Diemer's first Blackmar Gambit

Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Rev 1.0 - 24.01.2002
[mailto:] caissist ad gmx.net

Diemer, E.J. - Dr. Borel
Baden-Baden, 1931

1.e4 d5 2.d4 dxe4 3.f3 Sf6 4.Sc3 Lf5 5.Lg5 exf3 6.Sxf3 Lg4 7.Lc4 Lxf3 8.Dxf3 Dxd4 9.Dxb7 De5+ 10.Le2 Kd8 11.O-O-O+ Sfd7 12.Txd7+ Kxd7 13.Td1+ Ke6 14.Lg4+ f5 15.Db3+

1-0

Diemer should know which game came first, I thought, and thus discounted the game in Kampars' BDG.
However, the question was further clouded when I recently discovered game 78 above in another publication by Diemer that predates his book.
The publication is a collection of 308 BDGs privately printed by Diemer, apparently at the end of 1954. It is titled Emil Josef Diemers BLACKMAR-GAMBIT - die hohe Schule der Kombinationskunst In this publication, which predates his book by about two years, Diemer relates the same story of his introduction to the Blackmar Gambit, but gives only one game with Borel, which he calls the Stammpartie, the first (or original) game. That game is identical to No 78 above, except that White's third and fourth moves are interchanged.

Like most interesting people, Diemer could be inconsistent now and then. As a matter of fact, sometimes his middle name is Josef, other times it's Joseph. But then as somebody (Churchill?) who probably knew once said, "consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds," (or something close to that).

Which game came first? Not that it really matters, but my vote is for No. 78.

Tom Purser

top