Harry Pillsbury
Notable Games

Harry Pillsbury

19 celebrated games · 321 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 321 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1895 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsTarrasch, Siegbert 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Pillsbury Variation 52 moves Hastings International Masters Hastings 1895 — Pillsbury's best-known game. In his signature Queen's Gambit Declined he builds a crushing attack on Siegbert Tarrasch and finishes with mate, 52.Qxh7# — won at the great tournament the 22-year-old took on his international debut, ahead of the entire world elite.
  • 1895 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsSteinitz, William 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Pseudo-Tarrasch Variation 53 moves Hastings International Masters Hastings 1895. A win over the first World Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, in Pillsbury's Queen's Gambit Declined.
  • 1895 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsGunsberg, Isidor 1-0 Slav Defense 40 moves Hastings International Masters Hastings 1895. A win over Isidor Gunsberg — a former World Championship challenger — the passed h-pawn racing home (40.h7).
  • 1895 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsBurn, Amos 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line 28 moves Hastings International Masters Hastings 1895. A 28-move attacking win over Amos Burn (24.Nf6+, 28.Rh8+).
  • 1895.12.25 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsLasker, Emanuel 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Pillsbury Variation 46 moves St Petersburg Four Masters St Petersburg 1895/96. A win over reigning World Champion Emanuel Lasker — one of the five decisive games Pillsbury won against Lasker over his career, for an extraordinary even lifetime score.
  • 1896.07.30 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsChigorin, Mikhail Ivanovich 1-0 Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Move Order 50 moves Nuernberg InternationalesMeisterturnier Nuremberg 1896. A win over Mikhail Chigorin, the doubled rooks breaking through on the kingside (48.Rhxh4, 50.Rxg6).
  • 1896.10.07 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsMaroczy, Geza 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Modern Variation, Normal Line 47 moves Budapest Budapest 1896. A win over the young Géza Maróczy.
  • 1896.08.05 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsShowalter, Jackson Whipps 1-0 Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Move Order 53 moves Nuernberg InternationalesMeisterturnier Nuremberg 1896. A win over his great US rival Jackson Showalter, whom Pillsbury beat in successive matches for the US championship.
  • 1898 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsJanowski, Dawid Markelowicz 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Pillsbury Variation 45 moves Wien Imperial Jubilee Vienna 1898. A win over the fierce attacker Dawid Janowski.
  • 1899.06.28 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsSchlechter, Carl 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Botvinnik Variation 56 moves London International London 1899. A win over the positional master Carl Schlechter, a passed g-pawn deciding the ending (56.g6).
  • 1900.06.08 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsMarco, Georg 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Pillsbury Attack 23 moves Paris Paris 1900. A 23-move Queen's Gambit demolition of Georg Marco (21.Bxg6, 23.Rxf8+).
  • 1901 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsBlackburne, Joseph Henry 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation 62 moves Match/Nation ENG-USA England–USA match 1901. A win over the veteran English attacker Joseph Blackburne.
  • 1901.08.13 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsMarshall, Frank James 1-0 Queen's Pawn Game: Krause Variation 33 moves NY State CA Midsummer-13 Masters New York 1901. A win over the young Frank Marshall, the queenside passed pawns marching (30.Be8+, 32.b6).
  • 1902 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsTarrasch, Siegbert 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed, Morphy Attack 29 moves Monte Carlo Monte Carlo 1902. Another win over Tarrasch — a rook sacrifice on h7 (28.Rh7+) rips open the king, 29.Qxf7+.
  • 1903.03.16 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsMieses, Jacques 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Albin Countergambit 26 moves Monte Carlo Monte Carlo 1903. A 26-move win over the attacking specialist Jacques Mieses.
  • 1904 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsLasker, Emanuel 1-0 Queen's Gambit Declined: Pseudo-Tarrasch Variation, Primitive Pillsbury Variation 30 moves Cambridge Springs Cambridge Springs 1904. A late win over World Champion Emanuel Lasker — one of Pillsbury's last great games before his tragic early death in 1906, at 33.
  • 1895.12.13 Lasker, Emanuel vsPillsbury, Harry Nelson 0-1 Petrov's Defense: Classical Attack, Chigorin Variation 33 moves St Petersburg Four Masters St Petersburg 1895 — a 33-move win with Black against Emanuel Lasker. Selected in Garry Kasparov, My Great Predecessors, Part I, game 40 (PDF page 282).
  • 1896.10.20 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsWinawer, Szymon 1-0 Semi-Slav Defense: Chigorin Defense 21 moves Budapest Budapest 1896 — a 21-move win with White against Szymon Winawer. Selected in Irving Chernev, 1000 Best Short Games of Chess, PDF page 419.
  • 1898 Pillsbury, Harry Nelson vsCaro, Horatio 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense: Tartakower Variation 30 moves Wien Imperial Jubilee Vienna 1898 — a 30-move win with White against Horatio Caro. Selected in Savielly Tartakower and Julius du Mont, 500 Master Games of Chess, game 277 (PDF page 190).
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