From the Corner - Smiling

It is hard to mention the chess wise guy Geoff Chandler without thinking about the following game that he posted, years ago, on his "Chandler Cornered" site

Anon - Anon
Edinburgh Congress

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bf4 Be7 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Nb5 Bb4+

Geoff noted

Black played Bb4+ with the idea of playing Ba5 covering c7.
Whilst White was pondering on his next move Black suddenly stated:
"I thinks It's checkmate!"
And it was!!!
Before the start of the game neither player had noticed that the Black King and Queen were on the wrong squares.

(Okay, that was a Petroff Defense, not a Jerome Gambit. If you feel cheated, don't worry, I have you covered: check out Geoff's legendary "Mars Attacks!") 

Mars Attacks!

Several years ago, the Scottish chess player Geoff Chandler (left) -- whose tales are regularly told at his extremely entertaining web site, Chandler Cornered, -- decided to "annotate" the Amateur - Blackburne, London 1880 Jerome Gambit game.


Instead of using typical master or grandmaster comments, though, he inserted copies of the infamous 1962 bubble-gum card set, from Bubbles, Inc. -- "Mars Attacks!"

Here, then, is the game "Mars v Earth"

1. e4 .... 1. .... e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bc4 Bc5

4. Bxf7+ Kxf7

5. Nxe5+ Nxe5

6. Qh5+ g6

7. Qxe5 ....

7. .... d6

8. Qxh8 Qh4

9. O-O Nf6

10. c3 Bf5

11. Qxa8 ....

11. .... Ng4

12. h3 Bxf2+

13. Kh1 Qxh3+

14. gxh3 ....

14. .... Bxe5 mate

(Earthlings take note: Mars Attacks! was created by Len Brown and Woody Gelman, pencilled by Wally Wood and Bob Powell, and painted was by Norm Saunders. Illustrations above came from Zelda's MARS ATTACKS! )