John Owen vs Amos Burn (1875) Throwing Down An Alter

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John Owen vs Amos Burn
"Throwing Down An Alter - Mate Him!" (game of the day Jun-13-2020)
Casual game (1875), Liverpool ENG, Jan-??
Queen's Gambit Accepted: Central Variation. McDonnell Defense (D20) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Jun-13-20		Phony Benoni: OK. This bothered me until I realized: 1( Owen used the pseudonym "Alter". 2) Alter - Mate Him = ultimatum I think. If that's wrong, I know a correct is coming. More importantly, one of those "typical" 19th century games in which the response to having two pieces en prise is to put a third under attack.

Jun-13-20		jith1207: A post on CG forum few days back <<<<MissScarlett: <Stonehenge> has inspired another epic pun: Owen vs Burn, 1875 <Throwing Down an Alter - Mate Him!> A good pun should speak for itself, but I can't just assume that the powers-that-be here will know that Owen's pseudonym was <Alter>.>>>..> But, it's still not clear to me, what "throwing down an alter ... Alternate... Mate... Him... " Means.. Sounds like an inspiration rather from <HeMateMe>. ;)

Jun-13-20		Agferna: White is busted, however 18...Qf3! was a nicer finish followed by bishop daggers. Cheers

Jun-13-20		al wazir: Another way to win: 18...Be3 (threatening Nd2#) 19. Qxe4+ (19. fxe4 Rf8+; 19 g3 Bh3#) Qxe4 20. fxe4 Rf8+ 21. Nf4 Rxf4#.

Jun-13-20		jith1207: Or the quickest 18...Qxf3+ 19. gxf3 Bh3+ 20. Kg1 Be3# The Boden's Mate. click for larger view Whenever you can open up the pawn structure like that with two bishops threatening both diagonals of the opponent King, with no other escape route, especially in a position like this.

Jun-13-20		jith1207: Oops... That's what <Agferna> was saying.

Jun-13-20		jith1207: Cool. Had no idea about alternate hymn, thanks <offramp>.

Jun-13-20		offramp: < jith1207: Cool. Had no idea about alternate hymn, thanks <offramp>.> Sorry - I deleted a suggestion of "Alternate hymn". I <thought> John Owen was a reverend. I must've been thinking of someone else.

Jun-13-20		jith1207: He was.

Jun-13-20		Brenin: Burn's 33 ... Qg4 in <MacDonald v Burn, 1910> is often referred to as one of the most spectacular moves ever played. If you're not familiar with it, I recommend taking a look.

Jun-13-20		RandomVisitor: White was ok up to 6...fxe4, then miscalculated with 7.Nxe4, thinking that he would be up a pawn and the exchange if challenged by 7...Nxe4. click for larger view Stockfish_20060616_x64_modern: <41/62 10:22 +0.25 7.Nge2> Nbd7 8.Ng3 Bd6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qc2 h6 11.Be3 Kh8 12.Ncxe4 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Nf6 14.Nxf6 Qxf6 15.Bd3 Bf5 16.Be4 Qg6 17.f3 Kg8 18.Rae1 Bxe4 19.Qxe4 Qh5 20.Rc1 Rf6 21.Rc2 Qe8 22.Bd2 Qb5 23.Re1 a5 24.Kh1 Re8 25.a4 Qb6 26.Be3 Qb4 41/63 10:22 0.00 7.Be3 a6 8.a3 Bf5 9.Nge2 Bd6 10.Ng3 Bg6 11.Qc2 0-0 12.Ngxe4 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Qxe4 Nd7 15.0-0 Nf6 16.Qf5 Kh8 17.Bd3 Qe7 18.Bc2 e4 19.Rae1 Qe5 20.Qxe5 Bxe5 21.b4 a5 22.Bg5 axb4 23.axb4 Bc3 24.Rb1 Rae8 25.Ba4 Ra8

Jun-13-20		Cibator: I like that term "bishop daggers", <Agferna>. Very graphic!

Jun-13-20		keypusher: < offramp: < jith1207: Cool. Had no idea about alternate hymn, thanks <offramp>.> Sorry - I deleted a suggestion of "Alternate hymn". I <thought> John Owen was a reverend. I must've been thinking of someone else.> He was ordained in 1851 and served as the vicar of Hooton, Cheshire, 1862-1900. So claims Philip Sergeant, anyway.

Jun-13-20		Diademas: This is either the most brilliant or the stupidest pun ever. I'm too stupid to tell. Being a brainchild of <MissScarlett> in no way makes the distinction any easier.

Jun-13-20		thegoodanarchist: <Phony Benoni: OK. This bothered me until I realized: 1( Owen used the pseudonym "Alter". > That's good to know, <Beaker>. Where did you get that info? I know a lot of stuff, but I didn't know that. So my first question when I saw the pun was "Who is named Alter?" When I clicked on the game, no "Alter" was shown. So, the pun artist AND the cg GOTD selector both had to know that Owen used that pseudonym/pseudoephedrin whatever. If cg didn't know in advance, they would have to spend time finding out. I don't know that I'd be patient enough to do so. Anyway, like the pun. This pun artiste has been on a roll lately.

Jun-13-20		jith1207: <thegoodanarchist>: John Owen Bio says he used the pseudonym "Alter" for his columns.

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