Wednesday, July 13, 2005

How soon we forget

The BCC continues its series of Legends of Chess tournaments with this coming weekend's Octads. Having long since used up Chess Legends that most people have actually heard of -- e.g., Lasker, Capablanca, Philidor, etc. -- this tournament is being named in honor of Phillip Stamma.

Who was Phillip Stamma? A quick web search uncovered the following facts:
  • Born in 1705
  • From Aleppo, Syria
  • In addition to being a chessplayer, he was an interpreter of Oriental languages.
  • In 1747, he played a world championship match against Philidor in London. Philidor played Black in every game and offered draw odds to Stamma. Philidor won the match +8 -1 =1 (+8 -2 with draw odds).
Perhaps we should rename the series the Obscure Legends of Chess!?

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