Notable Games
- 1749 Philidor, Francois Andre Dani vsAnalysis/Analyse 1-0 Bishop's Opening: Philidor Variation 40 moves Philidor Analysis An illustrative game from L'Analyze des Échecs (1749), the book that made Philidor famous and that gave chess the maxim “pawns are the soul of chess”. The whole plan is pawns: the centre is built, the kingside majority rolls with 28.f5 and 32.f6, and the passers decide.
- 1783.05.08 Maseres, Francis vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 Pawn-and-move odds 58 moves Philidor blindfold sim London, 1783 — one of the three games from the blindfold display that astonished contemporaries, who signed affidavits so that later generations would believe it had happened. Philidor is Black, sighted opponents have White, and here he is giving pawn odds as well; he still grinds out a won king-and-pawn ending.
- 1783 Von Bruehl, Hans Moritz vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 Bishop's Opening: Philidor Counterattack 47 moves Philidor London, 1783 — against Count Hans Moritz von Brühl, the Saxon envoy to the Court of St James's and one of the strongest players in the London circle. Philidor answers the Bishop's Opening with his own counterattack and finishes exactly as he preached: a mass of connected pawns walking down the board, 46…e3 and 47…f3.
- 1788.05.10 Nowell vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 Pawn-and-move odds 60 moves Philidor blindfold sim London, 1788 — a blindfold simultaneous game at pawn odds, played when Philidor was 61. He survives a long kingside attack, wins the queens off, and converts a sixty-move endgame without ever seeing the board.
- 1788.05.10 Leycester vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 Pawn-and-move odds 24 moves Philidor blindfold sim London, 1788 — the sharpest of the blindfold games from that day: again giving pawn odds, Philidor answers 2.Qh5+ by hunting the early queen, sacrifices the exchange with 15…Rxf2+, and mates on move twenty-four, 24…Qd1#.
- 1788 Von Bruehl, Hans Moritz vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 King's Gambit Accepted: Philidor Gambit 44 moves Philidor Casual Games London, 1788 — the King's Gambit variation that bears Philidor's name. Von Brühl wins the exchange on h8 in the opening; Philidor simply trades into an endgame where his bishop and queenside pawns are worth more, and picks off the white pawns one by one.
- 1789.01.11 Philidor, Francois Andre Dani vsCotter 1-0 Rook odds 22 moves Philidor Casual Games London, 1789 — Philidor giving rook odds, a measure of the gulf between him and the club players of Parsloe's. Down a rook from move one, he sacrifices two more pieces on move fifteen and sixteen and mates on move twenty-two, 22.Qe7#.
- 1789.01.26 Philidor, Francois Andre Dani vsVon Bruehl, Hans Moritz 1-0 Knight-for-pawn odds 19 moves Philidor Casual Games London, 1789 — Philidor lets his rook on h1 go with 9…Qxh1, then pushes the g-pawn through to promote on the eighth rank, 12.gxf7+ Kd8 13.fxg8=Q. Von Brühl's extra queen never gets out; the black king is caught in the centre.
- 1789 Bowdler, Thomas vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 Pawn-and-move odds 40 moves Philidor Casual Games London, 1789 — against Thomas Bowdler, the physician and editor whose expurgated Shakespeare gave English the verb “bowdlerise”, and a strong player in his own right. Philidor, again at pawn odds, exchanges into an endgame and lets his queenside pawns settle it.
- 1790.03.13 Smith vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 Bishop's Opening: Paulsen Defense 33 moves Philidor blindfold London, 13 March 1790 — the 1790 Analysis of the Game of Chess prints this score as Captain Smith’s game, although the archive names the opponent Seth. It was one of the two blindfold boards: Philidor advances on both wings with pawns, opens the h-file with 25…hxg3, and the rooks and knight that pour through mate on move thirty-three, 33…Rh4#.
- 1790.03.13 Conway, Henry Seymour vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 Bishop's Opening: Philidor Counterattack 46 moves Philidor blindfold London, 13 March 1790 — Philidor's sighted board while he played two other opponents blindfold, against Field Marshal Henry Seymour Conway, the soldier and statesman. Philidor trades queens by move twelve and wins the endgame, escorting a passed e-pawn to promotion on move forty-five.
- 1790.03.13 Sheldon vsPhilidor, Francois Andre Dani 0-1 Bishop's Opening: Philidor Counterattack 31 moves Philidor blindfold London, 13 March 1790 — one of the two blindfold games played alongside the sighted Conway game. Philidor gives back the exchange with 22…Rd3 to create a protected passed pawn on d3, then walks it home: 30…d2 and 31…d1=Q.
- 1794.02.07 Philidor, Francois Andre Dani vsAtwood, George 1-0 Knight odds 22 moves Philidor blindfold London, 1794 — playing blindfold and giving knight odds to George Atwood, the Cambridge mathematician and Fellow of the Royal Society who recorded more of Philidor's games than anyone else. A piece down from the start, Philidor still mates: 21.Qxh5+ Bh6 22.Qxh6#.
- 1795.02.12 Philidor, Francois Andre Dani vsAtwood, George 1-0 Knight odds 27 moves Philidor London, 1795 — from the last season Philidor ever played, at Parsloe's Chess Club, again at knight odds against Atwood. He died that August; these late games against Atwood are the closing entries in a career that had begun half a century earlier.