Who originated the aphorism, ‘Never miss a check, it might be
mate’? The earliest documented reference known to us is the Liverpool
Weekly Mercury of 8 November 1890, quoting from the Birmingham
[Daily] Gazette. The remark was attributed to Blackburne, at
a simultaneous exhibition in Birmingham in 1890.
(2306)
An addition on page 342 of A Chess Omnibus:
The comment ‘Never miss a check’ (without the other four words)
appeared in the comments about a Blackburne position on page 25
of the Chess Monthly, September 1882:
L.-J.H. Blackburne, London, 20
October 1880
Played at Simpson’s, with Blackburne giving the odds of two
knights
1…Be7 2 Bxe5+ (‘Of course White cannot resist the temptation,
and why should he? “Never miss a check.”’) 2…Qxe5 3 Nxe5 Rxg2+ 4
Kxg2 Rg6+ 5 Kh3 Bg2 mate.
By the time of his death, the remark ‘Never miss a check, it
might be mate’ was routinely being ascribed to Blackburne (e.g.
BCM, October 1924, page 401).
Further citations:
‘Evidently, according to the popular rule, “never miss a
check”.’ Westminster Papers, 1 March 1876, pages
223-224. Note in the game Mason v Bird, New York, 13 December
1875.
‘On the principle, “never miss a check”. White’s game is now
hopeless.’ Chess Player’s Chronicle, 22 October 1884,
page 169.
‘Never miss a check! This check, however, is unintelligible to
us, for its only effect is to weaken Black’s game.’ Note to a
move in the game Lord v Ranken, on page 176 of the February 1885
Chess Monthly.
‘“Check!” “Check!” Yes, never miss a check; and don’t fail to
send a check to renew your subscription to the Chronicle.’
Advertisement on page 202 of the Columbia Chess Chronicle,
29 December 1888.
‘“Sir”, I said, “I never miss a check; it may be mate.”’
Annotation in an unsigned fictional feature ‘Mate in Nine Moves’
on pages 438-439 of the November 1901 BCM.
‘Here the temptation to attack is too alluring, besides Black
may have remembered the saying, “Never miss a check, for it may
be a mate”. Chess Weekly, 14 August 1909, page 94.
‘The author himself has given it an appropriate motto, “Always
check; it might be mate”.’ Discussion of a problem by A.J. Fink
on page 159 of the July-August 1915 American Chess Bulletin.
The composition (‘the most humorous position that has ever been
set upon a chessboard’) was given in C.N. 2048 (see page 26 of Kings,
Commoners and Knaves).
‘Avoid giving useless checks. We do not agree with the player
who said, “Always check – it might be mate”.’ Chess by
David A. Mitchell (Philadelphia, 1917), page 56.
(6416)
Jerry Spinrad (Nashville, TN, USA) sends an item from page 5 of
the Galveston Daily News of 8 December 1889:
As a curiosity, we note that on pages 5-6 of The Treasury of
Chess Lore (New York, 1951) Fred Reinfeld reproduced the
maxims with the erroneous source ‘Chess Review, 1938’. In
fact, they had been given on page 8 of the January 1933 Chess
Review (without any indication that they were over 40 years
old).
(6432)
In C.N. 9094 John Hilbert (Amherst, NY, USA) quoted Henry Clay
Allen, the chess editor of Turf, Field and Farm, in his 7
March 1884 column, page 185, regarding a Manhattan Chess Club
dinner:
‘We report the speech of Capt. Mackenzie in full; on receiving
the envelope containing his prize, he arose in response to loud
cheers and repeated calls, and drawing the paper from its
inclosure, said: “Mr President and Gentlemen: It is a good plan
to follow the maxim of so many chessplayers – Never ‘miss a
check’.” And sat down.’
(9094)
On page 37 of Impact of Genius (Seattle, 1992) R.E.
Fauber wrote:
‘Morphy did secure competition from Seymour Boden (“Never miss
a check. It might be mate.”) and checked him to death.’
It is unclear why Boden was attributed the remark or, indeed, the
forename Seymour.
(9377)
From page 112 of The Bright Side of Chess by Irving
Chernev (Philadelphia, 1948):
This extract offers an answer to a matter raised in C.N. 9377:
why the name Boden was given in connection with the ‘Never miss a
check’ comment on page 37 of Impact of Genius by R.E.
Fauber (Seattle, 1992). It appears to be yet another example of
the confusion caused by the lay-out of epigrams in Chernev’s book.
From the inside front cover of the May 1959 Chess Review:
‘Quiz positions, however, tread their own ways and
consequently may dangle the Wopatzerschach as bait.’
The word was used by Hans Kmoch on page 146 of the May-June
1934 Wiener Schachzeitung, in his notes to the ninth
match-game between Bogoljubow and Alekhine (Pforzheim, 25
April 1934), after 1 d4 c5 2 d5 e5 3 e4 d6 4 f4 exf4 5 Bxf4
Qh4+:
As mentioned in C.N. 7728, the Wiener Schachzeitung
is available online at the ANNO
website.
An earlier occurrence of Wopatzerschach was on page
832 of the December 1930 issue of Der Querschnitt, in
a chess skit, Schachwelsch, by Eugen Lazar:
