanish expert Ruy Lopez, author of the book Libro De La Invencion Liberal Y Arte Del Juego Del Axedrez. This is widely assumed to have been published under licence from King Philip II of Spain (of Armada fame) at Alcala in 1561. However the letter from Bishop de Laubespine is dated 1560. Le Saffre, Professor Eales deduces, refers to Zafra in Estramadura, the home of Lopez.

An important question is whether there was, in fact, a 1560 version of the Lopez book. How, otherwise, could de Laubespine already be referring to it? Perhaps he sent Queen Mary a manuscript version.

Here is a heavyweight encounter involving the Scotch Game.

Kasparov-Karpov: Tilburg 1991; Scotch Game

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 Black played 3 … Nxd4 in the game last week between London and Edinburgh. The game Keene-Nunn, Richmond 1963 also saw a similar line: 3 … Nxd4 4 Nxd4 exd4 5 Qxd4 d6 6 Bc4 when White had a good position and went on to win. See today’s puzzle for the conclusion.