We continue our admiration of J.H. Blackburne’s attacking skills from yesteryear. His opponent was the legendary Adolf Anderssen at the Manchester Chess Club in 1862. This position is a little tougher than the last one; however, we hope you come through with an attacking plan just like he did!

Solution:

It’s a fun game to play through, so here it is in full: Blackburne,Joseph Henry - Anderssen,Adolf [C37] London, 1862

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0–0 gxf3 6.Qxf3 Qe7 7.d3 Nc6 8.Bxf4 Nd4 9.Qf2 Ne6 10.Be3 Bg7 11.d4 Nf6 12.Qf3 d6 13.Nc3 0–0 14.d5 Nc5 15.Bg5 Ncd7 16.Rae1 Ne5 17.Qg3 Kh8

(See Diagram)

18.Qh4 Nxc4 19.Rxf6 Qd7 20.Rh6 Qg4 21.Rxh7+ Kg8 22.Rxg7+ Kxg7 23.Qh6+ Kg8 24.Bf6 1–0 Blackburne used that f-file and the intense pressure on f6 and blew it open with the two exchange sacrifice offers to take advantage of the dark squares. Many people don’t understand that great attacking player with fabulous sacrifices often base their attack on fundamental positional principles such as light and dark square weakness or shattered pawn structures.

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