Family
Philidor came from a long line of musicians at the French court. His family name was Danican, of Scottish origin. An ancestor played the hautboy at Versailles and King Louis XIII was so impressed that he named the ancestor "Philidor" after the previous woodwind virtuoso Filidori.
Chess career
Regarded as the non-beatable player during 1740s, after the great Italian player Gioacchino Greco, Philidor started playing regularly in about 1740 at the chess Mecca of France, the Café de la Régence. The best player in France, Legall de Kermeur, taught him. At first, Legall could give Philidor rook odds, but in only 3 years, Philidor was his equal, and then surpassed him.
Philidor visited England in 1747 and decisively beat the Syrian Phillip Stamma in a match +8 =1 -1; in fact Philidor let Stamma have white in every game and allowed him to count a draw as a win.
Philidor astounded his peers by playing three blindfold games simultaneously in the chess club of St. James Street in London on 9th May, 1783. Philidor let all three opponents play white and gave up a pawn for the third player. Blindfold chess means playing without sight of the board, the moves of his opponents and his replies being communicated orally via a recognized form of chess notation. Some affidavits were signed because they doubted that future generations would believe that such a feat were possible. Now three games would be fairly unremarkable among many chess masters. Even when he was in his late years, when he was 67 years old(1793), he played two blindfold games simultaneously in London and he won.
In 1749, Philidor published his famous book Analyse du jeu des Échecs. In 1871, it went through about 70 editions and was such an advance in chess knowledge that it went through 100 editions and was widely translated in English, German, Italian, etc. In the book he analyzed nine different types of game openings. Most of the openings of Philidor are designed to proactively strengthen and establish a strong defensive center using pawns. He is the first one to discover the new role of pawn in the chess game and his most famous advice was the saying "The pawns are the soul of chess". It was said that the reason why Philidor emphasized the pawns in the chess game related to the political background during the eighteenth century of France, as he regarded pawns are the "Third rank" on the chess board (citizens were regarded as the third rank of the society before the French Revolution started in 1789). He also included analysis of certain positions of rook + bishop v rook, which is still current theory even today. He is most famous for showing an important drawing technique with a rook versus a rook and pawn, in a position known as the Philidor position. The Philidor Defense (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6) is named for him.
Music career
Philidor joined the Royal choir of Louis XV in 1732 at the age of six, and made his first attempt at the composition of a song at the age of 11. It was said that Louis XV wanted to listen the choir to sing almost every day, and the singers, while waiting for the king to arrive, played chess to relieve their boredom; this may have sparked Philidor's interest in chess. From 1750 to 1770 Philidor was a leading opera composer in France, and during his music career produced twenty one music comedies and one opera. However, when he felt that he was being surpassed by other composers such as André Ernest Modeste Grétry, Philidor decided to concentrate on chess.
Final years
Philidor was stuck in England when the French Revolution occurred. Because of many of the connections above, the Revolutionary Government put him on the banned list.
Philidor died on 31 August 1795 in London and was buried in St James, Piccadilly. A few days too late, his relatives succeeded in getting his name removed from the list.
Further reading
- World chess champions by Edward G. Winter, editor. 1981 ISBN 0080249041
- Life of Philidor: Musician and Chess-Player by George Allen, Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa; Da Capo Press; 1971. ISBN 0306700751
- The World's Great Chess Games by Reuben Fine; Dover; 1983. ISBN 0486245128
- The Batsford Encyclopedia of Chess by Nathan Divinsky; 1990. ISBN 0713462140
External link
- Henry Bird, a 19th century chess player, wrote about Philidor in his book Chess History and Reminiscences.
- François-André Philidor - chessgames.com