Napoleon Bonaparte's Chess Games
Napoleon Bonaparte, the French Monarch with the crazy mission to rule over the whole world, was a good fighter not only in the battlefield, but also over the chess board.
In the earlier days chess was considered a royal game and so it is no wonder that Napoleon I was a good chess player and brilliant in tactics as is evident from the following games.
Game 1
[Event
"Malmaison Castle,1804"]
[White
"Napoleon I"]
[Black
"Madame de Remusat"]
[Result
"1-0"]
[ECO
"C41"]
1.
Nc3 e5 2. Nf3
{Napoleon loves the cavalry.}
2...
d6 3. e4 f5 4. h3 fxe4
5.Nxe4
Nc6 6. Nfg5 d5
7. Qh5+ g6 8. Qf3 Nh6
(8...
Nd4 ?? 9.Qf7#
{Checkmate.})
9.
Nf6+ Ke7 10. Nxd5+ Kd6
11. Ne4+ Kxd5
Position
After Black's 11th Move
White to play and mate in 3 moves. Can you find the mate?
(11...
Kd7 12. Bb5 Nf5
13. d3 with a winning position for White)
12.
Bc4+
(12.
d3 Bf5 turns the tables on
white )
12...
Kxc4 13. Qb3+ Kd4
14. Qd3# {Win by
Blitzkrieg.}
1-0
[Event
"St.Helena,1818"]
[White
"Napoleon I"]
[Black
"General Bertrand"]
[Result
"1-0"]
[ECO
"C44"]
1.
Nf3 Nc6 2. e4 e5
3. d4 Nxd4
(3...
d5 ? 4. Nxe5
{4. Bb5 exd4 5. Nxd4
dxe4 =} 4... Nxe5 5.dxe5
dxe4 6. Qxd8+ Kxd8 7. Nc3 Bb4
8. Bg5+ Ne7 9. O-O-O+ Ke8
10. Nxe4 with a
winning position for white)
4.
Nxd4 exd4 5.Bc4 Bc5
6. c3 Qe7 7. O-O Qe5
8. f4 !! dxc3+ 9. Kh1 cxb2
10. Bxf7+ !
(10.
fxe5 bxa1=Q 11. Qd5 Kd8
12. Qxc5 Ne7 13.
Rxf7 Re8 with
a winning position for Black)
10...
Kd8
(10...
Kxf7?
11. fxe5+ Ke8
12. Bxb2 and white wins.)
11.
fxe5 bxa1=Q 12. Bxg8
Be7
(12...
Rxg8 13. Qd5 Re8 14. Qxc5 d6 15. Bg5+ Re7 16. Rf8+ Kd7 17. e6+ Kxe6 18.Qf5#)
13.
Qb3 a5
Position
After Black's 13th move
White to play and mate in 5 moves.
(13…
Qxe5 14. Bb2 Qg5 15. Qf7 d6
16. Bxg7 Be6 17. Qxe6 Qxg7 18. Rf7 and white wins).
14.
Rf8+ ! Bxf8 15. Bg5+
Be7 16. Bxe7+ Kxe7 17. Qf7+ Kd8
18. Qf8#
1-0
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