Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis (, ) is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Saint-Denis had a population of 112,091 as of 2018. It is a subprefecture (french: sous-préfecture) of the department of Seine ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
– Paris,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, 1870) was a French
chess master
A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pre ...
Rousseau Gambit
The Rousseau Gambit (or Ponziani Countergambit after Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani) is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bc4 f5
The gambit is named after French chess master Eugène Rousseau. White can decli ...
In 1845, Rousseau played a match against the Englishman
Charles Stanley
Charles Frazier Stanley (born 1932) is Pastor Emeritus of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, after serving as senior pastor for 49 years. He is the founder and president of In Touch Ministries, which widely broadcasts his sermons through t ...
for the title of chess champion of the US, the first contest ever for that title. The match was played for a stake of $1,000. Rousseau lost the match (+8 −15 =8) and Stanley became the first US Champion.
Rousseau's second in the match was Ernest Morphy, who took his eight-year-old nephew,
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was ...
, along and allowed him to be present for the contests. Later, Paul was allowed to play Rousseau, and it became clear that Paul was the better player, despite his young age.
In 1850,
Johann Löwenthal
Johann Jacob Löwenthal ( hu, Löwenthal János Jakab; 15 July 1810 – 24 July 1876) was a professional chess master. He was among the top six players of the 1850s.
Biography
Löwenthal was born in Budapest, the son of a Jewish merchant. He ...
paid a visit to New Orleans, and beat Rousseau five games straight.
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...