Random Game #18 - Schlesinger vs. Falkbeer 1885

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.
 

Today's game features a lesson by Ernst Falkbeer in his Counter Gambit against an unknown O. Schlesinger (though the lesson ends in Falkbeer's defeat). Played in 1885, the location is not known. Greco is said to have faced this opening in 1620 and demonstrated an easy win for white. Falkbeer had tried it before in 1851 against Anderssen, but lost. Jaenisch had tried it in 1842 but had no better luck. But in 1851, Staunton showed Jaenisch how to win with the idea.



This isn't the first time the Falkbeer Counter Gambit was played, and mistakes are made. But the tactics at the end of the game are instructive. Letting up on the threats can mean letting go of the chance to win.

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Find all of the Random Games posted on the Pied Chessman here.